Kay stood outside the incident room, her heart racing.
Beyond the closed door, she could hear muffled voices.
She checked her watch.
The morning briefing would be in full swing, with everyone who wasn’t out on call or due at court expected to attend.
She checked over her shoulder at the sound of approaching footsteps, then stood to one side as an administrative assistant she recognised from a previous investigation gave her a slight smile before hurrying through the door, a bundle of documentation cradled between her hands.
A rumbling voice barked from inside, the familiar baritone of Detective Chief Inspector Devon Sharp issuing orders and organising the investigation team providing her with some comfort.
Kay exhaled, grateful that her superior officer and mentor had travelled from headquarters at Northfleet to be there.
As a DCI, he was expected to be on hand to manage the more serious crimes that were committed in the county, and his presence filled her with relief.
At home, she’d been at a loss what to do, the early hours of the new day stretching out as she’d tossed and turned under the duvet until she’d fallen into a restless sleep, before the alarm woke her.
Here, she was amongst friends and colleagues who would do all they could to find the man responsible for Adam’s injuries and the drugs theft.
She squared her shoulders and pushed open the door, noticing the concern etched on her colleagues’ faces before hanging her jacket over the back of her chair and moving towards the whiteboard.
‘How’s Adam?’ Sharp broke the silence that filled the space as the administrative assistant handed him a report. ‘Any news?’
‘He’s not in danger. Thanks, guv,’ she said, nodding to PC Dave Morrison as he stood and gestured to his seat beside Laura. Sinking into it, she heard the sigh of relief that flittered through the gathered group. ‘His doctor told us this morning that as long as he doesn’t give them any cause for concern over the next forty-eight hours, he can come home.’
‘That’s good to hear,’ said Sharp. His eyes sparkled. ‘I take it, then, that we’re going to have to put up with you nagging us about our progress on this one?’
‘If you don’t mind, guv.’
‘I wouldn’t have expected anything else from you. We’ll have a chat after the briefing. Right – Gavin, you’re up next. What did you get from Adam this morning?’
Kay opened her notebook as her colleague moved in front of the gathered officers and took his place beside Sharp.
‘Guv, Adam confirmed that he was working late after the surgery closed for the afternoon. He said he was behind on a deadline for a journal article, and wanted to email it to the editor before leaving for the day.’ Gavin peered over the stapled document at Kay and gave an apologetic shrug. ‘He said he has a tendency to get distracted at home sometimes.’
Kay blushed as a ripple of laughter flittered through the assembled officers before they fell silent when Sharp glared at them.
‘Adam said that his colleague, Scott, left at six thirty. He was going to be on call that evening, and Adam locked the front doors while Scott was leaving the car park. He confirms that he didn’t see anyone approaching the building, although the beam from the security lights on the front of the surgery only reaches about halfway.’ Gavin turned the page. ‘He reckons if someone was hiding in the shadows, and wasn’t caught in the headlights from Scott’s vehicle as he left, then he wouldn’t have spotted them. It was too dark by then.’
‘We’ve made a start on the CCTV footage Scott gave us last night,’ said Barnes. ‘So far, we’ve got nothing but I’ll have someone take another look at the film from that time with a view to honing in on the fringes of the car park in case they spot anything we’ve missed.’
‘Thanks, Barnes,’ said Sharp. ‘What did Adam have to say about the break-in and subsequent attack, Gav?’
‘He didn’t hear them approach. Reckons he was listening to music while he was working. He said it helps him concentrate.’ Gavin lowered his gaze to the statement. ‘The first thing he knew about anyone else being there was when he heard someone’s shoes squeak on the tiled floor outside his office. He said that scared him, and he turned down the music on his laptop. When he turned around in his seat, there was someone standing behind him wearing a balaclava over his head holding what looked like a broken-off end of a snooker cue – the bit with the handgrip around it.’
Kay swallowed, feeling the colour drain from her face. She shook her head as Laura rested her hand on her arm, and clenched her jaw as Gavin continued.
‘He said he could hear the man breathing heavily, as if he was taken by surprise at Adam being there, but when he started to get up out of his seat and ask him what he was doing, the man swung the weapon at him, and caught the side of his head.’ Gavin lowered the stapled pages. ‘He knows he toppled to the floor, but he doesn’t remember anything after that, not until he came around again in the hospital. He couldn’t even remember us or the paramedics talking to him last night.’
‘Does he recall whether there was more than one intruder?’ said Laura.
‘He said he only saw the bloke who hit him, and didn’t hear anyone else. That doesn’t mean his attacker was working alone, of course.’
‘Thanks, Gavin, and that’s a good point you raise.’ Sharp cleared his throat as Gavin returned to his seat. ‘Does anyone have more information to confirm how the intruder got in? Has the preliminary forensics report come in yet?’
‘Not yet, guv,’ said PC Debbie West. ‘I spoke to Harriet half an hour ago and she says it’s on her desk for review and sign-off this morning so she’ll endeavour to email it by lunchtime. However, she says Charlie confirms that they used the small window by the bathroom to get out of the building rather than risk going out the front door once they had Adam’s keys.’
‘It’s off to the side so there was less chance of them being seen by anyone,’ said Kay, her voice ragged.
‘Makes sense,’ agreed Sharp. ‘Laura – how are you getting on with CCTV footage from roads leading away from the surgery?’
The young detective raised her voice. ‘We’ve got a list of vehicles using the main road half an hour either side of the attack, and have discounted those belonging to Adam’s employees. We’ll continue to interview the owners of all the other vehicles and identify any we think we should follow up if they give us cause for concern during those conversations. We’ve separated out any obvious commercial vehicles such as buses and liveried vans for the moment, but I won’t eliminate them completely. Not until we’re sure they’re not linked to the assault.’
‘Let me know if you need more manpower on that, and I’ll call in some favours with headquarters,’ said Sharp. He rapped his knuckles on the whiteboard. ‘I’ll remind you what we’re dealing with here – some of the most dangerous drugs used in veterinary procedures, including ketamine hydrochloride. Fifteen millimetres of that stuff can knock out a horse cold. If that hits the streets before we catch the perpetrators of this theft then things are going to turn very nasty indeed around here.’
The investigation team fell quiet as he paced the thin carpet tiles in front of them, and Kay bit her lip when he stopped and ran his gaze over them.
‘Given that Adam’s surgery was recently restocked with supplies of those drugs too, we have to assume that this was a targeted attack,’ Sharp said.
‘Based on that, guv,’ said Morrison, ‘do you think the intruders were after the drugs, or was this something more personal?’
Kay shuddered at the memory of another case, and another dangerous criminal who had targeted hers and Adam’s safety.
‘That’s something we’re going to have to look into as part of our investigation,’ said Sharp. ‘But what is clear is that someone knew when the most advantageous time would be to risk breaking in. That alone gives me reason to believe the surgery was under surveillance for a while.’
‘The vet practice has to keep tight records of every dangerous drug on site, and two vets have to sign out for them every time,’ said Kay. ‘From what Scott was telling me earlier, the thieves took everything. A new delivery was made yesterday afternoon that would’ve lasted the practice a month. They always keep extra in case of emergencies––’
‘And if we’ve got a large amount of ketamine rushed out on the local market––’ Sharp rested his hands on his hips and faced the team ‘––it’ll be like a bomb going off.’