The Judgement Book by Simon Hall

Author:Simon Hall
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3, pdf
Publisher: Accent Press
Published: 2012-08-28T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

DAN DIDN’T HAVE MUCH time that spring Tuesday evening to compose an entry in the diary he kept of the cases he worked on with Adam. But despite all else that was going on in his life, he made sure he found just a couple of minutes, so important was it to record the headlines of what had happened.

“Caught the bloody blackmailer!” he wrote. “The case is SORTED! Great TV scoop on it too. Groves does it again. Yeah, yeah, yeah!!”

Looking back on the case of The Judgement Book, in the coming weeks and months, when he finally found the courage and strength, Dan didn’t know whether to be angry or laugh at himself, so woefully naive were his words.

The day started quietly enough, with the briefing Adam had arranged in the MIR. It was eight o’clock exactly.

‘I scarcely know where to begin,’ the detective said, standing beside his beloved green boards. He looked at Dan. ‘We’ve had some very interesting information come in. Your broadcast last night certainly caused a stir.’

Dan sipped at his canteen tea and flinched. It was bitingly strong, the way the police seemed to like it. Built for the beat, Adam always said.

He hadn’t slept well, those goading thoughts about his future with Claire and his unborn son intruding continually into his dreams. But the two of them had managed to find five minutes together before the briefing, hidden in the far corner of Charles Cross car park, and the quick squeezing cuddle had lifted his spirits.

He’d felt his eyes ache and had to blink back the gathering tears. Where had they come from, he wondered? Even in the days when the swamp was at its most powerful, and dramatic mood swings were a familiar sufferance, he couldn’t remember such mercurial emotions.

Dan focused back on Adam. The detective’s face had darkened and he seemed to find what he was saying distasteful.

‘Sorry, what?’ Dan asked.

‘I said sex.’ Adam spelt out the taboo with all the distaste of an accomplished prude. ‘S – E – X. Linda Cott and sex.’

Dan instinctively reached for his notebook. ‘Go on. I’m listening.’

‘I bet you are. So I’ll remind you again. No stories without my say so, remember?’

‘Yes, yes, of course. Go on.’

Adam gave him a look. ‘We had an anonymous call after your story last night. It was from a woman. She said she knew why Linda had killed herself.’

‘And?’

‘She said it was down to sex. She claims Linda used to take part in an activity known as “dogging”.’

Dan blinked hard. He liked to think of himself as a man of the world and was pretty sure he knew what dogging was, but thought he’d better check before he made a fine fool of himself.

‘And dogging is?’

Claire looked away. Adam’s face was reddening. He cleared his throat awkwardly. ‘Sex – in public – with strangers – watched by … other people.’

There was a pause. Dan frowned, couldn’t keep the incredulity from his voice. ‘Linda Cott? A senior cop? Who you all rate so highly? Doing – that stuff?’

Adam and Claire exchanged glances.

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