SIO Jill Regan is distinctly unimpressed.
‘And you,’ she points to Joyce. ‘You were at the warehouse where Dominic Holt was shot.’
‘I was,’ says Joyce. ‘That’s very good, people often forget my face. Or they don’t remember where they know me from. I’d have patients years later come up to me in Sainsbury’s and say –’
‘Please,’ says Jill. ‘Spare me, I’m supposed to be leading a murder investigation.’
‘Not very well,’ says Elizabeth. ‘If you don’t mind my saying?’
‘I do mind,’ says Jill. ‘Either of you ever caught a murderer?’
‘Yes,’ says Elizabeth.
‘More than one,’ agrees Joyce.
‘You have five minutes,’ says Jill. ‘What information do you have for me? Make it very good.’
‘Might I ask first,’ says Elizabeth, ‘what it is you are doing here?’
‘Sitting in an interview room with the Golden Girls?’ says Jill. ‘No idea.’
‘No,’ says Elizabeth. ‘You know full well what I mean. Why were the National Crime Agency drafted in to investigate the murder of Kuldesh Sharma?’
‘How is that your business?’
‘We’re taxpayers,’ says Elizabeth. ‘But also interested observers.’
‘You know DCI Hudson?’ Jill asks Joyce.
‘Yes,’ says Joyce. ‘And his girlfriend, that’s Patrice, do you know her?’
‘He’s asked you to come in, has he?’
Elizabeth laughs. ‘Goodness me, no. I imagine he’d be horrified if he knew we were here.’
‘He can join the club,’ says Jill.
‘I will give you my theory at least,’ says Elizabeth. ‘I don’t think you have any particular interest in Kuldesh, or the National Crime Agency don’t, at least. I think you have a professional interest in the heroin.’
‘Not everything has to be cloak and dagger,’ says Jill. ‘This isn’t Netflix.’
‘Oh, I’ve lived a life that would make Netflix blush,’ says Elizabeth. ‘I think the heroin was part of a major NCA operation. You planned to track it and let it into the country before swooping and arresting everyone. Am I right?’
‘If this is all you have, I should get back to my desk,’ says Jill.
‘But the heroin goes missing,’ continues Elizabeth. ‘Heroin that you allowed into the country. That you waved through at Newhaven. So your operation is ruined, and the reputation of the NCA is in great danger. Not for the first time, let’s be honest. What’s more, an innocent man is shot dead, well, I say “innocent”, a friend of ours at least. I’m willing to believe you had never heard of Kuldesh Sharma, and hadn’t realized he would be involved. So, while I’m sure you would like to solve his murder, I think above all else you need to find that heroin.’
‘OK,’ says Jill. ‘That’s time up, I think.’
‘And then Dom Holt is murdered too,’ says Elizabeth. ‘I wonder if perhaps he was your man on the inside? And somebody found that out?’
‘Who are you?’ says Jill.
‘Finally, an intelligent question,’ says Elizabeth. ‘I’m somebody who could help you.’
‘Help me how?’
‘We could help you to find the heroin,’ says Elizabeth. ‘Couldn’t we, Joyce?’
‘We’ve done it before with diamonds,’ confirms Joyce.
‘If you know where this heroin is, and you don’t –’
Elizabeth hushes Jill. ‘We don’t have it, SIO Regan, of course we don’t. But I would be willing to bet we are a great deal nearer than you are. And, because I want to find out who murdered our friend, what I would really like to know from you is: who is working for you? Who are you protecting on the inside? Was it Dom Holt?’
‘I’m not protecting anyone,’ says Jill.
‘Mmm,’ says Elizabeth. ‘So you planned the operation without any inside help? It’s possible. We did that in Budapest in ’68, but I don’t buy it, I’m afraid.’
‘What happened in Buda–’
‘So Joyce is going to say four names to you,’ says Elizabeth. ‘One of them is, or was, working for you, and we’ll be able to tell which one by your reaction. The slightest muscle twitch is all we’ll need.’
‘Enough,’ says Jill. ‘This is a circus.’
‘Mitch Maxwell,’ says Joyce.
Jill gets up to leave. ‘Sorry, ladies.’
‘Luca Buttaci,’ says Joyce.
‘Is that how you pronounce it, Jill?’ Elizabeth asks.
‘Samantha Barnes,’ says Joyce.
‘I’ll get one of the constables to come and collect you,’ says Jill.
‘Dominic Holt,’ says Joyce.
Jill stops by the door. ‘If I ever see either of you again, it had better be because you have found my heroin.’
‘
She turns to Joyce. ‘She’s good.’
‘She didn’t flinch,’ says Joyce.
‘Which means one of two things,’ says Elizabeth. ‘Either she’s a psychopath –’
‘Ooh,’ says Joyce.
‘Which I don’t believe,’ says Elizabeth. ‘She put on fresh lipstick before she came down to see us. She wanted to make a good impression.’
‘I think psychopaths wear lipstick too,’ says Joyce.
‘The other alternative, Joyce,’ says Elizabeth, ‘is that she didn’t flinch, because no one in the gang is working for the NCA.’
‘Then why would they be here?’
‘Because perhaps someone in the NCA is working for the gang?’
