Bliss sat back and took it all in from the sidelines. He’d endured two months of this so far. Having been both responsible for the unit and accountable to the more senior ranks, he currently felt like a spare part. By this stage he’d usually be barking out instructions of his own, making snap decisions, allocating actions to personnel. He’d feel the deep grind of the job in his bones. More, he’d feel the weight of it settle upon him. Irrespective of his current position, he continued to feel all of these things. The subsequent welling of frustration was intense, because he lacked the influence to lead.
Not that Bishop was failing. So far, his missteps could be counted on the fingers of one hand and wouldn’t require the thumb. He was doing the job Bliss knew him capable of, proving himself worthy of the permanent promotion he deserved should he wish to go forward with his career ambitions.
‘You’re missing it, aren’t you?’ a voice said, snapping him out of his silent contemplation. Diane Warburton was smiling at him. ‘I know a little of how you feel, Jimmy. Each shift up the ladder leaves you a little bit more detached from the daily grind. Until one day you realise they don’t need you any more. Bit like kids, really. They rely on you for everything for so long, but bit by bit they pull away.’
‘Independence,’ Bliss said, nodding. ‘We all crave it, but we never think about the people we become independent from. It’s tougher than I’d anticipated.’
‘You’re a third of the way through, Jimmy. These next four months will flash by.’
‘But to what end?’
‘Keep your nose clean and this will be your unit once again.’
‘Perhaps. The cynic in me wonders if that will actually happen.’
‘It may not if you don’t let go of your nocturnal activities.’
Bliss’s eyes widened. ‘Marion Fletcher told you about Neil Watson?’
‘Of course. Why wouldn’t she? That’s how the chain of command works.’
‘I take it you don’t approve?’
Warburton took a deep breath, compiling her response. ‘I feel the same way about Watson as I do that awful Parkinson woman: if they get their comeuppance, I’m not going to lose any sleep. But in his case, not if the cost is losing you, too.’
‘That’s nice of you to say so, boss. You want to keep some eye candy around, don’t you?’
She laughed. ‘How well you know me. Look, Jimmy, I can’t tell you I don’t understand your inclinations, because I do. The DSI showed me the case file, and the investigative notes make it abundantly clear that Neil Watson had been systematically beating that child prior to his eventual and wholly predictable and preventable death. Whether he administered the final blows, perhaps we’ll never know. But he’s equally responsible, if not more so than the woman currently doing time for that poor lad’s murder. I’d like to see him off the streets. But you do realise that if you step too far out of line, it’s not only your job at risk – it’s your freedom?’
Nodding, Bliss swallowed and spread his hands. ‘I’m not about to do anything ridiculously stupid, boss… Moderately, at worst. My aim at the moment is to force him to lose his patience with me. If I get him in a roid rage at the right time, he might even tell me everything. I genuinely think he’d like to boast about it, because he certainly doesn’t feel any shame or remorse. Quite the opposite, if you ask me. At the very least he’ll end up attacking me if I keep pushing his buttons, and that’ll earn him some time behind bars. And I’ll be a frequent visitor, one who’s happy to spread rumours about him to some of the genuine hard bastards in there.’
Warburton fired a look of genuine concern at him. ‘And if it goes the other way – if he has you for harassment – he walks, and you are kicked out of this job. You have to ask yourself if he’s worth it, Jimmy.’
‘With all due respect, boss,’ Bliss said, ‘Neil Watson might not be worth it, but the child he murdered certainly is.’
Thirty-Five
Bliss must have known more frustrating afternoons, but it was hard to bring one to mind as he left Thorpe Wood later that day. The vast majority of kennels were open and in business. This made them less than ideal locations in which to keep under lock and key an unwilling young woman who was probably being subjected to sexual abuse on a regular basis. Having the kennel staff, dogs, and in some cases their owners on site was hardly beneficial to the search teams, either, but the job had to be done nonetheless. Only two sites initially refused them entry without warrant, and Bishop had been unfortunate enough to cop them both. They had eventually agreed after he pointed out how much more thorough a warranted search might be, potentially requiring the complete closure of the site.
Of the three businesses that were no longer operational, Bliss and Chandler had one on their short list. It was out in Eye, close to the quarry. The site backed on to Cat’s Water drain, a narrow river that wound its way from the industrial area of Fengate all the way round and across to Thorney on
