‘Won’t your DCI be wondering where you are?’ Ramouter asked as they turned a corner and saw Pellacia talking with the borough commander, Geraldine Barker.
‘Yeah, you’re right.’ Copeland backed into an alcove in the hallway, out of Pellacia’s view. ‘But you know, why don’t you tell me all about it later. Maybe a drink after work? I should finish my shift by six.’
Ramouter looked across at Pellacia who had raised his arm and was pointing at his watch.
‘Sure, why not,’ he said. ‘The Gypsy Moth in Greenwich good for you?’
‘Perfect,’ Copeland replied.
‘I thought the press conference went well,’ said Barker, who oversaw the police stations and specialist units that operated in South-East London. ‘The questions from the press weren’t too painful.’
‘That’s because we’ve withheld information,’ said Pellacia, loosening his tie and taking a seat on the grey sofa in the corner of the room. ‘The last thing that I or DC Ramouter needed was to mention the scalping … I know,’ he said as Barker wrinkled her nose in disgust.
‘Scalping,’ she said. ‘It’s the stuff you read about in history books or see in Westerns. Makes my blood run cold. Where are you in terms of suspects?’
‘When it comes to Fox-Carnell there’s a long list. From the victims who somehow survived and the family members of the ones who didn’t,’ answered Pellacia. ‘Her stepfather reported incidents of harassment to Henley and Ramouter. There are photographs but no evidence as to who was responsible.’
‘You’ve got your hands full.’
‘Which brings me to why I wanted to see you, ma’am.’
‘You’ll have more luck standing outside waving a tincan on the high street if you’re thinking of asking me for money.’
‘No, I know that would be a fool’s errand,’ said Pellacia. ‘But what I’m asking for is for you to agree to a secondment. I was planning to discuss it with Henley.’
‘And have you?’
‘Not yet. There are a lot of moving parts to this investigation and it’s all hands on deck. I’ll be honest I wasn’t particularly keen on the idea of expanding the team, but I had to have a word with myself when I agreed for Ezra to accompany Henley to Soteria.’
‘You sent a civilian. Someone with no police training out on an investigation and you’re only telling me now?’ Barker exclaimed.
‘Ma’am, as I explained, there’s a lot going on with this case and the computer evidence is an important part of it. Unfortunately, myRed Dead RedemptionXbox skills are of no use here.’
‘DCI Pellacia, please don’t try to avoid the seriousness of what you did with poor humour. You’ll need to give me a full report as to why Ezra accompanied Henley and how his experience is integral to the digital component of this case.’
‘Of course, ma’am, and my apologies.’
Barker sighed. ‘Honestly, as if I don’t have enough on my plate, but back to your secondment proposal. Do you have anyone in mind or would you like HR to distribute a notice to the usual unit heads?’
Pellacia picked up the slim blue folder that was on top of his Fox-Carnell and Ashcroft case notes. ‘In the past three months I’ve received five transfer requests. You’re obviously privy to a lot more information about the applicants than I am, so I would appreciate your input.’
Barker drank her coffee as she flicked through the file. After a moment, she said, ‘DC Xania Copeland. I can’t say that I’m surprised to see her request.’
‘She submitted her request an hour after the Ashcroft case was reallocated to the SCU and then she came to my office at 7.30 this morning and repeated her request in person,’ said Pellacia.
‘She’s keen.’
‘There’s another word for it.’
‘Let’s hope that word is tenacious.’
‘It wasn’t tenacity. It was an attempt to ambush me.’
‘She’s ambitious, which in itself isn’t a bad thing, but she tends to get ahead of herself and not necessarily respect the chain of command. I think her DCI’s exact words were “She walks around like she owns the place”.’
‘She left that out of her transfer request,’ Pellacia said drily.
‘Can hardly blame her. Much better to put “I work well on my own but I’m also a team player” in your request,’ Barker sniggered. ‘A secondment wouldn’t cost you or me a penny.’
