Cut You Dead (Dr. Samantha Willerby Mystery #4) - A J Waines Page 0,31

your teeth into. I know you will.’

I kept my gaze in my lap. I didn’t want something else. I wanted to pursue what I’d already unearthed. He leant over and planted a moist kiss on my cheek. ‘Just be careful, that’s all.’

I opened my mouth to respond, but he’d turned away and was reaching for his wallet.

‘Another drink?’ he asked, and the moment was broken.

23

I didn’t waste any time the following morning, joining the early-bird flush of yawning commuters on their way to north London.

When Terry had come back from the bar with the second round, we’d dropped the subject of the cold cases. Our conversation took a detour down memory lane instead, and he challenged me to remember the last time I’d used a payphone in the street. That took a while to figure out. After that, we ended up talking about our first Sony Walkman and travelled even further back to Etch a Sketch. But, hidden to the outside world, the haircut cases continued to put down hefty roots in my mind, like those of a giant sequoia. Not for one moment did I consider giving up and starting again.

Once inside the office, I honed in on Kevin, hoping the desks either side of him would be unoccupied at this early hour. I was lucky and bagged the one to his left.

‘Hi,’ I said. ‘When did you get in?’

‘Only a few minutes ago. Piles to get through today.’ He pulled a face and turned back to his screen.

I logged on and got to work, examining Lorna and Charlotte’s files in detail, searching for any other common threads between them. The methods, locations, occupations and backgrounds of the women. The more information I found, however, the more everything seemed poles apart.

Hazel worked as an estate agent in Dulwich, Charlotte was a dental receptionist in Primrose Hill and Lorna had been a fashion student, studying at Westminster College. The one and only link I could see was the haircut shortly before they died. I knew Terry was right when he said it wasn’t enough to reinvestigate.

It was frustrating not having access to Hazel’s file, but there was a reason I chose this particular workstation. After a stretch and a yawn, Kevin left his desk, dutifully logging out of the system before he went. When he returned a few moments later, I got up and discretely made sure I was directly behind his chair when he logged back in.

Trombones76

I sauntered over to the water cooler and brought back two plastic cups full, as if that was my sole reason for getting to my feet. I plonked one on his drinks mat. This shameful behaviour was new to me. I’d rarely been one to break the rules – bend them a little for very good reason perhaps, but not deliberately flout them. And only ever those within my own profession. The stakes within law enforcement were higher, but if bringing Lorna’s killer to justice meant stepping over the line here and there, I was on board one hundred per cent.

‘You’re definitely spoiling me,’ Kevin said with a chuckle.

I gave him as broad a smile as I could manage at that time in the morning and settled down to resume my endless trawling of the files, focussing on Lorna’s this time.

She’d come for therapy in 2010 after a van had crashed into a queue of people standing with her at a cash machine. Lorna wasn’t injured, but others were seriously hurt, one of whom later died in hospital.

Kevin made me a coffee mid-morning. ‘No biscuits, I’m afraid. Sorry.’ He tapped his rotund belly. ‘Post-Christmas resolution. Boring, I know.’

He checked his watch and threw his eyes up. ‘Bollocks. Got a meeting five minutes ago.’

I felt a sweat break out on my palms. ‘Must be annoying if you’re in the middle of something,’ I said, playing it cool. ‘Will it last long?’

He tutted, grabbing his bag. ‘The DI usually drags on. Could be an hour. Who knows?’

Once he’d gone, I waited a few minutes, observing the comings and goings in the office. If I shuffled to the next seat along would anyone notice?

Before I could change my mind, my trembling fingers were hovering over Kevin’s keyboard. I typed in his password and was in without a hitch. It didn’t take long to pull up Hazel Hart’s incident report. I jotted down what I needed, closed the file and logged out.

Only seconds later, Kevin was back, striding towards me. I was still perching on his seat.