Page 30 of Better the Devil

‘The other reason I’m here, and I’m sorry to do this to you, given’—Mitchell flicked her gaze to the Big Board—‘everything we’ve got going on.’

She shifted her attention towards Hamza. For the second time that morning, he looked like he wanted his chair to swallow him whole.

‘I’m afraid I have some very bad news for DI Khaled.’

Hamza stared,first at the detective superintendent, then at Ben, then around at the meticulously organised office they’d both been pulled into.

‘A photo shoot, ma’am?’ The words felt strangely shaped and alien in Hamza’s mouth. ‘I don’t understand.’

‘You’ll remember, during the interview, when we discussed the duties of a detective inspector, yes?’ Mitchell posited from behind her desk. ‘Alongside the duties you were already familiar with was additional community outreach work. Talking with local councillors. Advising regional committees. Acting as a visible liaison between the force and the general populace. Serving the public trust, so to speak.’

‘Aye, but…’ Hamza tipped his head back in the direction of the door. ‘There’s an active murder investigation.’

‘There are also seventy members of the public, two Inverness-based council members, and a raft of local press representatives waiting at a freshly renovated community centre, where you’re supposed to be…’

Mitchell shifted a sheet of paper on her desk so she could see the page below. The movement was precisely coordinated, like the rest of her.

‘Presenting an award to a rural community vigilance scheme that has just been awarded funding from the National Lottery.’

She crossed her hands atop the paper.

‘They’re going to buy new vests, I believe.’ Mitchell tapped her fingers together. ‘This has all been arranged since last week.’

‘I… I didn’t know anything about it,’ Hamza protested.

‘You should have. You were emailed. There was a memo put in your mail slot.’

Hamza tried not to let the panic show on his face. There had been a lot of emails since he’d stepped into the new role, and though he’d scanned his pigeonhole for any urgent-looking physical mail, a lot of the rest of it still sat waiting to be opened.

A few days, that was all he was behind by. He just needed a few more to get systems in place, and to get things running smoothly.

But he’d missed this. He’d missed a direct order from the detective superintendent. Twice.

How could it all be going so wrong so quickly?

‘I, eh, I don’t suppose… Is there no way…?’

‘If the next word out of your mouth is going to be “cancel,” Detective Inspector, I’d think very carefully. The answer to that is no. Not without major embarrassment. Not without a number of questions being asked of me and so, subsequently, of you.’

She gave that a moment to sink in. Hamza’s shoulders seemed to stoop under the weight of it.

‘This is the job, Hamza. It’s a juggle. Yes, of course the case is important. Of course it takes priority if it has to. But DCI Logan has things under control for now. The team has things under control. Your job, like it or not, is out there today. Not here. Is that understood?’

Ben clapped a hand down on Hamza’s shoulder before the DI could stumble over a reply of his own. ‘Don’t you worry yourself about a thing, Suki.’

Mitchell’s nostrils flared at his usage of her first name, but they both knew there was hee-haw she could do about it. Benwas here as a consultant, not an officer. As far as anyone here was concerned, he was doing them a favour.

And if he just happened to be loving every moment, so be it.

‘Take my word for it,’ he said. ‘DI Khaled has got this in the bag!’

CHAPTER TWELVE

Tyler whistled quietlythrough his teeth, taking in the sight of the house before them. Since first clapping eyes on it, he’d muttered twobloody hellsand aJesus, and was teetering on the brink of afuck me.

‘Aye, no’ bad, is it?’ Logan said, following the line of the driveway towards the glass-fronted behemoth rising from the ground up ahead.

The gate had been opened again. Uniform had clocked off stakeout duty an hour ago, so Logan had no idea what they were headed into. Only the Tesla from yesterday was parked at the side of the house, though, which made him hopeful Victor’s brothers hadn’t yet returned.