by L M Krier
'Yeah. Fine. Super.'
The way Jezza replied was ambiguous. She could conceivably have been using the abbreviation for Superintendent, though Ted highly doubted it. She certainly did not call her ma'am as everyone else in the station did, including Ted and Kevin. It was borderline insolence, which she seemed good at, and Ted could see the Ice Queen bristle. But she said nothing. Instead, she headed for Ted's office, went in and closed the door behind her.
'Tea, ma'am?' Ted asked.
'Thank you. Why not?' she replied, taking a seat. 'Although this is not a social call, I'm afraid. But first, how are you getting on with your newest recruit? I can see already why there are so many references to her attitude on her file. She clearly missed her rotation at charm school.'
'I'll have a word,' Ted promised, 'although I've not yet succeeded in getting her to stop calling me guv and DS Hallam, skip.'
He made the tea, put a mug in front of each of them and sat down opposite the Ice Queen. She was looking at him keenly.
'Are you quite well, Inspector?' she asked. 'You look very tired.'
'I'm fine, ma'am, but I do have to leave a little early tomorrow, for a medical appointment. Not for me, it's for my partner, Trev.'
'I see. I do hope it's nothing serious?' she took a sip of the green tea. 'I've met him, you know, your Trevor,' she continued, to Ted's surprise.
'Really?' he said. 'He never mentioned it.'
'He wouldn't have known who I was. It was when I was looking at bikes, before I bought the Ducati. He was delightful, and so persuasive. He could have sold me any bike in the shop. But I was set on my little joke, the 999.'
Ted had been astonished to discover that his ultra-formal boss spent her spare time roaring round on a Ducati 999. It somehow made her seem more human.
'I do hope all goes well, and please let me know if you need to take any time off.' She switched back into formal mode. 'For now, as you can imagine, I am coming under a lot of pressure from higher up to see some results in this current case, which is already provoking anxiety.
'These days, almost everyone has a family member with, or knows of someone affected by, dementia and living in a home. They need to feel their loved ones are safe there. That's how they deal with the guilt of having them admitted. We need some results.
'I know you're a diligent officer and I'm sure you're doing your best. But you need to be doing more than your best, and you need to be doing it faster. If the full extent of this case were to leak out to the wider press and media, we would all be in hot water. Do I make myself clear?'
'Ma'am,' Ted replied tersely. He knew she was right. He knew he needed to deliver. Just at the moment, he wasn't quite sure how.
Chapter Twenty-one
Incandescent with rage was the phrase which immediately popped into Ted's head when Mike Hallam caught up to him on the stairs a couple of mornings later. Mike was usually fairly mild and easy-going but Ted could see that he was seething.
Both men were in early, ahead of the team. Ted invited the DS to join him in his office and went straight for the kettle while Mike sat down. By the look of things, they were both going to need something fortifying with which to start the day.
'What's up, Mike?' he asked, brewing up. He didn't even bother offering the DS green tea. This was clearly going to be a strong coffee conversation for him.
'I got a phone call shortly after you left yesterday, boss,' Mike began, taking a big swallow of the hot coffee which Ted put in front of him, then wincing at the heat of it. 'It was Cottage Row, the home where Jezza was supposed to be keeping an eye out for Angela.'
Ted groaned inwardly, noting his use of the words 'supposed to be'. He really did not need any more hassle this morning. Trev's appointment with the doctor had not been all plain sailing and both of them were still worried.
'What's she done now?' he asked resignedly.
'It's more what she hasn't done, boss. The phone call was to tell me that Angela had turned up at the home but they weren't sure what to do because Jezza wasn't there.'
'Not there?' Ted echoed in surprise. 'What, not there as in never turned up?'
'Turned up, took a phone call, then left,' Mike told him. 'Boss, we can't go on like this, it's not fair to the rest of the team. Not to mention that it's not getting us anywhere nearer to solving the case. And I imagine you're under pressure to do that. I can't believe the Ice …' he caught himself just in time. 'I can't believe the Super would really come up here just to welcome Jezza to the team.'
