Cooper’s questions seemed to have sparked Rowland’s memories. His eyes had developed a tamiliar distant stare, the look of a man recalling a time when he had been needed by his country, instead of being discarded.
‘Those Poles,’ he said. ‘Do you know what they called Britain when they came here? I mean the ones that came over from France to carry on fighting when the Germans invaded?’
Cooper shook his head. ‘No idea.’
‘They knew there was nowhere else for them to move on to after Britain,’ said Rowland. ‘There was nowhere left for them to go to carry on fighting against I h’tler. So they called us “Last Hope Island”
184
17
iSome officers were starting to call Edendale’s two Detective Chief Inspectors ‘Tweedledum and Tweedledee’, because they were rarely seen except when they were sitting alongside each other at the head of a briefing. Everyone knew that a Senior Investigating Officer was unlikely to get involved directly in the day-to-day enquiries on a major case. Sometimes, as now, the SIO seemed to he completely out of step with what was happening on the ground.
‘Which car is this?’ DCI Kessen was saying as Fry slid into the meeting and sat at the back. Being at the back gave her very little protection, because most of the seats in front of her were empty. Both Cooper and Murfin were among the missing this morning.
‘Edward Kemp’s car/ explained DI Hitchens. ‘The suspect for the double assault. The Isuzu Trooper with the window-cleaning pear in it.’
o
Fry noticed that the officers present had split into two groups, one on either side of the room, like opposing teams, with the two DCIs as the captains. She thought at first there was some kind of team-building exercise going on. Then she realized that they were all sitting up against the radiators on the walls. There was no warmth in the centre of the room — only an icy draught that ran from the door straight down the middle to Tweedledum and Tweedledee, who were prevented by their status from moving
‘ 1 v O
nearer to the warmth.
Fry took out her notebook and tapped her pen on it. With so few officers doing interviews, the regular briefings were starting to look like a waste of time, especially when there were two bosses to be kept up to speed. She ought to be out on the streets herself, keeping an eye on what was happening. She ought to be conducting interviews of potential thugs. She ought to be finding a missing baby. She had written two words at the top of her pad for the meeting. It said: ‘More staff?’ and was underlined.
18S
‘We’re looking tor a four-wheel drive because of the time line,’ said Hitchens. ‘We think the body was dumped in the lay by after the Pass had already been closed because of the snow.’
j j
‘Ah, yes.’
‘Forensics are still going over the Isu/,u. According to Kemp’s wife, he was missing all night, as was the car. And DC Cooper spotted some rolls of blue plastic, which are the sort of thing we think might have been used to wrap the body in when it was transported.’
‘Right.’
‘Cooper apprehended Edward Kemp on suspicion of the double assault next morning. Kemp was identified by witnesses as one of four men committing the assault. But he was released on bail.’
‘Released?’
‘We can soon locate him again,’ said Hitchens confidently.
‘But we’re still looking for the three other suspects in the assault case, aren’t we?’ said Tailby.
‘It you can call it looking,’ said Hitchens. ‘We’ve got a couple of people sitting by telephones, hoping members of the public will do the looking for us. 1 know DS Fry feels the same, but we were hoping there might be news of some extra staff being allocated.’
The comment seemed to go right over the heads of the two DCIs, like a passing breeze that barely ruffled Tailby’s hair. Tweedledee and Tweedledum seemed to move a little closer together.
‘I’ll take some convincing about this,’ said DCI Tailby. ‘It’s rather optimistic to imagine that Kemp is going to help us clear up both enquiries. Not that I wouldn’t be grateful to him, but I don’t believe in luck like this.’
Frv raised her hand.
‘Ah, DS Frv,’ said Kessen. ‘What good news have you
‘
brought us?’
She filled the meeting in quickly on her interview with Mrs 1 ennent.
I’ll have to leave shortly,’ she said. ‘I’m going to visit Kemp’s house. Of course, there’s no one else free to do it.’
186
‘The missing baby?’ said Tailby. ‘That would be very convenient, wouldn’t it? Three enquiries at once. I think I’m more interested in the clothes. They might constitute hard
^ o
evidence.’
The clothes found by the traffic officers in the streambed were
V
laid out in latex bags. There were several shirts, two pairs of trousers, underwear, a dark blue sweater and three or Four odd socks. They had been air-dried and closely examined for traces of blood, sweat or other
