Fic: Circumstantial Evidence (1/3), PG-13, gen
Title: Circumstantial Evidence (1/3)
Author: dak
Word Count: 13,865
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: mentions of murder
Pairing: none (well, there might be some if you squint)
Summary: After a prisoner goes missing from cells, questions are asked about CID's involvement. Each detective is interviewed separately and tells their side of the story. But are they all telling the truth? And who are they desperate to protect?
A/N: For the 2011 LoM Big Bang over at lom_bigbang
Part 2 Part 3
Phyllis
“What happened that day? Christ if I know.”
Desk Sergeant Dobbs, please just tell us what you saw on the 23 June 1973.
“Saw a lot of things that day, didn’t I? Was working a double shift ‘cause that flighty Sergeant Mullins decided to say home, God knows why.”
Then begin with when the suspect was brought in.
“Fine. I were at the front desk, like always, doing a job meant for three people not one, like always, when Cartwright and Skelton brought him in...”
~~~~
Phyllis gathered the fallen stack of papers from the floor and slammed them onto the desk.
“Bloody Mullins! Can’t keep owt neat when he’s here but leaves me to clean up his messes when he doesn’t show.”
The young WPC, beside her simply nodded, too green to understand station politics. Hammond, Phyllis thought she was called. All she knew was that she was useless.
“Not a job for one person, you know. Takes a ruddy army just to keep our heads above the paper. Arrest logs. Cell checks. Release forms...”
She sorted through the now mixed-up papers, trying to reorganise them.
“An army alright. Or Tyler. If he were a desk sergeant instead of a DI...”
“Who?” The WPC asked.
“You’ll learn,” Phyllis sighed. “You’ll learn.”
She had just managed to get the desk into some semblance of order when the front doors opened and a gust of wind came through threatening to upturn everything. Sprawled across the counter in an effort to protect her work, she looked up to see DC Skelton and WDC Cartwright escorting a cuffed man into the station.
“Shut the ruddy door, will you?” She ordered. Skelton ran back to close it while Annie brought the man up front. His head was down, shoulders slouched. No trouble, this one, but the new WPC stepped back. Phyllis rolled her eyes.
“Don’t want your old job back, do you Annie?”
“Sorry.” She smiled but her face remained grim.
“Pity. So what’ve we got here, then?” Phyllis finally caught sight of the man’s face. All her annoyance changed to anger. “Where’d you find him?”
“His sister’s in Stockport,” Annie said.
“Hiding in the cellar,” Skelton added.
Phyllis finished filling out the charge sheet.
“Good work, you two. Guv’ll be proud.” She grabbed the keys to the cells and handed them to Annie. “Cell three’s free. Welcome back, Mr. Lamb.”
~~~~
“Don’t know what happened after that. Finished me shift and went home.”
So you weren’t aware of anything that happened after he was taken to cells? You didn’t see anything suspicious?
“I told you. They took him to cell three. We did our rounds. When I left at four, he was fine. I don’t know what happened to Simon Lamb after that. All I know is he deserved it.”
Annie
“Everyone was under pressure. The whole department. We had the evidence we needed to arrest Mr. Lamb, but we couldn’t find him. It was stressful.”
Did anyone appear to be under more stress than others?
“We were all in it together. We all felt the same. We’re a team.”
And what about DI Tyler?
“We all felt the same.”
Could you tell us how you came to find Simon Lamb?
“Well, it had been two weeks since we put out the warrant for his arrest, but he’d gone underground. The Guv asked us to put pressure on the family, that they might know where he was...”
~~~~
Annie clutched her purse as Chris drove slowly through the winding streets. His hands were clenched tightly to the wheel, body tense.
“If you like, I could drive,” Annie offered.
“No, I’m alright. I am.” Chris wiped the back of his sleeve against his forehead.
“Because it’s fine. Really. If you want to rest...”
“I said I’m fine,” he snapped then looked guilty. “Sorry, Annie. Suppose none of us have had much sleep lately, have we?”
