‘Between Danny getting killed and you going off sick, your work suffered dramatically, I’m sure you’d agree. To be honest, Henry, your performance was a shambles. The whole of Blackpool CID suffered because of you.’
Henry rolled back in his chair, stunned. This was the first time anyone had ever said that to him — that he could recall. So, FB, just say what you mean, don’t mince your words.
‘Detections plummeted, discipline was non-existent, there was no management to speak of-’
‘I was going through a bit of a rough patch,’ Henry interrupted. He emphasised the word ‘bit’ and hoped he sounded reasonable, but was aware of a slightly hysterical edge to his voice.
FB instantly held up a hand to shut him up. ‘Let me finish, and let me be brutally honest, Henry, something this force has been a little short of recently, honesty. The good running of the CID is my responsibility, as you know. The shit stops here, in other words.’ He placed a hand on the left-hand side of his chest where he believed his heart to be. ‘And I’m not afraid to make hard decisions to keep the department running smoothly. I believe very firmly that, at the present time, you do not have the capability or the capacity within yourself to go straight back into your former role and operate a hundred per cent effectively, which is what I need — especially in Blackpool. Fourteen murders this year. Fourteen of the fuckers! I need people who are with it.’ He clicked his fingers a few times while speaking. ‘On the ball.’ Click. ‘Operating slick and fast.’ Click. ‘And at the moment you don’t fit the bill. So I’ve had to make a tough decision — even tougher because I know you and like you.’
Henry kept his mouth closed.
‘I’ve decided to transfer you to another job and maybe in a few months’ time we’ll review the situation. Your replacement has already been in post for a few weeks.’
‘Transfer to what?’ For a moment Henry thought he might get something decent out of this. Major Crime Unit would be nice. The look on FB’s face informed him otherwise.
‘Uniform Inspector, Blackpool Central. As of Monday. 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. Reactive cover.’
The words sank slowly into Henry’s skull.
‘It’ll give you time to settle in, find your feet again,’ FB smarmed management bull.
Henry could not find a response. He almost went for the cliche, the line so beloved of the second-rate movie where the hero gets busted (usually for gung-ho antics as opposed to a stress-related sickness), the line, which in an army flick, might be something like, ‘It’s the SAS or nothing, sah!’
However, Henry’s reality was that he was a real person, a cop, a small cog in a big, lumbering organisation which rumbled on from day to day, decade to decade, oblivious to the movement of its staff. Even if it was ‘CID or nothing’, the police force would not bat an eyelid if he chose the ‘nothing’ option. It would get along just fine and dandy without him, as it had done for the last couple of months. He was, he realised, very dispensable.
‘I haven’t got any uniform that fits me any more,’ he whined weakly.
‘I thought of that,’ FB said paternally. ‘Clothing stores will be expecting you.’
FB glanced at his wall clock and gave Henry a look which said, meeting over. And that was it. Dirty deed done.
Henry had left the office immediately.
Henry could have delegated one of the PCs to present the woman prisoner to the custody officer. Just to be awkward and keep FB waiting, he chose to do the job himself.
The girl walked meekly from the carrier into custody reception, standing with head bowed in front of the desk, not looking directly at anyone, but muttering under her breath. Henry outlined the circumstances of the arrest and the amount of force he had used in effecting it. The custody sergeant dutifully recorded everything. When it came to the girl’s name, she refused to give it.
A female PC was brought in to search her and found nothing. Henry suggested that a strip search should be carried out because she could well have articles concealed on her which might be used to injure herself or others. After all, the stick she had whacked him with had been hidden somewhere, so there could be more secreted inside her clothing.
‘You’d love to strip search me, wouldn’t you, you bastard,’ the girl said, sneering at Henry. For the first time she lifted her face to the light and Henry got a proper look at her. She had a harsh, white face, with an embittered expression which looked incapable of cracking into a smile.
‘No, I don’t think so.’
‘What about you, then, lesbian bitch?’ She nodded her head at the female officer.
‘I’d rather search a decomposed body, luv,’ the officer responded.
‘Liar!’
The custody officer summoned another female officer to help out and they steered her away to an interview room.
Henry took the opportunity to ring communications and got them to tell FB that he would be delayed slightly because of the prisoner.
The strip search was carried out quickly and efficiently and the policewomen emerged with victorious smiles. They had found a packet of white powder secreted between the cheeks of her bottom and a flick knife sellotaped uncomfortably in her bra, underneath her left breast. Her clothing was bundled up for forensic examination and the girl, dressed in a white paper suit was led away to the cells.
As Henry walked out of the custody office towards the lift, Dermot Byrne was walking out of the building.
‘Good arrest that,’ he said to Henry. ‘You ran like a whippet, boss.’
‘Thanks.’ Henry beamed, thinking: Whippet? More like a cheetah, actually.
Seven
The pleasure was short lived. It lasted all of the four strides it took Henry to walk out of the custody office and turn left into the dingy corridor leading to the stairs and lift. It lasted until he came face to face with ACC Fanshaw-Bayley who was storming down in the opposite direction.
Henry came to an abrupt standstill. FB scowled angrily at him, his mouth a tight line, his eyes ablaze. The silence was short and sour. Just long enough for Henry’s Adam’s apple to rise and fall.
FB’s voice, initially, was measured and precise in its tone. ‘When I ask a lower-ranking officer to come in and see me, I expect him to drop everything and come in straight away.’ Then he erupted, having kept his cool for long enough: ‘I do not expect to be kept waiting for almost three-quarters of an hour! Do you understand, Inspector?’
The hairs on the back of Henry’s neck crawled like a mass of insects on his skin. He could feel redness creeping up under his collar. His nostrils dilated. He was aware that Dermot Byrne was now standing in the corridor behind him, witnessing this very public dressing down. He managed to keep his voice controlled. ‘I understand.’ However, he could not manage to add a respectful ‘sir’.
‘I am not fucking accustomed — ’ FB continued with the tirade, seeming not to have heard Henry — ‘to having lower-ranking officers taking the piss out of me. I’ve a bloody good mind to put you on paper for insubordination.’
‘Could we possibly do this elsewhere?’ Henry asked mildly. To say the least, it was very poor management practice to bollock people in front of others.
‘I’ll decide where and when I speak to you,’ FB raged at this insolent suggestion. His face was crimson. He was trembling. In passing, Henry half-prayed that FB’s heart would explode, but realised it was unlikely, and he had no desire to give the man the kiss of life.
Henry shook his head. ‘I’ll be in my office,’ he said stiffly, ‘and you can speak to me there if you wish — but I will not be spoken to by anyone like this in a corridor with other people watching. It’s embarrassing — and not just for them.’ He brushed roughly past the smaller, rounder, man before another word could be uttered, and bounded up the stairs three at a time. He was on the ground floor before FB could formulate a response.
He virtually booted open the inspectors’ office door. It crashed back on its hinges, smashing against the cabinets behind it. Henry stormed in and slammed the door shut behind him.