Page 67 of 36 Hours

He tapped his watch. ‘Regular updates throughout the night.’

‘Yes, sir,’ she said.

He reached for the door handle before turning. ‘And rest your team.’

‘Absolutely, sir,’ she said before he strode through the squad room.

She took a breath before following and waited until she heard the outer door close behind him.

‘Chief super ain’t happy, kids.’

The silence in the air was heavy with frustration and irritation.

But then at the same time, they all burst out laughing.

‘That’s hardly news,’ Stacey offered.

‘Yeah, is he ever?’ Penn asked.

‘Ah, poor chief super,’ Bryant commiserated.

‘He wants to shut us down as he’s a little bit embarrassed.’

Despite the exhaustion, three sets of eyes fixed on her. Even Frost was frowning.

‘Yeah, that’s what I thought you’d all say.’ She turned pointedly to Frost. ‘He also demanded that you post no more articles.’

Frost snorted. ‘If I’m not gonna listen to my own boss, I’m sure as hell not gonna listen to yours.’

FIFTY-TWO

MIDNIGHT

THE JESTER’S PROGRESS

By Tracy Frost

For those of you still following this story at midnight, I hope your bosses are going to be understanding when you call in late tomorrow. Judging by the number of comments on the last two articles, it looks like there are quite a few of you.

For this midnight update, I can confirm that the team has travelled to Four Stones at Clent and are currently working on the clue to the next puzzle.

It’s also worth noting that the case has now made the local news, which as you can imagine has thrilled the team trying to find the culprit.

The team working the case are tired, hungry, frustrated and getting criticism from every direction. However, that has not dampened their determination to find the person responsible for this game before someone gets hurt.

And to you, Jester, I know you’re reading these articles. You want to gobble up every piece of news with your name on it. You want to read the comments, positive or negative, because they’re about you. You need that feedback, that attention, but as clever as you are, you’re also a coward and a cheat who is governed by rules and control.

That need for validation is what is going to get you caught.

FIFTY-THREE

MONDAY, 2.15A.M.

Kim took a look around the squad room before glancing back at the board. Following Woody’s departure, she had instructed everyone to get some rest.

Penn had headed down to the men’s locker room, claiming that one of the benches was reasonably comfortable.

Frost had simply sat back in her chair and had been snoozing in minutes.