WHITT FOUND CHIEF MORRIS just outside his office, standing with a group of beat cops consulting a map. They seemed to be planning a cordon around Kings Cross. He tapped Pops on the shoulder.
“Harry’s just called me,” he said.
A bigger man whirled around, and Whitt stepped back to allow Deputy Commissioner Woods more space.
“Harriet Blue is in contact with you?” Woods seemed almost insulted. “I assume you told Detective Blue to surrender herself into custody immediately?”
Whitt explained the phone call, deciding to look at Chief Morris instead.
“She’s rerouting her line,” Whitt said. “I checked with IT before I came up here. Her calls are basically untraceable. She bounces her signal around a bunch of towers and networks, and doesn’t stay on the line long enough for the signal to settle and for us to get a location. It’s likely that’s what Regan is doing to her.”
“Regan Banks is calling Harriet Blue?” Woods sneered. “This is exactly as I was saying, Morris.”
“It was the first time she’s called me,” Whitt said nervously. “She may call again.”
“All right.” Woods filled his barrel chest with air. “This is good news. You’ll divert your line to the command-center phone, Detective Whittacker. I’ll be taking all calls from Detective Blue from now on.”
“I’m not sure that’s the smartest idea,” Pops intervened. “If Harry calls and it’s not Whitt, she’ll hang up and she won’t call back. We need to keep the communication channels open. If Regan’s talking to her, and she’s talking to us, we have some chance of anticipating where Regan will be.”
“No, thanks, Morris.” Woods put his palm out toward Whitt, waiting for him to give up his phone. “I’m not relying on a rogue detective to intermediate communications with a killer. Give it to me, Whittacker.”
Whitt gripped the phone by his side. “I think I agree with Chief Morris.”
“I don’t give a rat’s arse who you agree with, Detective,” Woods said quietly. “I’m giving you a direct order to hand over that phone so that your line can be diverted to—”
“It’s my personal phone,” Whitt said carefully. “I don’t have to surrender it to you. Not without Harriet having been charged with a crime. Not without you having secured a warrant to listen to my personal calls. Legally, I don’t have to do it, sir.”
Deputy Commissioner Woods dropped his hand and straightened. Whitt thought he heard the dull click of the bigger man’s teeth locking together in his powerful jaws. Pops clapped Whitt on the shoulder, hoping, it seemed, to signal the end of the conversation. He went back to the map, and Whitt tried to turn away, but Woods stopped him in his tracks.
“Whittacker,” he said, “I read about you when they asked me to take over the investigation. You’re Harry’s former partner. From Perth, was it? Yes, I had a brief look at some of your past cases.”
Whitt felt sweat breaking out at his temples. People were staring.
“The men who killed that little girl,” Woods said. “The ones whose release from prison you practically handed to them on a platter. Have they killed again since they’ve been free?”
Whitt couldn’t answer. He felt suddenly, unbearably sick.
“I don’t suppose anyone knows,” Woods said. “A kid goes missing. They never find her. Could have been your guys. No one’s watching them anymore. You made sure of that.”
Whitt walked toward the men’s room. He barely made it through the door before the sickness came.