Ted nodded. 'You're right, she didn't. So, we've missed a chance at this Angela. With any luck, there will be other opportunities, and soon.'
'But what are you going to do about Jezza, boss?' Mike persisted. 'She's just taking the piss, I mean seriously.'
'Do me a favour, Mike, and don't say anything about this in public,' Ted said. 'I imagine she'll be in at some time this morning. Then I think you and I should perhaps have a gentle word with her, find out what's going on.'
'Gentle word? Boss, I really do feel like slapping her,' Mike said angrily. 'This is the nearest we've got so far to an ID on our only possible suspect and she blows it because she decides to swan off early somewhere, without even letting me know.
'I asked the home not to do or say anything at all while Angela was there. I didn't want them raising her suspicions when they're not trained for this sort of thing. But then, Jezza is trained and she just pissed off without a word.'
'All right, Mike, calm down,' Ted said evenly. 'There may be a valid reason why she had to leave. With any luck, no damage has been done. We'll just send her back again to wait for next time Angela comes calling.'
'I used to think I was patient before I met you, boss,' Mike said incredulously. 'If she's got problems stopping her doing her work, why doesn't she just say so, instead of messing us about like this?'
Ted gave him a long look. The DS had the grace to look guilty.
'We all of us have problems from time to time, which we don't find it easy to talk about,' Ted reminded him. 'My early doors every Wednesday? I'm going for counselling.'
Mike gaped at him. 'Bloody hell, boss. I had no idea.'
Ted shrugged. 'Not something I talk about. It's not common knowledge and I'd like to keep it that way. I don't want the team thinking I'm cracking up. There's just some stuff from the past I should have dealt with ages ago and didn't. So I'm trying to deal with it now.
'Maybe there's something similar going on with Jezza. That's why I'd rather not judge, until I know what the reason behind her behaviour is. Let me know when she shows up, then we'll have her in here and talk to her, but calmly and reasonably.'
He looked round his office. 'Where's the second spare chair gone? Honestly, things even get nicked in the nick! Never mind, she can stand, you sit down. I don't want you looming over her. It could be interpreted as intimidating. I imagine our Jezza would be the first to report us if we don't handle her carefully.'
Mike managed a short chuckle. 'At least if she's standing up, she'll find it harder to slouch back with her arms folded and reply with 'whatevs' to anything we ask her.'
Ted had to laugh at that. It summed up their new DC fairly accurately.
Mike rose to go. 'And you leaving early yesterday? Was that …?' he hesitated awkwardly.
'Nothing to worry about, but nothing I want to talk about,' Ted told him. 'A medical appointment for someone other than me, so I wouldn't be at liberty to talk about it, even if I wanted to. Get the team started. You don't need me for that. Just let me know when Jezza arrives.'
Trev's appointment with the GP the evening before had not been easy. Neither he nor Ted were ever ill, so they were unaccustomed to the long wait, the crowded waiting room, the cluster of people coughing and sneezing. Even without the stress of what brought them there, neither of them had greatly enjoyed the experience.
Ted felt old when he thought that the doctor looked too young to be out working without a note from her mother. She was clearly under
pressure. She had her prescription pad open and pen poised almost before the two of them had gone in and sat down.
'Mr Armstrong?' she asked, looking expectantly from one to the other.
Trev introduced himself and outlined briefly his father's recent diagnosis and the need for him to have tests as soon as possible, to check to see if he could be affected by the same condition.
'If there's a long delay for an appointment, we're prepared to go privately. I have insurance,' Ted told her.
'And you are?' the doctor asked, giving him the sort of look which Ted might reserve for a kerb-crawler.
'His partner,' Ted replied, as evenly as he could manage.
