Sergeant Hill had spotted Roberta leaving the HQ of AC-12 and challenged her.
He didn’t wait for her to respond to his original accusation.

“I have good reason to spy on a good for nothing snitch like you. Who are you dobbing in this week then?”

“I’m not dobbing anyone in this week, as you put it. My name was mentioned in a case that AC-12 are investigating. I was giving them my statement. That statement by the way had nothing to do with anyone at our nick. It is related to a case from my time at Colindale. My first sergeant was a total prick who hated women. He had it out with a visiting DCI who happened to be female. She took offence at the insults he was throwing at her hence my visiting AC-12 on my day off.”

“Bollocks. That is a complete lie.”

“Ok, believe what you want. I have a lunch engagement and you are not invited.”

Roberta turned away and instead of taking the tube, she walked towards the Palace of Westminster. The Sergeant followed her at a distance. She knew then that this was not going to end well for the Sergeant. She made a phone call.

“Hi Dad.”

“Yes, I’m done with them for today, but I have a little weasel on my tail.”

“So, I was wondering if Jayne would like to take me to lunch as you cried off earlier?”

“The weasel following me is a very bent Sergeant from my nick I need to get rid of the tail and I thought about Jayne. And no, I don’t have my pass with me. That is kept under lock and key at home.”

“Thanks Dad. I’m close to the security entrance right now. I’ll give Jayne a call when I’ve got rid of my tail and I’m in Westminster Hall.”

“Yes Dad, I will take care.”

With that settled, Roberta stopped and turned to face the Sergeant who had been following her about fifteen metres behind her.

“I did say that I have a lunch engagement. Well, that engagement which I just confirmed with that phone call, is inside the Palace of Westminster. I’m meeting the secretary of a member of the house of Lords. We were at school together. My name will be on the list of people who are allowed through security. Yours will not be, so that’s where you get lost. As you know the Palace is well guarded by people with loaded guns. They don’t take kindly to fat slobs hanging around outside.”

“Why you little… bitch. Calling me a fat slob. I’ll have you on report for this.”

“Please go right ahead and do just that. Then you will have to answer to the Chief Inspector as to why you are stalking me when you should be on duty. Perhaps I should report you to AC-12? Stalking is a criminal offence these days as you well know…”

Roberta was deliberately goading him to react. The area around the Palace of Westminster is blanketed by CCTV. If he slugged her then he’d be finished in the police. Luckily for him, he managed to resist the temptation to act although his fists clenched and un-clenched several times while he glared at Roberta.

He mouthed a ‘fuck you’ at Roberta before walking away. He wasn’t going far. Roberta was sure that he would follow her to the entrance of the palace and watch her gain entry just to be sure.

Once she’d gained entry to the Palace of Westminster, she found a quiet spot in Westminster Hall. As she usually did, she looked up at the intricate ceiling. For it to have lasted at least 600 years was remarkable. The craftmanship of it was wonderful and inspiring to her. With a shake of the head, she made a call to AC-12.

“Sir, I was busted by Sergeant Hill when I left your offices. He is very suspicious about why I was visiting AC-12. I spun him a tale about giving a statement about a case from my time at Colindale, but I’m sure that he didn’t believe a word I said. The most important thing to consider is how he found me. I know that I wasn’t tailed on my way to your office and I only told one person and they have ‘Top Secret’ clearance and would not tell on me in a million years short of a court order.”

“Sir, I hate to say it, someone is watching the comings and goings at your building or… there is a leak in AC-12.”

“Sir, I’d prefer if it was the second. I did switch my phone into flight mode before I left the vicinity of Westminster and walked to your office.”

“Yes Sir. It goes without saying that I will be extra careful. I’m safe now.”

“Sir, I’m inside the Palace of Westminster. I’m having lunch with an old friend who works for a member of the House of Lords. Naturally, the Sergeant was unable to gain entry.”

“Sir, please don’t do anything that would put me at risk. I would ask you to treat this in strictest confidence, I am the daughter of that peer, but only a few people in the force know this. He is the one with the security clearance.”

“Yes sir, that does put a different light on things. These people, if what we talked about is correct, they could present a threat to my security and that of my father which I am sure is way above and beyond your paygrade.”

“Thank you, sir. Much appreciated.”

After an enjoyable lunch, Roberta left the Palace and went home by another very roundabout route. It might not have fooled a tail but at least it gave her the chance to visit a few more tube stations in East London. While travelling home, Roberta had time to think how she would handle Sergeant Hill when she reported for duty the next morning.

