Another brief, slightly boring "necessary exposition" chapter. Though this one is much less random I can assure you. By my best guess, we've got about one more chapter—possibly two—until we move into the climactic action sequence (which I started writing awhile back).

Chapter Sixteen—Another Phone Call

Following the previous night's attack on Nicole Hampton, Lewis and Hathaway had had a nice long discussion. Considering all else that had happened recently, both men thought it was at least possible that Innocent had been the real target. After all, it had been very dark at the time and the physical resemblance between the two sisters was extraordinary. And there was still the death threat to consider.

In light of their suspicions, the two detectives had therefore agreed that one of them needed to stay as close to the chief superintendent's side as possible at all times to ensure her safety. Needless to say, neither of them had conveyed this plan to Harvey Malcolm—for he would've instantly taken on the role of Jean's "protector" himself. They'd also neglected to inform Innocent herself, sure that she'd take offense if she knew she was under constant surveillance.

Of course, it was only a matter of time before Jean figured it out. She was astonishingly perceptive about these sorts of things, and Robbie hadn't been exactly subtle when he'd asked very loudly to accompany the chief superintendent to the hospital this morning. In all likelihood, Innocent was already suspicious of their recent behaviour, and Hathaway knew that all hell would break loose once she had gathered enough evidence to confirm her suspicions.

Although, it was quite possible she'd be too distracted with worry for her sister to really concentrate on anything else. Doctors agreed that Nicole Hampton was a very lucky woman; though she'd sustained a minor concussion and some severe bruising from the attack, chances were still "very good" that she'd make a full recovery. Of course, "very good" wasn't nearly good enough for Jean Innocent. She wanted the medical staff to be 100% certain—just as she'd always wanted Lewis and Hathaway to be 100% certain before they made an arrest.

Hathaway fervently wished Innocent was taking her own health and safety even half as seriously as she was taking her sister's. The chief superintendent was still vehemently denying that she was in any real danger, insisting that her sister's attack had been an accident—just as she'd insisted the funeral invitations had been a "printing error."

Who did she think she was kidding? Hathaway had looked at the CCTV footage of Nicole's "accident" countless times in the past few hours, and it was clear that there was nothing accidental about it. Not even Jean could convincingly deny that the car had deliberately swerved to hit her sister—although this hadn't stopped the chief super from trying to deny it anyway. What was more, the license plate number they'd retrieved from carefully viewing of the footage came from a car recently reported stolen just outside London.

"It's simple; some young lout stole a car, had a bit too much to drink, and decided to take it for a joyride," Innocent had advocated this theory from the very beginning. While there was a slight possibility this was correct, it would still have been one hell of a coincidence.

And then, there were the funeral invitations—ordered over the phone from one of the few public phone booths in Oxford that remained operational under the name "John Doe," picked up and paid for in cash by a tall, muscular, dark-haired man in a hooded sweatshirt. If that wasn't highly suspicious, Hathaway didn't know what was.

There were only two possible reasons in the sergeant's mind that Innocent could have for denying the obvious. Most likely, she was really scared and didn't want to admit it to anyone—least of all herself. She'd want to appear eternally brave, clever, and practical at all times—even when stronger people than she would've given up trying.

James greatly preferred this theory to his other. Jean Innocent was one of the most decent, honest, upright people James Hathaway had ever known, but still, everyone had secrets. Was it really possible that she'd been concealing something major from them all along? Something that if Lewis and Hathaway were to learn, it might save her life, but kill her reputation? Something so dangerous or shameful that she'd rather run the risk of death than reveal her secret?

Hathaway suspected that he was being a bit paranoid in thinking this, but still, it was far better to overreact than underreact. The most important things right now were to find John Innocent's murderer, to find out how the man's widow fit into the picture, and to protect Jean—if her life truly was in danger as James suspected that it was.

Unfortunately, it was getting more and more difficult for Hathaway and Lewis to fulfil these objectives the way things currently stood. Even if he was completely blameless of the murder itself, Harvey Malcolm was still a formidable obstacle to the investigation.

And after a long deliberation, Hathaway thought he'd finally come up with a decent plan to get that particular obstacle out of the way once and for all. He quickly glanced down at his watch. Malcolm had left to get himself an early lunch only five minutes ago, and Lewis and Innocent weren't due back from the hospital for another half-hour at least.

Carefully, Hathaway took the scrap of paper from his jacket pocket and set it down in front of him. Then, he picked his mobile and dialled the phone number scrawled on the bit of paper.