Dead on Cue by Sally Spencer

takes to keep him happy.’
    â€˜And that’s what I am?’ Rutter asked. ‘A body? One of the extras hired to fill in the background?’
    â€˜Just because this case involves television people, there’s no need for you to start talkin’ like one of them,’ Woodend said, a little sharply. ‘Of course you’re not just a body. Them witness statements need lookin’ into. You know that yourself. It’s a slow, painful process, but it’s got to be done – an’ there’s no reason why it can’t be done as well in Whitebridge as it could be done here. Besides, the closer Maria gets to givin’ birth, the more she’ll want to see you—’
    He came to an abrupt halt, a look of distress crossing his face. Maria Rutter wouldn’t be seeing
anybody
– ever again – he reminded himself. Ever since she’d been injured at the Belgrave Square demonstration, she’d been totally blind.
    There was a short, awkward pause, then Woodend said, ‘Well, you know what I mean. She’ll want you
around
. An’ it’ll be a lot easier for you to be around if you’re workin’ out of Whitebridge.’
    â€˜Meanwhile, you’ll be here with the trusty Sergeant Paniatowski, actually solving the crime.’
    â€˜There’s no sayin’ the murder
will
be solved here in the studio,’ Woodend said. ‘The big break in this case could come just as easily through some inconsistency in the statements.’
    â€˜Whatever aspect of the case I’m working on, I’d still rather do it from here,’ Rutter said stubbornly.
    Woodend shook his head. ‘That’s not possible. If you’d been a blonde with bosoms like WDS Paniatowski, I might have given you the job of snuggling up to Jeremy Wilcox instead of her,’ he said. ‘But you’re not, an’ I couldn’t.’
    â€˜You’ve changed,’ Rutter said bitterly. ‘All this talk about keeping Ainsworth happy! There was a time – not so long ago – when you wouldn’t have given a damn what your boss wanted.’
    â€˜I’ve never had a boss who was close enough to breathe right down my neck before – that was one of the advantages of workin’ for the Yard,’ Woodend said. ‘But maybe you’re right, an’ I have changed,’ he conceded. ‘People do, you know. An’ so do situations. That’s what’s happened to our partnership – it’s changed.’
    â€˜Because of Paniatowski!’
    â€˜Sergeant Paniatowski has nothing to do with it.’
    â€˜Doesn’t she?’
    â€˜No, she bloody doesn’t,’ Woodend said. ‘Listen, Bob, for the first couple of days on that case in Blackpool, I really missed havin’ you with me. I felt half-naked without you by my side. Then I realised somethin’. Do you know what it was?’
    â€˜I’m sure you’re about to tell me, whether I want to know or not.’
    â€˜I realised I wasn’t missin’
you
at all. The person I was missin’ was
Sergeant
Rutter. Well, you’re not him any longer – nor ever can be again.’
    â€˜Meaning?’
    â€˜Meanin’ you’ve outgrown the job of bein’ my sidekick, an’ it’s about time you accepted the fact. So however much we both might regret it – an’
I
do, for one – you can’t be my Tonto any longer, an’ it’s time you started learnin’ to be your
own
Lone Ranger.’
    Rutter stood up. ‘Thank you for that little speech, sir,’ he said. ‘I’ll bear that in mind when I’m back in Whitebridge, up to my neck in paperwork.’
    â€˜You do that,’ Woodend agreed.
    Bob Rutter walked over to the door, opened it, then turned round to face Woodend again.
    â€˜Hi ho, Silver, away!’ he said, before stepping into the corridor and disappearing from sight.
    The