‘Georgie swears she couldn’t have been pregnant,’ Kate whispered to Patel, when she was back in the office.

‘Well, that’s something, I suppose,’ he muttered.

As a mother, Kate could understand how difficult Patel had to be finding the investigation, given he was a father of two young daughters. ‘You okay, Patel? I can get someone else on this if it helps?’

He glanced over, appreciating the offer. ‘Thanks, ma’am, but I’m okay.’

Kate smiled, he was always a professional to the end. ‘Well, if that changes, you know where I am.’ Kate answered the desk phone on the second ring. ‘Matthews.’

‘Come to my office immediately,’ the supe said firmly, a command, rather than a request.

What now? she wondered.

Unless…

Kate felt for the phone in her pocket. Nothing new from Tara.

‘Supe wants an update on the case,’ Kate advised Patel as casually as she could muster, before standing and heading to his office.

Taking a deep breath, she knocked twice, and entered. The supe sat with his back to her as she closed the door. ‘You wanted to see me, sir?’

He swivelled his chair around, and blinked as if trying to remember why he had summoned her. He looked terrible; his tie had been pulled down and the top button of his shirt unfastened. ‘Ah, Kate, I wanted to check on your progress. I have a meeting with the chief super in half an hour.’

He didn’t look himself, and Kate knew it was wrong to pry, but she just couldn’t help herself. Sitting down across from him, she tried a tentative, ‘Is everything okay, sir?’

He looked startled, then relived. ‘Is it that obvious?’

‘I wouldn’t be much of a detective if I couldn’t spot it. You can tell me to mind my own business if—’

‘My daughter,’ he interrupted matter-of-factly.

Kate tried to rearrange her face to disguise how much she already knew. ‘What about her?’

‘Oh it’s… it’s nothing. Forget I said anything.’

‘I think we’ve known each other long enough to know that what is said in this office stays in this office.’

He narrowed his eyes. ‘You’ll learn soon enough how challenging teenage girls can be. Your daughter is a picture of innocence now, but just wait, as soon as she becomes interested in boys and growing up, that will all change.’

Kate swallowed audibly. ‘Has something happened to your daughter, sir?’

‘I shouldn’t be burdening you with my personal problems.’

‘I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t care, sir. A problem shared…’

‘If only it were that simple.’ He sighed again, this time deeper and longer. ‘I think the pressure of exams and leaving for university has been taking its toll. On us, as well as Tara. Things at home have been… difficult recently and then she left the house last night, without a word of where she was going. Judith – my wife – and I were awake until the early morning waiting to hear whether she’d come home… and then she messaged just after nine this morning to say she’d been staying at a friend’s house.’

Kate could feel her cheeks reddening. Tara had lied to her; her parents had no idea she wouldn’t be home. ‘At least she was safe; all’s well that ends well. I’m sure she’ll come home with her tail between her legs when she realises how much worry she’s caused you.’

He nodded towards the phone. ‘My wife just phoned. Tara is home, but they’ve just had a blazing row about her not calling. With everything going on with the Daisy Emerson disappearance… well, it’s difficult not to overreact.’

‘Does Tara have a boyfriend at all? I mean, maybe she was staying with him.’

But the supe shook his head. ‘She isn’t interested in boys… not like that, anyway. I mean, she’s had boyfriends before, but she’s focused on going away to university and doesn’t want to commit to a relationship when Oxford is so close.’

Kate clenched her teeth to keep her mouth shut, wondering how much Tara had actually confessed to Judith during the row.

‘I’m sorry, Kate,’ the supe offered, ‘I can see how uncomfortable this is making you. I’m sure everything will work out for the best, like you said. Back to business: you were going to update me on your progress with the Emerson case?’

Kate couldn’t hide her relief that he wanted to change the subject. She was about to speak when a knock at the door interrupted her.

‘Enter,’ the supe declared, straightening his tie, suddenly aware of himself again.

The door opened and DI Naomi Hendrix peered around it. ‘You wanted to see me, sir? I can come back if —’

‘Please come in, Naomi. This concerns you, too.’

Hendrix closed the door and took up the seat next to Kate. Neither woman acknowledged the other. Although both reported in to the supe, it wasn’t often that their paths crossed, but when they had in the past, it hadn’t gone well. Hendrix’s parents had escaped apartheid and moved to the UK when she was only four; her stunning looks and short cropped hair perfectly shaped her formidable attitude. Hendrix had a reputation as a tough-talking and committed copper, but it didn’t make her less-than-affable attitude any easier to live with.

‘DI Matthews is looking for a girl – a prostitute – working one of your patches,’ the supe said. ‘Kate?’

Kate resigned herself to the ambush. ‘She is aged between twenty and thirty, fair haired, and had some kind of scorpion tattoo on her lower leg. We believe she worked the St Mary’s patch, but her foot was found severed in a room covered in blood-spattered plastic.’

Hendrix turned to face her, studying Kate’s features for cracks as she pulled out her own notebook and made a show of noting down the information. ‘I’ll speak to my team,’ she said, her voice showing no emotion. ‘Branding isn’t uncommon in that neck of the woods. Can you describe the tattoo to me?’

‘It was removed in the last week. I can show you the parts of it we’ve managed to identify, but—’

Hendrix suddenly looked up. ‘It was removed?’

Kate nodded. ‘By laser, according to the pathologist.’

‘If it had been removed that would suggest she’d bought her freedom. Leave it with me. I’ll find you a name.’

Kate was taken aback by the lack of argument or disagreement. ‘Uh, thanks.’

The supe clapped his hands together. ‘Splendid. If you would both excuse yourselves now, I’m expecting a call from the chief.’

Following Hendrix out of the door, Kate hurried to catch up with her. ‘Hey, Hendrix, I just wanted to say thank you for not challenging me in there.’

Hendrix paused and turned to face Kate. ‘No matter what I think of you as a person, if some sicko out there is attacking the ladies on my patch, then I will do everything in my power to stop him. Fair enough?’

Kate was about to nod her acknowledgement when Patel came bounding down the corridor. ‘Ma’am, thank God. It’s Daisy’s Facebook profile: someone just accessed it.’