‘The IMAX with me, tomorrow night. There’s a showing of Guardians of the Galaxy…’
Darryl hesitated and then thought what a great opportunity it would be to look around, just look. It was a scratch that needed itching. It was a huge cinema, central, and Bryony could be a good cover.
‘Okay,’ he said.
‘So it’s a date?’ she said, chewing and swallowing the last of her bhaji.
‘Yeah. It’s a date,’ said Darryl. He kept the smile plastered to his face until she’d retreated back to her desk, her face flushed.
He wiped the photo of Grendel again, and stuck it back to the bottom of the computer monitor. The screen had gone into sleep mode and was blank, and he was reminded of his reflection. Inside he felt like a strong invincible warrior, like Beowulf, but the face which stared back at him was podgy and ordinary, with a weak chin and beady eyes.
He sat back in his chair and realised something; Bryony actually thought she had a chance with him. Her with him.
He found it difficult to concentrate for the rest of the day, especially with Bryony opposite constantly looking up and smiling, and just before four, she even brought him a cup of coffee from Starbucks.
He took it with a smile, but inside he was furious. He would show her. She would regret thinking they were in the same league.
Chapter Fifty-Four
The next morning Erika and Melanie met at the New Scotland Yard building. They waited for twenty minutes in silence outside the Assistant Commissioner’s office until her secretary finally broke the heavy silence and they were shown through.
Camilla was dressed to kill, but looked determined to at least maim in an elegant black trouser suit with a white silk blouse. She sat at the head of the conference table in the corner of her office. To her right sat a neat little man with a stern cherubic face. And on her left, a handsome young male uniformed officer was ready to take minutes. Melanie sat at the opposite end of the table, and Erika beside her.
‘Thank you for coming, ladies,’ said Camilla. ‘I’ve called this meeting to discuss the triple murder inquiry… Acting Commander Mason is joining us.’
The neat little man nodded. Camilla opened a folder on the desk with a light flourish, and slipped on her glasses from a gold chain around her neck. ‘Acting Superintendent Hudson. Do you prefer Mel or Melanie?’
‘It’s Melanie, ma’am.’
‘Good, that’s very wise,’ she said, scanning the papers in front of her. Melanie looked confused; Erika gave her a sidewards glance. Camilla loved to confuse people during meetings with her off-the-cuff comments. Camilla went on. ‘Melanie, I asked you along here with Erika to get a broad idea of the case. The parents of Ella Wilkinson are now pursuing a formal complaint against you and the Metropolitan police through the Independent Police Complaints Commission, and along with Erika we’d just like to get your side of things. Informally, at this stage.’
‘Ma’am. There isn’t a side. There are facts. Would you like the facts?’ said Erika.
Melanie didn’t object to the interruption.
Camilla nodded.
‘I’ve been briefing Melanie at every step during this case. We were in the process of finalising the media appeal into the deaths of Janelle Robinson and Lacey Greene when we heard that Ella Wilkinson was missing. I had less than ten minutes to make a decision whether or not to include her abduction in our appeal. At that stage, all I knew was that Ella was of a similar age and looks to Lacey and Janelle, and she’d been reported missing in broadly similar circumstances. I took the decision not to include her name in the appeal at that time so as not to distract from the victims we did have. I also didn’t want to add fuel to rumours that we had a killer of multiple victims.’
‘I wasn’t kept fully updated with what was unfolding,’ said Melanie.
Erika turned to her. ‘Yes, you were. But you were away at a conference and we weren’t able to speak.’
‘It was a racial awareness conference, ma’am.’
Camilla held up her manicured hand. ‘How is that relevant?’ Melanie opened and closed her mouth, flummoxed. Camilla went on. ‘If it had been a conference about the prevention of scrumping apples, would you have told me with such relish?’
‘I’m just giving you the information, ma’am,’ said Melanie, stung.
‘I want useful information, not window dressing.’
‘Yes, ma’am,’ said Melanie, struggling with her composure.
Erika almost felt sorry for her.
Camilla glanced at her file again. ‘Are you aware that a journalist from the national press visited Ella Wilkinson’s parents, the retired Chief Superintendent Wilkinson and his wife, and enlightened them on the details of your Specialist Firearms Operation?’
‘No,’ said Melanie, looking at Erika, who also shook her head.
‘They told him how you mobilised two Specialist Firearms Teams to raid the home of a Mr Darius O’Keefe and his recently widowed elderly mother. Mr O’Keefe, incidentally, also performs as a drag queen, “Crystal Balls” is his drag name…’
Camilla paused for effect, and Erika saw a smile flicker across the face of the young officer taking minutes. Acting Commander Mason remained stern, placing his small neat hands on the table.
Camilla continued: ‘Mr O’Keefe also wishes to make a formal complaint, saying that whilst the police were courteous, a Heckler & Koch G36 assault rifle was discharged in his costume store, damaging a plastic mannequin, which was holding a fake plastic revolver, and wearing a Swarovski-encrusted tubular bodice worth seventeen thousand pounds… I’m expecting all of this to run in the national tabloids with the added coda that, hours later, former Chief Superintendent Wilkinson’s daughter turned up dead.’
Erika looked to Melanie, but she had sunk down in her seat and was staring at the polished surface of the table.
‘Ma’am, you must be aware that the press has twisted this to make us sound incompetent,’ said Erika. ‘We were acting on a tip-off from what we believed was a reliable source who came forward after seeing our appeal on television. I was aware that Ella Wilkinson had already been missing for three days, and time was running out. It was our duty to go in there and investigate what could have been a dangerous individual who had already abducted and killed two women. It’s all very well to sit here and recount the story as if it’s some amusing anecdote.’
‘I don’t find it amusing,’ snapped Camilla.
‘Careful decisions had to be made in a short time, ma’am, and I believe I did the best I could in a difficult and complex situation.’
There was a cold silence. Erika looked across at Melanie, hoping she would jump in, but she remained quiet.