Chapter 7

Harry absentmindedly tapped his foot to a hidden rhythm as he waited for the kettle to boil, his cup stood empty on the worktop poised to receive its reviving liquor.

"Harry?" His foot froze and he was forced out of his comforting mind trip, he up to see Leo standing in the doorway, his arms were folded in front of him. Harry recognised it, it was his classic pose when he had something serious on his mind.

"Leo?" He returned the question, imitating Leo's tone, playfully.

"Is Nikki around?"

Having seen an opportunity to lighten the mood, Harry continued "How am I meant to tell?" Leo looked at him sternly, Harry pointed to the doorway and the office that lay beyond, blocked by Leo's stance. His colleague pressed his lips together in mock annoyance.

Leo was clearly not in the mood for banter so Harry returned to replying to his question. "If she's not in there, she's down in the cutting room." He again paused for a moment. " Where else would she be?" They both stood there for a moment, musing over Nikki's familiar pattern of existence. Lately, Leo had even got to the point of inventing reasons why she should go home, her flat was at risk of being reported as an abandoned property.

The kettle clicked off and Harry reached for it, expecting Leo, having now had his answer, to saunter away. He didn't.

"How did she seem?"

"Er," Harry hesitated with his reply, thinking about how best to phrase it, he pulled open the sugar jar and opened the draw for a teaspoon. "Well, she left Wensbury standing outside the main doors, flung her bag onto her desk and disappeared down the stairs. Is that clear enough for you?"

"Ah."

"What do you mean, ah?" Leo cleared his throat. "I get a feeling Wednesbury and Nikki haven't really 'gelled'." Harry shut the drawer with a clatter turned to face Leo.

"You do, do you?" He was slightly surprised by his inability to pick up on the pervading atmosphere around the pair, Leo was obviously too preoccupied with his parade of meetings.

"Well she hardly has a track record for getting on with him, does she?" This time Leo nodded, he remembered their previous meeting when he walked in to find Nikki standing in the middle of the office ranting at Harry about the joys of Wensburys personal qualities, he had let her continue for a full half an hour before intervening and whisking her off to the pub.

"Still it's probably best to get in the wine or beer for tonight and maybe a pizza…or maybe even take her out for a meal, somewhere swish" Harry creased his face in both amusement and confusion. "You're at least going to need some liquid patience."

"It sounds like you've already got some hidden in your office. Are you going to tell me what this is about?."

Leo bit his lip and stepped forward, checking behind him for the colleague in question.

"What is it Leo?" Harry prompted again.

"Someone has requested their own pathologist should be on the case... they want Nikki off it."

Harry was stunned, he placed his mug heavily on the table, the coffee splashed out across the worktop. "What! Have you told Nikki?"

Leo didn't answer so Harry continued, "That answered that one then." The two men paused lost in their thoughts and both trying to take in Leo's announcement. "It seems unconventional, they don't even have an ID yet." Leo frowned.

"From what I can make out, either someone with rather a lot of influence thinks they do or Nikki has pushed Wensbury to the point of breaking."

"In two days flat, that is one of Nikki's best." Harry chuckled to himself, Nikki wasn't known to have a good track records with her DI's, her intense quest for the truth frequently led to disagreements.

Leo uncrossed his arms and turned to leave. "Anyway I've tried my best to limit the damage, we can't have just anyone on a case like this. She comes with the best recommendations from my old colleague in Sheffield….and I've told them to tell her to meet us here."

Left alone in the office, Harry lifted his remaining coffee to his lips. This revelation wasn't going to make for a harmonious office life, Harry could see that. He wondered whether to invite Nikki over before she inevitably heard the news or after? For now, he decided he would stay well away in the hope she wouldn't find out he knew, act normally he told himself. He pondered this for a few more moments, what was normal now? Hungary had been a full year ago but he still thought about it nearly every day, his dreams echoing the days thoughts. Sleep didn't come naturally, each night he fought against an irrational fear of what pictures would fill his head. He had hoped that time would dull them but the pictures they presented at the trial had made each one even more vivid now.

One thing he could be certain about was he really needed her. He wouldn't tell her that of course, it wasn't as if he needed her to do anything, just turn up in the morning, smile at him or wink at him as she peered over his screen once in a while, the same things she had always done. Just knowing she was there was enough to remind him of his normality.

A while later, there was a shrill ring that echoed through the almost empty office. Harry watched as Leo stood up from his desk and made his way to the main doors. Harry could see a figure through the glass, it was just about clear enough to make out a mop of unruly hair that seemed stick out in all directions from what could have been a tidy bun. Her yellow coat looked as if she had stolen it from the nearest fisherman and she carried a canvas bag that proclaiming 'I'm a canvas bag' as if it was possible to make the mistake. Once Leo had opened the door the woman stepped forward enthusiastically.

"Ellie Keats, Dr Keats if you want to be pedantic. Freelance pathologist." She held out her hand for Leo to shake, he hesitated looking down at the remains of her wispa bar that had disintegrated in her hands.

"Oh, sorry. The hazards of breakfast on the run." She replaced the wrapper into her handbag and then delved into her coat pocket to retrieve a scrunched napkin and hastily wiped the melted chocolate from her fingers.

"Professor Leo Dalton, Head of Department." Again Leo stepped forward to shake her hand, but she looked down at her own hand and the sticky residue that remained.

"Better not." She turned her attention to Harry who stood awkwardly staring down at the floor, reluctant to be included in what he was now secretly considering to be underhand dealings on the part of Wensbury.

"Harry Cunningham." It was more a statement than a question and Harry looked up surprised to find that she didn't require an introduction..

"Yes, I know who you are."

"My reputation precedes me?"

"Only if you read 'The Informer." Harry groaned in acknowledgment.

"I'm guessing you're their other reader then."

She chuckled to herself, "Its just a bit of light relief..." At that moment, Nikki's mobile rang from the desk, guessing that Nikki herself wouldn't be far away Leo guided Dr Keats and Harry through to his office, keen to avoid the awkward conversation he knew he would have if Nikki was to observe their meeting.

"Please, have a seat," He indicated to a chair and then pulled forward a second chair so that they could face one another. "I'm guessing you'll want to transport the body to your own mortuary"

"Move it, you must be joking. Pass up the chance to work in the acclaimed Lyell Centre?"

For a moment, Leo was taken aback, "Isn't this about removing the Lyell from the equation, I mean currently it looks like whoever you have been employed by doesn't trust our judgement."

Undeterred Dr Keats continued, "To be honest, despite what it looks like, I don't really want to step on anyone's toes. Why not let your colleague finish the first postmortem and do the facial reconstruction, I've heard about her stunning work." Leo smiled acknowledging that he too was impressed with Nikki's work.

"I'll put my name on the paperwork and write up the report and no one will be any the wiser."