Cruel Tide
Page 35
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It was after Judith and John had gone and Sam was looking for his coat that Chief Inspector Cardine found him, propelled him back into the cloakroom, closed the door and leaned his back against it. He was a big man, with white hair oiled into shape and a thin white moustache.
‘Leaving, detective, before we’ve had the chance to talk?’
‘Yes, sir,’ said Sam. ‘I only came down here to catch up with a friend.’
‘Ah, the dashing Miss Pharaoh,’ said Cardine. ‘She’s recovered from her ordeal, I assume? She’ll need to be in good form for the inquest when it comes around.’
Sam frowned. ‘There’s no doubt about Thornhill’s cause of death, is there? Judith heard and saw everything a coroner would want to know about.’
‘As I said, she’ll be centre stage for all that. No doubt she’ll enjoy it.’
‘What do you want to talk about, sir?’ asked Sam. He would not be drawn into an argument about Judith.
‘You have some decisions to make, don’t you?’ said Cardine, ‘About your future in the force?’
‘Do I?’ said Sam.
‘I think you do, constable,’ Cardine went on, ‘and you should think about them very seriously. You’ve had some problems since you came to us, lack of discipline, disrespect for your seniors. Things can’t go on as they were, can they?’
Someone knocked on the cloakroom door. Cardine called, ‘Just a minute,’ but he didn’t move. ‘You will report to me tomorrow, constable, for a discussion about your future. Nine o’clock tomorrow, at my office. Is that clear?’
Sam nodded.
‘Is that clear?’ Cardine repeated.
‘Yes, sir,’ said Sam.
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Sam said nothing to Elspeth that evening. He was fairly certain what was coming, but there was no point in worrying Elspeth until it did. Cardine did not keep him waiting the following morning. At nine o’clock Sam was standing at attention in front of the chief inspector’s desk, looking at the wall.
‘You may be interested to know constable,’ said Cardine without looking up, ‘that Detective Sergeant Morrison won’t be returning to us. He’s been offered a senior job in the Hong Kong force, accepted it and resigned as of last Friday. We’re all very pleased for him. So that leaves a vacancy as detective sergeant, doesn’t it?’
Sam nodded. With any luck he would never see Morrison again.
‘I wonder if you would consider going for that job, constable? You’ve done the sergeant’s exams I understand?’
‘Yes, sir,’ said Sam.
‘Well, just in case that was in your mind, I think I should tell you not to waste your time. I’ve seen your report and your allegations about Sergeant Morrison’s dealings with Dr Hayward. It’s all nonsense, of course. Everyone knows about Hayward’s drinking, and his failing faculties. Nothing he might have said to you will count for anything, and he can’t be questioned about it now that he’s dead.’
Sam stared ahead as he took in Cardine’s words..
‘So your report will backfire, constable, not on Sergeant Morrison but on you. No one wants a sergeant who would make such unfounded allegations about a fellow officer. I certainly don’t, and my word counts for something in these parts, and a few others.’ Sam lowered his eyes. Cardine was still looking down at the file on his desk. ‘Am I making myself clear, constable?’
‘Yes, sir,’ said Sam.
‘I’ve also read the statement you took from that hysterical girl, and all the allegations she’s making based on what she heard from behind a sofa. Do you honestly expect that to be taken seriously?’
‘Yes, sir, I do,’ said Sam. He was looking directly at Cardine now. ‘We found some evidence at the house to support what she said, and what she heard. It’s all in the file.’
‘Yes, I have it,’ said Cardine. ‘And it’ll be my decision what to do with it. These are very serious allegations, against men personally known to me, with unimpeachable reputations in this town, one of whom took his own life when his wife left him. If there was criminal wrongdoing, the evidence points to the guilt of Mrs Thornhill first and foremost, and so far we don’t know where she is.’
‘But, sir –’ said Sam. Cardine raised his hand.
‘Save your breath,’ he said. ‘What you think or say cuts no ice with me or anyone else. Maybe in uniform you might have had a chance of a career, but as a detective, you’re finished. As I said, you’ve got some decisions to make.’
Chief Inspector Cardine put the file to one side and sat behind his polished empty desk, his hands resting calmly in front of him. ‘I want a letter from you on my desk by the end of the day. I think you understand what’s needed. That’s all, constable. Close the door on your way out.’
Sam turned on his heel and left the office. Back in the CID room he sat for a while, until his hands had stopped shaking.
CHAPTER 30
Judith lay in her quiet bedroom at the back of the house on Beach Road. Now that the wind had dropped she had opened the top window just enough to hear the sea and savour the smell of it as she breathed in slowly. She was pleased that she’d been at Doc Hayward’s funeral, but the conversation with Sam had left her low. John must have said something to his wife, and Maggie had treated her daughter more softly than usual when they arrived home.
