Catch as Catch Can (The Merseyside Crime Series Book 1), Malcolm Hollingdrake [best large ereader .TXT] 📗

April lifted a map from her knee. She checked the area quickly orientating the folded sheet to familiarise herself. She then cross-referenced co-ordinates of the discovery site she had marked.

‘Unusual to see a female able to use a map!’ Bradshaw’s tone was annoyingly sarcastic, and to make matters worse he began to giggle. He glanced sideways before adding further insult to injury. ‘You can trust me to get us there. It’s got a sat nav this car.’ He nodded towards the screen. ‘Give a woman a map and we’re doomed!’

April did not pause. She felt the anger immediately. ‘Stop the car!’

Although April’s tone should have left him in no doubt as to the course of action he should take, he ignored her continuing to negotiate the narrowing lane. She slammed the palm of her hand on the dashboard.

‘Stop the bloody car now, DC Bradshaw. That’s an order!’

He pulled the car to a halt, the tyres sliding momentarily along the puddled track. She could immediately see the annoyance etched on his face.

‘How long have I been with this force? Two weeks? Seventeen, eighteen days?’

Bradshaw pulled a face that clearly expressed confusion and uncertainty. He was certainly puzzled. Must be the wrong time of the month, he thought before answering. ‘Not sure.’

‘Not sure?’ she slowly repeated, looking directly at her colleague. ‘Well let’s see if I know something about you. Let’s see if I’ve taken any trouble to discover just a little about the colleagues I’ll be working alongside, colleagues I’ll be trusting and helping. Your birthday’s the thirtieth of January. You’ve been a detective for exactly fourteen weeks, before that you were in the Skelmersdale area. Your probationary period was somewhat mixed, a curate’s egg you could say.’

His facial expression quickly changed and he was about to say something when she raised her hand.

‘Not your turn, Constable, as this Inspector hasn’t finished. Where was I? Curate’s egg. You received a commendation for tackling a man with a knife in your second week there. Throughout that period, you always stressed that your intention was to join Serious Crime. I know that you’re a traditionalist, an atheist, that your parents separated when you were eleven and your mother brought you and your two sisters up.’ She continued to look directly at him. ‘You’re a rugby league supporter, Wigan. I know that you have a fiancé and that you live together …’ April allowed the last few words to fade as if there were more she could say.

Bradshaw nodded but was also filled with a growing unease as to why she had looked into his records.

‘You’ll now be thinking, nosy cow or something even stronger.’

She paused as if to give him a short length of rope by which to hang himself but then owing to her generosity of spirit continued.

‘But it’s got nothing to do with nosiness or personal curiosity, it’s professional preservation. I take an interest in every member of my team, because it’s just that, a team, that’s our strength and if we’re not careful our weakness. It’s a lesson I learned early on. “Know them and know their strengths and their weakness”, I was advised. I’d then know when they’d be able to help me and when they themselves might be in need of support. I want to know if I can trust your judgement, your integrity. I want to know if you’re blessed with a degree of intelligence, common sense but also, significantly, whether you display compassion and professionalism that will allow you to act quickly and safely.’

She paused allowing her words to sink in – wanting the meaning to cross what she saw as a clear, deep professional void she thought just might be too wide.

‘Let’s get one thing straight, DC Bradshaw. As we shall, I hope, be working together for some time, I want to know if I can trust you to watch my back in difficult times like I’ll be watching yours. Now that you understand me a little better, I’ll promise, as your superior, to treat you fairly and with the utmost respect. I’ll have a laugh and a joke with you and I’ll even, on occasion, buy you a beer but I won’t tolerate racist or sexist comments to me or any other officers. I, for one, believe there’s no room for sarcasm or patronising pricks in my team. I’ll expect total professionalism from you and from now on you’ll always refer to me as ma’am until I say otherwise. I want you to think before you speak. As someone once said, “It’s easier to be a smart arse than to be kind.”’

At this, she looked directly at him, not allowing her gaze to drift one millimetre from his, hoping what she had said had gone home. His expression offered little by way of a clue.

‘Is that understood?’

Bradshaw paused momentarily and nodded before apologising. April saw him swallow.

‘Now drive.’

Within a few minutes he was relieved to see the other police vehicle at the rendezvous point.

Chapter 4

April moved towards the cordoned area. The blue-and-white police tape was fluttering frantically, the wording a complete blur and the sheer force making the plastic strip snap and crack on occasion. The officer, on seeing them approach, lifted his hand.

‘DI Decent and DC Bradshaw.’ Both held out their warrant cards.

‘The doctor’s been but can only confirm the death. According to his brief chat, the body is that of a badly decomposed male, probably early twenties to thirties, naked apart from a chain that appears to be wrapped around the body. The torso was totally concealed until discovered. Nearly all of the corpse is still trapped within the sand and in six hours the tide’s due to cover this area.’

Bradshaw tapped April’s arm and pointed. She saw the Land Rover in which they had been conveyed return, following in the previous tracks it had carved in the sand. Three CSI officers moved quickly from the rear towards the tape, carrying cases of various sizes. Within minutes two of