Night Vision by Jane A. Adams Page B

meet his colleagues for breakfast.
    Alec glanced at his watch. Ten to eight. He had slept after all. How had that happened?
    Alec could remember texting Naomi to tell her that he was OK and things were looking better for Trav, and then he’d lain down on the bed, fully clothed, still in half a mind to leave. Sitting up now, he realized that he was still fully clothed, stiff and crumpled and as muzzy headed as though he’d got a hangover.
    Telling himself that Eddison and co could wait, he showered and changed his shirt. There was little he could do now about the crumpled suit. Then he headed for the restaurant. They were already there, halfway through their breakfasts. Parks indicated an empty chair, and Alec nodded then went to the buffet. He was hungry, he realized. Surprisingly ravenous, in fact. With a loaded tray he returned to the table and plonked his breakfast down on the already overcrowded table.
    â€˜I like to see a man who enjoys his food,’ Eddison intoned.
    Parks laughed. Alec ignored him and nodded acceptance as a waitress arrived with tea. ‘Thank you,’ he said, and then focused on his breakfast.
    â€˜So,’ Eddison continued, as though Alec had already been there, ‘that’s David and Alec looking through the CCTV footage. We’ve already got a lead on that, so get yourselves briefed and then relieve the overnight team.’
    Who’s David? Alec wondered, then realized Eddison was referring to Parks.
    â€˜Phillip and I are going back to talk to Robinson’s sister,’ he added.
    Phillip, Alec thought, almost surprised that Munroe had a first name. He couldn’t recall Eddison referring to anyone by their first name until now. Was he trying to make like they were a proper team? ‘Travers?’ he asked.
    â€˜Spent a comfortable night and is stable. Family Liaison Officer Susan Moran is with the wife, and the friend is planning on going home later today.’
    Alec nodded, satisfied. He had dreamt about Travers, he remembered now. An incident from when the pair of them had still been in uniform and had been called on to cover some kind of protest. He tried hard now to recall what it was about. A factory closure, maybe? Some kind of government contract that had been withdrawn and the workers were protesting.
    He could not at this time and distance grasp at the details, but Jamie had been there too, reporting on the protest for the local paper. Alec remembered placards and shouting and – a sit-in, that was it. Workers had occupied the building, and it had made quite a splash in the local press at the time.
    He’d not thought about it in years, but in his dream the memory had been clear as day, and now that he tried hard to recall details that were already slipping away, as dreams so often do, he was left with some scrap of a joke Jamie had been making about her new jacket. It had a blue striped lining, and she’d had the sleeves turned back because they were too long for her—
    â€˜Alec?’ Eddison said sharply, and Alec realized he must have been speaking to him. He apologized automatically. Tried to catch up with the last bit of the conversation he remembered hearing.
    â€˜The sister? Neil Robinson’s sister?’
    â€˜What other bloody sister have we been talking about?’
    Alec shrugged. ‘Why talk to her again?’
    â€˜Because she was holding back,’ Munroe said.
    â€˜Holding what back?’
    â€˜If we knew that we wouldn’t need to talk to her again!’
    â€˜No, I mean about what happened to Neil Robinson, or, I don’t know, whatever she told Jamie on his behalf.’
    Munroe shrugged. ‘Why?’ he said.
    â€˜I don’t know. It’s something no one’s talked about much. How did he know about Jamie in the first place? He wasn’t local to Pinsent, so he didn’t know about her from when she started out. So what made him choose her? And how did the sister make