Read Online The Victoria Vanishes by Christopher Fowler - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Christopher Fowler
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miniature and down it neat.
'Well, well.' Sergeant Jack Renfield leaned against the jamb of the door, studying his opposite number. 'I never thought we'd end up working together, did you?'
'It doesn't matter what I think,' said Janice Longbright.'The decision has been made elsewhere and I have to make the best of it.'
'I don't suppose it's occurred to you that I'm not too happy about the situation, either? I enjoyed being at Albany Street nick. All my mates are there. Blokes I grew up with, some I even went to school with. I've never pretended to be an intel lectual. The only college I ever attended was the police college in Hendon. I know you think I'm common. I sound common, I drop my aitches, I haven't got the grand education that you lot have got. And yet I've been brought in here, on an equal footing with you, so what am I doing right?'
'You were useful to the boys upstairs, that's all.'
'I'm a copper, not a politician or an academic. I've spent most of my working life dragging nonces off the street and locking them up until someone smarter tells me to let them go. But I know what the law stands for, where it begins and where it ends, and I make sure nobody on my shift oversteps the line. Raymond Land is like me; he came up the hard way. I'm not going to report to him behind your back, Longbright. I'm not out to grass anyone up, okay?'
'Then what are you here for?'
'I'm just planning to do my job and obey the rules, and make sure everyone else does it the same way. But if you or your bosses step out of line, that places you on the outside, with the criminals. You can think what you like about me, love, it isn't going to make any difference.'
He pushed himself away from the door and sauntered out into the corridor. Longbright continued clearing her desk, but found herself shaking with anger. Renfield knew how to get under her skin.
'Hi, Janice. You look like you lost a shilling and found six-pence. What's the matter?'
Longbright looked up and found May leaning against the doorjamb. She was always pleased to see him. 'Oh, nothing, John, I'm fine.'
'If you say so, but I heard what Renfield said.' May buttoned his jacket. 'Don't let the new boy get you down. If Land asks where I've gone, let him know that I'm checking out a possible murder victim, and no, I didn't get permission from Renfield first.'
'He's already given me a warning about proper behaviour.'
'He's not a bad sort, just a bit abrasive. He stopped me from getting beaten up by a street gang not so long ago. He's a good man to have on the ground.'
'It's not just Renfield, it's—' She stopped and thought for a moment. 'Maybe I've been here too long. I have no life, John. I don't know who I am anymore. Perhaps I have to stop dressing like this, looking like this.' DS Longbright certainly had a style of her own, mostly modelled on movie stars of the past. She was a fulsomely sexy woman and the look suited her, although it was somewhat inappropriate for her job. 'You know, my makeup never gets any older, but underneath it I do. Sometimes I take it off at night, and have to stop and think if there's still somebody there. All I ever do is work. I don't exist outside the office. Does anyone even notice me?'
May tapped the door frame with his ring finger. 'Can we talk about this later, Janice? I've just realised the time. Arthur's already on his way to the Bayham Street Morgue.' He thought for a moment. 'And check out something for me, will you? Carol Wynley had a cell phone, but it wasn't on her body or in her effects. See if you can track it down.'
10
THE VICTORIA VANISHES
T
hat's her.' Arthur Bryant peered more closely at the waxen face in the gun-grey zip bag before him. He could only recall the woman on the examination table of the Bayham Street Morgue because he had made such a deliberate effort to ob serve her. There was nothi ng remotely memorable in her ap pearance. If asked to sum her up in a single word, he would have said, damningly, that
'Well, well.' Sergeant Jack Renfield leaned against the jamb of the door, studying his opposite number. 'I never thought we'd end up working together, did you?'
'It doesn't matter what I think,' said Janice Longbright.'The decision has been made elsewhere and I have to make the best of it.'
'I don't suppose it's occurred to you that I'm not too happy about the situation, either? I enjoyed being at Albany Street nick. All my mates are there. Blokes I grew up with, some I even went to school with. I've never pretended to be an intel lectual. The only college I ever attended was the police college in Hendon. I know you think I'm common. I sound common, I drop my aitches, I haven't got the grand education that you lot have got. And yet I've been brought in here, on an equal footing with you, so what am I doing right?'
'You were useful to the boys upstairs, that's all.'
'I'm a copper, not a politician or an academic. I've spent most of my working life dragging nonces off the street and locking them up until someone smarter tells me to let them go. But I know what the law stands for, where it begins and where it ends, and I make sure nobody on my shift oversteps the line. Raymond Land is like me; he came up the hard way. I'm not going to report to him behind your back, Longbright. I'm not out to grass anyone up, okay?'
'Then what are you here for?'
'I'm just planning to do my job and obey the rules, and make sure everyone else does it the same way. But if you or your bosses step out of line, that places you on the outside, with the criminals. You can think what you like about me, love, it isn't going to make any difference.'
He pushed himself away from the door and sauntered out into the corridor. Longbright continued clearing her desk, but found herself shaking with anger. Renfield knew how to get under her skin.
'Hi, Janice. You look like you lost a shilling and found six-pence. What's the matter?'
Longbright looked up and found May leaning against the doorjamb. She was always pleased to see him. 'Oh, nothing, John, I'm fine.'
'If you say so, but I heard what Renfield said.' May buttoned his jacket. 'Don't let the new boy get you down. If Land asks where I've gone, let him know that I'm checking out a possible murder victim, and no, I didn't get permission from Renfield first.'
'He's already given me a warning about proper behaviour.'
'He's not a bad sort, just a bit abrasive. He stopped me from getting beaten up by a street gang not so long ago. He's a good man to have on the ground.'
'It's not just Renfield, it's—' She stopped and thought for a moment. 'Maybe I've been here too long. I have no life, John. I don't know who I am anymore. Perhaps I have to stop dressing like this, looking like this.' DS Longbright certainly had a style of her own, mostly modelled on movie stars of the past. She was a fulsomely sexy woman and the look suited her, although it was somewhat inappropriate for her job. 'You know, my makeup never gets any older, but underneath it I do. Sometimes I take it off at night, and have to stop and think if there's still somebody there. All I ever do is work. I don't exist outside the office. Does anyone even notice me?'
May tapped the door frame with his ring finger. 'Can we talk about this later, Janice? I've just realised the time. Arthur's already on his way to the Bayham Street Morgue.' He thought for a moment. 'And check out something for me, will you? Carol Wynley had a cell phone, but it wasn't on her body or in her effects. See if you can track it down.'
10
THE VICTORIA VANISHES
T
hat's her.' Arthur Bryant peered more closely at the waxen face in the gun-grey zip bag before him. He could only recall the woman on the examination table of the Bayham Street Morgue because he had made such a deliberate effort to ob serve her. There was nothi ng remotely memorable in her ap pearance. If asked to sum her up in a single word, he would have said, damningly, that
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