Free A Dog's Life (The Romney and Marsh Files Book 4) by Oliver Tidy Page A

meeting room. The decorators had already made a start upstairs.
    Boudicca looked as though she was barely managing to suppress her feelings regarding what had brought her downstairs. Grimes had planned on giving the woman who had singled him out for his wide girth a wide berth for as long as possible. He didn’t want this. He certainly didn’t need the added attention.
    ‘Let me get this straight, Inspector. After our discussion this morning, during which I related to you my concerns and those of others regarding the validity of the conviction of Mr Savage, you sent an officer to the pub to speak with the man whose testimony Mr Savage’s guilt hinges upon?’
    ‘That’s correct, ma’am. I saw nothing wrong with having a quiet, friendly word with Bernie, so we had it from the horse’s mouth. He is, was, not unknown to us, as I said.’
    ‘Didn’t you consider how that might look?’ She was close to shouting. ‘The police harassing and intimidating a key witness in a case like this, with all its implications?’
    ‘No one was intimidating him, ma’am. I repeat, it was a quiet, friendly word. DC Grimes even bought him a pint.’
    Boudicca switched her gaze to Grimes. Grimes felt scared. ‘Why didn’t you say something about the identity of the victim at the scene this afternoon? That makes me deeply suspicious.’
    ‘Excuse me, suspicious of what exactly, ma’am?’ said Romney.
    ‘I asked you a question, Detective Constable.’
    ‘I couldn’t be sure that it was him, ma’am. Not with his face so badly burned.’ That sounded lame. ‘And besides, at the time, I didn’t know you had any interest in Bernie Stark. I do now, of course.’ That was clever, thought Romney. Or at least it appeared to confuse her; knock Boudicca off her chariot of thought.
    Romney continued quickly: ‘As soon as everything became clear, ma’am, I instructed DC Grimes to leave the scene with me and come and report back to you for further instruction. Obviously, now we’re sure of the victim’s identity we shouldn’t be anywhere near the investigation.’
    ‘Who is there?’
    ‘DS Marsh, ma’am. I said she should maintain a CID presence until you make a decision about a way forward.’ Romney thought he was doing quite well and it made him feel just a little smug.
    ‘Well, at least that’s one thing you’ve done right. Serious complaints could be lodged about police procedure and intimidation tactics over this.’
    ‘By whom, ma’am?’ said Romney. ‘Bernie Stark is dead. Even if he had found time to drag himself away from the pub to inform anyone he’d had a visit from the local police about the Jimmy Savage case, nothing could be admissible anywhere because it would all just be hearsay.’
    ‘Detective Inspector, that might be the way you have seen fit to operate in the past but that is not the way we are going to be doing things from now on. I had hoped to have made myself perfectly clear about that this morning.’ She heaved out a deep breath.
    Romney thought it prudent to let her have the last word. He felt sure enough they had avoided serious repercussions.
    ‘You’ve done the right thing in coming to see me about this now,’ she repeated. ‘You are right, of course. Dover CID should not be involved. Is the death being considered suspicious by the pathologist who attended?’
    ‘It was too early and too messy to tell, apparently, ma’am.’
    Superintendent Vine drummed her fingers on the table in thought. Finally, she said all she could say, ‘Leave it with me. DC Grimes, give us a moment would you, please.’
    Grimes looked only too happy to escape.
    When the door was shut, Superintendent Vine said, ‘Where were you this afternoon?’
    Romney bridled. ‘I had to see an informant about something I’m working on.’
    Boudicca did not look convinced. ‘You must be contactable at all times. What if we have an emergency situation? What if I need to speak to you urgently? You are the senior officer in