by L M Krier
Rob nodded his understanding and went out, walking back up to street level. He was glad of an excuse to slip out. Seeing Steve like that had really upset him. But what he found was making him well up was Maurice's unexpected gentleness, the tender way he was helping Steve. Rob could see why, despite a disastrous marriage, Maurice was still allowed unrestricted access to his children. He was clearly a brilliant father, something Rob had never known.
Maurice realised that he and Rob should have gloved up before entering what was clearly a crime scene, but his main concern had been for Steve's welfare. If he got his backside kicked by forensics, so be it. His main priority was to get Steve cleaned up and dressed, with as much dignity and as little damage as possible.
'How long have you been here like this?' he asked, carefully helping Steve to sit up and swing his legs out of bed, completely ignoring the smell of stale urine.
'Saturday,' Steve told him, clearly finding it difficult to talk through pulped lips and broken teeth.
'And your mobile phone?'
Steve shook his head carefully, then Maurice spotted it on the floor, also thoroughly smashed to pieces.
When he finally got Steve to hospital, Maurice shamelessly waved his warrant card until they were seen. Steve was taken away to be examined and Maurice was left to wait anxiously. Ted and Rob turned up not long afterwards.
'Rob needed his car so I brought him in,' Ted explained as Maurice handed over the car keys and Rob left. 'Is there any news? Can we see him?'
'Still waiting to hear the full extent of the damage, boss, but they will be keeping him in overnight. He's seriously dehydrated, for one thing. I don't think he'll be up to seeing anyone this evening, give him a bit of time, eh? Poor lad, he was there since Saturday night with no way of contacting us. I should have gone round this morning, it was so unlike him not to turn up without a word.'
'We were all guilty of that, Maurice,' Ted told him, 'me included. But blaming ourselves doesn't help now. Let's just hope there's not too much damage to Steve. From what Rob told me on the way over, his computer's a total write-off.'
'The whole place, and Steve, have had a thoroughly professional going over, boss. Computer and his mobile smashed to pieces. Is this because of the case? Something to do with one of the suspects?'
'Looks that way, but I don't know for sure.'
Maurice went to find a machine and brought back tea while they waited for news. A doctor finally came to find them. He and Ted knew one another by sight, having played badminton in the same club once or twice.
'He's been quite lucky, just as well you found him when you did. We've got him on a drip for the dehydration, and he has some concussion but he should be fine. He has four broken ribs, a broken cheekbone and several bones in his hand are broken, but nothing that requires anything more than rest and a plaster cast to put right. Oh, but he will require some extensive dental work. Everything else is just bad bruising, painful but not serious. He certainly had a fairly thorough going over.'
'Thank you, doctor. Keep him as long as you need to, don't let him tell you I'm an ogre who's demanding his early return. Please tell him that from me.'
Ted offered to drop Maurice off as they headed back to his car.
'As soon as they let him out, he can come and stay with me for a bit, until he gets back on his feet,' Maurice said, then, seeing Ted's look, he laughed. 'Don't worry, boss, my car may be like a shit heap but my house is surprisingly homely. I don't smoke in the house, because of the kids visiting. Just what Steve needs till he's back on his feet.'
CHAPTER Forty-seven
Ted was home late that evening. He'd found the time to send a quick text to Trev warning him that he would be, then went from the hospital straight back to the station. The Ice Queen was waiting for him, to hear his report on what had happened with Steve.
It led to a long and at times heated discussion. For perhaps the first time in their working relationship, Ted felt he was being treated like an equal, his opinions being valued and weighed up.
'I'm not saying we give up altogether on pursuing the Knave of Clubs,' she said, as she brewed a second pot of coffee. 'I just think that for now, we content ourselves with Evans and Danielson, get a cast-iron case built against them and secure their convictions, then regroup and decide where we go next.'
'In the meantime, others might be at risk of the same fate as Aiden,' Ted protested. 'Steve was looking into some information I got from Harry, the ex-Met officer, into dates of other similar offences in their area.'
