Chapter 22
The sharp rapping on his office door pulled Pellacia away from his screen. He looked up to see Joanna standing there.
‘Not like you to knock. What’s going on?’ Pellacia asked suspiciously.
Joanna placed a cup of coffee on his desk. ‘DC Copeland is waiting outside,’ she said. ‘I haven’t buzzed her through yet.’
‘The same Copeland who was the SIO on the Ashcroft case?’
‘Yep, and I reckon that she wants in,’ Joanna said, her eyes wandering around the organised chaos in Pellacia’s office.
‘Maybe she’s got some additional papers to hand over,’ said Pellacia as Jo picked up a file from a chair.
‘At 7.30 on a Monday morning? And you call yourself a detective. She wants in. So, what do you want me to do with her? Tell her to piss off?’
‘No. Don’t do that. Do you mind bringing her up?’
‘You want me to go and get her?’ Joanna sneered.
‘I’d be very grateful,’ Pellacia said, overdoing the gratitude.
‘Fine. But there’s one thing you should know before DC Copeland attempts to sweet talk you. She made two transfer requests to the SCU and Rhimes knocked her back each time. I bet you any money that there’s probably another transfer request in your inbox.’
Pellacia sighed wearily. He opened his inbox as Joanna left the office.
He scrolled through endless emails until he stopped at the one that had landed in his inbox on Friday afternoon.
He usually received at least three transfer requests a month from detectives eager to join a specialist department that was rumoured to run by their own rules.
Pellacia usually forwarded each request to Joanna who would send the pro-forma rejection email.
Pellacia noted the time that DC Copeland had pressed send on her transfer request. She’d made the request an hour after he’d informed her DCI that they would accept the Graham Ashcroft case.
He opened his drawer, pulled out a packet of paracetamol and popped three into his mouth when Joanna appeared at his doorway with DC Copeland at his side.
‘Thank you very much, Jo,’ said Pellacia ‘And I’ve just printed out a document; can you bring it for me.’
‘Of course, sir, and should I bring DC Copeland a cup of tea?’ Joanna asked sweetly, glaring at him.
‘There’s no need,’ Pellacia answered before Copeland had even had the opportunity to ponder her beverage decision. ‘We won’t be long. Take a seat, DC Copeland.’
‘Thank you. I really appreciate you seeing me, sir, considering the time.’
‘I did wonder if you’d camped outside.’ Pellacia caught the flush rising on Copeland’s neck and wondered how close to the truth he’d been with his quip. Jo quickly handed him the printout and left.
‘It’s not the way I usually do things. We have a procedure for a reason,’ he said.
‘I know I should have waited for a formal response, but I know how long the transfer requests can take and I didn’t want to wait,’ Copeland replied.
‘You are aware that I’ve closed this unit to requests?’
‘Yes, sir. I am, but I’m a firm believer in creating the opportunity and not simply sitting back and waiting for one that may never arise.’
‘This is now your third transfer request to the SCU. DCSI Rhimes turned you down. Twice.’
‘Not because he didn’t think I was qualified, because I am, sir. I am more than qualified. It’s just that back then, DCSI Rhimes said that he had more than enough bodies on his team.’
‘So even though every unit in the Met knows that I’m not taking any transfers, you thought it would be wise to come to me personally in the hope that I would change my mind?’
‘With all due respect, sir, the SCU took my case. Graham Ashcroft is only here because of me.’
Pellacia leaned back as he observed Copeland’s face to see if she was aware of the audaciousness of her statement.
‘We took your case because, and you’ll correct me if I’m wrong, you made the call for the SCU to attend because you believed that the Ashcroft case fitted the MO of our series of home invasions,’ said Pellacia.
Copeland’s mouth twisted as she clasped her hands in her lap.
‘Am I wrong?’ Pellacia asked.
‘No, no, you’re not,’ Copeland relinquished.
‘All units are told to assess their cases to see if they would qualify as a serial crime and that’s what I did.
I wouldn’t have been doing my job if I’d just ignored the possibility that the Ashcroft case might qualify as an SCU home invasion.
I don’t mean to get ahead of myself, but I don’t think that would be a fair reason to knock back my transfer request.’
‘I’m not using that as a reason. I’m simply explaining to you that the Ashcroft case came to my unit because of a decision you made and—’
‘I’m very much aware of that, sir, and I don’t regret that decision, but I know that the Ashcroft case is big,’ Copeland said enthusiastically. ‘Much bigger than I ever anticipated, and I want to be … sorry, sorry, sir. I interrupted you.’
