Whitney trusted Claire not to leak information, but she wanted her to know she wouldn’t tolerate any interference.
‘Up to you. If it was me, I’d be glad of her help. She’s very well respected in her field. I’m sure she could be of great benefit to you.’
‘Has she helped in police investigations before? I haven’t heard, but you may know different.’
‘I’ve no idea. I’m giving you my opinion based on her academic work,’ Claire replied.
‘You’re entitled to your opinion. But good old-fashioned police work will catch the bastard who did this.’ She didn’t need a fancy education to do her job properly.
Chapter Seven
‘Okay,’ Whitney said to Ellie, once she’d returned to the incident room. ‘Where are we on the CCTV?’
‘I’ve accessed footage from the cameras covering roads into the university and also those on the campus, but so far there’s nothing of note on there. Although there’s still a lot more to go through,’ Ellie replied.
‘And the victim’s friends?’
‘We’ve had better luck there. I went through the list of contacts in her phone and checked out her social media accounts. Her boyfriend’s name is Nathan Harris, and judging by the photos and comments, Millie had been seeing him for a couple of weeks. According to the university database, he’s twenty-two and a third-year law student. He should be in class at the moment. He comes from Dorset and lives with four other males in a student house in Stanton Road. Number twenty-three. Here’s a photo of him from the university records.’ She handed it to Whitney, who placed it on the board next to the photo of Millie.
‘Good work.’ She turned to Matt, who was standing close by. ‘Go to the university and pick him up. We’ll interview him here.’
‘Yes, guv,’ Matt replied.
‘Frank. You and Sue go to Stanton Road in case he’s at home. If he’s not there, see if you can persuade any of the occupants to let you in for a look around. It will save having to wait for a search warrant.’
Time was crucial in murder investigations.
‘What if there’s no one there?’ Frank asked.
For a seasoned officer, Frank could be infuriatingly dense. She didn’t want to spell out everything, preferring her team to work on their own initiative.
‘I’ll leave that to your discretion. If you’re at all concerned and think you’ve heard something worrying from inside, then you know the drill. Go and investigate.’
Whitney’s concern was the longer they left the boyfriend at large, the more time he’d have to destroy any evidence. If they went by the rule book every time they came across something, investigations would be seriously hampered. She realised it had to be counter balanced with the need to have everything watertight for court, but there was always a way around things without crossing the line.
‘Guv,’ Frank replied.
‘I’ll see you later. I’m due in with the DSI to discuss the press conference.’
She left the room and headed to Jamieson’s office. The door was shut, so she knocked and waited for him to answer. She could hear him on the phone, his pompous voice coming through loud and clear.
‘Enter,’ he called out. ‘Won’t be a moment,’ he mouthed to her once she’d walked in.
Watching him, she wondered how he’d ever cope if he had to chase someone on foot. He was considerably overweight, his shirt buttons straining against his protruding stomach. Much of the increase had occurred since joining the force. The result of spending most of his time behind a desk. She guessed it wasn’t helped by all the lunches and dinners he had to attend. That was why she’d decided to stick at DCI. She had no desire to be tied to a desk. It would drive her bat-shit crazy.
The call Jamieson was on sounded personal, possibly his wife. She’d no idea whether he was married, divorced, single, or whatever. It sounded like he was making arrangements for dinner out that evening. Lucky for him, murder cases didn’t interfere with his social life. She had choir rehearsal later but doubted she’d make it, which was annoying seeing as singing was her one release. The choir were rehearsing for a big concert to be held later in the month. She’d been asked to sing a solo, which was flattering, though she’d be a bag of nerves on the night.
‘The press conference,’ Jamieson said, dragging her back from her thoughts.
‘Yes, sir. When is it?’
She’d already sussed how much he enjoyed doing them. The abduction of a ten-year-old boy a month ago was proof. Her team had successfully found the child within twenty-four hours of him going missing. At the press conference, Jamieson acted like he’d coordinated the whole operation and single-handedly carried out the rescue.
He clearly believed being in the public eye was good for his image. He’d also cleverly avoided being centre stage on the ones which were likely to have negative feedback. Then he’d step aside for someone else to take the flack.
‘Sixteen hundred hours. I want you with me.’
Just what she didn’t want. It was pointless having her there seeing as they had nothing of note to report, other than they were following all lines of enquiry and for anyone with information to contact the incident room.
‘Might not be possible. I have an interview lined up.’ She hoped that would get her off the hook.
‘We have someone already? Good work, Walker.’
Praise … from him? What was going on?
‘Nothing concrete, sir. We’re bringing in the boyfriend for questioning,’ she replied.
‘Well, I’m sure you can leave him for a while when we meet the press,’ Jamieson insisted.
‘We really don’t have anything to say to the press at the moment, other than there’s been a suspicious death on the university campus and we’re progressing with our enquiries. It really doesn’t need both of us. My time is better spent elsewhere.’
Jamieson’s right eye twitched. She’d already learnt it wasn’t a good sign and braced herself for the onslaught.
‘I’m not asking whether you think it’s a good idea. I’m telling you I want both of us there. We have to instil the belief the public can trust us to do our job properly and we’re working hard on the case. At the moment, thanks to you, our research shows they don’t hold us in very high esteem.’
‘From one incident? I find that very hard to believe.’ She should let his words wash over her but was annoyed he wanted to involve her when she was so busy.
‘Your fuck up wasn’t the only one. Meet me here fifteen minutes before the conference. That’s an order.’
The only other issue she was aware of wasn’t anything to do with the running of a case. Another DCI had been caught taking a bribe from one of the newspapers to give up information on a case. He’d been set up.
‘Sir.’ She walked out of his office and went back to her office, stopping at the vending machine for a packet of crisps and a can of cola, as she’d forgotten to have lunch.
After she’d been back at her desk for half an hour, Matt walked in.
‘Nathan Harris is in the interview room.’