‘All right, that’s all I wanted, George, thanks. And I will look into that other thing for you . . .’
At that moment they heard the clatter of feet on the deck outside and the impatient rattle of a key in the door.
‘Oh fuck.’ George panicked. ‘She’ll see you here. She’ll tell Teddy …’
‘What’s her name?’ Kathy said quickly.
‘What?’
‘What’s Carole’s other name?’
‘Marshall, why . . .?’
The door swung open and Carole marched in. ‘Those bleedin’-’ She glared in surprise at Kathy.
‘Ms Marshall?’ Kathy said.‘Hello, I’m from the clinic. There’s been a mix-up over medications. They asked me to come down in person to check you’ve got the right ones. Sorry about this. Can I just see your bottles?’
‘Eh? Clinic?’
‘GUM, dear,’ Kathy murmured tactfully and shot a coy smile at George, who looked blank.‘Are they in the bathroom?’
‘Oh . . . no, they’re here.’ Carole, flustered by Kathy’s imitation of a caring health professional, rummaged in her bag and produced a plastic bottle of pills.
Kathy examined the label. ‘Oh, that’s fine. Not you then. Marvellous. I’ll be on my way. Bye.’
She walked out.
Brock was called to his second meeting with Commander Sharpe the following morning. The first briefing, to acquaint his boss with Tom’s report,had been met with a frosty bewilderment,as if Sharpe really didn’t want to know what had possessed Brock to ignore his earlier advice, and was embarrassed at having to do something about it. By the second meeting, he had regained his usual confidence and precision, and was unambiguous in his instructions.
‘We drop it.’
‘You don’t think it’s evidence of a serious crime?’
‘Absolutely not. I’m advised that it’s flawed, unattributable and potentially scandalous.You will not pursue this, Brock, and you will make sure that your errant team member doesn’t either.’
‘Hm. May I ask if you’re aware of any other ongoing investigation into the affairs of the Roach family, sir?’
‘There is no such thing.’
‘Are you sure? Not even at OCLG level? Five, perhaps?’
Brock noticed a small flush of colour tinge Sharpe’s cheeks as he leaned forward to say, in a lower but even more insistent voice, ‘I am sure, Brock, because your half-baked fantasy went all the way up to JIC, where it was treated with the contempt it deserved. Get Roach out of your head and get on with something else.Do I make myself absolutely plain?’
Tom and Kathy reported to Brock’s room in the early afternoon. The old files had been stacked neatly in a corner, they noticed, as if ready to be returned, and the pin board facing Brock’s desk was bare. Brock himself was eating a sandwich. He popped the last bit into his mouth, smacked his hands together, wiped them on a paper napkin and threw it into the bin.
‘Come in. Sit down.’
There was no sign of their report on his desk.
‘Your little operation has gone through channels,’ he said. ‘There will be no further action.’
There was a moment’s silence,then Tom said,‘What? Why not?’
‘The evidence had no provenance, Tom, no search warrant, no witnesses, no credible means of access. CPS won’t touch it. And the story it told was suggestive at best, open to interpretation.You know that’s true.’
‘Yes, but-’
‘It was taken seriously, it went well up the chain, but the decision was no.We’re bound by that. I expect you to be bound by that. No further action. Sorry. I appreciate your initiative, but that’s it.’
‘I can’t accept that.’ Tom rose to his feet, holding himself rigid, face pale with anger.‘I put myself on the line to gather legitimate, damning evidence-evidence that couldn’t be obtained in any other way. It provides conclusive information about a crime of massive proportions. So what is this? A cover-up or a cop-out? Are you all too bloody weak-’
‘That’s enough, Tom,’ Brock growled.
Kathy couldn’t quite make Brock out. His words were his, but he sounded as if he had something stuck in his gullet. It was hurting him to do this to Tom, and she wished Tom would stop, but he couldn’t.
‘Do you realise what two tonnes of crack on the streets means?’ he yelled, his voice incredulous. ‘Do you have any idea what devastation-’
‘There’s another way of looking at this, Tom.’ Brock’s voice was suddenly hard.‘If you’d come to me before you went in last night, if we’d set it up another way, things could have turned out differently. As it is, the whole case is closed down. Whatever leeway we had has been taken from us.’ He gestured as if to take in the whole office, the empty pin board, the stacked files.
Tom glared at the faded files in disbelief and shook his head, unable to find the words. Then he turned and stormed out of the room.
Brock put his head in his hands for a moment, then looked across at Kathy.‘Couldn’t you have stopped him,Kathy? Couldn’t you have let me know?’
TWENTY-FOUR
Tom wasn’t at his desk when Kathy returned downstairs. Bren
was standing nearby, and he gave her an odd look.
‘Hi, Kathy. Everything okay? Tom-’
‘Where is he?’
‘He just charged in here, grabbed his stuff and ran. Didn’t say a word.’
Kathy hurried to the front lobby, but Tom had apparently left. There was no sign of him outside in the street. She returned to the office and told Bren what had happened.When she finished he shook his head and said, ‘The old man wouldn’t be happy about that.’
‘He wasn’t.’
‘Maybe I’ll go up and have a word.’
While she waited for him to return, Kathy tried Tom’s mobile number and got his answering service. She didn’t leave a message, deciding it would be best to let him cool off.
When Bren reappeared he gave Kathy a wink. ‘He’ll come round. How do you fancy a spot of rape? Sad Simon’s made another hit.’
She groaned.‘Oh,not again.’
‘Yeah. All hands to the pumps. Brock wants you to work with me. Keep you out of mischief. Come on, there’s a briefing out in Barnet in half an hour.’
Kathy grabbed her coat and bag and followed Bren out to the car. It was the best thing, of course, a new case, a fresh start.
Over the following days she tried a number of times to make contact with Tom, but without success. He wasn’t answering his phones and there was no sign of him at his flat. She rang Nicole and asked if Lloyd had heard from him, but he hadn’t. As time passed without contact she was more and more haunted by an image that George had conjured up, of Tom at the JOS with Magdalen, flirting, dancing, drinking, and of Teddy Vexx watching them, apparently unmoved.
By Friday she was sufficiently worried to talk to Bren about raising the alarm.He was inclined to let it lie for a while.‘It’s only been a couple of days. He’s got you in enough trouble, Kathy. Raising a false alarm will just make things worse. He’s probably gone away for a while till the dust settles. Did you check with personnel if he’s asked for leave?’
‘Would they tell me?’
