Page 49 of 36 Hours
An instant refusal to divulge anything came to her lips, but she relented somewhat after the help he’d given them. Those phone calls had saved them hours.
‘We’re dealing with a twisted individual who thinks he can send the police on a wild goose chase. Except there’s no fun in this one for anybody except him.’
‘Sorry to hear you’re having your time wasted, Inspector. If there’s anything else I can help with, give me a shout.’ He raised his head towards the ceiling. ‘I’m not going anywhere.’
It was on the tip of her tongue to refuse, but you never knew when someone with Fred’s level of attention to detail might come in handy.
‘Thanks for that, Fred. You never know, we might just give you a call.’
THIRTY-SIX
5.55P.M.
‘Well, Penn, you’ve got three hours and six minutes to solve that clue,’ Stacey said, flicking through the puzzle boards on the Seekers site.
‘Jeez, Stace, no pressure,’ he said, rubbing his forehead.
‘All I know is that at one minute past nine that clue is going live, and anyone following the news stories and the boards will have exactly what we have.’
He shook his head in frustration and went back to it.
‘I, on the other hand, have been given the names of forty plus volunteer litter-pickers to check out.’
The fact that neither Penn nor Frost bothered to answer her made her feel that she was the only person in the room. ‘And a possible rape in Stourport.’
Penn raised his head and one eyebrow at the same time.
Stacey shrugged. ‘No, I don’t know either, but it’s what the boss wants.’
‘Don’t get the connection,’ Penn said before lowering his head again.
‘And for anyone who’s interested, the boss is going to the morgue to see Mitch.’
Two grunts were the only reply.
She rolled her eyes before printing out the names sent over by the boss. For a moment, she questioned her own career choices. What the hell was she doing on a Sunday evening carrying out background checks on a group of litter-pickers?
Before making a start, she decided to have a scan for any information on the rape in Stourport. The quicker she could put it out of the boss’s mind, the better for all of them.
‘Posted,’ Frost said, sitting back, and Stacey realised it was the first time the reporter had spoken in hours.
‘Let me look,’ Stacey said, refreshing theDudley Newstab. The article appeared immediately, and Stacey could see that there were already almost a hundred people reading it.
Stacey looked at Frost, who nodded.
‘Yep, it’s gaining interest.’
Stacey read the article and had to give props to the reporter. She had followed the instruction given to her without glorifying or sensationalising the case. She was recording the facts without mentioning the names of the police involved.
‘You gonna be in shit for this?’ Stacey asked.
‘Oh, yeah.’
‘How deep?’
‘I’ll find out tomorrow.’
Stacey waited.