‘Goodnight, Anna.’ Daniels kissed her hand as the driver opened the rear door to let him out. She watched as he walked to the front steps, turning back to wave.
She was trembling as the car drove away. When it reached her flat, she thanked the driver, insisting there was no need for him to see her to her front door. She was fumbling for her key when Langton opened the door.
‘How did it go?’ he asked.
Anna slumped on to the sofa, kicking off her shoes. The lounge was strewn with coffee cups and half-eaten cheese sandwiches. Even his newspaper was in pieces, pages left on the floor by the overflowing ashtray.
‘Did you get anything?’
‘Not much.’
‘Fuck. How come? You were out late enough.’
She shook her head, unable to speak. He could tell she was upset, but he had waited all night for some information and the evening had cost a bloody fortune in overtime.
‘What is it, Travis? Did he try it on in the car?’
She started to sob. She searched in her bag for her handkerchief and then began tipping everything out as she frantically searched.
‘Daddy’s cufflinks!’ She was distraught. “They were in the zip-up pocket.’
Langton looked at her, puzzled. With her new hairstyle standing on end and her tear-stained face, she looked about ten years old.
‘Shush, it’s OK. You’re safe now.’
He knew he shouldn’t, but he moved to sit beside her and put his arm round her. She started to sob uncontrollably against his chest.
‘Shush. Just take deep breaths and try and relax. Then go and mop yourself up and get some sleep.’
She pulled away from him. ‘Stop telling me what to do. Just leave me alone.’
Langton took a deep breath. ‘Fine, I’ll do that. But in the morning, I want a report, Travis.’
She wiped her tears away with the back of her hand.
‘Just tell me one thing. Is it him?’
She sniffed.
‘Is it him?’
‘I don’t know.’
He stared after her as she headed for the bedroom. ‘Well, that’s fucking terrific,’ he muttered.
Underneath the duvet which she pulled over her head, Anna cried her heart out. She was a failure. Worse, she had allowed her emotions to overrule her logic. She had found herself liking Alan Daniels; the memory of him softly kissing her lips still lingered. She was confused by her feelings for him. How was she going to face everyone in the incident room in a few hours’ time?
Langton listened from the sofa. He had been woken by an odd, scraping sound in the kitchen. He pulled on his trousers and opened the door. There was Anna, clad in her kimono, scribbling away in a notebook, oblivious to the sound that the stool’s legs made on the tiled floor.
She shot up from the stool in alarm. ‘What the hell are you doing?’
‘It’s six o’clock in the morning,’ he said lamely. ‘Sorry if I scared you. I just heard a noise.’
She drew her kimono closer, embarrassed. ‘I was just writing notes for my report. I couldn’t sleep any longer and I didn’t want to forget anything.’
‘Do you want a coffee?’
She covered her notes with her hand. ‘Yes, please. There’s some freshly made.’
‘Got a bit of a hangover?’
‘No, I have not!’ she said angrily.
‘Did you find the cufflinks?’
‘No. I’ll call the restaurant. I was thinking I may have dropped them in the car.’
Langton poured two cups of black coffee and put one down in front of her. He glanced at the notebook.
‘You want to talk about it?’
‘No. I’ll wait for the briefing.’
‘OK. By the way, Michael Parks is coming in to see how you dealt with Daniels.’
Anna wrapped her kimono tighter. ‘I’ll go and have a shower. Do you need one?’
‘No, it can wait until I get home.’
She hesitated. ‘Wouldn’t it be better to just go in together this morning?’
He grinned. ‘Travis, are you inviting me to shower with you?’
‘Very funny!’
‘I meant that I’ll shower when I get home tonight.’
‘Fine, fine.’
Once he heard the sound of the shower going, he picked up her notebook and started to read page after page of her neat, meticulous writing. His heart started sinking. This was going to give him a lot of flak.
He had finished reading by the time Anna emerged from the bedroom, dressed. He noticed the doleful expression on her face. ‘You still upset about your dad’s cufflinks?’
‘I remember Daniels taking things out of my bag. Maybe they dropped on to the floor then.’ Langton perched on the side of an armchair with his mug. ‘I kept them in my bag. Silly! Well, you probably think it is, but I took my mother’s favourite evening bag and my father’s favourite cufflinks.’
‘Oh.’