Des Palliser had been at his desk half an hour, and was checking and signing off on a pile of reports, when the phone rang.
‘Serial Crimes Unit,’ he said, picking up and cradling the receiver under his jaw.
‘Detective Inspector Palliser?’
‘That’s right. Can I help?’
‘It’s Paula Clark again, at Deptford Green.’
Palliser straightened up. ‘Yes, Paula. What can I do for you?’
‘DS Heckenburg’s still on leave, I understand?’
‘Erm … one second.’ He jumped up and closed his door on the bustle of activity in the main detectives’ office. Retrieving the phone, he sat down again. ‘That’s correct. He’s on leave until December.’
‘Maybe you could leave a note on his desk, or something?’
‘Of course.’
‘Or maybe you might want to do something with it, yourself, I’m not sure.’
‘I’ll do whatever I can, Paula.’
Her tone was perfectly normal – there was nothing nervous or conspiratorial about it. Whether she’d got wind that something was going on because of the brief contact they’d had with her the other day, enquiring about Heck, he was unsure.
‘I was wondering,’ she said, ‘have you heard anything about a mis-per called Louise Jennings?’
‘That name doesn’t ring a bell.’
‘I see. Well, she’s a secretary in the City. Seems she’s been missing since last Friday night. As I understand it, Thames Valley are dealing. I only read about it on force bulletins this morning. But it strikes me that her circumstances are very similar to a number of those missing women that DS Heckenburg was investigating.’
Palliser grabbed a spare piece of paper and picked his pen up again. ‘Can you elaborate on that, Paula?’
‘I only glanced at it, but well … she’s not the type, if you know what I mean. Apparently, she’s nothing to run away from. She’s got no lover that anyone knows about, she hasn’t fallen out with her husband or her family. She hasn’t got drugs, drink or mental health problems. She’s got a wide circle of friends and relatives, and none of them have the first idea where she could be.’
‘I get the picture.’
‘It’s probably nothing, but I just thought it seemed very similar to the other cases.’
‘That’s great, Paula. Thanks very much for drawing this to our attention.’
‘No problem. Always glad to help, as you know. Is Mark alright?’
‘Oh yes, he’s fine. Having a right old time of it, I understand.’
‘Mmm.’ She probably knew Heck too well to believe that. ‘Okay, well, you know where I am if you need me. Bye.’
She hung up, and Palliser sat there for several moments, pondering. Paula was right; it was probably nothing at all to do with the case, but then again …? He wondered if he should go down the corridor and speak to Gemma, but finally, deciding that discretion was the better part of valour, he picked the phone up and spoke to Janice, one of his unit’s own secretaries.
‘Hello love,’ he said, checking the brief details he’d just scribbled down. ‘Get me Thames Valley, please.’