by M A Comley
“The usual. Why did you ring so early? Anything wrong?”
“No, nothing. I wanted to run something past you, really.”
“Personal or work?”
“Work, but I suppose it will also impact on my personal life.”
“Blimey! Let’s hear it.”
“I was called into the DCI’s office this morning, only to find that the chief constable was there to see me.”
Simon whistled. “Wow, are you in trouble?”
“That was my first thought, but he was quick to dismiss that. They’ve offered me an opportunity to start up a new department.”
“Sounds intriguing. Doing what exactly?”
“Delving into cold-cases on a full-time basis.”
“I see. And how do you feel about that, Sal?”
“At first, I was a little apprehensive, but then my conscience pricked and reminded me how outraged I felt when I tackled the last case we worked on. I’m quite excited by the prospect now.”
“What will happen to your team? Will another DI be drafted in to take over your role?”
“I’m just discussing that with my team now. Word is that my team as it stands will be disbanded.” Sally looked up to see Jack standing in the doorway, his jaw dropped open. “Sorry, Simon, something has come up. I have to go. I’ll ring you later, love.”
Before her fiancé could reply, she hung up the phone and motioned for Jack to sit down. “Jack, everything all right?” she asked, hoping against hope that he hadn’t heard her conversation but knowing full well that he had.
Her partner fell into the chair, shaking his head in disbelief. “Why? Why couldn’t you have told the team that?”
“That’s not fair, Jack. I would have told you all eventually. I was testing the ground. Seeing what you all thought about the idea first. Please don’t be angry with me.”
“I’m not angry—disappointed, yes, especially when you’ve always prided yourself on not keeping secrets from us regarding the job.”
“I know. Please believe me, I had every intention of telling you all. I promise.”
“So, what you’re saying is either we agree to change over to the cold-case department, or we lose our jobs? Have I summed that up accurately enough?”
“There’s nothing definite in that statement, Jack. What we’re talking about is a high probability. Can I ask what your objection would be, if we, as a team decide to go down that route?”
He sighed heavily. “I can’t give you a definitive answer to that, boss. It just doesn’t sit right with me for some reason. I can’t help wondering if the same passion would be there raking over old evidence and clues.”
Sally shook her head. “I really don’t see what the difference is, Jack, whether the evidence is old or new. All I can say is I believe, from a personal perspective that I had the same desire, passion and determination to solve the Thomas case as I attributed to any other case I’ve solved over the years.”
“I get that. But I still have a niggling doubt that is going to be hard to shift.”
“Then how long do you need to consider the proposal?”
“How long are you prepared to give me?”
“Until the end of the day. That’s when the chief is expecting my answer. Look, why don’t you use my office to ring Donna, discuss all your concerns with her? Perhaps she’ll be able to guide you in the right direction.”
“I wouldn’t mind, thanks. I’m sorry to have such a downer on this.”
Sally pushed back her chair and moved towards the door. As she passed, she squeezed her partner’s shoulder. “I need you to be behind this one hundred percent, Jack. I can’t carry people or argue with them when the need to solve the case will be even greater than normal. We’ll be trying our hardest to get innocent people released from prison.”
“Maybe that’s where the dilemma is for me. Perhaps at the back of my mind, I’m deliberating whether those people are truly innocent or not. What if we release someone and they go on to commit a similar crime, or a more heinous one after listening to the psychos regaling their gruesome crimes on the inside? How the hell will I be able to live with myself then?”
“We could say that about every crime we solve. If there is an ounce of doubt that the person we’re fighting for carried out the crime, then that’s when we stop the investigation. Nothing is set in stone on this, I promise. Your problem is that you’re a compassionate human being. There aren’t many left in this vile, twisted world of ours, so I’d hate for you to alter. Talk things over with Donna, and we’ll thrash out any other concerns you have afterwards, okay?”
“Thanks for understanding, Sally.”
