Read Road Closed for Free Online Page B

computers, and a few women marched past wielding files. The corridor grew more congested as they neared the Incident Room.
    ‘At least we know which direction to go in,’ Peterson said with a cheery smile as he stepped aside for two men manoeuvring their way along the corridor with a desk. He was on his way to the canteen but Geraldine wanted to get her bearings before the briefing began so she went directly to the Incident Room. Her spirits lifted at the familiar bustle.
    ‘DI Steel?’ the duty sergeant repeated, checking her list. ‘Yours is the second door along.’
    ‘Sorry?’
    ‘Your office, ma’am. Second door along.’ She pointed to a series of doors leading off the Incident Room.
    ‘Thank you.’
    Geraldine was pleased to discover she had her own tiny office, partitioned off from the main Incident Room by a flimsy internal wall. She tapped her keyboard and was relieved to find her computer had been set up. After checking her emails she scanned through several reports. A man had died in a gas explosion possibly under suspicious circumstances. Geraldine finished her reading and went back into the Incident Room.
    The atmosphere was brisk. Officers were scurrying around, greeting one another, dodging people carrying computers and files, and questioning the harassed duty sergeant. Geraldine couldn’t see Peterson and didn’t recognise anyone else. She returned to her office and sat for a moment, wedged behind her desk, listening to the bustle on the other side of the partition wall. She was pleased to be back in the only environment where she felt at home. Deferring her paperwork, she manoeuvred her way back across the Incident Room. There was still time for a quiet coffee before the briefing. She needed to clear her head.
    Glancing around the canteen, she spotted Peterson and was pleased when the detective sergeant’s face lit up on seeing her. Even in rest he exuded energy. Geraldine paused to return his grin before joining the short queue for coffee, their mutual pleasure at working together again expressed only in an exchange of smiles and a quick nod. It was enough.
    As Geraldine sat down at Peterson’s table an older man came over to introduce himself as a local detective inspector, nearing retirement. He was investigating a spate of robberies in the area.
    ‘DI Steel?’ He looked down at her with a slow smile and Geraldine gestured for him to join them. Thin and leathery, he looked as though his life had been spent working outdoors.
    As they sipped canteen coffee, Bennett told her about his case. ‘We’ve been on the trail of a gang of thieves fora few months and now we’ve had what looks like a case of aggravated burglary.’
    ‘Any leads?’ Peterson asked, his enthusiasm a stark contrast to the older officer’s indifference.
    Bennett shook his head. ‘It’s been a case of one step forwards, two steps back, I’m afraid.’ Geraldine liked him, but couldn’t help wondering how effective he would be. Born out of his time, she imagined him content to pound the beat in a village, a friend to the local residents. ‘Until now, it’s been a few stolen antiques, watches, cash, fifty quid and such, small change really. Things they could pocket easily and fence without suspicion, all of which has made them difficult to trace. They’ve not been exactly a priority. You know how it is, so much time given over to drunken brawls. I’ve hardly had any uniform support at all. The death of the old woman changes things.’ He sighed wistfully. ‘I’m due for retirement soon. I could do without all this. A string of break-ins is trouble enough.’ Geraldine nodded sympathetically, hoping she would never lose her sense of excitement at the start of a new investigation. ‘I hear you’ve got Kathryn Gordon on the fire case,’ Bennett added.
    ‘Do you know her?’ Geraldine asked. Peterson smiled. Gordon was a sharp senior officer. Geraldine was in two minds about working with her again. Professionally,