“I can’t remember the last time I saw my bed.” She sighed, fighting the headache forming behind her eyes.
“Can’t believe it. All we did for him to find his daughter and then he goes and...”
“I know. But he won’t get away with it this time.”
“Long as we find him,” Chris said.
“And that’s why we’re going to Stockport.” Annie tried to remain cheerful. As the only woman in CID, they expected her to be the happy, optimistic one, even if all she wanted was to crawl in bed and disappear or rip Simon Lamb apart piece by bloody piece.
“But, I thought he hasn’t seen his sister in years. Estranged, isn’t that what she told us?” Chris asked.
“Could be true, but like DI Tyler said, we have to pursue every angle.”
Chris made a sudden right turn. Annie felt herself go pale as the tiny Ford found all four wheels again and steadied itself.
“Sorry,” he mumbled. “Why do we have to go out to Stockport? Why couldn’t Ray?”
“Because it’s what the Guv told us. And besides, would you rather be at the station with him and DI Tyler screaming at each other? And you know Ray can’t drive with his arm all...”
“Yeah. I know. Think I’m more afraid of going back without finding owt, though.”
“Well, maybe we’ll get lucky, eh?” Annie smiled then stared at the passing buildings and cars. It was nice getting away from the station and Manchester. The city had felt claustrophobic the past few weeks, putting the whole team at each other’s throats. Even she and Chris had been snapping at each other over nothing.
While the underlying stress was still there, she did feel calmer now and was secretly pleased that Chris was driving. It gave her a chance to breathe.
Barbara Lamb’s home was a thirty minute drive from central Manchester. Annie had first gone out there with Sam a month ago, when they were first starting their investigation. Ms. Lamb was what Ray would call a spinster but what Sam had politely referred to as “independent.” In her forties, never married, no children, she was an assistant to the owner of a nearby textile factory.
When they had first interviewed her - curt but polite woman - Annie had looked round her home and noticed how tidy and impersonal it had been. She had left the house feeling frustrated, not because they’d gleaned no new information like Sam assumed, but because she could see herself in Barbara Lamb.
Even Phyllis had an ex-husband and two grown kids that she still looked after, but Barbara Lamb had been alone. Just passing into middle age with only financial stability to show for it. She hardly spoke to any of her own family, she had said. The similarities to her own life had scared Annie.
But the middle of a kiddie-killer case was not the time to be questioning herself. Stress, it was all stress, she was sure.
When Chris finally parked the car alongside the pavement outside Ms. Lamb’s small, one-story detached house, Annie took a moment to observe the surroundings. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. The street was quiet, a faint breeze rustling the full, summer leaves of the trees.
They got out of the car and went to the front door but a few sturdy knocks from Chris’s hand yielded no answer. They listened but heard no sound from inside.
“It’s the middle of the afternoon. She could be at work,” Chris said.
“Well, I have that address,” Annie replied, patting her purse. “We can go there next, but first...” She tried to peer into the windows then began walking round the house.
“Annie? What’re you doing?”
“I just want to have a look.”
Something felt off. She couldn’t describe it. Outwardly, there was nothing out of the ordinary. Instinct was telling her to look deeper. Sam could say all he wanted about evidence and interviews and procedure, but if the Guv was right about one thing it was instinct. She’d relied on both methods as a policewoman and they’d gotten her far already.
She rounded the back of the house. There was no fence surrounding the back garden and Annie could walk freely. As long as she didn’t force her way through any entrance, she was legally allowed to have a look.
There was a back door, but it was firmly locked. As were all the windows. The cellar door, however, was not.
“Annie?” Chris appeared beside her as she examined the unlatched cellar door.
“Look,” she said. “Why would she leave the latch off?”
“Me grandad would. Gran hated when he walked through the house in his wellies while he was gardening. So, he’d go in and out through the cellar. Never bothered latching it.”
