Having carried out research on property and utilities at the local authority offices, Max and Star went for an early lunch. They planned to follow D.I. Marsh in his red Ford Escort after his lunch at home.
Max clung to Star on the back of the scooter, and called D.I. Marsh on his mobile phone. It was easy to get his number from the police station.
“Good morning, Detective Inspector John Marsh. I know you are alone and driving down Broad Avenue, so we won’t be overheard. I am the tramp who stole your warrant card. I know this caused your suspension and I also know of your financial difficulty.
“I hope your daughter is making good progress in her recovery, by the way.
Max watched Marsh through the rear window of his car, he jumped with shock and swerved momentarily.
“On your desk in the police station is a parcel filled with £50,000 in cash. It is money stolen from drug dealers, so you can consider it a victimless crime. I want you to take your wife and daughter up north and stay in a cheap hotel or B&B, nothing lavish, just a short family holiday. Make sure you have plenty of reliable witnesses so there can be no doubt it is you who is staying there. On no account tell friends, family or colleagues where you are going. That is most important. Do not contact them while you are away, either. Nobody should know where you are.
Marsh had pulled over and listened intently to the ultimatum.
“When I’m ready, I’ll call you, and then you can return home. There will be £150,000 in cash for your trouble. I hope you will return to discover a major drugs cartel has been arrested, due to the efforts of someone who has impersonated you.
“Alternatively, you can explain to your colleagues where the drug money on your desk came from. The drug dealers who owned it will also know you have it.
“I will still try to cause the drug cartel’s arrest by using your name, but your colleagues and the drug dealers will also hear about you. You will have no alibi to prove you were not involved. The choice is yours. So tell me now. Which option will you take?”
Marsh had taken in every word. He was one of those people who quietly and calmly absorbed and analyzed everything and missed nothing. It is what made him such a brilliant detective. His warm persona instilled a feeling you could confide in him, the downfall of many petty criminals who mistakenly believed he was bent.
“You want to pay me to go on holiday, far away from here, while you single-handedly arrest the members of a drug cartel, and I either end up dead or in prison, if I don’t cooperate?”
Max replied. “I did not say I would do it single-handed. The police will do all the arresting, but essentially you are correct.”
Marsh asked a few questions to clarify his understanding.
“I cannot see a legal problem here. If you wish to give me £50,000 in cash and I happen to go on holiday, nothing more, there’s no downside I can see. I suppose the fact that someone impersonates me using my warrant card, for which I am already being punished, is not a good thing. However, anyone can choose to impersonate someone else and that is not the victim’s fault. Yes, I am prepared to do what you ask. Fuck them all. My career is in the toilet anyway, so why shouldn’t I get some benefit.”
“Pack and go today, after collecting the parcel from your desk,” instructed Max, and ended the call.