Ahmed Saeed was one hacked off individual. Here he was on a Sunday evening in the Maids Head Hotel in the centre of 'god forsaken' Norwich. His 'bust' rate was one of the highest in the Met yet he was being pushed off to Norfolk. The arse-end of beyond as far as he was concerned. The place had lots of grass and trees and people with weird accents that he could barely understand.
Ahmed was a city boy. He'd been born to Pakistani parents in the wrong end of Walsall: as far as one could say that there was a wrong end. He had been brought up a Muslim, faithfully going to the mosque and by and large living according to the precepts of the religion. In the schools he attended most of the pupils came from a similar background to himself. Therefore the only views that he really came across were those of the community and its religious adherence
He had worked hard at school and obtained some reasonable exam results. He was one of only two in his class that gained a university place. He went to Brunel University to study law. He had chosen that university because it was sited in the midst of a large Asian community: a fact that also pleased his parents. There he discovered and experienced a whole new world. His eyes and mind were opened by the diversity of cultures that co-existed on the campus.
Unfortunately the strident views of some of his fellow students in the Asian Society convinced him that Islamism had to come to terms with the Twentieth Century. It had to evolve like other religions and embrace toleration. He had discovered that education has the power not only to liberate minds but also to shackle them and slam them shut! A group of hotheads dominated the society and they treated Ahmed like a pariah. They constantly ridiculed his views and branded him a traitor to his religion at every opportunity. The other members fell into step behind his persecutors and willingly supported his expulsion from the society.
Their behaviour and attitude had a profound effect on the young student and he gradually grew away from a strict observance of his religion and the Asian community. This even led to arguments at home with his father in particular.
After graduating he decided that he wanted to be a trailblazer. He wanted to be a law enforcement officer: a coloured law enforcement officer. He was clever and he let people know it. Unfortunately, the Met still had significant pockets of misguided amateur ethnic experts. They tried, unsuccessfully to frame Ahmed for all manner of misdemeanours. His response was to throw their failure back into their faces and to rub their noses into his successes. It meant that he continually lived on a high wire
So what the hell was he doing here? Thought a disgruntled Ahmed. A place bearing little in common with his usual hunting ground! Hell, they even seemed to walk slower! He had been informed by his senior officer that on assuming the Commissioner role Moyles had been requested from on high to recommend that Saeed be moved to Norfolk with a promotion. Bill Strumpshaw the Chief Constable of Norfolk had not disagreed once he had read Saeed's file. Moyles knew that the Met had some racial problems, and as ever his political and survival antennae were in overdrive. He had clambered to the top of the police force's greasy pole and was determined to cling on for as long as he could. Saeed's departure was a trade-off for two senior officers' support. To cover his rear Moyles planned to promote a whole raft of officers from Asian and West Indian backgrounds once Saeed had gone.
He threw himself onto the bed in the room and switched on the TV with the remote. He caught the tail end of the local news. The dead body on Winterton beach barely registered with him.