of course if you should want me to stay on the case…’
‘We do,’ said Gaille, taking her wrist. ‘Absolutely we do.’
‘Then maybe you should come by my office tomorrow morning. We can talk about it then.’
‘Not in the morning,’ said Knox. ‘I’ve got Augustin’s talk to give.’
‘The afternoon, then.’ She handed him her card. ‘Call ahead of time; my assistant will find a slot. And don’t worry. We’ll manage something. I don’t charge the earth, not for cases like this. Frankly, they do my profile good. But you should be aware that it’s not just my fees you have to consider. We may need expert medical opinions on Petitier’s injuries, for example. We may need private investigators to shadow the police investigation. They’re dealing with one of their own here, after all. At the very best, their officers will be hoping Augustin is guilty. It’s human nature that they’ll look for evidence that implicates him and exonerates their colleague. So perhaps we’d be prudent to make our own enquiries. This man Petitier, for example.Who is he? Why did he contact Nico? Is there anything to this golden fleece business? What was on his laptop? What was taken from his bag? If we can answer such questions, we’ll be in a far stronger situation.’
‘Gaille and I could look into it,’ suggested Knox. ‘We have some experience of this kind of thing.’
‘This isn’t a game,’ said Charissa sharply. ‘Petitier was murdered earlier today. Don’t forget that. And whoever did it is still running around free—unless you believe it was your friend Augustin, of course. Do you really think they’ll just stand back and let you two poke your noses into their business, particularly if you start getting close?’
‘No,’ acknowledged Knox. ‘I guess not.’
III
There was a garage beneath Omonia police station, private parking for the senior officers. But Angelos Migiakis had no intention of using his own car for this. He took the wheel of a police cruiser, put it into first gear, then nosed it against the garage wall and roared its engine furiously, his foot pressed upon the brakes, so that the tyres burned in a futile effort at forward motion, filling the air with the stench of things scorching.
Theofanis banged upon the passenger-side window, then opened the door and climbed in. ‘Got to you a bit, eh, that interview?’
‘Did you hear that bastard Knox?’
‘I heard.’
‘He suggested we’d take Pascal out of intensive care! How dare he? How dare he?’ He revved the engine into the red to emphasise his fury. ‘What kind of people does he think we are?’
‘I don’t know, sir.’
There was something in Theofanis’s voice. Angelos relaxed his foot on the accelerator and glared at him. ‘You didn’t. Please tell me you didn’t.’
‘Didn’t what, sir?’
‘You know damned well what: shoot your mouth off about transferring Pascal into our custody.’
Theofanis pulled a face. ‘I only asked what the procedure would be.’
‘Jesus!’
‘You did want us to put pressure on Knox to come to some kind of arrangement. I thought this would help.’
‘Yes. An absolute bloody triumph!’ The smell of scorched rubber that filled the car suddenly felt almost corrosive, as though it was eating into his clothes and skin. He turned off the engine and climbed out, marched back inside the stationand slammed the door so hard that the officer on duty jumped. He turned to Theofanis, his temper under control again, his mind back on practicalities. ‘Right,’ he said, ‘this is what I want. No more press conferences for Knox and his lawyer outside that fucking hospital, reminding everyone that Pascal’s inside. Understand? And, while we’re at it, Knox said he’d heard this inside Intensive Care. How the hell did he get in? I thought you had a man on the door.’
‘He must have slipped by. I’ll see it doesn’t happen again.’
‘It had better not. And I want a proper presence at
‘We do,’ said Gaille, taking her wrist. ‘Absolutely we do.’
‘Then maybe you should come by my office tomorrow morning. We can talk about it then.’
‘Not in the morning,’ said Knox. ‘I’ve got Augustin’s talk to give.’
‘The afternoon, then.’ She handed him her card. ‘Call ahead of time; my assistant will find a slot. And don’t worry. We’ll manage something. I don’t charge the earth, not for cases like this. Frankly, they do my profile good. But you should be aware that it’s not just my fees you have to consider. We may need expert medical opinions on Petitier’s injuries, for example. We may need private investigators to shadow the police investigation. They’re dealing with one of their own here, after all. At the very best, their officers will be hoping Augustin is guilty. It’s human nature that they’ll look for evidence that implicates him and exonerates their colleague. So perhaps we’d be prudent to make our own enquiries. This man Petitier, for example.Who is he? Why did he contact Nico? Is there anything to this golden fleece business? What was on his laptop? What was taken from his bag? If we can answer such questions, we’ll be in a far stronger situation.’
‘Gaille and I could look into it,’ suggested Knox. ‘We have some experience of this kind of thing.’
‘This isn’t a game,’ said Charissa sharply. ‘Petitier was murdered earlier today. Don’t forget that. And whoever did it is still running around free—unless you believe it was your friend Augustin, of course. Do you really think they’ll just stand back and let you two poke your noses into their business, particularly if you start getting close?’
‘No,’ acknowledged Knox. ‘I guess not.’
III
There was a garage beneath Omonia police station, private parking for the senior officers. But Angelos Migiakis had no intention of using his own car for this. He took the wheel of a police cruiser, put it into first gear, then nosed it against the garage wall and roared its engine furiously, his foot pressed upon the brakes, so that the tyres burned in a futile effort at forward motion, filling the air with the stench of things scorching.
Theofanis banged upon the passenger-side window, then opened the door and climbed in. ‘Got to you a bit, eh, that interview?’
‘Did you hear that bastard Knox?’
‘I heard.’
‘He suggested we’d take Pascal out of intensive care! How dare he? How dare he?’ He revved the engine into the red to emphasise his fury. ‘What kind of people does he think we are?’
‘I don’t know, sir.’
There was something in Theofanis’s voice. Angelos relaxed his foot on the accelerator and glared at him. ‘You didn’t. Please tell me you didn’t.’
‘Didn’t what, sir?’
‘You know damned well what: shoot your mouth off about transferring Pascal into our custody.’
Theofanis pulled a face. ‘I only asked what the procedure would be.’
‘Jesus!’
‘You did want us to put pressure on Knox to come to some kind of arrangement. I thought this would help.’
‘Yes. An absolute bloody triumph!’ The smell of scorched rubber that filled the car suddenly felt almost corrosive, as though it was eating into his clothes and skin. He turned off the engine and climbed out, marched back inside the stationand slammed the door so hard that the officer on duty jumped. He turned to Theofanis, his temper under control again, his mind back on practicalities. ‘Right,’ he said, ‘this is what I want. No more press conferences for Knox and his lawyer outside that fucking hospital, reminding everyone that Pascal’s inside. Understand? And, while we’re at it, Knox said he’d heard this inside Intensive Care. How the hell did he get in? I thought you had a man on the door.’
‘He must have slipped by. I’ll see it doesn’t happen again.’
‘It had better not. And I want a proper presence at
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