The Amen Cadence

by J. J. Salkeld

  She made a jug of elderflower cordial for them all, and carried it through to the living room on a tray. She took her own glass, and walked to the window. From there she could see right across the town, to Derwent Water and the fells beyond. She hardly ever came out this way, and was pretty sure that a lifetime’s familiarity with the fells and the lakes had inoculated her against their charms. But today she wasn’t quite so sure. The clouds were high, fluffy and sparse, and their shadows raced across the fells, momentarily dulling the vivid greens, browns and greys. For the first time she could actually see herself living in one of those little white chocolate-box cottages, way over yonder. Maybe she had a few fox-proof chickens, and perhaps Ben wanted to be a shepherd when he grew up. And it was that last thought that killed the daydream stone dead. Carlisle was Ben’s home, just as it was hers, and in the end you only ever got one of those. Everywhere else was just places that you visited, and maybe even stayed for a while.

  Pepper was thinking about Linda Taylor when she heard a noise behind her, and saw Dr. Armstrong standing there.

  ‘How is he?’

  ‘He’ll be fine in a day or so. Not even concussed. He just needs a bit of bed rest, that’s all.’

  ‘Shouldn’t he be in hospital?’

  ‘No need, honestly. I’ll keep a close eye on him.’

  There was a pause. ‘Did he talk about what happened?’ asked Pepper.

  ‘No, and I didn’t ask. Or rather, I stopped asking after the fourth or fifth attempt. But I must admit that I’m a little surprised that you came here. I thought that in situations like this, where an officer is assaulted, you get your own doctor to examine the injured person?’

  ‘We do, aye. Usually, anyway.’

  ‘So there’s something irregular about what happened today?’ Pepper didn’t reply. ‘You don't have to tell me anything. Just so long as Henry isn’t in any trouble.’

  ‘Henry? Christ, no. He’s done nothing wrong, I promise you. He was just trying to defend me, that’s all.’

  ‘Judging from the state of Henry’s face it was a man who attacked you, then?’

  ‘Well, aye, it was.’

  ‘I hope you arrested him. If there’s one thing I cannot abide it’s when a man strikes a woman. Call me old fashioned, but….’

  ‘I attacked him, the man who hit Henry. It was totally my own fault, I’m afraid.’

  Dr. Armstrong sat, and gestured to Pepper to do the same.

  ‘I’m sure that you had your reasons.’

  ‘I’m not sure that I did. Certainly not legally. But he threatened my son, this bloke. Not in so many words, like, but he was threatening to hurt him. He’s only six, is my Ben.’

  Armstrong nodded.

  ‘Is this man capable…’

  ‘Of hurting a child? Absolutely. I know it sounds crazy, but aye, I’m certain of it. You must have met people like that, doctor.’

  ‘I have, yes, once or twice. So I don’t doubt that some people, just a very few, are capable of astonishing acts of violence and brutality. But do you ever think about why they’re the way they are? Is it nature or nurture, as it were?’

  Pepper looked at him as if he’d asked if she’d prefer to be eaten by a lion or a crocodile. ‘I don’t, not really, doc. Our job is just to catch the bastards. They can save the excuses for the bleeding hearts on the bench. But in this particular case I know the answer, as it happens. It was nature, 100%, that turned Dai Young into the animal that he is today.’

  ‘How can you be so sure?’

  ‘Because we grew up together. Same background, same city, same school, same everything. His dad was a violent, drunken, lazy bastard, and mine was too. If anything my background is worse than his. So we could have turned out just the same.’

  ‘But you didn’t.’

  ‘No, we didn’t. And why would that be, if it wasn’t for our genes, or whatever it is? Because I can’t see a single reason why he couldn’t be a copper, and I couldn’t be a con, otherwise.’

  Armstrong got up, and walked to the window. He seemed to be watching a bird in the garden. He was still looking outside when he spoke again.

  ‘You will look after Henry, won’t you, DS Wilson? He’s not, what’s the word? As resilient, as strong as some people. I know that, and I expect he does too.’

