‘You can’t get in the way of a paramedic.’
‘I know, but what if he wriggles his way out of this again?’ said Erika, rubbing her eyes. ‘It was a real mess. And the two uniform police officers were louts. They escalated what should have been a simple situation.’
‘In front of a whole congregation of mourners?’
‘Yes,’ said Erika. ‘But Charles Wakefield is now my main suspect. If his DNA matches the saliva that forensics took from Vicky Clarke’s shoulder, it would put him in the room when she was murdered. We also took DNA from the Sophia Ivanova crime scene, and one of the samples hasn’t been matched. I don’t know when Brighton and Hove A&E will discharge him.’
‘Is he injured?’
‘He claimed the officers broke his arm, but they did an x-ray, and it was just a sprain. The hospital want to keep him in overnight for observation, due to his age. Brighton and Hove police have been very vague, and I’m having to work across our jurisdictions.’
Erika sat back and suddenly felt exhausted.
Melanie tapped her pen on her desk. ‘Listen. I know the Chief Superintendent in Brighton and Hove. I’ll get on the phone now and recommend we get the officer that’s there tonight in A&E to remind Charles Wakefield of his rights, and he’ll take a DNA swab in the presence of a nurse. That way we do things by the book.’
‘Even if we do, we won’t get a DNA result through for another forty-eight hours.’
Melanie sat back and regarded her.
‘Erika, don’t be impatient. Do you really think the brother of a senior police officer will abscond? And there will be a point where Julian Wakefield has to accept what is happening, even if it is his brother.’
‘I don’t put anything past anyone,’ said Erika.
‘Listen, it’s late. Go home. Keep your phone on, I will do as much as I can tonight.’
‘Thank you,’ said Erika.
When she came back out into the car park, it was gone 9pm. The revelations today had pushed the case forward, but she felt deeply uneasy that Charles Wakefield was going to slip through their fingers again. Her phone rang, and she was surprised to see it was Igor’s number.
‘Ahoj,’ she said, answering in Slovak.
‘Ciao. I hope you don’t mind me ringing you?’
‘Not at all. I said you should ring, but I haven’t had time to think about the chimney stuff. The last two weeks have been crazy with the case I’m working on.’
She heard him hesitate on the end of the phone.
‘Listen, forget about that… What would you say if I told you that…’ He gave a nervous laugh. ‘That I can’t stop thinking about you?’
‘I’d tell you that’s one of the cheesiest lines in the book,’ she joked.
He was silent.
‘I’m being serious.’
Erika opened her mouth and closed it again. She had thought about him too, albeit not all the time, but she had been having lots of memories about their past, and how great it had been to re-connect.
‘What are you doing now?’ she said.
‘Right now? I’m parked outside your house.’
‘Okay. You’re a stalker with cheesy chat-up lines?’
He laughed.
‘No. My last delivery was in your area… because I made sure it was.’
‘I tell you what. There is a fantastic fish and chip shop two roads up from my house. Go and get us dinner, cod and chips for me, and I’ll meet you back at my house in half an hour. What do you think?’
‘Sounds good,’ he said, and she could hear the excitement in his voice.
Erika hung up the phone. It felt odd and totally unexpected to have a date with someone she knew fall into her lap. She felt almost guilty. But the world wouldn’t come crashing down if she had a late dinner with an old friend, and she would get rid of him after they ate, so she could work.
It wasn’t a date, she told herself, he was just a friend.
56
Erika woke with a start. The digital clock on her new bedside table was glowing 3am. She looked over and saw Igor, sleeping soundly beside her.
What am I doing? she thought. They’d eaten their takeaway fish and chips, and drunk a couple of beers, and despite everything going on with the case, Erika had forgotten things for a couple of hours and had so much fun. Igor made her laugh, and it was nice to talk to someone in her own language. And then, one thing led to another and they ended up in bed together and she let him stay the night.
Erika sat up and felt around on the end of the duvet. George was gone. He always seemed to leave at some point in the night. Erika lay back, and then she heard the noise. A rustle and a thud. She stiffened. There was silence for a moment, and then it came again.