‘When she came out of prison, did you make contact with her?’
‘I contacted her once, but she was distant. It was clear she wanted to put the past behind her, so I left her alone.’
‘And she ended up with your man in your room at the hotel.’
‘I don’t get that,’ Daisy said.
‘Nor do we. You’re free to go,’ Isaac said.
‘I hope you find who did it. Helen was my friend. I’ll be sad tonight. I think I’ll go home.’
‘What did you reckon?’ Wendy said after Daisy had left, a police car organised to drop her one street from the flat she shared with another working girl.
‘Holden wanted Helen, fixated on her, and he couldn’t have her, but he can have an old friend.’
‘There’s more than a few psychoses there.’
‘How did Holden know that Daisy wouldn’t be at the hotel on the night he went with Helen? Why that hotel?’
‘As I said, the man had some issues.’
‘You’re right,’ Isaac said. ‘We need to find out what they were.’
***
Isaac met up with Richard Goddard, Homicide’s former chief superintendent. Caddick would have regarded it as gross disloyalty; Isaac considered it necessary.
‘How is it in Public Relations?’ Isaac asked as the two men sat down for lunch at a pub on the other side of the River Thames.
‘It’s a hard battle convincing anyone the Met is on top of their game. Commissioner Davies is making a right hash of it, and now he’s planning to bring in another lackey to lord it over us.’
‘Can he?’
‘They’re trying to get him out, but it takes time, and in the interim, he’ll do what he wants.’
‘Can’t they stop him? There are procedures in place to control who is hired, who is fired.’
‘The man’s fighting back, pushing the envelope. He’ll claim discretionary powers, and what is anyone going to do? Subject him to a disciplinary hearing, invite the press in to watch? Our commissioner is a caged animal. He’ll do whatever’s necessary to survive.’
‘If you were in his position?’
‘Are you saying I’m as bad as him?’
‘Not at all, sir, but you’re a political animal. Can’t you play the system? Take some shortcuts, put Davies under pressure?’
‘From Public Relations? It’s hardly likely, and besides, I’m a chief superintendent. There’s more than a few ranks separating me from Davies.’
‘Then bring them on board.’
‘Some are on board, but no one’s willing to show their hand just yet.’
‘And in the meantime, the Met goes down the tube, us with it?’
‘Regardless of Davies and Caddick, you’ve got a job to do. What’s the situation with James Holden?’
‘Any murmurings from where you are?’
‘There’s concern at Westminster. The man was a politician, and they’re all watching.’
‘There’d be a few skeletons down there.’
‘I know of some,’ Goddard said.
‘If Holden is held up to ridicule, then eventually the press will start looking into the behaviour of others.’
‘They’re always trying, but so far they’ve not found anything.’
‘Why’s that?’
‘The relationship between those in power and those in influence is still strong.’
‘Influence? You mean those who control the television channels and the newspapers?’
‘Yes. Mind you, social media is an issue. That can’t be controlled.’
‘Holden wanted it curtailed,’ Isaac said.
‘He wanted to control the sex and the violence, not the truth.’
‘That’s the problem. Once you start putting clamps in place, you escalate into other areas that should be sacrosanct.’
‘Freedom of the press?’
‘Exactly.’
‘Do you think the media moguls would care if Facebook and Twitter were throttled?’
‘No. Is that what Holden was doing?’
‘Indirectly.’
The two men had been talking for over thirty minutes and had not ordered. Isaac called over the waiter. ‘Two of your specials, a bottle of wine.’
‘What’s the occasion?’ Goddard said.
‘It’s good to be here, sir.’
‘Caddick, how’s he performing?’
‘He’s learning. He’s picked up the clichéd responses, found himself some sycophants, as well as a lady to deal with his paperwork. She’s efficient and apparently loyal.’
‘Talk to her, find out if she is.’
‘Undermine him from within?’
‘Don’t try it. That’ll get you suspended. Those who are pandering to him, important?’
‘No. They’re moderate performers, but they’ll keep him informed.’
‘Then do your job, solve the case,’ Goddard said. ‘What is it with Holden? How come he gets himself murdered with a woman who had spent time in prison?’
‘She was declared innocent at a retrial.’
‘Maybe she was, but mud sticks, and it’s stuck to Holden’s legacy, threatening to undo his good work.’
‘Good work?’
‘His work with the prison system, that’s well-founded. It was a creaking institution, in need of a clean broom. If his party had been elected to power, he would have become the Secretary of State for Justice. No possibility his death is politically motivated?’
‘None we can see at the present moment.’
‘Caddick is aiming to bring his man in to take your place,’ Goddard said.
‘He tried it once before.’
‘This time he might succeed. Don’t give Caddick a chance to unseat you.’
‘Can I stop him?’
‘Only by good policing.’
Chapter 7
Linda Holden, the head of the organisation that her father had set up to combat declining moral standards, realised she had been given the poisoned chalice. With her father’s death, and his subsequent exposure as a man who preached one thing, did another, his star had fallen.
Isaac and Larry knew when they visited James Holden’s offices that the man once held in such high esteem had erred more than once. According to Daisy, the prostitute, she had been four times in that hotel with him: the same room, the same bed.
Holden taking Helen Langdon there too, and using the same bed, seemed unusual.
Bridget was delving into the man’s childhood, attempting to understand what drove him and
