‘Luke’s holding his own,’ he said. ‘The hospital people seem to think the worst might be over, but Eleanor’s waiting to see the specialist.’ Lambert and Rushton muttered their relief at this terse summary, and Hook said, ‘Now, can you bring me up to date with what’s been happening in the Durkin murder case? I’m afraid I can’t claim to have been single-minded about my work over the last day or two.’ Neither of them ventured to suggest again that he should take time off because of his son’s illness. Indeed, Lambert was secretly delighted that Hook wanted to be here: he had grown so used to Bert’s comforting, complementary presence at his side that he now found it difficult to conduct key interviews without him. He said, ‘It’s time we reviewed the case anyway. It would help to clarify my mind, as well as yours. I can’t recall a murder victim being as universally disliked as Robin Durkin.’ Rushton nodded, flicking up the relevant list of files on his computer.
