lose patience. âItâs called being considerate to your neighbours. Iâd do exactly the same in her position. Be grateful sheâs letting you have a party at all; plenty of parents donât.â
âYeah, itâll be crap now though, with all the neighbours watching out for us.â
Knox slowed as they reached the drop-off point. âYou donât know how lucky you are,â he said, mildly. âHave a good one.â
Finally the lad mustered the effort to make eye contact. âCheers for the lift,â he said in an attempt to redeem himself.
âSure.â
Knox was sneezing so loudly and with such force that he didnât hear DCI Sharp come up behind him on the stairs at Granville Lane.
âThat sounds like a potent dose of something nasty,â she said, making a show of holding back slightly from him as they fell into step. âKeep it to yourself.â A little taller than Knox, she looked as elegant as ever, dressed in one of her trademark trouser suits that even Knox could appreciate made the most of her slender frame and complemented her dark olive skin. âHow did it go yesterday?â she asked.
âPretty grim,â Knox confessed. âAnd, as you can see, Iâve caught my death.â
âIt was a funeral,â she said. âSomeone always does. How was Tom holding up?â
âNot too bad, but he couldnât wait to get away. He kept that bit quiet. You both did.â Knox shot her a look.
âI know,â she said apologetically. âBut he thought that if you got wind of it youâd insist on going with him, and the whole point is that he wants some time on his own; really on his own. Hopefully itâll do him good. He might even stop beating himself up about what happened.â
âWith all due respect, Boss, I donât think thereâs much chance of that any time soon.â
âYeah, maybe thatâs a bit much to expect,â she conceded. âMeanwhile, if thereâs anything you need additional support with, let me know.â
âYes, Boss.â
Knox had barely sat down and switched on his PC when he glanced up to see Millie come in. She came straight over to him. âHave you heard the latest on that news story?â she said. âThe gunman on the rampage in Liverpool?â
âI donât think heâs on the rampage exactly,â Knox answered, momentarily distracted by the daily bulletin that had appeared on the screen in front of him. âIt looks like he might have killed a couple of people and then made himself scarce, for obvious reasons. What about it?â
âTheyâre saying this morning that he could have escaped into Wales.â
Knox looked expectantly up at her, waiting for the punch line.
âItâs where the boss has gone,â Millie said, as if that proved something.
âWales is a whole country,â Knox reminded her. âThe boss is heading to the middle, and this McGinley is most likely in the north. Thereâs no reason to think theyâll be anywhere near each other. And anyway, the Merseyside plods will pick McGinley up soon enough, especially somewhere as remote as north Wales. If thatâs where heâs gone.â
She set her mouth. âRight.â
She wasnât convinced, Knox could tell. âAnything else?â he asked, when she didnât move.
âNo.â
âOkay,â he said, uncertainly. As Millie finally returned to her desk, Charlie Glover caught his bemused expression and shrugged lightly. âPregnant,â he mouthed, as an explanation, drawing a hand around his imaginary swollen belly.
Knox didnât have time to dwell on Millieâs preoccupations. With Mariner away there was plenty to be going on with; a couple of cases to prepare for the CPS and the follow-up on some bad drugs reported to be circulating the city. First of all though, he put a call through to Terry Dukes, the