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Miller H Caldwell, click here
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Chapter 18
Chapter 18
Soundings
Saturday mornings meant shopping for Tony. He was later than usual this Saturday. It had already past noon. He parked his six year old Volvo V70 in the Morrison’s car park and noticed Karen get out of her Volkswagen Passat nearby. He approached feeling his heart accelerate.
‘Hi Karen.’
‘Oh hello. Off duty today?’
‘Well, you could say that, if I ever am.’
Karen lingered by her door. ‘Why? Surely you need a complete break from work?’
‘Yes, it should be like that but sometime it’s a call from the police about a patient or I bump in to a client who needs my attention.’
Karen laughed loudly, her dimples imploding. ‘You mean, like me?’
Tony smiled feeling a little awkward and dithering over how close his proximity should be.
‘Oh sorry. I’m not thinking about you needing attention at all. I mean medical attention of course.’
‘Just slipped out, did it?’
‘Okay Karen. You caught me out. You’ll never believe me now. Let me make it up. Can I invite you for a coffee then?’
Tony felt excited and on edge. He wondered just what Karen’s feelings were at this moment
‘Okay, yes a coffee. I’ve loads of time this morning. Let’s cross the road. The Bakehouse is more exclusive than the goldfish bowl here.’
They made their way across the superstore car park and crossed the road. Tony held the café door open as Karen entered and the freshly baked bread warmed their senses.
‘That table, over there perhaps?’ pointed Tony.
The waitress approached with pen and pad at the ready.
‘A cappuccino, please and a...fruit scone.
‘Yes, I’ll have a fruit scone too and a peppermint tea if you have one?’ asked Karen
‘Certainly. Jam and cream with the scones?’ she asked.
‘Like a Devon Cream?’ enquired Tony.
Karen nodded politely.
‘Yes, sort of,’ she replied and with a grin and a smart twirl, then she was gone heading towards the kitchen.
‘Herbal teas, very healthy.’
‘Yes,’ said Karen, ‘but I start the day with a coffee. It’s the only one I have all day.’
Tony wanted to keep work from the conversation at all costs. He wanted to be seen like a man who had a life outside work and a man with an ulterior motive to be played cautiously.
‘So what has the rest of the week got in store?’ he asked unbuttoning his sports jacket.
‘Playing the organ at the morning and evening services.’
‘Of course, how could I have forgotten? So that’s Sunday covered.’
‘You don’t understand. There’s a lot of preparation. The introit and the recessional require music and that’s at my discretion, subject to the seasons. It was my downfall too,’ she covered her lips with her right hand and giggled.
Tony’s eyebrows gathered. He had almost forgotten the incident. Karen saw his eyes float upwards seeking the event.
‘The Stripper, remember. First time heard in a service I bet.’
They laughed as the incident was fully remembered and enjoyed.
‘All in the past then?’
‘Yes, probably. Not possibly you hear. Yes probably as long as I take my medication.’
The waitress brought a tray with their requests.
Tony cut his scone in two and buttered each side liberally. Karen sipped her peppermint tea. As Tony layered the raspberry jam over the cream he became aware of a sound.
‘Do you hear that?’
‘What?’
‘That sound. Listen.’
Karen suspended her scone half way to her mouth and cocked an ear. ‘Sounds like voices,’ she said with little interest in the disturbance and ate her first bite.
As the moments passed the noise became louder and both of them realised it was some sort of demonstration. The noise grew louder as the gathering approached the café. Tony rose and approached the window. Then he realised that the Muslim population were demonstrating. Some of the slogans read: ‘Why Us?’ and ‘Muslims are Innocent.’ A man held a drum before him and kept the pace going forward with his beat.
‘Oh my God. This could cause problems.’
‘But why?’ asked Karen.
‘The two recent crimes are pointing towards their community. This could set a multicultural clash. We certainly don’t need that.’
‘Certainly not,’ said Karen clearing the jam from her front teeth with her pinkie.
Superintendant Graham called in Constable Miraz Yusef to his office.
‘You wish to see me, sir?’
‘Yes Miraz, have a seat.’
The superintendant twiddled a pen between his fingers. ‘These two crimes, you obviously know which I refer to?’
‘Yes sir. Farook’s death and the crematorium explosion.’
‘Yes. There is sensitivity around. It could frustrate the inquiry,’ Mr Graham spoke at a slow deliberate rate.
‘Yes, I am aware of that,’ said Mirza crossing his legs.
‘Until I get any other lead, I am concentrating on your people. You understand why?’
‘Yes, but was there not a Luton factor sir?’ Miraz asked holding his dark shaded chin with his right hand.
‘That was an early inquiry. That was when one of your traditional Mosque leaders left here to go to Luton but he has a solid alibi. He could not have been here when either event occurred.’
‘So the inquiry has run aground here in the town?’
‘Not run aground. I have deployed a fairly large team but the evidence is just not coming out.’
There was a pause. Mirza clasped his hands tightly.
‘You are wanting me to infiltrate the Muslim community?’ he asked to relive the silence.
Mr Graham smiled. ‘I can’t see it any other way. Can you?’
Miraz shook his head. ‘They don’t exactly appreciate me being a policeman, you know,’ he said narrowing his dark eyebrows.
‘Miraz, we serve the whole community. Don’t forget that.’
‘I don’t, sir. I don’t but we are not the whole community are we?’
Magdalene Smith had been assigned by the local paper to follow the two crimes. She asked to see Superintendent Graham the next day.
‘Thank you for taking the time so see me, Superintendant.’
‘Miss Smith, sometimes I need the press to make my voice heard.’
‘I can certainly do that but I must also tell the whole truth.’
The superintendant smarted. ‘And what do you mean by that?’
‘The demonstration the other day. That had to be reported.’
He nodded, conceding her point.
‘You know, Miss Smith everyone and I mean everyone is innocent until found guilty by the courts of this land. That’s one message I’d like to get over. The other is that when each fingerprint is cleared, then that’s one less suspect.’
‘I don’t suppose that’s news to the Muslim community but I’ll incorporate it in my report.’ She placed her pen against her teeth. ‘Can I ask one question, you may refuse to comment but I’ll ask anyway? Have you heard about the main demonstration for twelve noon next Saturday?’
The superintendent tried to hide his lack of awareness of the demo.
‘Who told you this?
‘The community are talking about it. I mean the Muslim community. They are bussing demonstrators in from towns nearby and from over the border too. Not just Carlisle either, Newcastle and as far down as Bolton and Manchester.’
‘As far as I am aware, I have not heard about this demonstration. It must go through the channels,’ he said realising it was a serious matter which would have to command sufficient police coverage. But how on earth was the police intelligence unaware of this development?
‘Is there anything else you might want to add?’ she asked.
‘No I don’t want to hog your column. The main points I’ve covered. This will be no witch hunt.’
Miss Smith stood up to leave. Mr Graham approached to shake her hand. ‘At times like this we need to support each other.’
‘I assure you I am supporting everyone engaged in the detection of the crimes, Mr Graham.’
Magdalene Smith left the room closing the door behind her. As soon as she had left, Mr Graham seized the telephone and contacted his operations Inspector.
‘Mark, no leave for operational units this weekend. We have a major Muslim march to police from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. as well as the local derby match between Dundee United and our Queens at 3 p.m. this blasted Saturday.’
‘You could get a ban on grounds of public safety. Get them to change their day.’
‘No Mark, I can’t move the match but I’d be loathed to ban the march. They would see that as a further imposition. I’ll just have to take the risk and run with it.’
‘So that means three days to plan for a potential perfect storm.’
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Web Site:
A Clerical Murder
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Ron