He put a hand on her arm. ‘Is that a yes?’
‘No, it is not!’ she said firmly, shrugging his hand off.
‘I’m sorry, Jane, I didn’t mean to upset you. It’s just that I thought there was a bit of chemistry between the two of us.’
She leaned towards him so they wouldn’t be overheard.
‘I never mix business with pleasure — and I certainly don’t go out with married men,’ she said with a tight smile, then picked up her coat and bag to leave.
‘What’s going on here then?’
The Colonel’s unmistakable voice boomed across the room. Jane looked up to see the Colonel, Stanley, Cam, Bax and Teflon walking towards them.
‘What are you doing here?’ Kingston scowled, realizing he should have gone to another pub with Jane.
‘We’ve had a hard day and thought we’d enjoy a cozy drink like you and Treacle here.’ The Colonel smirked.
‘Actually, I was just leaving.’
Jane pushed past him and walked out of the pub.
‘Who’s rattled her cage?’ The Colonel laughed. ‘Looks like you won’t be pulling her drawers down any time soon. You might as well give me that twenty quid now.’
‘The bet’s off,’ Kingston snapped.
The Colonel snapped his fingers twice and held his hand out. Kingston took a twenty-pound note from his wallet with a scowl and handed it over.
‘I’ll have a pint of lager and whisky chaser.’
He downed the rest of his pint in one.
The office was empty when Katie returned from the pub. She threw her coat and handbag down on a desk, opened one of the steel cabinets by the wall and took out a large duffle bag. Inside was a range of equipment the team used to force entry into premises and to fit trackers and listening devices to cars and houses. She removed a twelve-inch crowbar, weighed it in her hand, then replaced it in the bag. She rummaged around until she found the assorted screwdriver case, then selected the two smallest ones. She crouched down by Jane’s desk so the side drawer lock was at eye level. She inserted one of the screwdrivers into the lock and jiggled it about a bit, then tried with the smaller one. After a few twists and turns the drawer popped open.
‘You can’t hide things from me, Little Miss Perfect,’ she said, reaching in to remove Jane’s pocket notebook and Rachel’s notes.
Chapter Eighteen
Jane got in her car and took a few deep breaths to calm herself down. She’d been enjoying Kingston’s company and thought there was a mutual respect between the two of them, but now it seemed it was all an act to get her into bed.
How could I have been so stupid?
It had probably been thoughtless to snub his advances so forcefully. Would he now back her up when they spoke to Murphy about the Wilson sisters and the possible surveillance operations? Did it mean, yet again, she’d have to fight her own corner?
‘Why does this shit always happen to me?’ she muttered as she started the engine.
She knew if she went straight home she was still so upset she wouldn’t be able to get to sleep for ages. She decided to go back to the office and get her pocket notebook and Rachel’s notes, so she could type up her report at home after a calming hot bath and a glass of wine.
Katie was busy photocopying and didn’t hear Jane come in.
‘I thought you’d have gone home by now,’ Jane said and Katie jumped.
‘You startled me. What are you doing back here?’
‘I’m just picking up my notes so I can type my report at home.’
‘Murphy doesn’t like people to take their work home. You know, in case they lose it and it gets into the wrong hands,’ Katie said quickly.
‘It’s all right,’ Jane explained. ‘The notes are in my pocket notebook, which like every police officer I carry with me on the streets when I’m out making enquiries and often take home.’
She got her keys out of her coat pocket and opened her desk drawer.
‘What the fuck? Someone’s been in my desk and taken all my notes!’
‘You’re joking...’ Katie said, putting her hand to her mouth in apparent surprise.
‘Has anyone been back to the office while I was out?’
‘Only Murphy. I nipped out to the loo while he was here—’
‘Well, he must have a skeleton key because I locked it,’ she said, turning towards his office.
‘I think he has. Maybe he’s taken them with him to read.’
‘He’s got no bloody right to do that!’ Jane snapped.
She went into Murphy’s office and started to search his desk. Katie gathered up her photocopying, then put it in the bottom of her desk tray and started typing.
‘Were they in his office?’ she asked as Jane reappeared.
‘No. As much of an arsehole as Murphy is, I can’t believe he would be so underhand. Did the Colonel come back here earlier?’
‘No, I’ve not seen or heard from him since this afternoon.’
Jane checked the Colonel’s desk and trays. Then, as she scanned the room, she noticed two small screwdrivers on the table next to the photocopier. She looked at Katie, who was still typing with her head down. Jane thought it strange that she hadn’t lifted a finger to help her search for the notes. She checked the office duty sheet and saw that the Colonel had booked off about ten minutes before he came into the pub.
‘The Colonel must have been in as he’s booked off duty,’ Jane said, looking at Katie.
‘Really? Well, he might have come in just after Murphy while I was on the loo, then left before I got back to my desk.’
Jane checked the duty sheet again and saw that Stanley, Cam, Bax and Teflon had booked off at the same time as the Colonel, meaning he wouldn’t have been able to take her notes without the rest of them seeing. She also realized there was no way Katie couldn’t have seen or heard all four of them in the office, even if she was in the toilet, as it was just a few feet away in the corridor.
‘How did Murphy know my notes were in my top drawer?’
‘I don’t know — but it’s an obvious place to keep them,’ Katie replied nervously.
‘You can tell me if you saw Murphy take them. I won’t rat on you.’
Katie’s mouth had gone dry and she licked her lips.
‘Like I said before, I was on the loo, so he or the Colonel could have taken them.’
Jane remembered seeing Katie by the photocopier and recalled something she herself had inadvertently done a few times when using it. She lifted the lid and her suspicions were confirmed.
‘You’re not half as clever as you think you are, Katie,’ Jane said calmly. ‘You’re also a shit liar.’
‘What on earth are you talking about?’ she asked, trying to look surprised.
‘Cut the act, Katie. You were the last person to use the photocopier — and look what you left behind.’ Jane removed the piece of notepaper from the copier. ‘This is the description of the men in the cafe — in Rachel Wilson’s handwriting. How do you explain that?’
‘Murphy or the Colonel must have left it there,’ she said straight-faced.
Jane picked up the screwdrivers and banged them down on Katie’s desk.
‘You used these to unlock my drawer, didn’t you?’
‘I wasn’t using the copier, I was trying to fix the top — it had a loose screw and I left the screwdrivers on the table.’
Jane snorted. ‘You’re the one with the loose screw. Now where are my notes?’ she demanded.
‘I haven’t got your fucking notes!’ Katie shouted, knocking her chair over as she stood up. ‘I’ve done nothing wrong and won’t be spoken to like this. I’m going home.’
She picked up her handbag and Jane ripped it out of her hand.
‘You’re going nowhere,’ she said, standing between Katie and the door.