Double Check

by Malcolm Rose

  Sadie replied, “The poor thing’s lost its memory. Like you expected.”

  “Mmm. If you want some protection in the morning – and you want the truth to come out – you’d better let him download all the missing stuff from the copy on your system.”

  “Sure. It’s at work. My computer here wasn’t big enough, but we can do it through an on-line link. It’ll take a while with that much data to sift.”

  Luke checked the time. “It’s all right. I’ve got eight and a half hours.”

  “Don’t you investigators sleep, then?”

  “Not with this on my mind.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  With Malc at his side, Luke stood in a conference room of Sheffield City Hall. Facing him, behind a large desk, were Nicoletta Boniwell and three unfamiliar members of The Authorities. As Luke delivered his explosive report, they all gazed at him with dour and serious faces. He felt as if he were on trial.

  “So,” he concluded, “Ms Boniwell’s committee is entirely innocent of arranging an inappropriate and unconventional pairing because The Authorities approved it. Mollie Gazzo and Rufus Vile were allowed to become partners only for the sake of setting me up. The fact that they used tobacco illegally made them ideal. It looked like corruption that way.” Gazing at Nicoletta, he said, “The Authorities wondered if I’d try to bribe you when I found out. But what would you want with bucketfuls of cigarettes when you don’t smoke them?” He would have liked to laugh casually but he was far too stressed. “It’s all a pretence, isn’t it? Sadie Kershaw’s genuine but the rest is make-believe.”

  He had succeeded in stunning the panel.

  The Chair of the meeting looked at his colleagues and they whispered together for a while. Then he said, “Your mobile has just been serviced. Our engineer didn’t find any data that supports what you say about The Authorities’ role in this investigation.”

  Trying to stay cool, Luke shrugged. “That’s strange, because it was all there. I thought it was so important, I kept a copy and reinstalled it last night.”

  “You did what?” The Chair stared at him for several seconds. Then he switched his gaze to Malc. “Is this true?”

  “Confirmed,” Malc replied. “I can provide...”

  The Chair put up his hand. Turning on Luke, he said, “You are implying that The Authorities are corrupt.”

  “I’ve supplied the facts to conclude the case. That’s all. My mobile will use them to come to a conclusion about The Authorities and the legal implications.”

  Malc wasn’t tense. He wasn’t sweating. He wasn’t worrying about his future. He said, “There is sufficient evidence to indicate that The Authorities, acting through Mollie Gazzo, incited Sadie Kershaw to commit the crime of forgery.”

  Luke did not need to say another word.

  The four members huddled together and talked urgently in hushed tones.

  “Right,” the Chair said with an edgy grin. “You’ve done very well, FI Harding. There’s something you need to know that you weren’t told at school when under instruction in criminology. It was deliberately hidden from you, as it’s hidden from all newly qualified forensic investigators. Soon after graduating, every FI is put through a test of competence, just to make sure they are acting correctly. You’ve just passed that test with distinction.”

  Luke looked puzzled. For a moment, it made sense. The whole corruption case was like a school exercise but conducted for real in the outside world. That’s why he’d been set up. He had been on trial. But, a split-second later, he realized that The Authorities were probably attempting to get themselves out of a predicament by hastily inventing a fantasy. But he couldn’t be sure. He glanced towards Malc as if for help. “Do you know anything about this?”

  Malc was concerned only with the truth. “If there were a test of competence, there would be examples of forensic investigators losing their status soon after qualification, or returning to school for extra training. I find no record of either.”

  Luke gazed at the members of the panel. “Thanks, Malc. That’s... very useful.”

  The Authorities’ representatives leaned towards each other again and whispered even more frantically. When they parted, the Chair took a deep breath. “Luke, you – and your mobile – are correct. In our efforts to assess your loyalty, we may have been – how shall I put it? – rather too zealous. You’ve found us out. It isn’t our normal practice to contravene the law for our own convenience. I’d go as far as saying it was a mistake. But it serves no purpose to prosecute The Authorities. That would only undermine people’s confidence in us. So,” he said, “taking into account your excellent performance so far, we feel you should be offered compensation.”

  “You’re going to offer me something to drop a case of incitement to commit a crime and perverting the course of justice?”

  “Put crudely, yes.”

  This was it. The moment that Luke had been dreading and craving in equal measure. It was time to play his own game. “That’s fine,” he said in a trembling voice, “as long as compensation involves wiping Sadie Kershaw’s slate clean. If she got charged with forgery, the facts Malc would provide at her trial would be very awkward for you, I would’ve thought.” Luke tried to ignore the hammering in his chest and his churning stomach. Fixing his gaze on Nicoletta, he added, “And then there’s me and Jade Vernon. I’m sure the Pairing Committee could look again at our situation.”