'Well, that shouldn't be necessary,' the doctor continued briskly. 'With a potentially life-threatening condition like this, the waiting time to see a consultant is usually very short. A matter of weeks at the most. I'll do you a letter for an appointment. Come by the surgery tomorrow some time to pick it up. I'll also find you some leaflets about the condition, although I imagine you've already Googled it? Was there anything else?'
'Well, that was reassuring – not,' Trev smiled ironically when they found themselves outside on the pavement in short order. 'Let's hope the consultant at least gets his stethoscope out.'
Ted looked at him anxiously. 'Are you all right?'
'I will be, when I know a bit more. I stupidly hoped I might get some answers there. Would you mind if I asked a woman out on a date this weekend?' he asked, with a twinkle in his eye.
'Don't forget we're going to my mum's for lunch on Saturday,' Ted reminded him. His mother had asked them both for dinner. Ted had got used to calling the midday meal lunch and the evening meal dinner, living with Trevor. He had confirmed the time with his mother, to avoid confusion. 'Who did you have in mind?'
'Bizzie,' Trev responded promptly, as they walked the short distance back to their house. 'If anyone knows the workings of the human ticker, she does. If I bribe her with a bike ride, she might talk me through it. I just need to know the worst possible scenario.'
Ted had not been thrilled with the idea. He preferred to focus on the positive. But he accepted that Trev had to deal with the news in the best way for him. If that meant talking to the Professor, then he was happy to agree.
Mike's brief knock on the door jerked Ted out of his thoughts. The DS stuck his head round the opening and said, 'Jezza just got in, boss.'
'Thanks, Mike. Come in and sit down, I'll ask her to join us.'
He went to the door and said, his voice quiet but still carrying across the office, 'DC Vine, could you join us for a minute, please?'
The team members who were still in the main office looked up. They seldom heard their boss raise his voice, but they all knew only too well what that particular formal, measured tone meant. If Jezza knew or guessed, she didn't seem to care. She slouched across to the office with her usual attitude, then looked expectantly about for a seat. The DS was already sitting in the only spare one and Ted was sitting in his own chair, so she was forced to stand.
'How did it go at Cottage Row yesterday?' Ted asked her evenly. 'Any signs of Angela?'
Jezza gave her customary shrug. 'I didn't see her,' she replied.
'That was because she actually turned up, after you had left, very shortly after you arrived,' Ted told her evenly. 'Would you like to tell me and DS Hallam why you left early?'
There was not a flicker of reaction.
'I got a phone call. It could have been something important. I had to go and deal with it.'
'Something to do with the case?' Ted asked, in the same level tone.
She could so easily have lied to him. The fact that she chose not to gave Ted a glimmer of hope.
'Not really, no,' she admitted. 'I just had something to sort. It's sorted. I'll stay longer today.'
'That's big of you,' the DS cut in sarcastically. 'You were late in this morning. The reason the boss said you could come in later was to even your hours out a bit. If you leave early, you certainly don't come in late.'
'Thank you, DS Hallam,' Ted said mildly. 'That is absolutely correct, DC Vine. I expect all of the team to put the hours in, all of the time. Especially when we're working a difficult case like this and making very little headway.
'Mike, I'm sure you have plenty to do. Thanks for your input. DC Vine, you can wait a minute. Please sit down.'
The DS left the office and Jezza sat down. Ted was not surprised that she immediately sat back in the chair and folded her arms defensively across her body.
Ted was quiet for a moment, looking at her. She returned his look with a hard and defiant stare of her own.
'Jezza, I have to say, I'm disappointed in you. I had hoped for better things.'
She still sat in tense silence. Ted was at a loss. He had never before encountered such dumb insolence.
'I've never yet put one of my team on a disciplinary,' he continued. 'It's a lot of unnecessary paperwork and quite frankly, I would see it as failure on my part, that I hadn't managed the situation better. If there is some reason why you can't do the job you're paid to do, then you need to tell me. Now.'
'I told you. Something needed sorting. I sorted it,' she said, then, after a long pause, she added, 'boss.'
