‘You did what, Chief Inspector?’
Rock sniffed loudly. ‘I’ll thank you not to use such a tone with me, Inspector Danilov.’ Rock was standing in front of the blackboard, writing more notes. Meaker and Cartwright were nowhere to be seen.
‘You destroyed a crime scene. There could have been valuable evidence on the body, but now it’s been compromised.’
Rock raised his voice. ‘Do not use that tone with me, Danilov. I’m the Chief Inspector here, not you.’
Danilov inhaled deeply; the man was more stupid than he’d thought. ‘You were saying you found a body.’ His voice was quieter now; he was simply questioning a witness, not a superior officer.
‘The body of C.J. Dawtry.’
‘How do you know that?’
‘The calling card in his hand…’
‘Could have been placed there. Did we take fingerprints?’
Chief Inspector Rock stared at him.
‘I’ll check with the lab. Do we have photographs?’
‘Yes, they were taken after we cut the man down.’
‘No photographs before then?’
Rock shook his head. ‘It was the flies in the room, Danilov…’ His voice trailed off.
‘I understand. Has the body been sent to Dr Fang?’
Rock looked bewildered. ‘I believe so…. I…’
‘I’ll get Strachan to follow up. Now, Miss Cavendish told us something interesting. She confirmed her assailant was Thomas Allen, the Character Killer.
‘That can’t be, Danilov. You said the man died. You shot him yourself.’
‘I know, sir. But he must have survived.’
‘And you base your belief on the statement of a secretary who was under stress and being threatened with murder. Not the most reliable witness. How does she know it was Allen?’
Danilov didn’t answer immediately.
‘Well?’
‘She smelt his breath.’
Chief Inspector Rock threw his arms up into the air. It was the most animated Danilov had ever seen him. ‘So we are to concentrate our enquiries on one man – a dead man, I might add – just because some secretary thinks she smelt his breath?’
‘There’s more to it, sir.’
‘The idea is preposterous, Danilov.’
‘Allen is a fanatic, and for fanatics the ends always justify the means. He sees himself as judge, jury and executioner.’
Rock slammed his fist down on the table. ‘I order you to continue searching for this killer. He is not, I repeat not, a dead man. Is that clear?’
Danilov raised his head slowly. ‘Very clear, sir.’