Murmuring the Judges

38

‘You seem more cheerful this evening,’ said Alex, forking up some of her Fisherman’s Pie.

‘I suppose I am, love. It’s the first positive day I’ve had in a while. Bob and Dan Pringle nicking those two Russians, that was a great result. Top item on the Scottish telly news, and on ITN, and it’ll be on the front pages tomorrow too, I’ll bet.

‘On top of that we’ve got a real suspect in the Archergait murder.’

She looked at him, her big eyes narrowed. ‘What do you mean? Was my dad involved in arresting those two men?’

Andy looked at her and gulped. ‘Oh. A slip of the tongue. Yes, he was there. He tackled the big guy with the gun; punched his lights out, in fact. He wouldn’t allow any mention of it at the press conference, though.

‘Don’t breathe a word to Sarah, for God’s sake, or I’ll be back on the beat.’

Suddenly, Alex’s face was drawn and anxious. ‘What the hell was he doing getting involved in something like that?’ she burst out. ‘He’s getting too old for all that stuff.’

‘That’s not what the big Russian would tell you.’ He reached across the table and, smiling, took her hand. ‘Don’t you worry about Bob. He can still handle himself better than anyone else on the force.’

‘But he shouldn’t have to! He’s supposed to be acting Chief. What’s he doing getting into scrapes like that?’

‘Getting away from being acting Chief, that’s what he’s doing.’ He paused. ‘Your old man’s having a bit of a career crisis at the moment. He’s trying to convince himself that he doesn’t want to be a Chief Constable, and that he can stay on the street forever.’

‘What’s brought that on?’

Andy looked her in the eye. ‘So far this week, he’s represented the force at two funerals. On top of that, he had to sack someone this afternoon. He was right to do it. . the guy had been thumping his wife. . but he still hated the experience. He’s just a bit scunnered with it all at the moment.

‘I wouldn’t worry about it. Bob might not admit it, but he’s ambitious. He’s the sort of guy who has to climb the ladder, all the way to the top. But he isn’t the sort of guy who’ll shy away from the shitty end of any job. He’ll work it all out in time.’

He picked up his fork. ‘But enough of my day. How about yours? How’s the case?’

‘It’s not getting any better. Lord Coalville gave Jim McAlpine a real savaging this afternoon. He was cross-examining one of Grimley’s experts, and. . so Mr Laidlaw and I thought. . doing a good job of undermining his estimate of loss, when the judge stepped in and accused him of badgering the man. He said that all that ground had been adequately covered, and told the witness to step down.’

‘So it’s still looking rough for the insurance company?’

Alex gave a gasp of exasperation. ‘Ahh, we’re stuffed. Grimley will be awarded well into the seven figures. . and it won’t stop there. It’ll be very bad news for Adrian Jones.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Well, at the very least, the Law Society will act on Grimley’s complaint against him as soon as the case is over. They can be tough. I’d guess that his practising certificate will be restricted. It’ll probably mean that he’ll have to give up his partnership and be demoted to assistant. He’ll take that hard. He’s only been a partner for a couple of years. He was a late entrant to private practice.’

Andy shrugged his broad shoulders. ‘It seems fair to me. If a promoted police officer screws up that badly he’s liable to be demoted too. Why should you lawyers be different?’

‘Ah, but it’s worse than that for us, though. The bigger the award, the worse the consequences for Jones’ firm. The way solicitors’ indemnity insurance works, its premiums will be loaded to an almost crippling level. But if Jones is no longer there. .’

‘So his firm will sack him?’

‘Almost certainly. No; delete almost.’

‘That’ll be sad for his family, but I still say it’s fair.You have to have a means of getting rid of the bad apples, just as we do. People rely on lawyers as much as they rely on the police, so they have to be protected from the Adrian Joneses of this world just as much as from the Mark Greens.’

She leaned across the table and pointed a long finger at him.

‘Yes, but maybe the Adrian Joneses need to be protected from the likes of Lord Coalville.’

‘And the Mark Greens from the likes of Bob Skinner?’

‘Don’t twist things. Who judges the judges? That’s what I’m saying.’

Andy snorted. ‘Hah. There’s someone doing just that at the moment, it seems. And whoever it is, they believe in capital punishment!’