Free Body Line by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles Page A

know him, we’re back with the contract killer. And either way, unless ballistics gives us a lead, I can’t see what I can do except go after the motive – dig into Rogers’s background and find out what he was up to lately.’
    ‘Well, find out,’ Porson snapped. ‘Time and tide gather no moss. Get on with it.’
    ‘Yes, sir,’ Slider said, turning away.
    ‘And remember,’ Porson added more kindly as he left, ‘if you need anything, my door is always here.’
    Swilley waylaid him in the corridor. ‘Guv, I wanted to ask you—’
    ‘What’s happening with the Aude female?’ he forestalled her. ‘What time are they letting her out?’
    ‘That’s what I was going to say. They’re letting her go after morning rounds, and she’s going to her mum and dad’s in Guildford.’
    ‘Right. I’ll get on to Mike Polman and give him the word. Arrange an escort for her – I don’t want her to travel alone, and I want to be sure that’s where she goes.’
    ‘I was going to ask you if you wanted me to go with her,’ Swilley said. ‘Thing is, she needs some clothes – she’s only got that bathrobe at the hospital. Forensic’s got her glad rags, and they’re a bit saucy for daywear anyway. She needs something from home – from her flat. It occurred to me I could go and get what she needs—’
    ‘And have a look round her room while you’re there, in case there’s anything of interest? Smart thinking.’
    ‘Thanks, guv.’
    ‘You might see if you can have a word with her flatmates, too, if you can track them down. Don’t tell them where she’s going, just in case. Tell them she’s being taken care of and that they shouldn’t try to contact her for a few days. See if you can find out what they know about her and Rogers, and anything else she was involved in. Without giving anything away, of course.’
    ‘Right, guv.’
    ‘Take Asher with you to the flat, and let her take the clothes back to Aude and escort her to Guildford, while you go after the flatmates. I can’t spare you for babysitting. Get back as quick as you can. I think Aude’s a dead end and there are better things you can be doing, but we need to be sure. Use your instincts around the flat and the flatmates and don’t waste time on it if you think there’s nothing doing.’
    ‘Guv, there’s no hospital in Stansted,’ Mackay said. ‘The nearest are the Princess Alexandra in Harlow, the Herts and Essex in Bishop’s Stortford, and the Broomfield near Chelmsford. I’ve checked, and no David Rogers works in any of them. I’ve gone as far out as Stevenage, Brentwood and Roydon, and I’ve checked all the private hospitals and clinics – even a veterinary hospital that came up, just in case – but no one’s ever heard of him. D’you want me to widen the search?’
    Mackay was the thorough one. Slider shook his head. ‘No, leave it now. Either the Aude girl got it wrong, or he lied to her. We’ll probably find something in his papers.’ More bags had been delivered from the site.
    ‘About those papers,’ said the Mancunian Hollis, looming over from his desk to join the conversation, tall and thin and shiny at the top like a bendy lamp-post. ‘It strikes me that there’s not nearly enough of them. Bob Bailey says we’ve got the lot now, but where’s all the personal stuff? You know, photographs, old letters, keepsakes, stuff from his childhood – old school reports, swimming certificates – things from his mum and dad. There’s none of that sort o’ tackle. Just the basic necessities. It’s almost like he was living in a hotel.’
    ‘The place did have that look about it,’ Slider said, remembering the artificial tidiness of the house.
    ‘Maybe his ex-wife took it all when they split,’ Mackay suggested.
    ‘I don’t think so. I’ve seen her, and I can’t imagine her cherishing his clutter,’ Slider said.
    ‘He might just have been a very tidy person,’ Atherton said. ‘Not everybody clings to their bits and