The Retirement Party

by Graham Miller

  DC Angel flexed his elbow back, against the natural direction of the joint. 'Drop the knife now!' He had little choice and the knife clattered to the floor. In one practised move, she swept his arm around, clipped on a handcuff, then gathered up the second and had him restrained.

  'Well that was stupid!' DC Hobbs was out of the car and thumped the bonnet in frustration.

  'What do you mean?' DC Angel pushed down on her suspect who'd flinched when Steve hit the bonnet. 'You saw him swipe that handbag. Casual muggings like that have been one of our targets on crime reports for weeks.'

  'He was armed and you tackled him alone, without your baton.' DC Hobbs spread his arms in exasperation. 'You didn't even caution him or identify yourself as police.'

  DC Angel was fed up with his attitude. She was sure she'd been through all the courses more recently than him. In a sing-song, learned by rote voice she said, 'He had a knife out in a crowded public area. I feared for the safety of the public so acted swiftly to contain the threat. As he was running, there was not time to call out or warn him before I acted.'

  DC Hobbs frowned at her. She knew she'd gone out on a bit of limb waiting for him to steal a handbag but the result justified the risk.

  * * *

  Back at the station all hell broke loose. Detective Sergeant Dave Parry was shouting at DC Hobbs. 'Why didn't you recognise him. He's my informant and he should have a degree of protection. That's the deal.'

  'By the time I recognised him, she already had him in cuffs over the bonnet. Not much I could do by then.'

  DC Angel stood slightly back from the argument. As the new person on the team she didn't want to dive in until she'd figured out the situation.

  A dangerous silence fell as everyone in the office realised that the boss was there. He was not just the boss, but DCI Haines, at least two ranks above everyone else there. DC Angel felt her stomach drop. Had she messed up on only her second day?

  'Angel.' He barked. She turned to focus on him. 'You saw him lift the handbag. Were you undercover?'

  'Undercover? What do you mean, boss?' She wondered what he was playing at.

  'Well, what car were you in, how were you dressed?'

  'Me and DC Hobbs were in a pool car, sir. Dressed as you see us now.' Their dress code might be best described as office casual.

  'Just sat there, in full view?'

  'Yes, sir.'

  Haines nodded. He turned to DS Parry and DC Angel relaxed slightly. She still hadn't figured out the dynamics so she watched the exchange carefully.

  'You'd better have a quiet word with your CI,' Haines said to Parry. 'If he thinks he can go around lifting handbags in full view of two CID officers in a pool car, then he's an idiot. They might as well have been in uniform. Every scrote from here to Bristol can spot one of our unmarked cars, especially with two of our finest officers sat in the front.'

  'Yes, sir.' DS Parry paused for a second. 'Sir, what shall I do with him? Caution or charge?'

  'It's DC Angel's collar, so it's up to her.'

  'Well,' DC Angel played for time. She looked straight at DS Parry. He looked thoroughly pissed off, although she wasn't sure if it was at his informant, at her, or even at his boss. And now Haines had put her in a tricky situation. Should she be a good copper or a team player? 'He is your informant but I didn't know that when I nicked him.' There was an undercurrent to her voice. She would have nicked him anyway, had she known, but she wanted to at least sound apologetic. 'Thanks, sir, but I'll defer to rank and experience. He's your prisoner.' She gave a curt nod to DS Parry. This was the safest course, she thought, chuck the ball straight back to Parry and let him sort out his own mess.

  DS Parry said, 'Thank you. I'll go and caution him and tell him to keep his bloody eyes open!' He still looked thunderously angry and the door slammed behind him as he went down to the custody suite to sort it out.

  Haines walked back to his office, his mind turning over what had just happened. He was still undecided as to how DC Angel would fit into his team so had tested her. He was pleased that she had chosen to be a team player rather than hanging on to a collar. Lots of rookie detectives would have dug in and demanded that they charge the mugger. She was also canny. Ostensibly she had deferred to DS Parry as her superior, but she'd actually chucked a live grenade back to him. As he walked back to his office, he smiled to himself. DC Angel could play the long game.