'Was he working on it at home?' she asked sharply.
'He was under strict orders not to but he may have got carried away. If someone was watching his online activity, it would explain how this happened. In fact, Steve said he thought his own system may have been safer to use than the one here. Is it time to consider checking for bugs?'
'Isn't that getting a bit into the realms of fantasy? Someone breaks into a police station to bug our system?' She lifted the coffee jug to offer him a refill but Ted shook his head. He was already sure he wouldn't sleep after the amount he had drunk this late in the day. 'But this was very clearly a serious warning. The question is, what happens next if we continue to ignore it and forge ahead with the enquiry?'
Ted sighed, aware that her point was valid. 'Will Danielson offer a deal now, do you think? Names in exchange for a lighter sentence and a cushy ride inside?'
'Between you and me, and I can't stress that enough, the top brass are not prepared to do a deal with him, no matter whose head he offers up on a plate,' she told him. 'They think any such suggestion would be enormously damaging to the public perception of the force's integrity. They want him hung out to dry to restore public confidence, and to show that they will take decisive action against their own when necessary. The only deal on offer would be to drop the conspiracy to murder charge, as frankly it was not going to stick anyway.'
'He's not going to like that,' Ted said dryly. 'He thought he was untouchable.'
'Nobody is above the law, and that's the message we need to get out there.'
'Not unless you're royalty,' Ted said sharply.
'I do understand your frustration. Sometimes we just have to play the long game, which I imagine is not your preferred tactic.
'Now I have a suggestion. We still need to resolve how we go forward with this case, without endangering anyone. I think you and I should get together on another day, away from the office. I'm aware you're not entirely comfortable indoors in a suit and tie, but as I've said before, I'm not your enemy. I want us to work well together,' she said, to Ted's surprise. 'I don't know the patch all that well yet, so could you suggest somewhere we could meet up, somewhere quiet, out in the open, where we could perhaps have a coffee, go for a walk, throw some ideas around?'
Ted couldn't have been more surprised if she'd suggested they spend a dirty weekend in Blackpool together. He decided to treat it as the olive branch it clearly was. His personal preference for walking was always the Peak District, but that was special to him and Trev so he did not feel inclined to share it with the Ice Queen.
'Lyme Park isn't far,' he said. 'There are plenty of places to walk, moorland, formal gardens, and there's a good café for tea and scones. When did you have in mind?'
'What about Friday afternoon?' she asked. 'Start our weekend early. We'll both need to go home and change first, so shall we say two o'clock? Where should we meet?'
'The main car park, I'd say. I doubt it will be crowded on a Friday at this time of year.'
'Right, that's settled then. I will, of course, see you daily before then, but put that in your diary for the end of the week.'
Ted puzzled over it on his short drive home. It seemed so out of character for what he knew of the Ice Queen so far. He looked forward to perhaps seeing a different side to her, one which might help their working relationship.
He was tired by the time he got home, despite all the coffee. It had been a long and rather draining day. He was looking fo
rward to something to eat, something mindless on television and, above all, enjoying Trev's company now he was back home.
Trev was at the kitchen table, looking at his laptop. 'Long day?' he asked, without looking up. 'There's some supper for you, keeping warm, I didn't know if you would be hungry.'
'Tired, hungry and above all a little puzzled,' Ted said, planting a kiss on top of Trev's silky black curls. 'The Ice Queen has asked me out.'
'Really?' Trev turned and looked up at him. 'Does she not know you're spoken for?'
'She suggested we go somewhere away from the office to discuss the latest case. We're going to Lyme Park on Friday afternoon.' He looked over Trev's shoulder at the laptop. 'What are you looking at?'
'Choosing this holiday you're going to take me on,' Trev said, his blue eyes sparkling. 'There are some fantastic ones to choose from. Just look at these tropical islands! Little huts on stilts over the ocean. Miles of white sand. Just lazing about in the sunshine.' He was flicking through the pictures as he spoke.
