‘A philandering arse.’

‘Nicely put, but yes. And a lazy one at that. So, if we stay out of his way, he won’t bother us.’

Chris shook his head. ‘He gets paid all that money.’

‘I know.’

‘You know what I reckon?’ Chris said, getting to his feet, ‘I reckon he asked for this job.’

‘You think?’

‘Yep. He knows you’re a bloody good DI and a hard worker to boot. This,’ he waved a hand round the incident room, ‘this is an easy gig for him. He puts his name to it, turns up every now and then, you do the work and he takes the credit.’

Clare inclined her head. ‘Maybe,’ she said. ‘But it didn’t help him get the Superintendent’s post, did it?’

Chris laughed. ‘No, it didn’t. I always wondered why, though. After the missing baby case was cleared up I thought he’d be a shoo-in.’

‘So did he,’ Clare said. ‘But he didn’t get it.’

‘Please tell me it went to someone he hates.’

‘Worse than that – they gave it to a woman!’

Chris started to laugh but Clare’s eye was caught by Jim.

‘That’s your witness in, Clare.’

She nodded her thanks. ‘C’mon, Chris. Let’s go and see what Melanie has to say for herself.’

Chapter 18

Melanie Fraser stood a little back from the public enquiry desk, her arms clasped across her body. She was neatly dressed in a print summer dress and white deck shoes. Clare wondered if she’d felt obliged to dress up for the interview. She crossed the room quickly and gave Melanie a smile.

‘Thank you so much for coming in,’ she said. ‘Come this way and we’ll find somewhere quiet to talk.’

Melanie hesitated then followed Clare across the front office towards one of the interview rooms. Sara was despatched to make her a cup of tea while Clare introduced Chris.

‘It’s not a formal interview,’ Clare explained. ‘We just want to take a statement for now.’

Melanie flicked a glance at Clare then nodded and they sat down, Clare making small talk until Sara brought in a mug of tea on a small metal tray. Next to the mug something was wrapped in a green paper towel and Sara laid this on the desk. ‘Thought you might like a biscuit,’ she said to Melanie, one eye on Chris. The paper towel opened out to reveal one of Chris’s Wagon Wheels. He avoided Sara’s eye and, as she closed the door, Clare heard her mutter, ‘Busted.’

‘Chris, here, has a secret stash of biscuits,’ she explained to Melanie. ‘Looks like he’s been rumbled.’

Melanie smiled. ‘Just like my Daniel,’ she said, adding, ‘only he’s just three.’

Clare was glad to see her relaxing and she pressed on. ‘We’ll take a statement today and, if we need anything further, we’ll be back in touch.’