AllFreeNovel
Share Us
And now the man was dead.
An hour ago, this case had had nothing to do with her. Terence Birch had been no more than a witness. But now he was a dead man with a connection to one of her team.
If Stacey’s name came up anywhere near this investigation, she’d be instantly suspended, possibly worse. If she even so much as got questioned in relation to the man’s death, the details would be attached to every job or promotion she applied for.
Whatever her current feelings towards Stacey, she knew one thing for certain: she had to discover any links to her colleague before anyone else did.
TWENTY-ONE
‘No way,’ Bryant said once Kim had recounted Stacey’s admission. ‘I mean, it explains a lot, but bloody hell.’
‘Is she okay?’ Penn asked.
‘Feel free to ask her once I’m out of the building, but right now my mind is on other things. And this stays with us, got it?’
They both nodded, and she hoped they asked her no more about it.
‘Okay, back to Eric Gould. Penn, I’m not convinced that either Teresa’s father or ex-boyfriend are in the clear. If we’re right about when contact was made outside the gym, there’s no way we can identify either of them from that footage, so for now focus on what dad and ex-boyfriend were doing yesterday morning.’
‘On it, boss.’
‘Also, see what they’re like on social media. Could either of them be this Sentinel?’
‘Okay.’
‘And try and get details for the account. The Sentinel has to be registered somewhere. Chase Keats for toxicology results. We need to know what Gould was injected with and how easy it is to get.’
‘Yep.’
‘And look at transportation. Our guy didn’t teleport Eric Gould from the gym to the park. Check CCTV in the area.’
Penn did raise a questioning eyebrow at that request. Unless there was footage of their killer physically bundling Eric into a vehicle, they could be looking for anything bigger than a motorcycle.
‘I know, but something might jump out. Finally, what’s Eric’s background? Find out if he’s known to us. I know it’s a lot of work, and how you choose to delegate these jobs is completely up to you.’
She was aware that many of the tasks she’d given out should have been completed yesterday, and that Penn was now bearing the brunt of Stacey’s distraction.
‘Got it, boss.’
‘Just one sec, guv,’ Bryant said. ‘Are we not going to take a minute to talk about what Stacey’s been going through?’
‘You two can sit here and chat about it as much as you like. I’ve got a murderer to catch,’ she said, reaching for her coat.
TWENTY-TWO
‘You wanna come back up now?’ Penn asked when Stacey answered the archive-room phone.
‘Has she gone?’
‘Yep.’
‘On my way,’ she said.
He got why the boss was angry. Keeping something as huge as this to yourself was a hell of a blunder. She would have taken the news badly both professionally and personally.
Professionally because no matter how much of a victim Stacey was in this situation, she hadn’t reported it. She hadn’t logged it with her boss or any of her colleagues. The timeline of her telling Devon was a question he had no business asking. The boss knew that if Stacey’s name came anywhere near this, it would thrust her into the spotlight, and God forbid the press ever got hold of it.
On a personal level, the boss was protective of them all, but especially Stacey.
