Nightmare

90

‘You’re finished, Nightingale. And not before time.’ Superintendent Chalmers held out his hand. ‘Warrant card,’ he said.

‘What?’

‘I want your warrant card. Then you can report to Professional Standards.’

‘I didn’t do anything to Underwood,’ said Nightingale.

‘Who?’

‘Simon Underwood. The father. I haven’t been near him.’

‘What the hell are you talking about? Who is Simon Underwood?’

‘Sophie’s father. He’s been having sex with her. The mother knows what’s going on. She’s either scared of him or doesn’t want to lose him.’

‘The girl in Chelsea Harbour?’

Nightingale nodded. ‘She wanted to end it all because of what her father was doing to her.’

‘But she’s not at risk now.’

‘Not now, no. She’s with Social Services. But she was serious about wanting to die. She’s going to need a lot of therapy.’

‘Look, Nightingale, this isn’t about the girl. This is about you assaulting a member of the public.’

‘What?’

‘I’m told that on the way into the building you thumped a plumber in the face. Broke his nose and chipped a tooth, as it happens. His lawyer’s already been on to us and he’s looking for six figures. Which, considering the number of people who saw you attack him for no reason, he’ll probably get. And apparently there was a photographer from the Daily Mail there, so expect to see yourself on the front page tomorrow morning.’

‘He was a rubber-necker; he only wanted to see her die,’ said Nightingale.

‘You walked up to him and belted him without provocation.’

‘Yeah, well, you had to be there, and of course you never are, are you?’

‘Just watch your lip, Nightingale,’ said Chalmers, pointing a finger at him. ‘You hit a civilian, which means you’re out. You can resign or you can wait to be sacked, but either way you’ll be out by the end of the month.’ He tapped the desk. ‘Warrant card. Now. Then you can get yourself over to Professional Standards to make a statement. If you want to take your federation rep with you, fine, but it won’t do you any good.’

Nightingale took his warrant card out and threw it down, then he took out his cigarettes and lit one.

Chalmers glared at him. ‘What the hell do you think you’re doing? You can’t smoke in here!’

‘What are you going to do, Chalmers?’ asked Nightingale. ‘You’ve already sacked me, right? What else can you do? Arrest me for smoking?’ He blew smoke up at the ceiling. ‘You are full of shit.’

‘Yeah? Well, you’re a crap copper. But I’ll be keeping my job and my pension and you’ll be out on your arse.’

‘You’ve no idea what happened. You’ve no idea why I did what I did.’

‘Get out, Nightingale.’

Nightingale took a long pull on his cigarette and blew smoke as he stared at Chalmers through narrowed eyes. ‘Okay, I’m going,’ he said. ‘Screw you and screw the job. But you need to look at Underwood. He’s a banker, over at Canary Wharf. You need to get a doctor to examine Sophie, run a rape kit too. With the right sort of handling Sophie will talk and I’m pretty sure the mother will give evidence against him once he’s taken away from the family. Okay?’

Chalmers nodded. ‘Okay,’ he said. ‘Now get the hell out of my office.’