Chapter 69
They sat in the quiet room completing their police pocket notebooks. A silver-coloured tray lay at the centre of the table - open packet of biscuits, sachets of sugar, couple of teaspoons and a milk carton.
Gandalph sipped his tea. “No, no, it’s not. It’s Grainger Street, not Graham Street. That’s further down. She went down Addisborough, across Timms Avenue, without stopping, and into Grainger Street.”
They all nodded, heads down, writing furiously, wanting to get this out of the way as quickly as possible in the knowledge that the adrenalin was beginning to dissipate, soon to be replaced by a wave of fatigue, what-ifs and, for some, gloom.
A knock on the open door. It was the Boss. “I’ve just got back from the hospital and wanted to let you know, David is fine. He’s not in any danger and the bullet missed anything important. Brannan’s in intensive care.” He flashed them a weak smile. They nodded politely and went back to work.
In his office, Thurstan weaved between his seated colleagues, the desk and the coat stand to plonk himself in his chair. He felt exhausted.
“Well, the Chief’s referred it to the IPCC so, besides everything else we do, we’ll have to put up with them noseying around, trying to find fault somewhere.” He looked at his DI and DS and heaved a sigh. “Could we have done anything better?”
A glance flitted between them before Degsy said, “I don’t think we had much option when she decided to leg it. Her decision, not ours. What should we have done? Sit and watch her drive off? We weren’t to know her state of mind. And agitated is not the same as round the fucking bend.” He looked at Sammy. “As for the weapon? That was news for all of us.”
The DCI shrugged his shoulders in acceptance. “I agree, but should we have found it when we did the searches?”
“We weren’t looking for it, Thurstan. The first search was in relation to her husband’s stuff, background, contacts, etc. She was as much a victim as he was at that stage. As for the last one, it was for a specific purpose based on the security tape and gut feelings. What are we supposed to do? Every time we tell someone a supposed loved one has been murdered, we rip their house to bits!? That wouldn’t go down well.” Degsy looked for agreement.
Thurstan leaned back in his tilt and swivel chair. “Overall, you’re right, Derek. But that’s one of the areas they’re going to focus on, for sure.
“Mix in PACE and Health and Safety and it’s a minefield. Damned if you do and damned if you don’t. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. Useful for the future but fuck all use for the past. It’s a bugger.”