Cooper paused with his hand on the car door. ‘I don’t know, Matt. Maybe it’s just me. But don’t you ever get the feeling that you’ve been banging your head against a brick wall and didn’t realize it?’
‘It’s a tragedy about the young girl. There’s a bloke somewhere who shouldn’t be running round loose.’
o
‘That’s what keeps us going, I suppose.”
He got into the driver’s seat and lowered the windows. The interior of the car was already warm, though the morning had hardly begun.
Matt rested a brawny forearm on the door. ‘Still, the Vernons are no example to anybody, are they?’
‘They’re not my idea of good company.’
‘More than that,’ said Matt. They create trouble for themselves, with what they get up to. Those orgies and things up there. I’m all for a bit of fun, but that’s just sick.’
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Cooper looked at his brother, frowning, wondering what on earth he was talking about.
‘Oh, I sec. Well, if you don’t believe me,’ said Matt, ‘you just ask Helen Milner.’
8v the lime Cooper reached the outskirts of Edendale, he knew he was going to be late for the second time in a week. Another black mark. But he found he didn’t really care. There was a dull pain throbbing at the front of his head, just behind his eyes, like the warning of an approaching thunderstorm.
At eight o’clock in the morning it seemed as though every few yards along the road there was someone clutching a dog lead. Their pets were nose down in every clump of grass, stopping to examine every lamppost and tree. It would be a rash murderer who tried to hide a body in this neighbourhood. The search parties were out permanently.
The first person he saw on the second floor of Divisional HQ was Diane Fry. She was heading for the briefing room with three other DCs. They were laughing at something, and Cooper began to flush immediately, not doubting that it was him they were laughing at. Fry, though, saw him corning and stopped to let him catch up.
‘You’re late again, Ben. You’ll be up on a charge if you’re not careful.’
‘Doesn’t matter,’ he said. ‘Have a good trip to Yorkshire?’
‘Not particularly. I’d rather have been here.’
‘Waste of time, then?’
‘Yes, as a matter of fact. There was no need for anyone to go, let alone two of us.’
Cooper sneered before he could stop himself. ‘What a surprise. Still, I suppose you had a good time together.’
Fry’s nostrils flared. ‘I don’t know what you’re getting at, but I’ll ignore it just this once.’
He inclined his head, his shoulders slumping. ‘Sorry, Diane. I shouldn’t have said that.’
‘Are you all right, Ben? You’ve got some funny ideas, but you’ve managed to restrain yourself from the snide comments so far.’
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‘Yeah. I’m fine. It’s this endless heat, it’s wearing me out.’
‘Only I’ve been hearing something about some pigs …’
‘Yeah, veah, don’t tell me.’
He saw Fry studying him. Her eyes travelled from his dull eyes to his hastily combed hair and down to his badly shaved cheeks, his crumpled shirt. lie was suddenly aware of the smell of stale sweat from his body, and the way his hand shook when he rubbed his temples where the pain was beginning to throb again.
‘Ben — what I said about your father. I did apologize. If there’s anything else I can say …’
‘I told you then — if one more person calls me Sergeant Cooper’s lad … Just let me forget it, can’t you?’
Fry stood back, shocked by the venom in his voice. ‘Fine. Oh, and there’s a message for you. The superintendent wanted to see you straightaway, as soon as you got in.’
‘What about the briefing?’
‘Straightaway. That was the message. Trouble, is it?’
‘Bound to be.’
‘Hey, you haven’t forgotten our date tonight, have you?’
‘What?’
‘You’re taking me to your dojo. I’m looking forward to that challenge bout. You’re going to teach me a few things, remember?’
The walls of the superintendent’s office were lined with photographs, some of them going back many years. The faces of stiff, upright men with high collars and large moustaches seem to glare at Ben Cooper, judging him. It was as if they were saying that he did not come up to their standards. That was certainly the message that Superintendent Jepson was trying to put across.
‘So basically, I’m saying it’s just not your turn this time, Cooper. Be patient, and your turn will come, I’m sure. Give it a bit more time, and we’ll look at things in a fresh light. There’s always hope in the future. Think about a bit of lateral development.’
Jepson studied the DC for his reaction. Hitchens was right — Cooper did look a little stressed and nervy. The dark patches under his eyes made him look older than twenty-eight, and he
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didn’t seem to have shaved properly this morning. His hands were shaking slightly, even belore he had been told the news that he would not he on the shortlist for the OS’s job. Jepson wondered whether Ben Cooper had a drink problem. He would have to ask DI Hitchcns.
‘Does it come as a shock to you, Cooper?’
“I suppose I had wondered about it, sir. 1 had a psychological assessment done, you see.’
