The Trials of Sally Dunning and a Clerical Murder

by Miller Caldwell

  Soon the two forces mingled throwing punches, stones and hoardings at each other. Scuffles broke out. Some continued their wrestling on the damp ground.

  Shouts of pain and injury from both sides were heard while the police used a loudspeaker ordering the combatants to desist. Police notified them that they were on CCTV and offenders would be identified and prosecuted.

  That did not seem to matter. The fighting grew tenser as the younger members of each group tried to settle scores while protecting their elderly supporters.

  Superintendent Graham knew his forces were stretched. He telephoned the Chief Fire and Rescue officer. A water cannon was requested. It seemed a strange request as the rain had not stopped and the foes were soaked to the bone.

  Police reinforcements were summoned and the local TV crew arrived with their reporter who glided between the confrontational rivals to gauge the true feeling of the combatants.

  For over an hour the volume of excited Urdu voices and aggressive mumblings of football supporters mingled. The fans were venting their abandoned afternoon field of conflict to the streets of confrontation. The sound of ambulances drew nearer as police strived to divide the adversaries. It was a thankless task. Neither enemy wished to give ground. Fists flew and blood ran down faces further accentuated by the streams of falling rain.

  The water cannon arrived gushing between the rivals and arced its powerful spray equally causing the warring factions to part. Most away supporters made their way to the rail station after that. The Muslim demonstrators then called their protest off, blaming the weather as much as the unexpected opposition. The local support dwindled, trampling over the Muslim banners as they took to side streets to avoid police identification. The rain subsided. The demonstrations were over. The ambulances carried off a few bloodied combatants and the police were stood down shortly afterwards.

  The Superintendent returned to his office to make a report of the afternoon events. He flung his luminous jacket over a wooden chair and looked at his watch. An hour should be enough he thought and took a pen from his tunic.

  ‘Bugger it,’ he shouted. His pen had leaked ink.

  20

  The Repercussions

  As Superintendent Graham poured himself a strong 4.8 % can of dark beer to the strains of his Saturday night Match of the Day opening theme, his thoughts returned to the day’s events.

  Had the weather only been drier, the game would not have been cancelled and the demonstration would have gone off without a hitch. It was a fine line between a peaceful Muslim demonstration and instant conflagration. The press and TV coverage took only one view. The conflagration. He stroked his black Labrador and took another sip. Watford had just scored the first goal and his focus was now on the televised match.

  Tony spent that Saturday afternoon at his office all on his own, tidying up papers, sorting out his next week’s cases and reports and binning, shredding and shelving other articles. He did so to the strains of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. Playing was La Primavera No 1 Spring in E major. Classic FM was his default station as he was a morning Radio 4 riser while Radio 2 quietly played in his waiting room for his clients.

  Looking out of his office into the darkening skies, he distinguished a car with lights on approaching and coming to a halt. The lights were extinguished. Footsteps approached. Tony was alerted to the visitor and made his way through from his room to the open reception area. Then Tony recognised who it was.

  ‘I saw your light was on when I was passing. Didn’t know you worked weekends.’

  ‘I don’t usually Paul. Come in.’

  ‘To be honest I wanted to see you.’

  ‘Well, grab a seat. I’m here,’ Tony said waving his hand towards a rocking chair in his room.

  ‘I’ve not been on one of these for a long time,’ Paul said with a quiet chuckle.

  ‘So what’s on your mind?’

  Paul took in a deep breath, held it for a moment then exhaled.

  ‘It’s not easy to say. I’ve lost my faith completely and I’ve been having pains.’

  ‘You told me you had seen your GP?’

  ‘Yes, I have.’

  The hush filled the room. Tony waited a moment longer in silence.

  ‘I’ll have to give up playing in the group.’

  ‘Are you sure?

  ‘Yes, very sure. I was sent for tests. Testicular and rectal cancer and both are aggressive.’

