Jigsaw Man Read Online Free PDF Page B

herself, particularly if the relationship, or whatever it was, was
something new. From what I gather, she didn’t have a great track record with men
and it was a bit of a sore spot.’
    ‘Sam said she was bad at picking them. Maybe it runs in the family.’
    Her tone made him look over at her again. ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
    She gave him one of her tight little smiles, her pale, cat-like eyes also giving
nothing away. She would have done well in politics, he always thought. According
to the rumour mill, she was destined for higher places than running the Barnes Murder
Squads. ‘I’ll come onto that in a minute,’ she said. ‘Thinking about practical things
first, it will be very strange for Sam to be on the outside of the investigation,
and probably very frustrating.’
    ‘Yes, I’m sure. But I shall, of course, keep her on the outside.’ He wondered if
this was the purpose of the conversation. Did Steele really think that he couldn’t
be trusted where Donovan was concerned?
    ‘There’s something else.’ She paused, as though choosing her words carefully. ‘You
two had some sort of a falling out, didn’t you?’
    ‘Not exactly.’
    ‘Lovers’ tiff ?’
    ‘We were never lovers. You know that.’
    ‘When did you last see Sam?’
    ‘A few months ago. What’s this all about?’
    She folded her arms and tilted her head to one side. ‘I need to know exactly what
went on between the two of you.’ When he didn’t answer, she added: ‘If you were just
good friends ,’ she emphasised the words, ‘why haven’t you seen her since she left
the Met? What exactly happened?’
    Wondering who she had been listening to and where this was going, he said: ‘I don’t
really know. We just haven’t seen one another for a while. There was no row, no falling-out,
nothing at all like that.’
    ‘So?’
    ‘Look, I just got the feeling that she didn’t want to see me.’
    ‘And you just let it go?’
    ‘Why is this important?’
    ‘I need to understand. For professional reasons, of course.’
    He looked away but could feel her eyes still on him. He didn’t like discussing such
things with anybody, but he knew Steele wouldn’t let it go. ‘I don’t know. I had
the feeling that I’d done something wrong, let her down in some way, although she
never actually said so. I haven’t got a clue what it was all about.’ Even as he spoke,
he knew it sounded odd, but he had never really tried to put it into words before.
Besides, it was only half the story.
    ‘You didn’t try and find out?’
    He shrugged. ‘I thought it would all blow over, but it didn’t, then she went off
to Bristol and life went on. Does it matter?’
    ‘Yes. She can’t stay here. We need to search the house thoroughly and it would be
much easier if she weren’t there.’
    He nodded. ‘I’m sure she, of all people, understands that.’
    ‘You’d think so, but she’s not rational at the moment. When I told her she’d have
to move out temporarily, she was quite resistant and got quite upset. When I insisted
that there was no choice, she asked if she could stay with you.’
    He looked at her aghast. ‘With me? What about her parents? They don’t live that far
away.’
    ‘It’s not that simple. They’re in Australia, visiting relatives, and her dad had
some sort of a heart attack when he heard the news about Claire. Understandably,
Sam doesn’t want to stay in their house on her own.’
    ‘Jesus. Poor Colin. Is he going to be OK?’
    She shrugged. ‘He’s still alive, but he’s in intensive care.’
    He sighed heavily. He had seen it so many times before. The fallout of a murder was
far-reaching, affecting families and loved ones in unimaginable ways.
    ‘I asked her if there wasn’t some other family member, or friend, she could stay
with,’ Steele continued. ‘But she said no. I offered to have her, as did Sharon,
but she refused. She was quite definite about it. If she was going to be made to
move out of her home,