“Does it look like Ms. Lamb is doing much gardening?” Annie motioned to the uncut grass, the unruly rose bush, and the flower beds overgrown with weeds. “When DI Tyler and I were here, she said she had hardly time for anything except work. Everything else is locked and shut tight. She even kept the doors inside her house closed if she wasn’t using the rooms.” Annie looked at the cellar and then at the back entrance. “Watch that exit,” she said, then hefted open the cellar door.
“Annie!” Chris whispered, but she was already climbing inside. She went down the stairs as quietly as she could.
It was dark in the cellar and she had no torch. She did have a radio, which was hard as a brick and good for defending herself, and a pair of handcuffs.
The floor was only dirt. There were shelves of dusty jars filled with canned and pickled foods. She moved slowly, watching for any movement.
By the staircase which led up into the house, she noticed a small camping lantern. It was not in use but seemed out of place as nothing else was stored on the floor.
There was movement under the staircase. Annie froze.
“Barbara?” A voice whispered. “Barbara, is that you?”
Annie recognised that voice. She’d held that man while he’d cried over his missing daughter. She felt disgusted that she could have been so wrong about him.
“Mr. Lamb. This is WDC Cartwright. I’m armed,” she lied. “I’m here to arrest you on suspicion of...”
Before she could finish, his dark figure darted out from under the staircase and ran up into the house. Annie gave chase, running up the stairs and into the kitchen. She saw Lamb head for the back exit and went after him. He flung open the back door and ran outside - directly into the arms of Chris.
The two men toppled onto the grass, Lamb doing his best to push Chris away, Chris trying his hardest to hang on. Chris managed to roll onto his back, pulling Lamb on top of him. With his back exposed, Annie punched him in the kidneys - twice - subduing him. Handcuffs ready, she secured his hands behind his back.
“Simon Lamb, I’m arresting you on suspicion of the rape and murder of Doris Page. You have the right to remain silent, but anything you do say will be taken down and may be used in evidence.”
The ride back to the station was subdued. Chris sat with Simon Lamb while Annie drove. They’d been too far out for the radio to work and once they were in range neither of them thought to contact the station. Everyone would know soon enough that CID’s most wanted was in custody. Lamb gave no struggle once the cuffs had been put on. He seemed to be in a sort of trance, saying nothing, staring into space.
At the station, he let himself be led up the steps and into the station.
“Shut the door, will you?” Phyllis yelled as they led Lamb to the front desk. She had her hands full of papers and the WPC beside her was doing little to help. She even took a step back and pretended to be busy with something else when Annie started to ask her to process Mr. Lamb, though Annie did catch her throw a smile at Chris. DC Skelton didn’t seem to notice.
“Please don’t you want your old job back, Annie?” Phyllis begged.
“Sorry.” She smiled sympathetically. Even on her worst day in CID, at least she was still a detective.
Once Phyllis recognised their suspect, her pleading expression instantly hardened. She directed them to cell three then returned her attention to the incompetent WPC.
“Want me to take him and you run and tell the Guv?” Chris asked.
“Sure,” Annie agreed and took the lift to the third floor. As soon as the doors opened, she could hear Sam and the Guv shouting. She was never more pleased to have good news.
Inside the office, Ray was sat at his desk, flipping through a magazine. Relegated to desk duty, he’d had little to do the past week except read magazines and fetch files.
“Chris with you?” He asked when he saw her.
“Yes. And Simon Lamb.”
Ray nearly fell out of his chair.
“You’re joking.”
“No. Chris is putting him in cells now.”
“Thank bloody Christ.”
Something crashed within the Guv’s office.
“Better tell ‘em before they kill each other,” Ray said.
Before Annie could approach the Guv’s door, Sam burst out, gripping his wrist. He stormed past Annie without seeing her and left CID. The Guv appeared in his doorway as if to follow but stopped when he noticed Ray and Annie.
“Well then Nancy Drew, did you and Skelton enjoy your little field trip or do you have something to show for it?”