  He also liked the way she had held up under close questioning and the fact she had given quick straight answers to his questions. He knew however that she would ruffle feathers and upset his other detectives. On the other hand, maybe it was time to go back to basics. Maybe it was time to have a detective who would see a crime being committed and arrest the villain. Sometimes you could overthink and be too political.

  This was part of his long-term plan – he didn't want to just leave his team behind to fall apart. He'd seen that too much in the past. It seemed that each time a good group got together then management would step in and break it up.

  So, he wanted to move on, move up, as he had done his whole career. He knew that he was taking a big step – superintendent was a senior rank. He would be moving into the realm of strategic command with hundreds of officers under him. And within striking distance of assistant chief constable. Those were proper roles. He was about to say to himself that it was an ACPO role, but that had all changed, now it was the National Police Chiefs Council.

  Anyway, he thought to himself, he wouldn't leave a mess behind when he went. He had already chosen his successor but that would mean that everyone lower down would shuffle up one, leaving a gap. The question he now asked himself was – was DC Angel right to fill that gap?

  He thought back to all he'd learned from his mentor and superior officer, now retired ACC Reg Patterson. Regardless of rank, even when they'd become friends, he'd always been Patterson to him. Even when he'd been given permission to address him as Reg, he'd still been Patterson. He had taught him that he needed to mould a team, look at strengths and weaknesses, find ways for people to get along, work together.

  In that respect at least, Patterson had been a very modern policeman.

  Chapter Four

  Tuesday evening was the time that Haines had set aside for meeting with Billy King. The two men had known each other for years and moved their meetings around the town to avoid attracting suspicion.

  This time they were sat in the luxury leather seats of Billy's Jaguar, parked on the promenade, nose out to the sea. As it had been all summer, the weather was overcast. Not cold, not rainy but certainly not sunny either.

  'I'm dying out there, Rob,' Billy said when they'd exchanged greetings and small talk. 'There's only so long I hold on to people if they're getting beatings and having their money and product taken.'

  'We're doing what we can. But it's tricky because a lot of them come from out of town, yet they seem quite savvy when it comes to CCTV.' He thought of the battles he'd had recently over improving the quality of the cameras surrounding the train station. He decided that King wouldn't be interested in the fights over budgets. 'And those we do identify are usually on their way back home by the time we know who they are.'

  'Tell me about it – even the papers are talking about county lines now. Can't you disrupt them back in the city centres?'

  'That's not how it works – we all have our territories and divisions, much the same as you have your own turf.'

  'Except no one's coming onto your turf and beating up your officers, are they?' When Haines didn't reply, he continued. 'This is all on me to fix. I'm the one they look to.'

  'Even if we do manage to arrest a kid in the city, there are ten more stepping up to fill their shoes.'

  'It's not like you to give up.' King turned to look at his passenger.

  'I'm not giving up,' Haines explained. 'We need to keep doing what we're doing.'

  An uneasy silence fell between them. Finally, King spoke reluctantly, as if the words were being dragged out of him. 'There are r
umours, vague, some are only hints.'

  'Rumours? Of what?' Haines wished he could make King talk, but he knew King would never be rushed.

  'We might be getting a visit from some of the senior members of a Birmingham gang down here.' King spoke while looking straight ahead, out at the sea. 'One of the bigger gangs wants to move in wholesale. That's what all the beatings are about. They're not satisfied with running a few lines but instead they want to take over the whole trade, the whole town.'

  Haines nodded. It was what he feared. Not just dealers coming in intermittently but an established presence. He had a thought and considered what to say.

  King said, 'What? You're thinking something.'

  'Just considering options.'

  'Deciding who you can trust, more like,' King said with a smile. 'I know what you're thinking anyway, and I can help. They're not just handing out beatings, they're offering membership of the city gang if any of my men want to defect.' He smiled slowly. 'I could order some of them to accept the offer.'

