An incensed Blunt sat silently as his two detective sergeants filled him in on the cock-up over the arrests at Pitt Street. What a great start for a new team, being sued for wrongful arrest and imprisonment by people who were as guilty as hell. They did not need someone to set them up for a fall. They were more than capable of achieving it themselves he surmised. He also thought that he had to let Strumpshaw know what had happened. He could only imagine how the Chief Constable would react. Nevertheless a glimmer of a solution began to form in the recesses of his mind.
Meanwhile the two errant policemen stood silently watching their boss like two delinquent schoolboys standing to attention in front of the headmaster's desk. They were bracing themselves for an explosion. The longer the silence the more their discomfiture grew.
Finally Blunt broke the silence, 'Ok Ahmed how do you suggest you go about interviewing Pidrik?' he asked softly, managing to restrain his anger.
'Well we can start by stating that we have arrested him for sexual trafficking, running a house of ill repute'
'You mean that you are going to lie?' from an increasingly irritated Blunt
'Well what else can we do?'
Blunt slammed his fists down on the table. Both it and the men opposite him jumped
'You can think' hissed Blunt, 'You can think! Lying will get you precisely nowhere. The Gribben guy made sure that your misdemeanours are on tape. Can you tell me what the custody sergeant put down when he booked in all your guests?' he continued through gritted teeth.
The two detectives looked at one another sheepishly.
'Just as I thought. You have not got the faintest. You!' he pointed at Ahmed 'know precisely what happens to cover ups once they are exposed to the spotlight of publicity! You and I both have seen plenty of examples in our time with the Met and Hertfordshire. ' the Asian nodded in agreement and Blunt continued 'I doubt whether the Russians and their solicitor will be rushing to the press about this cock up. Whoever is behind their business probably has more to lose from publicity than we do. Who is interviewing the four girls?'
This time the pair diverted their gaze towards the floor. They had quite simply forgotten about the girls languishing in the cells.
'And whilst we are at it what is the score on the girl you picked up on King Street. The one that you think is underage?' with no answer forthcoming Blunt let them stew in silence and took some solace from their nervous shifting of weight from foot to foot. After what seemed an eternity to the pair, but what was in reality only two minutes, Blunt continued.
'We are still no further regarding the dead girl. However, one witness states that she lived at 27 Pitt Street. A house that appears to be a high class brothel. That house and two others are registered to a local accountancy firm. However, they appear to be high-end brothels run by Russians with German passports. The car driven by two of the Russians came from a dealership that is registered to Gribben and Gribben a North London law firm. What a coincidence that the solicitor representing our three Russians is from that self-same law firm Gribben and Gribben and just happens to speak Russian '
He paused and looked out of the window before continuing,
'Right let us have a look at what we can do to get something positive out of this mess. '
He went on to outline what their next steps should be before finishing with,
'You will now interview Pidrik and try to be as nice as possible. Do everything by the book! I will have to let Strumpshaw know what has happened. You do realise that when we release them they will all melt away like snow in the Sahara at midday. So drag it out a little. Before you go into Pidrik let vice know about the other brothels and the necessity to act quickly. Release Morski but keep him waiting for his possessions we do not want him warning the other brothels.'
Blunt had already worked out how the situation could be used to his advantage. He needed extra bodies: and he needed them fast. He wanted Flint and he wanted at least one other. This mess had been created by two officers who had been foisted on him. Now he wanted at least two of his own choosing. And he felt confident he would get them.
He sat back in his chair and wondered whether Ahmed's gung ho approach was an example of the phrase from his file, 'the occasional tendency to cut corners if he feels that the results merit it'. Perhaps he had overstepped the mark during his time, albeit brief, with SO10. Conceivably it had landed him in a situation where he had endangered himself and perhaps others. That would account for the haunted, tortured look that appeared when SO10 was raised.
Blunt knew more than anyone that operating on the edge and the methods involved had their place in an imperfect world. A world where a small guy could be prosecuted but the ex-Chancellor of the Exchequer could ruin an economy through fiddling the figures for his own self-aggrandisement and spending money the country did not have to bolster the vote in his party's heartlands. 'Surely' thought Blunt 'that constituted fraud and criminal negligence. There must come a day when those over preening narcissists were prosecuted for negligence in office'.
He walked next door into Strumpshaw's office and within half an hour had hammered out a deal. Flint would be reassigned to his team and would report for duty the next morning; she could hang up her uniform. He was also asked if he would interview a disenchanted young graduate, Melanie Leibnitz. She had a first in Mathematics from Durham indicating a good relationship with numbers. Unfortunately she did not relate as well to people, both colleagues and the public. Notwithstanding that drawback, she had one of the sharpest minds that the Chief Constable had ever come across and a capacity for hard work if something interested her. Blunt had reluctantly agreed and requested an immediate interview.
He struck an instant rapport with the young Constable. She liked the idea of what the new team wanted to accomplish and he hired her on the spot. Once she had tidied up her in-tray she would join the team.
He picked up the phone to Flint and got her first time. He gave her the good news and recoiled from her extensive use of expletives! How dare he take decisions for her. She had said that she would think about joining him in Norwich. What gave men the right to think that they knew what was best for women. She'd had it to the back teeth of pricks such as her husband, Skinner, Moyles and worst of all Blunt himself! Eventually he managed to pacify her and she apologised for her outburst. Yes she would give it a try but she didn't know whether she would stay. Yes, she knew that not staying probably meant the end of her career as a police officer. She would let him know what train she would be on.
He put the phone down. Yes, he felt that he had let her down. But he had been in no position to do anything for anyone. Yes, he knew what her feelings had been towards him. He had done everything he could to gently discourage her whilst attempting to build her self-confidence on the job.
A knock on the door jolted him from his thoughts. It was Leibnitz.
'Sir, this was dropped off earlier today' she passed him an envelope addressed to 'The officer in charge of the Winterton Beach Girl case'
It contained three grainy 4"x2" colour photographs taken outside of 27 Pitt Street.
'Get Sergeant Saied for me, now. Hopefully, he will still be in one of the interview rooms or he may be in Sergeant Cushion's office. Bring them both. NOW!'.
Ten minutes later all three officers were sat in Blunt's office.
'How long ago did you release them?'
'About five minutes ago, why?' asked a quizzical Saied.
Blunt threw the photographs across the desk.
'Oh fuck' exclaimed the Asian as he passed the pictures to Cushion.
Before he had chance to say anything Blunt ordered,
'Get back to Pitt Street. I want them all back here and quick. Get the arrests correct this time. Obstructing the police with their enquiries, and something special for him' he pointed to a figure on the photographs. And I want a search warrant to get into the safe you mentioned.
'We may be able to catch them in the foyer. They were ringing for taxis'
They jumped up and raced out of the door.