At least it was an improvement on guv, which he disliked intensely, Ted thought,.
'Right, let's see a change in attitude and performance from now on, please,' he said. 'Go and talk to DS Hallam, ask him what he wants you to do this morning. And this is really not a good time to be calling him skip. Try sergeant, or sarge at least.
'This is the last time we will talk informally about your conduct. The next time you aren't doing the job you have been assigned to do, it will have to be official. And I don't imagine either of us wants that. That will be all, DC Vine.'
He was not entirely sure that the 'Sir,' she flung at him as she headed out of the office was said in sarcasm. But at least she did not slam the door this time.
Chapter Twenty-two
Another Wednesday afternoon of carpet-watching for Ted. This time he had so much he wanted to talk about. As usual, he was finding it hard to get the words out, or even to know how to begin.
He wanted to talk about Trevor. About his fear, his stomach-churning, gut-wrenching fear, of a future without him. As usual, waves of self-loathing flooded him when his first selfish thought was of how he would be affected by the possibility of losing Trev.
He still needed to make sense of the betrayal he felt about his mother. The fact that the father he had loved unreservedly had prevented him from having any kind of relationship with her. Then again, he instantly hated himself for fixating on that when he had now seen Trev's mother at first hand.
Trev had told him about his mother. How he had been constantly juggled between a succession of nannies and au pairs as a child. How, when he came out at nearly sixteen, she and his father had simply disowned him and thrown him out in the street. None of it had quite prepared him for the clinical coldness he had now experienced at first hand.
He needed to find a way to deal with the turmoil he was feeling with the return of his mother into his own life. Especially now that Trev seemed to be developing a bond with her. Ted could understand why his partner had been delighted to find her such an obviously warm and loving person. He just had to deal with the feelings almost of resentment and exclusion that their growing closeness had surprisingly triggered within him.
He needed to talk. The clock was ticking away. Carol was, as usual, not putting any pressure on him. Just waiting for him to begin in his own time. He felt a hypocrite for expecting Jezza, whom he had only just met, to talk to him about her private life when he found it so excruciatingly difficult to talk about his own to a trained professional.
He decided that sometimes the only way was to take a deep breath and plunge straight in. He instantly tried to bury the memories which the swimming analogy brought flooding, suffocatingly, into his consciousness. Then he began to talk. Finally.
; He talked for so long that his appointment overran, but Carol didn't seem to be worried. She told him there was no one else following his appointment. When he had finally finished, she smiled warmly as she shook his hand, clearly pleased with the progress he had made.
Ted fired off a quick text to Trev to let him know he was on his way home, slightly later than usual. He really needed the intense activity of their judo club to follow what had been a draining experience. But finally, he felt he was making some progress. All he needed now was to start to feel the same about the case.
Because he was running late, they took the car to the gym instead of walking as they usually did. The evening started as always with the self-defence club which he and Trev ran for school-children, followed by their own judo training and practice session. Ted and Trev were often paired off to spar after training. No one could match Ted for timing and technique, not even their coach, Bernard. Which was why, even with his superior speed, height and reach, Trev could never entirely get the better of him.
Trev's style was always to be on the attack, fast, furious, and never giving his partner quarter. This time, Ted was surprised that Trev was constantly on the defensive, backing away, moving out of reach.
When Ted finally got hold of his jacket sufficiently to position for a throw, he saw something in Trev's eyes which he had never seen before. Fear. A raw emotion he had never associated with his partner. As if Trev was suddenly staring his own mortality in the face and being terrified by what he saw.
Ted held up a hand for a pause and backed away, doubling over, a thumb in the side of his abdomen.
'Sorry, got a stitch, I need to take a break,' he said, bowing before he left the mat. He was fooling no one and he knew it, especially not Trev, who came over to join him.
'Shall we go home?' Ted asked quietly, not wishing to disturb the others, who were practising hard. Trev nodded, looking more subdued than Ted had ever seen him before, even after his drinking binge.