Page 83 of M for Murder

Opening the door of what appeared to be Parker’s study, he stepped inside and went straight over to the desk. He pulled open the top drawer and started to sift through the contents.

‘You can’t do this,’ Angell said, giving an incredulous laugh. ‘In case you’ve forgotten, Hickok, you don’t have a search warrant.’

He glanced up and met her eyes. ‘So, I’m just having a quick look to see if we need one.’

‘I can’t believe you’re violating Lawrence Parker’s rights like this.’

Joel rolled his eyes, wondering why he’d bothered bringing her along. ‘Jeez, Angell, you know what? You’re a pain in the ass. Go and wait in the car if you’ve got a problem. If not, get over here and give me a hand.’

Angell glared at him and he wondered which side of her personality was going to win the battle obviously going on inside her head. Would it be the overly conscientious, law-abiding cop she was trying so hard to mould herself into, or the spirited tomboy who he knew lurked beneath the surface? As she made no move to leave or come into the room, Joel turned back to the task at hand, ignoring the frosty look on her face.

He found the library books in the bottom drawer of the desk.

They were hidden in a box and there were three of them, one on forensic evidence, one on serial killers and one on how to commit the perfect murder.

Beneath the books was a folder filled with several pages of handwritten notes.

Joel let out a low whistle. Angell watched him carefully, her look of anger having melted into one of curiosity, and he suspected that she was dying to know what he had found but was too stubborn to ask.

Closing the drawer, he made sure everything was exactly as he’d found it. Then he got up from behind the desk and ushered her out of the room.

‘You’re done, then?’ she asked, her tone sounding deliberately uninterested as they left the house.

‘Oh yes,’ Joel told her, not prepared to share with her what he’d found unless she begged him. She didn’t, though, and they walked down the driveway in silence.

Inside the car, Joel made another call to Max.

‘I think we might want to go ahead and get a search warrant on Parker’s house,’ he told his partner when he came on the line, blatantly ignoring the look Angell was giving him. ‘Things are starting to look interesting.’

31

W hen Rebecca and Hickok arrived back at the precinct, Sutton had already decided to call it a night with Lawrence Parker and the English professor had been escorted down to the cells. Vic was still there, busy coding the prints that had been taken throughout the day. He didn’t look overly happy with the idea of having to work late and Rebecca wondered how Sutton had managed to persuade him to stay.

The older Fed looked up as they walked in the door, a wide grin spreading across his ruddy face. ‘I thought you two were never coming back,’ he said, giving Hickok a knowing look.

Rebecca narrowed her eyes suspiciously, not quite sure what he was implying by the comment. She decided not to analyse it and take it at face value.

‘Yes, I was a little surprised at how long it took us to lock up,’ she muttered, throwing a stony look back at Hickok.

He seemed unperturbed by her remark and moved closer to her, close enough that she could smell the faint scent of his cologne and was aware of the sudden charge of electricity that passed between them. Unsettled, she took a step back. He smiled at her, knowing, and a blush crept into her cheeks.

‘I took a quick look around while we were there,’ he explained to Sutton, as though it was no big deal.

Rebecca waited for the older agent to sound off at him, but instead he simply nodded.

‘I hope you were careful. We don’t want to go losing this guy on a technicality.’

Hickok grinned cockily. ‘Aren’t I always.’

Always? So, he had done this sort of thing before.

Rebecca’s jaw dropped, though she wondered why that surprised her.

Hickok nudged her. ‘Close your mouth, Angell. You’re catching flies.’

She scowled at him. ‘Just get off my case, Hickok,’ she snapped, fed up with how he always seemed to come up smelling of roses.

‘I’m not on your case, Angell. I’m just trying to make you understand that sometimes you have to bend the rules a little to catch the bad guys.’