No one could do quizzical better than Jim Downey as he raised one eyebrow in Roger Moore style and peered at them from over the top of his half-moon glasses. ‘You want to brief me?’
Jenna held on to the overexcited dogs and flicked a hand to indicate for Ryan to brief his dad.
‘Yeah, we were doing a search as a follow-up to a drugs bust we carried out this morning.’
‘A drugs bust.’ His voice turned droll as Jim centred his attention on his son. ‘You do know we’re not in America, don’t you?’
Jenna dipped her head to hide her smile. She loved Jim Downey. His response to his son wasn’t exclusive. He spoke to all the overexcited, inexperienced officers with the same casual disdain. She didn’t know an officer who didn’t respect the man professionally and like him personally.
Jim nodded at the dogs as Domino pushed forward to greet him. With a light grunt, Jim drew in a breath and reached down to push the intrusive nose from where Domino had wedged it in Jim’s crotch.
‘I thought you said you were bringing in dogs for drug forensic testing.’ His brow creased as he looked back up at them. ‘So, what’s Domino doing here?’ Jim dropped onto his haunches and gave the Dalmatian a good scrub all over his shoulders until the dog fell on the floor and rolled onto his back to expose his pale pink belly. ‘Hey, boy, you’re looking good. Better than the last time I saw you.’ He swiped his long, nimble fingers along Domino’s side in a quick inspection of the raised scar that ran the length of it.
As Ryan waited, Jenna elbowed him in the ribs and took over. They were fast running out of time. ‘Long story short, we went to carry out a Section 18 in response to an arrest we made and discovered Domino with his dog walker outside of the house we were about to search.’ She used the quick efficient language Jim liked and understood. ‘They entered the premises, coming out a short time later with little bags on their collars. They then proceeded along the street to visit various neighbours, coming away with nothing on their collars. The little dog still has one. Lily, I think she’s called. And so does Domino.’ A little ripple of pride ran through her as she remembered his response. ‘He refused to give his up.’
Jim Downey patted Domino’s ribs until the sound vibrated like a drum and the dog rolled in delirium while the little shih-tzu and Labrador watched on.
‘Good lad.’ With the pride injected in Jim’s voice, Domino preened.
Jim took his hand away, pushed to his feet and stood, hands on hips, staring down at the reposed dog. ‘So, Domino.’ Jim Downey’s mouth twitched and the resemblance to his son struck Jenna in that moment of understated humour. ‘From victim to drug pusher, lad. It didn’t take you long.’
Jim dipped his fingers inside his pocket and drew out two pairs of blue nitrile gloves, snapping them onto his hands in layers. It was his efficient way of working. He’d carry out the first part of his job, strip off one layer of gloves and then continue.
All business, he clapped his hands to draw the attention of dogs and humans. ‘Right. Let’s have you in interview room three.’
Jim led the way, with Jenna and Ryan following and all three dogs in tow, wagging their tails like it was a great adventure.
Jenna closed the door behind them, surprised to see forensic plastic sheets already spread on the floor, taped down, prepped and ready to go.
Jenna offered Domino’s lead to Jim. ‘You can go first, sonny boy.’
Domino trotted forward, sat to attention and waited with one front paw raised in a begging manner to shame her.
‘I never taught him that.’
Jim’s lips tipped into a smile as he took the lead Jenna offered, dipped his hand into his pocket and offered a dog treat while he unclipped the little baggie roll from Domino’s collar. He peered inside and then tipped the contents onto his hand. A small, neat bag containing a white powder. ‘Looks promising, but we’ll get it tested.’ He placed it inside an evidence bag.
As he labelled it up, Jenna’s stomach gave a howl which echoed in the confines of the small interview room. She put her hand to her stomach with the stark realisation she’d not eaten all day and she had roughly twenty-two minutes before she was due in the debrief.
She scrubbed her fingers over her face and then shot Domino an accusing look. ‘You ate my panini.’ His ears flicked back. It may have been her tone of voice, but she suspected the dog knew exactly what she was talking about.
‘You had a panini?’ Ryan’s mouth dropped open as his stomach echoed hers. ‘I never saw a panini.’
‘No. Well you wouldn’t. It was on the back seat of my car and when we swapped to the police vehicle, I dropped it in the top of my handbag. I never had time to eat it.’
Ryan pointed at Domino. ‘What makes you think he did?’
Jenna stared at the dog from beneath dipped eyebrows. ‘Because there was no evidence left. He’ll have eaten everything, cardboard wrapper included.’
Jim raised his head and gave her one brief nod. ‘Off you go, the pair of you. I don’t need you here. It won’t take me long and then I’ll join you upstairs for the debrief on the fire. Latest I heard, they’d pushed it back simply because we had nothing earlier.’
Jenna pushed her hands inside her trouser pockets. ‘But you said on Airwaves we do now.’
Jim squatted again and took a gentle hold of the black Labrador. He flipped the name tag over and glanced up at her. ‘We do. The fire service have gained limited access, but they’ve confirmed there are bodies in there. We don’t have a firm count yet. Hopefully there’ll be more information shortly.’ He reached out a gloved hand to scratch Lily’s head. ‘These kids will be fine. They can go in the yard for a while when I’ve finished. Leave them with me and I’ll get someone to contact the owners to come and collect them.’ As he finished speaking, the door cracked open and two of Jim’s new recruits slipped inside the interview room, kitted out in their full personal protection equipment.
Jim looked up. ‘Should I call Fliss to collect Domino when I’ve finished with him?’
Jenna grazed a glance over to the Dalmatian as she chewed on her lip. ‘No. I’d rather you didn’t. I need refs at some point, I’ll whip him out and home.’ Her gaze met Jim’s as a thin thread of worry tugged at her. ‘I’d prefer to explain it to her face to face rather than worry her with a phone call. She’ll think there’s something wrong.’ She sent him a smile as understanding flickered through his eyes.
Content that he had everything in hand, Jenna slipped out of the door, followed by Ryan, her sigh of relief jamming in her throat as she came face to face with the most feared of all their comms operators.
‘Does this belong to you?’
Della Prince’s hard stare rooted Jenna to the spot. Keeper of the car keys, Della took her position with a seriousness unrivalled by anyone else and instilled fear into the hearts of every officer. About the only person who could actually make Mason quail with fright. With her bleached-blonde hair in two-inch spikes all over her head and kohl-black-rimmed eyes, Della was a warrior who Jenna had nothing but respect for. No car keys ever went astray on Della’s watch.
Not normally the subject of confrontations with Della, Jenna stumbled over her words. ‘Well, no. Not really.’