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Harper, this is Detective Austin, the lead on the investigation, and Detective Mills.’
    ‘I know Howard well.’ Harper smiled, shaking Mills’s hand. He turned to Jake. ‘You were at the protest at the church the other day, weren’t you?’
    ‘Yes, sir,’ Jake replied, taking his turn to shake the councilman’s hand.
    ‘And you’re new?’ he asked.
    ‘Transferred from Chicago a couple months ago.’
    ‘Glad to have you here.’ He took the spare seat. ‘Terrible business. Is it too early yet to say how the investigation is going?’ He looked at all three men. Jake and Mills didn’t react. Asher sighed.
    Harper broke the silence.
    ‘You’ll appreciate this is a community that values law and order. Rumours are flying around about the viciousway this woman was murdered. People have got a lot of questions and we’re not hearing any answers. What do I tell them?’
    ‘We have things in hand,’ said Asher with a smile.
    ‘I just want to be able to assure people that you are on top of this situation, Colonel.’
    Asher forced a smile. ‘Of course.’ Asher motioned to Jake and Mills. ‘My detectives are making very good progress.’
    Harper nodded. ‘That’s what I like to hear. We need to solve this one quickly – a murdered young mother is hardly going to do much for the Christmas spirit around here. I’ll want regular updates on how the investigation is going.’
    Asher rubbed his hands together with more of a nervous tic than eagerness. ‘You’ll be glad to hear that we already have a very strong suspect.’
    ‘That fast?’ Harper looked startled and impressed. ‘That’s great news! Who is he?’
    ‘Sonny Malone,’ Asher told him, looking down at the file on his desk. ‘The victim’s boyfriend.’
    Harper nodded to show that he wasn’t surprised. Figuring the political angles, Jake thought. Wondering how to play it with the public.
    ‘He’s done time for aggravated burglary,’ Asher read from the file. ‘Beat an old woman half to death.’
    ‘And our great justice system let him out early?’ sneered Harper.
    ‘Yes, sir. Got six years, paroled after four.’ Asher nodded.
    Harper straightened in his chair. ‘It’s like I always say – if they sin, keep them in. If this fellow, Sonny what’s his name, had been punished properly, maybe we wouldn’t be sitting here talking about him. And Marcia Lamb would still be breathing today. Maybe if Sonny—’
    ‘Sonny didn’t do it.’
    It was out before Jake could stop himself. But there was only so much electioneering he could stomach.
    Harper was looking at him, startled.
    Asher glared at Jake. ‘Detective …’
    ‘It doesn’t fit,’ Jake went on. ‘The MO is wrong for a guy like Sonny.’
    Asher’s mouth fell open. Jake knew he was digging a hole for himself, that Asher would drill him for this later, but he wasn’t going to let him say that Sonny did it when he knew he didn’t.
    ‘The killer was too controlled,’ Jake went on. ‘It’s not the reaction of an angry boyfriend. I’m sorry to tell you, but this one is going to take time.’
    Harper stood. ‘I don’t give a fuck what it takes,’ he said, the veneer of politeness gone. ‘Throw everything into it. We need to catch this killer before everything gets crazy.’
    He turned and left the room. As the door swung closed behind him, they could hear his footsteps recede down the corridor.
    ‘Hell, Austin,’ said Asher in a low voice, ‘you couldn’t have saved that for later?’
    Jake knew the colonel had a point. ‘Sir, we need to be thorough with this,’ he said. ‘If it’s not Sonny, and we spend too long running down that road, it’s going to be a long way to turn back.’
    Asher sighed again. ‘All right,’ he said at last. ‘But let’s do this properly. Get Sonny back in here for a follow-up. Chip away at him. By the end of the day, I want him ruled out if he’s not to be ruled in. We’re playing by the clock on this one, you