Jane got in her car and took a few deep breaths to calm herself down. She’d been enjoying Kingston’s company and thought there was a mutual respect between the two of them, but now it seemed it was all an act to get her into bed.
How could I have been so stupid?
It had probably been thoughtless to snub his advances so forcefully. Would he now back her up when they spoke to Murphy about the Wilson sisters and the possible surveillance operations? Did it mean, yet again, she’d have to fight her own corner?
‘Why does this shit always happen to me?’ she muttered as she started the engine.
She knew if she went straight home she was still so upset she wouldn’t be able to get to sleep for ages. She decided to go back to the office and get her pocket notebook and Rachel’s notes, so she could type up her report at home after a calming hot bath and a glass of wine.
*
Katie was busy photocopying and didn’t hear Jane come in.
‘I thought you’d have gone home by now,’ Jane said and Katie jumped.
‘You startled me. What are you doing back here?’
‘I’m just picking up my notes so I can type my report at home.’
‘Murphy doesn’t like people to take their work home. You know, in case they lose it and it gets into the wrong hands,’ Katie said quickly.
‘It’s all right,’ Jane explained. ‘The notes are in my pocket notebook, which like every police officer I carry with me on the streets when I’m out making enquiries and often take home.’
She got her keys out of her coat pocket and opened her desk drawer.
‘What the fuck? Someone’s been in my desk and taken all my notes!’
‘You’re joking . . .’ Katie said, putting her hand to her mouth in apparent surprise.
‘Has anyone been back to the office while I was out?’
‘Only Murphy. I nipped out to the loo while he was here—’
‘Well, he must have a skeleton key because I locked it,’ she said, turning towards his office.
‘I think he has. Maybe he’s taken them with him to read.’
‘He’s got no bloody right to do that!’ Jane snapped.
She went into Murphy’s office and started to search his desk. Katie gathered up her photocopying, then put it in the bottom of her desk tray and started typing.
‘Were they in his office?’ she asked as Jane reappeared.
‘No. As much of an arsehole as Murphy is, I can’t believe he would be so underhand. Did the Colonel come back here earlier?’
‘No, I’ve not seen or heard from him since this afternoon.’
Jane checked the Colonel’s desk and trays. Then, as she scanned the room, she noticed two small screwdrivers on the table next to the photocopier. She looked at Katie, who was still typing with her head down. Jane thought it strange that she hadn’t lifted a finger to help her search for the notes. She checked the office duty sheet and saw that the Colonel had booked off about ten minutes before he came into the pub.
‘The Colonel must have been in as he’s booked off duty,’ Jane said, looking at Katie.
‘Really? Well, he might have come in just after Murphy while I was on the loo, then left before I got back to my desk.’
Jane checked the duty sheet again and saw that Stanley, Cam, Bax and Teflon had booked off at the same time as the Colonel, meaning he wouldn’t have been able to take her notes without the rest of them seeing. She also realised there was no way Katie couldn’t have seen or heard all four of them in the office, even if she was in the toilet, as it was just a few feet away in the corridor.
‘How did Murphy know my notes were in my top drawer?’
‘I don’t know – but it’s an obvious place to keep them,’ Katie replied nervously.
‘You can tell me if you saw Murphy take them. I won’t rat on you.’
Katie’s mouth had gone dry and she licked her lips.
‘Like I said before, I was on the loo, so he or the Colonel could have taken them.’
Jane remembered seeing Katie by the photocopier and recalled something she herself had inadvertently done a few times when using it. She lifted the lid and her suspicions were confirmed.
‘You’re not half as clever as you think you are, Katie,’ Jane said calmly. ‘You’re also a shit liar.’
‘What on earth are you talking about?’ she asked, trying to look surprised.
‘Cut the act, Katie. You were the last person to use the photocopier – and look what you left behind.’ Jane removed the piece of notepaper from the copier. ‘This is the description of the men in the cafe – in Rachel Wilson’s handwriting. How do you explain that?’
‘Murphy or the Colonel must have left it there,’ she said straight-faced.
Jane picked up the screwdrivers and banged them down on Katie’s desk.
‘You used these to unlock my drawer, didn’t you?’
‘I wasn’t using the copier, I was trying to fix the top – it had a loose screw and I left the screwdrivers on the table.’
Jane snorted. ‘You’re the one with the loose screw. Now where are my notes?’ she demanded.
‘I haven’t got your fucking notes!’ Katie shouted, knocking her chair over as she stood up. ‘I’ve done nothing wrong and won’t be spoken to like this. I’m going home.’
She picked up her handbag and Jane ripped it out of her hand.
‘You’re going nowhere,’ she said, standing between Katie and the door.
