All eyes in the incident room turned to Erika.
‘I know Isaac – Dr Strong – socially,’ said Erika. ‘He’d just walked in on his boyfriend who had been murdered.’
‘I’m not accusing you of anything, Erika. But he crossed a line when he called you. We can’t have the SIO of a murder case receiving phone calls from the murder suspect at the scene of the crime. One of our former colleagues, DCI Sparks, attended the murder scene last night, and this coupled with the fact he now heads an experienced Murder Investigation Team means he will be taking over this case as SIO.’
Several officers in the incident room turned to look at Erika, and she tried to remain composed.
Marsh carried on speaking. ‘I’m here to thank you all for your hard work, but I will need you to conduct a handover this morning as quickly as possible. DCI Sparks may retain some of you to join his team.’
Erika got up. ‘Sir, can I speak to you, please?’
‘Erika…’
‘I’d like to speak to you in your office, sir. Now.’
60
‘Erika, I’m sorry,’ said Marsh.
She was standing opposite him in his office. ‘I can’t believe that you told me in front of my team, without giving me the heads-up first.’
‘As I said, I had Oakley on the phone first thing. It was a done deal. I was merely informed of the decision.’
‘Oakley. That figures…’
‘It wasn’t personal. You heard me, down in the incident room.’
‘Do you think he did it, Isaac?’ she said, taking the seat opposite Marsh’s desk.
Marsh moved to his chair and sat down as well. ‘Don’t ask me. I barely knew him. He’s a fine forensic pathologist. You’ve been cosying up with him – what are your thoughts?’
‘I’ve not been cosying up. I’ve been for dinner with him a few times.’ Erika realised she was playing down their friendship and the realisation brought her up short. Am I that much of a ruthless bitch? she thought. He’s one of my closest friends. But she had to admit, the evidence she’d just heard against him had shocked her.
‘What about the boyfriend? What did you think when you saw them together?’ asked Marsh.
‘I knew that Isaac had a volatile relationship with Stephen Linley. Although he didn’t go into great detail, I knew that Stephen had cheated on him and they’d split up. And then out of the blue I went over for dinner and Stephen was there again. I don’t think Stephen liked me. Then again, I seem to be an acquired taste lately.’
‘Lately?’ grinned Marsh. Despite the situation, Erika grinned back.
‘Have you ever read any of Stephen Linley’s books?’ asked Marsh.
‘No,’ said Erika.
‘Marcie downloaded one of them, Night Descending, to read on our last holiday… She couldn’t get past the first four chapters.’
‘Why?’
‘He seems to enjoy torturing women.’
‘They are crime thrillers, sir.’
‘That’s what I said. I told her she should stick to romantic comedies… Anyway. I’ve had to arrange for everything pertaining to the Gregory Munro and Jack Hart murders to be transferred to DCI Sparks and his team. They’re going to have a new forensic pathologist go over everything.’
Erika got up and stared out at Lewisham, glowering under a dark bank of cloud. ‘How did that bastard Sparks end up taking over my case? That feels like the biggest kick in the teeth!’
‘This is the problem when you create enemies, Erika. They go off and plot, and often flourish in the shade. Sparks is doing very well.’
‘How well?’ Erika asked. ‘Cos he’s certainly been going the extra mile… He’s running his own team, he’s been called in to lend a hand with covert surveillance on Operation Hemslow.’
Marsh paused.
‘Sir, don’t tell me he’s in the running for the superintendent job too?’
‘There are plenty of other officers in the running. It’s not just the two of you.’
‘So where does that leave me?’
‘Off the case. And the only reason you are off it, in my eyes, is that you have a conflict of interest. You’ve socialised with the forensic pathologist who is now a suspect.’
‘If I’m off the case, use me somewhere else. I’d be happy to go and work on Operation Hemslow. Sparks is now off it. They could use another DCI rank.’
‘Superintendent Nickson wasn’t too impressed with you barging into the crime scene last night… Or with the way you dealt with his officers.’ Marsh saw the look on Erika’s face. ‘Yes, I did hear about that. So did Oakley.’