Tony Hill u Carol Jordan 08 - Cross and Burn

‘You must be Rachel. I’m Paula. I can’t tell you how sorry I am about Bev. We were very fond of her.’
    Rachel put down her wine and stood up, extending a slim hand adorned with a couple of diamond rings. ‘It’s such a shock,’ she said, her voice tremulous. ‘And Elinor says we can’t even bury her.’
    Paula flashed a quick look at Torin, whose head lowered even closer to his screen, hair hiding his eyes. ‘I’ve arranged for a Family Liaison Officer to come over tomorrow morning to take you through what’s happening and explain how to go about the official side of things. He’ll be here at half past nine.’
    ‘Rachel’s planning to stay at Bev’s tonight, if that’s OK with the police,’ Elinor said. ‘But Torin would rather stay here.’
    Paula smiled. ‘No problem, mate. I don’t think I’d want to go back there just yet if I was you. There’s no rush.’ Torin’s head bobbed in acknowledgement. ‘I do have some news about the investigation which I wanted to share with you.’ The atmosphere in the room quickened. Torin looked up, his eyes beseeching her. Rachel froze, her hand halfway to her wine. And Elinor gave her a tiny nod of encouragement.
    ‘This evening we made an arrest in connection with Bev’s death. And that of Nadia Wilkowa, another woman whose body was found earlier this week.’ Paula held her hands up, palms out, urging caution. ‘I don’t want you to overreact to this. It’s very early in the investigation and I’ll be honest with you. I have serious reservations about the guilt of the person in custody. This happens sometimes in serious crime investigations. We arrest a suspect early on, with minimal amounts of evidence. That doesn’t mean the investigation is over. In this case, the investigation’s barely begun. But this arrest will be all over the media tomorrow and you should be prepared for that. It would be best if you don’t speak to the media, but obviously that’s up to you.’
    ‘Who is it?’ Torin demanded. ‘Who did this to my mum?’
    ‘The man we’ve arrested is called Dr Tony Hill. He’s a psychologist who works at Bradfield Moor Secure Hospital and for years now he’s also been working with us at BMP, drawing up profiles of serious offenders.’
    ‘This man worked with you? And you had no idea he was a killer?’ Rachel’s outrage was obvious. It would only get worse, Paula suspected. Grief had to find an outlet somewhere.
    ‘We don’t know that he’s a killer. Personally, I don’t believe it. It goes against everything I know about the man.’ But she had to be honest. She owed that to Bev’s family. ‘There is some evidence that points towards him though. We have to test that evidence and see whether we can actually build a case against him.’ She looked to Elinor for support, but her partner was speechless, her face aghast.
    ‘I don’t understand,’ Torin said. ‘Did this guy know my mum from work? Why did he pick her?’
    ‘We don’t know, Torin. Right now, we have a lot more questions than we have answers. All I can say is that we’re doing our job. None of this helps you to deal with your mum’s death, I know. But I’m doing my best for her.’
    ‘Great speech, Detective,’ Rachel said. ‘I think it’s time I went over to Bev’s.’ To Elinor, ‘Have you got a taxi number?’
    ‘I could drive you over,’ Elinor said. ‘It’s no trouble.’
    ‘Thanks, but you’ve done more than enough for us,’ Rachel said. It was a line that could have been taken either way and Elinor clearly got that.
    Elinor called their usual taxi firm and Paula escaped to the kitchen. She was staring gloomily into the fridge when Elinor joined her. ‘Taxi’s on its way, thank goodness. She’s hard work, Rachel. I made sandwiches for us all earlier. I’m afraid I used all the ham and cheese and salad.’
    Talk of food was a displacement activity that displaced nothing for either of them. Paula closed the fridge. ‘I’m not actually hungry. This has been one of the worst days of my working life. Not quite up there with the Temple Fields ordeal, but pretty damn close.’
    ‘I can’t believe it. Has Fielding lost her mind? Tony? If I had to compile a list of everyone I know in order of how likely they were to commit murder, I’d put him very near the bottom.’
    ‘Same here. But she doesn’t know him like we do. To Fielding, he’s just another prospect in a sea of possibilities. But he is the scalp that will make her