James Carol - The Quiet Man

‘We didn’t save her,’ he said, breaking the silence.

‘You can’t blame yourself for what happened.’

‘I don’t. Did I build the bomb? Did I tape it to anyone’s chest?’

‘Yeah, well, I do feel guilty. I can’t help feeling that I could have done more. It’s like this guy’s been getting the better of me for the past three years.’

‘Maybe so, but you need to park that guilt. It isn’t helping.’

‘I guess. At least you were wrong about the next victim being a kid.’

‘And for once I have no problem with being wrong.’

‘So what happened? Did he fit the bomb with a trip switch?’

Winter shook his head. ‘I’m certain there was no trip switch. The killer used Cody as leverage. Eight words is all it would have taken. Do what I say or the boy dies . The bond between a mother and her child is sacred. It’s the strongest there is. Put in that situation, most mothers would sacrifice themselves without a second thought. There is a bright side, though.’

‘There is?’

‘This investigation has just turned hot again. That means a whole load of new information will come to light. Information that we didn’t have yesterday. To start with, he decided to strike in the morning this year. Then there’s the fact that he used Cody to trigger the bomb rather than the husband. So why change his MO?’

‘He used Cody because Myra and her husband were separated.’

‘Okay, but why not target someone who is married?’

Anderton shrugged. ‘Good question.’

Winter watched the cops milling around outside the crime scene for a moment. ‘We need to get into the house. That’s where we’ll find answers.’

‘And how do we do that?’

‘We could march up to the front door and demand to be let in. You’ve got thirty years of experience as a homicide cop under your belt, and I’ve been around the block a few times. They’ll welcome us in with open arms.’

Anderton almost smiled. ‘I don’t think that Freeman will see it like that.’

Winter looked at the house, and then over toward the news trucks. Delaney was as animated as ever. It was like she’d been mainlining caffeine.

‘I’ve got an idea. Follow my lead.’

He got out of the car and walked over to the Global BC news truck. Anderton was right behind him. Delaney noticed them when they were ten yards away. She waved a cameraman in behind her and came over to meet them.

‘Mr Winter, it’s so good to see you again.’ She glanced at Anderton. ‘Laura.’

‘Charlotte,’ Anderton replied.

‘No hard feelings about the interview, then?’ Winter said.

‘Of course not,’ Delaney replied. ‘It was a good interview. I haven’t had that much fun in a long time.’

‘How would you like an exclusive?’

‘I’m listening.’

‘First we need to talk. Off the record. That means the camera is switched off and pointing away from me.’

Delaney smiled then turned and spoke to the cameraman. He lowered his camera and took a step back. The reporters and technicians hovering around the other trucks were starting to pay attention. They were looking and pointing and speculating.

‘We’re now off the record,’ she said.

‘We spent last night going over the evidence again, and we noticed something that was missed. Something that points us toward the killer.’

‘What?’

‘Not so fast. We need to talk to Freeman and tell him what we’ve found. Then we’ll be back to talk to you.’

‘It would save time if you talked to me now.’

‘Nice try.’

‘I’ve got to ask, why are you doing this?’

‘I thought that would be self-explanatory. Freeman will try to claim the credit for himself. I don’t want that to happen.’

The explanation seemed to resonate with Delaney. She smirked like they were in this together. They weren’t.

‘I think the best place for the interview would be over there by the barrier,’ Winter said. ‘Having the house and all those cops in the background would provide a suitably dramatic background, don’t you think?’

‘I agree. And I’m still thinking that we should do the interview right now.’

‘Of course you are.’

‘Come on, you can’t leave me hanging like this. At least give me a hint of what you’ve got.’

‘We’ll be back in five minutes. Be ready.’

Without another word, Winter headed for the barriers, Anderton at his side. ‘Okay, the next part is down to you,’ he whispered. ‘This is the tough bit. We need to get through the front door of the house.’

‘Easy. All we do is act like we’re meant to be there.’

They ducked around the barrier, but only managed four steps before being challenged. The uniformed cop doing the challenging looked like a high-school student.

‘You shouldn’t be here,’ he called out. He started walking on an intercept course, stopping when he was a couple of yards away. Anderton kept going and stopped directly in front of him. She was pushing right up into his personal space, holding her ground. The kid took a step back. ‘What’s your name?’ she demanded.

‘Didn’t you hear what I said? You shouldn’t be back here.’

‘What’s your name?’

‘Matthews,’ the kid stuttered.

‘Officer Matthews, we’re here on Detective Inspector Freeman’s request. Now, we can go back to our car and call to tell him that you wouldn’t let us through, but I can’t see that one playing out too well. I take it you’ve heard his little speech about being part of the problem or part of the solution. How do you think he’s going to react to someone who’s adding to his problems?’

Winter almost felt sorry for the kid. His cheeks had gone pink and he didn’t know where to look. Before he could say anything, Anderton put her fingers in her mouth and let out a long sharp whistle that made everyone in a twenty-yard radius stop and look.

‘Jefferies!’ she yelled out. ‘Come here!’

A detective who’d been standing near the CSI truck started toward them. He was a good-looking black guy in a neat grey suit. Age-wise he was somewhere north of forty. Even at a distance Winter could sense the been-there-done-it vibe. Jefferies stopped in front of Anderton. His smile was wide, warm and genuine. He had neat, white, even teeth.

‘You just can’t keep away, can you?’

‘I missed your ugly face too much.’

The smile disappeared, the eyes narrowed. ‘With all due respect, shouldn’t you be on the other side of the barrier?’

‘Actually, I’m hoping you can help with that. I was just telling Constable Matthews here that we’ve got some information for Freeman. Urgent, time-sensitive information.’

‘I don’t know, Anderton. As you can imagine, he’s pretty busy right now.’

‘We met with him last night. He wanted to hear from us if we had anything to share. We’ve got something to share.’

Jefferies widened his gaze to include Winter. ‘You’re that guy who did the interview.’

‘Guilty as charged.’

‘The clip’s had more than fifty thousand views on YouTube. “FBI Guy Loses His Shit”, it’s called. I tell you, it made me smile. So, this is what you do, then? Chase serial killers?’

‘It’s what I do.’

‘Well, this is my first, and all I can say is that it’s a whole new ball game. Give me a domestic homicide any day, or a drive-by shooting. At least there’s a motive you can understand. Wife cheats, husband shoots her dead. Dealer cheats someone he shouldn’t and winds up dead. That’s where the story ends.’ Jefferies turned back to Anderton. ‘Here’s an idea. Why not tell me what you’ve got and I’ll pass the information on to Freeman.’

‘So you can take all the credit? I think I’ll pass. Look, all we need is five minutes.’ When Jefferies didn’t respond she added, ‘Come on, if this wasn’t important I wouldn’t be asking.’