Read Online Power Games by Judith Cutler - Free Book Online Page A

have a full forensic p.m., doesn’t it? A lot more. He’s always on about his budget, our DI Crowther,’ Guljar said.
    She looked up sharply. Some needle there between the two men? But she simply asked, ‘Isn’t everyone budget-crazy these days? It wouldn’t hurt to preserve the scene, would it, while he thought about it? I mean, a place like this – you can see how immaculate it is – must be cleaned every day. All the litter disposed of. All the evidence – if evidence there is – would be completely lost. We can’t afford that.’
    She was rewarded by a grin. ‘All the bloody paperwork – if it proves a false alarm, you can bloody come and do it, your next day off.’
    â€˜What’s one of those? OK, you’re on. If we’re wrong, I’ll type up the whole caboodle for you.’
    â€˜What are we waiting for, then? I’ll call our CID and their SOCO friends, and make sure nothing is disturbed, nothing thrown away. That’ll really make the tennis-playing public happy, I don’t think.’
    â€˜To say nothing of the coaches like Jason, who don’t earn if they don’t work,’ she added.
    â€˜Tell you what, Kate,’ he said, pulling himself to his feet, ‘I could wish it had been Josephine Public, not you, who’d found her. The next few days would have been a lot easier.’
    â€˜But – if we’re right – the ensuing ones would be a hell of a lot worse.’
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    At last, leaving him to radio back to his colleagues in Kings Heath, she went out into the foyer, where Jason was still waiting. He’d brought out her tennis bag, the tracksuit tucked into the handles. Kate dug in her bag for her purse and the lesson fee. When he demurred, she said flatly, ‘You managed to get here at seven. Don’t tell me you don’t deserve the lesson fee for that alone!’
    â€˜Well …’ He took the money, obviously embarrassed. ‘What if you just booked another lesson for later this week …’
    â€˜No: I’d better stick to the usual Tuesday date. I’ve got a nasty suspicion this is going to be a heavy week,’ she said. ‘For me; for you; and for everyone at the Centre. Once the Press get hold of the fact that a corpse lay undiscovered at Brayfield Centre overnight, they’re going to want to talk to a lot of people. And my colleagues over there just might, too.’ She nodded at the influx of police personnel. ‘Just to kick off, though, Jason. Were you here last night?’
    He shook his head. ‘I was coaching over in Handsworth.’
    â€˜So you’ve got a nice lot of witnesses?’
    â€˜About twenty – it was a very busy night. Everyone thinking they should be playing Davis Cup tennis! You should see the courts in Wimbledon fortnight!’ He smiled shyly: ‘Look, I’ve organised a cup of hot chocolate for you.’
    Not from the machine, either.
    â€˜I got them to put in extra sugar. Shock,’ he explained, as she raised startled eyes. ‘You know, the body.’
    She swallowed her remarks about seeing worse sights every day with the first mouthful of chocolate. It was good, and there was no point in offending the person who’d procured it. In fact, it made a nice change to be treated as a human, who could feel frail in the face of such events.
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    Time to go into work. The full back-up team was now on the scene. There was nothing to do except drink her chocolate and go. It was all in other people’s hands. Nonetheless, as she left the building she spoke to the woman on Reception: Sylvie, her badge said. ‘Was it busy here last night?’
    Sylvie shook her head. ‘I wouldn’t know.’
    â€˜Don’t you get to know the regulars?’
    â€˜Yes, but it was the relief manager on last night. The regular manager’s off sick.’
    â€˜So when will the relief manager be back