  'Run an undercover operation you mean?' Haines couldn't believe he'd be so reckless. 'Do you have any idea how much training and experience that takes?'

  King laughed, a low chuckle. 'That's for your lot. We're already criminals so we don't need no training courses on how to blend in. And I don't need authorisation. I'll pick some of my men who don't have deep links with the town. Tell them to check in when they can, not to take risks. It'll be a piece of cake.'

  Haines shot him a sideways glance. 'You know I can't authorise--'

  King laughed, a short bark this time. 'None of this is going in your official notes, is it?'

  'Well no, but you'll have no backup from me if this goes tits-up.' When, Haines thought; when it goes tits-up. He knew from hard experience that an operation like that could only go wrong. He thought it through for a moment while they sat in the car and watched the waves crashing on the beach. 'You know, I always wanted something big to go out on. If you do manage to get some men in undercover, could you find out the details of the meeting? If the rumours are true that is?'

  'What, about the Latvian gang from Birmingham?' King asked. 'I see what you're getting at. First we see if the rumours are true, then you can take them down. Especially if they're here on your turf.'

  'It'll buy you a lot of time.' Haines nodded. 'If we round up the top people in the gang, that could trigger a power struggle back in the city. It might be years before they come back down here. Also, it'll give me a big send off from the job.'

  'You're not leaving, are you?'

  'Not altogether, no. But I've got over the final hurdle,' Haines announced. 'I've got a bit of time to tidy up loose ends, and then I'll be leaving CID and getting my promotion. This time next month I'll be superintendent.'

  'What does this mean for us then?'

  'It'll be business as usual. We have the system and it works.' Haines tried to sound encouraging. 'I won't be as operational, but DI Hargreaves will be heading up the CID.'

  'But you'll still be involved, won't you? I'll be able to come to you to iron out problems?'

  'Not really. If I interfere with CID business after my promotion it will be noticed.' Haines considered telling him about the hierarchy. How it was detective sergeants and constables who really made the difference on the ground and how if he kept interfering as a superintendent then he would never get another promotion.

  'We work well together. I want that to continue. I don't want our arrangement to end. It's been beneficial for both of us.'

  'And it won't end.' Haines knew he had to be firm with Billy King. 'Like I said, it's just a natural progression. I get promoted, Hargreaves steps up. It'll be fine. You've met him, and I'll make sure that you have a proper handover.'

  'Hargreaves? Are you sure?'

  'What? Don't you trust him? He's been my second in command for over five years. It's just natural that he'd follow me. And he can do it as an inspector.' He paused, realising that the other man didn't care about police politics.

  'It's not that I don't trust him, as such.' King rubbed at an imaginary spot on the steering wheel. 'I certainly trust you and if you trust him then so do I. It's just, I dunno, we've been working together for years. It'll be a change, that's all. Is there any way we could keep working together? After your promotion?'

  'I don't see what the point would be,' Haines said shortly.

  'We need each other. We've both risen to the top of our fields because we helped each other.' Haines registered the subtle threat – they both knew too much to be cut loose.

  'Risen. That's the key point. Past tense. Not we're rising. We've done it, it's time to move on.'

  'Not if I don't want to.' Billy King sounded almost truculent.

  The silence hung between them, as palpable as a third person in the car. Both of them worked out how much they had to lose.

  Finally, staring out of the side window, Haines said, 'I guess we could, you know, meet up. Once I've got my feet under the table.' He hurriedly added, 'But nothing like now. Not regular like. Just now and then.'

  'So you could keep me updated on progress? What I need to know?' Billy tried and failed to keep the eagerness out of his voice.

  Haines nodded, thinking that most of his life would be sitting in committee meetings and forwarding reports about logistics and procurement. 'And I'd need information flowing back the other way.'

  'Of course, of course. It's what we do best. Keep this town safe. I can't tell you how helpful it's been over the years.' Now he'd got the concession he wanted, Billy King was expansive and generous.

