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The line was answered after two rings but Anthony didn’t recognise the voice. He stared at the phone, making sure the number was right.
“Hello?” the voice repeated.
“Is Rosie there, please?”
“I’m sorry, she can’t come to the phone right now.”
Anthony had no idea who he was talking to but it must be someone who knew her. “Is she okay?”
The line grew silent, the reply taking forever. “Who are you, please?”
“My name is Anthony Palmer, I’m a friend of her husband, James.”
“I’m really sorry, James died earlier today.”
Chapter Forty-five
Gardener was dog-tired. So was his team. He knew it. They knew it. But there was a real buzz in the air as they entered the incident room, giving him the impression that some good news had broken.
Gardener was leaning against the wall, with his partner, Reilly. He grabbed a bottle of water and a Bounty bar from a table. Healthy eater he may have been but he’d always had a weakness for the popular coconut and chocolate bar. The Lord only knew what Reilly was eating but he was using both hands.
Dave Rawson grabbed a coffee and a sausage roll.
“I think you’d better hold your horses there, my wee friend.”
Rawson glanced at Reilly. “What are you on about?” questioned Rawson, laughing. “Don’t know why I’m asking that, I understood him better with a mouthful of food.”
Reilly ignored the jibe. “I’m not sure I can let you have anything to eat there, son, not after your earlier misdemeanour.”
“Oh, come on, where’s your sense of humour?”
“Another thing I don’t have, according to you.”
“Come on, boss.” Rawson glanced in Gardener’s direction. “Have a word with him.”
“He might have a point, Dave, you were a bit hard on him.”
“I see, like that, is it? Well, if you don’t feed me I won’t have enough strength to impart the important information.”
Gardener glanced at Reilly. “He does have a point.”
“I’ll let it go this time.”
Once the team had filed in – including Briggs – and were seated, Gardener nodded and signalled he was about to start. Shona Pearson slipped in before Gardener started talking.
“Good to see you’ve all made it back. Judging by the air of excitement I gather we have something further to work with.”
Dave Rawson stood up, finished a swig of tea and opened a thick file in front of him, spreading papers around.
“Me, Julie, Sarah and Shona have been with cyber since we finished this afternoon. I think David Hunter made a lot more headway than he would ever be credited for.”
“Do tell,” said Gardener.
“We’ve all known DPA were involved in the hit and run, but why and how was another matter,” said Rawson.
“We also felt that there must have been a track record somewhere about their activities,” said Gates.
“They’ve been conning people since day one,” said Longstaff, “and all of it online, and all of it practically invisible because of their skills.”
