CHAPTER 47
I had a week off, in the end. It had been needed, but Blake had his own life and home, and after a few days of company and warm mornings he had to leave. I realised I was getting very used to his presence, the comfort of his arms, and at the same time I had a suspicion that it was moving towards normality, and not in any sense banal. Just comfortable, appropriate, right for me.

I rattled around the old place for a couple of days before saying sod it, and one bright morning smartened myself up and drove into work. I had my flat to sort, as well, so I did need to get everything back on track.

There were only three in the office when I stepped in, Sammy, Rob and Alun. He was his usual self.

“The prodigal returns! We saw you didn’t kill off the fatted calf; he’s off out on an interview or six, with Candice. Some of your humint sources want to get things down on paper. Tea?”

“Yes please, mate. Hiya, Rob, Sammy. What’s the gossip?”

Sammy smiled. “Well, before that we have a formality”

“Uh?”

“Return to work interview, girl! Get it out of the way, bring you up to speed”

He took me over to his little space and logged onto his computer.

“Give me a sec… Right. All sorted? Back with us?”

“I really think so”

He rattled over a few key strokes.

“Right, that’s the official bit done. Back in, fit to continue work. Keeps the dragons off our backs. Now, news”

“Yeah! Elaine said something about national funding?”

“Oh yes indeed! We are now officially a permanent unit of appointment, under South Wales management but as a sort of annex. Our role is to take on historic cases across Wales, for all the forces. You up for that? Lots of reading, quite a bit of legwork?”

“I think so. Just historic shite, though?”

“That will be our main remit, but there’s more. Organised crime, in particular, but the stuff that doesn’t trigger the big boys as well as the stuff that drifts across boundaries. Oh, yes: where did that name come from? Serious Crime Investigation Unit? I know Bev Williams and the rest have been using it all over the shop, but who came up with it?”

“Don’t know, really. It was either Blake or me, when we found Omar. We had that idiot in the cottage, so it seemed heavyweight enough to get him out of our faces. Worked for us”

Sammy laughed. “Blake assures me you didn’t follow that one up with ‘Now fuck off!’ so I have no issues with it. Problem is the politics, mate. There’s been so much sodding argument, bloody empire-building arseholes thinking we’re stealing their turf, treading on their toes. They don’t like us using ‘investigation’, and we even had people chucking their toys because of the word ‘Serious’. Seriously, girl… You can laugh at that one, cause it was a joke”

I gave him a forced smile, as I struggled to keep the laughter down.

“So, what the hell are we, Inspector Patel?”

“What do you mean ‘We’, DC Owens? I don’t recall seeing your application cross my desk”

There was a twinkle in his eyes, though, and he slid a sheet of paper to me.

“Just sign there, mate. Ta! Welcome to the Serious Crime Review Office. Now, a few bits of news. We are staying here, rather than in the central nick, as those empires I mentioned have been a little twattish. We ARE getting new rooms here, as well as more staff, and we will be getting some stand-alone terminals, just in case. HMRC have asked to come along for the ride, so Sean may well be here even more than he already is. The remit is to look at what they call cold cases and do to them what we did to the Evans crew, coming at them from all angles”

That really did appeal to me, and I knew a number of little girls and young men who would also be rather pleased with the idea. Sammy simply sat there smiling as I worked the implications through in my head.

“Still need you to stay out of the way for some of this, girl. We had a Deborah Wells on the phone a couple of days ago, and that’s where Blake and Candice are. She won’t let them in the house, did you know that? Says her girls know him, they know you, but Candice is a stranger”

“Where are they doing it, then?”

“Old local nick, mothballed years ago. Just empty rooms and a public phone. Bit grim, but it gives them privacy. This one involves Evans Senior, or so Blake says, so you stay well away from it for now. Oh, and we’ve had four of your young men now come forward. Statements done and dusted, so what we need is the follow-up stuff, sorting out any admissions records at hospitals, GP’s records and so on. They’ve all signed permission over to us for that one”

“OK. Got a bit of a request on that first one, anyway. Deb was raped herself, as far as I can read the hints she gives, but she’s quite clear about where the villains are, as, in her words, she’s been to piss on their graves. I just thought I’d look at a bit of digging—no, not that sort of digging, you teasing sod! Put that look away!”

He gave a little mock-whistle exhibition of utter innocence.

