Tony Hill u Carol Jordan 08 - Cross and Burn

face.’
    ‘Even if it’s the wrong collar?’
    ‘Oh, I forgot. He’s a mate of yours, isn’t he? He’s always been an oddball, from what the lads are saying.’
    ‘It’s a long way from oddball to sexual homicide. And I don’t think he’s capable of it.’
    ‘Word is he lost the plot after the Jacko Vance business. That’s why Jordan walked away from him. She knew he’d turned.’
    All at once, Paula’s moment of doubt became history. She stepped right into Cody’s personal space and jabbed a finger into his chest. ‘Where are you getting this crap from, Cody? Or are you making it up as you go along to wind me up? Jesus Christ,’ she exploded. ‘You sound like one of those tabloid reptiles who go in for trial by headline. Carol Jordan lost her brother. That’s why she walked back from all of us. It’s called grief, you twat.’ She stepped back and turned away from him. ‘It’s got fuck all to do with this.’
    ‘Take it easy, Sarge,’ Cody said, his voice sarcastic. ‘People’ll think you’ve cracked an’ all.’
    ‘If I hear you or anyone else talking this kind of shit, I’ll go straight to Fielding with it. That’s a promise.’
    Cody gave a soft, dark chuckle. ‘What makes you think it’s not coming from Fielding, Sarge?’ Paula whirled round and crushed out her cigarette against the wall millimetres from his ear. He yelped as hot ash hit the sensitive skin. ‘You mad bitch,’ he yelled.
    ‘You mad bitch, Sergeant . I’d advise you not to forget either part of that sentence, Cody.’ She turned on her heel and stomped back inside, glad anger had replaced the fear and depression that had been building up all evening.
    She found Fielding in her office, packing files into her laptop bag. ‘You should have told me you’d spoken to him about Bev McAndrew going missing.’
    ‘I know. I’m sorry.’ Paula waited for the bollocking. But to her surprise, Fielding walked away from it.
    ‘I understand how it happened,’ she said, sounding almost as weary as Paula felt. ‘You’re used to him being inside the tent, it was a natural thing to do.’
    ‘What do you want me to do now?’
    ‘Go home. Eat something. Sleep. We’ll go back on the attack in the morning. Hopefully, the fingerprint techs will give us a definite yes rather than “could be”. And we’ll conduct a full search of his home and his office. Do you know if he has a storage unit or a lock-up or something as well as his boat?’
    ‘No idea.’
    ‘We’ll check it tomorrow. I’ve got the grunts looking at the CCTV footage to see if we can pick him up anywhere relevant.’
    Paula rolled her shoulders to loosen up the tightness that had been building there. ‘Do you really think he did it?’
    ‘I’m following the evidence, McIntyre. And that’s where it’s leading me. You’re letting your emotions cloud your judgement.’
    ‘Am I? I don’t think it’s my emotions. It’s my knowledge and experience. I’ve worked with Tony Hill for years. He saves lives, he doesn’t take them.’
    ‘And I think you could be totally wrong. But it’s good that you’re digging your heels in. It gives me something to push against. It means we’ll test our case properly and not get ambushed in court by the defence. Right now, though, we’re just at the start. Away home now and come back in the morning refreshed and ready to go.’
    ‘What about the media? Have we told them we’ve made an arrest?’
    Fielding shook her head. ‘I’ve told the squad to say nothing. Which probably means it’ll be all over the internet by bedtime. But I’m saying nothing officially.’ She fastened her case and shooed Paula out of the office. ‘See you in the morning. With a bit of luck, we’ll see his happy little face on the Trafford Centre cameras.’
    And she was gone, leaving Paula all wound up with nowhere to go.

    Home had never been like this. It was like walking into the middle of an intense TV drama. Torin was on his laptop at the dining table, a strange woman Paula presumed to be Rachel McAndrew was in an armchair with an iPad and a glass of wine and Elinor was ironing a white shirt. Ironing a shirt? Paula hadn’t realised Elinor knew where the ironing board lived. But death – particularly sudden, violent death – always left people unsure of how to fill their time. The look of relief on Elinor’s face told Paula all she needed to know for now.
    ‘Hey, Torin,’ Paula said. ‘Hello, love,’ to Elinor. And,