  “This is beginning to sound like bribery.” The Chair exchanged quiet words with Nicoletta and then delivered his verdict. “We agree that Ms Kershaw should not be pursued. That’s your compensation. The other matter is much more complicated and difficult. If an investigator were paired with a musician, it would undermine our traditions and our principles. If it became known – and it couldn’t be kept secret – the floodgates would open. Our way of life would be threatened. So, we refuse your request. Even so,” he said, leaning forward, “we’ll look again at the definition of Jade Vernon’s job. I understand you regard her as an assistant forensic investigator. If there is continuing evidence that – alongside her music – she supports your investigations, there may be some flexibility. We make no promises, but, in time, it may become appropriate to reclassify her as an occasional scientist. If that were the case, her pairing situation might be reconsidered. Your mobile is instructed to record any forensic activity undertaken by Jade Vernon. And that,” he said, sitting upright again, “is the end of it. There will be no more demands.”

  It wasn’t the clear-cut result that Luke wanted, but it wasn’t complete failure. It was somewhere between the two. And he could tell from the faces of the panellists that, no matter how much he threatened, he would not squeeze another drop out of them. He nodded and forced himself to say, “Thank you.” Then he turned and walked away with his faithful mobile at his shoulder.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  At dawn on Sunday the twelfth of February, a solemn Greg Roper stood erect by the door. For him, the ritual was all-important. The prisoner was marched towards him between two burly guards. Greg brought the group to a halt by putting up his palm. Then he turned and passed his identity card over the release button and the massive arched door swung slowly open.

  Sunlight streamed into the large reception and Everton Kohter squinted. He was not used to cold clear daylight.

  “That’s it,” Mr Roper said. “The world. It’s all yours. Here’s your identity card. Your conviction has been erased and your medical files updated. In the nicest possible way, I hope I never see you again.”

  Overwhelmed, Everton said nothing. And he didn’t move.

  To make sure the former inmate understood, Greg thrust the plastic card at him and said, “You can go. You’re free.”

  ****

  Luke Harding and Owen Goode were standing at the other end of the forbidding passageway. As always, Malc hovered behind. They waited and watched as Everton began his walk to freedom between the brick walls topped with razor wire and icicles, leaving behind t
he bleak building with its turrets and armed guards, and its empty Death Cell.

  Owen raised his hand in greeting and shouted, “Everton! Come on. Remember me? Owen.”

  Scared, Everton came to a halt and glanced over his shoulder. He had not even crossed the drawbridge that lay over the deep moat. By the terrified expression on his face, Luke guessed that he wished he could turn back. But Greg was standing in the doorway, as if to prevent his return.

  Everton started to walk unsteadily again. As soon as he reached the strong ironwork barrier, it lifted vertically to let him through. With incredulity on his face, he watched it rise up.

  Owen said, “Come on. You’re out of there.”

  Everton staggered forward. When the gate crashed down behind him, his shoulders began to shake. Disorientated, he burst into tears. Great big drops of salty water ran down his cheeks.

  “Hey! Don’t be daft,” said Owen, grabbing Everton by the arms. “It’s champion. You’re free.”

  Everton shook his head, totally unable to cope with the release.

  “What’s wrong?” Owen asked him.

  “I don’t know...”

  “Take your time,” Luke said. “It’s going to be tough to adjust, I guess.”

  “In there,” Everton muttered, “every day was the same. I knew exactly what was going to happen.” He swallowed and surveyed the unfamiliar terrain like a nervous lost animal. “I don’t know what’s going to happen to me out here. It’s too big. I don’t know... anything.”

  “If it helps,” Luke said, “I contacted my old instructors at Birmingham School. I told them all about you. If you want, they’ll look after you till you’re up to scratch. They’ll take you as a student and help you catch up as well. That’d give you a bit of certainty.”

  “Birmingham? But that’s...” Everton’s eyes glazed over. Apparently, he regarded the city as a faraway paradise. “I’ve never...”

  “Well, it’s up to you. On the outside, you choose.”

  Everton looked at Owen and then shifted his gaze back to Luke. “Will you come and see I’m okay?”

  “Sure will,” Owen answered.

  Luke nodded. “You’ll have your own telescreen. I’ll use it to check everything’s good for you. It’s a nice school. I bet you’ll like it.”

  Everton sniffed and wiped the moisture from his cheeks and nose with his hand. “All right. Birmingham.”

  Owen beamed. “Got to be better than here,” he said, jerking his head at Block J of Cambridge Prison. “Even school’s better than the Death Cell.”

  The Next Case

  Final Lap

  There’s a huge building site in London. The Authorities are trying to regenerate the area by building a sports facility to host the International Youth Games. But someone’s out to sabotage the construction by any means possible. When the site manager vanishes, The Authorities call in Luke and Malc to investigate a whole series of suspicious accidents. With help from his girlfriend, Jade, Luke closes in on the killer, codenamed Spoilsport. But will Luke overtake Spoilsport on the final lap? He’s going to need both Malc and Jade as the race unfolds.

  Read FINAL LAP for more forensic crime-solving with Luke and Malc.