Hidden Killers. Lynda La plante

reply. She read through her notes again and then went to Moran’s office and handed him the pocket book to read. She watched with interest and observed that he had a habit of nodding as he was reading. She hoped it was a sign that he was agreeing with her notes.

      He smiled and looked up at her. ‘Good explanation for the use of a truncheon, but a defence lawyer will accuse you of intentionally aiming for the head. The bit where the suspect said “I’ve got a knife . . . so keep your mouth shut, you fucking thieving whore” – is that, and the rest of what he said, word for word?’

      ‘Yes, as far as I can recall, sir.’

      Moran had a look of contempt in his eyes, but not for Jane. ‘Nasty piece of work, isn’t he? These notes are good, Tennison. Brief, yet concise and covering the relevant points about his attempted escape. You can elaborate further about the operation and how scared you were in your statement . . . but do that tomorrow, as I’m sure you’ll want to get off for some shut-eye soon.’

      ‘Not really, I still feel wide awake.’

      ‘That’s the adrenalin still pumping after making such a good arrest,’ he said, as he countersigned the arrest notes and handed the pocket book back to Jane.

      ‘You’ll need to get Harris to sign them as well, as he’s the duty sergeant and he booked in the prisoner. Oh, and the rabbit fur jacket . . . can you leave it on the chair there? It’s evidence in a case, so I need to put it back in the property store.’

      Jane removed the jacket. ‘Thanks for letting me use it, sir, it kept me warm.’ She placed it on the chair and left the room.

      As she went downstairs to the front office she was surprised to see Sergeant Harris at the duty desk, though he was reading The Sun while drinking coffee and puffing away on a pipe. Jane asked him if he would sign her notes and handed him the pocket book.

      ‘Oh, CID notebook now, is it? Uniform IRB not good enough for you now?’ he said in a jovial manner that made Jane apprehensive, as it was unusual for him. ‘Has DI Moran checked and countersigned these?’

      ‘Yes, Sarge, and DC Edwards helped me write them.’

      ‘Well, no doubt everything is tight as a duck’s arse when it comes to the evidence of arrest.’ He flicked briefly through the pages, stopping longer to read and take in the bit where Jane was initially attacked and threatened. He looked her in the eye and spoke softly.

      ‘How are you feeling? D’you need to take a couple of days’ leave?’

      ‘No thanks, I’m fine, Sarge. Especially now Allard, or whoever he may be, is in a cell and going nowhere.’

      ‘Well, that’s mainly down to you, young lady. If you hadn’t smacked him one he’d probably have got away before the cavalry turned up. So, what was your final exam result?’

      ‘It was good, Sarge . . . I got ninety-four per cent.’

      ‘Congratulations.’

      ‘Thank you, Sarge. Is it right you can sit the sergeant’s exam after your probationary period is over?’ she asked, because she thought that DC Edwards was wrong.

      Harris cocked his head to one side, then gave her a cynical grin.

      ‘Yes, if authorized by the Divisional Commander, who would of course seek the advice and wisdom of an experienced sergeant like me . . . But even if by some miracle you were allowed to sit the exam, and passed, you can’t be made sergeant until you have five years’ service. Now, even though you have nearly finished your probation you will still be under my supervision and I will be responsible for your Annual Qualification Reports. I think you could say that your future regarding any promotion is in my hands.’

      In the last year and a half Jane had learned not to let his demeaning attitude annoy her, as that was what he wanted. She wasn’t the only person he belittled, it was just his nature. She smiled, refusing to be rattled by his attitude. ‘I’m not really interested in promotion yet. I’d like to become a detective constable first.’

      ‘Listen, Tennison, although your arrest tonight is commendable I doubt you would make the grade yet as you need more uniform experience. Being a decoy for one night is very different from being a detective and investigating major crime.’

      Jane looked him in the eye. ‘Will you be putting that in my final report?’

      ‘I need to be frank with you. In my honest opinion, as your reporting sergeant, I feel you might be better suited to something like mounted branch or maybe even being a “black rat”,’ Harris said, referring to what many officers called the Traffic police.

      Harris handed Jane the fingerprints he’d taken from the suspect and told her to give them to DI Moran. They would need to be passed on to C3 Fingerprint Bureau at the Yard for comparison to prints on record, especially those wanted for crime and outstanding marks at crime scenes, particularly sex crimes.

      ‘D’you intend wearing that wig and looking like a Tom all night? Go and get cleaned up,’ Harris said, and dismissed her with a wave of his hand.

      Jane went to the ladies’ locker room and removed the heavy makeup before returning to the CID office. She had been to DI Moran’s office with the prints but he wasn’t there. Edwards looked up from his paperwork.

      ‘Moran went downstairs to put the rabbit fur jacket back in the property store, and release another prisoner he had in on suspicion of dishonest handling, then he was going home.’

      Jane held up the set of fingerprints. ‘Harris said I was to give him these prints so—’

      DC Edwards interrupted and explained that Moran had already instructed the night duty SOCO to take the suspect’s fingerprints to the Yard. Jane asked if he and DI Moran would be interviewing the suspect in the morning. Edwards replied that Moran had suggested she could sit in on the interview for experience, and he was to take the suspect’s clothes and other evidence to the forensic lab. He explained that they might find fibres from the other victims’ clothing on them, or vice versa. Jane said it would be a fantastic result if they found anything that linked him to the rape. Edwards said he hoped so too as there was no real evidence to charge him with the rape unless he admitted it.

      ‘I doubt he’ll ever do that . . . seems he’s going to fight this case all the way, and the only thing we’ve got on him so far is the attack on me.’

      ‘Well, even if it is, Jane, there’s no way out for him. Judges detest people who assault police officers so he’ll get a long stretch for that alone.’

      Edwards yawned and said he was going to get some sleep on the armchair in the snooker room, and go straight to the forensics lab first thing in the morning. He suggested to Jane that she should go and get some kip too, as Moran wanted to start interviewing the prisoner at 10 a.m. about the other assaults he was suspected of committing. Jane asked him what time she should come in. Edwards said Moran was an early bird and would probably be in at 8 a.m. to prep for the interview, so Jane said she would be in at 7.30 a.m. As she thanked Edwards for coming to her rescue he asked if she was OK, as it had been a tough night.

      ‘I was pretty shaken up at the time, but I’m fine now.’

      ‘Listen, you did a good job. I’d have been shitting myself if I were in your shoes . . . even more so if he’d pulled the knife to my throat.’

      Jane joked, ‘He technically had two offensive weapons . . .’

      Edwards looked puzzled.

      ‘The knife . . . and his erect penis!’

      Edwards laughed.

      ‘You’d make a good detective, Jane . . . Go on, bugger off and get some kip. Don’t walk back or you might get arrested as a Tom! Get the night shift to drop you off at the section house.’

      Jane suddenly realized that she’d forgotten to tell Harris that DI Moran had said she could start her CID attachment as from now. She wished Moran was still there to tell Harris