‘Anik, this is Sergeant Bosch. He should have retired many years ago, but he refuses to leave.’ As Anik stepped closer, he could see that Bosch’s uniform was in fact, not security, but military, and he displayed a line of medals across his chest. ‘Sergeant Bosch, Anik is a policeman from England. I’m helping him to find murderers and drug dealers and a missing painting worth millions.’
‘You always did exaggerate, Garritt.’ Bosch shook hands with Anik and asked how he could help. Anik got out his mobile phone, showed Bosch the photograph of Avril Jenkins standing next to the young Dutch military man and asked if he could help to identify the uniform. Bosch patted all of his pockets, and even felt on top of his head. Garritt, knowing his old mentor inside out, popped his head inside the security booth. Sure enough, there was the daily paper with a half-done crossword, along with a pencil and a pair of glasses. Garritt handed the glasses to Bosch, who was then ready to take a look at Anik’s photograph.
‘Andre Boogaard.’
Bosch removed his glasses and sipped his coffee. Anik couldn’t believe it.
‘Told you he knew everything.’ Garritt smirked.
Anik snapped into action, opening ‘notes’ on his mobile. ‘Bogart? Like Humphrey Bogart?’
‘B-o-o-g-a-a-r-d. Andre Boogaard. I kicked him out on his ass. He was no good. I only have time for people who want to learn, want to grow, want to achieve. I’m fussy about who I teach.’ Bosch leant towards Anik and whispered loudly enough for Garritt to hear. ‘Don’t tell him. It will go to his head.’
Josh laid his knife and fork down on his plate. ‘Oh, my goodness me! I don’t know what to say. You almost got me in tears, Penny. I’ve not tasted food like that in months.’ Penny was actually blushing — which Jack and Maggie found hilarious. Jack emptied the third bottle of wine into everyone’s glasses, whilst Maggie cleared the dinner plates and put dessert bowls in the oven to warm. Penny asked Josh about the work he did. ‘Ah, well now, I’m not sure that’s table talk.’
‘Josh, my son is a policeman, and my soon-to-be-daughter-in-law is a doctor. There’s nothing you can say that will shock me.’
‘Well, OK, ma’am. But you stop me if that proves to be wrong. I’m a consultant with the police in the US and, in recent months, in the UK. My specialty is drugs. I move around making sure we got joined-up thinking, ’cos that’s the only way we’re gonna shut ’em down. I’m the one that gets down and dirty with the bad guys. I learn the tricks of their trade, so I can show people like Jack how to use those tricks against them. Then we can predict what they’re gonna do next and get there first.’ The wine was now getting the better of Penny because, quite unexpectedly, she asked if Josh carried a gun. ‘Not at the dinner table, ma’am,’ Josh joked. ‘Back home I carry a Glock at my hip and a little Ruger on my ankle. I do have my weapons over here with me, but I save them for special occasions.’
Jack jumped in as the moment presented itself. ‘Talking of special occasions.’
Maggie gulped her wine as Jack pulled a gift bag out of the pasta cupboard where he’d hidden it earlier that evening. God, she hoped this last-minute gift wasn’t too shit. Josh saw the ‘Happy Birthday’ tag and Penny’s delighted face.
‘Nooo!’ Josh looked genuinely horrified. ‘Jack, why didn’t you tell me!’
Penny reached across the table and tapped the back of Josh’s hand. ‘You’re here. That’s enough.’ Jack kissed Penny’s cheek and handed her the bag. Then he refilled everyone’s glasses whilst she gently pulled the red ribbon that held the handles together. Inside the bag were a series of images, downloaded and printed from the internet, then wrapped in tissue paper and tied together with another ribbon. Out of context, the first few images of landscapes and rolling fields were confusing, but then came an image of the city farm situated ten or so miles outside of London... then an image of sheep with their newborn lambs. The next page was laid out like an adoption certificate:
Charlie — due to be born in spring, 2023. Adopted by Penny Warr.
Penny’s voice quivered, ‘You bought me a lamb?’
‘You can be there when it’s born,’ Jack said. ‘And you can visit anytime. I thought you and Hannah might like to watch Charlie grow over the years.’
Penny leapt from her chair and into Jack’s arms. Her breathing faltered and her shoulders shook, and Jack hugged her close as they took a moment to remember the lamb’s namesake: Charlie Warr, her late husband and Jack’s adopted father. As Jack held Penny, Maggie gave him a silent round of applause. She had no idea how he’d done it, but he’d superbly grasped victory from the jaws of defeat.
Jack had also bought a chocolate birthday cake, which Penny decided to keep until the next day when Hannah could join her in blowing out the candles.
Whilst they tucked into mammoth helpings of bread-and-butter pudding with homemade custard, Penny suddenly picked up the earlier conversation from where it had left off. ‘Do you think guns give people a false sense of power, Josh? Making it more likely that they’ll get into trouble, rather than less?’
Josh grinned at the astuteness of Penny’s wine-fuelled question. ‘If I had my way, I’d educate gun owners in the same way a karate sensei educates his pupils. Having the power to defend yourself, should be treated with respect. It’s for defence, not attack. Unfortunately, yes, you’re right, some people can’t handle that power.’
‘Can I ask, Josh...’ Maggie was as hypnotised as Penny by Josh’s smooth Alabama accent. ‘How are the drugs moving around so easily from China, New York and now Europe?’
Jack rolled his eyes and got up to open the brandy that Penny had sent him to buy earlier.
‘Well, you see, in Brazil there are these places called favelas — they’re shantytowns mixed in with open markets where anything can be sold. Anything. Dealers sell drugs and guns, and they’re protected by armed gang members ’cos it’s big business. These places are no-go areas for law enforcement. They’re huge mazes, anyways — even if the police could find their way in, they’d never find their way out. Not alive, anyhow.’
Penny gave an audible gasp. Josh gave Jack a quick sideways grin: he was playing to his audience and loving it!
‘It’d be a massacre if the cops went into the shantytowns of Mexico and Brazil. They have hundreds of shootouts every month, and that’s just between rival gangs. Some parts of the drugs world are lowbrow mayhem, and some parts are quiet, smart, confident men and women willing to risk everything for the money that’s on offer. Whilst the dumbasses, pardon me, are making a whole lotta noise over there...’ Josh made a spiderlike shape with his left hand, followed by another with his right hand, ‘the smart guys are quietly moving around over here. The cops go where the noise is. One way this gang gets drugs across borders is decoys. They hire someone with a drug habit to move through customs with ten pellets of cocaine up his... whilst the real payload crosses elsewhere. The guy goes to prison and gets put on a free detox programme, his family gets a large payout, the gang moves their drugs. Everybody wins.’
‘Do you know what I think, Josh?’ Penny sounded like she was about to solve one of the biggest international law-enforcement problems this century had ever seen. Josh gave her his full attention. ‘I think that if drugs were made legal, it would take away all of the mystery and excitement and people would get bored of it very quickly. When Jack was twelve, I caught him at the bottom of the garden drinking from a bottle of cider. I took him indoors and we all shared it over dinner. It wasn’t mysterious or exciting anymore, so Jack wasn’t interested. And, to this day, he doesn’t drink to excess, do you, darling?’