‘Is Wood Green nick far from Tottenham?’ Jane asked.
‘About three miles.’
‘What street is it on?’
She opened the A-Z at the back pages streets index.
‘It’s in the High Road opposite Earlham Grove.’
‘Thanks, I’ll call in on my way back to the office.’
She put the phone down, looked at her watch and was surprised to see it was nearly five o’clock.
‘Shit!’
She’d forgotten to call the office and give an update of her whereabouts, which would definitely please Murphy, as it would give him something else to have a go at her about. She looked in the back of her pocket notebook for the office number, picked up the phone and hurriedly dialed it.
She recognized Katie’s voice. ‘Hi, it’s Jane Tennison. Has Murphy been asking where I am?’
‘Yes, a couple of times, but I’ve covered for you and said you’d rung in.’
‘What did you tell him?’
‘I said you’d been to the Broadwater Farm estate and were making further enquiries at the Tottenham Co-op to trace Emma Wilson.’
‘That’s right — did you speak to Teflon?’
‘Yes, he rang in and told me what happened at Broadwater Farm — which meant I didn’t have to make anything up about where you were going next,’ she said smugly.
‘You didn’t need to lie for me, Katie.’
‘We cover each other’s backs on the Flying Squad, Jane.’
‘Thanks, I owe you one. I’m at Tottenham nick and just need to pop over to Wood Green, then I should be back at Rigg just before six.’
‘I think Murphy’s got another meeting to go to at the Yard, but I’ll let him know you called in and are en route to the office.’
‘Thanks, I’ll be quick as I can.’
‘Did you speak to Emma Wilson?’
‘Yes.’
‘Was there anything connected to the investigation?’
‘She didn’t actually hear the men talking about a robbery, but—’
‘A waste of your time and effort, just like I thought it would be,’ Katie interjected, sounding pleased.
‘Not entirely—’
‘I knew Murphy should have got the local CID to follow it up before allocating the enquiry to you.’
‘To be honest, meeting the Wilsons was a bit surreal, but worth it.’
‘What do you mean?’ Katie asked.
‘I need to get a move on, but I’ll explain everything when I get back... Catch you later.’
She put the phone down and was about to leave when she realized there was one more check she should make before going to Wood Green.
She opened the collator’s ‘W’ tray and was pleased there were no criminal record cards for Emma or Rachel Wilson. She also checked the electoral register, which showed them as residing at 68 Tangmere House on the Broadwater Farm estate.
Katie went straight to Murphy’s office after the call. He was sitting at his desk reading the newspaper articles about the robbery.
‘Tennison just phoned in,’ she told him.
‘About bloody time! What did she have to say for herself?’
‘Only that the Wilson woman didn’t hear anything in the cafe, and it had been a bit surreal—’
‘Tennison’s the one who’s bloody surreal! Give me anything else that comes in looking like another dead-end enquiry — then I’ll allocate it to her. At least I can mark her card for not phoning in earlier.’
‘Not really, sir. I told her... that I told you that she’d called in twice.’
‘Why’d you do that? Now I can’t bollock her!’
‘Because you wanted me to get on side with her. Besides, if you’re not here when she gets back, I can tell her you were mad she didn’t return to the office by 5:30 to update you.’
‘I told her I wanted a result by the end of the day, not a time.’
‘I could have sworn you said by 5:30,’ Katie said with a sly grin.
‘You’ve got a right cunning streak in you, Powell — you’d have made a good detective.’
‘I’ll take that as a compliment, sir. Will you be wanting the team to work over the weekend?’
‘Yes, if it’s necessary, but only eight-hour shifts — with no overtime.’
‘Will you be coming in?’
‘It’s Kingston’s turn to be the squad’s senior duty officer this weekend. I’ll be at home, but only call me if there’s positive and corroborated information about the Barclays Bank suspects, which will identify, locate and allow us to arrest them — with the money, preferably.’
‘Will you be back later this evening?’
‘I doubt it, but then again I might pop in to see what Tennison has to say for herself.’
The rush hour traffic was moving slowly, and it took Jane nearly half an hour to travel the three miles to Wood Green. On checking the collator’s cards, there were no local records for an Anthony Ripley, Aidan O’Reilly or Maria Fernandez, and the electoral register for 94A Seven Sisters Road showed an Anthony Ripley as the sole occupant. With the snooker club connection, this couldn’t be a coincidence. Jane wondered if, when Ripley moved to the flat in Connington House, he’d sublet it to O’Reilly.
Jane didn’t get back to the office until 6:30 p.m. It was empty apart from Katie, who was sitting at her desk typing up some statements.
‘Everyone still out on enquiries?’ she asked as she hung her coat on the stand.
‘Yes, apart from DI Kingston, who’s in his office.’
‘Murphy not about?’
‘No, he had a meeting to go to.’
‘I only came back because he wanted a result about the Emma Wilson enquiry today—’
‘It’s just as well, Jane, as he’s fuming that you weren’t back here by 5:30 like he told you to be.’
Jane looked quizzical. ‘He never said I had to be back here at a specific time.’
Katie looked sympathetic. ‘I tried to tell him he didn’t say a specific time, but he wouldn’t listen.’
‘I appreciate you sticking up for me, Katie, but I don’t want you getting on his wrong side because he’s got it in for me.’
‘Well, you shouldn’t have to put up with Murphy’s behavior. It’s not right — and he knows it.’
Jane changed the subject. ‘Anything positive come in from the rest of the team?’
‘Teflon and Cam are still out taking statements from the patrol car crew and some civilian witnesses. The Colonel and Bax called in. They spoke to the owner of the car used in the robbery and are checking out what he told them.’
‘Do they think he was involved?’
‘Not in the robbery itself, but they thought there was something about his car being stolen that didn’t add up.’
‘What was it?’
‘They didn’t tell me all the details. They were just calling in.’
‘Sounds like I’m the only one who forgot to do that.’
‘Yes, but like I said, Murphy and the others don’t know that. I told him you’d interviewed Emma Wilson and it turned out to be a waste of time.’
‘It was actually quite productive—’
‘I thought you said she didn’t hear anyone talking in the cafe?’
‘She didn’t — her deaf sister did.’
Katie laughed. ‘A deaf person heard them talking? Are you pulling my leg, Jane?’
‘No, she can lip-read. On Monday she saw two men in a Tottenham cafe moving condiments and sugar lumps around the table. From what she told me I think there’s a strong possibility it might be connected to our investigation.’
‘I see what you mean now when you said it was a bit surreal. Sounds like you did a good job though.’
Katie was trying to keep a straight face, knowing Murphy would be rolling on the floor with laughter when he heard about it.