Ted's mind was busy calculating how many hours flying from Manchester these places were and wondering how, if he survived the flight, he could keep from going mad at the inactivity. But he'd promised Trev whatever holiday he wanted and he knew he had a lot of making up to do so he said, 'Fabulous. Just choose the one you want and book it. Stick it on my card.'
Trev looked at him, grinning widely. Then the grin turned to a chuckle and before long he was laughing hard. 'Oh Ted,' he said fondly, 'sometimes, for a copper, you are so easy to wind up! I know you'd go mad on the first day and it's not my thing either. Look, this is what I've actually been looking at for us – glamping in Italy.'
'Glamping?' Ted asked suspiciously, not sure if he was still being made fun of.
'It's a bit like camping only more luxurious. Just look at this, a cute little wooden hut in the Apennines. No other guests, miles of hill walking, wildlife, wine for me, good food. We could take the bike, see a bit of France on the way over. What do you think?'
'Do they have ginger beer in Italy?' Ted tried to sound unenthusiastic but failed. It looked perfect, just what they both needed to repair the ravages of such a hard case.
Trev laughed again. 'I'm sure we'll find you something to drink. And look,' he toggled to another site. 'We can get Animal Aunts to babysit the cats so we won't have to worry about them.'
He got up from the table and served Ted's food, then sat down opposite him with a glass of wine.
'Hard day today?' he asked.
'Up there with the worst. Steve got badly beaten up and he's in hospital.'
'Oh God, Ted, I'm so sorry,' Trev reached over and put a hand on Ted's arm. 'Here's me prattling on and clowning around. Poor Steve. Is he going to be all right?'
'Physically he'll mend, if he finds a good dentist. Trouble is, the emotional scars of something like this can sometimes take the longest time to heal. This is delicious, by the way, thank you.'
Trev smiled. 'Yeah, I know you missed my cooking while I was away.'
'Not just your cooking,' Ted said with feeling. 'I'm so sorry I drove you away. I thought I could handle things on my own. But now I've started counselling, I hope things should be a little easier for you from now on. And I am going to make it up to you.'
'Wow, you said the C-word,' Trev smiled. 'That's progress in itself.'
''I should have done it long ago, instead of letting it put me at risk of losing you.'
'You never lost me,' Trev told him. 'You were just in too dark a place for me to handle. But it was never you I left, just the ghosts from the past.'
'Did you have a good time while you were away?' Ted asked. They hadn't really talked much about Trev's time in Germany. Ted had been almost afraid to ask how it had gone. 'I know how much you liked living in Berlin when you were there with your parents. Don't you miss the lifestyle you used to have?'
'I had a brilliant time. I got proposed to in a nightclub, and I was offered modelling work,' Trev told him, grinning. 'The trouble is, I missed you, and the cats. Tell me how the case is going. Have you caught the bad guys?'
'Some, not all of them. I'm not sure if we ever will catch them all. Maybe I'll know better after my date with the Ice Queen on Friday.'
CHAPTER Forty-eight
Steve was kept in overnight for observation. When Maurice rang the hospital first thing, he was told he would be allowed out after morning rounds, once his medication was sorted and a doctor had signed his discharge papers. Maurice promised to go and collect him, then went to talk to the boss.
'I'll have to bring him in here, boss, poor lad is too afraid to stay anywhere on his own.'
Ted shook his head. 'You know he can't come back to work without a certificate to say he's fit, and he's not likely to get one of those just yet.'
'We can't just abandon him, boss, he has no family. We're his family. What harm can it do if he just comes in and sits quietly, as long as he's not working?'
'You know that's not how it works, Maurice,' Ted said patiently, ' this isn't a kindergarten. It would be breaking all kinds of rules.'
Maurice was nothing if not stubborn. 'So what am I supposed to do with him? Leave him shut up alone at my place, scared out of his wits? This is our Steve we're talking about, boss, injured in the line of duty, most probably. Can't you square it with the Ice Queen?'
