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“Is? Romeo Knight is…”
“Alive. Dead. Insane. Fabulous. Who knows, but that’s their message so far. It implies they’re planning more. He was found at Ashford industrial estate, dumped on a pile of pallets. The workers thought he was a prop from The Desperado at first until the wind changed direction.”
“Chloroform again?”
“Yes, same speckling to his hands as Justin and Damian from what I saw. Dave’s taking a look at him now. He was wearing a Drampton Leavers Hoodie.”
“He’s a student?”
“He was one, but we’ve had no missing person reports filed and he doesn’t have ID on him.”
“Red hair…”
“Red hair.” Ally repeated. “Perhaps my theory isn’t as watertight as we believed.”
“Youbelieved. I told you Justin and Damian didn’t look like me. This killer isn’t targetingChad Fullerlookalikes.”
“And if you had just stuck to rules the DI set out for you, we’d have learned that together, and you’d still be on the case.”
“He didn’t specify I couldn’t go to The Desperado.”
“You were involved in an active murder investigation.”
“We always are—”
“How would it have looked if you two idiots had gotten photographed while you were there? Your faces would’ve been splashed across every newspaper in the country, and you wouldn’t have gotten a suspension, but an immediate dismissal. Christ, Chad. How could you be so stupid?”
“You were forcing me off the case.”
“I was trying to keep you safe.”
Chad knocked his head back into his seat. “And it’s not that I don’t appreciate it—”
“You’re sounding pretty ungrateful to me.”
“But I just wanted to do my job, Ally. How would you feel if I tried to get you removed from a case?”
“If it was for my safety, I’d understand.”
“Bullshit!” Chad hit the steering wheel. “You’d dig your heels in and scream and shout, determined to find whoever the killer was at any cost.”
“I still wouldn’t have gone to The Desperado’s villainous night, even under the pretense of being undercover.”
Chad slumped. “It was stupid and risky … and I wasn’t thinking straight. Satisfied?”
“That you’ve admitted you were wrong, yes. That you’re no longer on the case, no. I’d much rather have you and Josh with me than the two new detectives the DI has assigned to the case.”
“They can’t be that bad.”
“Nothing is going on upstairs. Even Josh and his wild speculations are better than absolute silence from tweedled-dee and tweedled-dumb. There’s a tumbleweed of staples and shredded paper rolling through the office.” Ally’s voice dropped to a hush. “One of them vomited when he read through Dave’s report.”
“Not everyone’s cut out to be a detective.”
“And don’t I know it, but I expected some kind of help. Shit, the DI’s coming, got to go.”
“Keep me posted.”
Ally hung up, and Chad tossed his phone aside. He started the engine, turned left rather than his usual right and headed across town.