“Simon Lamb’s in cell three,” she said, almost unable to find her voice in the face of the Guv’s rage.
DCI Hunt was shocked into silence. He looked into his office then back at Annie. Crossing the room in only a few strides, he took her head in his hands, kissed her on the forehead then walked out of the office.
“Suppose I did well then,” she said to Ray once they were alone.
Ray had already gone back to his magazine.
After starting her paperwork, Annie had trouble focussing on the words. Her eyes kept threatening to close and, after only five minutes at her desk, decided a cup of tea was in order.
The canteen was as grey and depressing as ever, but as word about Lamb’s arrest spread, a cheerful din overtook the station staff. That Annie had been an integral part of that arrest lightened her mood before she even took a sip of her tea.
Chris, however, seemed immune to the good cheer circulating round the station. Inviting him to sit with her, she fetched him a cuppa and encouraged him to talk to her.
“It’s nowt,” he sighed, staring into his mug.
“Well, you can tell me if you want,” she smiled. “Promise I won’t tell anyone else.”
Chris thought it over before finally giving in.
“You know how, like, you want to do summat but you know you probably shouldn’t and no one expects you to anyhow but you still want to?”
“I...suppose.” She sipped her tea.
“Like, I know what I’m good at, which isn’t much, and I know what I’m not so good at, and there’s a lot more of that. But I still, you know, want to give it a go, even though I know it’s all going to end...horribly.”
“Well, is it illegal? This thing you want to do.”
“...No. Don’t think so.”
“And will it end up hurting anyone?”
“Only meself, I think,” he mumbled.
“You’re the only one who can decide what’s best for you, Chris. So, whatever it is, if you think it could be good for you, well, I’d say go for it. And if it doesn’t work out, it won’t be the end of the world. Will it?”
“Suppose not. Cheers, Annie.” Chris left his tea untouched and shuffled out of the canteen, though Annie was convinced he was holding himself a bit taller than before.
The rest of the day was spent swamped with paperwork and congratulations. Everyone had been so on edge over the Lamb case that no one seemed to care it was a woman who’d caught him. Annie appreciated it while she could. She knew as soon as the fervour died down, she’d go back to being that woman in CID, less than equal to the men.
After packing up her desk, she headed to the locker room. The Guv was buying everyone a round of drinks that night to celebrate. DCI Hunt buying drinks was so rare, even Annie couldn’t pass up the opportunity.
She’d thought she was alone at first, inside the locker room before she spotted Sam in the corner. He was crouched down in the darkest spot of the room, arms wrapped round his knees. He looked like he was rocking back and forth, but it could have been a trick of the light. He was whispering to himself, but it was so low, she couldn’t hear what he was saying.
Annie decided to pretend she didn’t see him and opened her locker door as normal. The sound shook Sam from his reverie and he scrambled to his feet, wiping his eyes.
“Oh! Sam, you startled me,” she laughed.
“Sorry, sorry,” he muttered, turning back and forth, unsure what to do with himself.
“You going to the pub?”
“Hm? Oh, pub. Yes. Of Course. Just...” He scrubbed his hands through his hair. “Just need to...tidy up my desk first.”
“I can wait if you want.”
“No, no. Don’t want to keep you. You’re the hero of the hour.” He smiled, stepping into the light. “And you deserve it.”
She smiled back until she noticed the fresh bruise forming under his eye.
“Sam! What happened?” She reached up to examine it, but he pulled back.
“Nothing. The Guv and I had a disagreement earlier. You know how it is. Now, why don’t you run off and I’ll meet you there, yeah? Promise I won’t be long.” He smiled.
Annie knew she’d be unable to convince him to let her wait, so she closed up her locker and left the station, eager to relax after a hard day’s work.
~~~~
And when did you realise Simon Lamb was missing?
“Not till I arrived the next morning. The station was buzzing soon as I stepped through the door.”
And what time did DI Tyler arrive at the pub the evening prior?
