‘A testing situation and, having seen the recording, I don’t think we’ll have any problems though you could have been more careful with your language. Might be construed as verbal abuse.’
Rachel’s mouth dropped open.
‘Fucking ridiculous,’ Gill added, ‘don’t know what the twats were thinking of but you know the rules.’
‘Pillocks,’ Kevin said. From somewhere Kevin had acquired an old-fashioned maths compass and was using the point to pick at his nails.
Gill stared at him, stopped speaking. Gradually the rest of them followed suit.
Kevin continued his efforts, head down, mining away for several seconds until he noticed the shift in atmosphere. He looked up quickly at Gill then his eyes flickered round the room. ‘Boss,’ he said weakly, perhaps thinking Gill had asked a question and was waiting for the reply.
‘Good of you to rejoin us, Kevin.’
‘I was just-’ He dried up.
‘Away with the fairies?’ Gill said. ‘Listen, Slack Alice, you want a French manicure and polish you do it in your own time.’
‘I was listening.’
‘I’m not arguing the toss with you, sunshine. I expect your undivided attention. Got it?’
‘Yes, boss.’
Kevin set the compass down then pushed it slightly further away, which Gill reckoned was a wise move. With the attention span of a gnat he would soon forget and if the thing was in reach it wouldn’t be long before he picked it up and started chiselling away at his nails again.
‘Meanwhile,’ she said, ‘I want Greg Tandy. Rachel, you go with Mitch.’
‘Yes, boss.’
‘What more have we got on Richard Kavanagh?’
‘More of the same,’ said Lee. ‘No reports of him ever causing bother and no reported connection with criminals or criminal activity. People in the area generally tolerant. He spent some time in the hostel in town, they tried to get him into a programme with the Big Issue but he didn’t take it up. Hospitalized last winter with pneumonia, discharged himself before treatment was completed.’
‘Why?’ Gill said.
‘No booze on the ward?’ Rachel said.
Lee laughed, ‘In one.’
Gill felt a ripple of embarrassment, coughed and adjusted her notes while she recovered her composure. ‘We have any timeline for his last day?’
‘Near enough,’ Mitch said. ‘Sightings on Wednesday at eleven am and one-thirty pm walking round the estate. Latest sighting was four pm when he buys two tins of cheap lager from the Big Booze Bonanza. He was a regular there.’
‘Get that charted up and cross-referenced with any sightings we’ve got of the Perry twins,’ Gill said, ‘find any overlap.’
‘Already made a start,’ Mitch said. ‘Problem is people are a lot less forthcoming about seeing the Perry brothers, widely regarded as hard cases, sort of people who would break your face if you looked at them the wrong way. We do have them in the precinct mid-afternoon and on Low Bank Road which leads to the Old Chapel at twenty past seven.’