Episode 15 - Night shift

D.I. Gary Hurley was not happy about Cleo’s outing to Bristol, mainly because she had not told him she was going there. He let fly at Cleo as soon as he stepped into the cottage. He was so vehement that Robert decided to put his foot down.

"Look here, Mr Hurley," he said in very stern tones. "I don't like you coming here laying the law down with Cleo. You're only welcome here if you are civil. Cleo has never done anything illegal or questionable. She is at least as anxious as you are to get to the bottom of Laura Finch's murder. She's involved because she found the body behind her desk in her office. What is more, she knew Laura Finch as well as any of us did before all these new facts about her former life were revealed. I can assure you that Cleo is only trying to help and she is certainly going to continue to do that. So grow up, let her work in her own way and you will find that she is successful. You get on with the routine at your headquarters and Cleo will use her intuition."

Cleo had tried unsuccessfully to stop Robert's tirade. Now she felt she should step in and defend herself.

"You see, Gary, she said,” even the best cop does not think of everything.  One famous detective – Was it Sherlock Holmes…?"

"…who is a fictional character," interrupted Gary.

“… or was it Conan Doyle said that once you had eliminated all the alternatives, what was left had to be the truth. It works in medicine - in fact all diagnostics are based on that conviction - and it works in crime detection."

"Well, well…" said Gary, chastened by Robert’s penny lecture, "I didn't know you were a medical expert, Cleo."

"I'm not. And using Sherlock Holmes's method of basing conclusions on shreds of evidence is also useful, such as making a mental note of the address on an envelope, following it up, and finding relevant answers to important questions concerning a suspect."

"Meaning Mr Bontemps, I suppose."

"Sure. You did not consult me about arresting him,” said Cleo.

“I would have if you’d been around.”

Touché. So he told you enough to satisfy you, did he?"

"He told me everything, Cleo."

"No, he didn't."

"What makes you think that?"

“Because you would have told me, wouldn’t you?”

“Eventually.”

“Don’t make me mad, Gary.”

“Don’t make her mad,” repeated Robert, who now had the impression that Cleo and Gary were far from being on the same wavelength. Robert was far from being unhappy about that.

“You’d better sit down,” he said. “I’ll get the coffee.”

Robert was not anxious to leave Cleo and Gary scrapping, and would not have done had he not needed the coffee himself, but he should have seen the episode in a different light, or even better, seen Gary lift Cleo’s clasped hands to his lips and press kisses onto them.

“You had me worried,” Gary said.

“You had me worried, Gary, about that lady cop you went away with yesterday, for instance.”

“She tried me on her lasagne, Cleo, but I was not tempted, either way.”

Robert returned with the coffee.

“Lost for words?” he asked.

“We’ve had enough words for one day,” Cleo retorted, to keep up the impression the lovers had made on Robert.

***

"To continue the Bontemps topic, Gary, He did not tell you the one piece of information you needed to make progress in your investigation,” said Cleo.

“So are you going to tell me?”

“I already did on the phone.”

“Tell me again.”

Robert sighed. Was this cop as thick as he made out?

“He had told his mother in a letter that he was going to marry Laura Finch. Don't you find that curious? Was it the truth, or did Mr Bontemps have an ulterior motive in telling his mother that?"

"How old is the letter?"

Cleo handed him a copy.

"Sent two weeks ago. Not connected with the murder, then," said Gary.

"Wrong,” said Cleo. “Two weeks is long enough for Laura to have changed her mind and decided to meet the guy and tell him to his face to get lost. And anyway, you might want to ask him why he didn't tell you about his engagement to Laura."

"I might just do that. Cleo, I'm sorry I was so unfair to you, but getting others to help you is not a wise idea."

“Do you mean me, Gary Hurley?” said Robert, clenching his fists in what Gary thought was a threatening gesture.

“I was thinking of Dorothy Price, actually,” said Gary warily.

Cleo could see that Robert was getting really mad at Gary.

"Where my intuition fails me, Dorothy’s takes over, and you know that. But she did not even know about our trip to Bristol. "

"OK. I give up. Do it your way!"

"I have to, Gary."

"So where do we go from here. You're the boss now!"

Robert unclenched his fists and offered to get more coffee.

"We still need to verify that the business with the chorus is not connected to Laura's murder, so all those women and their partners should be checked, including, of course, the four that Dorothy focussed on,” said Cleo. “We need to know where the threat to Laura’s life came from. We have too many suspects and are possibly overlooking the right one."

“Shirley’s on to it. I’m waiting for her report,” said Gary.

***

“Of course, I’m not thinking of murder in connection with Mr Bontemps,” said Cleo, “but he could be responsible for the writing on Robert's shop window. Have you checked on that?"

"I’d just like to know who is going to pay for all the clearing up, Gary,” said Robert.

Gary shrugged his shoulders.

"But you said he is being detained,” said Cleo, “, so he can’t dispose of any traces on clothing, etc..

“You weren’t here to consult about Bontemps, Cleo,” Gary reproached.

“I have a mobile phone.”

“That was off.”