  Tony’s eyebrows tightened. His expression was sincere. ‘I’m very sorry Paul. How are you coping?’

  ‘I need to simply my life. No band music, no church attendance, just reflection and getting my things in order.’

  ‘Can I ask how long you have known about this?’

  ‘Almost two weeks now.’

  ‘Shortly after Farook’s murder or around then?’

  Paul hesitated. His mind was engaged.

  ‘Yes, about a couple of days after his murder. I do hope they get who did it soon. It’s taking the police so long.’

  ‘Don’t you worry about that Paul.’

  ‘Well, there’s not much more I can say.’

  Tony nodded in agreement. ‘Do you have more hospital appointments?

  ‘Oh appointments, yes loads. I have to call the McMillan nurses whenever I want. The hospital can do nothing now.’

  Tony stood up and went over to Paul placing his hand on his shoulder and tapping it a few times. ‘I can see why Lizzie could not understand your position.’

  Paul smiled. ‘She is a well-meaning lass. I just could not tell her the truth.’

  ‘Do you have close friends to be with you?’

  ‘My friends were the Salvationists. We were a happy band. I married the movement not a woman.’

  ‘So no one other than the McMillan nurses to tend you?’

  ‘And when they say, it’s hospital, that’s the end.’

  Tony went to his bookcase. He selected a book.

  ‘I was tidying up the office when you arrived, sorting out things. I’m not always reading textbooks you know. Some are simply rib tickling. Here, have this book Paul. It’s one of the funniest I have ever read,’

  Paul received the book and read its back cover first. He smiled. ‘The General danced at Dawn. It sounds good, sounds prophetic too.’

  Tony interpreted his remark as being dark. It was not the mood appropriate for departing.

  ‘Do you want me to keep in touch?’

  Paul looked up as if a light bulb had been switched on. He smiled. ‘Yes, I’d like that. Come visit me in hospital won’t you?’

  ‘Of course I will Paul. I’ll let the McMillan nurses know so they can keep me informed.’

  Paul nodded his agreement and stood up. He looked at his book once more and smiled. He tapped it against his left hand palm and made for the door.

  ‘Thanks Tony. For all you have done for me.’

  Paul was out of the room and heading towards his car as Tony still could not find appropriate parting words.

  Monday was a bright sunny morning. Superintendent Graham was reading through the police report of Saturday’s incident when the phone rang. His secretary informed him that Chief Superintendent David Rae of the Scottish Police had arrived from Glasgow. He lay down his report. As he made for the door, it opened and C/Supt Rae made straight for the seat in front of the Superintendent’s desk.

  ‘It’s more than two weeks since this murder investigation started and just over a week since the explosion at the crematorium. You have made no progress, have you?’

  The Superintendent realised he was in for a toasting. He began his defence.

  ‘I don’t think you know how strong the Muslim feelings are around this case? They have not been very cooperative.’

  ‘You’d be upset too if you were Muslim.’

  ‘I don’t think so. We have a fingerp
rint to go on in the explosion case and we are hoping that if we can make that match, we’ll almost certainly get the murderer too.’

  ‘Pie in the sky, Mr Graham. What you have done is alienate the Muslim community on a hunch and caused a demonstration and a mass disturbance.’

  ‘I am here to relieve you of your post Mr Graham. From now on I will be in charge of this double investigation. You, Superintendent Graham are demoted to Inspector. I will make this a force announcement in ten minutes. I leave you to gather your things from this room. I will take over in half an hour when I will address all senior ranks. I suggest Mr Graham, you cover for them when I speak to them.’

  The Superintendent was in shock. Could he accept his demotion? He resolved to utter one last volley at his superior.

  ‘If the needle is in a haystack; there is no need to look in the field. We had identified the most likely source of the offender.’

  ‘You just don’t get it. Do you? You should have arranged to take the fingerprints of all men in the community from 18-30 years of age. That way you would not be targeting the Muslim community. That way you would have had no demonstration; no pitched battle as the press and TV are calling it.’

