Page 42 of Her Lips Are Sealed

Theo nodded. ‘Heartbreaking, it’s by far the worst part of this job, after the women’s weekly meetings that is.’ He winked at her.

‘Oh, Theo, I just remembered, I met Josie at St Martin’s the other day when I was on enquiries for this case. She was so lovely and sounded a bit down, bless her. I hope you don’t mind, but I suggested she joined your team for the pub quiz.’

Before Theo could speak Declan leaned across his desk. ‘Is she good at general knowledge?’

‘I get the impression she’s good at everything quiz wise.’

‘She’s in. Theo, let her know we need her as the quiz is tonight. I know it’s a bit short notice but check and see if she’s free. We need all the help we can get.’ Declan had a glint in his eyes.

Ben nodded. ‘Yes, we do, it would be great. Who’s Josie?’

Morgan laughed. ‘She lost her partner last year and helps out in the church. She was so lovely I think you guys will love her.’

‘Bless her. Theo, please convince her to come. I second what Declan said, this quiz season let’s try and get a little higher position than last every time. I don’t know if I’ll make it tonight though, as you can see, we’re kind of busy.’

‘Ben, you can’t not turn up. I know you’re busy, but you must go home to eat and sleep at some point. You can spare an hour, surely? Don’t abandon us in our hour of need,’ Theo said with a very serious expression.

‘He’ll be there; I’ll cover for him if we’re still at work. He needs a break and what better way to relieve stress than hanging out with you losers for a couple of hours.’ Morgan was laughing.

‘I used to like you, Brookes, you know that, don’t you?’ Declan was shaking his head at her.

‘You’re my favourite losers though, is that better?’

‘I suppose so.’

‘I have to go, I’ll see you all later and I’ll phone Josie after I’ve finished here.’ Theo kissed Morgan on the cheek, then blew a kiss at Declan and Ben, leaving a cloud of his Chanel aftershave lingering behind him.

Morgan sighed. ‘It’s no wonder the nurses all have the hots for him though, he really is gorgeous.’

Both Ben and Declan looked at her, not quite believing she’d said it out loud.

‘What, it’s true though, isn’t it? You’re a lucky guy, Declan; you should marry him and not let him get away.’

‘Morgan.’ Ben’s voice was incredulous at her last few words.

She grinned at him. ‘Sorry, but it’s true. I love you too, but I appreciate a good-looking gay priest when I see one.’

‘Then maybe you two should take your advice too. We could have a double wedding, imagine that.’

Morgan shook her head. ‘Nah, I need you to be my flower man and dance down the aisle throwing black rose petals at everyone for me before I walk down it.’

Declan snorted. ‘I can do that, name the date so I can book you in.’ He winked at her, and Ben stood up, his cheeks flaming so red hot he looked as if he was about to combust.

‘I can’t cope with you two, I need some fresh air.’

He walked out, and Declan whispered, ‘Ball’s in your court, Brookes, don’t drop it.’

Then he winked at her, and she blew him a kiss before following Ben out of his office.

TWENTY-SIX

Ben, Cain, Morgan and Amy were suited up and ready to go in to search Paul Graham’s flat. Two task force officers had gone in first to ensure it was safe inside and there was nothing dangerous. After the way he’d acted when Morgan had knocked on his door last night, they weren’t sure if he would have left some kind of booby trap for them.

Before they’d left the office, Morgan had printed out the information she could find on Dan Webb and Paul Graham, and she’d been surprised to see that Rena Derry had previous for assault and theft; Brian James, the cleaner who had found Rachel, was squeaky clean. Nothing on him. Of course it didn’t mean that he hadn’t killed her, but it was in her opinion unlikely although not impossible, but he was still on her list. She was fuming that she’d been hurried out of the office to execute the warrant on this flat when they’d only just got back from the post-mortems and left it all behind. She wanted to study it all and see if she could find any connections between her suspects and the victims.

Marc had called a meeting with Lucy and Josh, which Morgan assumed meant he was showing them who was boss. He’d been annoyed when Lucy had introduced herself to him as a DI and Josh as her DS, and she knew he would be boring them to death with how his team worked when Lucy had worked some high profile cases and solved them herself. Morgan hoped Lucy gave him what for and put him straight because it was his team that did the work, and they worked hard; Marc not so much. For a start he was more elusive than the Scarlet Pimpernel. Morgan had no idea who he was but it was something Stan used to call her when he couldn’t find her when she’d been playing out as a kid. That little memory of Stan made her smile, he’d preferred the booze over her in the end, but it hadn’t always been that way. There had been lots of good times before the bad times rolled in.

‘All clear, well, if the kitchen isn’t classed as a health hazard it is. That is totally disgusting and if I were you, I’d wear face masks because it smells repugnant in there.’