Little Boy Blue

82

The silence in the room was deafening. Normally the Incident Room was the epicentre of noise on the seventh floor – mobiles ringing, printers whirring and officers arguing, laughing, speculating. But not today. It was tense and hushed, the spectacle of both Sanderson and Charlie avoiding each other putting everybody else on edge.

Sanderson finished her tea and contemplated heading to the canteen for another. She’d been chivvying the computer operatives into carrying out their data checks on Paine’s devices for over an hour, but with little success. This was especially galling, given Charlie’s arrest of Parker. Despite her argument with Helen, Charlie would still get all the plaudits, if they managed to secure a confession from their prime suspect. Sanderson had started the day in conciliatory mood, thinking she should perhaps apologize to Charlie and try to make things right. But Charlie had gone her own way, stitched the rest of them up and now she had the upper hand. So her apology had been swallowed.

‘Ok, let’s park the smartphone for now, focus on the tablet instead,’ she said, her patience finally wearing thin.

Her abruptness earnt her a reproachful look from the data analyst, but Sanderson ignored it. She knew she was behaving petulantly, but she couldn’t help herself. As her aggrieved subordinate punched the keyboard, Sanderson’s eyes strayed across the room. She could see Charlie out of the corner of her eye, leafing through files. It made Sanderson smile. Hard though she was trying to look busy, she knew that all Charlie’s thoughts were bent on the interview downstairs – an interview she was excluded from. This would be a big feather in her cap, if things played out as she hoped.

‘Here you go,’ her neighbour said, failing to conceal the hint of triumph in her voice. Sanderson turned to her, irritated with herself for being so distracted.

‘What have you got?’

‘Someone’s using Paine’s tablet.’

‘Where?’ Sanderson said, suddenly engaged.

‘Not sure yet. They’re hooked into a server in the city centre. Give me another five minutes and I’ll give you a more precise location.’

Sanderson was already heading to the door.

‘Buzz me in the car. I’m heading down there now.’

Sanderson pushed through the door and down the corridor, half walking, half running. She didn’t want to overdo it, but she couldn’t look this gift horse in the mouth. There was a chance that she could still redeem herself. More than that, there was a chance that DS Charlene Brooks had pulled in the wrong guy.