‘Glad you could make it,’ Ruby said, as Eve rested her bag on the shiny copper-topped bar. ‘How are you feeling now, any better?’
‘Yes, much,’ Eve shouted over the din of the crowd. After a shitty day’s work, Ruby had suggested they attend The Blind Pig, in Soho, and the team seemed happy to follow suit. Every month she held a ‘mystery pub’ works night out. Her team were willing to travel the extra miles to see what sort of weird and wonderful place she would come up with. Even Eve had come from home, catching the Tube to join in on the fun. A work night out was much needed, and it was pay day after all. Cocktails were an expensive luxury that Ruby could barely afford, but every month the first round was on her.
‘Well, drink up then, we’ve only got an hour until closing,’ Ruby said, handing Eve her drink. ‘I’ve ordered you a “Slap ’n’ Pickle”.’
‘I shouldn’t really be drinking, I’m on antibiotics.’ Eve said. ‘What’s in it?’
‘Gin, brandy and pickle brine,’ Ruby said with a mischievous grin. ‘Go on, I’ve bought it now. One won’t do you any harm.’
Eve took a tentative sip, looking like she had swallowed a lemon.
‘So what’s this I hear about Facebook photos?’ Ruby said, turning back to Ash and Luddy, who were drinking rum-infused milkshakes.
‘You want to see?’ Ash said, his cheeks pink from the alcohol infiltrating his system.
‘I’m surprised Facebook let you post them,’ Luddy said, a grin spreading across his face.
‘Oh they’ve been removed, but I’ve got them on my phone. See?’
Ruby leaned over and stared at what looked like badly taken holiday snaps of various landscapes.
‘I don’t see anything… ’ she peered, ‘apart from that round thing blotting the sun. What is it?’ She brought the phone closer to her nose. ‘Hmm, it’s not a fly… hang on, are those… ’ she spluttered on her drink, ‘are those hairs?’
Downes’s hearty laugh exploded from behind her. ‘Don’t you know a bollock when you see one, Ruby?’
Ruby’s expression turned into a mixture of horror and disbelief. ‘In the name of all things holy… What? … Why?’ She thrust the phone back to Ash, who was now wiping the tears erupting from the corner of his eyes.
‘It’s called nutscaping; it has its own website and everything.’
‘How do you? … ’ Ruby said. ‘On second thoughts, I don’t want to know.’ Her eyes widened. ‘You didn’t tweet that, did you?’
‘Oh yeah,’ Luddy said. ‘Can you imagine Worrow’s face when she saw that? Old Ash has been on holiday and dropped his kegs to bend over and take a photo of his nutsack!’
‘Excuse me, it’s very tastefully done,’ Ash sniggered. ‘I had to get the camera ready, then get me old man out of the way… not an easy task, I can tell you.’
Ruby’s smile faded as Worrow’s name returned the memory of their encounter earlier in the day. She was yet to come to terms with the fact that a member of her team had grassed her up. Most likely someone she had just bought a drink. ‘Going for a ciggy,’ she said, signalling towards the door. ‘I’ll be back in a minute. Time one of you tight sods got a round in.’
The faded gold lighter flickered into life, giving barely enough flame to light the Silk Cut in Ruby’s mouth. It was one of her most treasured possessions, and all she had left of her dad. She sucked until a circular orange glow punctuated the night air. Closing her eyes, she inhaled, mulling over the troubling thoughts invading her brain.
‘I thought you’d given them up?’ A soft voice came from behind. It was Luddy.
‘I have. This is just a social smoke,’ Ruby said, lowering the cigarette, now imprinted with her signature red lipstick. ‘What are you doing out here? You don’t smoke.’
‘Fresh air. I don’t think the cocktails agreed with me,’ he said, masking a burp into his closed fist.
Ruby smiled, taking another slow drag of her cigarette. ‘Did you know that The Blind Pig is American underworld slang for den of iniquity?’
‘No, I didn’t,’ Luddy said, shoving his hands in his trouser pockets. ‘I’ve never been to this place before. I don’t know how you found it.’
She stared into his eyes, slowly delivering her words. ‘Do you think I’m corrupting you?’
‘Corrupting me? No,’ Luddy exhaled an awkward laugh.
‘Then why did you report me to Worrow?’ Luddy was the only person who had challenged her in the last few days, and it stuck in her gut to think that he went running to his DCI instead of having it out with her.
The smile slid from his face. ‘For what? I haven’t spoken to her.’
Ruby dragged hard on the remnants of her cigarette, locking the smoke in her lungs before letting it go. ‘I thought we were a tight team. If my rule-bending worried you that much you should have spoken to me.’
‘Is this about our visit to Goldie? Sarge, I… ’
Ruby swivelled her head left and right, grateful that nobody had heard. ‘It’s Ruby for fuck’s sake. I don’t let you call me Sarge when I’m at work, much less draw attention to us when we’re out on the piss.’
‘Ruby then,’ Luddy said. ‘I didn’t report you. Sure, I was worried about how you handled things, but only for you, not the job. You’re the best sergeant I’ve ever had. The last thing I’d do is go telling tales.’
‘Well, somebody did.’
‘Actually, I’m quite offended that you thought it was me,’ Luddy sniffed.
‘Well, if you didn’t,’ Ruby said, ignoring his mild outrage, ‘then who did?’
Ruby was relieved that she had clung on to her senses and decided to leave the pub early. It was a very rare occurrence. It was not a proper piss-up unless she had disgraced herself in some way, either by dancing on a club podium or waking up with Downes in her bed. But there was work to be done, jobs to oversee, and witnesses to interview. So they had all sensibly rolled home at closing time, their expensive cocktails warming their bellies. But the drinks outing had done little to quell her rising anxiety. Someone was out to cause her trouble and given her recent activity they might not be short of ammunition.
Ruby stiffened as she caught sight of a shadow in the stairwell of her flat. Clenching her fists, she prepared for confrontation. As they stepped forward, she exhaled a sigh of relief. It was Darren, the neighbour she had helped out in the past.
‘Sorry,’ he said, stepping into the light. ‘I didn’t mean to frighten you.’
‘You didn’t,’ Ruby lied, wondering what he was doing on her floor. ‘Everything alright? It’s not your mum, is it?’
‘Nah, she’s alright,’ Darren said, his hands nestled down the front of his tracksuit bottoms. ‘It’s Mr Crosby… Nathan. Have you heard? He’s been stabbed.’