Autographs In The Rain Part 58

'When a police officer has a problem on the job, if he ... or she ... has a close call, or he sees something that's really hard to take, then there's very good established machinery these days to deal with the consequences.

The force . . . our force at least... is as interested in a person's emotional well-being as in his physical fitness, and that stretches from the rawest police cadet to the Chief Constable.

'For example, Andy even had counselling himself earlier on this year . .. but keep that to yourself.

'There's a flaw in it. We . . . listen to me, talking as if I'm still part of it... give support for on-the-job developments, but we tend to forget that there can be trauma down the line as well, especially if the officer's partner isn't part of the force. When coppers marry coppers, like Andy and me, or like Maggie Rose and Mario McGuire, there's a built-in understanding in the relations.h.i.+p, just the same as when teachers marry teachers, doctors marry doctors, social workers set up home with social workers, and so on.'AUTOGRAPHS IN THE RAIN.'But when a copper marries an art teacher, you mean . . .' Mary interrupted.

'No, I didn't. I'm still speaking generally here. In my own case, when

Andy goes out of that door every day, for all his rank I know that there are

risks because of the way he does his job; you do not always get to deal with

nice people. Ironically, his predecessor rarely set foot outside his office,

yet he was killed in a plane crash coming back from a meeting in London.

'I can live with these risks, because I've been exposed to them myself

and I can keep them in perspective. But it has to be more difficult for you to

watch Jack go out on an investigation where someone's been murdered and

Vwhere the person who did it is still at large.

'Now the fact is, the risks are minimal, but they're always going to be there, in your mind. When the niggling stress they cause is compounded by something else .. . like in your case a career move to another division ...

then too d.a.m.n right it's going to affect you.

'And because of that it's inevitable that it's going to affect Jack.'

Karen held up a hand. 'I promise you this. Jack has not been running around the Borders moaning about his b.l.o.o.d.y wife or anything like that.

But he and Dan Pringle work very closely together; Dan likes him and he cares about him, so even if Jack tried he couldn't hide his worries from him.

'What I'm getting round to saying here, Mary, is that I believe that there should be a proper support group for officers' partners as well as for the men and women themselves, and I'm b.l.o.o.d.y well going to see that it is set up.'Mary McGurk opened her mouth to speak, but in the end only a sigh came out. 'You're right in what you're saying,' she murmured at last. 'I do feel remote sometimes, but.. .'

'Can I ask you a straight question?' Karen interposed. 'Suppose Jack wasn't a detective, and this move wasn't happening. Would you two still have a problem?'

'No. Not through me, anyway. I love him.'

'Okay, I want you to tell me what we can do to help, but first, I have to J make a point. This is a disciplined service and Jack was in it when you two married. In this set-up, in the lower ranks, you don't always get to apply for your job. Very often an officer is offered a posting with his long-term career development in mind. In a force like ours, with a big geographical area, that can sometimes mean moving house.That's what's happened with Jack. He wasn't posted down to the Borders because Detective Superintendent Pringle likes the way he makes coffee, or thinks he's fun to have around. Dan took him down there because he believes that he's a d.a.m.n good officer, who could fill his own shoes one day; divisional commander and above.

'At the moment he's living Monday to Friday in a reasonably comfortable police squat down in the division. That's not ideal for him, and it's b.l.o.o.d.y awful for you, with the baby, and even worse since the job can have erratic hours. They don't have many major investigations down in the Borders; just your luck that he should pitch up there at the start of one.'

'Maybe,' said Mary, 'but what if I move down there and it's just the same, with him never being home? It's such a big thing, moving house; and at least in Edinburgh I've got my family, my friends.'

'Look, we can't solve all your problems. If you put enough pressure on Jack, he can ask for a move back up town, and he'll get it. It'll be CID too, not back into uniform, unless that's what he wants. But it will slow down his career development and it could prevent him going as far as he might.

'So what can we do to make this move as positive for you as possible?