  ‘Chief Superintendent Rae, you will find my investigation team top notch.They will be devastated to learn of this encounter but I can save your embarrassment if you have any. I tender my resignation forthwith.’

  Mr Graham unclipped his black tie and threw it down on his desk. His thirty eight years of policing had come to an abrupt end.

  C/Supt Rae lifted the self-clipping tie and threw it at him as he made for the door.

  ‘Here, keep it. You might be going to a funeral one day.’

  21

  Behind the Silver Cloud

  The following Tuesday while Tony was leafing through his list of clients the telephone rang.

  ‘Ah Superintendent, how are things,’ asked Tony as he recognised the salutation.

  ‘No longer Superintendent these days....’

  ‘Ah Chief Superintendent now. Congratulations.’

  ‘No, no, no. I’m leading you astray. I am retired or perhaps I should be more truthful, I was asked to retire.’

  Tony rapidly tried to interpret what he had heard. ‘Obliged to retire?’

  ‘Taken over by the city. I’ve been replaced by Chief Superintendent David Rae. Says we are not making enough progress on the murder and explosion. Keeping our eggs all in one basket, as it were. Not throwing a wider net around the place.’

  ‘Doesn’t seem wrong to me. The answer is surely within the Muslim community.’

  ‘Well, he’s covering all possibilities. There will be a fingerprinting of all males between 18 and 40. It’s bound to show we are not making any progress. I can see some officers giving it a wide berth.’

  ‘So he’s already decided it wasn’t a female.’

  ‘Frankly, when this matter is resolved I could not care less. My days in the police are over. No longer Superintendent Graham. Just plain Colin Graham.’

  The weekly paper’s headline read: City Cop Takes Over Murder Inquiry. Tony read further. Chief Superintendent Rae was scathing of Colin Graham and showed a determination to have the cases wound up within the next few weeks. All males over 18 and 40 years of age were to make themselves available at any of the town’s four substations to have thumb prints taken.

  The C/Supt insisted that if they had a clear conscience, then their prints would prove it. All innocent prints would be shredded on completion. Extra staff had been called into record the prints which would take each individual only a couple of minutes of their time. The C/Supt suggested they should come with passports or recent utility bills or any other irrefutable documentation of identification.

  It was time to get the clerics musical group up and running again. Tony sent out e-mails for them to come to a practice the following Friday. There was a full turn out.

  Tony began the meeting by explaining why Paul would no longer be attending.

  ‘Oh dear. I was a bit harsh on him last time we met. I was only trying to get him to hold on to his or any other faith but he seemed, well, out of this world. I now know why, poor Paul,’ said Lizzie.

  ‘Perhaps I should call and see him. Do you think that would be appreciated?’

  ‘Alan, the McMillan nurses are likely to be there. Perhaps take their advice first,’ suggested Tony.

  ‘McMillan nurses,’ said Marti, ‘he seems to be very ill indeed.’

  ‘One trombone down then,’ said Ivan assembling his clarinet.

  That evening they played for almost two hours and after a general discussion, principally led by Lizzie, they decided to give a town hall charity evening. Alan agreed to create the programme and all were pleased to hear he had plans to add a spot for a local comedian as well as a local poet.

  All police stations had a steady flow of young men coming to have their fingerprints taken. A team of four experienced officers stood by to examine them immediately after the attendee’s identification was complete. The Muslim community were anxious to attend as they felt their demonstration had led to this more comprehensive exercise.

  Magdalene Smith was following the C/Supt’s intervention in the cases. She was persistent. She kept an ear out for the fingerprinting progress. Her weekly column commented on the fact that no females were under suspicion and neither were teenagers who were known to be responsible for acts of vandalism and other more serious anti-social activities in the community. It also precluded the over 40s of either sex. It was not a truly comprehensive trawl. Chief Superintendent Rae responded saying that the police knew how to target the probable offenders. His policy of restricted targeting would please the wider law-abiding public.