Pellacia bristled. He instinctively knew that Copeland’s next words would have been ‘I want to be a part of it’. He knew from experience that it was never a good sign when a detective placed their ego first and case resolution second.
‘Sir, I’m sure that you know how it feels to want to see an investigation through to the end. It’s not about me. It’s about doing what I can to make sure that we stop any more names being added to your whiteboard.’ Copeland changed tack.
Pellacia internally rolled his eyes at this well-rehearsed line. ‘I would question any detective who didn’t want to see a case through to the end,’ he said.
‘Of course you would. I would question it too,’ Copeland replied, the voices of Stanford and Eastwood drifting through the office.
‘I’ve got a small but tight and committed team,’ said Pellacia. ‘We’ve been burnt before by detectives transferring to us and then realising that they can’t cut it after six weeks. In addition to that, my budget won’t stretch to a new team member.’
‘You don’t have to worry about the budget if I join the SCU on secondment,’ Copeland pointed out ‘You won’t be searching under your desk looking for pennies.
You’ll be getting me for free. Once the investigation is concluded I’ll go back to Lewisham CID.
If you haven’t worked it out already, I’m quite determined, sir. I want this.’
Pellacia looked past Copeland as his ears picked up the voices of Henley and Ramouter. He may be in charge of the SCU, but Henley was the senior investigating officer in charge of the Fox-Carnell murder and the attempted murders of the Ashcrofts, and she was the one who managed the team.
‘It’s not just my decision,’ he said.
‘Detective Inspector Henley,’ Copeland stated understanding Pellacia’s meaning. She stood up with her feet hips’ width apart and clasped her hands behind her back, grounding herself as though preparing herself for an attack.
Pellacia scanned Copeland’s face, attempting to read her but Copeland was pokerfaced.
‘No. The borough commander,’ said Pellacia. He opened his office door. ‘Can I help you?’ he said sarcastically to Stanford who hadn’t been quick enough to leave his prime eavesdropping position.
‘Not at all, guv,’ said Stanford as he held up his mug. ‘Just passing.’
‘Well, keep passing,’ said Pellacia. He closed the door and turned back to Copeland. ‘I’ll get back to you in a couple of days about your transfer request, but I wouldn’t get your hopes up.’
‘Of course,’ said Copeland as she seemed to momentarily deepen her stance in defiance.
‘And I would appreciate it if you didn’t have any further contact with the Ashcrofts,’ Pellacia added. ‘We don’t need any crossed wires.’
‘That goes without saying, sir,’ she said, her bright tone not matching the darkness in her eyes. ‘Thank you for seeing me. I’ll see myself out.’
Henley tapped her pen against her monitor as she watched Copeland stride out of Pellacia’s office.
‘Why have you got your “I think you’re talking shit” face on?’ asked Stanford as he placed an egg and bacon roll on Henley’s desk. ‘You normally save that for when you’re interviewing a suspect.’
‘I don’t have my “you’re talking shit” face on,’ Henley replied unconvincingly as she watched Copeland stop at the kitchen area where Ramouter was taking his bowl of porridge out of the microwave.
‘Now you’ve got your “why are you talking to my man” face on.’
‘How many faces do I have? Shut up, Stanford.’ Henley was keeping a close eye on Copeland. She felt a sense of unease watching Copeland finally leave but leaving the door open, as though she was making a not-so-subtle point.
‘So, what did you hear?’ Henley asked Stanford.
‘Not much to be honest, but I heard your name mentioned by her and guv said something about decisions.’
‘She wants in,’ Henley concluded.
‘Wants in on the case or all in with the SCU?’ Stanford asked as Ezra bounced into the room with his laptop in one hand and a large purple smoothie in the other. ‘Joining is a big ask but, saying that, look at us. It’s not as if we don’t need the help.’
‘Hmm, I’m not saying that we don’t but let’s not waste our time on something that may never happen.’ Henley balled up her greasy wrapper and threw it into the bin under her desk.
Pellacia came out of his office. ‘Right, team, we’ve got a lot to get through. So, let’s get started.’ He picked up the whiteboard eraser and removed Graham and Tabitha Ashcroft’s names from the home invasion case board.
‘So, it’s confirmed then?’ asked Eastwood as Pellacia wrote the names of Sian Fox-Carnell and the Ashcrofts on the mobile whiteboard. ‘These two cases are linked?’
‘Forensics link them,’ Pellacia answered. ‘The third DNA profile found on Sian Fox-Carnell’s body matches the DNA that was recovered from blood found in the Ashcrofts’ house.’
‘Is there any prior association between the Ashcrofts and Fox-Carnell?’ asked Stanford.