Page 7 of Her Last Breath

‘Don’t do that again,’ Jane said, keeping her voice as calm as she could. ‘Do not start the team briefing without me. Do you understand?’

‘You weren’t here and we have a lot on,’ he retorted. ‘The team were looking for direction.’

Jane ignored the jibe aimed at her tardiness.

‘PC Biggs informed you that I was with Alice Rogers’ parents?’

DS Johnson looked blank, then nodded.

‘Then you should have waited. And on that subject, why wasn’t I told about our mispers turning up dead?’

‘I was waiting for you to come into the office.’

‘Standard protocol, is it? Not letting the senior investigating officer know when a dead body has been found?’

‘I didn’t know where you were.’

‘And declaring her death a suicide? Who decided that?’

‘Alice Rogers was unstable, a user, penniless, plus she had weighted herself down with rocks. All the evidence points to suicide.’

‘I should have been informed before the press. There is no room for disagreement on this.’

‘I didn’t feel it was a priority.’ His voice was measured, with no hint of remorse. ‘We have people trafficking incidents and drug turf wars to investigate. All far more pressing cases. I did inform DCI Malik, though.’

Jane balked at this. Johnson going over her head to her boss but not finding the time to tell her.

‘Please remember that I decide the priority of our cases.’ Jane kept her voice low and cold. ‘If anything needs to be escalated to DCI Malik, I will do it. And I am your senior officer, DS Johnson. Please remember that and address me as “ma’am”.’

‘And it’s my job to lead the team in your absence,’ her deputy replied matter-of-factly, before pausing to add a desultory ‘Ma’am.’

Jane was about to explode when they were interrupted by a knock on the door. A hesitant DC Chan poked her head around.

‘DC Chan, what is it?’ Jane encouraged, holding the young officer’s gaze.

‘Something that uniform found as part of their prelims, might be of interest. Two days before Alice Rogers sent that text message to her parents, she signed a lease on a new flat in the city centre. Put the deposit and two month’s rent down there and then, in cash.’

Chapter 4

Jane felt the gnawing in her stomach as she grabbed her selection from the vending machine. Feeling a presence behind her, she straightened up to see DCI Sameer Malik, grinning at her.

‘That bad, is it? Chocolate before 11 a.m.?’

‘I didn’t realise there was a rulebook on snacks.’ A beat, then she added, ‘And nothing I can’t handle.’

She offered him the chocolate bar, but he refused. Sameer was the same age as Jane – thirty-eight. Unlike Jane, he was over six feet tall and his suit did little to hide his toned, muscular body.

‘It’s organic and dark,’ she said. ‘Practically fruit.’

‘I would believe you if there wasn’t actual fruit staring us in the face.’

Jane smiled at the apples wrapped in clingfilm sitting hopefully next to the KitKats.

‘I see you haven’t changed,’ she said. ‘You were obsessed with the gym even back in Hendon.’

‘You didn’t seem to mind.’

‘I was naïve and a sucker for your six-pack.’