The next day was understandably a little subdued in the unit. Word had got round the office about Warner’s attack. People were horrified. None more so than DC Murray, who appeared in Cross’s office as soon as he got into work.
‘I don’t know what to say,’ he began.
‘Were you with him all afternoon?’ Ottey asked.
‘I was.’
‘How much did he have to drink?’
‘Too much. That man can put it away.’
‘Were you drinking as well?’ asked Cross.
‘Yes, but I was driving. So, I just had the one pint then pretended I switched to G&T but drank soda water. He didn’t know because he never put his hand in his pocket, tight git. He started drinking whisky chasers, but he just seemed a bit pissed off about the case. I had no idea he’d—’
‘He has history,’ said Ottey.
‘Really? That makes sense, I suppose. I mean, these things are never one-offs, are they? Look, if there’s anything I can do,’ he offered.
‘There is,’ said Cross. ‘You can go and sit down, make a note of the time and the date and write down everything you remember about yesterday after the trial. What was said. What was drunk. Timings. Everything.’
‘Sure.’
‘You might have to testify to his state of mind and inebriation in court,’ said Cross.
‘You want me to take the stand?’ he said, suddenly uncertain about that prospect.
‘You have a problem with that?’ asked Ottey a little more aggressively than she perhaps intended.
‘No, no of course I don’t.’
‘Did he mention Alice yesterday?’
‘Not that I recall.’
‘All right, go and make your notes.’
‘What about the Cotterell case?’ Murray asked. ‘Sorry, I meant the Moreton case.’
‘You’ll be reassigned,’ Cross told him.
‘Really? Why?’
‘I think the initial phrasing of your question should answer that,’ said Cross.
Murray stood there for a moment wanting to protest, but thought better of it and withdrew.
Ottey made no move to leave the office. She just sat opposite Cross, deep in thought.
‘You’re upset,’ he observed.
‘Hardly surprising. What is surprising is that you noticed,’ she replied.
‘You’re frowning and picking your lips. Two sure-fire signs.’
‘I’m just thinking how upsetting and disturbing last night’s events really are.’
Cross thought about this for a moment.
‘But I’m all good,’ she added.
‘I’d like to do some further background on Richard Brook before we request an interview,’ Cross said.
‘Okay.’
‘You should spend your time talking to your contact in the Kent force and forming some kind of plan for Warner.’
‘Exactly what I was thinking.’
‘Do you trust her not to alert everyone in her unit?’
‘Oh yeah. I think she’ll just be happy something’s finally going to happen. I’ll tell her that Alice is pressing charges and ask her to reach out to the other victims she knows. See if that encourages them to come forward.’
‘You should also put together all the information they have and everything we have on Warner. So we can collate everything for the interviewing team.’
‘Oh right, sure. I hadn’t thought of that,’ she said sarcastically.
‘Just as well I asked then,’ he responded.
She was more relieved than annoyed at being patronised by him. It suited her emotional state to put everything together for the Warner arrest. Little did she know that Cross was thinking exactly the same thing. That in her current state she would be better focusing fully on Warner. It would be restorative. It also freed him up to work on his own, which was something he felt he needed to do to make progress on the Moreton murder. It annoyed her a little that he thought that they shouldn’t conduct the interview with Warner. An overcautious move, in her opinion. But then again, she didn’t want anything to jeopardise their chances of putting Warner away.
As she walked back to her desk, she had to admit that the one person who had come out of all of this surprisingly well was her boss Carson. Someone who generally infuriated her before she’d even got into work and before he’d even opened his mouth to speak. He’d made a quick decision about Michael Swift’s expert witness evidence without waiting for the verdict. He’d also made an uncharacteristically perceptive judgement call which was not to alert his superiors and keep the arrest in-house. His first thought, normally, was how to manage upwards and what effect any decision might have on his image and career. So, kudos to him, she thought, as she sat down and called Jacky Collins.