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body?’
    ‘He did,’ Olsen exhaled, his gaze falling from hers. ‘He knew the bullet was his, I think, maybe instinct or something. Amy Wheeler died in his arms.’
    ‘Nobody thought to keep it from him?’ Kathryn asked.
    ‘Too much red tape,’ Olsen explained. ‘HRU need to account for literally every round they fire in these kinds of incidents, which meant that we did too. With a dead kid I could plausibly have figured that it made sense to claim that the bikers killed her, but that would have left a round unaccounted for. They went by the book, and rightly so did I.’
    ‘And how is Griffin coping at this time?’
    ‘He’s wired up pretty tight,’ Olsen replied. ‘He’s tough enough and smart enough to get through it all, but I don’t think he really knows where to begin. Griffin’s good, most ex–soldiers are, but likewise he’s too proud, thinks he knows best, always wants to work alone and that’s what got him into this state in the first place. He doesn’t even open up to his partner.’
    ‘And how would you describe his state, exactly?’ Kathryn asked.
    ‘Police officers have to be law–keepers, counsellors, fire–arms experts, mediators and often goddamned politicians all at once,’ Olsen explained. ‘There’s no real–life Jack Bauer out there running around playing maverick–cop, no matter what people see on the television. Griffin’s suffering from a lack of confidence, no matter how hard he tries to conceal it, so he’s built himself a wall to hide behind.’ Olsen sighed. ‘I guess it’s what you folk would call a coping mechanism, right?’
    ‘Something like that,’ Kathryn nodded. ‘He’s projecting his grief outward as anger. Is he working on anything right now?’
    ‘He’s been pulled off the front line,’ Olsen said, ‘and he’s not carrying a firearm until he’s over this. I’ve got him looking into our cold–case files. Desk job.’
    ‘How’s he liking that?’
    ‘He’s not. I’d rather he was in the field, but until the investigation is complete my hands are tied. You think he should be out there?’
    ‘Maybe,’ Kathryn said. ‘I’ll figure that out after I’ve spoken to him, but generally the more normality that surrounds him the more comfortable he’ll feel. Any ideas on his home life?’
    ‘He doesn’t talk about it.’
    ‘Fine,’ Kathryn said. ‘Not talking about it is saying something in itself.’
    ‘That’s the kind of talk that’ll piss him off,’ Olsen pointed out. ‘We’re straight–talking folk out here, Miss Stone. Griffin doesn’t place much stock in all of this fairy–go–lightly psychobabble and nor do I.’
    ‘Noted,’ Kathryn replied. ‘He won’t like me seeing him every day either.’
    ‘You want to stick around that closely?’
    ‘He’s a former soldier, a patriot and a police officer,’ Kathryn said. ‘He’s earned the right for me to do a good job for him. What about the parents of Amy Wheeler? Have they been talked to, or met Griffin?’
    ‘No,’ Olsen replied. ‘They understand what happened was a tragedy and they’re good strong folk, enough not to start litigation against the department, but you can figure for yourself that they didn’t want a face–to–face with Griffin and he sure as hell doesn’t want to see them. As it happens, procedure means that Amy’s parents have not been informed of the identity of the officer responsible, and I think it’s best to keep things that way.’ Olsen watched her for a long beat. ‘You think you can set him straight?’
    ‘I don’t want to see another veteran’s family collapse and let them wander off to a life on the streets, okay? These guys did enough in Iraq and Afghanistan already, let alone fighting crime back home.’
    Olsen sucked in a prodigious lungful of air and blasted it out across his desk as he leaned back in his seat.
    ‘I’ve only got five detectives to play with Miss Stone, and a sixth rotational officer. The sooner Griffin’s