‘That’s how it’s done kid. C’mon, let’s go.’ Richards ran to the door unlocking and opening it deftly, Cramer was already running after him and went straight through the door that was opened for him. ‘Take the stairs as we practiced’ hissed Richards, locking the door behind him. Cramer went down the first flight of stairs in two bounds, and used the banister to swing himself round to midway on the second, where he vaulted onto the third, with Richards following closely. They covered one flight per second, one floor per two, and were out of the building running past Betteridge’s mangled remains inside forty seconds. No witnesses, and the weather had obliterated the sounds they had made.
‘So? How do you feel? That’s what you’ve been working towards all this time after all.’ For a few moments the only audible sounds were the whirring splashes made by the tyres and the revving of the engine. Cramer’s mouth pursed on the left hand side and then relaxed, as his gaze fell from his attentive watch of the road, to the glazed stare into his lap.
‘It’s not quite what I expected.’ Another long pause. ‘I expected to be, well, if not happier at least more satisfied, you know, I thought I had myself properly psyched up but it was different to how I imagined. I know the guy was scum, and I know he deserved it but if the truth be told, I actually felt a little bit sorry for him.’ Richards took a deep breath and exhaled slowly through his nose; he had anticipated this.
‘So we should have left him to get away with his crime and carry on his filthy paedophilic life should we? Or left him to his authorities who’d give him fifteen years free board and lodgings with all the latest computer games and a bunch of kiddie killer playmates to pass the time with? These people don’t understand the meaning of justice. Have you completely forgotten everything you’ve been taught your whole life?’ Richards gesticulated and spoke with vehemence. ‘Not one of them ever has so much as a clue what another is really thinking. Their legal system’s a joke. Twelve average asciencian idiots whose judgment’s as reliable as a roulette table making a decision based on two very biased accounts, at least one of which will be mostly fiction. Is it any wonder they incarcerate the innocent and free the guilty? Take the trial of that ex-American football player, because he had a small fortune at his disposal he employed a lawyer who could convince a jury that day was night. After months in court and a massive expense to both himself and the American State, he walked free, despite the fact that he was plainly guilty to even the most average of people. Now imagine that very same jury had our abilities. After two seconds of eye contact they’d have found him guilty, with absolute certainty; no chance whatsoever of one of their all too frequent miscarriages of justice. So who do you think is more fit to judge; them or us?’ The logic was irrefutable. ‘Now you’ve seen the practical side of things I’m going to get you involved in a reconnaissance mission, so you can experience the thrill of the hunt, and develop the necessary hatred for your target. You’re going to do the next one yourself.’
Cramer sat in quiet contemplation watching droplets of rain wriggling across the window like translucent tadpoles, illuminated from behind by flashing brake-lights and street lamps. Everything Richards said did make perfect sense. The man they’d killed wouldn’t be missed by anyone; no family except a cousin he had no contact with, and no close friends. He didn’t produce anything or make any valuable contribution to society; on the contrary, he was a parasite, and a particularly harmful one at that. The world would undoubtedly be better off without him but Cramer had an irksome, indefinable sensation, as if something were tugging on his soul. Richards could see the discomfort in his young colleague, as well as its cause, and knew full well that further persuasion would be counter productive, that he would only stir up more doubt. The two sat in silence.
Nobody saw the corpse until morning when the postman found a mangy vixen taking advantage of the free meal, as he rounded the corner he heard a growl with each exertion the vixen made. Digging all her paws into the ground, rear end in the air she tugged to separate the section of intestines still attached to Betteridge’s corpse from that which she’d already swallowed. Hearing his steps she turned and fixed his gaze for a moment with her cold yellow eyes, then gripping Betteridge’s intestines between her molars at the point they adjoined his body she tore them in one animalistic frenzy, and ran away with eighteen inches of intestines trailing from her mouth, the torn ends bouncing across the grass. As she got further away she gagged and stopped in her tracks, threw her head back and swallowed the last of her meal. The postman looked on fixated by horror.
