If they were, that would make things simple, he said pompously. It is the fact that they probably are not that I find sinister.
You find friendship sinister, I thought. Oh, Gaw!
In any case, the sergeants sexual orientation is no longer a matter of law, I said.
Sexual orientation? he mocked. You have been too long immersed in the obliquities of Sibylline utterance. Let us call a spade a spade.
And then came out the long list of mocking insults.
Oh Gaw, I thought. What indignities did you suffer at that school of yours to make you so vehement? Or perhaps the question should be, what ecstasies did you experience which make you feel so guilty?
But nothing I said.
Mine is not to reason why, or at least not to be seen reasoning why.
Mine is merely to obey orders and collect here all those whom Gaw Sempernel sees fit to designate as leaves on his tree.
Edgar Wield
Edgar Wield
Most inscrutable of men
Working-class background. Cant have been easy growing up feeling as you did in a Yorkshire mining village, son of a lurcher-loving, pigeon-fancying father, with the pit gaping at your feet and the only traditional ways out university for the very bright or professional Rugby League for the very brawny.
You were neither, Edgar, but you found a third way which, though it attracted the contumely of your peers, diverted their suspicion from the truth of you.
The police.
Were you perhaps still trying to convince yourself that it was, as they used to say, only a phase? That given the right environment youd wake up one day and say to yourself, what I really fancy is finding a willing lass and giving her a right good shagging?
Or were you looking for a job where most people see only the uniform, never the man?
You were good at the job.
Not ivory tower university bright perhaps, but sharply focused with a phenomenal memory and a huge capacity for marshalling intricate detail, you took all the police exams in your stride, you won commendations for bravery, your annual reviews were undiluted paeans, you looked set to rise high. But once you became sergeant in the CID, you remained fixed.
Not for you the exposure of high rank.
You enjoy what you are doing. You are good at it. And your association with those other two who have also come fluttering down into Sempernels leaves, Dalziel and Pascoe, has given you confidence enough to live your life more freely, not to flaunt who you are but not to hide it either.
And still Gaw Sempernel suspects you.
Or at least feels he might at some point be able to use you.
From what I know of you, lying here in my little casket, Sergeant, this may not be the least of his errors.
loved by his friends
refusing to yield
Edgar Wield
Edgar Wield
v
revenge and retribution
Every age has its own defining philosophical speculations, often best expressed in terms which may at a glance appear over-personalized and tainted with self-interest.
It was, for example, in relation to her prospects of professional advancement that Shirley Novello first asked herself the question, was being treated like a man a form of sexual discrimination?
Things had seemed pretty straightforward the first time she had attended a CID gathering in the Black Bull with the Holy Trinity and found she was expected to go to the bar and collect the drinks no matter who was actually buying the round. She was disappointed without being surprised, as this chimed perfectly with the expectation at all levels in the Force that if tea or coffee were to be fetched, any woman present would be the fetcher. Novello had worked out various non-confrontational strategems to avoid doing this, but she had not been afraid to fall back on confrontation.
Confrontation with Andy Dalziel, however, felt as futile as confrontation with Uranus. (Or any planet, but Uranus somehow seemed most fitting.) Hit it hard as you could, you werent going to jolt it out of its orbit.
The other two, however, gave the impression that they might in their better moments be susceptible to the nudge of right reason.
But before she could nerve herself to put this to the test, she had discovered by distant observation that if the group consisted of the Trinity alone, it was usually Wield who did the fetching and carrying, while if the three became a pair, it was Pascoe.
So now right reason asked, if a male sergeant and a male chief inspector could accept this as the natural order of things, was it reasonable for a female constable to cry discrimination?
Or, to put it another way, what should a woman do who fought for equal treatment and then found that the equal treatment she fought for was in fact unequal?
These were the speculations thronging her mind as she returned from the bar at eleven oclock on the morning after the attempted kidnapping of Ellie Pascoe, bearing a tray loaded with a pint of best, a half of the same, a fizzy mineral water and a Coke.
Pascoes request for the mineral water had emboldened her to buy the Coke.
