‘Just play the game, and it’ll work out. That goes for all of you,’ Goddard said. They all knew what he meant, although none were looking forward to the imminent arrival of Isaac’s previous nemesis.
And then DCS Goddard was gone. Isaac could sense, as did the others in the department, the strangeness when something so familiar is no longer there. The unexpected visits, the pep talks – ‘You’ve got five days to wrap this up’, or ‘I need an arrest soon’, or ‘It’s only one murder. It won’t take you long to find out who did it’.
Goddard had not answered Isaac’s ‘How long?’. Not because he had not heard him, but because he did not know. The demise of the Met’s commissioner was not a simple process, and dependent on circumstances, he could last two weeks or two years. There’d be a reluctance to remove him without due process, which meant that Davies would need to agree to a face-saving exercise whereby he resigned or retired with the necessary fanfare, the accolades, even an acknowledgement in the Houses of Parliament. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, the daggers would have been drawn, the financial package agreed. There’d be those who would argue for no action, and that the man should be allowed to serve for another four years until his current contract was due for re-evaluation, but to Isaac, that was sheer madness. Whatever happened, there’d be no public flaying of Commissioner Alwyn Davies – undermining the public’s confidence in the office of the commissioner would serve no useful purpose.
Appointing Seth Caddick as Richard Goddard’s replacement at Challis Street would only speed Davies’s departure, or Isaac hoped it would, and then there he was, Superintendent Caddick in the doorway to Homicide. ‘Has Goddard gone?’ he said.
Isaac looked over at the man; he could see that his time sidelined back at his old police station had not mellowed the man, and now he was their superintendent. The thought of it scared Isaac.
‘Good to see you. Welcome back,’ Isaac said.
‘A word in your office,’ Caddick said. He made the rounds of the office, shaking everyone’s hand, making the usual comments about how he would get himself settled before he made changes, and so on.
Inside Isaac’s office, the door closed, the two adversaries sat down. ‘DCI, let’s be blunt here.’
‘What do you mean?’ Isaac said.
‘You’re Goddard’s man. I don’t blame you, but I’m here now. There’ll be no telling him what’s going on. I’m in charge now, and I expect total loyalty. Do I make myself clear?’
‘That is abundantly clear.’
‘And I’ll not accept insubordination either. That comment was getting too close to the bone for me.’
‘It was not intended.’
‘You do not approve of me, and you certainly do not like me, but I’m the superintendent, you’re not. You get on with your job, I’ll get on with mine.’
‘We are involved in several murders. Will you allow me to continue investigating without your involvement?’
‘I’ve seen your investigating, and believe me I was not impressed. You’ve got four murders, and only one of those is possibly solved.’
‘You’ve been reading the reports?’
‘What did you expect me to do? To walk in here like a dummy. I know all about your cases, and how long it takes to solve them. From now on, I’ll be keeping an eagle eye on this department, and if I see any incompetence, I’ll be down on you like a ton of bricks. You may have been Goddard’s pride and joy, you’re not mine. Respect is earned, not given, and I’ve not seen proof that you deserve mine.’
‘I appreciate your frankness,’ Isaac said.
‘I intend to ride you and this department. Do I make myself clear?’
‘Yes.’
‘And a daily report.’
‘That’s what we always do.’
‘Good. I’ll leave it to you while I go upstairs and sort out my office.’
Superintendent Seth Caddick left Isaac’s office. Isaac sat back and put his hands behind his head in a sign of exasperation.
‘What’s up, guv?’ Larry asked as he came in through the door. He was holding two cups of coffee, one for him, one for Isaac. ‘You look as if you need a drink.’
‘After that, thanks.’
‘Difficult?’
‘What did you expect?’
‘It’s going to be hard calling him “sir”,’ Larry said.
‘You know the deal. No matter how difficult the man becomes, we don’t attempt to destabilise him. And never give him cause to remove us from our positions.’
‘He’s got the authority.’
‘Maybe he has, but he’ll need to replace me first, and that’s not so easy.’
‘Why?’
‘Our superintendent is the poisoned chalice. No one wants to sully their career by cosying up to him.’
‘There are some, sir,’ Larry said.
Chapter 20
The death of a homeless man on the street would not usually raise a comment. The weather had been unseasonably cold, and those who slept rough invariably succumbed if they were weak or aged.
Gordon Windsor had been on the scene within two hours of the body being found under a bridge. ‘Dead by natural causes,’ he said. ‘Which doesn’t help you, does it?’
‘Not at all. He was our witness to Rasta Joe’s killing.’
‘Would he have had credibility?’
‘Not a lot, but with the confessions of two of Negril Bob’s gang, we’d have secured a conviction.’
‘And now?’
‘If those in custody change their story, we’ve got problems. Are you sure of the natural causes?’
‘There’s no sign of violence. Although it wouldn’t have taken much to suffocate him.’
‘That means our case against Negril Bob will go against us.’
‘I can only report the facts,’ Windsor said.
Isaac left the scene, despondent. In the past, he would have informed Richard Goddard of the latest developments, but now there was another man in charge. Isaac wasn’t sure how to proceed. If he did not tell Caddick, and he