“...He didn’t. And neither did the Guv.”
Part 2
Author: dak
Word Count: 13,865
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: mentions of murder
Pairing: none (well, there might be some if you squint)
Summary: After a prisoner goes missing from cells, questions are asked about CID's involvement. Each detective is interviewed separately and tells their side of the story. But are they all telling the truth? And who are they desperate to protect?
A/N: For the 2011 LoM Big Bang over at lom_bigbang
Part 2 Part 3
Phyllis
“What happened that day? Christ if I know.”
Desk Sergeant Dobbs, please just tell us what you saw on the 23 June 1973.
“Saw a lot of things that day, didn’t I? Was working a double shift ‘cause that flighty Sergeant Mullins decided to say home, God knows why.”
Then begin with when the suspect was brought in.
“Fine. I were at the front desk, like always, doing a job meant for three people not one, like always, when Cartwright and Skelton brought him in...”
~~~~
Phyllis gathered the fallen stack of papers from the floor and slammed them onto the desk.
“Bloody Mullins! Can’t keep owt neat when he’s here but leaves me to clean up his messes when he doesn’t show.”
The young WPC, beside her simply nodded, too green to understand station politics. Hammond, Phyllis thought she was called. All she knew was that she was useless.
“Not a job for one person, you know. Takes a ruddy army just to keep our heads above the paper. Arrest logs. Cell checks. Release forms...”
She sorted through the now mixed-up papers, trying to reorganise them.
“An army alright. Or Tyler. If he were a desk sergeant instead of a DI...”
“Who?” The WPC asked.
“You’ll learn,” Phyllis sighed. “You’ll learn.”
She had just managed to get the desk into some semblance of order when the front doors opened and a gust of wind came through threatening to upturn everything. Sprawled across the counter in an effort to protect her work, she looked up to see DC Skelton and WDC Cartwright escorting a cuffed man into the station.
“Shut the ruddy door, will you?” She ordered. Skelton ran back to close it while Annie brought the man up front. His head was down, shoulders slouched. No trouble, this one, but the new WPC stepped back. Phyllis rolled her eyes.
“Don’t want your old job back, do you Annie?”
“Sorry.” She smiled but her face remained grim.
“Pity. So what’ve we got here, then?” Phyllis finally caught sight of the man’s face. All her annoyance changed to anger. “Where’d you find him?”
“His sister’s in Stockport,” Annie said.
“Hiding in the cellar,” Skelton added.
Phyllis finished filling out the charge sheet.
“Good work, you two. Guv’ll be proud.” She grabbed the keys to the cells and handed them to Annie. “Cell three’s free. Welcome back, Mr. Lamb.”
~~~~
“Don’t know what happened after that. Finished me shift and went home.”
So you weren’t aware of anything that happened after he was taken to cells? You didn’t see anything suspicious?
“I told you. They took him to cell three. We did our rounds. When I left at four, he was fine. I don’t know what happened to Simon Lamb after that. All I know is he deserved it.”
Annie
“Everyone was under pressure. The whole department. We had the evidence we needed to arrest Mr. Lamb, but we couldn’t find him. It was stressful.”
Did anyone appear to be under more stress than others?
“We were all in it together. We all felt the same. We’re a team.”
And what about DI Tyler?
“We all felt the same.”
Could you tell us how you came to find Simon Lamb?
“Well, it had been two weeks since we put out the warrant for his arrest, but he’d gone underground. The Guv asked us to put pressure on the family, that they might know where he was...”
~~~~
Annie clutched her purse as Chris drove slowly through the winding streets. His hands were clenched tightly to the wheel, body tense.
“If you like, I could drive,” Annie offered.
“No, I’m alright. I am.” Chris wiped the back of his sleeve against his forehead.
“Because it’s fine. Really. If you want to rest...”
“I said I’m fine,” he snapped then looked guilty. “Sorry, Annie. Suppose none of us have had much sleep lately, have we?”
