The Murder Wall Read Online Free Page A

eyebrow as Daniels followed Bright from the room almost breaking into a trot to keep up with him. They didn’t speak as they moved along a noisy corridor and up a
flight of stairs to the building’s west wing, eventually arriving at a brand-new facility and a door marked: MAJOR INCIDENT SUITE – No Unauthorized Entry.
    The room was a stark contrast to the one they had just left, pleasantly air-conditioned, an open-plan layout designed to make best use of natural light and equipped with all the latest
technology. Bright’s squad were hard at work as they passed through to his private office, which still reeked of fresh paint.
    He sat down at an imposing desk that wouldn’t look out of place at the Kennedy Space Centre. Daniels imagined herself sitting behind it. Houston, we have a problem. She remained
standing, her eyes scanning his new desk with its fancy videophone, state-of-the-art computer, a pile of crime-scene photographs that were even more distressing than her own. The subject bore no
physical injuries. He looked like any child does when they are sleeping peacefully, except she knew that not to be the case. Her eyes shifted a foot to the left to a happy snap of her boss’s
wife taken at a police fund-raiser weeks before Stella Bright was confined to a wheelchair. She was posing in the foyer of the city’s Malmaison Hotel in a party dress and high-heeled shoes,
her shapely dancer’s legs on show for all to see.
    If Bright saw Daniels looking, he didn’t let on. He reached out to take the bundle of photographs she was holding. ‘Mind if I take a look?’
    Tell him.
    Daniels held his eyes for a moment and then handed them over. ‘This one’s not going to be straight, guv. We’ve identified the victim, but there’s very little to go
on.’
    He took a cursory look at the photos, sifting them through his hands until he’d seen them all. She thought he looked troubled and waited for him to tell her what was on his mind . . . but
he sat for a moment considering. He was taking a special interest in her case and she was desperate to know why given that he was in the crucial first few hours of an enquiry of his own.
    ‘Forensics at the scene yet?’ he asked.
    ‘Yeah, but I wouldn’t hold your breath.’ Daniels chanced her arm. ‘Don’t you even want to know his name, guv?’
    She’d hit a nerve. Bright bristled, avoiding eye contact. It was obvious he hadn’t been ready for her direct approach. God knows why, he’d known her long enough.
    He sidestepped the question with one of his own. ‘Any press sniffing around?’
    ‘’Fraid so. Chasing you too, I imagine.’ She nodded towards his own crime-scene photographs. ‘Unfortunately, my scene is less than a block away from last night’s
celebrations.’ She stressed the word my , hoping he’d back off a bit. ‘The press were on it like a dog on heat. There was nothing I could do. But I think you’ll find
in the cold light of day that most of the media interest will be coming your way, not mine.’
    Bright didn’t bite. He just sighed – that same worried look.
    ‘You don’t need to hold my hand, guv . . .’ Daniels pointed through the glass partitioning to the outer office. ‘From where I’m standing, you’ve got enough on
your plate.’
    ‘You’re right, I have,’ he said. ‘But this is your first case in overall charge, so let’s just take it gently, shall we?’
    Daniels didn’t quite know how to respond. She’d worked her socks off for this opportunity and he was treating her like a rookie on a first assignment. Her hackles were up and it
probably showed.
    He looked at her like a concerned father would. ‘Don’t take it personally, Kate. I don’t doubt your ability, I just want you to know my door’s always open.’
    Bollocks! ‘Is that all, guv?’
    Daniels regretted her tone as soon as the words had left her lips. Despite the fact that they were on first-name terms – though never in front of the squad – there