Woman in Black Read Free Page B

and spoke again. ‘I have to remind you about is the community engagement programme.’ He stopped as a groan sounded from the floor. Jessica wanted to join in but just about stopped herself. ‘All right, calm down. Don’t shoot the messenger. This has come from a lot higher up than me. I know there have been a few emails going around but, with the summer upon us, things are about to move fully into action. Essentially the idea is for us to get more involved with local projects in order to portray us all in a better light.’
    There were more complaints from the floor as the DCI struggled to speak over the top of people. He eventually stopped, standing with his hands on his hips waiting for people to quieten down. He reminded Jessica of an old geography teacher she’d had who would stand and wait for silence. Her class had once wasted twenty-five minutes of a lesson as the teacher did nothing but glare at them in silence from the front of the room.
    Finally the chatter dropped and the chief inspector continued. ‘As I was saying, the idea is to place us more centrally in the community. Before the schools break up we will be attending a couple of careers days to talk to the students. There’s also a summer fete-type event where we’ll have a stall and be available for people to chat to, plus we’re upping the number of community meetings we hold. There’s a volunteers sheet outside my office so if anyone wants to get involved then put yourself down. If there aren’t enough people interested, I’m going to have to assign people myself.’ As more complaints sounded out, he finally lost his temper, raising his voice. ‘All right, shut up. The next person to speak instantly gets volunteered for everything.’ He paused, lowering his voice. ‘I know it’s not ideal but it might not be a bad idea given the publicity we’ve had in recent years. Now stop moaning and wait for your jobs.’
    Jessica could think of a few stories in the local press over the past two years that hadn’t exactly painted them in a good light. She had no intentions of signing up for anything but wasn’t convinced anyone else would either given the apathy around the room. With her position there was every chance Cole would tell her to get involved whether she wanted to or not. It wasn’t that she was against the overall idea behind the policy but she wasn’t massively keen on associating with the general public at the best of times, let alone when she would have to act as some sort of representative.
    The chief inspector divided people up into various teams and then sent everyone on their way. Jessica first went to help the press office but, after speaking to two different television stations, things had gone quiet. Her own office was on the ground floor near to the canteen. When she first moved in a couple of years before, DS Reynolds, as he was at the time, occupied it and had done for a while. After he moved into his own office a couple of months ago following his promotion, Jessica had enjoyed the large room to herself.
    As she walked through the door, DS Cornish was in Reynolds’ old chair closest to the entrance. Jessica’s own desk was at the back of the room and, as usual, the items she was working on were scattered around the floor, the tops of filing cabinets and her own desk. Her messiness was well-known and ridiculed around the station.
    The woman was typing on her keyboard but quickly stood as Jessica opened the door. She turned to face Jessica, speaking quickly and offering her hand. ‘Hi, it’s DS Daniel, isn’t it? I hope this is okay? The chief inspector told me this would be my new office and the desk was free.’
    Jessica shook her hand. ‘It’s fine but call me Jess. I’m not big on formalities.’ She could see the sergeant had already made her mark. There were family photos placed in perfect rows on the desk and the keyboard and monitor had been moved so they were exactly perpendicular to edge of the table