Later she ventured downstairs. Maggie and Vince were in the front room with the radio on and John was sitting in the kitchen with the newspaper. He put it down, and pulled out a chair for Judith to sit with him.
‘How are you feeling now?’ he asked.
‘OK,’ she said, ‘just sad, really. Sam thinks nothing will happen about Monty House. Edwards is still there. They can’t deny what happened to Stevie Stringer but they’re treating it as an isolated case and blaming Harries.’
‘Who’s conveniently dead,’ said John.
‘Exactly,’ said Judith. ‘Sam wasn’t sure what would happen next, if anything.’
‘I like that young man,’ said John.
Judith knew he was fishing for a reaction, and she thought about what to say. ‘He’s getting better. To start with I thought he was a pompous prick.’
‘Judith! What a thing to say, after all that expensive education.’
‘Well he was, and he probably still is,’ said Judith. ‘But it’s a strength as well. He plays by the rules. I think he’s really upset about how the police are reacting to what happened. No one seems prepared to do anything. They just want to keep the lid tight and carry on. Irene Thornhill is the villain now, and she can’t be questioned either because she’s disappeared. Spain, apparently.’
‘Plenty of crooks there these days,’ said John. ‘It’s really hard to get them out.’ He looked at his daughter’s pale face and wild hair. ‘Do you want a drink?’
Judith shook her head. ‘I’m trying to decide what to do about work. I’ve been off for nearly two weeks already.’
‘Doctor Albright will write you another sick note if you need it.’
‘I know. I still don’t know whether I really want to go back. But I don’t want to work at Sellafield either. Sorry, Dad, but I don’t.’
‘I didn’t really expect you to do that,’ he said. ‘It’s a big place, but you can’t thrive in my shadow. You need to strike out on your own.’
She nodded. ‘Does Mum understand that?’
‘I doubt it, but let me deal with that.’
Judith leaned across and kissed her father on the cheek. ‘So what do you think I should do, Dad?’
‘Honestly?’ he said. ‘I always thought you would make a great journalist, but you were wasted and exploited in that job. They never really trusted you, did they, quite apart from all that nastiness you told me about.’
Judith thought about the newsroom and what happened there. He was right.
‘Now that Bill’s the editor, they’ll need a chief reporter,’ she said, without conviction.
‘But Falcon is back, isn’t he, at least for a w
hile, and can you see Bill Skelly picking you for that job, Judith, and all the aggravation of working with a stroppy woman like you?’
‘Stroppy? Is that what you think?’
‘Not me, them,’ said John. ‘I saw what happened to my mother. It was twenty years ago, and you’re not quite as stroppy as she was, but things haven’t changed all that much.’
‘You sound like a feminist,’ said Judith.
‘Am I allowed to be a feminist?’ he said, smiling. ‘I’m not saying you should have that job because you’re a woman, but you shouldn’t have to fight like you’ve had to do. It’s a waste of your energy and your talent and they don’t deserve you.’
Judith watched him, surprised by his vehemence.
‘There’s no rush,’ he went on. ‘Something will turn up, and you’ll know if it’s what you want. I can help, if you need me to. We’re not short of money, and I’m very happy to support you in a new venture, if you find something you want to do.’
She squeezed his arm.
The tides were unusually high over the next few days, and on Saturday, as Vince wasn’t at college, Judith walked with him down to the shore at high tide, to listen and feel the spray on his face. Clusters of foamy bubbles blew up the beach and over their boots, and Judith felt like a child again, running up the stony slope away from encroaching waves.
‘We’re lucky living here,’ Vince said as they walked back to the house, blown along by the westerly.
’A honey trap,’ said Judith. ‘I have to escape before it sucks me in and I’m stuck for good.’
‘College is good for getting me out of the house,’ he said. ‘And Dad says they can use me at Sellafield when I’ve done my exams. So at least I’ll be earning, even if I can’t have my own place.’
‘I want out, too,’ said Judith. ‘But I don’t know where or what. Dad keeps on about letting things just happen but I’m not very good at being patient.’
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Judith was alone in the house the next day when the phone rang just after ten. It was Sam. He enquired after her health, as he always did, but she could hear that something else was on his mind.
‘Will you be coming back to Barrow at all?’ he asked. ‘I could do with a chat.’
‘No plans,’ said Judith. ‘I’m still off sick officially, but I couldn’t face it even now I’m feeling better.’
‘Have you decided about work?’
‘The one thing I know is that I’m not going back to the News. Not sure about anything else.’
‘We need to talk,’ he repeated, ‘so I’ll come to you.’
‘No,’ she said. ‘I need a break and you always come here. We could meet halfway…’ She thought about the possibilities. ‘How about Silecroft? We could walk to the beach if the weather’s OK, or go to the Miners if it’s not. It’s right next to the station.’
