Sergeant Mitchell stood looking at the pile of pallets while scratching his head.

“This is a great find. All the time, they were sitting right there in plain sight.”

In a perfect world, Police Constable Roberta Galbraith would have been working in CID as DCI Foster had promised. She actually did spend a whole week in CID before a spanner somewhere in the multi-faceted works that make up the Metropolitan Police jammed something up and word came down from on high, 'I'm sorry PC Galbraith, you can't do that'.

Now that dealing with her on her own turf in the manner that he had originally planned was out of the question, Sergei turned his attention to trying to work out how to get her to come to him, and then how to deal with her when she was there. The last thing he wanted to do was underestimate her. Even the slightest error on his part from now on, could lead to his demise.

Here is a little story with a Christmas theme. I wrote this a week or so back but given the post from Piper, I thought that it was worth sharing now.

Those doubts and uncertainties had not gone away when Sergei left the house to go into Reading the next morning. Almost as soon as he got to the railway station, he felt that something was wrong. Both the car park at the station and the platforms were almost empty.

Sergei retreated away from the supermarket entrance and waited. Several minutes ticked by before ‘she’ emerged. He ducked down behind an SUV. He saw her stop in the entrance and look around almost as if she was expecting someone to be there.

The evidence he was searching for was right there in front of him when Sergei arrived in the middle of town the next morning. The same two leather jacketed men were loitering about close to the railway station as people arrived for work.

The next email from ‘Uncle Vanya’ arrived just after the sun had set for the day. Sergei had watched the light of the day ending from the west terrace of his home.

[Late Summer, Puerto Soller, Mallorca]

‘The Chameleon’s’ email pinged.

Claire-de-Lune

[the following day after their dinner date]

“Thank you for a lovely evening,” said Claire

The pair had taken a Uber back to her home after a delightful Italian meal where they’d spent a couple of hours talking about classical music and venues and piano skills. For both of them, it had been a nice change from normal life.

“Will you be back tomorrow?”

Moving away from home and going to university, is often a young person’s first real taste of freedom and adulthood. The parents are often seen to wrap their little ones in cotton wool and protect them from the big bad world. When that wrapping is taken away, many young people have a difficult time coping with reality.

While Ma busied herself throwing out years and years of ‘stuff’ around the house, I tried to plan the logistics of the move. Every time I thought that I had got somewhere close, the weather changed and the whole area was treated to another large dump of snow.

“I’m Special Agent McBride,” said the lead agent as I met him at the entrance to the Office.

“Welcome to Custer County Agent McBride. I’m Matt Beecher. I was the one who called you guys about this case,” I replied as we shook hands.

"Rona? What on earth are you doing here? Weren't you supposed to be sunning yourself in Cancun or Acapulco?" I said when I answered the door.

"I was actually sunning myself in Thailand, but the opportunity to do some good business was enough to get me on a plane home."

Lucia had made plans for us to go away for the Christmas/New Year break. I’d been so engrossed with running the business and the impending takeover that I'd just grunted when she asked me what I wanted to do for the holidays.

I spent an uncomfortable night after Lucia’s revelations. The visions of me looking like one of the girls from the Benny Hill show running around a house using a pink hoover while Scamp looked on looking bored would not go away. It both attracted me and appalled me at the same time.

It is amazing how an unsolicited phone call can turn your day upside down. I’d been on the phone for almost half an hour with one of these before I ended the call feeling both mystified and frustrated. I sat at my desk for well over half an hour trying to make some sense of what had transpired on the call. Finally, I called out to Sue Fredericks, my No 2 and right-hand woman.

[At a layby on the A3 near Guildford, UK]

“Hello Amy. This is George,” said the driver into his phone after parking in one of the layby’s that provided a place of refuge from the fast moving traffic.

Danielle was as good as her word and gave Josh a full makeover that night. She fussed over ‘Josie’ for what seemed like hours until she was happy with her work.

“Ready for this?” ask Danielle as she prepared to remove the towel that she’d used to cover her mirror.

The night was almost over when Danielle and Josh were finally finished with the Police. Once they’d shown the video recording to the Officer who had arrived, he called in the local CID.

[Monday morning]
“Broadway Electrical Supplies. How can I help you,” said Abby as she answered the phone.

Roberta Galbraith - Rookie Days

“Hello?” said Roberta slightly nervously as she stood at the reception desk of Colindale Police Station.
This was her first day ‘on the job’ since she’d graduated from the Hendon Police College two weeks before.