'Superintendent Caldwell to you, Constable,' Ted growled, trying to sound fierce but falling short. 'All right, bring him in, I'll take full responsibility. But he does not so much as touch a computer, or any files. Make sure he understands that or I'll have to handcuff him.'
'Thanks, boss,' Maurice grinned. 'By the way, I doubt Steve's computer was insured, so I wondered about having a whip-round, at least help him on his way to a new one?'
'Good idea. Let me know how much you want. You're a kind man, Maurice.'
Maurice shrugged. 'He's a good lad, is our Steve.'
After Maurice went off to collect Steve, Ted called Harry's mobile number. Once again it was quickly answered.
'Mind-reader, Ted. I was just about to call you to see if that stuff I sent was of any use, and to fill you in on further developments.'
'Dynamite, I'd say. Young Steve was working on it. Someone broke into his flat at the weekend, smashed his computer beyond repair and beat the crap out of him.'
'Sorry to hear that. Your Steve seems very switched on, although if he was working on any of this stuff from his own address, he was running one hell of a risk.'
'These people could trace him that easily?' Ted asked, with not much of a clue how such things worked.
'These people know which side of the bed you and your partner sleep on. You'd do well to remember that.' Harry's tone had a warning edge. 'Right, new developments, on our patch. A young boy, twelve, seriously sexually assaulted and semi-strangled. He's alive, just, but I hear he may well have brain damage. Rumour has it our friend the Knave was involved. He was certainly in the area at the right time.'
'How can he keep getting away with it?'
'Can you seriously imagine the repercussions if it got out? Not just his actions but the extent of the cover-up there's been all along.' Harry said. 'The more they cover up, the more they need to. One day someone will bring him down, though, somehow.'
'Is this where you expect me to saddle up my white charger and ride into battle?' Ted asked. 'I've only been on a horse once and then I fell off it. But I do think my super has integrity. She's also the mother of two boys. If anyone tries to take him on, she might. I'll go and talk to her now and keep you posted.'
The Ice Queen listened in silence while Ted spoke. He mentioned in passing that he was allowing Steve into the office. as his flat was now a crime scene and he needed somewhere to feel safe. Then he outlined what Harry had told him, asking again if there was not some way they could at least begin a formal investigation of the Knave of Clubs.
'I don't even know where the protocol would begin,' she told him honestly. 'I'd have to go much higher up the
chain of command to find out and I would need a very strong file to back up any such request. Do you have such a file?'
'Honestly, ma'am? No, I don't. I just have a lot of speculation and possible coincidence. Apart from the eye witness account of the receptionist at the Sorrento Hotel placing him there, possibly on the night Aiden Bradshaw was killed. My contact in London sent some details to Steve, which is presumably what led to him being targeted.
'Although his own computer was smashed, I'm assuming Steve still has the means to access his emails, which I will get him to do once he is certified fit to work.'
'Leave it with me, Inspector, I will give it my full attention and see what, if anything, we can do at this stage. I would certainly hope to have some definite news for you before the weekend. As I said, and as I firmly believe, no one is above the law.'
'Speaking of Steve's computer, ma'am, Maurice Brown is organising a whip-round to give him a helping hand towards replacing it. I didn't know if you want to contribute?'
'Absolutely,' she said emphatically. 'Put me down for whatever seems reasonable. I won't come up and frighten him, but do please pass on my best wishes. For some reason, I seem to intimidate him.'
Ted smiled to himself and thought that Steve was not the only one, but said nothing and went back to his office.
Maurice had told him that he would personally interview Steve about what exactly happened at his flat, as he knew the TDC would find it hard to talk about. Maurice seemed to have taken him under his wing which was probably a good thing for both of them.
Everyone available on the team was working flat out on the files against Evans and Danielson, pulling together witness statements and interview transcripts. Ted was determined that neither man could get off on a technicality because of sloppy paperwork. Their job was to make the bullets for CPS to fire. All of them particularly wanted to see Danielson go down for as long as possible. Nobody liked a bent cop at the best of times but one carrying out sex offences on children was beyond contempt.