As luck would have it, Sergeant Hill had reported in sick for the second day. With Roberta temporarily at a loose end, she was tasked to do some case collation. While this is a necessary duty, it is as boring as hell to most officers. To Roberta, it was just another exercise in problem solving which she relished. By nature, she was something of a loner. Most people like her are like that. Spending a day thinking about a series of cases was to her, a perfect task.

What worried her was that this particular task blurred the lines between those in uniform and those in CID who considered themselves a cut above the ‘Plods’ in uniform. It was the sort of job that was given to the ‘rookie’ in CID.

Roberta stopped thinking about the ‘what if’s’ with a shrug and returned to the task at hand.

The cases she was looking at were all related to the thefts of Catalytic Converters. These contain valuable elements such as palladium, rhodium and platinum. There is a thriving black market in them all over Europe but it takes specialised equipment to recover the valuable metals from the stolen converters. The key is to steal a lot of them and get them out of the country ASAP.

The pile of reports of thefts was almost a foot high on the desk. Many of them had not been entered into the computer system because of manpower shortages. That didn’t deter Roberta one little bit. She found a map of north London and stuck it to an unused whiteboard. Then one by one, she marked the location of each reported crime onto the map. At the same time, she entered details such as time, place and model of car into a spreadsheet on both her computer and the PNC (Police National Computer). That job alone took more than three hours. Even before she’d finished, a smile started to form on her face. She changed the colour of the markings with each month. Three distinct patterns started to reveal itself to Roberta. It looked like the thefts came in waves that lasted at most a couple of weeks. Then there was a break of a week or so, before the thefts started again in a new part of N.E. London. So far, there had been no returns to the scenes of previous crimes. Roberta’s Criminology training had taught her to look at all possibilities. It seemed to her that it was only a matter of time before that happened again, but where?

She was standing back looking at the map when Chief Inspector Kennedy, a recent arrival at the station came into her office. He was in charge of the traffic officers and not directly her boss. He stood watching her working for several minutes before making himself known.

“Sir!” exclaimed Roberta when he saw the Chief Inspector.

“Carry on Constable. I was intrigued by what you were doing. What you were doing with the map caught my eye.”

“Sir, I was told to collate all the reports of thefts of Catalytic Converters. A visual display helps me get a picture of the pattern or lack of a pattern of the crimes. In this case, there are several patterns.”

“I can see that for my own eyes. My question is that why is a PC doing this work? This should be being done by CID?”

“Sir? I just do as I’m told.”

The Chief shook his head.
“That does not fly with me PC Galbraith. Ask yourself how many other PC’s or DC’s for that matter, would think of doing what you are doing? They would just make sure that all the cases are entered into the PNC and leave it at that.”

“Sir… That might be the case. I’m doing a bit more and if I can get some ideas about how to solve the crimes then I’ll make sure that CID know about it. If nothing happens then so-be-it. I will know that I have done everything I could within the bounds of my position.”

The Chief smiled.
“There speaks a politician.”

“Not me sir. All they do is line their own pockets and lie to the people who put them in power.”

“That’s a pretty jaundiced view of the world,” said the Chief Inspector.

“Isn’t it true?”

“That’s your opinion and I guess that you are sticking to it?”

Roberta smiled.
“It is not my job to question the people in power, but I am entitled to my opinion. We all are, aren’t we? As long as I don’t gossip on my fellow officers then as far as I know, I’m not breaking any rules.”

“That is true but Constable, there are people in the force that don’t like that sort of free thinking.”

“I am aware of that Sir. There are some in this station who would prefer that I was not here at all, but don’t ask me to name names. I am not a snitch.”

“Good for you. Now… What have you determined so far?”

“Sir… It is early days but I get the feeling that the gang involved are stealing ‘cats’ to order. They hit an area and target a range of cars. None of the vehicles targeted have the latest alarm systems but have ‘cats’ that cost at least a grand each to replace. I need to look into lead times for those replacements. If they take too long to replace then those cars will be off the road for a long time. That isn’t good for them if my suspicions are right.”

“I don’t follow you?”

“Sir, I think that we will see a new raft of repeat thefts in at least one the areas that were targeted before very soon if my theory is correct. Those who had one stolen in the first wave some six months ago should all have nice shiny new converters just waiting to be stolen again.”

“You can get that from just looking at the map?”

Roberta shook her head.
“No Sir. It was just trying to put myself into the mind of the crooks. Why would they take the trouble to case out an area only in the sort of detail needed to target only cars that fit a particular profile, only to use it just the once. If I was one of them, I’d have a dossier about all the locations where they had successfully stolen a converter. It would contain things like location of CCTV cameras, alarm systems, motion sensitive lights, dogs and everything that they would need to make the return trip a success. All they’d need to do it is a drive-by with a video camera running. Then they would be able to check at their leisure that nothing has changed such as the original car being replaced with a newer one. If nothing has changed then that location would be earmarked for a return visit.”

