Tony Hill u Carol Jordan 08 - Cross and Burn

was a sales rep for a pharmaceutical company. Not one of those multinationals that are always coming up with new miracle cures that make you constipated or increase your risk of breast cancer. A small British company that does generic versions of common drugs. The kind of stuff your GP puts you on when she’s trying to save the NHS a bob or two. She’d been working for them for eighteen months. No complaints, she was a good worker. A bright girl. Did well.’ A photo of Nadia in life, her shaggy blonde hair tousled and her smile reaching her eyes. ‘Although she was Polish she spoke exceptionally good English, her employers say. But still.’ She scanned the room. ‘Stachniewski, you’ve got the right kind of name. Talk to the Polish community, put some feelers out, see whether she was known in the pubs and clubs and grocery stores.’ A lanky ginger-haired officer nodded gloomily. ‘Oh, and Stach? Give the Polish cops a call and see if you can find out whether Mrs Wilkowa has cancer. Because, three weeks ago, an email was sent from Nadia’s account to her employers, stating that her mother had been diagnosed with cancer. She asked for a month’s compassionate leave. The company didn’t want to lose her because they thought she was a good worker so they agreed. Last week, they emailed her with a query about a client account. They got a reply, answering the query and also indicating that she would be back next week, as originally planned. Now, we don’t know at this point whether she ever went to Poland, though DS McIntyre reckons she wouldn’t have left her fridge full of perishables if she had. Black, check with Immigration and the Borders Agency to see whether there’s any record of her leaving and returning. And talk to the airlines that fly to Poland out of Manchester and Leeds/Bradford, see if she’s on any of their passenger lists. It’s probably a waste of time, but we have to cover the ground. We don’t want some defence counsel ambushing us down the line over things we left undone.’ Everyone nodded sagely, like a roomful of car parcel-shelf ornaments.
    ‘What’s really interesting is that her killer managed to extort from her enough information to make the emails possible and plausible. As far as we can tell, she made no attempt to turn those messages into a cry for help.’ Fielding paused, her professional demeanour slipping for a moment into an expression of pity. ‘Her phone is passworded, which is a nuisance, but the techies tell me they’ll have her call records today and hopefully we’ll get into the phone for texts and messages very soon. We got luckier with the computer. Apparently the password was her birthday, so easy peasy for the CSIs to crack. Inspector Gardner is coordinating the actions, so he’ll be setting a bunch of you on to the tedious but important job of working your way through the emails and the tweets and the Facebook contacts. I know it’s boring…’ She paused, giving them her best sympathetic smile. ‘But it’s also potentially crucial. Nadia crossed her killer’s path somewhere and we have to find out precisely where and when. The answer could be buried in one of those emails. I’m counting on you not to let anything significant disappear in the slipstream of boredom.’
    Bloody hell, she’s talking like a poet now. Slipstream of boredom, for fuck’s sake. Paula kept her face straight. She didn’t want to draw attention to herself in case she got lumbered with the emails. ‘Another group will be backtracking on all her recent appointments. I want anything you can squeeze out of them. And I would like alibis, please. I know this is a nightmare assignment because of the number of contacts involved, but we have to lift up every stone and expose the white bellies and the creepy crawlies beneath them.
    ‘And finally. The CSI working on the computer has also identified two women who seem to be her closest pals. DS McIntyre, you and I will take them. I’ll be doing a press conference later this afternoon. Till then, the ID is still under wraps.’ She turned off the screen. ‘That’s it for now, everybody. I’m counting on you. And so is Nadia. Let’s do it for her and her family.’ Fielding finished with a dazzling smile. She knew how to use her charm, that much was obvious from her performance, Paula decided. But judging by her failure to turn it on for Grisha at the crime scene, she used it only when it was going to earn her clear advantage.