Page 41 of Reinventing Cato
Vigge allocated tasks, told the guy looking at CCTV to widen his search, then retreated to his office in the corner of the room. Once his computer was on, the first thing he did was not to make an appointment with OH, but try to trace Cato.
Three pages in on a Google search forCato Smith astrophysicistand he found his profile onGitHub. Cato was doing his doctorate at Cambridge University.Oh God. Or maybe – oh good.Vigge smiled. Less than an hour from where he lived. Somehow, he wasn’t surprised. He ought to be thinking that was bad luck, but he wasn’t. For once in his life, he let go of logic and believed in fate.
It wasn’t difficult to find Cato’s address. A few seconds to be pleased about that before normal life resumed, though he had to accept Cato might not want to remember him, considering the way they’d parted. He called OH and made an appointment to speak to someone later that afternoon, then settled down to his real work. Rape, robbery, serious violence and complex fraud never went away and this murder was bugging him. Something he felt he’d missed, something to do with the blood. Why had it been wiped away?
He went back to the whiteboard and stared at it, following the red lines running between names, places, people. Where had Dan Frayn been at any particular time? Where did he go? What did he do? Who were his friends, enemies, habits, dislikes, hobbies? Had anything in his flat been moved? Was anything missing? Anything added? Timelines were crucial. Learning all there was to know about a victim’s final days, weeks, even months increased the chances of solving the crime.
It was an old whiteboard and there were faint marks where previous cases had been wiped away. He could still see a few faded question marks, the final remains of an investigation lingering as faint scars. He didn’t want any lingering doubt over Dan Frayn. Vigge wanted to catch his killer.
Despite Vigge’s reluctance to revisit what had happened on the 23rdof December, he arrived on time for his talk with OH. He was careful what he said, giving the responses he felt were expected and was feeling relatively pleased with himself until the woman gave a heavy sigh and glared.What have I done?
“Are you being completely honest with me, DI Sorensen?”
“Yes.”
“You look tired.”
“I am tired. I spent most of the last twenty-four hours driving back from my parents’ in treacherous conditions.”Damn.He knew what question was coming now. The one rule was to say no more than he needed to and he’d broken it.
“Did you tell them you were shot at?”
There we go.He was right. “No. I didn’t want to worry them unnecessarily.”
“Do you have any siblings?”
She knew he did. It was on his file. “Sister.”
“And a deceased brother. When did he die?”
“I’m not here to talk about my brother.”
He met her stare and she was the one who eventually looked away. Anders’ death had no bearing on this.
“Have you talked about the incident with anyone?”
“The DCI, my team.” Sort of.
“Your girlfriend? Partner? I see you’re not married.”
“No, I’m not married. I talked to DC Davies. He needed reassuring that what happened wasn’t his fault.” The DC had made his own visit to OH, which was why he wasn’t back at work and possibly why the DCI had pushed Vigge to make this appointment.
“Was it DC Davies’ fault?”
“No. There was no intelligence to suggest the man had a gun. The correct procedures were followed before and after.” Vigge curled his toes in his shoes. If he said anything other than that, Eric Davies would be finished as a policeman, and Vigge liked him. He was young and keen. He worked hard and Vigge didn’t want one moment of hesitation to wreck his career.
“And you’re telling me you’re unaffected by the fact that a bullet missed you by centimetres?”
“That would be foolish, wouldn’t it? I was shaken at the time. Now I’m fine. I’m doing a job where I have to be constantly alert to any sign that a situation might be dangerous or might become dangerous. Nearly being shot has reinforced my awareness that I need to be vigilant and engaged at all times. Not just me but my team. I hope they all learned a lesson.” That sounded as if he’d read it from the handbook. He might well have done.
“But you said that the correct procedures were followed.”
“They were, but correct procedures aren’t always enough.”
She stared at him. “So how do you feel?”
“Fine.”
“No difficulty concentrating?”