  'And to us. Keeps the statistics looking good.' There was another loaded pause from Haines. 'So, Hargreaves? You'll be okay working with him?'

  'I guess. I don't know.' King stared out of the window for a moment. 'He's a bit... what am I looking for? An incomer?'

  'So am I. I wasn't born here like you. I used to come here on holidays when I was a kid.'

  'You know that doesn't count. You have your aunt just up the road who's been here forever. Family connection matters, you know.'

  'Well yes, I stayed with her in Highcliffe for my holidays.'

  'So you see. And you've been here for at least twenty years. Hargreaves came in from the city. He doesn't care about this place like you and me. If he got a promotion to another force, he'd take it, wouldn't he?'

  What does that say about me, Haines thought. Chained to this place, trying to preserve a past that only existed in childhood memories. On the other hand, he thought of all the good he had done. The dealers and thugs he'd run out of town. Every successful caravan park and retirement home was, in a small way, a testament to his dedication in keeping the town free of trouble.

  'That's as maybe,' Haines said. 'But don't forget Hargreaves has spent the last five years as my second in command. He might not be here for the long haul but he knows what's important.'

  King nodded to himself. Haines realised with a jolt that King was someone who'd never accept someone else's opinion. Well this was one change that the other man would have to accept. He was moving up and away from all this and Billy King wouldn't hold him back.

  'So, Billy,' Haines said. 'I know it's a risk, but you'll put people into the Latvian gang from Birmingham?' The other man nodded. 'I don't have long before I leave CID, so could that happen quickly?'

  'As I said, I'm not all tied up by bureaucracy. I'll have a word with them tonight. Should be fairly quick to set things in motion. The people I've in mind have already been approached.'

  'And the usual arrangements would apply, obviously.' Haines paused for effect. 'Except of course that if the meeting is bigger, then well, the arrangement would be bigger. On both sides.'

  'I hear what you're saying. I hear you loud and clear.' Billy nodded enthusiastically. 'I didn't need any convincing. As soon as I know, I'll pass it on to you.'

  'That's really helpful,' Haines said. He was still thinking about the promotion and was glad that things could move quickly enough. 'And I'l
l see what I can do about the beatings. I'll stir up the immigrants in Bradwick, see if I can find any with links back to Birmingham, try to break up their network.'

  Both men nodded and let the silence fall between them. When it was clear that neither of them had anything more to say, Haines slipped out of the car and walked back to his own vehicle.

  Chapter Five

  DC Angel cradled her coffee and tried to keep warm. There was something desolate and cold about five thirty in the morning no matter what the season. This particular morning was even bleaker than usual because of the reason for her being there.

  Already there was police tape over the end of the alley which led between two shops and down to a small square yard where the big industrial bins were kept. It was a grim place, surrounded by brick walls topped with razor wire.

  A uniform met her and waited while she put on a white forensic suit and overshoes. She went through the motions mechanically, wondering grimly what lay ahead. It wasn't her first body but the nervousness didn't lessen until she'd seen the body. When she was all ready, she went down and met DCI Haines.

  'Thought you'd like to be in at the sharp end. Get to know the ropes,' he said by way of greeting.

  'Thanks, sir,' she answered. Why was she here, she wondered, on her first week in the job.

  Haines nodded and led her to the scene. He was still thinking over everything both Hargreaves and King had said to him. Hargreaves clearly didn't trust DC Angel, while judging by last night's meeting, King didn't trust Hargreaves. He was aware that he'd made promises to King to take some pressure off so the last thing he needed was a long drawn out murder investigation.

  He had decided to bring DC Angel in at the beginning, to keep her close and see if she'd fit in. In the meantime, he could let Hargreaves run the operation to catch and prosecute the out of town drug dealers trying to muscle in.

  DC Angel got her first sight of the victim. She was sprawled out on her back. One foot had been left exposed beneath a pile of black rubbish sacks. The scene of crime photographer had no choice but to clip numbers to each bag that he could see. He then photographed the pile and removed the first layer, before repeating the process.