Kate was going red in the face. ‘You have no right to keep me here against my will!’
Jane opened Katie’s handbag and tipped the contents on the floor, but neither her pocket notebook nor Rachel’s notes were there.
‘You see, I haven’t got them.’
Jane noticed Katie make a quick glance towards her desk. She started rummaging through Katie’s filing trays and quickly found her pocket notebook and the rest of Rachel’s notes, along with photocopies of them. She held them up for Katie to see.
Katie shrugged. ‘I’ll deny it and say you’re lying. Murphy will have you kicked off the squad before you know it.’
Jane thought for a moment. ‘Did Murphy tell you to take the notes and copy them?’
Katie said nothing, her eyes full of contempt. Jane decided to try and rattle her.
‘I’ll take your silence as a yes, but tell me . . . who do you think Kingston will believe – me or you?’
‘He’ll believe me. He wants rid of you just as much as Murphy and everyone else does.’
‘That’s not the impression he gave me in the pub earlier; he was all over me. He definitely didn’t want you there to cramp his style.’
Katie began to shake with anger.
‘You’re lying – it was you that was all over him and he rejected you.’
Jane was taken aback. ‘Were you spying on us at the pub?’
‘If you think you can take Stewart from me you’re wrong. He loves me.’
Jane laughed. ‘If you think being fucked on a weightlifting bench is love you need your brains tested.’
Her eyes opened wide. ‘You were watching us in the gym!’
‘And I can’t wait to tell the rest of the team—’
Katie screamed, launching herself towards Jane with her fingers splayed like a cat’s claws.
Jane took a step backwards.
‘You’re a fucking bitch, Tennison!’ Katie shouted as she stepped forward.
Acting instinctively, Jane blocked Katie’s right hand with her left and landed a straight right on Katie’s chin, knocking her off her feet and onto the floor. She lay there for a long moment, eyes wide open staring into space. Jane thought she’d knocked her out, but then she took a deep, rasping breath and started to cry. She put her fingers to her split lip and they came away bloody.
‘You cut me,’ she sobbed.
‘You’ll live,’ Jane said, grabbing a wad of tissues from the box on Katie’s desk. She helped her sit up and pressed the tissues against her lip. ‘No more games, Katie. I want to know what’s going on.’
Katie took a couple of deep breaths. ‘All right. I was told to keep an eye on you and find out what you were doing in the hope you’d mess up.’
‘Who told you to spy on me?’
‘Murphy.’
‘That doesn’t surprise me. Was Kingston involved?’
‘No, he didn’t want any part of it. He stuck up for you and I was jealous because I thought he fancied you, so I didn’t mind doing what Murphy wanted. Oh my God, my lip is split open!’
Jane realised there was at least some truth in what Katie said about Kingston. He had given her valuable advice. She grabbed another wad of tissues and dabbed some more of the blood off Katie’s lip.
‘My advice would be to break it off with Kingston. I know from personal experience work relationships are doomed to fail, especially when a married man is involved.’
Jane looked up to see Murphy framed in the doorway with a surprised look on his face.
‘What the fuck’s going on?’ he exclaimed.
Jane glared at him. ‘Why don’t you tell me?’
*
Jane sat opposite Murphy as he read her pocket notebook and Rachel Wilson’s notes. She could feel the adrenaline still coursing through her veins. At first, he’d accused Katie of lying, but when Katie said she would report him to the Commander in charge of the Flying Squad, and back Jane up, he quickly capitulated, though he was adamant he’d never told Katie to break into Jane’s desk drawer. He didn’t apologise to Jane, but did agree to listen to her about the Wilson sisters and the possible suspects in the robbery, and read her notes with an open mind.
Murphy turned another page of Jane’s notes, then opened the bottom drawer of his desk and removed the bottle of whisky and two glasses. He poured some whisky into one glass, picked it up and took a sip.
‘This is good stuff.’
‘My notes or the Scotch, sir?’
‘Both. Do you ever take a “wee dram”?’
‘Now and again.’
He poured her a glass and slid it across the table. She picked it up and took a sip.
‘Cheers.’
‘I wish the rest of the team made notes that are as detailed and thorough as this.’
She wondered if he was being sincere, or just embarrassed about his underhandedness being exposed and trying to get back into her good books.
‘Do you feel what I’ve uncovered so far merits further investigation?’
‘I might. Have you discussed these notes with anyone else on the team?’ he asked, handing them back to her.
She hesitated for a second. ‘No, not yet.’
She didn’t want to land Kingston in it, despite his behaviour in the pub.
He nodded. ‘Fine. I’ve got a few more questions – then I’ll decide the appropriate course of action.’
He topped up both their glasses.