Chapter Twenty-Seven

 

Emma was torn. On the one hand she wanted to check up on Rob and see how he was getting on now he was all set up to work on the case. She was eager to find out if he'd made any progress. But, she knew that he wouldn't react well to pressure. And she also knew that if he did find anything, then she'd be the first to know. After a couple of days of leaving him to it, he called her.

He'd been rather cagey but had insisted on meeting her at the Grand Imperial Hotel on the seafront for afternoon tea. It didn't sound like his sort of thing and, when pressed, he revealed that there were other people she needed to meet. Although she was curious she couldn't get any further details out of him.

Just over an hour later, Emma walked into the lobby of the hotel rather cautiously and took in the surroundings. It had been a proper seaside, Victorian hotel in the middle of Bradwick for years. Now it was trading on past glories while also trying to be modern and up to date. The effect was confused – framed photographs of elder statesmen competed with modern signage for wall space. The bar was over to the left so she went through and looked around for the rest of the party. Rob Haines walked up beside her and said hello.

'Is that them over there?' Emma asked. 'Marnie King and Kev Slater?' She looked at Rob with confusion – had she said the wrong thing?

'Yep,' he said. 'And don't worry, I was expecting to see them so I can roughly guess what they look like now.'

Marnie King stood up and waved. When they were close enough she said, 'I've ordered afternoon tea for four. Come and sit down, we've got everything here.' As they slid around the table, they nodded to DI Slater who was already there.

'I must say that this is quite irregular,' Slater said when they were all settled. 'I'd much rather meet somewhere that we could take notes or record the interview. Rob isn't even on active duty.'

Rob bristled at this but it was Marnie who spoke first. 'This isn't a meeting. I simply invited a few friends over for afternoon tea.' She paused to see if Slater would argue, but he kept quiet. 'First of all, I'd like to thank you, Emma, for what you did on that evening.' Emma frowned at Marnie, so she continued. 'I spoke with the coroner and pathologist and they agreed that my Billy died instantly. There was nothing more that you could have done. If you hadn't been there that evening, then I would never have known what happened, who killed him. You arrested the man who killed my husband and I won't forget that.'

'I was just--'

'I know, doing your job.' Marnie looked around the table, taking in the difference between Rob and Slater. 'But we all know that there are many different ways that you can do the job of police officer. If it wasn't for you, then the likes of Hargreaves would be running the CID. And we can all imagine how that would work out.'

'It wasn't just me,' Emma said, keen even now to distance herself from the Professional Standards investigation.

'Anyway, I wanted to thank you. I know nothing will bring him back.' Marnie paused again and considered the table. 'And I wanted to let you know that I'll be taking over the business.'

'The business...' Rob couldn't find a tactful way to finish the sentence with Inspector Slater present.

'King Kabs,' she said with a knowing look in her eye. 'Since my Billy passed away there's been chaos, lots of chancers starting up rival outfits. Well, I've sat down with the accountant and thrashed it all out. I've bought Tom Quinn out of his share of the business, given him a fair price for his house, and arranged for him to move to Spain. He should have enough money to buy a villa and a bar.'

'This isn't the seventies, you know,' Rob said. 'We do have an extradition treaty with Spain now.'

'Oh, he's not afraid of being arrested by your lot,' Marnie said airily. 'No, he's seen his two best friends, who he's known since school, killed within weeks of each other. There's nothing left here for him and if he's going to wait for someone to stick a knife in, he'd rather do it somewhere sunny.'

'You do know that we've put Garoza behind bars, don't you?' Rob Haines leaned forward to make his point. 'His whole operation is too busy fighting with itself to worry about things going on here in Bradwick.'

'And you know he's not the only player on the field. There is a power vacuum here as much as there is in Birmingham. He's much better off with a new start somewhere the weather is better. It'll take him years to get over this.' The warning was clear to them – he was a victim in all this and off limits to the police.

There was an awkward pause. Eventually Rob broke the silence. 'You do realise, don't you, that any deals that were made in the past were strictly between Billy and me. Unfortunately with me on sick leave, Hargreaves suspended and Billy no longer with us, well...' Rob shrugged apologetically.

'I have been made aware of what went on the past,' Marnie said. DI Slater looked like he'd rather be anywhere but with the three of them.

'Just to be clear,' Rob said. 'I know in the past that things were a bit lax with the recording of money and drugs seized in raids--'

'DCI Haines, are you saying what I think you're saying?' Slater pushed himself back from the table as if to distance himself from the conversation.

Before Rob could answer, Emma spoke. 'I'm sure you're aware, sir, that Rob is recovering from a head injury. Maybe that has affected his memory. I do know he's more likely to speak without thinking and I don't think we can't attach too much weight to his words.'

Rob looked thunderously angry, his gaze flicking between Emma and Kev Slater. Marnie King was sat back, quietly observing the row among the police officers.

'This is why I wanted a formal interview where everything was recorded,' Slater said as he stood up. 'I can't be here and listen to things that might need to be actioned later. I am aware of your injury, Rob, so I'll let that previous comment slide.' He turned his attention to Emma. 'But, I don't think this is somewhere that serving officers should be. I wouldn't want you to be put in an awkward situation.'

Emma seethed. Her boss had no idea of the many difficult situations she'd been in, of the secrets that she kept, or of the decisions she'd made and what they cost her. 'Thank you for your concern, sir, but I'd like to finish tea with my friends.' She paused for a moment. 'I'm not taking notes and I'm not on duty.'

