Read Online Criminal Revenge by Conrad Jones - Free Book Online

man-hours could be saved by frequent briefings. They stopped people working on the same issue, or heading down a dead end that others had already been to. Alec had the bit between his teeth, and the longer they investigated the bombing, the less likely it seemed that it had been a terrorist attack. He needed the divisional commander to have the same opinion, or it would be left to the Counter Terrorist Unit to deal with.
    “Guv.” Will Naylor held up his telephone. He looked sharp and refreshed after his break, as did his team. Even Smithy looked half-tidy.
    “It’s the commander, guv.”
    “Patch it through to my office, please, Will.”
    Alec stepped into his office and clicked the door closed behind him. He couldn’t make up his mind whether he wanted to be the lead unit on the bombing or not. It was a massive case which would carry volumes of kudos if it ended with a conviction. The careers of the entire team would be enhanced by working on a case like this. They could also be damaged beyond repair, if mistakes were made. Alec was too long in the tooth to be a glory hound, but he relished a challenge, and his detectives were the best.
    Alec was convinced it had been a targeted hit. The problem was that both the protagonists and targets lived in the world of organised crime. It was a world of secrecy and silence. There would be no informers, no tip-offs, and no witnesses. Malik Shah appeared to be made of Teflon, nothing stuck to him, and Alec would have bet a year’s wages that his enemies were of similar material. The police hierarchy would want results and convictions tomorrow, if not sooner. Alec couldn’t see either coming quickly.
    He lifted the phone and pressed a button to connect the line. “Commander.”
    “Detective superintendent, how are you, Alec?” Alec and the commander went back years. Alec had always been a few rungs down the ladder, but the two men had a mutual respect that could only grow over decades. Alec had been pulled out of a few close scrapes during his years on the force, and though he was never certain, he had a hunch that the commander was his guardian angel.
    “Not so bad, Bob. How’s Sally?”
    “Fine, thanks, how’s Gail?”
    “Still trying to poison me with organic everything. I’m still not sure what organic actually means, but I’ll live forever at this rate.” Alec was force-fed a healthy diet by his long-suffering wife, whether he wanted it or not.
    “Heaven forbid! Why would you want to do that? By the time we retire our pension funds will have been invested in an Icelandic bank. It’ll be worth peanuts.”
    “Probably, but as long as they’re organic, the boss will be happy.” Alec Ramsay had been married twenty years, and he’d never strayed once, which he was proud of. He’d had plenty of offers over the years; a mixture of power and personality made him attractive to his female colleagues, but he’d never succumbed to
the temptation.
    The commander laughed and then said seriously, “All joking aside, Alec, how’s the investigation going?”
    “It depends on where you’re looking at it from,” Alec replied thoughtfully, rubbing his chin. “What are CTU saying?”
    “They have nothing solid worth shouting about. You know what they’re like, cards very close to their chest and all.”
    “Do they think it was an extremist attack?”
    “I’m assuming from that comment, superintendent, that you don’t,” the commander batted the question back.
    “No, commander, I don’t.” The two old friends slipped into their professional standings comfortably. “Have you seen the preliminary forensics?”
    “Yes. What do you make of it?”
    “Did you pick up on the mixture?”
    “I did indeed, superintendent.” The commander had spent a number of years in Belfast. “Echoes of our Republican friends?”
    “Without a doubt, commander, I haven’t seen or heard of a cooked mixture since our time across the Irish Sea.”
    “You’re ruling out any Irish