  ‘You mean he doesn’t come from the same kind of background as me? Is that what you’re saying? You think I understand offenders better than him, because I’ve got more in common with them?’

  ‘I didn’t say that. I just meant…’

  ‘I know what you meant, mate.’

  Pepper got up. She was out of there. He could stuff his Lakeland view, the pompous, privileged prick. But Dr. Armstrong turned back towards her before she could leave the room.

  ‘Hold on a minute, if you would. You’re asking me to keep the details of the injuries sustained by my son at the hands of this Dai Young private, are you?’

  ‘Aye, I am. It’s what Henry wants and all. Just ask him.’

  ‘I already have. And believe me, young woman, we wouldn’t be having this conversation if he had taken a different view. But he’s a loyal lad, is Henry, and I approve of that. So I will respect his wishes, for now, at least.’

  ‘You’re right, doc, loyalty does matter. We have to stick together, in our job.’

  ‘Why? Does that go for everyone, or just for you, DS Wilson? Does everyone else have to stand by you, is that how it works? You break the rules, and then expect your colleagues to cover for you.’

  ‘No, it’s not that. That’s not why.’

  For the first time Dr. Armstrong raised his voice. Only slightly, but it was quite enough. ‘Now you listen to me, young woman. This man threatened your son, so I do understand why you reacted as you did. But you will never, ever put my boy at risk again, do you hear me? If anything else happens to him while he’s under your command, while he’s in your care, then all of this will become public. You understand me?’

  ‘Of course I understand. You don’t have to lecture me, doctor. I never want any of my colleagues to be at any risk, or to get hurt, especially if I’m the cause. It should have been me, on the end of that hiding, but Dai knew that I could take it. That I’d just come back stronger. So he took it out on Henry because he knew that would hurt me more. And he was right, the bastard. But this isn’t over, and Dai Young has won nowt. And he never will, because in the end we always win. Always. It’ll just be a matter of time, that’s all.’

  Rex Copeland was annoyed, but not entirely surprised, to discover that Pepper was out on enquiries, and that her phone was going straight to voicemail. It happened, and a bit too often for his liking. But he was more surprised, and slightly concerned, to find that Henry had been with her when she’d left the station over two hours before, and that his phone was also switched off now. Rex didn’t want to alert anyone in the chain of command, because the gold-braid genies were impossible to force back into their bottles once too hastily liberated, but he did get the address that the pair had last been to from the duty log: Dai Young’s office.

  He got round there fast, left his car on the double yellows and ran up the stairs. The receptionist didn’t even glance at his Warrant Card.

  ‘They’ve gone, your mates.’

  ‘When?’

  ‘Well over an hour ago.’

  ‘What happened?’

  ‘You’d have to ask the boss.’

  ‘Is he here?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Where is he?’

  A shrug. A pause. ‘Dunno. He didn’t say.’

  When he was back in the car Rex tried Henry’s mobile again, and then Pepper’s. She answered on the second ring.

  ‘Are you OK?’

  ‘Aye, fine, love.’

  ‘I was just about to send out search parties.’

  ‘No need. We’re at Henry’s dad’s place. The lad forgot something.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘To duck, mainly.’

  Re
x didn’t laugh. ’Shit. Dai Young, I take it?’

  ‘Aye.’

  ‘So why haven’t you nicked him?’

  ‘It’s complicated.’

  ‘How?’

  Pepper talked and Rex listened. That was usually how it was, anyway.

  ‘And Henry will be all right?’ Copeland asked, when she’d finished.

  ‘Aye. It was only his head that got hit, so nothing that he actually uses, like.’

  ‘This is no laughing matter, Pepper.’

  ‘You’re right. I was a fucking idiot, Rex, I know that, but Young threatened my son. I just lost it completely.’

  ‘Well, you shouldn’t have. You should know better. It was all bollocks, whatever he said, we both know that. I’m not saying that Young isn’t a right vicious bastard, but kidnapping a copper’s kid? Come on, Pepper. He just wanted to get under your skin, which he bloody well did, and now we’re on the back foot when it comes to that bastard, aren’t we?’

  ‘Aye, I suppose so.’

