Tony Hill u Carol Jordan 08 - Cross and Burn

sly smile. Marie Mather’s big ideas had definitely been put on ice and he wasn’t in the least sorry about that.

    Paula had felt her phone vibrate against her thigh while they’d been conducting their miserable ‘no comment’ interview with Tony Hill but she’d known better than to take it out in front of Fielding. The DCI was obviously right on the edge of losing her temper and Paula definitely didn’t want to be her target.
    The interview had run into the sand when Fielding had started repeating questions. Bronwen Scott had leaned back in her chair and smiled with the weary charm of one who has seen it all before. ‘Charge my client or release him,’ she’d said.
    Fielding had thrown her pen on the table. ‘We’re continuing our inquiries. We have search warrants for Dr Hill’s home and his office, and officers are conducting those searches right now. So we won’t be releasing your client just yet.’ She’d pushed her chair back and stabbed a finger at the recording equipment. ‘This interview terminated at 11.17 a.m.’ Then she’d stalked out of the room, leaving Paula to make an apologetic face and follow. She took the chance to glance at her phone and see a message from Carol Jordan. ‘Think the metal case might be portable anaesthetic unit? Check any missing? Check paramedics?’
    Chiding herself for not having thought of that, Paula hurried to catch Fielding. ‘Bloody woman,’ Fielding snarled, climbing the stairs with the energy of fury. ‘And bloody Carol Jordan.’ She stopped in her tracks and turned on Paula and lowered her voice to a growl. ‘Don’t even think about leaking to Jordan.’
    ‘I’m not stupid,’ Paula said. ‘But I did have a thought while you were asking Dr Hill about hospitals. That metal case the killer is carrying in the CCTV footage? What if it’s portable anaesthetic apparatus? When he tips them into the car boots, he puts the box in and leans over them. We can’t see what he’s doing. What if he’s putting them under so they can’t escape or give the alarm?’
    Fielding’s face lit up. ‘That’s a bloody great idea, McIntyre.’ She clapped her on the shoulder. ‘Hill could easily have figured out how to get his hands on one of them. Head upstairs to the incident room and get that actioned right away. I want a check on hospitals that Nadia Wilkowa visited, see if they’ve had any portable anaesthesia units stolen. Paying particular attention to Bradfield Moor and Bradfield Cross. Although Tony Hill’s credentials could get him in anywhere.’ She looked almost gleeful. ‘Bloody brilliant! Well done, McIntyre.’ She bounded off up the stairs leaving Paula in her wake, feeling stricken. The suggestion was meant to shake Fielding’s certainties. Instead, it seemed merely to have reinforced them.
    ‘Bloody hell,’ Paula muttered, heading up to the incident room. If they uncovered any stolen anaesthetic sets, that would give fresh life to the investigation. At least she could set the guys on to checking out paramedics rather than solely focusing on Tony. She wondered whether the search teams were suitably baffled by Tony’s life – psychology textbooks, computer games, superhero comic books, case notes and cryptic memos to himself. She couldn’t imagine they’d find anything to link him to the victims or the crimes. Wasting police time, that’s what this was.
    Somehow, she didn’t think anybody would be charging Fielding.

61

    B uoyed up by her success at Bradfield Moor, Carol was eager to get to the Central Library so she could pursue the next stage in her investigation. But her life wasn’t quite as simple as it had been a few days before. She couldn’t just drive straight to the library and immerse herself in bound copies of the newspaper for as long as it took; she had Flash to consider.
    She texted Bronwen to fill her in on the outcome of her inquiries at the hospital then let Flash run free again while she walked several hundred yards up the track and back again. As before, the dog ranged far and wide but always returned at intervals to make sure Carol was still there and, presumably, in one piece. After this second run, Carol considered the dog could be left in the Landie for a while. Later, she could take the dog down to the canal and let her have a walk along the towpath, safe from the city traffic.
    Carol left the Land Rover in a multi-storey near the library, cracking the window open to give the dog air. She’d always