Black Summer (Washington Poe) by M. W. Craven

Author:M. W. Craven [Craven, M. W.]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
ISBN: 9781472127488
Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
Published: 2019-06-20T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

‘I’ve just finished with the chief constable of Cumbria,’ van Zyl said, ‘but before I get into that, can you bring me up to speed?’

Flynn relayed an accurate portrayal of events. She referred to her notes only once and when she was unsure she called on Poe and Bradshaw.

When she’d finished, van Zyl remained silent.

‘Poe,’ he said eventually, ‘tomorrow afternoon at three o’clock you are to report to Durranhill police station where you will be formally interviewed.’ He checked a piece of paper in his hand. ‘Because of your rank, a Detective Chief Inspector Wardle will be lead officer. Do you know him?’

Poe nodded. He’d been expecting something like this since Keaton’s veiled threat at HMP Durham, but it was still a shock. ‘Did the chief constable say why, sir?’

‘She didn’t. I can buy you some time if you need it? I’ll say your fed rep won’t be able to get up for a couple of days. I’ve a good mind to call her back anyway and say she doesn’t get to interview one of my officers without first telling me what it’s about. It’s bad form.’

‘No, sir, I’ll go. This is good.’

‘Explain.’

‘Even if I “no comment” the whole thing, they’ll have to show me what they have. Intelligence gathering goes both ways so we should get more of an idea of what Keaton’s planning.’

‘Good man.’

Poe realised van Zyl had already reached the same conclusion. If he’d really wanted to stop the interview, he’d have already done so.

‘But a word of warning, Poe,’ he said. ‘I need you to do this properly. No kicking off, no being too clever. Get in, find out what they have, then get out. The chief constable has assured me that you will not be arrested tomorrow, but the less you say, the less they can take out of context later.’

‘I’ll behave, sir.’

‘Good. And who is this DCI Wardle anyway? He seems to have a right hard-on for you.’

‘Someone I had a small misunderstanding with, sir.’

Van Zyl rubbed his eyes, stretched his arms behind his neck, and yawned. ‘I really don’t know how you manage to have enemies like this.’

‘This is Poe we’re talking about, sir,’ Flynn said. ‘He probably has friends like this.’

With the videoconference finished, and because neither of them fancied an early night, Poe and Bradshaw got to work. Poe perched his reading glasses on the end of his nose and hit the prison records again.

This time he was looking for something to support Bunney’s claim that Keaton had been stabbed. It wasn’t long before he found it: a three-week period where there was no mention of Jared Keaton on P-NOMIS. Up until then, Keaton’s personal officer had been conscientious with his record-keeping, but, as they mainly dealt with issues occurring on the wing, if Keaton wasn’t actually at the prison – say, if he was in hospital – there’d be nothing to record. And if he had been stabbed, Keaton would have been wise enough to know not to make a formal complaint – being labelled a grass in prison was worse than being labelled a nonce.

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