Pop Goes the Weasel - страница 8

had fed off it for weeks, as had the national press. It was never likely in these circumstances that Helen was going to be promoted into Whittaker’s vacant shoes. She had been allowed to keep her job, which the police commissioner had apparently felt was more than generous. Helen knew all this and she understood it, but it still made her blood boil. These people knew what she’d had to do. They knew she’d killed her own sister to stop the killings and yet they still treated her like a naughty schoolgirl.

‘Let me talk to her at least,’ Helen resumed. ‘If I feel we can work together, then maybe we can fi-’

‘Helen, I really do want us to be friends,’ Harwood interrupted deftly, ‘and it’s a little early in our relationship for me to be issuing you with an order, so I am going to ask you nicely to step back from this one. I know there are issues that you and Charlie have to resolve – I know that you were close to DS Fuller – but you have to see the bigger picture. The man on the street thinks you and Charlie are heroes for stopping Marianne. Rightly so, in my view, and I don’t want to do anything to undermine that perception. We could have suspended, transferred or dismissed either of you in the aftermath of the shooting, but that wouldn’t have been right. Nor would it be right now to split up this successful team just when Charlie’s ready to return to work – it would send out completely the wrong message. No, the best thing to do is to welcome Charlie back, applaud you both for what you did together and let you get on with your jobs.’

Helen knew there was no point fighting this one any more. In her artfully worded way, Harwood had reminded Helen just how close she had come to dismissal. During the public enquiry that followed the IPCC’s initial investigation into Marianne’s shooting, there had been many who’d called for her to be stripped of her badge. For acting alone in her pursuit of Marianne, for deliberately misleading fellow officers, for shooting a suspect without issuing a formal warning – the list went on and on. They could have killed her career if they’d wanted to – and she was surprised and grateful that they hadn’t – but she knew she was only back on probation. Her ‘charges’ were still on file. From now on, she would have to choose her battles carefully.

Helen relented as gracefully as she could and left Harwood’s office. She knew she was being unfair to Charlie, that she should be more supportive, but the truth was that she didn’t want to see Charlie again. It would be like standing in front of Mark. Or Marianne. And for all her strength over the last few months Helen couldn’t face that.

Heading back to the Major Incident Team, Helen immediately picked up on the buzz of excitement. It was early morning but already the place was busier than usual. The team had been waiting for her, and DC Fortune hurried over to bring her up to speed.

‘You’re needed down at Empress Road, Ma’am.’

Helen was already picking up her coat.

‘What is it?’

‘A murder – called in by one of the local junkies about an hour ago. Uniform have been in, but I think you’d better take a look at it.’

Already Helen’s nerves were jangling. There was something in the DC’s voice that she hadn’t heard since Marianne.

Fear.

Eschewing her bike, Helen drove to the scene with DS Tony Bridges. She liked him – he was a diligent, committed copper whom she had come to trust. Whoever replaced Mark as the new DS was always going to have to work hard to win the team round, but Tony had managed it. He’d played it very straight, never ducking the awkwardness of appearing to profit from Mark’s death. His humility and sensitivity had raised him in everyone’s estimation and he now inhabited the role pretty comfortably.

His relationship with Helen was more complex. Not just because of her feelings for Mark, but because Bridges had been there when Helen had pulled the trigger on her sister. He had seen it all – Marianne collapsing to the floor, Helen’s futile attempts to revive her. Tony had seen his boss at her most naked and vulnerable – and that would always be a source of discomfort between them. On the other hand, Tony’s testimony to the IPCC, during which he had insisted that Helen had no option but to shoot Marianne – had gone a long way to saving her from demotion or dismissal. Helen had thanked him at the time, but the debt she owed him would never be mentioned again. You had to forget it and move on, otherwise the chain of command would be compromised. To all intents and purposes they now operated as any normal DI and DS would, but in truth they would always have a bond forged in battle.