A while later a black Saab pulled up in the tower block’s car park with a crunching of gravel. The morning was cold, damp and misty, the rain from the day before still clung to everything. The two men that got out of the car were smart but very ordinary in appearance, and could have been going to work in any bank, business park or insurance company in the country. The only point that betrayed them was the fact that they were crossing a police cordon unchallenged, the officers on duty not giving them a second glance. The standard white tent had been erected, which white-suited forensics workers emerged from and re-entered like drones from the hive. Miller and Harrison were met by a Detective Inspector and the Chief Forensics Officer as they walked briskly toward the tent, their breath hanging in spiralling clouds behind them before dissipating in the mist.
‘So our friends have been doing their good work again have they?’ Miller commented flatly, an assertion more than a question, as he glanced about the scene not deigning to make eye contact with the DI who was now following at his side.
‘Almost certainly. On first inspection, and from the information gathered so far, it appears to be a suicide. That’s exactly what the locals are assuming, they’re neither surprised nor bothered; alcoholic loner jumps to death in drunken fit of anguish- hardly unusual or noteworthy. What is unusual is that he was shot, probably three times, whilst on the roof from a distance of approximately twelve feet, and it looks as if he fell rather than jumped, after this...’
‘You said probably three times’ Miller interrupted, ‘do you have difficulty in counting to three Detective Inspector?’ The latter’s eyes flashed, his previously submissive demeanour melted and he pronounced his words with pointed emphasis.
‘There’s one bullet lodged in the spine; you can see it because the corpse is incomplete. Some of small intestine, one kidney, and parts of other major organs were… consumed, by at least one fox.’ Miller smiled with all the warmth of a great white.
‘Well they do eat our rubbish don’t they? When can I expect the DNA results?’
‘You’ll have them first thing tomorrow, I could get them to you tonight if…’ Miller interrupted him for the second time.
‘Don’t bother. John Houblon says he was a piece of shit that won’t be missed.’ The DI gave a questioning look. ‘Fifty quid; a bet, but then I suppose you don’t see a lot of fifty pound notes on your salary, eh?’
‘I’m not a gambling man Mr. Miller.’
‘Don’t say Terry, though it would be more accurate to say you’re not a risk taker, which is why you’re going to be so thorough in collecting all the evidence that no-one else gives a shit about.’
‘It’s my job, I always do my job properly. If I don’t then crucial evidence can be missed and….’ Miller interrupted him again.
‘Yeah yeah yeah. You know how you’re recording this one, don’t you? Course you do. See ya next time Tel.’ Miller tossed his car keys to Harrison and inclined his head toward the car in a nod, they left. As they drove away a female junior detective approached the DI at a trot.
‘Gov! We think we’ve found the fox’s den, should we get the RSPCA in, or just flush it out and shoot it?’
‘You know what? Just leave it this time.’ He drawled with resignation.
‘But Gov! I mean, there could be ballistics evidence in its stomach.’
‘Nothing will come of it anyway, this isn’t even our case anymore. You don’t you know who those two were then? His junior indicated the negative. ‘Spooks. Both of them ex-special forces, truly horrible bastards. It’s a regular occurrence this, you’ll get used to it.’
‘But why are they interested? I thought something like this would be nothing to them, they’re supposed to be Military Intelligence, surely this isn’t their jurisdiction?’ The DI smiled benevolently at the young detective and laughed softly, and spoke in the same manner.
‘Hmm. Seems you have a lot to learn. First of all, they’re not in the least bit interested in this, they’re just here because they have to be. And it is their jurisdiction, because they say so; and why isn’t our concern. We just have to hand over all the evidence and cover their tracks, or we’ll be in more trouble than you can imagine. That’s about as much as you’ll ever get out of them, not that I recommend you try; they don’t take kindly to it. And that’s not the best bit either. The records will show this was a suicide, plenty of circumstantial evidence, nothing to the contrary. Certainly no ballistics. The coroners report will concur. You’ve signed the Official Secrets Act, so if you do tell anybody that anything else happened here, I’m afraid you will be liable to be prosecuted for treason, and the maximum sentence is still… death, they still have working gallows at Wandsworth prison.’ He tried to say this as affably as possible, but his point cut like a razor all the same. ‘There is a small consolation though. We’re more than likely going to find out that Miller’s right, that this Betteridge guy really was a nasty piece of work...’
‘But you said we had to hand over all the evidence, how are we going to find that out without it?’
