The Divinities by Parker Bilal

Author:Parker Bilal [Bilal, Parker]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781911648024
Publisher: The Indigo Press
Published: 2019-05-16T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 28

Drake walked into the Murder Room to find the place buzzing. People were bustling about the corridors, blocking the stairs, bumping into him as they hurried past bearing stacks of files, photocopiers and monitors. The odd thing was that most of them were unfamiliar faces. An ominous sign had been taped to the glass wall of the conference room. It had only three letters on it: MIU. Drake shrugged off his coat and threw it over the back of his chair.

‘What’s going on?’

‘It’s Wheeler.’ Kelly was sitting in her chair chewing a pencil. ‘He’s caved in to Pryce.’

‘Why didn’t I hear about this?’

‘You’re about to.’ Kelly nodded over his shoulder and Drake turned to see the superintendent coming through the door. The expression on his face was a familiar grimace. Drake had seen that look before.

‘Where the hell have you been?’ Wheeler asked, leading Drake to one side.

‘Phone.’ Drake held up the offending item. ‘Ran out of juice.’

‘That’s the best you can come up with?’ Wheeler folded his arms. ‘I warned you that I couldn’t cover you indefinitely. This is not the time to go AWOL.’

‘With respect, sir,’ Drake began, breaking off as Wheeler’s hand rose to stop him.

‘DCI Pryce has accused you of interfering with a drug operation he’s running.’

‘I’m sorry?’

‘The way he tells it you were over in the Freetown estate, sticking your nose in where it wasn’t welcome.’

‘I was following a lead.’

‘What lead?’

‘The fire at the Birch Lane mosque.’

Wheeler’s face soured with disgust. ‘That was weeks ago, man. Are you saying there’s a connection between that and these murders?’

‘Not exactly.’

‘No, then what are you saying?’

‘I think there is a link between a suspect working on the site and the imam’s son.’

‘What did DCI Pryce say?’

Drake looked at the floor. ‘I haven’t actually spoken to him about it yet.’

Wheeler cursed under his breath.

‘I warned you about this, Cal. I told you that you were hanging onto this case by the skin of your teeth.’ Wheeler winced. ‘You disappear and then you turn up spouting all kinds of nonsense. I told you we needed results. I can’t tell the commissioners that you are off chasing down fires.’

‘No sir, I realize that.’

‘Well, your time is up. Pryce is ranking officer and he will be taking direct charge.’

‘Where does that leave us? I mean, ourselves and Doctor Crane?’ Drake threw her name into the mix thinking it might help his cause. From the look on Wheeler’s face it didn’t have the desired effect.

‘You’ll carry on, but you’ll coordinate with Pryce. They’re setting up a logistics base in here.’ Wheeler nodded over at the conference room. ‘I know there’s bad blood between the two of you, but at the end of the day he’s the ranking officer. That means you report to him, and remember, Cal, you’re part of a team now, so act like it.’

‘Yes, sir.’

Wheeler was eager to move on. ‘Sort out whatever problem you have with Pryce. I don’t want your personal differences to affect the running of the case.

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