The Kit Aston Mysteries (All Five Books) by Jack Murray

Author:Jack Murray [Murray, Jack]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: UNKNOWN
Published: 2020-09-28T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

The Commissioner’s prediction that Bulstrode would be waiting for Jellicoe when he returned to his office was a little way off the mark. It was early evening before Bulstrode descended on the office like a black cloud. He did so in tandem with his sergeant, Wellbeloved, who wasn’t, never had been and cared not a jot if he ever would be.

The timing of the arrival, just as the Chief Inspector was about to leave, seemed deliberately aimed at irritating Jellicoe. In this regard, Jellicoe’s instincts were more acute than the Commissioner’s. Unlike Jellicoe, neither Bulstrode nor Wellbeloved had families, therefore they were more likely to work late into the night. The benefits of this were twofold, and readily appreciated by the minority of senior officers who had facilitated Bulstrode’s rapid rise through the ranks to the current glass ceiling.

Firstly, crime was an activity that tended to be executed at night rather than during the day, if only for the desire of criminals to avoid being detected in the act. Less obviously, but of equal if not greater importance, the reduction in manpower during the evenings gave the detective duo free rein to employ their robust interrogative techniques to the full.

The greeting between the two policemen had a polar quality: low in temperature, bereft of life and unlikely to witness either warmth or life anytime soon. There was no handshake only a nod and a brief introduction of the two men to Ryan.

Ryan looked at Bulstrode. They’d never met but his reputation not only preceded him, it was manifest in the short, squat, bull-necked man before him. His red face suggested, accurately, a temperament that was as unruffled as an Italian facing a German who has insulted his mother.

Bulstrode’s partner in crime detection, Wellbeloved, was of middling height, leaner with a sharp face and an eye that was closer to beady than bright. Ryan didn’t need to pick up on the body language of Jellicoe to form an instant dislike and distrust of these men. This was consolidated by Bulstrode’s first comment accompanied, as it was, by the bronchial cackle of Wellbeloved.

‘Macready wants us to hold your hand, then.’

‘So, it would seem,’ responded Jellicoe neutrally. This appeared to have more of an effect on Bulstrode than his original comment had on Jellicoe. Ryan noted this and realised the way to play Bulstrode was not to rise to the man’s needling manner. A glance between him and Jellicoe was sufficient for master and protégé to understand this.

Bulstrode turned his attention to Ryan, hoping for more purchase from his brand of wit. ‘Shouldn’t you be at school, son?’

‘I left school to join the army, sir,’ replied Ryan with a smile. ‘I’ll go and retrieve for you the case file and would you gentlemen like a tea?’

Jellicoe allowed himself a smile, not that anyone would have known.

-

It wasn’t a falling out exactly. They stood in front of one another and glared their disagreement. In the scheme things it was nothing but there was a lesson in there had he chosen to see it.

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