room again. Crane had written OLLIE STRINGER on the chart and ADRIAN with a question mark, while telling them what Ollie had told him. Anderson listened with the crooked grin Crane was getting to know only too well. He’d studied a lot of body language in his time and he could tell that the reporter’s was beginning to tense.
‘I could have gone along too, Frank. I could have made time last night.’
‘I had to work on him to get him to speak to me . If I’d gone round there with a crime reporter he’d have been a write-off.’ Crane spoke more tersely than he’d intended. He was beginning to hate it, having to explain the way he worked, to write it all down, to know that Anderson was intent on controlling everything.
But Anderson began slowly nodding. ‘It’s a valid point.’ Then he put on one of his practised smiles in the old engaging way. ‘Well done, pal. I can see I’ve got a lot to learn from an expert like you.’
‘Just experience, that’s all. In this game you often findyourself going over well-trodden ground and so you have to learn to look closer.’
There was a great deal more to it than that, but Crane knew they were exerting themselves to meet each other halfway, as they each had so much the other needed: Anderson’s knowledge of the case and Crane’s ability in the field. Even so, Crane was anxious to reach an answer to Donna’s killing before the reporter, if it were possible for anyone to. His pride was now very much involved in what Anderson clearly regarded as a competition.
Anderson said, ‘This Adrian guy makes my nose twitch.’
‘And mine.’
‘But would Donna have gone out with an AC/DC?’ he said, pulling a face. ‘What do you think, Patsy? HIV-wise, it might have been dodgy.’
‘There wasn’t much she didn’t know about safe sex,’ she said. ‘And anyway she might not have twigged what he was.’
Crane felt it could quite easily become near impossible for Anderson to attempt to profile Donna as the sweet innocent she’d looked if he ever did get to write that final story. He said, ‘Why might a bisexual have reason to kill her?’
‘Blackmail again?’ Anderson scribbled on the sheet now devoted to Adrian. ‘Maybe he’s married and his wife doesn’t know he’s AC/DC, and might have given him the welly if she’d found out.’
‘Bias at work if it came to light? It still happens.’
‘Perhaps another gay,’ Patsy said. ‘Jealous of Adrian going out with a woman.’
‘Nice one, Patsy,’ Crane said. Pleased, she began to redden.
‘But gays tend not to do violence,’ Anderson said.
‘Joe Orton wouldn’t have thought so.’
‘When do you aim to see Ollie again?’ The reporter spoke tentatively.
Crane also forced tact. ‘Tomorrow evening. We could both go, now he trusts me. You can be a colleague. He’ll take to a bloke with your looks.’
‘Bugger! I’m tied up. Can’t get out of it either. It’s an Asian girl being forced into a marriage against her will. She’s on the run and she’s made very complex arrangements to see me and talk about it. You couldn’t make it the evening after?’
‘Sorry. I’ve promised Ollie and it’s too hot a lead. I’ll make sure it all goes on your flip chart.’
That wasn’t the point, but Anderson smiled in cheerful resignation. ‘I’ve got to go now, but keep up the good work, Frank, and do keep me in touch, said he with a mirthless grin.’
‘That Geoff,’ Patsy said, shaking her head as the door closed on him. She gave Crane a conspiratorial smile. ‘Do you want my news now?’
He watched in silence as she opened a handbag and took out a small black diary. It was stamped in gold with the initials DJ.
‘No!’
‘I made another search of her room. I felt all round the edge of the carpet, but there were no loose bits anywhere. So I looked at the drawers in the base of her bed again. I knew the police had had everything out, but something made me feel underneath. The diary was in an
‘I could have gone along too, Frank. I could have made time last night.’
‘I had to work on him to get him to speak to me . If I’d gone round there with a crime reporter he’d have been a write-off.’ Crane spoke more tersely than he’d intended. He was beginning to hate it, having to explain the way he worked, to write it all down, to know that Anderson was intent on controlling everything.
But Anderson began slowly nodding. ‘It’s a valid point.’ Then he put on one of his practised smiles in the old engaging way. ‘Well done, pal. I can see I’ve got a lot to learn from an expert like you.’
‘Just experience, that’s all. In this game you often findyourself going over well-trodden ground and so you have to learn to look closer.’
There was a great deal more to it than that, but Crane knew they were exerting themselves to meet each other halfway, as they each had so much the other needed: Anderson’s knowledge of the case and Crane’s ability in the field. Even so, Crane was anxious to reach an answer to Donna’s killing before the reporter, if it were possible for anyone to. His pride was now very much involved in what Anderson clearly regarded as a competition.
Anderson said, ‘This Adrian guy makes my nose twitch.’
‘And mine.’
‘But would Donna have gone out with an AC/DC?’ he said, pulling a face. ‘What do you think, Patsy? HIV-wise, it might have been dodgy.’
‘There wasn’t much she didn’t know about safe sex,’ she said. ‘And anyway she might not have twigged what he was.’
Crane felt it could quite easily become near impossible for Anderson to attempt to profile Donna as the sweet innocent she’d looked if he ever did get to write that final story. He said, ‘Why might a bisexual have reason to kill her?’
‘Blackmail again?’ Anderson scribbled on the sheet now devoted to Adrian. ‘Maybe he’s married and his wife doesn’t know he’s AC/DC, and might have given him the welly if she’d found out.’
‘Bias at work if it came to light? It still happens.’
‘Perhaps another gay,’ Patsy said. ‘Jealous of Adrian going out with a woman.’
‘Nice one, Patsy,’ Crane said. Pleased, she began to redden.
‘But gays tend not to do violence,’ Anderson said.
‘Joe Orton wouldn’t have thought so.’
‘When do you aim to see Ollie again?’ The reporter spoke tentatively.
Crane also forced tact. ‘Tomorrow evening. We could both go, now he trusts me. You can be a colleague. He’ll take to a bloke with your looks.’
‘Bugger! I’m tied up. Can’t get out of it either. It’s an Asian girl being forced into a marriage against her will. She’s on the run and she’s made very complex arrangements to see me and talk about it. You couldn’t make it the evening after?’
‘Sorry. I’ve promised Ollie and it’s too hot a lead. I’ll make sure it all goes on your flip chart.’
That wasn’t the point, but Anderson smiled in cheerful resignation. ‘I’ve got to go now, but keep up the good work, Frank, and do keep me in touch, said he with a mirthless grin.’
‘That Geoff,’ Patsy said, shaking her head as the door closed on him. She gave Crane a conspiratorial smile. ‘Do you want my news now?’
He watched in silence as she opened a handbag and took out a small black diary. It was stamped in gold with the initials DJ.
‘No!’
‘I made another search of her room. I felt all round the edge of the carpet, but there were no loose bits anywhere. So I looked at the drawers in the base of her bed again. I knew the police had had everything out, but something made me feel underneath. The diary was in an
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