more a day cooped up in an office which hadn’t been dusted or cleaned in at least three maybe four years.
By the time Ben came back in an hour later with two mugs of coffee, the whole place smelt of lemon and beeswax. She had dragged everything out, polished, hoovered and put everything she needed into a more suitable workspace. She’d even cleaned the grime from the windows so daylight could filter through. Kenny had set her a computer up and was in the process of drilling two huge whiteboards onto the wall.
‘Wow, I like what you’ve done with the place. It’s like the television show where they get sixty minutes to makeover a house.’
She grinned. ‘Do you watch much daytime TV then?’
‘God, no. Absolutely not, I’ve seen it advertised.’
Amy followed him in. ‘That’s an outright lie. He watches all the crap when he’s on lates, then spends the next eight hours filling anyone in who might listen to him. He’s right, though, you’ve done a good job. I might move down here. It’s better than our office and not full of people.’
‘No, you’re not. You need to be back there so I can see where we are and what we’re up to.’
She shook her head. ‘He doesn’t trust us, do you, boss?’
‘No, you’ve been doing this too long. You know how to flaunt the rules. Morgan is new, she’s keen, and I imagine she wants to get jobs done and learn how to do stuff. A bit like you ten years ago, before you decided you didn’t like working for a living.’
Amy walked out tutting and Morgan felt awkward. She didn’t want to be responsible for bad feeling between the pair of them. Ben must have noticed the concern on her face.
‘Don’t worry, we’re always like this. She’ll be in a mood for around six minutes then snap out of it. Kenny, can you give us a couple of minutes?’
‘I’m done now.’ Kenny turned to Morgan. ‘If you need anything else you know where to find me.’ He left them to it.
‘I just wanted you to know an arrest team is being assembled to go bring your dad in. He’s supposed to be on his way to Ann Street. I’ll be the arresting officer and interview him.’
‘Oh, I thought he was a person of interest not a suspect.’
He paused. ‘He is, but he’s also the last person up to now to have seen them alive, and you said yourself when he turned up he had some scratches. The DCI has decided it’s better to bring him in under the the Police and Criminal Evidence Act and get him questioned. He’s only going to clam up and ask for a solicitor if we ask him in for a friendly chat. We might as well do it in one shot before he has a chance to. Oh, I was wondering if you’d mind going to visit Bronte. See what the hospital staff say about her condition?’
‘Yes, of course and thanks for telling me.’
She sat down. Her knees felt like they couldn’t hold her up. He passed her the mug of coffee and she gripped it tight, afraid her fingers were going to start trembling and she’d spill it everywhere.
He opened his mouth to say something else, thought better of it and left her alone.
Twenty-Six
The hospital was a hive of activity. It was far bigger than the one nearest to Rydal Falls and the corridors went on forever. Morgan followed the signs to ICU. She wasn’t sure if she’d be allowed in or not and had a feeling that Ben had sent her here to get her out of the way while Stan was being brought in. As she reached the entrance to the unit she bumped into the ward manager, who was coming out.
‘I’m Morgan Brookes from Cumbria Constabulary.’ The woman looked at her as if to say ‘and?’. Morgan wasn’t sure if she was to call herself detective or officer. ‘PC Morgan Brookes; is it possible to visit Bronte Potter?’
‘She’s already got a visitor and a police guard, but I suppose you can for a short time. It’s only two visitors at a time and usually just close relatives.’
‘Thanks, where is she?’
‘Through the double doors. There’s a private room at the end. You can’t miss the copper sitting in the doorway.’
Morgan covered her hands in sanitiser and pushed open the door. The sound was almost deafening from all the different machines and monitors beeping and buzzing. She saw the room