She winked at him and left the room. She went around the rest of her team to see if they had any lingering doubts. They all seemed really excited at the prospect of having a new challenge to look forward to. When she arrived at Joanna’s desk, Joanna leaned forward and whispered, “So, what happens if we don’t agree, boss?”
Sally smiled. Joanna had always been bright, and she reminded Sally of herself at times. The young constable would go far if she pushed herself hard enough. “I wasn’t told that, Joanna. I think we can guess, though, right? I’m having a hard time convincing Jack at the moment. He’s in there running it past Donna now.”
“Why the hesitation?”
“He can’t put his finger on it. Maybe there’s more to it than he’s letting on. He hasn’t had the easiest of times at home lately, what with looking after his granddaughter and all that entails, such as lack of sleep on a regular basis.”
“It must be hard. Can’t see me having kids because of that very thing. I enjoy my sleep too much.”
“I’m inclined to agree with you, although Simon and I have yet to broach the subject about having kids. I’ll certainly do my best to dissuade him. Talking of which, I better ring him back.” Sally moved to the nearby desk and rang the mortuary.
Simon picked up the phone as soon as it started to ring at his end.
“Hi, it’s me. Sorry I had to end the call abruptly; a minor incident occurred.”
“No problem. You’ve just caught me about to start another PM. Why don’t we go out to our favourite restaurant tonight for dinner?”
“Deal. Okay, see you later.” Sally hung up and smiled dreamily out the window. She was lucky to have Simon in her life. He was the only man who truly understood her and the importance of her work, being in a similar field. He had never once asked her to do anything that she didn’t want to do in their downtime, unlike Darryl. Her ex had constantly planned most of their time off together, not giving her the option to object to a venture or to utter the words that she was tired and needed a break. The two men were extreme opposites in many respects, thankfully. She could always talk to Simon and have intelligent conversations about police—or pathology—related subjects. Darryl had never shown a molecule of interest in her work at all. Being a pilot, he was used to having a bunch of adoring air hostesses hanging off his every word and flirting with him every second of the day.
She shook the damaging thoughts from her head. She’d moved on with her life and was blissfully happy with her new beau while her ex was still confined to a prison cell for raping her. It had taken all her strength to arrest Darryl for the crime, but she’d had Jack by her side when she’d done that. She prayed he would be by her side going forward, as well.
Jack reappeared in the doorway and motioned for her to join him. He had a sheepish look on his face. Her stomach churned into knots as she walked towards him. Sally closed the door behind her.
“What did Donna have to say?” she asked, dropping into her chair.
“She listened to my apprehensions and raised some valid points that I hadn’t thought about.” He held his hand up in front of him when she opened her mouth to speak. “I’m not divulging what they are.”
“Okay. So where do we go from here? Are you with me—us—or not?” She struggled to read the expression that clouded his features, then worried, she prom
pted, “Jack?”
Another huge sigh expanded his chest. “Go on then. What have I got to lose?”
Relieved, Sally picked up her pen and threw it at him. “You bugger. You had me worried there for a moment. I’d be lost without you by my side.”
“Let me rephrase that for you: the thought of having to mould another partner into my way of doing things was crucifying me.”
Sally sniggered. “You know me too well. Maybe the transparency issue needs adapting a little before we continue our working relationship.”
“Nah, you’ll never change, and I wouldn’t want you to. I love working with you and the rest of the team. I’m sorry for my indecisiveness. It doesn’t mean to say I won’t have a few doubts going forward.”
She nodded. “I can understand that. If I’m honest, I think we’ll all have those in the coming months. We need to voice our concerns openly and be honest with each other, all right? We’ve always done that in the past, so there should be no reason to change that in the future.”
“Okay, I’m in. So, what next? Do we have a new case to get us started?”