It was cold but clear the following afternoon. Sam waited in the Miners for Judith’s southbound train to arrive. The wind had dropped and the sky was clearing from the west, so they decided to risk the walk to the shore.
‘It’ll take us ten minutes,’ he said. ‘Can you manage that?’
‘Come on, Sam.’ She grabbed his arm. ‘I’m not in my dotage yet. Walking’s good for us. And you keep saying we need to chat, so chat away.’
❖ ❖ ❖
Sam told her what Cardine had said to him at the funeral.
‘That’s awful,’ she said. ‘Can’t you complain to someone, take it further?’
‘Maybe, but I’ve taken the hint and decided to leave the force.’
Judith stopped, shocked. ‘But Sam, you can’t do that. That means they’ve won. You love being a policeman. Why not just move to another job, away from Barrow? What about the Met?
‘I thought about that,’ he said. ‘But do I want to live in London? Not really. And I’m not sure things will be straightforward there, either. What if I saw other things going on I didn’t approve of?’ He laughed. ‘Makes me sound a real tight arse, doesn’t it.’
‘Well you are, I suppose,’ said Judith. ‘Hayward said you play it by the book. That’s probably why he told you about Morrison.’
‘And look where that got me,’ said Sam. He walked on, and she followed, past a pair of incongruously large houses and up the final rise that led to the sea. Spread before them the long beach was wet and gleaming from the receding tide, the horizon a pale grey line dividing sea from sky. Sam spoke again, his eyes blinking against the salty breeze. ‘Cardine wanted my resignation, and that’s what I gave him. I need to work but there are other things I could do. Always fancied being a postman.’
‘A postman? Well, you’d be back in uniform again.’
He smiled. ‘But at least I wouldn’t feel ashamed of it.’
‘Is that how you feel, about the force?’
Judith had turned to face him, her hair blowing free across her face. Sam looked out at the frothy lines of surf rolling in one after another.
‘I know it’s not the whole force,’ he said. ‘One day soon we’ll have the guts to clear out people like Cardine and Morrison, but there’s no place for me until that happens. Everyone hates a grass, and that’s what I am.’ He hesitated. ‘Look,’ he said, ‘Rain, you can see it out to sea. If we start back we might avoid it.’
But the rain caught up with them. By the time they got back to the shelter of the Miners they were both wet and cold enough to justify something stronger than beer. Judith’s brandy burned her throat.
‘I understand why you have to leave,’ she said, ‘but it’s such a waste. I’ve seen how clever you are with people. And you’re fussy about details. You’re good at what you do, Sam.’ She smiled as a thought came to her. ‘You could be Sam Spade, like in the films. ‘Sam Tognarelli, Private Eye’. Sounds good.’
Sam smiled too. ‘Good idea, thanks. I’ll brush up my American accent and buy a big hat.’
‘And I could answer your phone and keep the beautiful women at bay,’ said Judith.
‘That would be a waste, too,’ he said. ‘What will you do, really? You need time, don’t you, to get over all this nastiness? Policemen know they have to deal with villains and violence, but you didn’t sign up for that. It’s bound to affect you for a while. Are you sleeping OK?’
Judith took another sip of brandy. ‘Yes, I sleep. It was bad to start with, but getting better now. I can talk to Dad about it, and Vince. That helps. Mum doesn’t want to know. She thinks it’s just too sordid. And she’s more worried about Granny Violet than she is about me.’
‘Give it time,’ said Sam. ‘You can afford to look around, can’t you?’
‘Only if I live at home. It feels like my life’s going backwards.’
They sat quietly, watching the fire and thinking about the future.
Sam said, ‘Perhaps we’d better not see each other for a while. Put the whole business behind us.’
Judith looked up. ‘Is that what you want?’
‘No, not really, but I think it’s what we need.’
‘How long?’
He shrugged. ‘I need to find another job, and then a place to live if I have to move out of Barrow. Could be anywhere, miles away.’
‘I’ve still got my scooter,’ said Judith, and they both laughed.
IF YOU’VE ENJOYED THIS STORY, YOU MAY WANT TO…
• Order another copy of Cruel Tide to pass to a friend.
• Read one of the books in Ruth Sutton’s trilogy, entitled Between the Mountains and the Sea shown on the next page:
A Good Liar tells the story of Jessie who risks career and independence with a love affair, whilst her secret past draws ever closer.
Forgiven is set among the coal mines and fells of the Cumberland coast. Jessie’s struggle for happiness continues.
Fallout features the nuclear disaster at
Windscale, which brings a compelling
stranger into Jessie’s world.
• Follow Ruth Sutton’s blog on ruthwords.
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TITLES BY THE SAME AUTHOR
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Titles by the Same Author