'Right.' Kev Slater nodded icily to the group. 'DC Angel, I'll see you in work in the morning.'

Emma bit the inside of her lip. She knew that Slater's parting comment was a reminder that they'd be in the same office – it was a warning that she'd be called into a meeting with her boss. She shrugged half-heartedly at Marnie, although she was also angry at her for calling this meeting and inviting Slater without warning Emma or Rob.

'Well, sorry about that,' Marnie said unconvincingly. 'Where were we?'

'I was just saying that if you've come here with your hand out,' Rob answered, 'then you're going to be disappointed. For years I've been aware that things couldn't carry on the way they were. The world has moved past the age of brown envelopes stuffed with cash and packages of drugs going missing.'

'Rob's right, you know,' Emma said. 'Phones and airwaves track where we are, pretty much twenty-four seven. They're now talking about trialling body cameras for all of us. It's going to get more and more tricky to break the rules.' Emma was very aware that she had admitted to considering doing what Rob had done, with the same justifications. But that could never be right, sitting down with self-confessed drug dealers for the good of the town.

'Can I put my cards on the table here?' Marnie asked. 'Now that Slater's not here, can I speak freely?'

Rob shrugged. 'I'm on extended sick leave at the moment. There's not a lot I could do even if I wanted to.'

Both of them turned to look at Emma. She slumped slightly in her seat. 'I'm going to get carpeted by Slater over this anyway. I might as well hear you out.' Marnie raised her eyebrows at her. 'I can't promise that I won't take action until I know what you've got to say. But I suspect that you're just going to confirm what we were thinking anyway, and we haven't moved against you yet.'

Marnie considered this and nodded slowly, setting her large earrings swinging. 'As I said, I'm taking over the business. I've got a lot of Billy's old operation back under my control, although there are a few who'd like to freelance.' She glanced nervously at Emma. 'I am truly sorry about that fourteen-year-old on the estate. Should never have happened. I leant on some people I know, to make sure that a message got back to the police. But that incident was the kind of thing we can expect if the market remains in chaos. I'm sorry, but you might see more injuries as I clamp down at first to make sure they know who's in charge.' She stopped to take breath. 'But, as soon as I can, I'll go back to the old-fashioned way of doing things. We won't involve children, won't sell around the schools, the arcades, those kinds of places. Try to keep the town as safe as we can. I'm a mother, I know what that poor woman must be going through losing her son like that.'

'This is all very admirable, but I don't see how it affects us,' Emma said. 'What do you want and what are you offering?'

'Straight to the point, I like that. Right, well, as Rob will know, we have the taxi market all sewn up. So we have bodies on the ground, we hear things, know who's coming in and who's leaving. We can see what you never will. And we could continue to feed that information back, both formally and informally, however you want to do it.' There was an ominous pause. 'In return, we'd like an understanding. That we do what we do and we'll try, as I said, to be sensitive. So, it would be counterproductive if you were to investigate us too heavily.' She spread her hands wide. 'If that were to happen, then we'd be back to the chaos that we've seen unfold over the last few weeks and months.'

Emma and Rob sat back and digested what had just been said. Emma said, 'so, you want us to look the other way while you pass us information to take out your rivals?' Was this the beginning of the slippery slope that first Patterson, then Haines had been dragged down? After the events of the last few months, she was very wary of doing anything that wasn't strictly on the straight and narrow.

Rob held up his hand. 'No, there'll be no need for that. I've spent a lifetime dealing with the Slaters of the world. You don't talk about doing a deal with criminals. You give them all the spiel about intelligence-led policing and prioritising resources to maximise results.'

Emma nodded, even though she wasn't sure that it was in line with her ethics. Marnie seemed happy though. Emma decided it was time to burst her bubble. 'I suppose I can try to run that past Slater see what we can get away with. But, I have to warn you, Marnie, there will be no free pass on this. If we catch one of your people obviously guilty, then they'll have to be arrested and run through the system. It'll be up to the CPS what happens to them. Likewise, if one of the other agencies catches someone, then we'll have no choice but to act. Are we clear on that?'

Marnie pursed her lips, but nodded.

'It's not all bad,' Emma continued. 'We can prioritise the attacks on taxi drivers and their vehicles. Especially if you give us information as to who might be behind them.'

'I have a fairly good idea of where you might start looking,' Marnie admitted.

'Right, then. But you're going to need to play this as a long game.' Emma tried to work out the right way through the maze, the best way to say what she needed to. 'No revenge attacks, no more beatings and houses being torched. If you want to get rid of someone, pass the information on to us. It'll take longer but it'll mean the town is safer. And you'll get the high ground. If you give me a list of drivers who might be cooperative, we can spread them around, get them signed up.'

Marnie narrowed her eyes as she considered this offer. 'You know I don't have to accept this, don't you? I could just seize control anyway.'

'You could.' Emma nodded. 'But then you'd be up against the police as well as everyone else.'

'What you're offering would give me an edge,' Marnie admitted. 'It'd take longer to get established, but I should be able to get back to where we were before.' There was a long pause. 'Okay then. No more attacks, and I'll get some information over to you about who might be attacking us. And details of which drivers might want to go on the books as informants.'

'And we'll be free to do our jobs?' Emma pressed. 'If we catch someone being naughty, then we'll arrest them.'

'As long as you don't target us, then we can live with that,' Marnie said. She let out a big sigh. 'Damn! You drive a hard bargain. Can we relax and have some cake? I meant what I said, I'll always be grateful to you.'