“One thing at a time. I’ve just spoken to the rest of the gang. They’re confident they want to do this. Now that you’re on the same page, I’ll contact the chief constable and get the ball rolling. He’ll probably tell us to wrap up any cases we’re working on over the next few days and start trawling through the cold-cases then, I suspect. Go, get back to work and make me a proud DI once more.”
She watched Jack leave her office, his shoulders no longer slumped in dejection, then she picked up the phone and took a few deep breaths to steady her nerves before she rang the chief constable on his personal line.
“Hello, sir. It’s DI Sally Parker.”
“Ah, the inspector calls. I take it you’re calling to accept the position offered you earlier?”
“Well, in a nutshell, yes. I’ve discussed it with my team, and they’d be honoured to be considered for the opportunity, sir. We’d be honoured. I want to thank you for thinking of us.”
“Not at all. Given your experience dealing with such matters, it was a foregone conclusion that I should ask you.”
“Can I ask when this is likely to take place, sir?”
“Now that you’ve accepted, I have a few such cases sitting on my desk at present. Give me until tomorrow morning to organise things a little better, and I’ll get back to you. How’s that?”
“It sounds like a good plan to me, sir. We’ll crack on with tying up any loose ends to our ongoing cases today then. Thank you again for showing your faith in me, sir.”
“No—thank you for doing such an outstanding job. It’s my privilege to reward such tenacity and determination. I’ll speak to you in the morning.”
“Thank you, sir. That means a lot to me. Goodbye.”
Sally sat back, thinking she was having the most satisfying day so far in her police career. To have the backing of a high-ranking commanding officer, when she had battled so much over the years in a male-dominated environment, was a huge achievement—definitely something she would look forward to celebrating with Simon later.
CHAPTER TWO
On the drive into work the following morning, Sally reflected on the wonderful evening she had spent with Simon the previous night. When he’d looked at her across the table, her heart had fluttered. His eyes were full of admiration and pride about the job offer, something she’d never witnessed in any of her other relationships. Why couldn’t I have met him years ago? Why did we both have to waste so many years apart? Hold your horses, lady. Things might change significantly when he places a wedding ring on my finger—just like it did when I married Darryl.
Another part of her argued, don’t be silly! They’re poles apart.
She listened in amusement as her inner voices argued with each other. Simon had treated her like royalty, the way he always had. He’d also insisted on dropping by her parents’ house on the way home from the restaurant to share the news with them in the flesh. Although her father and Simon soon began discussing the joint project they were embarking on in their property-developing business.
Sally’s mum had squeezed her so hard that when she got undressed and ready for bed, Simon noticed bruises on her arms, but it was worth it. To see both her parents with huge smiles on their faces, proud of her work achievements, instead of wrinkles of worry on their foreheads, meant a great deal to her. They’d been through the mire over the last few years, what with the evil neighbours opposite making their lives hell twenty-four-seven before the council had finally moved them on to a different house. Then her father had been forced into bankruptcy after one of his clients left the country without paying for the work he’d completed. All the turmoil had led to Sally moving back home and taking over the mortgage payments for her parents. She was still paying it today, even though she’d recently moved in to Simon’s beautiful home. He’d insisted that she shouldn’t contribute to his bills, that it wasn’t a condition when she had accepted his invitation. She even got to have Dex, her golden Labrador, stay with them at the weekend. Yes, Simon truly was one in a million and a real keeper.
Joanna and Jack were already at their desks when she walked into the incident room. “Morning, you two. Everything all right?”
“Just tying up a few loose ends, boss,” Joanna replied.
“Anyone for coffee? I’m buying.”
“No, you won’t. I’ll get these. Call it an apology for doubting your sanity yesterday,” Jack insisted, leaving his chair and walking over to pop a couple of coins in the vending machine.
“That’s news to me.” Sally chuckled. She heard her phone ringing in her office and sprinted the short distance to answer it. “DI Parker, can I help?”
“Ah, Inspector. DCI Green here. Care to join me in my office? I have something for you.”
