Free Faraday 01 The Gigabyte Detective by Michael Hillier

time?”
    “I’m the one who’ll decide if it’s important,” interrupted Charlotte. “However I promise you I’ll keep your involvement in the Adams case to a minimum.” Certainly as far as Mallinson’s concerned, she thought to herself.
    The sergeant turned away, making some mumbled comment to DC Howell which she couldn’t hear. She decided to ignore him.
    “W\hat about desk space?” she asked Paulson.
    “You can have my office.” He led the way to a glass door at one side. “I’ll move into the general office while you’re here.”
    She followed him into a decent-sized room, although it seemed to be filled with the clutter of many years’ investigations. It was important, she thought, that she should try to get him to treat her as a colleague. Somehow she wanted to get the man on her side.
    “I don’t see why we can’t share your office,” she said. “I don’t want to disrupt the department’s other activities. If you get that table cleared over by the window it’ll be enough to set up my computer. I won’t need any more space than that.”
    He stopped and looked straight at her. For a second she thought he was going to thank her. Then he said, “OK, if that’s what you want,” and turned and shouted for Prendergast.
    “John,” he said when the young man came in “I’d like you to take everything from this table, including the stuff underneath and in the corner. Get it put in storage boxes, labelled and taken down to the basement storage area. They’re mainly old case-notes, so they should be put away. But make a list of everything with it’s a location so that we can recover it if we need to. Is that clear?”
    “Yes, guv.”
    “This will be DCI Faraday’s desk when you’ve cleared it. See if you can find her a comfortable chair, will you. If you ring down to the front office you’ll probably be able to borrow a couple of uniformed constables to give you a hand. Say that I asked for them.”
    He turned back to Charlotte. “I’m afraid this is going to take a couple of hours. You’re welcome to use my desk until then.”
    “I’ve got a better idea,” she said. “Why don’t you ring that journalist - Julian Brace? Let’s see if we can go over and meet him for an hour or so.” She flashed a smile at John Prendergast, “I’ve no doubt that everything will be ready for me when we return.”
    * * * * * * * *
    Susannah was at her seat in the harbourside cafe promptly at a quarter to eleven. She resolutely refused to question her motives for being there. She told herself that she often came to the cafe two or even three times a week. But she carefully ignored the fact that she had shampooed her hair that morning and added a conditioning rinse to make it soft and shiny, and she was wearing a fresh summer dress that revealed quite a lot of her shapely bosom.
    It was another beautiful morning and she kept her sunglasses on as she stretched like a cat in the warmth of the sun. But beneath the glasses her eyes were alert and she saw Richard the moment he limped into sight. He was dressed today in a short-sleeved, open neck shirt and light-weight slacks. She thought how young and athletic he looked, with his amber-coloured skin, even despite his limp. Susannah knew he had been looking for her by the way he suddenly crossed the road when he saw her and came into the cafe.
    He moved stiffly towards her table and eased himself into the chair opposite. “Mind if I sit here? All the other seats are taken,” he grinned.
    “Liar!” This morning there was no more than a handful of people in the cafe. She took off her sunglasses and leaned forward to dispute with him.
    “Wow,” he said, ignoring her challenge. “You look fantastic in that dress.”
    She contrived a small bow from her sitting position. She found she couldn’t be serious with him. “Thank you, sir. And how is your leg this morning?”
    “I’ve got a spectacular bruise. Do you want to see it?” He made as if to get