‘You just saw their method of taking control of a crime scene. As far as they know they get all the evidence as soon as it’s collected. In reality we keep our share of all the samples, which we destroy when we have the analyses, and make two copies of all the photos. We copy computer hard drives which are analysed briefly and destroyed, and then we keep the bare essentials on a paper file where no-one will ever find it. The way I see it we’re only in breach of the Secrets Act if we tell anybody about it.’ The young Detective stood looking in bewilderment for a moment.
‘It might be the shock of what you just told me, I mean this might be a stupid question, but why do we bother doing all that just to… do nothing about it?’
‘Don’t you want to know what happened, and more importantly why, Detective?’
At the same time Miller and Harrison were encountering the beginnings of the morning rush on the A3 going back to Central London.
‘I just don’t get it’ Harrison mused, ‘it seems as though Terry really wants to catch these guys sometimes.’
‘I’d say there’s more to it than that. He’s must be what? Late fifties, early sixties? And he’s just been walked all over by a pair of little oiks twenty five years his junior; don’t make the mistake of thinking he respects us, he only respects our job titles. We take his evidence, and then leave him out of the loop. That’s what annoys him.’ Harrison glanced over at Miller who was speaking matter-of-factly, but to look at his eyes alone anyone would think he was on the brink of rage. This was often the case with Miller. His words and tone of would often be pleasant enough, he may even smile, but his eyes would simultaneously give the impression of something deeply disturbing going on in his mind. He continued as Harrison pondered that and his own personal safety. ‘He just wants to know what’s going on, and we’re the obstacle in his way. He knows we don’t want to catch these guys, but probably doesn’t realise just how little we know, or how randomly they operate. My guess is that he doesn’t really want to catch them either, but pretending he does is one of the few things he can do to annoy us.’ This was of course just a small bonus, his attitude was mainly a cover for his own covert investigation.
‘What do you think our chances are, realistically?’ asked Harrison, Miller laughed hard before he replied still catching his breath.
‘Of catching them? Slim to none. Their modus operandi is totally random, apart from the fact they always kill people who deserve it, we’re always two steps behind. Christ, if by some miracle we did catch them I’d probably just shake them by the hand and ask them for a job. In fact, I’d kill to do their job!’ Miller laughed heartily at his own bad joke, that same look still in his eyes. ‘It would beat the hell out of running round cleaning up their mess. Besides, nobody wants them caught, nobody who knows they exist at least, that’s the whole reason we do what we do.’
‘I’d love to know how they do their reconnaissance’ said Harrison, something Cramer was about to learn.
‘So? How do you feel? That’s what you’ve been working towards all this time after all.’ For a few moments the only audible sounds were the whirring splashes made by the tyres and the revving of the engine. Cramer’s mouth pursed on the left hand side and then relaxed, as his gaze fell from his attentive watch of the road, to the glazed stare into his lap.
‘It’s not quite what I expected.’ Another long pause. ‘I expected to be, well, if not happier at least more satisfied, you know, I thought I had myself properly psyched up but it was different to how I imagined. I know the guy was scum, and I know he deserved it but if the truth be told, I actually felt a little bit sorry for him.’ Richards took a deep breath and exhaled slowly through his nose; he had anticipated this.
‘So we should have left him to get away with his crime and carry on his filthy paedophilic life should we? Or left him to his authorities who’d give him fifteen years free board and lodgings with all the latest computer games and a bunch of kiddie killer playmates to pass the time with? These people don’t understand the meaning of justice. Have you completely forgotten everything you’ve been taught your whole life?’ Richards gesticulated and spoke with vehemence. ‘Not one of them ever has so much as a clue what another is really thinking. Their legal system’s a joke. Twelve average asciencian idiots whose judgment’s as reliable as a roulette table making a decision based on two very biased accounts, at least one of which will be mostly fiction. Is it any wonder they incarcerate the innocent and free the guilty? Take the trial of that ex-American football player, because he had a small fortune at his disposal he employed a lawyer who could convince a jury that day was night. After months in court and a massive expense to both himself and the American State, he walked free, despite the fact that he was plainly guilty to even the most average of people. Now imagine that very same jury had our abilities. After two seconds of eye contact they’d have found him guilty, with absolute certainty; no chance whatsoever of one of their all too frequent miscarriages of justice. So who do you think is more fit to judge; them or us?’ The logic was irrefutable. ‘Now you’ve seen the practical side of things I’m going to get you involved in a reconnaissance mission, so you can experience the thrill of the hunt, and develop the necessary hatred for your target. You’re going to do the next one yourself.’
