Tony Hill u Carol Jordan 08 - Cross and Burn

murder squad.’
    Carol rolled her eyes. A familiar gesture but denuded of the tolerant affection he’d grown used to. ‘I couldn’t be less interested in flattery. Like I said, I’m here for Paula.’
    Her disdain was hard to take. It made something inside him clench in pain. But it was still better than not having her in the room at all. ‘What do you want to know?’
    ‘Do you know why DCI Fielding has arrested you?’ Scott thrust herself back into the driving seat.
    He nodded. ‘Because she’s one of those cops who can’t see past the evidence. You remember Alan Coren, the humorist? He once told his son, “Don’t write the first thing that comes into your head – the dim kids will have had that idea. Don’t write the second either – the clever boys will probably have thought of that one. Write the third idea – that will be yours alone.” Well, Alex Fielding’s never bothered to give the third idea house room.’
    ‘Very entertaining, Dr Hill.’ Now it was Scott’s turn to roll her eyes.
    ‘Tony, please.’ He knew he was showing off but he might never get another chance to remind Carol of what he could be.
    ‘I appreciate you see the world through the prism of the psyche, but could we focus on the evidential reasons why Fielding arrested you? Tony?’
    When he’d sat in the observation room and watched Bronwen Scott in action, Tony had often wondered how different she was with her clients than when she was an opponent. Tougher than he’d expected, was the first answer. She wasn’t falling for his practised skills and she wasn’t indulging him. Time to return her moves in the same style. ‘The bodies of two murdered women have been found this week. For the record, I didn’t kill either of them. They were both brutally beaten, to the point where their faces were unrecognisable. Their labia were shaved and glued together. There’s no obvious connection between the two of them, although there might be a professional link. Nadzieja Wilkowa was single and Polish, she worked as a rep for a pharmaceutical company. Bev McAndrew was divorced, mother of a teenage son, and she was the pharmacist in charge at Bradfield Cross Hospital.’ He stopped. ‘You’re not taking notes.’
    ‘I’ll get all this in disclosure from Fielding. At this point, it’s interesting to have the background but I want to know where you come into the picture. And your version of events, of course.’
    Carol raised a finger, indicating she wanted to speak. Scott nodded briskly. ‘How much of this did you know before Fielding questioned you?’
    She hadn’t lost a yard of her pace, he thought, impressed with the question. ‘I knew quite a bit about Nadia Wilkowa. And I knew Bev was missing. She’s a friend of Paula’s and she asked my advice about her disappearance. I wasn’t much help. But in the course of that conversation, we talked about Nadia.’ He gave Carol a pained smile. ‘Actually, she took me to Nadia’s flat.’
    ‘Oh, Christ,’ Scott said. ‘So your prints and DNA are going to be all over the victim’s flat?’
    ‘I was gloved up,’ Tony said. ‘I’m not entirely hopeless. There shouldn’t be any obvious DNA traces. But DNA is one of the issues. There’s a bloodstain on Nadia’s jacket that has tested positive for my DNA.’ Carol nodded wearily, but Scott merely looked resigned. ‘When they interviewed me, I had no idea how that happened. But I’ve had time to think, and I can explain it.’
    ‘I’m pleased to hear that. So how did it come about?’ Scott leaned forward, fixing him with her attention.
    ‘As I think you both know, I do most of my work at Bradfield Moor Secure Hospital. I deal with a wide range of patients who come to us because they are either a danger to themselves or a danger to society. Their lives are often car crashes and they’re left stranded in the wreckage. When they first come in, they’re often frightened and angry and violent. About a year ago, I was called out to assess a young man who had run amok with a machete in his school staff-room. Luckily, he’d been tackled by a very brave teacher before anyone had been seriously injured.’
    Tony clasped his hands in front of him, running his thumbs over each other again and again. ‘He’d been sedated before he came to us, but what I didn’t realise was that he’d been growing increasingly agitated before I went in to talk to him. He seemed calm on the surface but as soon as I started asking him