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Authors: Natasha Cooper
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to keep it secret, so I’m sure he was too. I haven’t talked to anyone. Except you.’
‘I certainly haven’t passed it on,’ Trish said. ‘Are you suggesting these unnamed selectors fed your source a piece of disinformation and asked her to make sure you got it too?’
‘Possibly. If it’s true she’s used the whistleblower’s phoneline at Scotland Yard and talked to senior officers as she claimed, then they have to be aware of what she’s been saying. They could easily have got someone to tell her I’m in the running, in the hope she’d talk to me, so they could watch what I’d do.’
‘Would you want to work with an organisation that could be so manipulative?’
Caro gave the question thought, then said slowly, ‘The job they have to do is important enough to justify anything – almost anything.’ Suddenly she smiled, looking more like herself. ‘I
knew talking to you would clear my brain a bit, Trish. Any minute now, I’ll even see my way. Thank you.’
‘It would obviously help if you could find out whether this man has ever had any links with the Slabbs, innocent or otherwise,’ Trish said without thinking.
‘I’m not stupid.’ Caro laughed. ‘Even at my most panicky I could see that. But there’s no way I could dig into his background without letting everyone know what I’m up to. It would get back to him – and them – in no time. There has to be some other way of dealing with this.’
Trish had more than enough confidence in Caro to know that if there were another way she would find it. She never gave up on anything or anyone she thought was important.
‘Why don’t I know anything about these Slabbs? Who are they?’
‘One of the families who run organised crime in South London. They’ve been under surveillance of all kinds – us, MI5, the Revenue, Customs and Excise – so we know a lot about them. We know a lot about what they do, too, but most of the information comes from phone tapping and, as you know perfectly well, we’re still not allowed to use that as evidence in court. Your wretched colleagues can get almost any evidence thrown out these days.’
Trish was tempted to protest, but this wasn’t the time, and there was no point trotting out the ethics of the criminal Bar all over again. Anyone who took the trouble to think knew that every defendant had to have the right to have his or her case put as well as it could be. No one could be assumed to be guilty until the defence had tested every scrap of evidence and a jury had pronounced its verdict.
‘I can see why you couldn’t ask questions about Crayley and the Slabbs, but there’s no reason why I shouldn’t,’ she said.
Caro moved suddenly in the big spoon-backed chair in the corner. ‘Don’t even think about it. That’s not why I came
tonight. I only wanted to talk it through, to see whether you could spot a loophole anywhere, and to clear my own mind.’
‘I know, but I’m planning to ask a few questions about a Soho drug dealer anyway. I could always be frightfully naive and ask about your Slabbs at the same time. I might pick up something you could use. People tell you the most extraordinary things if you ask direct questions.’
‘No doubt. But it’s not your job to be investigating drug dealers in Soho or anywhere else.’ Caro’s voice was full of the authority that came naturally to her. ‘What are you thinking of, Trish?’
‘I’m only after background for the defamation case I told you about. Jeremy Marton killed himself after your lot found drugs being sold on his premises in Soho.’
‘But you said the libel was to do with the bombing, not his suicide.’
‘I thought I might work backwards, talking to people who knew him and might have been in his confidence. He must have had some friends while he was working with the homeless, and he might have told one of them something about who this Baiborn character is. That’s all I want.’
‘I don’t suppose he’d have talked
‘I certainly haven’t passed it on,’ Trish said. ‘Are you suggesting these unnamed selectors fed your source a piece of disinformation and asked her to make sure you got it too?’
‘Possibly. If it’s true she’s used the whistleblower’s phoneline at Scotland Yard and talked to senior officers as she claimed, then they have to be aware of what she’s been saying. They could easily have got someone to tell her I’m in the running, in the hope she’d talk to me, so they could watch what I’d do.’
‘Would you want to work with an organisation that could be so manipulative?’
Caro gave the question thought, then said slowly, ‘The job they have to do is important enough to justify anything – almost anything.’ Suddenly she smiled, looking more like herself. ‘I
knew talking to you would clear my brain a bit, Trish. Any minute now, I’ll even see my way. Thank you.’
‘It would obviously help if you could find out whether this man has ever had any links with the Slabbs, innocent or otherwise,’ Trish said without thinking.
‘I’m not stupid.’ Caro laughed. ‘Even at my most panicky I could see that. But there’s no way I could dig into his background without letting everyone know what I’m up to. It would get back to him – and them – in no time. There has to be some other way of dealing with this.’
Trish had more than enough confidence in Caro to know that if there were another way she would find it. She never gave up on anything or anyone she thought was important.
‘Why don’t I know anything about these Slabbs? Who are they?’
‘One of the families who run organised crime in South London. They’ve been under surveillance of all kinds – us, MI5, the Revenue, Customs and Excise – so we know a lot about them. We know a lot about what they do, too, but most of the information comes from phone tapping and, as you know perfectly well, we’re still not allowed to use that as evidence in court. Your wretched colleagues can get almost any evidence thrown out these days.’
Trish was tempted to protest, but this wasn’t the time, and there was no point trotting out the ethics of the criminal Bar all over again. Anyone who took the trouble to think knew that every defendant had to have the right to have his or her case put as well as it could be. No one could be assumed to be guilty until the defence had tested every scrap of evidence and a jury had pronounced its verdict.
‘I can see why you couldn’t ask questions about Crayley and the Slabbs, but there’s no reason why I shouldn’t,’ she said.
Caro moved suddenly in the big spoon-backed chair in the corner. ‘Don’t even think about it. That’s not why I came
tonight. I only wanted to talk it through, to see whether you could spot a loophole anywhere, and to clear my own mind.’
‘I know, but I’m planning to ask a few questions about a Soho drug dealer anyway. I could always be frightfully naive and ask about your Slabbs at the same time. I might pick up something you could use. People tell you the most extraordinary things if you ask direct questions.’
‘No doubt. But it’s not your job to be investigating drug dealers in Soho or anywhere else.’ Caro’s voice was full of the authority that came naturally to her. ‘What are you thinking of, Trish?’
‘I’m only after background for the defamation case I told you about. Jeremy Marton killed himself after your lot found drugs being sold on his premises in Soho.’
‘But you said the libel was to do with the bombing, not his suicide.’
‘I thought I might work backwards, talking to people who knew him and might have been in his confidence. He must have had some friends while he was working with the homeless, and he might have told one of them something about who this Baiborn character is. That’s all I want.’
‘I don’t suppose he’d have talked
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