The Recovery Assignment

‘You’ll call me, then? If you need to know anything else?’ He smiled again as Charlotte nodded. ‘You could call me anyway,’ he suggested, ‘if you fancy a drink or something after work.’

‘They’re holding up the traffic for you.’ Charlotte waved Andrew away. ‘Take care, now.’ She turned, startled to find Hawk standing right behind her.

‘I was about to interview that guy.’

‘I’ve done that.’ Charlotte held up her notebook. ‘I think I’ve got everything we need.’

‘Including his phone number?’

‘Of course.’ Charlotte didn’t like the undertone. It was normal procedure in any witness interview. If Hawk thought she’d be following up any hint that the witness was interested in social communication, then she was quite prepared to give him a piece of her mind regardless of their situation.

Somewhat annoyingly, Hawk said nothing. He wasn’t even looking at Charlotte as his eyes focussed well past her shoulder. ‘What have you been marking?’

‘Tyre marks. There’s what looks like an acceleration scuff at the start of the yaw. I assume the car’s got automatic transmission?’

Hawk raised a single eyebrow. ‘Why do you assume that?’

‘It fits,’ Charlotte said calmly. ‘If the driver collapsed he could have had his foot depressing both the brake and the accelerator. It would explain the mark and why his car’s speed kept increasing. Being slumped onto the steering-wheel might also explain why the car travelled in a line that took him across two lanes of traffic and straight into a lamppost.’

Hawk’s gaze suggested he was less than impressed with Charlotte’s line of reasoning. She raised an eyebrow right back at him. ‘Do you have a problem with that scenario?’

‘I have a problem with someone making a decision on the cause of a fatal crash before an investigation is complete.’

Charlotte raised her chin. ‘Then let’s get on with completing it, shall we?’ She reached into the back of the squad car to remove one of the larger pieces of equipment but Hawk’s movement was swifter.

‘Here, I’ll get that for you.’

Charlotte’s glance was measured very deliberately. ‘Thank you,’ she said coolly, ‘but I’m actually quite capable of lifting a theodolite all by myself.’

The hand retreated as though the tripod of the surveying gear was hot enough to have burnt him. ‘Fine. I’ll leave you to it, then.’

‘Fine.’ And Charlotte found herself watching Hawk’s back as he strolled towards the other officers still on scene. Any sense of victory in asserting herself diminished rapidly as she found herself left alone to take measurements while Hawk engaged in what was clearly an enjoyable conversation with his colleagues. Judging by the frequent glances in her direction, Charlotte could be sure that she was providing the main topic of interest and she didn’t like it. She was being assessed, and not only for her physical appearance or any impression of her personality Hawk might be passing on. She could bet that the occasional and very casual glances that came from the dark eyes of her new partner were taking account of exactly how well she was dealing with the task at hand.

Fortunately, it was a simple job. There was only one vehicle involved, the road was straight and there was no intersection. Permanent landmarks of trees and lampposts were ideally positioned to use as corners for her triangle and Charlotte’s field sketch came together rapidly. She marked the direction of north, drew the road layout and documented the final position of the car involved in the crash. She showed the marks on the road and located the reference points for her triangle. The measurements were noted in metres and Charlotte also wrote quick notes on the weather, road and light conditions.

Traffic was flowing in two lanes by the time she finished thirty minutes later and the congestion was finally easing. The wrecked car had been removed and only one police car other than the SCS vehicle remained, its beacons flashing to warn oncoming motorists of the obstruction in the inside lane. Hawk was leaning on the side of his car, still talking to the other officers protecting the scene.

‘So, he’s got a job, then?’ one was saying. ‘That was quick.’

‘It won’t last,’ Hawk responded darkly.

‘What, the new job or the engagement?’

Charlotte guessed they were discussing Hawk’s previous partner Cam. The man he didn’t want her replacing. Had they been comparing her performance to what his would have been perhaps? Or teasing Hawk about having to work with a female colleague?

‘Both, probably.’

Hawk’s apparently pertinent comment to her unspoken thought was startling, but as Charlotte leaned into the car to stow the theodolite she realised that the comment was referring to the permanence of Cam’s new interests. She straightened.

‘Is Cam likely to change his mind, then?’ She smiled sweetly at the three male officers. ‘And there I was thinking that was a woman’s prerogative.’

Hawk showed no reaction to the meaningful glances his colleagues bestowed upon him but his eyes narrowed as he slid behind the wheel of his car. So, that plump paramedic had repeated what he’d said to her friend, had she? That figured. You couldn’t trust a woman to keep her mouth shut. He’d have to be very careful what he said in future.

He’d spent less than two hours in this woman’s company and Hawk already had the uncomfortable feeling that working with her, even temporarily, was going to be more of a challenge than he’d anticipated. So far, the opportunities to try and establish control appeared to have backfired in some mysterious manner. Hawk was silent throughout the journey back to Headquarters. Another opportunity was bound to present itself and he needed to be ready for it. If ground rules were being set, then he intended to be the one to put them in place.

Charlotte used her lunch-break to collect the last item of her personal work supplies from her hatchback in the building’s basement car park. She also took the time to try calling Laura on her mobile phone.

‘You busy?’

‘No, we’re just heading back to station for lunch. We just took a kid with febrile convulsions into Emergency.’

‘How did it go with our car-accident victim this morning?’

‘Fantastic result! He was in normal sinus rhythm by the time we reached Emergency. He’s woken up since and has a bit of short-term memory loss but that’s all.’

‘Any evidence of an MI?’

‘No. They’re thinking the collapse might have been rhythm related. Long QT syndrome maybe. He’s lined up for electro-physiology testing in the next day or two.’

‘He’s been lucky.’

‘I’ll say. It was also lucky he didn’t have his family in the car or involve any other vehicles.’

‘Made my job easier,’ Charlotte said wryly. ‘Which was just as well seeing as I was under a performance review.’ She sighed. ‘We probably won’t need any of it, anyway, seeing as it’s not a fatal. All that stress for nothing.’

‘How’s it going with the hawk?’

‘Interesting.’ Charlotte found herself smiling. ‘Bit of a power play so far. Would you believe he holds doors open for me? And offers to lift heavy stuff?’

‘That’s very gentlemanly.’

‘I think it’s intended to be more of a put-down,’ Charlotte countered. ‘But don’t worry. I got to one door first when he was showing me around so I held it open for him.’

Laura chuckled. ‘You sound like you’re enjoying it. What’s your office like?’

‘OK. It’s got everything we need. Bit on the small side.’

‘I’d reckon something the size of a football field would be on the small side with that man sharing it.’

Charlotte grinned. ‘We’ll sort it out. I think we’re due for a showdown of some sort before the day’s out and I might have just the thing to set it off.’

‘What’s that?’

‘My paramedic kit. I’m about to lug it upstairs and let him know we need to find room for it in an already over-stuffed squad car. It should open that can of worms fairly effectively.’

It did.

Hawk eyed the large modified backpack that Charlotte carried into the office as though it were an unexploded bomb.