Lynda Plante - Tennison

‘Bastard’s looking for a scapegoat to blame already. I ain’t gonna let him blacken Len Bradfield’s name so I’ll take the rap.’

Harris took him to one side. ‘Are you sure that’s wise, Spencer? Metcalf hasn’t the bottle to blame a dead man who everyone respected and who had an unblemished career. If you say it was in any way your fault he’ll blame you publicly for Len’s death and that’s your career screwed. Do you really think Bradfield would want it to end that way?’

Gibbs shook his head and realized Harris, for all his many irritating faults, spoke with experience and sense.

‘You should go home, Spence, you look awful.’

‘I’m all right and I want to make the NOK call before Metcalf does.’

‘Are you sure that’s a good idea? He is the senior officer investigating this now.’

‘I was his friend so I’ll make the call, and if Metcalf doesn’t like it then tough.’

‘Don’t lose your head, you got to stay in control,’ Harris said.

Jane heard bits of what they were talking about but didn’t know what a NOK was and didn’t want to appear nosy or irritating by asking. She interrupted with a light tap to Gibbs’s arm.

‘Can I do anything to help?’

‘No, I got to do this myself,’ he said and walked off into Bradfield’s office.

Harris turned to Jane. ‘Canteen’s closed as it’s a bank holiday so make him a nice cup of tea,’ he said, and looked her up and down before continuing. ‘What’s that yellow stuff on your clothes? You look a mess.’

She apologized explaining that she had been off duty, but had come in after seeing the news. She asked him if she could stay on and work.

‘Yes, but put your uniform on as this station is going to be the focus of press and top-brass attention for a long while yet.’

She said she would make Gibbs a tea and then return to the section house to change.

Jane went into the small kitchen and put the kettle on before unthinkingly washing the usual array of dirty mugs that had been left in the sink.

When she took DS Gibbs a cup of tea he was sitting behind Bradfield’s desk, leaning forward with his arms on the table, his head resting between them. At first she thought he was asleep. He looked up and took out a handkerchief to wipe his nose.

‘Two sugars, right?’ Jane asked with a smile.

‘Thanks,’ Gibbs said.

‘Did your NOK call go OK?’ she asked out of politeness, still unsure what it meant.

‘I don’t think she could really take it all in, but I’ll go over to be with her later.’

‘I’m sorry, who do you mean by “she”?’

Spencer sighed. ‘Len’s wife. It was awful as I could hear their two small kids playing in the background, and now I gotta do Kath’s NOK call.’

Jane suddenly realized that ‘NOK’ was short for ‘next of kin’ and couldn’t believe what Gibbs had just said. Was Bradfield married? It wasn’t possible, it couldn’t be true, she thought to herself before speaking as calmly as possible under the circumstances.

‘Married. I didn’t know married officers could live at the section house.’

Gibbs sipped his tea, and gave a small shrug of his shoulders.

‘His wife was finding it hard to cope with all the late hours he worked. She’d get anxious, wondering if maybe he’d been hurt as he hadn’t come home when expected. Len told me she would often sit up waiting for him. He spoke with the section house sergeant who said he, and a few others, could use a spare room when things got busy. Len reckoned it would help stop all the anxiety at home and then a rumour goes round that they were splitting up. It didn’t bother him as he always felt that his private life was his own personal business and nothing to do with anyone else and...’ He bowed his head trying to stifle a sob. ‘God help me, I loved and respected that man so much and now I gotta tell poor Kath’s mum and dad she’s dead.’

Jane had to take deep breaths to steady herself. She gently patted his shoulder.

‘Sorry, Spence, so sorry.’

She turned away, knowing she was going to break down. She clenched her fists, digging her nails into her palms. She hurried out of the office, down the stairs and out to the rear entrance of the station in a state of denial.

With no handbag, warrant card or money she walked to the section house and had to ask the ‘old buzzard’ to let her into her room. She gasped for breath as she shut the door behind her. She stared at the big poster of Janis Joplin with her wild hair and the silly feather boa, her arms lined with bracelets and rings on her fingers. The scream came from the pit of her stomach.

‘No, no, no, no!’

She tore the poster down and began ripping it to shreds as the song that had constantly been running through her mind seemed to drill into her heart:

Still crying Jane took off her stained clothes, changed into a clean pressed shirt and skirt, then brushed her hair and tied it back with an elastic band. Hard as she tried she couldn’t stop the floodgates opening as she remembered Bradfield tossing the elastic band onto her desk and calling her Veronica Lake.

She splashed cold water over her face and held the towel against her eyes until her sobs quietened.

‘Take control, take control, do it.’

Jane picked up her hat, put it on and stared at her reflection in the mirror. Her uniform suddenly felt like a protective armour. As she returned to the station she gritted her teeth and knew that, whatever anguish she was feeling or had to face in the future, she would now be able to contain it inside her.

Sergeant Harris saw her sitting at the front counter desk looking pristine and calm.

He paused briefly and spoke softly. ‘Good girl.’

‘Thank you, Sarge.’

A team led by Metcalf had raided Clifford Bentley’s flat that afternoon. He was asleep in bed and the officers had to wake him. When asked where their son John was Renee said she hadn’t seen him since the previous afternoon when she had left to go to a funeral and Clifford said it was the same for him. He maintained that he paid his respects to the passing funeral procession, and then returned to the flat without John to spend the afternoon and night caring for his very sick son David. He didn’t know what time his wife got home from the funeral as he had already gone to bed and was in such a deep sleep he didn’t hear her come in.

Whilst Metcalf spoke with Clifford and Renee two officers searched David’s room only to discover he was not there and there were signs that he had taken clothes and a number of personal belongings with him. This was news to Clifford, who was now totally dependent on Renee to confirm his alibi and back him up. He then said John had taken David away for a few days as a surprise break to help him get better.

When Metcalf said that it was a trip that John would not be coming back from there was a look of horror in Clifford’s eyes and Renee demanded to know what he meant. She listened wide-eyed and motionless as Metcalf explained about the explosion, and the certainty that John had died in it whilst Clifford had done a runner.