“Morning, sir. I’ll be right there.” Sally shot out of the office. “Keep mine to one side, I’ve been summoned. Be right back.” She rushed along the corridor and into the DCI’s outer office. His secretary, Helen, smiled at her. Not any ordinary smile—it was a smile that said she knew what was going on and found it highly amusing.
“Go straight in, Inspector.”
“Hmm… sounds ominous. Can I have a hint of what awaits me? Good or bad?”
“You’ll find out soon enough.”
“Is he alone?”
“Sort of. Go through and see for yourself.”
Sally rolled her eyes. “Gee, thanks for your help.”
Helen laughed, and Sally knocked on the door and pushed it open when she heard Green beckon her. Her eyes, along with her chin, nearly hit the floor when she spotted the boxes.
“Morning, sir,” she said once she’d recovered from the surprise.
“Good morning, Inspector. You might need a hand shifting those.”
Sally stepped towards the twenty or so archive boxes lining the far side of his office and shook her head. “Is this all for me and my team?”
“Yes. That lot should keep you busy for a day or two, right?”
She’d never seen the DCI look so amused before. When he smiled, he bared almost-straight, brilliant-white teeth, making him look kind of handsome. “Day or two? You jest, of course. I think it’ll be more like a year or two, looking at this lot. These are all Falkirk’s cases, I take it?”
“Every last one of them. No doubt you’ll be able to deal with some of them briskly—i.e. if the sentence has already been spent or the convicted person has died during their stay in prison—whilst others will need you to dig deep between the pages. Just do your best. Let me know which case you’ll be dealing with first.”
“What? I have to wade through them all before I decide which case needs my attention first? The chief constable said he had a couple sitting on his desk he felt were urgent. Any idea what they are, sir?”
“Nope, I think he was pulling your leg. They all need to be reinvestigated, Inspector. There’s a spreadsheet on top there with a brief summary
of all the cases. Cast your eyes over that first and then decide. That would be my suggestion. Can you get them removed from my office within the next hour or two? I’m a tad anal when it comes to my office being littered with things not concerning me directly.”
Sally just stared at him. How ridiculous! Because he was her superior, any of the cases connected to her would indeed be something to do with him farther down the line. “Yes, sir. I’ll get the boys to shift them ASAP.” She left the office and let out a huge breath once she’d closed the door.
Helen chuckled. “Nice situation to be handed first thing in the morning, eh?”
“It’s all right for you to laugh. Crap, how am I going to explain this lot to my team? They’re going to wonder what they’ve let themselves in for by agreeing to transfer to the cold-case team, and they’re not the only ones. Jesus, what have I done?” She hit her temple with the heel of her hand.
Helen placed a hand over her mouth to prevent herself from laughing. “Sorry, wish I could help, Sally. I think you’re going to need dozens of pairs of hands to help you with that lot. Maybe they have a trolley downstairs you can use.”
“I’ll nip down and check. I’m guessing that it’s still going to take Jack and a couple of others all morning to collect them.” She pointed over her shoulder and whispered, “That’ll piss Green off. He’s laughing about it now. I bet he’ll be tearing his hair out in a few hours.”
“I think you’re possibly right about that. Try not to make him too upset. I’ll be the one taking the brunt of his frustrations.”
Sally smiled. “Really? Now there’s a thought. That’ll teach you to laugh at my predicament.”
“Touché, Sally.”
After going downstairs, she returned to the incident room with the trolley to find the rest of the team had arrived and were all sitting at their desks.
“Jack, Jordan and Stuart, can you drop what you’re doing and go to DCI Green’s office, please? He needs a hand shifting a few things.”
Jack frowned. “From us? What aren’t you telling us, boss?”
“Is this my coffee? Thanks for that, Jack. I’ll be in my office, dealing with the morning post, if anyone wants me. Oh, and the trolley will come in handy, so take that with you.” She rushed into her office without another glance in her team’s direction, suppressing the laughter that was itching to break free.