Half an hour later, plastic bag full of sandwiches in one hand and coffee carrier in the other, Edmund let himself rather awkwardly back into the office, depositing the carrier on the main desk, offloading Hawes's espresso and taking the rest of the food back to his own desk. Hooking a plastic carton of what looked like pasta out of her drawer, Hawes nodded an abrupt thanks.
Edmund was pleasantly surprised.
He tucked heartily into the sandwich he had bought himself, before realizing through the silence that neither of them were working.
"Anything you want me to do, ma'am?" Edmund therefore asked, through a mouthful of sandwich.
"I'd like to know what made you change your mind" Hawes said bluntly. It seemed she was cutting straight to the chase.
Edmund sighed, taking a sip of his coffee.
"They were all ganged up there, outside your office. All ready to laugh at your expense. Our expense really, but they wouldn't have blamed me. And I felt like changing the pattern of events" he told her.
"Don't know what you mean" she said grumpily.
"You're very alone, aren't you?" Edmund asked. "You've become so strong-yes, you are strong-because you've never had anyone to fight your corner. Don't say you don't need anyone. I know you could do expertly by yourself. But it's nice to have someone. And I reckon it would do you good to experience that."
There was a silence, where Hawes seemed to deflate slightly. Edmund regarded her levelly, curious as to what would happen next.
"Thank...you."
Edmund grinned.
"No problem, ma'am" he replied, rooting around in the plastic bag he had bought for the crisps he'd got.
"Just to be clear" Hawes added, rather hurriedly.
"Ma'am?" Edmund sighed, popping open his crisps and tucking in.
"This doesn't mean I like you, you know. I'd still rather be on my own."
"I'd still rather have a different boss" Edmund replied, quick as a flash. "But I've got you, so I intend to make the most of it."
Hawes snorted into her lunch. Edmund smiled to himself. He reckoned he'd won her over, give or take a couple of snide remarks.
Something popped up on Hawes's desktop, and her hawklike eyes skimmed over to it, reading.
"Post-mortem's in" she announced to Edmund, finishing off her pasta quickly. "Kovlova's moving fast, today. We'll head down now. It'll help with questioning if we have more information."
"Right" Edmund nodded, picking up his coffee and scrumpling up his crisp packet, landing it neatly in the bin. Post-mortem meant a trip to the pathologist's, and that meant Anna Kovlova.
"D.S. Gray?" Hawes enquired cuttingly.
"Ma'am?"
"I feel there's something you have to know about Anna Kovlova, before you go bumbling down to see her once again."
"Married?" Edmund guessed, with a sinking heart. Hawes shook her head.
"She's my niece."
Edmund held back an astounded noise. He suddenly felt extremely awkward, but as he and Hawes left the office a question sprang to mind.
"Ma'am?"
"What?"
"Is this you subtly telling me Anna Kovlova is off limits?"
YOU ARE READING
Two Heads.
Mystery / Thriller-The first extract from the casefiles of D.I.Hawes & D.S.Gray- Edmund Gray is already under pressure. He's just been promoted to the rank of Detective Sargeant at his job in the Oxfordshire Police, and his new boss, the infamously irritating Detecti...
