‘I didn’t realize that talking to my boss was going behind people’s backs,’ he said, ‘but I’m happy to be clear about things.’ He turned to Bradshaw. ‘I don’t believe that your presence is helpful to the inquiry.’
‘Based on what?’
‘Based on the fact that I’m running it.’
‘That’s not enough,’ said the commissioner. ‘Dr Bradshaw’s got a track record. He appears on the Today programme.’
‘I don’t think he represents a proper use of public money.’
Bradshaw turned to the commissioner and gave a sigh. ‘I think this is a problem that you need to sort out between yourselves,’ he said.
‘No,’ said the commissioner. ‘I want it sorted out here and now.’
‘I think my track record speaks for itself,’ said Bradshaw. ‘The real problem seems to be Mr Karlsson’s belief that a psychotherapist he happened to run into could be effective doing profiling work as sort of hobby.’
‘Shall we stick to your track record?’ said Karlsson.
‘Absolutely,’ said Bradshaw. ‘I’m here because Commissioner Crawford knew my work and appointed me personally. If you have any objection to that, then now is the time to say it.’
‘All right,’ said Karlsson. ‘I experienced your profiling skills on the Michelle Doyce case. Your analysis of the crime scene was misleading. Your identification of the murderer was completely mistaken and would have derailed the entire course of the investigation, if it hadn’t been for Frieda Klein.’
‘It’s not an exact science,’ said Bradshaw.
‘Not the way you do it,’ said Karlsson. ‘Frieda Klein didn’t just get it right, she almost got killed doing it. And that was after being effectively fired from the investigation.’
Bradshaw give a sniff. ‘From what I heard, Klein’s mishap came from the failings of your own officers. I may have my failings, but I’ve never stabbed a mental patient to death.’ He stepped back quickly when he saw that Karlsson had raised his right hand.
‘Steady, Mal,’ said the commissioner.
‘Frieda was fighting for her life,’ said Karlsson. ‘And she showed you up for the idiot you are.’ He turned to Crawford. ‘He talks about his track record. Just check it out. From what I’ve seen, Bradshaw is terrific at profiling criminals after they’ve been caught. Frieda Klein was more useful when we were still searching for them.’
Crawford looked at the two of them.
‘I’m sorry, Mal, but I want Dr Bradshaw to stay on the case. Just find a way to work together. That’s all.’
Karlsson and Bradshaw walked out of the commissioner’s office together. Without speaking they reached the lift, waited for it, got in and rode to the ground floor. As they stepped out, Bradshaw spoke. ‘Was it Frieda who put you up to this?’ he said.
‘What are you talking about?’
‘If she’s going to damage me,’ he said, ‘she’ll need to be better at it than that.’
They could all see that Karlsson was in a thoroughly bad mood. It didn’t help that the principal operations room in the police station was being painted. The desks were covered with sheets. Karlsson glanced into the various conference rooms but they were already being used by other officers or had been filled with displaced furniture and computers. In the end he led Yvette, Munster and Riley down some stairs and into the canteen. Riley dumped a pile of files on a table, then they all queued for coffees and teas. Munster and Riley bought a bun each, covered with white icing. Karlsson looked disapproving.
‘While we’re here,’ said Munster.
‘I missed breakfast,’ added Riley.
‘As long as you don’t get the files sticky,’ said Karlsson.
‘We’d better get used to this,’ said Yvette, as they settled at their table in a corner of the canteen by a window. ‘When the cuts take effect, those of us who’re left will be fighting for office space.’
‘Hot desking,’ said Riley.
‘What?’ Karlsson frowned.
‘It’s the modern kind of office. Nobody has their own desk. The idea is that you only occupy space when you need it.’
‘What about your stuff?’ said Munster. ‘Your paper clips and coffee mug.’
‘You keep them all in a locker. It’s a bit like school.’
‘Not like my school,’ said Munster. ‘If you left anything in your locker there, it got broken into and nicked.’
‘If you’re quite ready,’ Karlsson interrupted.
‘Hang on,’ said Munster. ‘Is Bradshaw coming?’
‘He’s busy today,’ said Karlsson.
‘Probably appearing on TV,’ said Yvette, and Karlsson gave her a look.
‘You go first,’ he said.
‘The situation is pretty much what you saw at the scene. We’ve had officers taking statements up and down the road. Plus we sent a couple of them to spend time there for the next two or three afternoons, just in case there were people who walked there at that time of day. There’s nothing that leaps out.’
‘Fingerprints?’ said Karlsson.
‘They’ve got dozens of them,’ said Yvette. ‘But this was a family house, people in and out all the time. They’ve started to eliminate family prints, but it’s hopeless until we can narrow it down.’
‘Weapon?’ said Karlsson.
‘We haven’t found one.’
‘Have you searched?’
‘Within reason.’
‘There was a bin collection the next morning,’ said Munster. ‘A few officers had made a preliminary search the previous afternoon. But we didn’t have the men.’
‘I don’t even know why I’m bothering,’ said Karlsson. ‘But I’ll say it anyway: CCTV?’
‘Nothing in the road itself,’ said Yvette. ‘It’s residential. It doesn’t have them. We’ve got the footage from a couple of cameras on Chalk Farm Road. But we haven’t been through it yet.’
‘Why not?’
‘We’ve got a window of three or four hours and crowds of people wandering down to Camden Lock and we don’t know what we’re looking for.’
There was a pause. Karlsson noticed a smile on Riley’s face. ‘Is something funny?’ he asked.
‘Not really,’ Riley said. ‘It’s different from what I expected.’
‘Is this your first?’
‘You mean murder? I dealt with a death near the Elephant and Castle. But they caught the guy at the scene.’
‘Where’s the fun in that?’ said Karlsson. He turned back to Yvette. ‘The woman, Ruth Lennox. Why was she at home?’
‘It was her afternoon off. Her husband said it’s a day she normally goes shopping or does things around the house.’
‘Meets friends?’
‘Sometimes.’
‘That day?’
Yvette shook her head. ‘He showed us her diary. There was nothing in it for that day.’
‘How are the family?’ asked Karlsson.
‘In shock. When I interviewed them they seemed stunned. They’re staying with friends a few doors up from their house.’
‘What about the husband?’
‘He’s not the demonstrative type,’ said Yvette, ‘but he seems devastated.’
‘Have you asked him where he was at the time of his wife’s murder?’
‘He told us he had a four o’clock meeting with a Ms Lorraine Crawley, an accountant for the company where he works. I rang her and she confirmed it. It lasted about half an hour, forty minutes. Which makes it very unlikely that he could have got back to his house in time to kill his wife and leave before the daughter came home from school.’
‘Unlikely?’ said Karlsson. ‘That’s not good enough. I’ll talk to him again myself.’
‘You suspect him?’ said Riley.
‘If a woman is killed and there’s a husband or a boyfriend around, then that’s something to be be taken into consideration.’