Franks had been furious with Marina for what she had done that night in Wrabness. He had called her into his office the next day, didn’t invite her to sit. He clearly wanted to stay sitting himself but was too angry so stood up, faced her over the desk top.
‘What the bloody hell did you think you were playing at? That was a police operation and you are one of this team. You were given a direct instruction and you ignored it.’
Marina stood up to him. ‘And it was a good job I did. If I’d waited for you to get there, my daughter might well have been dead.’
Franks’s mouth had twisted but he hadn’t given her a reply. ‘We were right behind you. And not only did you interfere with a police operation, you left a murder scene. One dead, two seriously injured.’
‘I had my daughter to take care of. And as you said, you and the team were on the way.’
Franks didn’t seem to have been spoken to like this before. He didn’t know quite how to respond. Anger and sympathy vied for prominence in his features. He sighed. ‘Yes. I understand. I realise you were under a lot of strain, with what you’ve had to go through in the last few days. But it doesn’t alter the fact that you’re part of this team. And there’s a chain of command. This is the Major Incident Squad, not some cowboy outfit. If you can’t understand that and be part of it, then perhaps it’s best you’re not here.’
‘Fine,’ she said.
‘What?’ He stopped talking, stared at her, surprised at her answer. ‘You mean that?’
‘Yes, I do. I’ve been thinking about it a lot in the last couple of days. Maybe it’s time I had a change.’
Franks fell silent for a few seconds, then nodded. ‘Right. Spend some time at home. With your daughter.’
‘Yes. And go back into private practice. Or consultancy. Or academia. Somewhere where my talents will be more appreciated.’
Franks reddened, tried to say something consoling, but she was no longer listening.
And that had been the end of that.
125
Sandro had visited Marina and Phil a few nights earlier. Gone to their home and been welcomed in. Well that makes a change, he had thought. Hell of a change. He had even sat with Phil, drank a beer. Talked. He wasn’t a bad bloke, Sandro had decided. For a copper.
But when Marina pulled him aside into the kitchen to have a word in private, he knew what she was about to say.
‘You OK?’ he asked.
She nodded. ‘Well as can be expected. You?’
‘Yeah.’ He sighed. Ran his hand over his head. ‘Mental.’
‘I’m sorry,’ Marina said.
Sandro nodded. He knew what she was talking about.
‘I shouldn’t have left you to make that choice. Open the trapdoor or not. It should never have happened.’
Sandro shrugged, aimed for nonchalance. Missed. ‘I couldn’t leave her,’ he said. ‘Just walk out of that house and leave her to die.’ He sighed. ‘I couldn’t.’
Marina nodded.
‘It was a crazy night.’ Sandro thought for a while, head down. Then looked up, directly at Marina. ‘I’ve been thinkin’ about this, though. A lot. What happened with the Golem, that was a fight, yeah? Proper kill-or-be-killed fight.’
‘What you did was self-defence.’
‘Yeah. But leaving that madwoman there, even after everything she’d done, that would have made you just as bad. And me.’
‘I’ve been thinking about Mum again,’ said Marina. ‘What she did for us. A mother will do anything, Sandro, anything — everything — to protect her children. Our mother put herself, her own body, in the way of blows meant for us. All I could see was Josephina. All I wanted to do was … neutralise the threat to her as best I could.’
‘And I let her out.’
‘She was no threat then. Not really. But you were the one with compassion.’
‘Yeah.’ He nodded. ‘Maybe I don’t take after Dad after all.’
‘Maybe you don’t.’
He smiled. ‘Maybe there’s hope for me yet.’
Marina returned the smile. ‘Maybe.’
They fell into a resigned silence. Still, like a ceasefire after a war.
‘He’s not a bad bloke either,’ said Sandro, gesturing to the living room. ‘For a copper.’
‘What about your other trouble?’ said Marina. ‘The money you owed?’
A smile crept across Sandro’s features. He kept his eyes averted from his sister. ‘Fine. Everything’s fine there. No worries.’
‘Sandro … ’
‘It’s fine, I said. Fine.’
Marina knew she would get nothing more from him, let it drop. ‘Look after yourself. You know where I am if you need me.’
He knew.
‘And Sandro … thank you. Really. Thank you. I couldn’t have … ’
He hugged her. They didn’t speak.
Both choked.
126
‘You ready to go?’ said Mickey.
Anni picked up her glass. ‘Just finish this.’
‘If we don’t get out now, we’ll be here all night.’ He looked round the room. Officers and ex-officers were settling in for the duration. Lubricated by alcohol and camaraderie, old war stories were being trotted out again, anecdotes given a polish and put on display once more.
She looked up at him. Smiled.
He loved that smile. Hoped he never tired of seeing it. Or that she never tired of directing it at him.
They had spent the last few days dealing with the paperwork fallout from the case. Wrapping it up as tight as they could for the CPS. Michael Sloane was looking at serious prison time. He had his allies, his supporters, all wealthy, putting money before morality. And he could afford the best legal defence, but even with all that, it was looking like he would go down for a long time. There was too much against him. Mickey and Anni doubted he would have as many allies if that happened.
Mickey had heard that Sloane had contemplated entering a plea of insanity. If he did that, he might end up with no prison time but he would probably be looking at life in a secure hospital. And he would probably lose access to his fortune. Either way, he would die behind bars.
His sister was definitely insane. Her fate would be relatively straightforward.
‘And the half-brother gets the lot,’ Anni had said.
‘Could be,’ Mickey had replied. ‘He’d better get himself some good advisers, though. Otherwise he’ll be picked dry.’
The Golem, as they had found out he was called, had been taken to hospital. A combination of severe wounds and a lethal drug cocktail had left him near death. They sincerely hoped he pulled through. There were a lot of murders to pin on him.
