The Mark Sennen Collection (DI Charlotte Savage 1--3) by Mark Sennen

Author:Mark Sennen [Mark Sennen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2015-03-04T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Four

Crownhill Police Station, Plymouth. Thursday 24th January. 9.15 a.m.

Thursday morning and Savage went to find DS Gareth Collier to brief him on the Budgeon angle. She told him about the relationship with Fallon and explained that Budgeon may well have returned to Plymouth with vengeance on his mind. Collier listened but by the time she had finished he looked as if he was about to have kittens.

‘This lot,’ he said with a sweep of his arms; Savage not knowing if he meant the people in the room or the array of whiteboards and other incident room paraphernalia. ‘All in one huge melting pot. Riley as a misper plopped in as well. Plus now you’re telling me there’s a new guy, Budgeon. Know what I’m going to call it?’

‘No,’ Savage said.

‘Operation ByTheSeatOfOurPants. Because it’s a joke, right? All this.’ Another wave of his arms. ‘Corulus, Brougham, Sternway. Finding Riley. Budgeon. Forget any semblance of organisation, forget trying to process actions in a meaningful way. No, shove everything in a pile and that sucker Collier will sort it out.’

Savage listened as Collier went to outline the problems. His arcs of probability had been distorted, he said. New nodes were springing up left, right and centre. It was total evidential overload. Savage smiled and tried to appear sympathetic. Collier’s standard procedure was to moan about things for a minute or two and then get on and do the impossible.

‘You know,’ he said. ‘I’m thinking you should just let me have the policy book and I’ll crap on a couple of pages and give it to Hardin with my resignation.’

‘Will you reconsider if I get you a coffee?’ Savage said.

‘Will I …?’ Collier reached up and smoothed the fuzz on top of his head. ‘Oh bloody hell. Alright then.’

Collier began barking out orders while Savage went to get him a coffee. By the time she returned she was pleased to see officers bent to keyboards and working hard, a photo of Stuart Chaffe now up on one of the whiteboards.

‘Chaffe’s the initial target,’ Collier said. ‘The evidence Layton found in the van puts him at the centre. He had something to do with the little girl and Owers, Riley was in his van and Ricky Budgeon is his mate. We’ve got nothing much on Budgeon so action point two is research on him, but find Chaffe, and I reckon we find Budgeon and Riley.’

Collier left an unsaid question hanging in the air. Savage could see by the expressions in the room that other officers were thinking along the same lines: why the hell had she let Chaffe go? She didn’t say anything and saw faces turn back to screens. She’d mucked up and she knew it was because she had been distracted. She could blame the crash Calter and Enders had been involved in, sure, but what had really made her take her eyes off the ball was Alec bloody Jackman and the damned video of her and Matthew Harrison.

She left the team

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