Tony Hill u Carol Jordan 08 - Cross and Burn

chapter with scant connection to the past.
    ‘Thanks for joining us,’ she said to Stacey.
    Stacey flipped open a slender laptop. ‘Paula explained about Tony. I wanted to help.’
    I deserved that . ‘Of course. He was always ready to put himself out for us.’
    Elinor came through with a tray of steaming mugs. ‘Coffee all round. I’d worry about it keeping you awake, except that you’re all cops and it has as much effect on you as on doctors.’ She handed out the drinks and put a plate of chocolate digestives on the table. ‘Lucky for you I got fresh supplies of biscuits in. Torin seems to inhale them.’
    ‘How is he doing?’ Carol stirred milk into her coffee and reached for a biscuit.
    ‘I don’t know him well enough to be certain,’ Elinor said. ‘He’s obviously deeply upset but I think he doesn’t really know how he’s supposed to react. He’s got no experience of grief to draw on. It’s like he’s not sure what he’s feeling.’
    ‘Still in shock,’ Paula said, keeping his secrets. ‘I don’t think it’s begun to sink in yet.’
    ‘Poor boy,’ Stacey said.
    Carol tried not to show her surprise at Stacey displaying empathy with a carbon-based life form. Then she remembered Paula’s revelation that their former computer guru had been seeing Sam Evans socially. Maybe even romantically. Yet another reminder that this was not old times. ‘Arresting the wrong person’s not going to help,’ she said.
    ‘I’ve already said I’m sorry about that. I did try to persuade Fielding to wait, but I think she’s got one eye on the brass. Trying to make an impression.’ Paula shook her head. ‘And Tony doesn’t help himself.’
    ‘I never thought I’d be grateful for Bronwen Scott,’ Carol said. ‘All we have to do now is demolish your case, Paula.’ She held up a hand as Paula opened her mouth to protest. ‘I’m not blaming you, I know it’s DCI Fielding who drove this. I just said “you” because you’re the only one here officially involved.’
    ‘Exactly,’ Stacey said. ‘I’m not actually here.’
    ‘And I’m not either,’ Elinor said. ‘Someone has to do the sleeping.’ She kissed Paula on the cheek. ‘I’m going to leave you to it. Don’t stay up too late, ladies.’ She patted Carol on the shoulder as she passed. A day ago Carol would have flinched at the contact. Now, it felt good.
    They all waited politely till Elinor left the room, then Carol said, ‘I take it as a given that none of us believes Tony could be responsible?’ Paula looked outraged, Stacey rolled her eyes. ‘OK, I had to ask. So I’m tasked with undermining the case against him enough to make Fielding back away from charging him.’
    ‘And you don’t have much time. She’s going to want to reinterview him first thing and my guess is that unless Bronwen Scott gives her a very good reason not to, she’s going to charge him at the end of that interview.’
    ‘Would demolishing your DNA evidence be a good enough reason?’ Carol asked sweetly.
    Paula sat up straight. ‘What do you mean?’
    ‘He’s remembered how it got there.’ Carol revealed what Tony had told her earlier, leaving them both shaking their heads in disbelief. ‘Stacey, Paula told me you’ve found your way into Nadia Wilkowa’s data. Is that right?’
    Stacey nodded. ‘It wasn’t hard.’ She tapped a couple of keys and angled the screen so they could both see a diary page. ‘I merged the data on her laptop and her phone so we have as full a picture as possible of her day to day life. So…’ She clicked on something and the display changed. ‘On any given day I can tell you what her business appointments were, whether she had any personal appointments, what texts she sent and received and her emails.’
    ‘Did I ever tell you how much you scare me?’ Carol gave Stacey a thumbs-up.
    ‘Just make sure you stay on her good side,’ Paula muttered.
    ‘So can you pull up dates she had appointments at Bradfield Moor?’
    Stacey reclaimed the laptop. They waited while the keyboard whispered under her fingers, then she turned it to face them. ‘Five times since she started the job. She had meetings with Joanna Moore, the Medical Director.’
    ‘Can you email me those dates? I need to compare them with the incident log at Bradfield Moor. One of those dates should correspond to an occasion when Tony was punched in the face by a patient and had a nosebleed.’
    Stacey snorted. ‘Nothing changes, does