They were in the Black Bull to discuss possible ramifications of yesterdays events. The chief inspector had arrived late at the station, having spent the morning ensuring that his house and Edengrove School were being watched over to his satisfaction. He looked worn out, and it was this wanness which the Fat Man had used as an excuse to retire instantly to the pub where, he averred, he had his best thoughts, and they would be free from interruption. Novellos inclusion had had all the appearance of a throwaway afterthought, coming as Dalziel led the trio out of the CID room. But Novello had long since concluded that most of the Fat Mans apparent afterthoughts were carefully planned. The wise thing was to be neither flattered by his attention nor offended by the lack of it.
She placed the tray on the table, noting with some satisfaction that shed managed to slop a little beer over Dalziels change (the seriousness of the occasion was marked by the fact that Dalziel had actually bought a round), and then put all personal and philosophical considerations out of her mind to focus on the debate in progress.
The on-the-table theory was that the attempted abduction had something to do with Pascoes work.
Wieldy, you were trawling that mind of thine for folk Petes put away who were nutty enough to take it personally.
Dalziels natural Luddism was expressed in his boast, Who needs great ugly lumps of hi-tech equipment cluttering the place when weve got Wieldy whos twice as efficient and three times as ugly? but Novello had noticed that the sergeants computer skills were state of the art.
Whatever its source, the list of perps whod gone down threatening the DCI with personal injury was impressively long. For a nice quiet guy, Pascoe seemed to have got up a lot of criminal noses.
But Wields conclusion was that in most cases the threats had just been empty, if over-heated, air.
You need a special kind of twist to nurse a grievance and plan revenge, said Wield.
Is that right, Sigmund? said Dalziel. So what youre saying is, youve dug deep and ended up with nowt but an empty hole?
No, said Wield. In fact, I struck a root. Franny Roote.
Dalziel looked blank for a moment, then let his jaw drop in the mock-amazement he had taken to affecting if Wield essayed a joke.
You mean that weird student at yon college? My memory serves me right, we couldnt do him for owt but being an accessory.
Thats right, said Wield. But after listening to what had gone on there, the judge ordered a psycho-evaluation before sentencing. And after getting an earful of that, he decided best place for Roote was a secure hospital. To start with the lad refused all treatment, and during this period he seems to have fixed on the DCI, or sergeant as he was then, as the man responsible for putting him there. He seemed to think you had something personal against him.
I know its silly, but I do tend to feel strongly about people who try to kill me, said Pascoe. I recall I got a weird letter from him while he was waiting trial. I passed it on to the court, so in a way he was right about me helping to get him certified. But theres been nothing since. I havent thought about him for years.
Doesnt mean hes not been thinking about you, said Dalziel. Wieldy, I take it theres summat else.
Only that he finally accepted the treatment and settled down to being a model patient-cum-prisoner. Did an OU degree in English Literature, and went on to start a research course for a Ph.D. or some such thing. Finally he convinced them he wasnt a menace to society any more and got himself discharged. Last month.
There was a moments silence, then the Fat Man said, That it?
Except
What?
Hed know Ellie, she was teaching at the college then, wasnt she? When you met her.
Pascoe nodded.
So? said Dalziel.
Nothing. Just a connection, said Wield. Also, probably means nowt, but this research hes doing. His topic is, I made a note of it, aye, here it is Revenge and Retribution in English Drama.
Another silence, then Dalziel said, Beats sewing mailbags and breaking rocks, I suppose. Got an address?
Aye. Sheffield.
Not so far, then. Set up liaison with South Yorkshire, then pop down there in the morning and check him out.
Cant do it tomorrow, sir. Day off.
Oh aye? And what are you doing thats more important than finding out whos threatening your colleagues family, Sergeant? demanded Dalziel in that tone of high moral dudgeon he saved for underlings who dared suggest they had a private life.
Wield glanced at Pascoe, who said, Actually, Wieldy is very kindly entertaining that same colleagues family. Hes invited Ellie and Rosie out to Enscombe to look round the Childrens Zoo at the Hall.
Oh, said Dalziel, slightly flummoxed. Right. Thats fine. Only dont try putting it down as overtime. Best go to check Roote out yourself then, Pete. If you feel up to it.
