Free Through a Narrow Door by Faith Martin

about him being attracted to her. After all she was not only older than him, she was hardly a glamour puss.
    ‘Tell me about William Davies,’ Danvers said, and listened attentively as his SIO outlined her case. He didn’t interrupt, and when she was finished, asked a few pertinent questions. Whatever else she might have reservations about, she could tell he knew his job.
    ‘It sounds like it’s going to be a tough one,’ he added. A dead kid wasn’t the easy start to his new position that he’d hoped for. And Hillary was obviously going to be very busy and distracted for some time to come yet. But he could wait. He was good at that.
    ‘You look all in,’ he said at last. ‘Go home and get some sleep. I’ll be here until late, if SOCO calls in with any requests. And Hillary,’ he said, as she nodded gratefully and reached for her bag. ‘I know we can work well together. I’m not a bad boss, and what’s past is well and truly past as far as I’m concerned. OK?’
    Hillary nodded quickly. ‘That’s how I see it too, sir,’ she said firmly. She was not about to slap down any olive branches, even if she didn’t think it was going to be as easy as all that. Danvers might not see any trouble ahead, but Hillary saw plenty.
    ‘Please, call me Paul.’
    Hillary swallowed hard, but said nothing. Paul smiled and watched her go. She really had a wonderful figure. And great legs. And she was so sharp too, as sharp as he remembered. Just being with her for a few minutes left him feeling stimulated and upbeat.
    He began whistling softly as he walked back to his office.
     
    Outside, Hillary was just crossing the foyer, when the desk sergeant nobbled her. ‘DI Greene! Here, just a minute ma’am.’
    The respectful ‘ma’am’ told her that the desk sergeantwasn’t alone, and sure enough, when she turned around, there was a member of the public standing by the counter. ‘This is Mrs Richardson, ma’am. She wanted to speak to whoever was in charge of the William Davies case.’
    Hillary nodded and moved forward at once. ‘Mrs Richardson, I’m DI Greene. Would you like to follow me to an interview room?’
    ‘Oh, of course. That is, I realize it’s getting late, but I just heard the news on the radio and thought I should speak to you as soon as possible.’
    Hillary led her to the first interview room available, and collected a WPC. ‘Your full name please.’
    ‘Phyllis Yvonne Richardson. And it’s Ms, not Mrs.’
    Hillary nodded, making a note. ‘And you have something you think might help us?’
    ‘Well, I’m not sure. That is, I know people are supposed to come forward if they knew the murder victim. And I teach Celia Davies at primary school. And I taught her brother before that, but that would be four years ago now, naturally .’
    Hillary nodded. They’d have got around to interviewing Ms Richardson at some point – probably a PC already had her on his list. But since she’d taken the time and effort to come in, Hillary wasn’t quibbling.
    ‘So you know the Davies children quite well?’ she began casually.
    ‘Yes, Celia more than Billy. Girls seem to relate to teachers better, and Celia’s quite bright. She’s quite a little artist. Of course, she didn’t get on with her brother very well, but then I find teenage boys and pre-pubescent siblings never do get on.’
    Hillary smiled and nodded. She and her brother had always fought like cat and dog, too.
    ‘And Celia is definitely the favourite of both the father and mother, which didn’t help.’
    Hillary made a very careful note of that. Now that might be significant. Had Billy Davies felt isolated from his family?Resentful and jealous maybe. Did he resent his princess of a sister getting all the attention, and sought to find attention of his own, from somebody else? Paeodophiles found such kids irresistible. It sent a cold shiver down her spine.
    ‘What do you remember most about Billy, when he was in your class, Ms