Having a one-on-one meeting with Charles Hawes was like going to the dentist. You knew it was going to be painful, and you knew he could do whatever he wanted because no-one would be able to hear you scream. For that reason, amongst many others, Culverhouse tried to keep his visits to the Chief Constable down to a minimum.
Hawes had got particularly heavy handed and had begun to try asserting his authority even more since the government had introduced Police and Crime Commissioners in 2012. The PCCs not only regrettably brought politics into policing by being elected members of political parties but they were given powers over the Chief Constables of local forces, who had up until then been able to direct local policing without too much external interference.
The Police and Crime Commissioner who oversaw policing in Mildenheath and the county as a whole was Martin Cummings, a man with no experience of policing who’d simply had the fortune to be selected by the local Labour Party as their candidate in the first election.
Relations between Hawes and Cummings had been strained to say the least, resulting in Hawes applying much of the pressure Cummings had put on him, further down the food chain onto officers who were, in turn, junior to him. Officers like Culverhouse.
‘I want to call a press conference to seek information on the murders of Keira Quinn and Lindsay Stott,’ Culverhouse said, getting straight to the point.
‘Right. Interesting. Are you saying there’s a connection with the two deaths?’ Hawes replied.
‘Not necessarily, sir. In fact, I want to steer away from that possibility, publicly at least.’
‘But privately?’ Hawes said, leaning back in his chair and steepling his hands.
Culverhouse took a moment to think. ‘Privately, I don’t know.’
‘I see. The problem I have, Jack, is that if there’s a chance the murders are unconnected, it wouldn’t be feasible to have you as the Senior Investigating Officer on both cases. It wouldn’t be practical.’
‘With respect, sir, I didn’t say they were unconnected. I’m conscious of public reaction to announcing a multiple homicide before we’re absolutely certain.’ Culverhouse was trying to pick his words very carefully, knowing that his position as Senior Investigating Officer on both cases could be at risk if he said the wrong thing. It was a situation that had to be handled very delicately indeed.
‘So you’re hoping that someone will ring in with a golden nugget of information which’ll help you find whoever killed both Keira Quinn and Lindsay Stott? That is, of course, if the same person did kill them both. Which you’re not sure is the case anyway. Are you starting to see my dilemma, Jack?’
‘Of course, sir. It’s a tricky one. All I can do is assure you that I’m more than capable of managing both cases for now. Until we’ve found out for sure if there is a link. If there is, we’ll go public,’ Culverhouse said, instantly regretting having committed himself to that. ‘If not — well — then it’s a huge coincidence.’
‘If not, Jack, I’ll be parachuting someone in from a neighbouring force to take on one of the cases. I’m sure Malcolm Pope would be chomping at the bit to get stuck in.’
‘I’m sure he would, sir,’ Culverhouse replied through gritted teeth. ‘And I’m sure the whole department would be delighted to see him.’
Hawes chuckled. ‘Jack, I don’t want that prick in my station any more than you do. But I’ve got the PCC breathing down my neck already. I’m not going to insult your intelligence with the whole “country’s most underfunded police force” stuff, but as I see it we’re at a crossroads here. I’ve got to choose a direction.’
‘Give me a week,’ Culverhouse said, putting his hands on the desk.
‘A week? You do realise I’m being leant on after two days, don’t you?’
‘I know, sir. But sometimes these things can’t be rushed.’ Culverhouse noted the Chief Constable’s raised eyebrow and continued talking before he could jump in. ‘Within a week I’ll know for sure whether we’ve got a link. Then we can move from there.’
‘And what do I tell our dearly beloved, elected PCC in the meantime?’ Hawes asked.
Culverhouse stood up and started to move towards the door. ‘Tell him to fuck off and keep his nose out of policing.’