“So it was. It ran out of juice.”

“Bontemps is a free man, Cleo. I had to let him go after questioning. You can’t incarcerate someone on the grounds that he has an old mother in Bristol. Chris is analysing the saliva on the butt of a cigarette he smoked during the interview. That will reveal his DNA without having to take a direct sample."

"Great," said Cleo. "We can work together if we get our roles straight, you see. What about Bonny and Clyde?"

"Disappeared into thin air. Interpol is onto Jessica’s identity, but no news as yet."

"Did you tell them to try Bermuda?"

"I can't tell Interpol how to do their job, Cleo."

"But I can. An anonymous call from a phone box might be the best way."

"Any other ideas before I take early retirement?" said Gary.

"Awesome! You'll get the credit for all this. Private sleuths don't want publicity. It cramps their style."

"OK. OK. Any chance of that bagel now?"

"Just one more point," said Cleo.

"And that is…?"

"I want you to check up on Betjeman Crighton. Get the medical record, if there is one. Or school reports. Anything you think might tell us something about the guy’s mental capabilities. He gives everyone except his devoted parents the creeps."

"But that doesn't mean he's involved."

"If Laura Finch was attractive to one younger guy, maybe she was attractive to another," said Robert.

“You may have a point there.”

“I’ll get you some bagels, Gary,” said Robert. “Ham or cheese?”

“Both, please.”

Robert went into the kitchen to see to it.

***

“Is that my reward?” said Gary.

“It’s all we have right now,” said Cleo.

“I don’t mean the bagels,” said Gary.

“I do,” said Cleo.

***

An hour later, after wrapping himself around several bagels and praising them and the coffee, Gary Hurley tore himself away. He hoped he had made up for being negative. It had all been in aid of preventing Robert from construing an affair with Cleo since she wanted it that way and he did not want to make trouble for her.

Gary was alarmed at Robert’s possessiveness. Getting Cleo away from Robert was not going to be an easy ride.

***

"Not before time," commented Robert to Cleo as soon as Gary had driven off. "I thought he'd be here all night."

"Come on. We have work to do."

"What work? I can't think of anything I'd rather do than go to bed."

"Neither can I, Robert, but we have to go to Laura's house again."

"Now? It’s bedtime. Whatever do you want there?"

"For a start, I should remove anything edible, especially freezer and fridge stuff. Better take your big sports bag."

"Not now, Cleo."

"Now, Robert. Sorry, but it's urgent. I also have to take a look at Laura's personal belongings. She may have hidden things in strange places. People do. Or the Jays may have left something there."

Within minutes they were on their way. On foot. The delivery van would have been too conspicuous at dead of night.

***

"Apart from the fact that the police will have searched the place and found nothing..."

“They may not have looked hard enough and the two Jays were there after that search.”

“Are you sure?”

“Not really. Gary may have cards up his sleeve."

“I don’t think you trust him, do you?” said Robert, who liked that idea. "I don't think you should interfere with his investigations, however bad they are, though getting rid of the old food is all right, I suppose, and it gives you a plausible reason for being there if someone sees us."

"It is the reason, Robert, but I don't want any more scenes with Gary."

"I don't suppose he does, either. I think he’s besotted with you, Cleo, despite all the warnings I tried to give him. I’m going to keep an eye on him."

“Thanks a million, Robert. That’s all I need. It would be more to the point if you went to the neighbours and explained that we are clearing out the fridge. Someone is bound to see a light."

“Why don’t you wait till tomorrow and bring Dorothy here? It’s her sort of job.”

“I need you to defend me,” said Cleo.

"I think you just want to prove to Gary Hurley that you can do better than he can," said Robert.

"No, I don't, but I can't have him bossing me around. Laura was a friend and I'm looking after things for her."

Cleo was good at finding reasons for her actions. Robert had no argument to override that one.

***

Cleo made a hasty search through Laura Finch's clothes. While she was busy doing that, Robert went next door and told the Crightons they were clearing up.

"The young woman left in a hurry," Mrs Crighton told him. "She looked a bit flushed."

"I suppose you mean Jessica Finch."

"That's her."

"She probably had a train to catch."

"Up to no good, you mark my words."

Robert said he was also in hurry and left Mrs Crighton standing on her doorstep.

"Good riddance to bad rubbish, if you ask me," she shouted after him.

Robert did not react. Instead he went round the back of Laura Finch's bungalow to the kitchen. Cleo had started clearing up there and the sports bag was already half full of perishables.

"We can decide what to do with it all later," she told him. "Please put the trash bin out on the street for collection, and when you've done that, can you have a quick look in the garden in case there's a crop of something to be harvested?"

“What a good job there’s a full moon,” remarked Robert.

“No vampires around then, ” said Cleo.

“There’s at least one next door,” said Robert, thinking of Mrs Crighton’s coarseness and parting words.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” said Cleo.

“You mentioned vampires, not me.”

“So I did.”

“Mrs Crighton said that Jessica left alone,” Robert said.

“So where was Jason?”

“Mrs Crighton did not mention him. He probably went on ahead,” said Robert.

***