She studies the card again. That message from a ‘maniac’. And not even handwritten.
Abruptly, she reaches across, grabs the flowers, drops them into her waste basket. Then she gets on her phone and searches for Parker in her contacts. She texts him a message:
Megan: Stop sending me stuff!!
That feels better. She puts the phone down, stares at her computer screen.
Her phone pings. A reply from Parker:
Parker: What stuff??
She types quickly:
Megan: Don’t act daft. The card and the flowers.
Parker: I haven’t sent you anything.
Megan: Yeah, right. Just pack it in.
And then she turns off her notifications and tries to concentrate on finding a killer.
* * *
At the back of the room, Grace watches Webley dump the flowers and wonders what that drama’s all about. Guesses it’s something to do with Webley’s ex.
Grace would love to receive flowers at work. Or anywhere, for that matter. Especially if they were from Cody.
Speaking of which…
He’s alone right now. Not on the phone either. This would be an ideal time.
Grace picks up her laptop and walks over to Cody’s desk. She stands behind him. So close she can count the hairs on the nape of his neck. There’s hair on his ears, too: not the old-man kind that sprouts with wiry abandon but a delicate sheen of peach-like fuzziness. The flesh of his earlobes look as soft as a baby’s. She wants to reach out and stroke them.
Suddenly realising she can’t just keep standing here admiring him, she emits a discreet cough.
Cody jumps out of his skin.
‘Grace! Hi. You okay?’
Grace nods, smiles. ‘Could we, er… could I have a moment?’
‘Sure. What’s up?’
She gestures towards the door. ‘Perhaps… somewhere a bit more private?’
‘Of course.’
Cody gets up and follows her. They go out into the corridor. Cody raps on the door of an interview room and then opens it for her. Always the gentleman.
‘This do?’ he asks.
‘This is fine. Thank you.’
They enter, and Grace watches as he closes the door. Just the two of us in here, she thinks. No windows. Cameras off. We could get up to all kinds of things and nobody else would know.
‘Is everything okay, Grace? I mean, you’ve been through a lot…’
Hush, lovely man, she thinks. Stop worrying about me.
‘I’m fine, really. And I haven’t told anyone about what happened. I promised you, didn’t I?’
‘You did, Grace, and I’m really grateful. But it was all my fault. If it ever gets too much, you can come and talk to me. You know that, don’t you?’
So sweet. Grace could cry at the sweetness.
‘Thank you. You’re very kind.’
There’s a silence while Grace stares into Cody’s eyes.
‘So…’ Cody says.
‘Yes.’ She holds up the laptop. ‘I, er, I think I’ve found something on the Selby case. I wanted to run it past you first.’
‘Okay. Great.’
They sit down at the table. Side by side. She feels the brush of his thigh against hers, and a shiver dances up her body. She opens up the laptop and forces herself to focus on the business at hand.
‘I’ve been going through the CCTV footage. Most of it doesn’t tell us anything from what I can see, but then I looked at the images from the cameras in and around the Heswall leisure centre. I started by concentrating on the periods just before and after the classes given by Alexa.’