“Who, me? What are you thinking? Seriously?”

“Possibly breaking confidence here, but bear with me. She was in a boys’ home---yes, they all are, but you know that. I gather it was an organised thing, which means other victims. So, two things. Firstly, she says they are dead, but we can’t be sure of that one. If we can find anyone around still, then they are clearly connected to serious crimes that need a review”

“Sounds good to me, girl. The rest?”

“Yeah. It’s a word she’s quite fond of, and if there are other victims it works for them too. Requital, that’s what she says. Like her girls: not just revenge, yeah, but validation, letting them see they’re not forgotten, still people”

He turned serious.

“You’ve been giving this one a lot of thought, haven’t you?”

“Yeah, I have. I think it goes back to my own case, obviously. My own rape”

There. Said it.

“And there was that first lad we met, Vernon Pugh, the one who’d scrubbed himself all over, and the other lads I found. All of them the same. Their fault, their failing, their bloody crime. If we can lift some of that self-hate, then I’d like to give it a go”

Sammy smiled in the gentlest of ways, as I so rarely saw from him.

“And there you have it, Di. That is all the reasons you are right for this job, and why that signature was a formality. Would you mind a bit of informality?”

I guessed what he meant, standing up with him as he came round the desk for a hug.

“Welcome back to the team, girl. Really welcome”

He let go and stepped back, grin returning.

“Oh, and I think we need a cake run. You up for it?”

Cheeky as ever, but I did the necessary after a quick check on our tea and coffee reserves. Back in, terminal on, and armed with a file from Sammy I started the grind of working through possible admission dates for Casualty/A&E and our young men. Rob was on the ball, and as my attention was lost in timelines and geography, cups of tea materialised next to me at regular intervals. In between, I ran a number of internet searches on Deb. If I could manage it, I promised myself, she would have her requital.

The day evaporated, rather like my tea, and in the end the office was buzzing with conversation and comparison of notes as the others returned, each with a greeting to me, the warmth of my welcome clearly shared with Sammy. I closed the terminal down after the obligatory mass save of files, and turned to the team as they demolished the cake supply I had left for them. Candice swallowed, looked at Blake, and gave me a grin.

“You dug up some right ones for us, Di! That Charlie, bloody hell, is she one hard little girl!”

I shook my head. “Strong, I think, but not hard. She throws that stuff out as a shield. What did she say?”

The Office Blonde held up a hand. “Nope, not doing that bit. Chinese walls for now, isn’t it? Anyway, you already had her story, so you know. That man is a real piece of shit”

“Well, I shall await the issue of charges then. Put your teeth away, woman. Not being funny, but this one is personal, so I’ve got the gloating duties”

“Yeah, Di, and that’s now a team responsibility. Oh, and one I can talk about: little Tiffany. She’s given up Joe Evans for all sorts of nasties including rape, and she’s done the same for Dai Pritchard. That is three at least who are going to see their futures shorten dramatically. What have you been working on, though?”

“Ah, the lads who met Pritchard and the others, the ones who came forward from the Smugglers and that?”

“Yes?”

“Got all the dates, so just working through a mixture of stuff including Pritchard and the other bastard’s shift pattern”

A thought surfaced.

“Oh! What exactly has gone on with the three bodies I heard about? Call centre, control room shit and that? And what about Sean, and the financial crap? And---”

She was laughing happily/

“Oh dear, so many questions! Don’t take so long off, woman, and you’ll be able to keep up. Firstly, three bodies on suspension from work and bail from us. We are awaiting telecoms forensics on their mobiles, but we’ve already got the details of address searches through Equifax and electoral rolls made on their log-ins. They are tied up tidy to Sarah Powell’s hospital visit, for starters, as well as to another visit you may be aware of. Inquiries continue, need to know, wait quietly, etc”

She took my hand.

“Just wait, love. They are toast, and they know it. The others aren’t going anywhere, so no worries. Now, we are going to have a livener after work, aye? You up for it? And welcome home”

What other answer could I give, and where else would I, could I sit that evening except comfortably against my man? The conversation, by custom and practice, stayed well away from shop, and so I was able to make a whole series of sexist comments about men, travel, maps and guidebooks, while Blake returned the favour.

“Self-catering accommodation, it is, so dunno where you get the idea you’ll be seeing any sights. There’ll be cooking and cleaning to get done”

I was home again.