Hamson arrived at Gray’s flat five minutes after he did. He buzzed her in, left the front door ajar, and went to stand on the balcony. He listened to the beat of the waves until Hamson was beside him.
“Want a coffee?” said Gray.
“Got anything stronger?”
“Just beer.”
“Coffee it is then.”
Gray left Hamson on the balcony while he made the drinks. He carried two mugs out, passed one over.
“How did it go?” she asked.
“Mike doesn’t know anything, and Carslake had a different perspective on the situation.”
Hamson snorted. “Well, he would. What bullshit did he feed you this time?”
“He didn’t recall Noble coming into the station, and I couldn’t find any record of him doing so either.”
“That doesn’t mean anything. Documents can be amended. Or not filed.”
“Carslake repeated that Noble loathed Jake too. Meaning he was biased against him.”
“Is that it?”
“Carslake also mentioned an investigation into Millstone and said I needed to trust him, that there were larger events going on behind the scenes.”
This time Hamson outright laughed. “Yes, like saving his career. God, the man has you twisted around his little finger!”
Gray had been about to give Hamson all the detail on the Millstone investigation but decided now to keep it to himself. She’d developed her own bias and because of that he felt he couldn’t trust her.
“Are you saying I’m compromised, Sol?” Hamson banged the coffee cup down on the table.
“Yes.”
“That makes two of us, then. You’re too close to Carslake and Jake. You can’t see what’s actually going on around you.” Gray didn’t appreciate the accusation; it went against everything he’d stood for in his police career. He bit down, felt his jaw muscles flex with the effort, counted to ten.
“I see very clearly.”
“Really? How much are you affected by your friendship with Carslake? What about that he’s helping you find Tom?”
“Irrelevant.”
“Is it? Has Carslake organised it so you can see this so-called witness yet?”
“No, but to be fair there hasn’t been a lot of chance.”
“Fair? What’s fair got to do with it? This is your son we’re talking about, and Carslake is dithering. Stop defending the indefensible and wake up, Sol!”
“Where’s the evidence?”
“God, listen to yourself!”
“We’re police, Yvonne; this is one of our own.”
“And what if I tell you I intend bringing in Jake tomorrow morning for the Sunset fire?”
“I’d say we don’t have the evidence to arrest him.”
“Jake will be helping with our investigation. Think of it as shaking the tree and watching what falls out.”
“Out of a job if you’re not careful, Von.”
“People died, Sol. It’s important they have justice.”
“This is wrong.”
“No, you’re wrong!”
“We’ll see about that.”
Hamson turned and left the flat. Gray knew he should go after her; reassure her that he was on her side. But he couldn’t bring himself to. He wasn’t certain of much right now. All he knew for sure was that his stomach was churning, and he felt sick yet again.