  Rex couldn’t see much point in kicking a woman when she was down, so he asked Pepper to pass on his best wishes to Henry, and to call him when he wanted to be picked up from his dad’s house. Then he changed the subject.

  ‘Kelly Michaels has been on. You know, Lenny Murphy’s bird. She’s given us an address and a time. We’ll find Lenny, the gear, all together in one place she says.’

  ‘Where and when?’

  ‘Industrial unit on the eastern estate, in half an hour.’

  ‘Shit, I can’t get back in time for that. I’ll phone the Duty Inspector and get you a couple of uniforms.’

  ‘I’ve already got Abla Khan lined up. She’s as keen as mustard to help.’

  ‘Abla? Good choice.’

  ‘And Lenny will be no bother, you’re sure about that?’

  ‘Christ, no. You’ve got the authorised search team lined up as well, and the W?’

  ‘Yeah, Warrant’s sorted. They’ll be three up to do the evidential search.’

  ‘Then that’s plenty. Let me know how Abla gets on. You know she’s applied for a transfer to CID?’

  ‘Yeah, she mentioned it.’

  ‘And you’re all in favour, I suppose?’

  ‘She’s a good officer. Keen, intelligent…’

  ‘..and pretty with it. You disgust me, Rex, objectifying a woman like that.’

  ‘You said it.’

  ‘Shit, so I did. All right, listen. You get this bloke nicked, scoop up the gear, and get him charged. That way I should just be back in time to take all the glory.’

  This time Rex did laugh.

  ‘What?’ said Pepper, in mock surprise. ‘I’m just taking my lead from the bosses, love, that’s all. That tactic always seems to work fine for them, like.’

  Copeland sprayed on a long blast of the aftershave that he kept in his drawer before he met Abla Khan in reception, but as soon as they were in his car he wondered if he’d overdone it. It was as if he was trying to cover something up, he decided. They parked almost opposite the small industrial unit, and the search team were already just round the corner in an unmarked van.

  Lenny was late, by almost half an hour, but Rex didn’t mind. He listened to Abla chat about her family for a while, and they swapped a few war stories. He hoped that he came across as modest, but quietly heroic. But when he’d finished one, and glanced across at Abla to gauge her reaction, he decided that he must sound like a total knob. He was starting to feel hot too, so he wound the window down a little more, and that helped dispel the smell of his after shave. And he was very glad when their man’s car drove up to the front of the unit.

  When Lenny had unlocked the building and gone in Abla radioed the search team, telling them that Lenny was alone, and Rex pulled up behind Lenny’s car, blocking it in. Ten seconds later he was knocking on the door, Warrant in hand, and thirty seconds later Lenny was stepping aside, and smiling wryly.

  ‘I’ll save you lads the trouble’, he said, to the leader of the search team. ‘It’s all in the office at the back.’

  ‘Search the whole place anyway, please, lads’, said Rex. ‘Who knows what else we might find?’

  ‘Mouse droppings, mate. That’s all you’ll find back there. But beat yourselves up, like. I’ve got absolutely no problem with a load of coppers getting absolutely covered in rodent crap. No problem at all.’

  Lenny was every bit as relaxed when they got back to the station. All things being equal this would soon be his sixth conviction for receiving, so he knew exactly what to expect. He’d spent over three years in jail as an adult, and he still wasn’t quite twenty five. So he ‘no commented’ his way through the interview, knowing that he’d go guilty before trial, in the hope of shaving six months off his sentence. It usually worked.

  ‘Tell Kelly it’s all right,’ he said, when the tape had stopped running, and the Duty Solicitor had said her brief goodbyes. ‘Tell her I understand.’

  ‘Kelly?’ said Rex.

  ‘Don’t worry, mate, I know it was her, like. She’ll have given you some bullshit reason for grassing on me, but it’s Dai Young who’s put her up to this. And I don’t blame her, to tell you the truth. Well, he’s just a scary, scary bastard, isn’t he, DC Copeland?’

  ‘We’re done here, Lenny.’

  ‘Like that, is it?

  ‘Like what?’

  Lenny leaned in close, glanced at Abla, then back at Rex.

