“No, sir.”
“Because she didn’torderany speculative tests!”
Leo is relieved that Ffion is with Yasmin in custody and isn’t here to witness his dressing-down from Crouch, who shows no sign of letting Leo off the hook.
“Elijah Fox has been suspended.”
“But he was using his initiative!”
“He’s been stealing equipment from the mortuary. Turns out he’s set up some hokey lab in his rented room to test out antidotes to poisons. Cross-contamination all over the place.” Crouch glares at Leo. “Your ricin theory hasn’t only wasted hundreds of pounds of my budget, it’s taken up precious hours of Yasmin Lloyd’s custody clock. Now get her arraigned before it runs out entirely.”
“But—”
“Now!”
Two hours later, Leo is still smarting from Crouch’s words. The worst of it is that Leoknewhe shouldn’t have taken Elijah’s theory as gospel—that he should have consulted first with Izzy and then with Crouch. Leo had let himself be goaded into proving to Ffion that he wasn’t Crouch’s whipping boy. That worked out well, he thinks as he pulls into The Shore, Ffion beside him and Yasmin Lloyd in the back seat. None of them has spoken a word since leaving custody.
“What will happen now?” Yasmin says as they pull up at The Shore.
“When you answer bail in three weeks’ time,” Ffion says, “you’ll either be charged, released, or re-bailed. In the meantime, don’t discuss the case with anyone.”
Yasmin nods and gets out of the car, glancing toward the other lodges to see if anyone is looking. There are dark circles under her eyes, and the pervasive smell of custody has followed her home.
Leo reverses into a visitor bay to turn around. “Right now,” he says, only half to Ffion, “I don’t know if I’m more of a fuckup as a cop or as a dad.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Get some takeout, get drunk, and contemplate a change of career?”
“About your son,” Ffion says quietly.
Leo drives slowly away from The Shore. “If I take Allie to court,” he says eventually, “she’ll report me to Social Services.”
Ffion isn’t saying anything. Leo expected her to rip the piss after he emerged from Crouch’s office, but she stayed quiet, and Leo has found her quiet company reassuring.
“I spotted a bloke who’d escaped custody,” he says. “A pedophile. He was right by a school, so I called it in and waited. It was late—around five—so I figured there wouldn’t be kids around, only there must have been an after-school club. A handful of girls came out, and one of them started walking home on her own. She was, like, ten, eleven? Right away, Tackley started following her.”
He turns left out of The Shore, back toward Cheshire.
“I couldn’t leave her. I told Harris to stay in the car, I’d be right back, and I went after Tackley. I had my radio and I was updating the control room; I thought I’d only be a few minutes, then backup would get there. But Tackley saw me, and I don’t know if he knew I was a police officer, but he bolted.”
“And you ran after him.”
“He went on for fucking miles. Seemed like it anyway. And you know the worst of it?” Leo lets out a sharp breath. “I wasn’t even thinking about my son at that point. All I was thinking about was getting hold of Tackley and putting him where he belonged.”
“For his brave and selfless actions while off duty,” Ffion recites the words from the certificate on the wall of Major Crime. “That’s what your commendation was for.”
“It was over an hour till I got back to my car. Allie had called my mobile to see where we were, and Harris had answered it. He was terrified. It was dark, and he didn’t know where I was. The car was locked. Allie had taken to recording our calls after I lost my temper with her one time. I’m not proud of it, but I’d just found out she’d cheated on me so… Anyway, she taped the whole thing and threatened to take it to Social Services.”
“And she’s been holding it over you ever since.”
“I’m only allowed to see him for an hour or so at a time now,” Leo says bitterly. “And never overnight becauseThe flat’s not suitable.” He gives a hollow laugh. “I guess I can’t argue with that. I hate the place.”
“It’s a bit…” Ffion hesitates. “…studenty.”
Leo gives a wry smile. “Says the woman who lives with her mum.”
“It’s a temporary arrangement.”