Cramer sat in quiet contemplation watching droplets of rain wriggling across the window like translucent tadpoles, illuminated from behind by flashing brake-lights and street lamps. Everything Richards said did make perfect sense. The man they’d killed wouldn’t be missed by anyone; no family except a cousin he had no contact with, and no close friends. He didn’t produce anything or make any valuable contribution to society; on the contrary, he was a parasite, and a particularly harmful one at that. The world would undoubtedly be better off without him but Cramer had an irksome, indefinable sensation, as if something were tugging on his soul. Richards could see the discomfort in his young colleague, as well as its cause, and knew full well that further persuasion would be counter productive, that he would only stir up more doubt. The two sat in silence.
Nobody saw the corpse until morning when the postman found a mangy vixen taking advantage of the free meal, as he rounded the corner he heard a growl with each exertion the vixen made. Digging all her paws into the ground, rear end in the air she tugged to separate the section of intestines still attached to Betteridge’s corpse from that which she’d already swallowed. Hearing his steps she turned and fixed his gaze for a moment with her cold yellow eyes, then gripping Betteridge’s intestines between her molars at the point they adjoined his body she tore them in one animalistic frenzy, and ran away with eighteen inches of intestines trailing from her mouth, the torn ends bouncing across the grass. As she got further away she gagged and stopped in her tracks, threw her head back and swallowed the last of her meal. The postman looked on fixated by horror.
A while later a black Saab pulled up in the tower block’s car park with a crunching of gravel. The morning was cold, damp and misty, the rain from the day before still clung to everything. The two men that got out of the car were smart but very ordinary in appearance, and could have been going to work in any bank, business park or insurance company in the country. The only point that betrayed them was the fact that they were crossing a police cordon unchallenged, the officers on duty not giving them a second glance. The standard white tent had been erected, which white-suited forensics workers emerged from and re-entered like drones from the hive. Miller and Harrison were met by a Detective Inspector and the Chief Forensics Officer as they walked briskly toward the tent, their breath hanging in spiralling clouds behind them before dissipating in the mist.
‘So our friends have been doing their good work again have they?’ Miller commented flatly, an assertion more than a question, as he glanced about the scene not deigning to make eye contact with the DI who was now following at his side.
‘Almost certainly. On first inspection, and from the information gathered so far, it appears to be a suicide. That’s exactly what the locals are assuming, they’re neither surprised nor bothered; alcoholic loner jumps to death in drunken fit of anguish- hardly unusual or noteworthy. What is unusual is that he was shot, probably three times, whilst on the roof from a distance of approximately twelve feet, and it looks as if he fell rather than jumped, after this...’
‘You said probably three times’ Miller interrupted, ‘do you have difficulty in counting to three Detective Inspector?’ The latter’s eyes flashed, his previously submissive demeanour melted and he pronounced his words with pointed emphasis.
‘There’s one bullet lodged in the spine; you can see it because the corpse is incomplete. Some of small intestine, one kidney, and parts of other major organs were… consumed, by at least one fox.’ Miller smiled with all the warmth of a great white.
‘Well they do eat our rubbish don’t they? When can I expect the DNA results?’
‘You’ll have them first thing tomorrow, I could get them to you tonight if…’ Miller interrupted him for the second time.
‘Don’t bother. John Houblon says he was a piece of shit that won’t be missed.’ The DI gave a questioning look. ‘Fifty quid; a bet, but then I suppose you don’t see a lot of fifty pound notes on your salary, eh?’
‘I’m not a gambling man Mr. Miller.’
‘Don’t say Terry, though it would be more accurate to say you’re not a risk taker, which is why you’re going to be so thorough in collecting all the evidence that no-one else gives a shit about.’
‘It’s my job, I always do my job properly. If I don’t then crucial evidence can be missed and….’ Miller interrupted him again.
‘Yeah yeah yeah. You know how you’re recording this one, don’t you? Course you do. See ya next time Tel.’ Miller tossed his car keys to Harrison and inclined his head toward the car in a nod, they left. As they drove away a female junior detective approached the DI at a trot.
