‘Didn’t expect you in yet.’
Annie looked up to see Jennings poking his head around the door of the large office. ‘They decided it was safe to release us from the hospital. Looks like whoever shot at Sheena legged it pretty much immediately. Typical, though. Busy weekday afternoon, but so far no witnesses. They’re checking all the CCTV footage but no luck yet. They don’t even know if the shooter left by car or on foot.’
‘It won’t stay like that for long.’ Jennings sat himself opposite her. ‘They’ll get something.’
‘Who’s been allocated to the investigation?’ Annie asked.
‘I’ve put Andy Dwyer in charge. He’ll do a decent job.’
DI Andy Dwyer was a little younger than Annie, but already seemed destined for higher things. She knew him a little but she’d never warmed to him, although he had a decent reputation. The word was that he was ambitious and that he had the political skills to support his ambition, and she’d seen a few instances of that in her dealings with him. But in this case, it might work in Sheena’s favour. This would be a high-profile case and Dwyer would be keen not to mess it up. ‘Sounds a good choice.’
‘How is she?’
‘She’s fine physically. They completed all the tests and found no cause for concern. Emotionally – well, let’s say she’s a bit shaken.’
‘I can imagine. Yesterday was one thing, but today…’
‘Yesterday looked like some numpty waving a gun around. Today we know she’s being targeted.’
‘We’ll throw everything at it. You know that, don’t you?’ For once, Jennings sounded entirely sincere.
‘Of course. I mean, we would anyway. But targeting an MP is taking us into scary territory.’
‘Not the first instance.’
‘No, but that makes it even worse.’
‘What’s she going to do?’
‘She won’t let it stop it doing her job. But that’s Sheena. I need to persuade her to be suitably cautious. She’s been talking to the Party and to the Speaker’s Office about what can be done. But if there’s a sniper out there, there’s only so much you can do. She can’t do constituency surgeries wearing a Kevlar vest.’
‘What about at home? To be honest, I was a bit surprised you came in. I thought you’d have wanted to stay with her. Not that I’m not pleased to see you back,’ he added, perhaps a moment too late.
‘If it had been left to me, I’d have stayed with her. But Sheena was insistent I should come in. We’ve got decent security at the house and there’s a police presence there for the moment. She said there was nothing I could do there. She was right, I suppose, but I’m still not sure I did the right thing.’
‘It scares the hell out of me,’ Jennings said. ‘And not just because it’s currently happening on my watch.’
‘If it helps, I do come bearing one bit of good news.’
He looked up. ‘Really? We could do with some of that.’
‘Our first victim,’ she said. ‘The Beeley Moor body. Looks like we might have an ID.’
‘Go on.’
‘Turns out he was on the system. Fingerprints and DNA. Couple of fairly petty misdemeanours as a teenager. A drunk and disorderly that cost him a night in the cells. Then a shoplifting offence. Nothing serious, but enough to put him on our radar.’
‘So who is he?’
‘Name of Darren Parkin. Last address we have is in Loscoe. From the files it looks like it’s probably the family home. I’ve checked the electoral roll and the occupants are still a Mr and Mrs Parkin, so even if Darren had moved out, they’re presumably his next of kin.’
‘Good work.’
‘I didn’t do much,’ Annie said. ‘But, yes, it’s potentially a big step forward. At least gives us some insights into Parkin’s private life.’
‘And how he came to be naked on Beeley Moor with his throat cut? That must be a hell of a private life.’
‘Though quite possibly one his parents knew nothing about, of course. But I hope they’ll at least be able to give us some leads. I was just waiting for you to get back before heading over there.’
‘You planning to take Zoe with you?’
‘We’re going to have to break the news to the Parkins. Zoe would be useful. She’s good at that kind of thing.’
‘How does Zoe seem to you?’
‘Not quite her usual self, if that’s what you mean.’
‘That’s exactly what I mean. She was behaving a bit strangely when we were out together earlier. Nearly lost my rag with her, to be honest, but thought there might be something I wasn’t aware of.’
‘I don’t know exactly. I thought she seemed tired. Tired and anxious. Disturbed by something.’
‘Maybe something at home?’
‘Not that I’m aware of. Not that she’d necessarily tell me. She’s a fairly private individual. I’ll have a go at talking to her about it.’
‘We all have off-days,’ Jennings said. ‘But I need everyone fully focused at the moment. The Chief will be breathing down my neck on this case and on Sheena’s. If Zoe can’t hack it, for whatever reason, I need to know.’
‘I get the message. I’m sure it’s something and nothing but I’ll talk to her.’ Annie was keen to move the conversation on. ‘Anything I should know about the second body before I go and see the Parkins?’
‘Zoe can fill you in on the detail. But it looks like the same MO. Similar-looking victim – young, white male. If he turns out to be on the system too, we might have something to work with. As with the first, looks like he was killed on the spot. The spot being even more remote than the first. Which means it’ll be even harder to find potential witnesses or CCTV.’
‘Our killer seems to like getting away from it all.’
‘Killer or killers. I’m struggling to see how this can be the work of one person.’
‘That’s what worries me. The whole thing’s disturbing,’ Annie said. ‘Whatever the motives. Right, I’ll go and grab Zoe, and we’ll see what the Parkins can tell us.’
‘I’ll leave you to it,’ Jennings said, pushing himself to his feet. ‘And good luck.’
‘Thanks,’ she said. ‘At the moment I’ll take any luck that’s going.’