Commissioner’s bagged you a few parking places in the underground car park there. Best you pull rank and reserve yourself one.’
‘This is not going to go down well,’ Sean warned him.
‘Nothing I can do about it, and nothing you can do about it,’ Featherstone replied, his voice hushed now, as if Addis could somehow overhear him from his office high in the tower that was New Scotland Yard. ‘Mr Addis is determined to keep you for the special ones: murders with strong sexual elements, especially ones involving children; murders showing excessive violence and body mutilation, and missing person cases where there are strong grounds to believe a predatory offender may be involved. You get the drift. Addis put the proposal to the Commissioner and he agreed it, so that’s that. They feel we’ve been getting caught out by not having a specialist team to investigate these types of cases, so they decided to create one and you’re it.’
‘Meaning,’ Sean offered, ‘when these high-interest, media-attracting cases don’t go quite to plan they’ve got someone ready-made and in place to blame?’
‘You may think that, but I couldn’t possibly comment,’ Featherstone replied. ‘Let’s just say you don’t get to be the Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police without learning how to cover your arse.’ Sean just pursed his lips. ‘Anyway, your new home’s on the seventh floor, room 714. Used to be the Arts and Antiques Team’s, until Addis decided they weren’t offering value for money anymore and sent them back to division – half of them back to uniform. Wonder how they’re feeling this morning – walking the beat in some khazi somewhere freezing their nuts or tits off. A warning to the wise – Addis is not a man to piss off.’
‘What if I say no?’ Sean suddenly asked. ‘What if I say I don’t want to do it?’ Images of his wife, Kate, flashed in his mind, smiling and clutching her chest with relief as he told her he’d quit the Murder Team.
‘And what else would you do?’ Featherstone answered. ‘Go back to division and rubber-stamp search warrants, oversee endless dodgy rape allegations? Come on, Sean – it would kill you.’
‘Flying Squad? Anti-Terrorist?’
‘They’re plum jobs, Sean. You know the score: everyone leaving a central or area posting has to go back and serve time on division before getting another off-division posting. And like I said – just in case you weren’t listening – Addis is not a man to piss off.’ Kate’s smiling face faded to nothing. ‘Besides, this is where you belong. I’m not blowing smoke up your arse, but seriously, Sean, you’re the best I’ve got at doing this – the best I’ve ever seen, always one step ahead of everyone else, sometimes two steps, three steps. I don’t know how you do what you do, but I know you can use it to catch some very bad people, and maybe save a few lives along the way.’ Sean said nothing. ‘What’s done is done. Now get yourself and your team over to NSY and set up shop. Your new home awaits you.’
The discussion over, Featherstone stood and walked backwards towards the door. ‘We’re done here. I’ll drop in and see you in a couple of days, see how the move’s going. Who knows, you might have a special case by then. Just what your troops need to take their minds of being moved – and you too. Good luck, and remember, when you make it to the Yard be careful: Addis has eyes and ears everywhere. Loose lips sink ships.’
With that he turned on his heels and was gone, leaving Sean alone, staring at the space he’d left. A special case, Sean thought to himself. Such a neat, sterile way to describe what he had seen and would see again: women and men mutilated and abused before death finally claimed them. What would be next?
Click here to buy
The Toy Taker
If you’re a DI Sean Corrigan fan, try the first in the series:
A KILLER WHO’LL NEVER STOP.
A DETECTIVE WHO’LL NEVER GIVE
‘This is not going to go down well,’ Sean warned him.
‘Nothing I can do about it, and nothing you can do about it,’ Featherstone replied, his voice hushed now, as if Addis could somehow overhear him from his office high in the tower that was New Scotland Yard. ‘Mr Addis is determined to keep you for the special ones: murders with strong sexual elements, especially ones involving children; murders showing excessive violence and body mutilation, and missing person cases where there are strong grounds to believe a predatory offender may be involved. You get the drift. Addis put the proposal to the Commissioner and he agreed it, so that’s that. They feel we’ve been getting caught out by not having a specialist team to investigate these types of cases, so they decided to create one and you’re it.’
‘Meaning,’ Sean offered, ‘when these high-interest, media-attracting cases don’t go quite to plan they’ve got someone ready-made and in place to blame?’
‘You may think that, but I couldn’t possibly comment,’ Featherstone replied. ‘Let’s just say you don’t get to be the Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police without learning how to cover your arse.’ Sean just pursed his lips. ‘Anyway, your new home’s on the seventh floor, room 714. Used to be the Arts and Antiques Team’s, until Addis decided they weren’t offering value for money anymore and sent them back to division – half of them back to uniform. Wonder how they’re feeling this morning – walking the beat in some khazi somewhere freezing their nuts or tits off. A warning to the wise – Addis is not a man to piss off.’
‘What if I say no?’ Sean suddenly asked. ‘What if I say I don’t want to do it?’ Images of his wife, Kate, flashed in his mind, smiling and clutching her chest with relief as he told her he’d quit the Murder Team.
‘And what else would you do?’ Featherstone answered. ‘Go back to division and rubber-stamp search warrants, oversee endless dodgy rape allegations? Come on, Sean – it would kill you.’
‘Flying Squad? Anti-Terrorist?’
‘They’re plum jobs, Sean. You know the score: everyone leaving a central or area posting has to go back and serve time on division before getting another off-division posting. And like I said – just in case you weren’t listening – Addis is not a man to piss off.’ Kate’s smiling face faded to nothing. ‘Besides, this is where you belong. I’m not blowing smoke up your arse, but seriously, Sean, you’re the best I’ve got at doing this – the best I’ve ever seen, always one step ahead of everyone else, sometimes two steps, three steps. I don’t know how you do what you do, but I know you can use it to catch some very bad people, and maybe save a few lives along the way.’ Sean said nothing. ‘What’s done is done. Now get yourself and your team over to NSY and set up shop. Your new home awaits you.’
The discussion over, Featherstone stood and walked backwards towards the door. ‘We’re done here. I’ll drop in and see you in a couple of days, see how the move’s going. Who knows, you might have a special case by then. Just what your troops need to take their minds of being moved – and you too. Good luck, and remember, when you make it to the Yard be careful: Addis has eyes and ears everywhere. Loose lips sink ships.’
With that he turned on his heels and was gone, leaving Sean alone, staring at the space he’d left. A special case, Sean thought to himself. Such a neat, sterile way to describe what he had seen and would see again: women and men mutilated and abused before death finally claimed them. What would be next?
Click here to buy
The Toy Taker
If you’re a DI Sean Corrigan fan, try the first in the series:
A KILLER WHO’LL NEVER STOP.
A DETECTIVE WHO’LL NEVER GIVE
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