The Chief Inspector smiled.
“You have certainly been giving this some thought?”

Roberta shook her head.
“I was just following a logical train of thought.”

“What is next?”

“Sir, I will write up a report and get it to the Inspector by the end of the day. He will pass it on to CID. If they choose to do nothing and the thieves strike again, then it will be on them to answer for their inaction, not me.”

“It seems to me Constable that you have a bit of a downer on CID? Care to explain?”

“Sir, it goes back to before your arrival here. I worked on that case with the Art smuggling and the capture of the Russian Assassin with the NCA. A few people in CID were not impressed with a rookie Constable cracking the case and being recommended for a commendation, so I was sent back to Uniform.”

“Don’t you mind getting rebuffed like that?”

“Sir, I know that one day, I will get my chance. Until then, I’m still learning the job.”

“Don’t give me that excuse. If I was running CID, I’d have you on my team in a flash.”

“Sir, may I ask why you seem to be on my side?”

“Does the name Inspector Singh ring a bell?”

Roberta grinned.
“I get it now.”

“He gave me the heads up on you before I left Stratford to come up here. I just wanted to see for myself. What he said about you is an understatement. When I arrived here, I read the reports you submitted on the murder of the wine importer. Those were exemplary in my eyes. Your dogged approach to the case while unorthodox, solved a complex case that was far, far bigger than anyone here thought. If you had simply followed the instructions of your Sergeant on that first day, the original case would be gathering dust and the bigger picture would never have been exposed. You kept at it and with dogged determination an international assassin was taken off the streets and an international art smuggling ring was broken up. That is good policing in my eyes.”

“Sir, thank you for that praise, but please keep it to yourself. I have enough people in the nick who dislike me intensely as it is. I don’t want to antagonise those who want me gone any farther.”

“Very well Constable. I’ll do my job but if I see people bullying you or worse, then I will intervene.”

“Thanks Sir. Now if you don’t mind, I need to run some modelling on my figures before I write my report. I think I have a way to predict the next location to be hit.”

He left Roberta to get on with her work. It was clear to him that she needed a champion in the Nick, and he decided that, if possible, that person would be him. He had a daughter who was much like Roberta in her approach to life. Unorthodox but effective, and because she was like Roberta, a square peg in a round hole, she needed support.

Roberta put the visit from the Chief Inspector to the back of her mind as she concentrated on trying to predict what area the gang of cat thieves would strike next. She was interrupted a little later when a text arrived. It said,

“Your leaky tap has been identified. We will be sending a plumber in tomorrow.”

Roberta knew that the message had come from AC-12 and that a leak had been found. Who it was, was not for her consumption but she didn’t care. As long as they knew who had tipped off Sergeant Hill, she was happy. Roberta returned to working on the catalytic converted theft problem.

After another hour of working the numbers and the map, she concluded that the area at the very west of their patch would be the most likely place where the repeat attack would happen. The estimated value of the scrap converters that had been stolen from that area was almost double that of the other two areas. A repeat visit over a couple of nights could prove very profitable for the gang.

With that in mind, she started to work on her report. It was not going to be a short document. Every aspect of her reasoning had to be included in detail. The last thing she wanted was for CID to reject it because she had missed a small detail. Roberta was under no illusion that certain officers in CID would go out of their way to avoid recognising her for anything.

Roberta was so engrossed in her work that she lost all track of time. It was only the arrival of the cleaning crew at 22:00 that she became aware of the time and that she hadn’t eaten anything since a rushed breakfast.

After locking everything away and cleaning the whiteboard, Roberta signed out and left the station. The night was fine but the noise from the traffic on the High Road spoilt the scene. She walked south down the High Road towards Seven Sisters. There was a Chinese Takeaway near the tube station that sold a very nice Sweet and Sour King Prawn. An order of that would do nicely.

She’d gone almost halfway and was waiting for a pedestrian crossing to change, when a voice came out of the darkness.
“PC Galbraith, I have a message from Leroy. He wants to meet at the usual place tomorrow at eight.”

Roberta stopped and looked towards the voice. There was no one there. That wasn’t surprising. Leroy had to be extra careful when interacting with the Police. It would not do if he was seen with a cop outside his patch and with a plain clothes cop at any time of the day or night.

Roberta skipped getting some food and went straight home. She’d only just moved into the bedsit in Walthamstow. It was a lot better than the couch surfing that she’d been doing since her last place was had been defiled by the assassin with a crossbow. She was still making the place ‘home’.

The message from Leroy had messed up her mind. What she wanted was some sleep. The next day looked like that it was going to be both busy and long.

[to be continued]