02 Blue Murder by Emma Jameson

Kate.” Bhar flopped
into the chair beside her. “That was out of bounds. When I spend
too much time with my mum, I start to sound like her. And God knows
she didn’t let me get much sleep,” he added, taking a sip of his
drink.
    “ No problem.” Kate kept her
tone light. Had Bhar really just called her prickly? Accused her of
holding grudges and refusing olive branches? “Forget I
asked.”
    “ No, I’ll tell you. But —
long story short.” Taking a deep breath, Bhar trained his gaze on
the corner of Hetheridge’s magnificent mahogany desk. “While I was
assigned to Sir Duncan’s case, I started seeing his ex-girlfriend,
Tessa Chilcott. In the course of our relationship,” Bhar drew in
another deep breath, “I told her things no one outside the
investigation should have known. Tessa passed the information on to
Sir Duncan. He informed his legal team, and they used that
knowledge to get him off. They also …”
    “ Some of that knowledge,” Hetheridge
cut across him.
    Bhar shrugged.
    “ Sir Duncan’s legal team was
excellent,” Hetheridge told Kate. “Naturally, they made the most of
what they should never have had. But there is no question Sir
Duncan was acquitted of triple murder chiefly due to a lack of
direct physical evidence. And also, in no small measure, due to his
composure and personal charm. The jury liked him. A factor that
cannot be underestimated. And like lightning, neither bottled nor
bought.”
    “ Sir
Duncan’s legal team also claimed I had a personal vendetta against
their client,” Bhar continued, still not looking at Kate. “They
argued the obvious point — since the girl in question, Tessa
Chilcott, clearly preferred Sir Duncan to me, I responded by
manufacturing evidence to fit him up. Of course, by the time this
went to trial, I was off the case, and the prosecution downplayed
my role in the investigation. They argued that I had no idea Tessa
Chilcott was Sir Duncan’s ex. They never admitted any wrongdoing on
my part at all. But that was for the courtroom. The truth is, I
came this close to
the sack. The only thing that saved me was my good old Asian
surname.” Bhar managed a transparently false grin. “If I’d been
called John Smith, I’d have been chucked into the
street.”
    “ You don’t know that,”
Hetheridge said.
    “ Had to be. The only other
thing that could have saved me was if someone up the chain of
command intervened. And I had no friends in high places.” Lifting
his head, Bhar looked Hetheridge in the eye. “Sure couldn’t have
been my old guv. He refused to work with me afterward. Called me a
ruddy idiot.”
    “ I know. I called you the
very same thing,” Hetheridge said lightly. “Mind you, I say that as
a man whose own professional conduct has been damned foolish from
time to time. At the end of the day, it no longer matters. Whoever
or whatever saved you, Paul, you’ve proven yourself worthy. This
case will resurrect the memory of that bloody mess, but only
briefly, I suspect. You’ve put the ugliest portion of the gossip to
rest through your own merits.”
    High praise indeed, coming
from the guv , Kate thought. He wasn’t known
for spooning honey onto harsh truths — the performance reviews he’d
written about previous subordinates were famously unsparing. She
should have felt proud for Bhar, but instead she felt a stab of
jealousy. Besides — prickly? Grudge-bearing? Her?
    “ So whatever happened to
Tessa Chilcott?” Kate asked Bhar, unable to resist poking him in
his soft spot. “Did she hook up with Sir Duncan after his
acquittal? Or come crawling back to you?”
    “ Neither. They stayed
friends without becoming involved again, from what I could gather,”
Bhar said coolly. “Tessa lived on his estate for a time, drove his
cars, etc. She and I never spoke again.”
    “ Sounds like you kept up
with her, though,” Kate said. From the corner of her eye, she saw
Hetheridge shake his head almost imperceptibly. Why? Did she