Tony Hill u Carol Jordan 08 - Cross and Burn

boss’s side. She looked across at Scott. ‘Could I have a sheet of paper?’ Scott tore a blank page out of her legal pad. ‘I need you to write me a letter of authority to Bradfield Moor, asking them to give me access to any entries in the incident log involving you. We’ve got the dates when Nadia Wilkowa had appointments there and if we can match them up, we can undermine Fielding’s case.’
    Even before she’d finished speaking, he was writing. ‘If we can do that, they’ll have to let me go, right?’
    ‘Not necessarily,’ Scott said. ‘Especially since somebody’s bound to leak to the internet or the local media that they’ve arrested someone as high profile as you.’
    ‘High profile? Me?’
    ‘In crime terms, you’re the bee’s knees. A profiler gone rogue? It doesn’t get any better than that.’
    He looked shaken. ‘They’re going to put me all over the papers, right? Like that poor bloke in Bristol who got demonised for nothing more than having a weird hairstyle.’
    Scott sighed. ‘Probably. So far, I’ve not had any calls. But Fielding kept this very quiet and the overnight custody sergeant is notorious for hating the media. That won’t last once the dayshift briefing happens. You’re almost certainly going to get screwed over. All the Jacko Vance stuff will be raked up again.’ She nodded towards Carol. ‘They might come after you too.’
    ‘I’ll enjoy that,’ she said grimly.
    Tony signed the letter and passed it across to Carol. ‘Ask for Maggie Spence, the Assistant Director. She likes me, she’ll be helpful.’
    ‘Unlike your boss,’ Carol said drily. She knew the history between them. Power never forgives those who know its dirty little secrets.
    A wry smile. ‘Hard to believe how much pleasure this will give him.’ He swept his arm to encompass the depressing room.
    ‘They’ll have a search warrant by now,’ Scott said, impatient to get on with the serious business of the morning. ‘They’ll be going through your home and your office. If there’s anything you don’t want them to find, now’s the time to tell us.’ She cocked an eyebrow at him.
    Tony shrugged, spreading his hands in a gesture of openness. ‘Good luck to them. If they find the data CD for Tomb Raider 3, I’d be eternally grateful.’ He gave a strained smile. ‘I really don’t have any dark secrets. Hidden shallows, that’s me.’
    Carol had had enough. She pushed her chair back and folded Tony’s letter away in her bag. ‘Unless there’s anything else you think I need to know, I’m going now. I’ve got inquiries to make and the clock’s ticking. And my dog needs walking.’
    ‘Dog?’ Tony looked bemused.
    ‘I’ll fill you in later,’ Scott said to her retreating figure.

    Tony’s spirits sank as Carol walked out of the interview room. Bronwen Scott made him feel nervous and inadequate; a woman for whom he could never have enough right answers. He watched the door close then said, ‘She’s got a dog?’
    Scott looked baffled, but in an amused sort of way. ‘I have no idea what Carol’s domestic arrangements are.’
    Tony pulled a face. ‘Neither do I, apparently. So, what’s going to happen now?’
    ‘Fielding will interview you again. Unless she’s got something new we don’t know about she’ll just try to rerun yesterday’s questions and you’re going to go “no comment” to everything she puts to you. She’ll try to unsettle you, to provoke you. But you mustn’t let her get to you.’
    ‘I’ll pretend she’s a patient. They generally try to divert attention from what’s ailing them by asking me questions. I’m quite good at avoiding the answers.’ He stared down at the table. ‘I know I shouldn’t take this personally, but it’s hard not to feel hurt by how quick off the mark Fielding has been to arrest me. Call me sentimental, but I’d have expected her to cut me a bit of slack. I mean, I’ve been at the heart of so many investigations, I’d have thought they’d think twice before they jumped to the conclusion that I’m a serial killer.’ He met her eyes, his expression pained.
    ‘Fielding’s showing the brass her independence. And maybe trying to take some of the gloss off Carol’s achievements at the same time. That’s why she’s so keen on having Paula on the team. Fielding wants to be seen as the rehab unit for officers contaminated by the maverick tendency.’
    Tony managed a tired smile. ‘And I thought I was the