to get Paul Wise.
‘How do you think that would have looked in court if Penny had got done for libel?’ Levine had demanded. ‘That you’d been working with him? You might have ended up being sued yourself. You’ve got to learn when to let go.’
Tina had heard this plea plenty of times before. A year back, she would have told him in no uncertain terms that she would let go when Wise was finally convicted of the crimes he was responsible for, but this time she didn’t bother. Instead, she wearily apologized before giving him the rest of the bad news from the day. Gemma Hanson, the single mother who was their witness in the upcoming murder case, had decided to withdraw her statement identifying their alleged killer, even after Tina had spent more than an hour trying to persuade her to relent, and promising to get her fast-tracked into the witness protection programme.
At this point, Levine had become sympathetic, knowing howmuch pressure she was under, and had told Tina to take the rest of the day off. ‘Take next week off as well. Have a rest. You’re due it.’
She wasn’t quite sure if this was an order or not, but in any case, she’d accepted. At least it would give her an opportunity to look into Nick Penny’s death.
But she knew she was going to have to be careful. Nick’s killer had known about the affair, even though it had finished a fortnight earlier. Either Nick had volunteered the information or, more likely, the killer had been watching him and had seen the two of them together. Since their last few face-to-face meetings had been here in her new house that could only mean one thing: he’d been watching her too.
She stubbed out the cigarette and walked over to the window, looking out into the blackness of her small garden, unable to see anything, before yanking the curtain across, and repeating the process on every window on the ground floor. The thought of being watched made her feel both violated and uneasy. She loved this house. Located in a pretty Hertfordshire village just outside the M25, she’d bought it because she could no longer bear to live in the apartment that had been her home for the previous three years. There were too many bad memories there. This place represented a new start for her, away from the violence and temptations of the city – a small, friendly community where the air was fresh and where she didn’t need the booze to prop her up. And now it felt like it too had been invaded.
She wondered then if her house had been bugged. It was fairly secure, with decent locks on the doors and windows, but she hadn’t got round to getting an alarm system installed yet, and knew from experience that it wasn’t that hard to break into somewhere without leaving a trace if you knew what you were doing.And she had little doubt that anyone hired by Paul Wise would know what he was doing.
Tina cursed herself. She of all people should have known that you could never underestimate someone like Wise. It wasn’t as if she didn’t have the capability to check that her house was protected from electronic eavesdropping. In her bedroom drawer she kept a shop-bought bug finder that could pick up almost all over-the-counter listening devices, but she hadn’t bothered using it for months now. If she was honest with herself, she hadn’t expected Wise or any of his associates to be checking up on her. She and Nick simply hadn’t unearthed anything that would make it seem worthwhile.
There was only one way to find out whether or not her suspicions were justified, but as she started up the stairs to get the bug finder, her mobile rang.
It was DS Weale. He asked her how she was doing.
‘I’ve been better. Any news?’
‘Only that I’ve managed to get hold of those phone records you wanted. I’ve just emailed them through to your personal account.’
‘Thanks,’ she said, suddenly feeling worried that she was being listened to and taking care to choose her words. ‘And there’s
‘How do you think that would have looked in court if Penny had got done for libel?’ Levine had demanded. ‘That you’d been working with him? You might have ended up being sued yourself. You’ve got to learn when to let go.’
Tina had heard this plea plenty of times before. A year back, she would have told him in no uncertain terms that she would let go when Wise was finally convicted of the crimes he was responsible for, but this time she didn’t bother. Instead, she wearily apologized before giving him the rest of the bad news from the day. Gemma Hanson, the single mother who was their witness in the upcoming murder case, had decided to withdraw her statement identifying their alleged killer, even after Tina had spent more than an hour trying to persuade her to relent, and promising to get her fast-tracked into the witness protection programme.
At this point, Levine had become sympathetic, knowing howmuch pressure she was under, and had told Tina to take the rest of the day off. ‘Take next week off as well. Have a rest. You’re due it.’
She wasn’t quite sure if this was an order or not, but in any case, she’d accepted. At least it would give her an opportunity to look into Nick Penny’s death.
But she knew she was going to have to be careful. Nick’s killer had known about the affair, even though it had finished a fortnight earlier. Either Nick had volunteered the information or, more likely, the killer had been watching him and had seen the two of them together. Since their last few face-to-face meetings had been here in her new house that could only mean one thing: he’d been watching her too.
She stubbed out the cigarette and walked over to the window, looking out into the blackness of her small garden, unable to see anything, before yanking the curtain across, and repeating the process on every window on the ground floor. The thought of being watched made her feel both violated and uneasy. She loved this house. Located in a pretty Hertfordshire village just outside the M25, she’d bought it because she could no longer bear to live in the apartment that had been her home for the previous three years. There were too many bad memories there. This place represented a new start for her, away from the violence and temptations of the city – a small, friendly community where the air was fresh and where she didn’t need the booze to prop her up. And now it felt like it too had been invaded.
She wondered then if her house had been bugged. It was fairly secure, with decent locks on the doors and windows, but she hadn’t got round to getting an alarm system installed yet, and knew from experience that it wasn’t that hard to break into somewhere without leaving a trace if you knew what you were doing.And she had little doubt that anyone hired by Paul Wise would know what he was doing.
Tina cursed herself. She of all people should have known that you could never underestimate someone like Wise. It wasn’t as if she didn’t have the capability to check that her house was protected from electronic eavesdropping. In her bedroom drawer she kept a shop-bought bug finder that could pick up almost all over-the-counter listening devices, but she hadn’t bothered using it for months now. If she was honest with herself, she hadn’t expected Wise or any of his associates to be checking up on her. She and Nick simply hadn’t unearthed anything that would make it seem worthwhile.
There was only one way to find out whether or not her suspicions were justified, but as she started up the stairs to get the bug finder, her mobile rang.
It was DS Weale. He asked her how she was doing.
‘I’ve been better. Any news?’
‘Only that I’ve managed to get hold of those phone records you wanted. I’ve just emailed them through to your personal account.’
‘Thanks,’ she said, suddenly feeling worried that she was being listened to and taking care to choose her words. ‘And there’s
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