Joseph finally twigged. “Oh.”
*
When they arrived back at the station, they made their way to the office. Joseph went to boil the kettle whilst Ray sought out WPC Small to ask her to arrange for Tommy Jay to be moved from the cell to an interview room. Joseph placed the teabags into the pot ready to let them brew when Ray walked into the kitchen.
“Banks wants to see us.”
The two of them made their way up to the next level of the station and Banks’s office. Joseph went through everything they had learned in his head, preparing himself for Banks’s questions about the status of their investigation. Finally, it felt as if they were making some sort of progress.
“Come in, take a seat.” Banks didn’t rise to greet them. His office wasn’t much to look at. A small room with a couple of metal filing cabinets and a cheap-looking desk on which sat a hefty-looking typewriter. Joseph could well imagine that a man of Banks’s self-importance would have hoped for more opulent a setting from which to work, but the budget of the Metropolitan Police force clearly didn’t align with Banks’s aspirations.
It wasn’t as if he hadn’t tried to impress upon other people his importance by his choice of decoration. The chair he sat on had been sourced from an antiques shop, although rumour had it that the two PCs sent to collect it took it from a skip outside a factory that was in the process of being demolished. The paintings on the wall depicted battles from days gone by. Horse-mounted soldiers charging bravely against ferocious-looking natives in some, whilst noble generals gallantly led their troops against faceless enemies in others. Joseph couldn’t have told you the name of the battles, or their significance to Banks, if any. Perhaps they were simply to motivate Banks’s troops when they entered the office, in the hope it spoke of him as a leader as they fought off hordes of barbarians on the streets of South London. It was more likely that they just saw the ostentatious nature of it all.
“Right, I need you pair to tell me what the hell you think you’re playing at?”
Joseph hadn’t expected that. Nor, it seemed, did Ray.
“I’m sorry, sir?”
“Arresting Tommy Jay without talking to me first.”
“Again, I’m sorry, sir. I think I missed the edict where we had to run every arrest through you. We had a credible lead that linked him to the murder at the dockyard. We acted on it.”
“Well, don’t do that again. Tommy Jay isn’t involved in the murder of Gerald Trainer.”
Ray and Joseph shared a look as Banks spoke at them.
“Begging your pardon, sir, but I’m not following.”
“You don’t need to.”
The abruptness of the answer looked as if it took Ray by surprise and he sank backwards in his seat, blowing air out from his cheeks as he did. He turned his palms over and shrugged. Whatever he wanted to say, he did everything he could to hold it back.
“With respect, sir,” Joseph stammered, his heart racing as he spoke. Bank’s slightly milky eyes turned and focused on him. He swallowed and urged the words out of his throat. “If we could at least finish questioning him.”
“No. He’s gone. I let him out earlier.”
“You let him out?” Joseph knew Ray wanted to shout that. Ray gripped the side of the chair, physically restraining himself, keeping a lid on his emotions.
“Yes and I don’t want you going near him again. Tommy Jay isn’t part of this investigation from here on in.”
“And if the evidence suggests he is?”
“Then the evidence is wrong.”
Ray drummed his fingers once. A methodical motion, each digit striking heavily on the side of the chair as he continued to grip it. Joseph wondered if he might stand up, ripping the chair apart, and use the frame to batter Banks. He didn’t.
“Fine.”
Ray stood, Joseph following, not really understanding why or what was happening as he did so.
“Very good. That will be all,” Banks replied.
*
They left the office, Ray striding ahead.
“What just happened?” Joseph said quietly as he chased Ray down the corridor.
“It’s not Tommy Jay.”
“Do you believe that?”
“That’s orders.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Neither do I. But that’s orders.”
“But what if it is him?”
Ray turned around and looked at Joseph. “Look, if it is him, we’d have to prove it in such a way that even Banks can’t pretend it isn’t. If you reckon you can do that, go right ahead, but as far as I’m concerned, Banks has made his call and we’re done.”
“Why would Banks do this?”
“Because he’s got holes in his pockets.”
“I don’t understand.”