Itll be a pleasure, said Pascoe. Im in court with Kelly Cornelius at twelve, but that should give me plenty of time.
Shirley Novello listened and learned. These three had a pretty cosy relationship, she thought. Though perhaps cosy was not a word that fitted well on anything to do with Andy Dalziel. But they meshed easily together, like well-oiled cog wheels. It was a piece of machinery shed like to get herself linked up with, but she recognized the dangers in trying to poke yourself too brutally among moving cogs.
Shed noted with interest the reference to Ellie Pascoes job way back in the dark ages when theyd met. A college lecturer. Queen of the kids in never-never land. That figured.
Right, said Dalziel. Thats revenge took care of. Lets move on. Cases in progress where your involvement in the prosecution could make it seem worthwhile to some no-brain wanker to get you by the goolies. Hows that look?
Pascoe winced at the language, then sent an irritatingly apologetic glance to Novello, who winced, less obviously, in her turn. Hadnt marriage to the Nutcracker Fairy taught him anything?
Wield shrugged and said, Nothing obvious. Any road, Id have thought they saved threats for civilians. Cops theyd offer a bung.
Yeah, you and me, mebbe, Wieldy. But every sod knows fancy pants heres incorruptible. So, tell us, Mother Teresa, is there owt youre working on that gives you that funny feeling youre famous for?
Pascoe, with more than his customary diffidence, said, Well, it is just a feeling, but for some reason I keep on thinking Kelly Cornelius.
Her! cried Dalziel in derision. Shes a lass, not to mention a sodding accountant. Youve got more chance of getting aggro from a Siamese waitress.
Putting aside this touchstone of timidity for future deconstruction, Pascoe said, She is actually being charged with assault on a police officer, dont forget.
Oh aye, but that were Hector, and usually they give you a medal for thumping him, said Dalziel. Any road, why should she want to frighten you off? Youre just keeping her on ice on this assault charge while the Fraud boys get their act together, isnt that the arrangement? Theyre the ones who are going to send her down for ten years when they finally get their fingers out. Whats going off there, anyway, Pete? I dont mind helping out, but wont tomorrow be the third time youve had to go along and ask for a further remand in custody? And whats Desperate Dan know that we dont?
Desperate Dan was Dan Trimble, Mid-Yorkshires Chief Constable, who in Dalziels eyes didnt need to know anything other than how to pour single malt without missing the glass whenever the Head of CID graced him with his presence.
If I knew that, then he wouldnt, said Pascoe. OK, Im just concerned with the assault charge, but thats whats keeping her remanded in custody. Two possibilities. One, some accomplice wants her loose so that she can do a runner. Someone at the bank, maybe, whos afraid if this goes on much longer, shes going to start pointing the finger.
Someone like who?
Well, I gather Fraud are looking very closely at her immediate boss, George Ollershaw. Theyve got nothing definite yet, but you can tell theyre sniffing the air.
Ollershaw? Him? Nay, hes a right banker, and like most on em can probably play a fair tune on the fiddle, but I cant see him getting mixed up with owt violent.
Know him, do you, sir?
Ive seen him down the Gents. And heard him too, sounding off to his mates. Big I Am, but a long way off Mr Big, Id say.
The Gents, as Novello had learned after an embarrassing misunderstanding, wasnt a lavatorial reference but a popular shortening of the Borough Club for Professional Gentlemen, the Athenaeum of the North, an exclusive social and dining club, men only, of course, which made Novello think that perhaps her misunderstanding wasnt. When shed wondered to Wield why someone as anarchically unclubbable as Dalziel should have joined such an organization, the sergeant had replied, Cos they didnt want him, of course.
All the same, I think theyve still got him in the frame, said Pascoe. But theres another possibility. One way of looking at it, the prime target for intimidation is Kelly herself. Until the Fraud Squad get a line on the Nortrust Bank money, its floating around somewhere in cyberspace, and she may be the only one who can get at it. So maybe someone wants her out so they can use methods that even Fraud draw the line at to get her to tell where it is.