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Realistically, finding evidence where organizations like the Serious Organized Crime Agency, with all its resources, couldn’t was always going to be a long shot, and the fact was he’d turned up little of use over a long period of time. In the last few weeks she’d started to give up hope, suspecting that Penny was becoming more interested in her than he was in finding evidence against Wise. With Tina, of course, it was the other way round, which was one of the reasons she’d decided to end the relationship. ‘No. We used to discuss his progress whenever we met, but it wasn’t going well. At least I thought it wasn’t.’
    ‘And had you spoken since the end of the affair?’
    ‘Yes. We spoke on the phone just over a week ago. Last Thursday.’
    ‘And how did he seem then?’
    ‘He was still upset about the fact that I’d finished things, but he’d accepted that it was over. He asked me during the call if we could get back together. I said no, and we talked about the case, and agreed to speak later this week. I’m thinking he must have found out something between times. I saw you were looking on his laptop. Is there anything on there?’
    ‘There’s a file entitled “The Project” in the documents section. It details his investigations into Wise’s business dealings, although it doesn’t mention him by name. It just uses the soubriquet “W”. Not exactly foolproof. It wasn’t particularly well hidden, and there wasn’t much on there that would be of any use in building a case against him.’
    Tina stared down at the open laptop, wishing she was dealing with someone older, and more experienced. ‘There must be something else. Are you sure you’ve looked everywhere?’
    ‘I spent two years on CEOP going through the hard drives of child molesters, DI Boyd,’ he replied testily, ‘so I know what I’m looking for, and I’ve been picking apart this machine for the best part of the last hour. There’s nothing.’ He paused. ‘You’ve got to see things from my position. I find a man hanging in his office. On closer investigation, it seems he’s facing financial ruin, with a court case hanging over his head, no job, very little income, and huge debts. He owes twelve thousand pounds to various card companies and is three months behind on his mortgage payments.’ Tina opened her mouth to interrupt, but he held up a hand. ‘Added to this, the woman he’d been having an affair with had just finished it two weeks earlier, which would only have added to the pressure. And to top it all, he left three notes, all seemingly heartfelt, and all in his own handwriting. That, to me, spells suicide. And nothing you’ve said makes me change my view of that.’
    ‘I understand what you’re saying,’ she said, and she could as well. In his position she’d have thought exactly the same thing. ‘But Nick was investigating a man who’s not only been involved in a number of murders over the years, but who also has form in faking suicides. He had someone murder my previous boyfriend – a DI in the Met, John Gallan – six years ago and make it look like suicide, even going so far as to fake a note.’
    ‘But this is very different, ma’am. Nick Penny wasn’t a threat to Paul Wise. He was a disgraced journalist staring at financial and personal ruin.’
    ‘I knew Nick. And I can promise you now, categorically, that he wasn’t the type to commit suicide.’ But even as she spoke the words, Tina realized how hollow they must have sounded.
    To be fair to Weale, he didn’t argue the point. Instead, he shrugged his broad shoulders. ‘What do you want me to do?’
    ‘Investigate more closely what Nick’s been doing this past week. Scour that laptop. He’d found something, I’m sure.’
    ‘Then, why didn’t he tell you about it? I’m sorry, ma’am, but it’ll be up to a coroner to decide whether or not this death was unlawful. Right now, I believe it was suicide, and I haven’t got the resources or the