“I can’t remember the last time I saw my bed.” She sighed, fighting the headache forming behind her eyes.
“Can’t believe it. All we did for him to find his daughter and then he goes and...”
“I know. But he won’t get away with it this time.”
“Long as we find him,” Chris said.
“And that’s why we’re going to Stockport.” Annie tried to remain cheerful. As the only woman in CID, they expected her to be the happy, optimistic one, even if all she wanted was to crawl in bed and disappear or rip Simon Lamb apart piece by bloody piece.
“But, I thought he hasn’t seen his sister in years. Estranged, isn’t that what she told us?” Chris asked.
“Could be true, but like DI Tyler said, we have to pursue every angle.”
Chris made a sudden right turn. Annie felt herself go pale as the tiny Ford found all four wheels again and steadied itself.
“Sorry,” he mumbled. “Why do we have to go out to Stockport? Why couldn’t Ray?”
“Because it’s what the Guv told us. And besides, would you rather be at the station with him and DI Tyler screaming at each other? And you know Ray can’t drive with his arm all...”
“Yeah. I know. Think I’m more afraid of going back without finding owt, though.”
“Well, maybe we’ll get lucky, eh?” Annie smiled then stared at the passing buildings and cars. It was nice getting away from the station and Manchester. The city had felt claustrophobic the past few weeks, putting the whole team at each other’s throats. Even she and Chris had been snapping at each other over nothing.
While the underlying stress was still there, she did feel calmer now and was secretly pleased that Chris was driving. It gave her a chance to breathe.
Barbara Lamb’s home was a thirty minute drive from central Manchester. Annie had first gone out there with Sam a month ago, when they were first starting their investigation. Ms. Lamb was what Ray would call a spinster but what Sam had politely referred to as “independent.” In her forties, never married, no children, she was an assistant to the owner of a nearby textile factory.
When they had first interviewed her - curt but polite woman - Annie had looked round her home and noticed how tidy and impersonal it had been. She had left the house feeling frustrated, not because they’d gleaned no new information like Sam assumed, but because she could see herself in Barbara Lamb.
Even Phyllis had an ex-husband and two grown kids that she still looked after, but Barbara Lamb had been alone. Just passing into middle age with only financial stability to show for it. She hardly spoke to any of her own family, she had said. The similarities to her own life had scared Annie.
But the middle of a kiddie-killer case was not the time to be questioning herself. Stress, it was all stress, she was sure.
When Chris finally parked the car alongside the pavement outside Ms. Lamb’s small, one-story detached house, Annie took a moment to observe the surroundings. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. The street was quiet, a faint breeze rustling the full, summer leaves of the trees.
They got out of the car and went to the front door but a few sturdy knocks from Chris’s hand yielded no answer. They listened but heard no sound from inside.
“It’s the middle of the afternoon. She could be at work,” Chris said.
“Well, I have that address,” Annie replied, patting her purse. “We can go there next, but first...” She tried to peer into the windows then began walking round the house.
“Annie? What’re you doing?”
“I just want to have a look.”
Something felt off. She couldn’t describe it. Outwardly, there was nothing out of the ordinary. Instinct was telling her to look deeper. Sam could say all he wanted about evidence and interviews and procedure, but if the Guv was right about one thing it was instinct. She’d relied on both methods as a policewoman and they’d gotten her far already.
She rounded the back of the house. There was no fence surrounding the back garden and Annie could walk freely. As long as she didn’t force her way through any entrance, she was legally allowed to have a look.
There was a back door, but it was firmly locked. As were all the windows. The cellar door, however, was not.
“Annie?” Chris appeared beside her as she examined the unlatched cellar door.
“Look,” she said. “Why would she leave the latch off?”
“Me grandad would. Gran hated when he walked through the house in his wellies while he was gardening. So, he’d go in and out through the cellar. Never bothered latching it.”
