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‘Unless what?’
‘OK, bear with me. And I can’t believe I’m floating this. The Botanist will have known whoever was heading the investigation in London would have called in SCAS at some point. Hunting serial killers is the unit’s remit and you’ve gained quite the rep over the last few years. Taken down some big names.’
Poe leaned forwards. ‘We have,’ he agreed.
‘And anyone who can read the headlines will know it’s you and Tilly and DI Flynn who are the driving force behind it all.’
‘There are a lot of unsung heroes in the unit. Tilly in particular works with a team of—’
‘Exactly!’ Lee cut in. ‘Because anyone who knows how to readbehindthe headlines will know who you prefer to work with. Tilly’s Mole People, as you call them, Superintendent Nightingale—’
‘And Estelle Doyle,’ Poe finished for her.
‘What if someone wanted to mess with the dream team. To borrow a saying from my baseball-crazy father: what if someone wanted to bench one of your star players?’
Poe nodded. It made sense. Sort of. There were other forensic pathologists. The one Mathers was using seemed very good, although he was no Estelle Doyle. But, if the Botanist had really wanted to disrupt SCAS, benching Bradshaw would have been far more effective.
‘So you believe me now?’ Poe asked.
‘I don’t … not believe you. I have the same problems with the case that you do.’
Bradshaw stood up, knocking over her stool. The crash of wood on stone made enough noise to stop all conversation.
‘Sorry,’ she said.
‘How’s it going?’ Poe asked.
‘I’ve tried two hundred of the most commonly used four-digit and six-digit combinations and Elcid Doyle wasn’t using any of them.’
Poe stood too. ‘OK, let’s have one last look around the office. See if we can see what Elcid Doyle used as a reminder. Otherwise, we’ll have to wait until Ania sees Estelle this afternoon.’
Bradshaw checked her watch. ‘We don’t have long, Poe.’
‘Let’s get started then. He was an old man worried about Alzheimer’s. It’ll be something obvious.’
