Free Lambs to the Slaughter by Sally Spencer

not mean he granted his blanket approval to all members of the clergy, and this one had definitely got up his nose almost as much as he seemed to have got up Beresford’s.
    It irritated him that the vicar spoke with such oily humility – ‘it serves our humble purposes’ – while at the same time acting as if he were the most important person in the room, if not in the county. It bothered him that the man should have been watching the two old ladies work, yet made no effort himself. And it annoyed him both that the vicar should greedily crunch his endless supply of peppermints instead of sucking them, and that he hadn’t thought to offer one to either his cleaning ladies or his visitors.
    Beresford returned.
    â€˜This place isn’t perfect, but it will have to do,’ Beresford told Crane.
    â€˜It will have to do what?’ the vicar asked.
    â€˜It will have to do as our incident centre,’ Beresford said.
    The vicar shook his head. ‘Oh, dear me, no, I’m afraid it won’t “do” at all. This building does not have the same sanctity as the church, of course, but it is a vital part of village life, and I’m afraid I could not possibly allow—’
    Beresford sighed heavily. ‘You do know a man’s been murdered, don’t you?’ he asked.
    â€˜Indeed I do, but since that man was not one of my parishioners, I feel under no obligation to—’
    â€˜If you make me go to all the trouble of sending to Whitebridge for a court order which will compel you to let me use this little shack of yours, I shall be most pissed off,’ Beresford interrupted him.
    He was handling it all wrong, Crane thought, but that came as no surprise, because he had been handling
most
things all wrong for the past month or so.
    â€˜Could I have a quiet word, sir?’ he asked.
    â€˜A quiet word?’ Beresford repeated.
    â€˜Won’t take a minute,’ Crane promised.
    They walked to the other corner of the room, and Beresford said, ‘What’s this all about?’
    â€˜We could get a court order, but that would take time, and – according to the boss – time is just what we don’t have,’ Crane said. ‘Besides, the rest of the team is already on its way from Whitebridge, and it’ll need a base ready for it when it gets here.’
    â€˜Do you think I don’t know that?’ Beresford demanded. ‘I don’t want to go through all the rigmarole of getting an order, but if this pompous little shit won’t cooperate, what choice do we have?’
    â€˜I think I can persuade him to agree,’ Crane said.
    â€˜Now this I’ve
got
to see,’ Beresford told him.
    â€˜I think I can persuade him
if you’re not here
,’ Crane said firmly.
    â€˜You’ve no chance,’ Beresford scoffed.
    â€˜Just give me ten minutes alone with him,’ Crane suggested.
    Beresford thought about it. ‘All right, I’ll do it, Jack,’ he agreed, ‘but only to show you that while you’re a smart lad, you’re nowhere near as smart as you think you are.’
    â€˜I appreciate it, sir,’ Crane said.
    Beresford left the church hall, and Crane sauntered over to the vicar.
    â€˜I don’t much like your superior’s attitude,’ the vicar said.
    â€˜I don’t much like it myself,’ Crane said.
    But even on his worst day, he’s probably better than you on your best, he added mentally.
    â€˜And you do see my point, do you not?’ the vicar asked. ‘I simply cannot allow the church hall to be used for the purpose your colleague suggested. So much of village life is focussed on this place – the Sunday School, the Mother’s Union, the Christian Fellowship . . .’
    â€˜And no doubt you foster local talent by allowing the village rock bands to practise in here,’ Crane suggested.
    The vicar sniffed.
    â€˜Certainly not,’ he