“Isn’t that going to cost the investigation in terms of time lost?”

“Yes, of course it is. But it’s a budget issue. Apparently, we need to spread our murders out, or move one or two to the next financial year.”

Atkinson paused. “Wrongful death? Did Franks not make it?”

“It’s touch-and-go,” said Joanna. “Let’s see what the next few hours bring. If it’s not murder, then it might as well have been: someone’s had a good try at killing the guy. We need to act as if it’s murder, get all the details nailed. But we can’t start properly until the DI’s seen it.”

Jo kept glancing up at the West Block, at the window she thought might have been Ruby’s.

Atkinson cleared his throat. “Are you thinking we need to go door-to-door in that block?”

She snapped her eyes away. “Let’s see what we’ve got, first,” she said. “Might not be necessary to knock on everyone’s door.”

A shadow of something, suspicion or confusion, crossed his features. Their eyes met briefly before they turned as one to go back inside.

It was late when Detective Inspector Thrupp finally rolled into the estate in his large black BMW hatchback. He parked in front of the building and got out of the car, the lock giving an audible click as he made his way toward Harper standing in the entrance to the building.

Tall and striking in his shiny leather shoes and gray suit, Thrupp stared hard at the groups of youths lingering in the darkness between the apartment blocks.

“Nothing to see here, ladies and gentlemen,” he boomed. “Off you go, home now.” The youths responded by retreating further into the shadows.

“Alright, Joanna, what have you found? And on the night of the Christmas party too. The lads won’t thank you for that now, will they?”

“My missus won’t thank me either,” she said. “I promised I’d be back at a normal time today.”

“Normal,” said Thrupp. “Ha ha. She knows what you do for a living, right?”

Just then Joanna’s mobile started ringing. She pulled it out, looked at it, then swiped to dismiss the call from Amy. They’d planned to go out to eat tonight, before the party. The eight PM reservation had been hours ago. She really hoped Amy hadn’t gone on her own, that she’d waited for her.

“You could have taken that,” said the DI. “I wouldn’t object to a quick call from home.”

Jo shook her head. “That wasn’t going to be a quick one. She’s got plenty of things to say to me, I’m sure. I’ll call her back later. This way, boss.”

CHAPTER

8