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

I take that back. I remember what my foul-mouthed gran used to be like. Sorry, I digress, you were saying, Charlie?”

She smiled and shook her head. “You’re nuts. Anyway, adding to what we learnt earlier, about the car disappearing in the Whitechapel area, she lives in Croft Road. Can you bring it up on the map, see how close it is to where the car went missing?”

He tapped a few keys and zoomed in on the map. “Croft Road, ah, here it is. Yeah, it’s not far, not far at all, in fact.”

“I’m going to run it past DCI Roberts.”

At that moment, he chose to come out of the office and caught the tail end of their conversation. “What’s that?”

Charlie ran through what they’d uncovered. “What do you think we should do now, sir, bearing in mind the restrictions we have in place?”

“Hogwash. We forget about them for the time being. We’ve got a serial killer on the loose, and it’s imperative we bring the shit down. Let’s get some patrol cars doing what they do best in the area and see what that brings.”

Charlie grimaced and then tutted. “What if he’s changed his car by now?”

Roberts groaned. “Then we’re up the proverbial creek, aren’t we? Get the patrol cars organised, Charlie. Then I think we should call it a day.”

Charlie’s eyes were drawn to the clock on the wall.

“Something wrong, DC Simpkins?” Roberts followed her gaze.

“Umm…no, sir. I was wondering what the time was, that’s all. Gosh, is it that late already? Doesn’t time fly when—?”

“Yes, yes. It may only be five-forty, but I think we should go home all the same.”

Graham glanced at Charlie. She saw him turn his head her way, but her focus remained on Roberts.

“What is it, Graham?” DCI Roberts demanded. “I’m getting the distinct impression that none of you have homes to go to, am I wrong?”

“It’s just that…” Graham started and stopped.

“It’s just that we need to be around to man the phones, sir, you know, what with the press conference going out on the evening news,” Charlie finished off for her colleague who seemed relieved at her interjection.

“Oh yes. You’re right. Well, in my eyes it’s only going to need one person to remain behind, and only for a maximum of two hours. Who’s up for the job?”

Charlie grinned. “I’ll happily volunteer, sir.”

“What utter nonsense. You have swatting up to do this evening for your important exam tomorrow, or had you forgotten about that, Simpkins?”

“Hardly, sir. I could do all my revision here, while I answer the calls.”

He blew out a breath. “Very well, if that’s how you want to go about things, who am I to argue with you? The rest of you can pack up and go home.”

He left the incident room before anyone else could argue the toss with him.

As soon as the door closed behind him, Patrick whispered, “Is he for real? We’re closing in on a serial killer, and he wants us to put the brakes on and piss off home. What the fuck?”

Charlie shook her head. “It’s the cuts driving his decision, I’m sure it is. You guys go, leave me to man the phones.”

Karen shook her head. “That’s not fair on you, Charlie. You’ve got important revision to do this evening. Let me stay here and you go home.”

“Honestly, I’m fine. Don’t worry about me, I wasn’t planning on revising that much anyway to tell you the truth. I’ll hang around until eight as instructed and then call it a day.”

The team despondently switched off their equipment, and reluctantly left her to it.

Charlie found the empty incident room eerie to begin with. She shuddered as a cool breeze swept past her half an hour later. She shot out of her chair, a prominent thought in her mind. She glanced at the door, making sure it was shut and asked, “Pete, is that you?” She recollected the stories her mother used to tell her regarding her former partner always being present. She sniffed the air. A faint smell of aftershave wafted under her nose, and she knew he was close by. She’d regarded Pete as an uncle figure when she was younger, he’d been a good man. Why was he here? To protect her? Or had he come to take her with him?

She shook the ghastly thought from her head. No, not the latter, please, not that!

The faintest of laughs spooked her. Is he reading my mind? Can spirits do that? Where’s Carol when I need her?

Charlie flipped open her revision folder and concentrated on that, instead of trying to figure out things that were beyond her.

Just like that, Pete seemed to disappear. The phone on her desk rang, and she almost leapt out of her seat. “DC Simpkins, how can I help?”

The caller was one of those nuisance calls she’d heard so much about. The young man ended the conversation with a laugh and hung up, leaving her frustrated as she crossed through the information he’d spent five minutes giving her.

“Fucking dipshit!” The rest of the evening proved to be a disappointment. Maybe the chief was right in his thinking, ordering the staff to go home early. She packed up at around eight and left the station.

Now all she had to do was go home, rustle up some dinner and get a good night’s sleep. She had a feeling sleep wouldn’t be on the agenda, not with her mind whirling up a storm before her exam.

9

Boyd was on the prowl again. He’d followed the two men to the pub. Laughed when he saw the two uniformed coppers get out of their car and take up their positions on either side of the main entrance.

“The guys always did like their drink. Fancy dragging the coppers along with them. What a waste of police time.”

What are you going to do? Sit here and wait for them to come out?

“What other option do I have? I can’t go in there and do the deed, can