a day, and was actually bending down to retrieve her handbag from the bottom drawer of her desk, when something tugged so hard in the back of her mind, that it had the physical result of shooting her upright on her chair again.
What was it?
WPC Dern. And something Deirdre Tinkerton had said. Hillary sat very still and ran her mind back over her time at the Tinkerton household. What? What had she said…? Something about Sam Pickles being handsome. No, that didn’t make sense.
Yes. Yes it did.
Instantly she was back in the kitchen with Deirdre Tinkerton making her rhubarb pies. And Deirdre saying something about that nice young man who had come the first time to ask about Gilly.
Quickly, Hillary snatched the Tinkerton file and rifled through it. No, she was right – WPC Mandy Dern had been the only officer assigned to do the rounds of people who knew Gillian Tinkerton. Which made sense: WPC Dern had worked MisPer for nearly eight years now. So even back then, she’d have been an experienced hand for her sergeant to employ and on low-priority cases like missing adults, they wouldn’t have assigned more than one person anyway.
So who was the ‘nice young man’ who’d gone calling on Mrs Tinkerton?
Her heart pounding, Hillary got through to MisPer, and spoke to the case officer. He had to call up the details on his computer of course, but he quickly confirmed what she already knew. No male PC had been sent out to interview Mrs Tinkerton. Hillary thanked him and hung up.
Her eyes shining brightly for the first time in weeks, she grabbed the case files and hot-footed to Steven’s office.
Was it possible that they’d caught a break? Had Lol finally made the mistake of coming out of the woodwork far enough for them to catch a real glimpse of him at last?
CHAPTER FIVE
S teven looked up as Hillary knocked and came into his office. His spirits did that little ‘lifting’ thing that they did whenever he saw her. And he had to admit, it was slightly alarming. Since he and Maureen had divorced, there’d been other women of course, and, like all men, who’d once been married and then found himself unexpectedly free, he’d enjoyed a few years when it seemed that his youth had been returned to him.
But the novelty had long since worn off. With a 19-year-old son at university, and a 17-year-old daughter still living with her mother, he now considered himself to be both experienced and battle-hardened when it came to managing his love life. In recent years, his encounters with women had been few and far between, and not particularly successful.
And then Hillary Greene had been forced upon him professionally , and the next thing he knew he found himself feeling just a little bit giddy whenever she was near.
Just what the
hell
was all that about?
He tensed, and all personal worries were subsumed as he noticed the tight, expressionless look on her face. It was a look that he had learned from sometimes bitter experience that she used as a mask to cover some strong emotion. One quick look at her glittering eyes told him that this time it was either fury or excitement.
‘I think the bastard might have shown his hand,’ she said, in response to his questioning look.
Instantly he sat up straighter. ‘How?’
She placed two files down in front of him, pointing out the reports from WPC Dern. Quickly, she went through the salient points with him.
‘So if WPC Dern was the only one from MisPer to talk to both Judy Yelland and Gillian Tinkerton’s family, who is this “ handsome nice young man” Deirdre Tinkerton was talking about?’
‘You think it might be her stalker?’ Steven said. ‘Taking a bit of a risk, isn’t he?’ he asked, knowing that one of his key roles in their professional life was playing devil’s advocate.
‘We know he likes to take a certain amount of those,’ she pointed out bitterly. ‘Maybe he’s the kind who just can’t help but play games,’ she concluded. ‘I need to get back to
What was it?
WPC Dern. And something Deirdre Tinkerton had said. Hillary sat very still and ran her mind back over her time at the Tinkerton household. What? What had she said…? Something about Sam Pickles being handsome. No, that didn’t make sense.
Yes. Yes it did.
Instantly she was back in the kitchen with Deirdre Tinkerton making her rhubarb pies. And Deirdre saying something about that nice young man who had come the first time to ask about Gilly.
Quickly, Hillary snatched the Tinkerton file and rifled through it. No, she was right – WPC Mandy Dern had been the only officer assigned to do the rounds of people who knew Gillian Tinkerton. Which made sense: WPC Dern had worked MisPer for nearly eight years now. So even back then, she’d have been an experienced hand for her sergeant to employ and on low-priority cases like missing adults, they wouldn’t have assigned more than one person anyway.
So who was the ‘nice young man’ who’d gone calling on Mrs Tinkerton?
Her heart pounding, Hillary got through to MisPer, and spoke to the case officer. He had to call up the details on his computer of course, but he quickly confirmed what she already knew. No male PC had been sent out to interview Mrs Tinkerton. Hillary thanked him and hung up.
Her eyes shining brightly for the first time in weeks, she grabbed the case files and hot-footed to Steven’s office.
Was it possible that they’d caught a break? Had Lol finally made the mistake of coming out of the woodwork far enough for them to catch a real glimpse of him at last?
CHAPTER FIVE
S teven looked up as Hillary knocked and came into his office. His spirits did that little ‘lifting’ thing that they did whenever he saw her. And he had to admit, it was slightly alarming. Since he and Maureen had divorced, there’d been other women of course, and, like all men, who’d once been married and then found himself unexpectedly free, he’d enjoyed a few years when it seemed that his youth had been returned to him.
But the novelty had long since worn off. With a 19-year-old son at university, and a 17-year-old daughter still living with her mother, he now considered himself to be both experienced and battle-hardened when it came to managing his love life. In recent years, his encounters with women had been few and far between, and not particularly successful.
And then Hillary Greene had been forced upon him professionally , and the next thing he knew he found himself feeling just a little bit giddy whenever she was near.
Just what the
hell
was all that about?
He tensed, and all personal worries were subsumed as he noticed the tight, expressionless look on her face. It was a look that he had learned from sometimes bitter experience that she used as a mask to cover some strong emotion. One quick look at her glittering eyes told him that this time it was either fury or excitement.
‘I think the bastard might have shown his hand,’ she said, in response to his questioning look.
Instantly he sat up straighter. ‘How?’
She placed two files down in front of him, pointing out the reports from WPC Dern. Quickly, she went through the salient points with him.
‘So if WPC Dern was the only one from MisPer to talk to both Judy Yelland and Gillian Tinkerton’s family, who is this “ handsome nice young man” Deirdre Tinkerton was talking about?’
‘You think it might be her stalker?’ Steven said. ‘Taking a bit of a risk, isn’t he?’ he asked, knowing that one of his key roles in their professional life was playing devil’s advocate.
‘We know he likes to take a certain amount of those,’ she pointed out bitterly. ‘Maybe he’s the kind who just can’t help but play games,’ she concluded. ‘I need to get back to
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