Suspect by Nicholas Rhea

Author:Nicholas Rhea [Rhea, Nicholas]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Agora Books
Published: 2019-05-29T22:00:00+00:00

It was while Pemberton was dealing with the business of that morning, plus coping with the task of preparing the items for discussion at the daily CID conference, that Lorraine had decided to visit the force welfare officer. This was in Lorraine’s capacity as Pemberton’s special aide in the Hadley enquiry — she wanted to delve into the inspector’s private world but knew she must ease herself into the trust of Mrs Marsden. Mrs Susan Marsden was the force welfare officer; she was a forty-five-year-old former policewoman with experience in social work, nursing and all aspects of the caring professions. The visit was Lorraine’s idea. She had discussed it with Pemberton last night and they had decided a chat with Mrs Marsden might be fruitful.

‘Thanks for seeing me.’ Lorraine settled on a chair in the dark office. At the northern side of the building, the gloomy room lacked sunlight, hardly the most suitable place for an office where light and cheeriness were required in abundance. ‘It is confidential, you will understand.’

‘Like most of my work,’ commented Mrs Marsden, a plump blonde whose greying roots were exposed.

‘Inspector Hadley, Vic…’ Lorraine provided her with the reason for the visit. ‘As you know, he has returned to work, light work, as a therapeutic exercise, and he is working in our department.’

‘Yes, I am aware of that — Admin, did notify me through the usual channels and Vic also keeps me informed.’ Her answer was delivered in a curt, sharp tone.

This cold reception, and the lack of an offer of a cup of tea or coffee, made Lorraine suspect that Mrs Marsden was on her guard. Perhaps the appearance of a detective asking about a man who had been under a heavy cloud of suspicion, albeit two years ago, was likely to give rise to some concern? But Lorraine could cope, she believed.

‘I have been asked to look to the welfare of all those on the murder enquiry,’ Lorraine said, thinking this was a good line of introductory chat. ‘It is Mr Pemberton’s idea. I try to identify areas of stress among the teams; some will work themselves literally into the ground if we’re not careful.’

‘It happens. And not just in the CID and not just during murder investigations,’ added Mrs Marsden, her cold eyes upon Lorraine. ‘Many other officers do suffer from stress.’

‘I know that well enough,’ Lorraine said. ‘But in our case, if I see someone is unhappy or unable to cope, I give advice — which generally entails coming to see you or reducing their work load.’

‘Go on, Miss Cashmore.’

‘Well, I wanted you to know that we are caring for Inspector Hadley now that he’s with us. We do know of his past problems, that is no secret, and I am not breaching any rules of confidentiality when I mention them.’

‘I appreciate that.’

‘So, Mrs Marsden, my reason for coming to see you is to let you know that I shall be keeping an extra eye on Mr Hadley during the present murder investigation.

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