‘How are you feeling?’
‘I’m fine.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘Yes.’
Sitting in Valerie’s office with heavy padding taped to the back of her head, Matilda picked at the pieces of gravel in the palms of her hands.
Valerie brought her a coffee and went to her chair. ‘Why are things never simple around you?’ Valerie asked with a hint of a smile in her voice.
‘I must ooze bad luck.’ Matilda tried to smile.
‘Are you sure you shouldn’t go to the hospital?’
‘No. It’s just a flesh wound. No stitches needed and there is no sign of concussion.’
‘Good. Who was that man?’
‘I’ve no idea. I’ve got Rory and Steve going through CCTV of the foyer. See if we can get a look at him.’
‘And you’ve never seen him before?’
‘No. I don’t think so.’
‘Bizarre.’
‘Very.’
‘Anyway,’ Valerie said, pulling out a file from her top drawer, ‘I’ve got some good news and some not-so-good news for you.’
‘I don’t like the sound of this.’
‘The good news is we will be getting a Major Crimes Unit at some point this year. The chief constable has said I can put forward any ideal candidate for the role.’ She smiled.
‘Me?’ Matilda looked shocked.
‘No. Rory Fleming. Of course, you.’
‘Wow, I don’t know what to say.’
‘Don’t say anything yet. It’s still very early days and there will be other candidates too.’
‘Thank you. So, what’s the not-so-good news?’
‘I’ve had Kate Stephenson on the phone almost every day since Ben Hales was found dead in your house. Apparently, the killer called Danny Hanson and said he wished he could take credit for this one, but he couldn’t. At least we know he didn’t kill Ben Hales.’
‘Adele told me it was a suicide. Ben left me a note too. He blames me for everything that’s happened to him.’ She shook her head. ‘I know he wanted my job, but it wasn’t my fault I was promoted ahead of him, was it?’
‘Are you saying he should have hanged himself in my hallway?’ Valerie smiled.
Matilda stifled a laugh. ‘I’ve never known anyone with so much hatred in them.’
‘Well, the inquest is still ongoing, obviously. And I get the feeling the press will be sniffing around this for a while. It won’t be the last we hear from him.’
Matilda froze. She thought of what Ben had written in his note to her. Even after the inquest, after his funeral, after years of him being buried, Matilda doubted she would ever be free of former DI Ben Hales.
Acting DCI Christian Brady had finished the morning briefing and the incident room was dispersing when Matilda entered.
‘I thought you’d have gone home. How are you feeling?’
‘I don’t have a home at the moment, Christian,’ she said, walking into her office and closing the door behind her. He was going to follow her in, but the door closed in his face.
Valerie had instructed her to go home and take a few days to come to terms with everything, before even thinking about taking over the case again. How could she assume Matilda would be able to live in her home after a man had taken his own life in her hallway?
She slumped into her chair and stared through the glass door into the incident room. Valerie may have a skin like an elephant where the turmoil of someone blaming you for their suicide didn’t penetrate, but Matilda wasn’t like that. She soaked everything up like an emotional sponge. Rory walked past her door, glanced in and smiled. He’d almost been beaten to death last November. He seemed to have made a full recovery, physically and mentally. Sian had been a detective longer than anyone on the team. She’d faced all kinds of horrors over the years yet there was always a smile on her face and a bounce in her step. James had always told her she was a good detective because she cared. Maybe that was the problem: she cared too much.
A knock on the door made her jump. Sian entered.
‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you. Rory told me what happened outside the station. I thought you might like a cup of tea.’
‘Thanks, Sian. I’m afraid I spilt our coffees.’ She took the tea and had a lingering sip. It tasted good. She placed her hands in her jacket pockets and pulled out some damaged snacks. ‘Would you like a squashed flapjack or a battered brownie?’
‘I’ll pass, thanks.’ Sian smiled. ‘I thought you’d like to know, I’ve had a call from Aaron. Katrina’s been rushed into hospital. She’s bleeding. He thinks she’s losing the baby.’
‘Oh God, no. She’s not far off her due date, is she?’
‘No. I saw her at the weekend. She looked ready to burst.’
‘Does anybody have any good news?’ Matilda asked.
‘Scott and Rory have found an apartment they’re going to share. They’re signing for it this week, apparently, and I won ten pounds on a scratchcard a few nights ago.’
‘And you came into work this morning? Fool.’ Matilda grinned.
The door burst open and Rory and Steve entered. ‘We’ve got the CCTV footage from the foyer if you’re interested,’ Rory said.
‘I certainly am.’
Rory tapped his iPad a few times and passed it to Matilda. All four huddled around the tablet as they watched a nervous-looking man, whose appearance suggested he had spent last night sleeping rough, enter the station. The camera was above the reception desk pointing down into the foyer. There was nobody in the waiting area. He walked up to the desk and waited, impatiently drumming his dirty fingernails on the desk. A few seconds later, he suddenly turned and ran out of the station as if his life depended on it. He pushed the door wide and disappeared.
Matilda put her hand to the back of her head. It was this moment where she’d been floored and landed on the concrete.
‘What was that all about?’ Matilda asked once the video had come to an end. She took the padding from her head and felt the small wound. Her fingers came away clean. She threw the padding away.
‘I’ve no idea,’ Rory said.
‘Maybe he was going to report something, then changed his mind,’ Steve suggested.
‘But why would you run out so fast like that?’ Rory asked. ‘It’s like he’d seen a ghost or something.’
‘Can you play it again?’ Sian asked.
‘Why?’
‘He looks familiar.’
Matilda handed Sian the tablet so she could have the best viewing angle.
‘I know him. I’m sure I do,’ Sian said with a heavy frown.
‘Professionally or personally?’ Matilda asked.
‘Professionally. It’s going to really bug me now.’
‘Don’t we have any facial recognition software?’ Steve asked.
‘You’ve been watching too many James Bond movies, mate,’ Rory said.
‘Not any more, I bloody won’t. Did you see Spectre? What a load of shit!’
‘Do you think so? I liked it.’
‘It wasn’t a patch on Skyfall.’
‘Well, no, but—’
‘Excuse me, Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo! Any chance we could save the film review for the lunch break?’ Matilda said.
‘Rory, can you send me this link?’ Sian said. ‘Let me watch it a few more times and I’ll get back to you.’
Matilda waited until the three were making their way out of her office before she called after Rory.
‘Is James Darke in the building, do you know?’
Rory’s eyes widened. He waited for her to realize her mistake. She didn’t, and he wasn’t going to point it out.
‘Erm, I don’t think James Dalziel is in, no.’
‘Right. No problem.’
Rory closed the door quickly behind him, and Matilda sat back down in her chair. Her error suddenly came to her. Shit!