Innocent Blood by Elizabeth Corley Page B

knowing that she had until four that afternoon to gather sufficient evidence to persuade Quinlan that they could hold him for the full twenty-four hours. That was all the time she would have to prepare a case strong enough to convince a magistrate that Maidment should be remanded in custody and not released on bail. It was what the Crown Prosecution Service wanted and they had made it clear that they were relying on her and her team to achieve it.
    It was a tough order. Maidment looked an unlikely criminal or flight risk. While she understood all about someone being innocent until proven guilty, and their right to liberty until trial except in extreme circumstances, she could not help but wish that the law cut the police some slack once in a while. Twenty-four hours was so little time, particularly with Bob Cooper and the other original arresting officers tied up in the inquiry.
    She needed their detailed statements double-checked; the report on the gun and bullet from ballistics (which still had not arrived); information from Maidment’s doctor about his tremor…the list went on. The one thing she did not actually need was a lot of time with the major himself but as he was only supposed to be in custody to help her gather evidence, or prevent him from hindering her investigation or committing another crime, she had to go through the motions. One of her small team was re-interviewing him at that moment as she struggled to complete her work.
    When the phone rang she ignored it but the team secretary interrupted her anyway.
    ‘It’s the assistant chief constable,’ she said white-faced. ‘He’s not best pleased at having to wait to talk to you.’
    Nightingale grimaced.
    ‘Put him through – oh, and close the door, would you?’
    The phone rang and she picked it up at once.
    ‘Inspector Nightingale.’
    ‘About time. Don’t you answer your own phone since you’ve been promoted? Too grand for all that now, are we?’
    ‘No, sir, not at all. I was just up against a deadline and—’
    ‘Never mind that. What’s this I hear about you rearresting Major Maidment? I gave an order only last week for him to be released on bail. The man’s a pillar of the community.’
    After her interview with Maidment she had known that there were strong grounds for a renewed charge of attempted murder. It had only been a matter of time before the ACC found out and called her.
    ‘I was aware of the reasons for Maidment’s release, sir, but subsequent evidence has come to light that has led CPS to prefer a charge of attempted murder.’
    ‘Preposterous! Whose evidence? I demand to see it.’
    ‘It was mine and I’ll arrange for a copy to be sent to you as soon as Superintendent Quinlan has reviewed it.’
    In the silence that followed she could feel the fury directed towards her but when he spoke Harper-Brown’s voice had returned to its normal smoothness – and that worried her even more.
    ‘I shall expect your report immediately, Inspector, and if I find that you have been motivated in any way by the mistaken desire to elevate the charge in order to somehow alleviate the situation in which the ridiculous Cooper now finds himself, you will be in serious trouble.’
    He broke the connection without another word and she replaced the receiver carefully. Her heart was pounding but she was pleased to see that her hand was steady and her voice normal as she asked the secretary to email a copy of her interview to the ACC. It was a full record of their conversation and CPS had congratulated her on its clarity and value. She doubted Harper-Brown would have the nerve to go up against the prosecutors but far from vindicating her, that would only serve to deepen his resentment.
    Fenwick hadn’t been warned of Harper-Brown’s mood before he saw him later that morning in another attempt to excavate the terrace at The Downs Golf Club, which had been undergoing reconstruction at the time of Malcolm Eagleton’s disappearance in 1981. It had