  ‘She’s in on it too then, is she? On the payroll, like? A right little United Nations Dai’s got going here, I’ll say that.’

  ‘What are you talking about?’ said Rex, getting up. ‘You think we’re in Young’s pocket, is that it?’

  ‘Just you, mate. That’s the word on the street, anyway. Folk say that you used to be on the Ferris’s payroll, down in London. No offence, like. It’s just what I hear.’

  ‘What else do they say?’

  ‘That they sent you up here, the Ferris boys. To keep an eye on Dai, maybe help him out with things like this. Little problems, you know.’

  ‘Like what?’

  ‘Like helping to get rid of the competition. Because I’ll tell you exactly what’ll happen now, mate. All the local bandits will take their gear to one of Dai’s boys, they’ll get really shit money for it, but they won’t dare complain. No fucking way. And you won’t see any of the stuff back on the streets in Carlisle, ‘cause it will all get shipped off and sold on down south, or overseas. But you’ll get your piece of the action, I don’t doubt.’

  Rex sat down again quickly. The Duty Solicitor took the hint, and made for the door. Whatever was going to be said next, she certainly didn’t want to hear any of it.

  ‘Tell you what, Lenny. Since you’ve got it all worked out, why not tell us who you reckon Dai Young is putting in your place, eh? I promise you that PC Khan here will write it all down. And then we’ll go straight out and nick them, how’s that?’

  ‘What? No fucking way. You think I’m going to grass on Dai Young to you two? It’d just get straight back to him, and in six weeks time I’ll be found hanging in my cell, won’t I? No, mate. I’m going to do my time, and keep my head down. And when I get out, I reckon that Dai Young will be long gone, and you too, I wouldn’t wonder.’

  ‘What makes you say that? About Dai, I mean.’

  ‘Stands to reason, don’t it? Either your lot will put him away, the straight ones I mean, or he’ll piss on the wrong bloke’s chips. It’s just a matter of time, really.’

  ‘So you’re not going to help us out?’

  ‘I wouldn’t show you a bird’s nest, mate. Must admit I’m surprised to see that Dai has an equal opportunities thing going on, though. I’d have had him down as more of a UKIP man, myself.’

  Lenny grinned at Abla, who stood up quickly, and leaned across the table. Lenny noticed that she was taller than Rex. ‘You are a fucking idiot, Lenny,’ she said. ‘You’re just a pathetic, small time con who prays on the misery of others. Now, I don’t know about DC Cope
land, but I’m not in anyone’s pocket, except maybe my new niece, because she’s just so adorable, and I’m just happy to see you going away again for a year or two. Because a Carlisle that doesn’t have you in it will just be a better place, that’s all I know. So, if you want to repeat what you’ve just accused us of then I can have the Duty Inspector down here in thirty seconds, and I will insist that your statement is passed on to our Professional Standards team for further enquiries. And we’ll see where that leads, shall we? After all, mate, it was you who just mentioned Dai Young’s name. So, Lenny, what’s it to be, mate? Because to be honest, I just don’t give a shit either way.’

  Pepper’s head hurt, a dry, dehydration headache, and it only got worse after five minutes of bare-knuckle negotiation with Patricia the sitter, the Pol Pot of the childminding world, and Pepper’s last hope for an hour’s worth of evening cover. Eventually a rate was agreed, including the rider of a take-away to be delivered to the house, and to be paid for in full by Pepper. Ben was fast asleep anyway, so he wouldn’t have to share Patricia’s taste in reality TV and fizzy drinks.

  She’d already phoned Rex, who arrived at the house about a minute after the take away, which had made Pepper feel both hungry and slightly queasy.

  ‘New air freshener?’ she said, as she closed his car door. ‘It’s a bit strong, isn’t it, mate?’

  ‘Must be Abla’s perfume.’

  ‘Oh, aye, maybe. So how did you get on? I saw on the system that Lenny has been charged and remanded. A nice little result, was that.’

  ‘Yeah, maybe.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘He accused me of working for Dai Young. To my face, like. Knew all about the Ferris thing, back in London.’