The large file was slammed on the desk and Maggie nearly fell out of her chair with fright. She had never seen DI Rutherford this angry – at least not in front of a group of people.
‘We have a situation here, folks, and as you may have guessed I’m absolutely livid!’ There was a pause and Maggie took the moment to look at the faces around the room. She hoped she could identify the guilty party from their expression, but no one stood out.
‘Which one of you shared information with the press?’ Rutherford paced the floor as she glared at the team. ‘I’ve asked you a question. Which. One. Of. You. Leaked. Details. Of. This. Case. To. The. Press?’ Officers’ feet shuffled and there was a lot of movement in chairs as everyone looked around the room at each other, waiting for someone to come forward.
‘No one’s going to hold their hands up?’ She sighed. ‘OK then, Maggie, what have you found out?’
All eyes shifted to her and she wanted to shrink into the chair. She felt like her colleagues were accusing her of being a grass, when she was only doing what she was asked. ‘I’m still waiting for your PA to come back to me, guv, but so far it doesn’t look like any mention of … well, you know, was said in the briefings, although the eyes and mouth being sewn shut was.’ Maggie waited for Rutherford to respond and when nothing was said, she continued. ‘There’s always the possibility that someone who was present at the crime scene spoke to the press. I’m waiting for the parents of the witnesses to come back to me.’
‘Thanks. Well, I don’t want to believe any member of my team would break protocol and go behind my back by speaking to the press. However, I’d like to make something crystal clear and put it on the record. If I find out that any of you have done so, I will have you suspended so fast you won’t know what’s hit you. Do you understand?’
There were mumbles around the room.
‘I said, DO YOU UNDERSTAND?’ DI Rutherford raged.
A flurry of ‘Yes, ma’ams,’ came from the room.
‘All right then. Let’s get back to work and hope I don’t have to revisit this again. Maggie and Nathan, I’d like you to stay behind for a moment, please.’
Maggie’s eyes widened. Fuck. She could just imagine the whispers among her colleagues. Teacher’s Pet. Grass. Would they trust her again after this?
When everyone had left the room, DI Rutherford sat down. ‘I bloody hate when I have to do that. It drains my energy. But I will not tolerate disobedience of any kind – especially in what may prove to be a very high-profile case.’
‘We understand, ma’am. What do you need?’ Nathan spoke up first.
‘I was speaking to DCI Hastings and he had an idea that I wanted to run by both of you first. Just between us, I’m not convinced it’s the best plan, but if you both think it’s worth a try, I’ll do it.’ She wrung her hands together. ‘He suggested that we give out a small detail of false information. Something significant enough that the press might be interested in, but it can’t have huge implications or impact the investigation.’
The three looked at each other. Maggie herself had wondered whether this would be a good idea, but worried that people might think she was being arrogant had she suggested it. ‘If I may, guv. I like this idea and think we should definitely explore it. The problem is, we still wouldn’t know who the leak was if we shared the same information with everyone. I think we need to perhaps identify a few people we may have concerns about and feed each one a different bit of information. That way we’ll know for sure.’
A smile formed on the DI’s face. ‘I like it. A staggered effect. We can tick people off the list with some assurance that they aren’t involved. That’s clever.’ DI Rutherford looked at the ceiling. ‘OK, do we have any thoughts of who it might be?’
‘I don’t think it’s anyone from our team directly, so that rules out us three and Bethany. There are a few new PCSOs and a couple of people on the field team who I’ve had some concerns about. They may be our first port of call,’ Nathan offered.
‘Write their names down, will you, then we can discuss what detail we want to feed to whom. What’s the matter, Maggie?’
‘Two things really. Although I agree that Bethany is not involved, if people find out what we’re doing and that we left our own team out, what are they going to think? Secondly, what about Dr Blake’s team? I think we need to speak to her as well. She mentioned that she has a lot of new people – temp agency staff – many of whom were at the crime scene. If I call her and discuss what we’re doing here, she can replicate with her own team and feed back to us.’
‘Yes. You’re right. We can’t start accusing only the police when it could have come from another agency. Did Bethany manage to find out any details about that reporter before the briefing? We’ll need to speak to her as well.’ DI Rutherford sat back in her chair and crossed her arms.
Maggie looked through her notes. ‘No, there’s no intelligence on her, unless you class being a pain in the arse as an offence. I know that journalist won’t share any information with me, and I’d rather not be the one to talk to her, if possible.’ Maggie could just imagine how that conversation would go.
‘Why’s that?’ DI Rutherford queried.
Before Maggie could respond, Nathan interjected. ‘That specific journalist was pretty hard on Maggie during Bill Raven’s case, you might recall. Nasty headlines, accusing Maggie of all sorts. Even though she was wrong, she slammed Maggie every chance she could get. No rhyme or reason to it, guv. I concur with Maggie’s assessment – it needs to be someone else who speaks to her.’
‘Thanks for volunteering, then. While Maggie is coordinating with Dr Blake, I want you to track down and speak to that journalist. Use your charm if you have to. You do know how to do that, don’t you?’
Maggie laughed as Nathan’s face turned beet red. ‘I’m sure he can dig deep and pull something out of the bag, guv.’
‘Get started then. The sooner we find the leak, the sooner we plug the hole.’
Maggie didn’t envy Nathan in his task. The journalist in question took no prisoners and if Nathan said the wrong thing, he could be next in the firing line.