tasks. Tennyson was told to go to the IT department to try and dig deeper into tracing the website. Seward and Taggart were to continue interviewing everyone in Tamara Armstrong’s circle, from a list of names they’d compiled.
‘It’s going nowhere, boss,’ Seward complained.
‘Dr Kirtle seemed to think Tamara knew her killer. If we can find any link between Tamara and Michelle Nixon, or Han Sun …’
‘There isn’t one,’ said Taggart. ‘Not between Tamara Armstrong and Michelle Nixon, anyway. There are no names as a common link. No common group. Neither of them were connected in any way, not socially, not even in the kind of shops they went into, the places they went to, or the magazines they read.’
‘Check Tamara out against Han Sun,’ said Georgiou. ‘Talk to her friends. Find out if she ever went there for a takeaway.’
‘It’s clutching at straws!’ Seward protested.
‘Right now, straws are all we’ve got,’ said Georgiou gloomily.
Seward and Taggart nodded, and left, their faces showing they were unconvinced. Georgiou turned to Conway, and for an awful moment Conway thought that Georgiou might be going to ask him about Richard Little, but instead the inspector wanted details of Conway’s visit to the Han Sun family, and what he’d been able to find out about Han Sun’s last known movements.
Conway told him what he’d learnt: that Han Sun had closed up the takeaway at midnight. Mrs Sun had been upstairs, getting things ready for breakfast for the next morning, waiting for her husband to come up from the shop.
‘Her two brothers also live above the takeaway. They share a room. They both work in the kitchens. Mrs Sun’s sister works on the counter, along with Mr Sun, the victim. The sister has her own room upstairs, as well.’ He gave a sigh. ‘It’s a
very
crowded flat.’
‘Tensions between them?’ asked Georgiou.
‘Not that I picked up,’ said Conway. ‘I’m just saying that it’s so crowded they don’t have any choice but to keep a very close eye on one another.
‘Anyway, according to Mr Li Chan, the older brother who does most of the talking, he and his brother and their sister went upstairs to have a late-night drink of tea with Mrs Sun, and then they went to bed, leaving Mrs Sun to wait for her husband. But he never came up.’
Georgiou frowned.
‘He never came upstairs?’
Conway nodded. ‘That’s what they said.’
‘So they … what … just went to bed? Didn’t anyone go downstairs to the shop to see where he was?’
‘Not according to Mr Li,’ said Conway. ‘I couldn’t get much out of Mrs Sun, she doesn’t speak much English. Nor does the younger brother. So I got most of this information from Mr Li and Mrs Sun’s sister.’
‘Doesn’t that strike you as odd?’ asked Georgiou.
‘Not really,’ said Conway. ‘It often happens that one of a couple goes to bed before the other one, and then falls asleep.’
‘So let’s look at the scenario,’ said Georgiou. ‘Mr Sun is downstairs in the shop. It’s midnight. He’s locked up. Where are the stairs between the shop and the flat? Does he have to leave the takeaway to get up to the flat?’
Conway scanned his notes.
‘No,’ he said. ‘He can do, because there’s a separate set of stairs from the street to the flat, with a separate door, so people can go in and out of the flat without going through the shop. But there’s another flight of stairs at the back, from the kitchen, that go directly up to the flat.’
‘And which flight of stairs does Mr Sun normally use after he’s closed up the shop?’
Conway checked his notes again.
‘According to Mrs Sun, he uses the stairs from the street,’ he said. ‘At least, that’s what her brother, Mr Li, translated what she said as.’
‘Why?’ asked Georgiou. ‘Think about it, Iain. He’s in the shop. He’s already locked the door to stop more customers coming in. There’s a set of stairs in the kitchen that takes him up to
‘It’s going nowhere, boss,’ Seward complained.
‘Dr Kirtle seemed to think Tamara knew her killer. If we can find any link between Tamara and Michelle Nixon, or Han Sun …’
‘There isn’t one,’ said Taggart. ‘Not between Tamara Armstrong and Michelle Nixon, anyway. There are no names as a common link. No common group. Neither of them were connected in any way, not socially, not even in the kind of shops they went into, the places they went to, or the magazines they read.’
‘Check Tamara out against Han Sun,’ said Georgiou. ‘Talk to her friends. Find out if she ever went there for a takeaway.’
‘It’s clutching at straws!’ Seward protested.
‘Right now, straws are all we’ve got,’ said Georgiou gloomily.
Seward and Taggart nodded, and left, their faces showing they were unconvinced. Georgiou turned to Conway, and for an awful moment Conway thought that Georgiou might be going to ask him about Richard Little, but instead the inspector wanted details of Conway’s visit to the Han Sun family, and what he’d been able to find out about Han Sun’s last known movements.
Conway told him what he’d learnt: that Han Sun had closed up the takeaway at midnight. Mrs Sun had been upstairs, getting things ready for breakfast for the next morning, waiting for her husband to come up from the shop.
‘Her two brothers also live above the takeaway. They share a room. They both work in the kitchens. Mrs Sun’s sister works on the counter, along with Mr Sun, the victim. The sister has her own room upstairs, as well.’ He gave a sigh. ‘It’s a
very
crowded flat.’
‘Tensions between them?’ asked Georgiou.
‘Not that I picked up,’ said Conway. ‘I’m just saying that it’s so crowded they don’t have any choice but to keep a very close eye on one another.
‘Anyway, according to Mr Li Chan, the older brother who does most of the talking, he and his brother and their sister went upstairs to have a late-night drink of tea with Mrs Sun, and then they went to bed, leaving Mrs Sun to wait for her husband. But he never came up.’
Georgiou frowned.
‘He never came upstairs?’
Conway nodded. ‘That’s what they said.’
‘So they … what … just went to bed? Didn’t anyone go downstairs to the shop to see where he was?’
‘Not according to Mr Li,’ said Conway. ‘I couldn’t get much out of Mrs Sun, she doesn’t speak much English. Nor does the younger brother. So I got most of this information from Mr Li and Mrs Sun’s sister.’
‘Doesn’t that strike you as odd?’ asked Georgiou.
‘Not really,’ said Conway. ‘It often happens that one of a couple goes to bed before the other one, and then falls asleep.’
‘So let’s look at the scenario,’ said Georgiou. ‘Mr Sun is downstairs in the shop. It’s midnight. He’s locked up. Where are the stairs between the shop and the flat? Does he have to leave the takeaway to get up to the flat?’
Conway scanned his notes.
‘No,’ he said. ‘He can do, because there’s a separate set of stairs from the street to the flat, with a separate door, so people can go in and out of the flat without going through the shop. But there’s another flight of stairs at the back, from the kitchen, that go directly up to the flat.’
‘And which flight of stairs does Mr Sun normally use after he’s closed up the shop?’
Conway checked his notes again.
‘According to Mrs Sun, he uses the stairs from the street,’ he said. ‘At least, that’s what her brother, Mr Li, translated what she said as.’
‘Why?’ asked Georgiou. ‘Think about it, Iain. He’s in the shop. He’s already locked the door to stop more customers coming in. There’s a set of stairs in the kitchen that takes him up to
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