Poor girl; had this outline sketch of Mr Williams been filled in and realized, she would have seen something in the corpse-like face, and heard something in the sinister voice, that would have unsettled her tranquillity forever.
When the phone rang, Carol's first reaction was outrage. Ten past eight on a Sunday morning could only mean work. She stirred, a long, low growl of discontent making Nelson's ears prick. Carol's arm appeared from under the covers, groping around on the bedside table.
She connected with the phone and grunted,
"Jordan," into it.
"This is your early-morning alarm call." The voice was far too cheerful, Carol decided, before the identity of her caller registered.
"Kevin," she said.
"This better be good."
"It's better than good. What would you say to a witness who saw the killer drive away from Damien Connolly's house?"
"Say again?" she mumbled. Kevin repeated his announcement. The second time round, his voice catapulted Carol into a sitting position, on the edge of the bed.
"When?" she demanded.
"The guy walked in late last night. He's been out of the country on business. Brandon interviewed him. He's called a meeting for nine," Kevin said, excited as a Christmas child.
"Kevin, you bastard, you might have called me before now..."
He chuckled.
"I thought you needed your beauty sleep."
"Bollocks to beauty sleep ..."
"No, I've only been in five minutes myself. Can you bring the doc in with you? I just tried calling him, but there was no reply."
"OK, I'll swing round by his place and see if I can raise him. He seems to have a habit of switching the phones off. Fancy thinking he could get away with a decent night's sleep. You can tell he's not a copper," she added. Carol replaced the phone abruptly and headed for the shower. The thought that Tony might have switched off his phone because he was with the woman on the answering machine crossed her mind. The idea made her stomach hurt.
"Silly bitch," she muttered to herself as the water cascaded over her.
By twenty to nine, she was leaning on Tony's doorbell. After a couple of minutes, the door opened. Bleary eyed, struggling with the belt of his dressing gown. Tony peered out at her.
"Carol?"
"Sorry to wake you," she said formally.
"You weren't answering your phone. Mr Brandon asked me to pick you up. There's a meeting at nine.
We've got a witness. "
Tony rubbed his eyes, looking bemused.
"You better come in." He walked down the hall, leaving Carol to close the door behind her.
"Sorry about the phones. I was late c getting to sleep, so I switched them off." He shook his head.
"Can you hang on while I have a shower and a shave? 11 Otherwise, I'll make my own way in. I don't want you to w be late on my account."
"I'll wait," Carol said. She picked the paper off the mat and flicked through it, leaning against the wall, alert for the telltale signs of a third person's presence. She felt unreasonably pleased when she heard none. Even though she knew her reaction was childish, it didn't mean these responses were going to stop overnight. She was just going to have to learn to disguise them until they died away, as she felt sure they would eventually, starved out of existence by Tony's lack of interest.
Ten minutes later. Tony reappeared in jeans and rugby shirt, hair damp and neatly brushed.
"Sorry about that," he said.
"My brain doesn't work until I've had a shower. Now, what's all this about a witness?"
Carol told him the little she knew on the way to the car.
"That's great news," Tony enthused.
"First big breakthrough, isn't it?"
Carol shrugged.
"It depends how much he can tell us. If the guy was driving a red Ford Escort, it doesn't take us a lot further forward.
We'd need something solid to cross-match. Maybe something like the computer angle. "
"Oh yes, the computer theory. How goes that?"
"I discussed it with my brother. He reckons it's perfectly feasible,"
Carol said coldly, feeling patronized.
"Great!" Tony enthused.
"I really hope that works out. I wasn't trying to pour cold water on it, you know. I have to work with the balance of probabilities, and your idea's way beyond my parameters.
But it's the kind of investigative brain wave that we're going to need on the national task force. I really think you should seriously consider signing up when we get the show on the road. "
"I didn't think you'd be comfortable with the idea of working with me after this," Carol said, eyes firmly fixed on the road.
Tony took a deep breath.
"I've