“Does it look like Ms. Lamb is doing much gardening?” Annie motioned to the uncut grass, the unruly rose bush, and the flower beds overgrown with weeds. “When DI Tyler and I were here, she said she had hardly time for anything except work. Everything else is locked and shut tight. She even kept the doors inside her house closed if she wasn’t using the rooms.” Annie looked at the cellar and then at the back entrance. “Watch that exit,” she said, then hefted open the cellar door.
“Annie!” Chris whispered, but she was already climbing inside. She went down the stairs as quietly as she could.
It was dark in the cellar and she had no torch. She did have a radio, which was hard as a brick and good for defending herself, and a pair of handcuffs.
The floor was only dirt. There were shelves of dusty jars filled with canned and pickled foods. She moved slowly, watching for any movement.
By the staircase which led up into the house, she noticed a small camping lantern. It was not in use but seemed out of place as nothing else was stored on the floor.
There was movement under the staircase. Annie froze.
“Barbara?” A voice whispered. “Barbara, is that you?”
Annie recognised that voice. She’d held that man while he’d cried over his missing daughter. She felt disgusted that she could have been so wrong about him.
“Mr. Lamb. This is WDC Cartwright. I’m armed,” she lied. “I’m here to arrest you on suspicion of...”
Before she could finish, his dark figure darted out from under the staircase and ran up into the house. Annie gave chase, running up the stairs and into the kitchen. She saw Lamb head for the back exit and went after him. He flung open the back door and ran outside - directly into the arms of Chris.
The two men toppled onto the grass, Lamb doing his best to push Chris away, Chris trying his hardest to hang on. Chris managed to roll onto his back, pulling Lamb on top of him. With his back exposed, Annie punched him in the kidneys - twice - subduing him. Handcuffs ready, she secured his hands behind his back.
“Simon Lamb, I’m arresting you on suspicion of the rape and murder of Doris Page. You have the right to remain silent, but anything you do say will be taken down and may be used in evidence.”
The ride back to the station was subdued. Chris sat with Simon Lamb while Annie drove. They’d been too far out for the radio to work and once they were in range neither of them thought to contact the station. Everyone would know soon enough that CID’s most wanted was in custody. Lamb gave no struggle once the cuffs had been put on. He seemed to be in a sort of trance, saying nothing, staring into space.
At the station, he let himself be led up the steps and into the station.
“Shut the door, will you?” Phyllis yelled as they led Lamb to the front desk. She had her hands full of papers and the WPC beside her was doing little to help. She even took a step back and pretended to be busy with something else when Annie started to ask her to process Mr. Lamb, though Annie did catch her throw a smile at Chris. DC Skelton didn’t seem to notice.
“Please don’t you want your old job back, Annie?” Phyllis begged.
“Sorry.” She smiled sympathetically. Even on her worst day in CID, at least she was still a detective.
Once Phyllis recognised their suspect, her pleading expression instantly hardened. She directed them to cell three then returned her attention to the incompetent WPC.
“Want me to take him and you run and tell the Guv?” Chris asked.
“Sure,” Annie agreed and took the lift to the third floor. As soon as the doors opened, she could hear Sam and the Guv shouting. She was never more pleased to have good news.
Inside the office, Ray was sat at his desk, flipping through a magazine. Relegated to desk duty, he’d had little to do the past week except read magazines and fetch files.
“Chris with you?” He asked when he saw her.
“Yes. And Simon Lamb.”
Ray nearly fell out of his chair.
“You’re joking.”
“No. Chris is putting him in cells now.”
“Thank bloody Christ.”
Something crashed within the Guv’s office.
“Better tell ‘em before they kill each other,” Ray said.
Before Annie could approach the Guv’s door, Sam burst out, gripping his wrist. He stormed past Annie without seeing her and left CID. The Guv appeared in his doorway as if to follow but stopped when he noticed Ray and Annie.
“Well then Nancy Drew, did you and Skelton enjoy your little field trip or do you have something to show for it?”
