Shot of Silence (Justice Again Book 3) by M Comley (best contemporary novels txt) 📗

Didn’t you get a look at him when he knocked seven bells out of you?”

“No. He was wearing a mask.”

“Unfortunate. Okay, then I agree with you, put the man under surveillance for the next two days.”

Katy chewed her lip.

“What’s wrong now?”

“We have to locate the bugger first. My guess is that he’ll go on the run.”

Roberts expelled a frustrated sigh. “Who’s toying with whom here?”

Katy sniggered. “Two people can play your game, sir. No, in all honesty, it’s true, we’ve yet to locate him. His estranged wife tried to commit suicide before I could ask if she knew where he could be now.”

“Is she all right? Do you think she’ll try it again?”

“Who knows? It depends on her mental state. My take is that she might—her self-worth is at a possible all-time low at present.”

“In that case, she’s in the best place for her.”

“She can’t stay in hospital indefinitely, though, and when she comes out that responsibility is down to me. I’ve arranged to put her in a safe house, but she’ll be alone at the residence, who’s to say she won’t try it again the minute she’s left alone?”

“I hear you. Maybe if she feels bad enough, she’ll reconsider trying to take her life a second time.”

“I hope so. We’ll deal with that should it crop up in the future. You’re telling me if we track this bastard down that I can throw some funds at the investigation?”

“Yes, within reason.”

“I have to justify my decisions, in other words.”

“Yes, we all do. Stop taking this as a personal slight against you and your team. The directive went out to every high-ranking officer in the force from inspectors upwards.”

“That’s reassuring. It doesn’t alter things, though. There’s a serial killer on the loose around here, and instead of giving the case my full and undivided attention, I have to pause and think whether the expenditure that accompanies an investigation of this magnitude is justified or not. Makes you wonder how Head Office expect us to solve any crimes at all, doesn’t it? What a deplorable position to be in.”

“Hey, I’m with you all the way with that perspective. It is what it is, and we need to adapt or…”

“Or?”

“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. On that note, I need to crack on. Just be cautious, I’d go as far as telling you to be restrained in your approach on this case.”

“Restrained? As in, every facet of the investigation or only the financial side of things?” Katy asked. She could tell Sean had picked up on the sarcasm laced throughout the question from the narrowing of his eyes.

“Be very careful, DI Foster.”

Katy placed an innocent hand on her chest. “Oh, don’t worry, I will.” She rose from her chair, walked towards the door, yanked it open and threw over her shoulder, “And the concussion is passable today, but I’ll plod on. Ever the professional, sir.”

His mouth dropped open and tried to close a few times, but some kind of force appeared to be preventing it.

Katy didn’t hang around to hear the sharp-tongued retort she sensed would be coming her way once he’d had the chance to recover.

“Everything all right?” Trisha whispered conspiratorially.

“Yep. It is now.” Katy giggled and left the outer office.

Back in the incident room, she announced, “Listen up, folks, we’ve got the initial go-ahead to start surveillance, but it has an added warning not to be wasteful of the funds in place.”

The team all groaned.

Patrick threw his pen across the desk. “How do they expect us to do our jobs properly working under the current restrictions, boss?”

“I asked the same thing and have no doubt that, in the past, numerous inspectors before me have done the same. I’m not happy about it but, let’s do the best we can under the restrictions.”

“Is it always like this?” Charlie asked.

“More often than not. We’re just like any other business out there, Charlie. Head Office has a balance sheet they need to tally up at the end of each financial year. We must be nearing the end of ours, hence the restrictive measures in place.”

“Oh, I see. Do you think you should make a public announcement, pleading with the criminals in the area to give us a break for a few months until the new financial year kicks in then?”

Katy smiled. “Can you imagine the uproar that would bring? You’ll get used to it. We’ve coped before and we’ll cope again. I’ve always tried to keep the overtime down to a minimum, the chief knows that. But I had fun reminding him what a crack team we are and pointing out our stunning achievements along the way. The trouble is, it’s not him we should be worried about. He’s behind us all the way, I don’t want you guys to think otherwise.”

Applause sounded from the doorway, and Katy swivelled on her heel, the motion almost sending her off balance.

“I couldn’t have put it better myself, Inspector,” Roberts shouted, his gaze boring into hers.

“Sorry, sir, I didn’t see you there.”

“That much is evident. Glad you weren’t too over the top in your damning assessment, Inspector.”

She recapped her recent words, trying to think if she’d called him any vile names or spoken unkindly about him. She hadn’t. Katy breathed out a sigh. “I was simply relaying the message you gave me, sir. I’d rather make that point clear first before we truly sink our teeth into this investigation.”

Roberts entered the room and approached the whiteboard. He scanned the information and then turned to face the team who were all staring at him anxiously. “No need to look so nervous, guys. I know we’re asking a lot of you, and some of you will need to adapt the way you do things, but it’s the way it has to be. Either that, or we’ll be forced to make drastic cutbacks, so you tell me which is the lesser of the two evils.”

“We get that, sir. We’re intelligent individuals, otherwise we wouldn’t be here. It doesn’t