Dead Sweet: A D.I. Turnbull mystery by Sally O'Brien

let them know not all police work is about investigation and nicking people. It's about community as well."
    "Guv, I..."
    "No Candace, don't thank me; I always aim to please." Todd ushered Candace out of his office and sat back at his desk. He took out a sliver of mirror which he kept in his drawer and moved it around in front of his face, trying to catch a glimpse of his hair. Definitely in need of a haircut he thought and resolved to make that an important part of his day.
    -x-
    The phone on Todd's desk rang and the monitor identified the caller as the Station Office. Todd hoped it was Tessa calling; he answered the phone.
    "DI Turnbull."
    "Hi Todd, its Tessa."
    "Tessa, didn't see you at bowling last night."
    "Sorry Todd, I'm late turns, didn't finish till half past nine so I was very tired. I'll come next time."
    "OK no problem, how can I help you?"
    "Well I've got an issue at the front counter. A young lad has come in, he's really distressed and says he was kidnapped and held at knifepoint last night by his housemates. I wondered if you wanted to speak to him."
    "Have you created a CAD for officers to get around to the house? We need to contain any evidence."
    "Yes it's off borough in Twockford, but I've put a request for officers there to deal with it."
    When Todd heard it was a Twockford job, he was inclined to leave it up to them. It wasn't an Olinsbury job and he already had plenty to do, however, Todd wanted to help and impress Tessa, something inside him wanted to play the hero in front of her.
    "Look I will come and speak to him so you can hand it over to Twockford, ok Tessa?"
    "You're a life saver Todd, it seems quite serious; I don't want to get it wrong."
    "No problem, I'm on my way." Todd replaced the receiver and checked himself once again in the mirror. He had a good look up his nostrils to make sure nothing was taking residence in his nose which may cause embarrassment in front of Tessa, then walked quickly to the station office; butterflies flying around his belly in anticipation of seeing the current subject of his desire.
    When Todd rounded the corner of the station office entrance, he saw a young male standing at the middle counter; his forehead pressing heavily against the safety glass. Sweat ran freely down the young man's face and his hair was drenched. The male was breathing heavily and constantly rubbing his nose.
    Tessa stood, head down, at the counter; writing intently on a statement form. She looked up and gave a grim smile as she noticed Todd had arrived, even that little gesture made Todd's stomach flip. He was surprised at how Tessa made him feel. This was new to him and he resolved to get over worrying what other people though and ask her out to dinner. For now though his professional hat was on and when he spoke it was all business.
    "Tessa."
    "Sir," Tessa began, "This is Joseph Portman. He says that he was held in his room today by this flatmates and they held a knife to his throat. I have Twockford officers attending the address as we speak and I have started to take a crime report."
    "Thank you Tessa, hello Mr Portman."
    The male took his head away from the counter, he still continued to breath heavily.
    "Why are you so out of breath?" Todd asked him, "Are you asthmatic, do you need an inhaler?"
    "No," gulped the male, "I'm just frightened."
    "How long has he been here for?" Todd whispered to Tessa.
    "A good twenty minutes," Tessa told him. "If anything he's getting worse; the more he talks about it, the more he gets out of breath."
    Todd's intuition was going made; years of dealing with people in different and sometimes terrifying situations gave him much experience on how people reacted. It didn't make sense to Todd that this male should be so distressed when he was and had been in the safety of a police station for twenty minutes. Todd's bullshit alert was kicking in and he decided to move on quickly to see if he was right.
    "Ok, tell me what happened."
    Joseph Portman began speaking