Wendy was nursing a slight hangover the next morning, but she didn’t mind too much. They’d been successful in arresting and charging Father Joseph Kümmel, and last night’s celebratory session in the Prince Albert had gone down well. Mandy had got on well with everyone, she thought. That was particularly impressive considering the fact that everyone else there was a police officer, and at least two of them were politically incorrect dinosaurs.
Culverhouse had seemed genuinely apologetic that he’d had to leave early, too. Wendy got the sense that it was nothing to do with Ryan and Mandy, and that he’d had other things on his mind. She hoped they knew that, too.
She jumped a little as Culverhouse appeared behind her at her desk, announcing his arrival with a ‘Morning’.
‘Sorry, made me jump,’ she replied, hoping he hadn’t heard her slight yelp.
‘Come and see me in my office when you’ve got a sec,’ he said. ‘Got something I want to talk to you about.’
Wendy thought to herself for a moment and wondered what it might be. They’d made enough mistakes during the investigation into Hilltop Farm, but she couldn’t think of anything that hadn’t already been addressed. Ben Gallagher was recovering well at his brother’s house, Amy Kemp was due to leave hospital in the next couple of days and work was beginning on recovering and identifying the bodies buried beneath the medical centre. There would be one hell of a lot of work for social services to get involved with, too. A lot of people living at Hilltop Farm wouldn’t want to leave, regardless of what had gone on, such was the level of brainwashing they’d undergone over the years. And those who did want to leave and return to conventional society would have to integrate somehow, having spent years isolated from their families and friends. She couldn’t even begin to imagine how they’d go about that, or what measures and facilities would be in place to help them.
She made her way into Culverhouse’s office and closed the door behind her. She stood at his desk while she waited for him to finish replying to an email — which took a little while with Culverhouse’s two-fingered typing — and wondered what this was all about.
‘How do you think things are going?’ the DCI asked, eventually.
‘Uh, fine,’ Wendy replied, not quite sure what he meant.
He nodded and pursed his lips. ‘Good. Good. I think so too.’
She sensed that the tone of the meeting was meant to be positive. Most people, when having to deliver bad news, would look as awkward as Culverhouse did now. He was absolutely fine with delivering bad news, though. It was praise he struggled with. She decided to take the bull by the horns and put him out of his misery.
‘What’s this all about?’ she asked.
‘Well, the structure of the team is changing a bit, as you know. With Luke gone, and Ryan coming in, and with everyone going on above and at Milton House...’
‘And with Frank retiring,’ Wendy offered.
‘Yeah. Well, I wouldn’t look too far into that. He’s been going on about retiring since his first day. The day Frank Vine retires is the day I run skipping out of Milton House holding Malcolm Pope’s hand.’
‘I dunno. He seemed pretty set on the idea.’
‘Either way,’ Culverhouse said, shuffling in his seat, ‘we’re a bit DS-heavy, if you see what I mean.’
Wendy’s heart caught in her throat. He had a point — there were three detective sergeants on the team, including her. So what, was he having her transferred elsewhere? And why her? Steve Wing and Frank Vine were next to useless compared to her. Wouldn’t it be better off having them transferred? Or letting Frank take his early retirement? Of course, Frank and Steve were Culverhouse’s lapdogs. That probably had something to do with it. All these thoughts — and more — rushed through Wendy’s head as she tried to make sense of what she was being told.
Culverhouse’s next words jolted her out of her panic.
‘I want you to take your Inspector’s exams.’
Wendy found herself unable to speak for a moment. ‘Sorry, what?’
‘I said I want you to take your Inspector’s exams. You’ve been on the team a while now and you’ve shown yourself to be... alright... at managing people. And when I’ve not been around and you’ve taken charge of things you’ve managed not to fuck too much up.’
She smiled. Coming from Culverhouse, that was a major compliment.
If she was honest with herself, she’d never really thought about moving upwards in her career. Deep down, she knew why that was. Her own father had made Detective Inspector. That was the rank he’d been when he’d died. To her, she felt she always had the responsibility to remain one step behind him. He’d had his life taken from him far too young, and should have been able to progress much further. But he hadn’t been able to. To reach the same rank as her father — and potentially outrank him — would somehow feel as though she was betraying him.
‘I know what you’re thinking,’ Culverhouse said. ‘But try not to let it affect you. You should be proud of yourself, like he’d be proud of you.’
Wendy looked at him and smiled. And in that moment she knew he was right.