The Cabal by Roger A. Price

Author:Roger A. Price [Price, Roger A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sharpe Books
Published: 2024-02-20T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirty

Bartholomew had just about got over the shock from the day before, but as far as he was concerned, nothing had changed. Piper was out of the way and the real force behind the North End Crew would now have to rise and put its neck in open view. Bartholomew wouldn’t stop until he’d beheaded the Crew. Then his job would be done, and everything else would fall into place. The one thing he did miss with Merson gone, was the ready access to all things intelligence. But they’d never been able to identify Piper’s lieutenants previously, so he could manage without Merson now. The thing he really missed was the twenty grand he’d given Merson to keep him sweet only hours before his death. If only he’d known. And having heard no mention of it being found at Merson’s house, he could only surmise that whoever took Merson had also taken the cash. Probably for the best, as his fingerprints would have been on some of the notes.

He spent the day after the briefing in the chief’s office, nosing around and trying to find out what was happening with the murder investigation, but he hadn’t got far. The ACC Boy Wonder knew nothing, and as the SIO was from Manchester, he couldn’t really approach her. He didn’t know her, but had heard of her, another ruthless bitch destined for the top by all accounts. But he still had Carol Winstanley keeping an ear on the professional standards side of things and Shirley Lancaster with the acting chief’s ear; or so he hoped. Neither were currently returning his calls.

He’d just finished a strategic tasking meeting where the only outcome was the bleeding obvious, iterated by those intent on crawling up the head of CID’s arse. And as far as Bartholomew was concerned, none were more sycophantic than John Jones himself. The deputy chief was acting chief and wanted the top job, and the Boy Wonder wanted his job. John Jones, who Bartholomew used to think was OK, had suddenly gone uber corporate as he no doubt wanted to become ACC - Crime. All only concerned with self-advancement rather than doing the job they were actually paid to do. Bartholomew believed he was one of only a few senior officers doing the job of taking on criminals like the North End Crew - whilst others hid away and concentrated on promotion.

He left the meeting room and headed to the canteen. After filling his tray and paying for it, he looked for an empty table where he could eat in peace without having to make polite conversation with some crawler with an agenda. That was until he saw Winstanley and Lancaster alone at the rear of the hall. He quickly joined them and saw their faces drop as he placed his tray down on the table. ‘Hello, ladies, piece of luck running into you two, especially as neither of you appear to be speaking to me.’

‘We both told you the other night, the night poor Don lost his life that we are done.

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