You're an art teacher. Would you like to go back to work, part-time or full time? We'll get you a job. Would it be easier for you to move south without the big commitment of buying a house? Fine; keep this one, put a tenant in it, a young copper maybe, who'll look after the place or else. We'll find you a nice place in a nice community that you can rent until it's time for Jack's next move, which will probably be to a divisional detective inspector job. Do you want to get to know people down there? As a first step you can join the police partners' support group that I'm setting up. I've only sent out one mailshot, and I've got two hundred members already, one third of them in the Borders.'

'You can do all that?' asked Mary. 'Even a job?'

'I called round the education departments before I came here this morning.

I'm a trained teacher too; I know the ropes. There's a job going in a secondary in Galas.h.i.+els that you could start after Christmas. Full time or mornings only; up to you.'

'Can I talk to Jack about it?'

Karen looked down at Regan, who was sleeping on her lap. 'I think that would be a pretty good idea, don't you?'250.

Q251.'Take it away, Jackie,' said Dan Pringle. 'You're looking a happier boy this

morning, even in this freezing b.l.o.o.d.y pit.'

f 'You're looking a bit smug yourself, sir, if I may say so.'

'You and Mary got things sorted out then?'

'For the foreseeable at least,' said the sergeant. 'She's going to give it a shot. She's going for an interview with the Council head of education on Monday, then once this thing cracks we're going to look at places to rent in and around Gala.

'She's also going to help Karen Martin set up this support group of hers.

The way things are going she'll have no b.l.o.o.d.y time for Regan and me when she gets down here.''Aye, well, we'll no' be sending the DCS's wife out to counsel you,'

Pringle rumbled.'You boys still okay in here?' he enquired, conversationally rather than solicitously.'Fine, sir. DC Donovan and I have never been more comfortable. Have we, Jason?'

'No, Sergeant,' the young detective constable agreed, not bothering to hide the irony in his voice. 'But so far, it hasna' rained.'

The three were seated on folding chairs in a deep camouflaged hide which had been dug out, under cover of darkness, on the crest of a hillock just over a quarter of a mile from the supposedly non-existent fish farm. Its walls were lined with black plastic to contain the damp; a small butane gas heater burned in a corner of the ten-foot square trench, and a camping stove stood beside it with a kettle coming to the boil. The sloping roof, which used the line of the hillside, was planking with heather laid over the top, and it was ventilated by the slit window through which its occupants were able to keep watch on the floodlit enclosure.

'The man still there?' the superintendent asked.

'Yes,' McGurk replied. 'Still the same story; no one's come or gone252.

AUTOGRAPHS IN THE RAIN.since we set up here overnight on Monday. The bloke's living in the Portakabin near the entrance. He comes out every so often to load the automatic feeders and check the stock then he goes back in again. Always he wears this big parka thing with a hood, so we can't get a good look athim.'

'One thing, though; he's got a rifle in there. We don't get all that many

gulls this far inland, but he's shot a couple that have come close.'

'Has he now,' said Pringle. 'That makes this a siege in that case. When we take this place down, we'll have armed officers in the team.'

'Sir,' Donovan called out suddenly, peering through the observation hatch. 'There's something going on here. There's a tanker arriving.'

McGurk grabbed his non-reflective field gla.s.ses and turned to look out of the viewing slot. 'Right enough, boss,' he said, although Pringle was peering over his shoulder. 'A big vehicle, not unlike a petrol tanker, or the sort of machine they use to pump out septic tanks; one man in the cab. The guy's out of the Portakabin and he's opening the gate.'

As they watched, the driver of the tanker eased it carefully through the gates and took up position, within reach for its long flexible hose of two of the eight large tanks. Satisfied, he left the engine running and jumped from the cab.

'f.u.c.king h.e.l.l, it's Gates,' McGurk called out in a stifled shout.

As the three policemen watched, the Mellerkirk manager and the hooded man unfastened the suction pipe from the side of the tanker and positioned it in the tank on the left. Then Gates stepped up to a control panel mounted beside the door and pressed a b.u.t.ton. A new sound overrode that of the engine, the higher-pitched noise of a pump at work.

'Jack,' said Pringle, 'I want him followed when he leaves here. I'll stay here and keep an eye on what's happening. You two get down the hill and into your Land Rover and be in position to follow when he moves off. No radio, just in case. We keep in touch through our mobiles.'