  The following day Magdalene had a scoop. She learned that three of the Muslim volunteers who had come forward could not provide conclusive evidence that they were bone fide citizens of the United Kingdom. One had brought a gas bill with another householder’s name on it. Another brought a Pakistani passport informing the police he was only a visitor. However it soon emerged that he had outstayed his visitor permit. The third man spoke no English at all. An interpreter was called. He brought no identification and was detailed to join the others. All three men were taken to the UK Border Force’s detention centre.

  The news did not endear itself to the Muslim community and Faisal Muhammad made an appointment with the Chief Superintendent. It came about two days later.

  Faisal’s eyes grew large as he was escorted into the Chief’s room. He was not going to beat about the bush. ‘Sir, first you target the Muslim Community to have their fingerprints taken. Then you climb down and now target our community by a snatch and grab policy. This is intolerable.’

  ‘Mr Muhammad it is a universal right to travel but not to outstay a welcome.’

  ‘You do not understand that these men are helping their elders. They do the shopping and cook meals and tidy houses for our elderly community. That saves the NHS time and money and keeps beds free for the more needy.’

  ‘That may be so, but the law is the law. They can appeal against their detention but they are in this country illegally. I said illegally.’

  Faisal turned to leave the office. ‘You come here and sack the Superintendent. Don’t think you can do any better.’ Then he left, slamming the door behind him in a moment of anger. The walls seemed to shudder. The wall calendar no longer hung perpendicularly and his glass of water on his desk rippled.

  Chief Superintendent Rae lifted a desk folder and slammed it down. As a senior pen-pusher he had not been used to dealing with the public for some time. All he could hope for now was a fingerprint matching the suspect.

  Dr Karen Kane’s appointment was the last for the day. She had requested an appointment after the last musical practice. What would be her reason? Tony had no idea but he had subconsciously tidied his office before she arr
ived.

  ‘Come in Karen. Take a seat.’

  Karen brought a seat nearer to Tony’s desk. He noticed she was wearing makeup, not something she did at music practice. He sensed some perfume in the air too.

  ‘So I presume no incidents to tell me?’

  ‘Tony, I’d like to thank you sincerely for all you have done. You have taken me from that dark place, organised the medication, and that’s given me a more confident take on the world.’

  ‘Hmmm on the world even,’ Tony clarified.

  ‘Well makes me feel more on top of life perhaps.’

  Tony smiled taking in the beauty of her face. She did not speak and Tony struggled to find his words. The silence lasted almost ten seconds, a time in which eyes were moving all over the place in embarrassment, expectation, doubt and hope.

  Karen’s eyes dropped down to her lap. Then she looked up into Tony’s eyes.

  ‘Tony...I.....I’m not sure....I...’ she smiled then relaxed defeated in sharing her thoughts.

  ‘Karen, I think you have a spell on me and it’s most efficacious.’

  He looked to see what reaction his thoughts might have and she was clearly smiling so widely he could see her gleaming teeth.

  ‘I was not aware I had the power to make spells but....if spells are about....Tony, I think I’m under a spell too.’

  Tony came towards her and lifted her hand.

  ‘I am divorced, have been for some time. In the past few years I’ve settled here in the south-west getting into golf, walks, Rotary and work. Thought my days ahead would be alone but wondering if it had to be that way.’

  Karen opened her mouth but Tony placed his finger on her lips. ‘Let me have my say first. I was beginning to think I’d live life alone from now on. Then through circumstances, you came onto my books as it were. I knew right from the start that you took my breath away. I realised if I ever settled down again with a partner it would be someone just like you. And the feeling grew. On our Rambling excursions I’ve seen you as a caring member, thoughtful, fun-loving and entertaining. What more could a man wish for? Karen, I think I’ve said enough. Have I offended you?’