Ian Barnes rubbed his hand across his freshly-shaven jaw and glared at his computer screen.
Bright morning sunlight stabbed its way through the slatted blinds across the incident room windows, warming his back and softening the glare from the overhead LED bulbs.
Conversation around him was muted at the moment, the volume not yet at the level it would reach once everyone else turned up to start their shifts within the hour. The current undertone provided a calming white noise while he skim-read new emails, his gaze moving from the computer to his phone and back.
He blinked to counteract the grittiness under his eyelids, rued the fact he’d spent most of the night lying awake, and wondered how Gavin was getting on over at headquarters.
‘No news?’
He glanced up as Kay dropped a paper bag under his nose, the telltale aroma of a bacon sandwich making his mouth water.
‘Not yet, and thanks.’
She moved around to her desk, switching on her computer. ‘What time did you get here?’
‘About half an hour ago. Figured I’d beat the traffic that way.’ He paused, ripping open the bag and took a mouthful of sandwich before pointing at his screen. ‘As well as trying to get a head start on these.’
‘Anything useful?’
He shook his head, then looked at his watch. ‘What time are you expecting Sharp?’
‘Now.’
Barnes jumped at the voice.
The DCI smiled as he perched on Kay’s desk. ‘I don’t suppose you’ve got any more of those lying around?’
‘Sorry, guv, no.’ She glanced at the door. ‘I can go and get you something though, if you want?’
‘Don’t worry – I’ll live.’ Sharp shrugged. ‘Besides, Rebecca’s trying to get me to behave myself.’
Barnes swallowed, then tossed the wrapper into the bin under his desk. ‘Any news on the search this morning, guv?’
‘No, and if we don’t get a breakthrough today, the media is going to crucify us at this afternoon’s press conference. I take it you’ve had no success finding out who the victim is yet?’
‘Not yet but we’re about to start the briefing if you’d like to join us for that,’ said Kay. ‘At least then you’ll have the latest update before heading back to Northfleet. There’s a lot of information coming in from different teams – we were all out yesterday interviewing licensed firearms owners.’
‘Sounds good.’ Sharp rose to his feet. ‘I’ll have a wander round and speak to a few old faces while you’re rounding up everyone.’
Twenty minutes later, Kay had taken her team through the morning’s agenda, assigned tasks for the day and was bringing the briefing to a close when she saw Barnes raise his hand.
‘I was thinking last night, guv…’
‘I’m glad I’m not the only one who didn’t get much sleep.’
A rumble of laughter filled the room, and she gave one of the constables a knowing smile. All of them had been working long hours since Wednesday night, and yet she knew none of them would rest until the victim’s killer was in custody.
‘And you’d be right,’ Barnes continued. ‘What worries me is that we’ve exhausted the list of legal firearms holders, and no one’s raised any major concerns. We’ve had a couple given cautions about the age of their gun cabinets, but everyone we’ve spoken to has given us an alibi, and we’ve seen nothing to suggest there are guns missing. That leaves us with illegal firearms.’
He watched as Kay leaned against a nearby desk as if to steady herself, her gaze remaining on the whiteboard and its spiderweb of notes and photographs.
‘It sounds like you and I have been having the same nightmares,’ she said eventually. ‘And if we’re right, then it widens the scope for motive as well. Until we know who our victim is, we can’t rule it out.’
‘I can help you there, guv.’
Barnes swivelled in his seat at the sound of Kyle Walker’s voice carrying across the incident room.
The constable cradled his laptop in the crook of his arm, excitement in his eyes.
‘What’ve you got?’ said Kay.
‘We’ve just had an email come through from Lucas Anderson. He’s heard back from his orthodontist expert, and they’ve got a match for our victim.’
The incident room exploded with voices as the team began talking over each other, until Kay raised her hand.
‘Quiet.’ She waited until the noise abated, then turned back to Kyle. ‘Who is it?’
‘A thirty-four-year-old by the name of Dale Thorngrove. They matched the samples to dental records from a practice in Sevenoaks. He had to have an implant three years ago after losing a front tooth in a fight outside a pub in Rochester.’
Barnes flipped open his notebook and wrote down the details. ‘Have you got the dentist’s name who did the work?’
‘I’ll email it to you now,’ said Kyle.
‘Thanks, I’ll give them a call and find out if they’ve got a note of next of kin and an address for Thorngrove.’
‘I’ll go with you when you speak to them.’ Kay was already updating the whiteboard, and glanced over her shoulder as Sharp passed behind her. ‘Are you off?’
The DCI had his phone to his ear and nodded. ‘I’ll update my team there, and we’ll start looking at that pub fight from three years ago. We might find out our suspect’s name that way.’
‘I’ll call you later.’ She turned her attention back to her officers. ‘Okay, further actions for today. Laura – can you source a decent photo of Thorngrove we can use, and then take Kyle with you and go and speak with Len Simpson at the White Hart. Maybe the photo will help to jog his memory about whether he’s seen him before Wednesday night. Ian, we’ll speak to the dentist first to get next of kin details and then interview the family. Debbie – get that update from Lucas into HOLMES2 and then divide up the team. I need Daniel’s lot to find out if Thorngrove’s details show up in their database, and I want his photo shown to gun shops, dealers and shooting clubs in the area.’
She paused for breath, waiting while they caught up with their note-taking. ‘And if that doesn’t work, then we’ll show his photograph to everyone we’ve spoken to these past three days. We’re getting closer, everyone.’
Barnes pushed back his chair after Kay ended the briefing, a renewed energy surging though him.
Suddenly, he didn’t feel tired anymore.