The Price of Failure
Page 17
‘Sorry to interrupt you, sir, but I…’
The chief constable interrupted him without any apology. ‘I’ve just had a phone call. A very unexpected one.’
‘Really, sir?’ The chief constable’s manner was so ebullient, and therefore out of character, that Jameson wondered if he had been drinking.
‘It was to inform me…’ He crossed to his desk and sat. He rested his elbows on the desk and stared into the distance. ‘It was to inform me,’ he said, speaking slowly and with emphasis, ‘that the Royals are extremely grateful to me for having rescued Miss Lumley unharmed. They offer me their sincere congratulations. In addition, and as a mark of their gratitude, they propose to award me a knighthood. As I said, that will honour the whole county force, not just me.’
Bloody hypocrite, Jameson thought sourly. The other’s wife must be in her seventh heaven. She was such a dedicated snob that probably she was already rehearsing how to react when the rank and file bowed and curtsied to her.
The chief constable coughed.
Jameson pulled himself together. ‘Congratulations, sir.’
‘Thank you. But, of course, we must not waste any more time on nonessentials. You wanted a word?’
‘Yes, sir. Trent has made certain accusations against a member of the force.’
‘Regretfully, to be expected.’
‘I decided it was necessary to discuss these accusations in some detail with Inspector Hoskin.’
‘And now they can be dismissed?’
‘Not quite.’
‘Why not?’
‘There are a couple of points which do raise questions.’
‘What are they?’
‘I’ve compared the dates which Inspector Hoskin has given me with those which Trent has provided. They don’t match. Trent claims to have started to blackmail Carr some time before Inspector Hoskin says Carr first came to him to report. Trent further claims –’
‘What does Hoskin say?’
‘He is certain his dates are correct.’
‘Which is what one would expect when a detective inspector is logging events. I’m surprised you feel it worthwhile raising the point.’
‘I wouldn’t have done if there weren’t something more. Trent further claims he sent Carr three thousand pounds in the post as payment. Inspector Hoskin states that Carr has never made any reference to this money.’
‘Which makes it clear that the money is a figment of Trent’s malign imagination.’
‘But Inspector Hoskin told me that he had checked for any unusual expenditure. He found that Carr had moved his wife from hospital into a nursing home and the bill was roughly two thousand five hundred. Carr’s explanation as to how he could afford that was that his mother had lent him the money; the mother confirmed the fact.’
‘Which surely puts an end to that?’
‘But if Carr had been working with Inspector Hoskin from the beginning, why would Hoskin have been looking for unaccounted spending on Carr’s part before Trent’s accusation was made? Obviously, there are two possible answers. This check was an insurance; covering the possibility that the allegation would be made in court as an attempt at revenge. Secondly, that when Hoskin checked, he had reason to be suspicious in which case, of course, Carr had not reported to him and they were not working together, even though Carr had started to cooperate with the mob.
‘Obviously, we must ascertain which is the correct answer. I suggest the easiest way of doing that is to examine the financial affairs of Mrs Carr and determine if there is any trace of the three thousand pounds she claims to have lent him.’
The chief constable stared into the distance for a long time. Then he said: ‘If one were to carry out such a search, it would be emotionally very painful for Mrs Carr, not only because it would be calling her a liar, but also because it would show that we are considering the possibility of her son being a criminal.’
‘Our work often causes pain.’
‘Tell me something. Does the answer to these questions have any bearing on the case against Trent and his accomplices?’
‘It cannot affect the verdict, no, sir.’
‘Then what would be gained by pursuing the matter?’
Jameson showed his surprise. ‘If Carr was blackmailed into becoming a traitor and Hoskin uncovered this fact, but did not report it…’
‘There are times, Mark, when it is kinder to some to take a pragmatic approach and let arcane possibilities lie fallow. I think this is one such time.’
‘Are you saying we shouldn’t check out Mrs Carr’s financial affairs, despite the possibility that…’
‘I think so.’
Jameson waited for an explanation. There was none.
‘Thank you,’ said the chief constable.
It was only when Jameson was in the lift that he overcame his bewilderment sufficiently to understand. If it were proved that Carr had been blackmailed into cooperating with the mob and that Hoskin had discovered this fact but far from reporting it, as was his duty, had with calculated design hidden it, then the resulting story, in a case that had already gained intense publicity, would feed the media’s headlines for days on end. A knighthood could hardly be awarded to the chief constable to honour a force that was shown to be so corrupted. Deprived of her ‘Lady’, his wife would be a very bitter woman indeed …
BY THE SAME AUTHOR
THE BITTER BITE
JUDGMENT DEFERRED
TWISTED JUSTICE
DEADLY REUNION
AN ILLEGAL SOLUTION
THE HONOURABLE DETECTIVE
A CRIME REMEMBERED
A QUESTION OF PRINCIPLE
AN IDEAL CRIME
PRESUMPTION OF GUILT
A SENSE OF LOYALTY
GUILT WITH HONOUR
THE LOSS OF THE CULION
A RECIPE FOR MURDER
THE ANGER OF FEAR
HOSTAGE TO DEATH
SLOW DOWN THE WORLD
THREE LAYERS OF GUILT
THE COLOUR OF VIOLENCE
THE DOUBLE RUN
A MAN WILL BE KIDNAPPED TOMORROW
BENT COPPER
TO PROTECT THE GUILTY
PRISONER AT THE BAR
FORGET WHAT YOU SAW
CONSIDER THE EVIDENCE
THE HANDS OF INNOCENCE
ENQUIRIES ARE CONTINUING
WILL ANYONE WHO SAW THE ACCIDENT
THE BURDEN OF PROOF
INVESTIGATIONS ARE PROCEEDING
COUNSEL FOR THE DEFENCE
THE PRICE OF FAILURE. Copyright © 1995 by Jeffrey Ashford. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
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ISBN: 0-312-18156-6
First published in Great Britain by Collins Crime, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers
First U.S. Edition: January 1998
eISBN 9781466888586
First eBook edition: November 2014