Black & Blue: BookShots (Detective Harriet Blue Series) Read Online Free PDF Page A

stress and isn’t thinking clearly.’
    Tox folded his hands on the table beside mine, imitating me. ‘Look, your daughter was found deceased this morning, and that’s very sad. But I’m sure that you’ll get over that sadness and want to catch whoever did this, eventually. Well, you know what?
We
want to catch whoever did this
now
. It’s our job, see. Now your daughter had fake tits—’
    ‘Tox!’ I yelped.
    ‘—and I’m putting together the exaggerated size of those tits, and her petite figure, and the approximate cost of such a surgical enhancement, and your obvious middle-classness – I’m going to take a leap and say she was a prostitute.’
    ‘Jesus!’ I clapped a hand over my eyes.
    ‘Actually, it’s not a leap at all,’ Tox confirmed. ‘She
was
a prostitute, wasn’t she?’
    The Burrowses sat stunned. I got up and grabbed Tox’s arm and yanked him towards the door.
    ‘I’ll be back,’ I told the couple. ‘Just sit tight.’
    Tox turned on me in the hallway.
    ‘What is it with you and wasting time?’ he grunted, almost irritated. ‘I was on a roll in there.’
    ‘You were
not
on a roll,’ I snapped. ‘You were on anything but a roll. You were traumatising the dead girl’s parents.’
    ‘Jesus Christ!’ Tox threw his hands up, flapped them dramatically, trying to imitate my voice with his gravelly tones. ‘
You’re sticking your finger in the dead girl. You’re smoking near the dead girl. You’re traumatising the parents of the dead girl.
You sure you’re right for this job, Detective? You might find yourself better employed in undertaking. You’re in love with the dead girl.’
    ‘You just … You can’t talk to people this way.’ I was so horrified, the words wouldn’t come. ‘These parents are grieving. No, they’re probably not even grieving yet. They’re probably still in shock.’
    ‘Is the emotional state of these people really your priority right now?’ Tox shook his head in disbelief. ‘First you want me to slow down so that we can go through all the procedural bullshit surrounding the corpse. Now you want me to slow down so we can go through all the emotional crap with the parents. Do you actually want to solve this case or are you just trying to score overtime?’
    ‘It’s not crap, it’s … it’s life!’
    ‘Not my life,’ Tox snorted.
    A pair of patrol cops were walking down the hall towards us, carrying folders full of papers. One bumped hard into my shoulder as she passed, causing me to drop my phone. My punishment had begun. Nearby, an older officer I knew, Chris Murray, was fielding a call and glaring at us, taking in the figure of my new partner with obvious distaste.
    ‘How long has the couple been missing?’ Murray was saying into his mobile. ‘And what’s the name of the boat?’
    ‘Listen,’ I pointed at Tox, ‘if we’re going to work together on this, there need to be rules. I think number one should be that I do all the talking, all the time.’
    ‘Geh,’ he grunted. ‘Sounds just like a woman. All the talking, all the time.’
    He went back into the interrogation room. I held my face in my hands for a long moment, relishing the darkness. When I lifted my head there were about five people in the bullpen staring at me, each set of eyes more hateful than the last.

CHAPTER 14
    I CALLED MY brother Sam from the ladies’ bathroom, leaning my forehead on the mirror. I knew that he’d probably be teaching his classes at university, but I dialled anyway.
    ‘What’s up?’ he answered.
    ‘I’m in crisis mode,’ I said. ‘I need a friendly voice.’
    I explained the situation in a long, rambling stream. In the background of the call I could hear students rumbling through the halls of the university.
    ‘Being partnered up with this guy – is it going to make solving the case difficult?’
    ‘The case should be fine, but my social standing might take a hit.’
    He laughed. I’d never had many friends to begin with, and he knew