“Simon Lamb’s in cell three,” she said, almost unable to find her voice in the face of the Guv’s rage.
DCI Hunt was shocked into silence. He looked into his office then back at Annie. Crossing the room in only a few strides, he took her head in his hands, kissed her on the forehead then walked out of the office.
“Suppose I did well then,” she said to Ray once they were alone.
Ray had already gone back to his magazine.
After starting her paperwork, Annie had trouble focussing on the words. Her eyes kept threatening to close and, after only five minutes at her desk, decided a cup of tea was in order.
The canteen was as grey and depressing as ever, but as word about Lamb’s arrest spread, a cheerful din overtook the station staff. That Annie had been an integral part of that arrest lightened her mood before she even took a sip of her tea.
Chris, however, seemed immune to the good cheer circulating round the station. Inviting him to sit with her, she fetched him a cuppa and encouraged him to talk to her.
“It’s nowt,” he sighed, staring into his mug.
“Well, you can tell me if you want,” she smiled. “Promise I won’t tell anyone else.”
Chris thought it over before finally giving in.
“You know how, like, you want to do summat but you know you probably shouldn’t and no one expects you to anyhow but you still want to?”
“I...suppose.” She sipped her tea.
“Like, I know what I’m good at, which isn’t much, and I know what I’m not so good at, and there’s a lot more of that. But I still, you know, want to give it a go, even though I know it’s all going to end...horribly.”
“Well, is it illegal? This thing you want to do.”
“...No. Don’t think so.”
“And will it end up hurting anyone?”
“Only meself, I think,” he mumbled.
“You’re the only one who can decide what’s best for you, Chris. So, whatever it is, if you think it could be good for you, well, I’d say go for it. And if it doesn’t work out, it won’t be the end of the world. Will it?”
“Suppose not. Cheers, Annie.” Chris left his tea untouched and shuffled out of the canteen, though Annie was convinced he was holding himself a bit taller than before.
The rest of the day was spent swamped with paperwork and congratulations. Everyone had been so on edge over the Lamb case that no one seemed to care it was a woman who’d caught him. Annie appreciated it while she could. She knew as soon as the fervour died down, she’d go back to being that woman in CID, less than equal to the men.
After packing up her desk, she headed to the locker room. The Guv was buying everyone a round of drinks that night to celebrate. DCI Hunt buying drinks was so rare, even Annie couldn’t pass up the opportunity.
She’d thought she was alone at first, inside the locker room before she spotted Sam in the corner. He was crouched down in the darkest spot of the room, arms wrapped round his knees. He looked like he was rocking back and forth, but it could have been a trick of the light. He was whispering to himself, but it was so low, she couldn’t hear what he was saying.
Annie decided to pretend she didn’t see him and opened her locker door as normal. The sound shook Sam from his reverie and he scrambled to his feet, wiping his eyes.
“Oh! Sam, you startled me,” she laughed.
“Sorry, sorry,” he muttered, turning back and forth, unsure what to do with himself.
“You going to the pub?”
“Hm? Oh, pub. Yes. Of Course. Just...” He scrubbed his hands through his hair. “Just need to...tidy up my desk first.”
“I can wait if you want.”
“No, no. Don’t want to keep you. You’re the hero of the hour.” He smiled, stepping into the light. “And you deserve it.”
She smiled back until she noticed the fresh bruise forming under his eye.
“Sam! What happened?” She reached up to examine it, but he pulled back.
“Nothing. The Guv and I had a disagreement earlier. You know how it is. Now, why don’t you run off and I’ll meet you there, yeah? Promise I won’t be long.” He smiled.
Annie knew she’d be unable to convince him to let her wait, so she closed up her locker and left the station, eager to relax after a hard day’s work.
~~~~
And when did you realise Simon Lamb was missing?
“Not till I arrived the next morning. The station was buzzing soon as I stepped through the door.”
And what time did DI Tyler arrive at the pub the evening prior?
“...He didn’t. And neither did the Guv.”
Part 2