‘Gov! We think we’ve found the fox’s den, should we get the RSPCA in, or just flush it out and shoot it?’
‘You know what? Just leave it this time.’ He drawled with resignation.
‘But Gov! I mean, there could be ballistics evidence in its stomach.’
‘Nothing will come of it anyway, this isn’t even our case anymore. You don’t you know who those two were then? His junior indicated the negative. ‘Spooks. Both of them ex-special forces, truly horrible bastards. It’s a regular occurrence this, you’ll get used to it.’
‘But why are they interested? I thought something like this would be nothing to them, they’re supposed to be Military Intelligence, surely this isn’t their jurisdiction?’ The DI smiled benevolently at the young detective and laughed softly, and spoke in the same manner.
‘Hmm. Seems you have a lot to learn. First of all, they’re not in the least bit interested in this, they’re just here because they have to be. And it is their jurisdiction, because they say so; and why isn’t our concern. We just have to hand over all the evidence and cover their tracks, or we’ll be in more trouble than you can imagine. That’s about as much as you’ll ever get out of them, not that I recommend you try; they don’t take kindly to it. And that’s not the best bit either. The records will show this was a suicide, plenty of circumstantial evidence, nothing to the contrary. Certainly no ballistics. The coroners report will concur. You’ve signed the Official Secrets Act, so if you do tell anybody that anything else happened here, I’m afraid you will be liable to be prosecuted for treason, and the maximum sentence is still… death, they still have working gallows at Wandsworth prison.’ He tried to say this as affably as possible, but his point cut like a razor all the same. ‘There is a small consolation though. We’re more than likely going to find out that Miller’s right, that this Betteridge guy really was a nasty piece of work...’
‘But you said we had to hand over all the evidence, how are we going to find that out without it?’
‘You just saw their method of taking control of a crime scene. As far as they know they get all the evidence as soon as it’s collected. In reality we keep our share of all the samples, which we destroy when we have the analyses, and make two copies of all the photos. We copy computer hard drives which are analysed briefly and destroyed, and then we keep the bare essentials on a paper file where no-one will ever find it. The way I see it we’re only in breach of the Secrets Act if we tell anybody about it.’ The young Detective stood looking in bewilderment for a moment.
‘It might be the shock of what you just told me, I mean this might be a stupid question, but why do we bother doing all that just to… do nothing about it?’
‘Don’t you want to know what happened, and more importantly why, Detective?’
At the same time Miller and Harrison were encountering the beginnings of the morning rush on the A3 going back to Central London.
‘I just don’t get it’ Harrison mused, ‘it seems as though Terry really wants to catch these guys sometimes.’
‘I’d say there’s more to it than that. He’s must be what? Late fifties, early sixties? And he’s just been walked all over by a pair of little oiks twenty five years his junior; don’t make the mistake of thinking he respects us, he only respects our job titles. We take his evidence, and then leave him out of the loop. That’s what annoys him.’ Harrison glanced over at Miller who was speaking matter-of-factly, but to look at his eyes alone anyone would think he was on the brink of rage. This was often the case with Miller. His words and tone of would often be pleasant enough, he may even smile, but his eyes would simultaneously give the impression of something deeply disturbing going on in his mind. He continued as Harrison pondered that and his own personal safety. ‘He just wants to know what’s going on, and we’re the obstacle in his way. He knows we don’t want to catch these guys, but probably doesn’t realise just how little we know, or how randomly they operate. My guess is that he doesn’t really want to catch them either, but pretending he does is one of the few things he can do to annoy us.’ This was of course just a small bonus, his attitude was mainly a cover for his own covert investigation.
‘What do you think our chances are, realistically?’ asked Harrison, Miller laughed hard before he replied still catching his breath.
‘Of catching them? Slim to none. Their modus operandi is totally random, apart from the fact they always kill people who deserve it, we’re always two steps behind. Christ, if by some miracle we did catch them I’d probably just shake them by the hand and ask them for a job. In fact, I’d kill to do their job!’ Miller laughed heartily at his own bad joke, that same look still in his eyes. ‘It would beat the hell out of running round cleaning up their mess. Besides, nobody wants them caught, nobody who knows they exist at least, that’s the whole reason we do what we do.’
‘I’d love to know how they do their reconnaissance’ said Harrison, something Cramer was about to learn.
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