Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2004 16:20:29 +0000 (GMT)
From: Steve Rose <cutrose40@yahoo.co.uk>
Subject: Martin Roberts Investigates/Party Games -7

DISCLAIMER:

This is a story. None of the characters in the story
exist and the events that take place are purely
imaginary.

WARNING:

Do not read this story if you are in any way offended
by acts of a homosexual nature.

Do not read this if you are under the legal age for
accessing adult sites.

Always indulge in safe sex.

Party Games
Chapter 7

Older members of Martin's team had come to recognise
what they euphemistically referred to as `the look'.
It was not often seen but when it was, it was best to
stay low and keep quiet. Today was one such day and
the Commander swept into Scotland Yard rather earlier
than expected and barely acknowledged any of the
officers already at their desks and went straight into
his office and closed the door firmly behind him. It
was not long before Martin was on the telephone and
dialling the number of the Hampstead Police Station.
Although unable to hear all of the conversation, the
police officers just outside Martin's room were able
to overhear their superior officer's end of the
conversation.

The Commander had dialled the number and was already
speaking to the person who had answered the telephone
and his voice was icily formal,

"This is Commander Martin Roberts of Scotland Yard, I
wish to speak to Chief Inspector Roger Mason."

At the other end of the line, a rather flustered
Constable replied,

"I'm afraid he's not here, sir. I believe he's still
at home. May I take a message and ask him to call you
when he gets in?"

Martin responded as coldly as before,

"No, I want to speak to him urgently. Please have me
transferred to his home number immediately. This is
urgent!!"

After a brief pause, the Constable in Hampstead
signified that he would take the necessary action and,
moments later, the Commander was connected to the
Chief Inspector,

"Good morning, Chief Inspector Mason, this is
Commander Martin Roberts of Scotland yard. I'll come
straight to the point. I understand that an eyewitness
to the murder of Nick Trafford has come forward. I
must say that I am amazed that you have not contacted
me about this matter, given the high profile and
importance of the case."

At the other end, the Chief Inspector offered his
explanation,

"I'm sorry, sir, but we have had a large number of
crank calls about this murder and we were not sure
whether this wasn't another one. He said his name was
Andy Laurie and he was calling from a pub. We wanted
to be sure that he was a genuine caller and in any
case I had intended to let you know about this first
thing today. Would you like the man brought in for
questioning?"

Martin refrained from responding to the comment about
dong something `first thing' and instead replied as
coldly as he had before,

"No, thank you, Chief inspector. Please just give me
the man's name and address. We've wasted enough time
already. I'll arrange for the witness to be collected
and interviewed here at Scotland Yard. Please just
give me the name and address."

The senior Hampstead police officer gave Martin the
information and the Commander brought the conversation
to an end. As soon as had he done this, Martin picked
the telephone up again and put in a call to Mark
Jamieson to ask the Superintendent to go round to the
address of Andy Laurie and pick him up and bring him
in for questioning. Martin was pleased that he had
caught Mark before he had left for Scotland Yard and
so his friend could go to the pub on the way in to
work. The Commander briefly explained the situation
and told Mark that he expected that the witness
statement would not take long and that the young bar
man would be back at the pub in time for opening later
that morning. Mark recognised that the Commander was
not in the best of moods and decided not to ask any
questions but told his friend that he would leave
immediately and should be at Scotland Yard within the
hour. While he waited for Mark to arrive, Martin also
telephoned Aly Young and Mike Rickwood to check how
much progress had been made on the examination of the
dead MP's case files. These two officers also picked
up on their senior officer's mood and told him that
progress was steady and that they would both be in the
office within an hour to bring the latest news.
Finally, the Commander went off to the Press and
Public relations Department to chat to Superintendent
Ron Alder about the press coverage of the case and any
other matters that might need to be resolved during
the day.

Meanwhile, in the pub in Hampstead Andy Laurie was
asleep in the large bed belonging to the landlord,
Phil Lloyd-Williams. The young bar man was completely
naked under a thin sheet and lay beside his friend,
Kenny and Phil who were also naked. The threesome had
retired to bed quite late after they had cleared up
following closing time and had enjoyed a short but
satisfying session of sexual activity together before
falling into a satisfied sleep. It was still
relatively early in the morning and none of the three
had begun to stir when the incessant ringing of the
doorbell to the landlord's private quarters brought
them suddenly back to consciousness. Phil took charge
and told the other two to get back to their own room
while he went downstairs to find out who was at the
door. It was a somewhat sleepy Phil Lloyd-Williams,
dressed in a towel dressing gown that opened the door
of the pub. Mark Jamieson looked at the rather
dishevelled man standing in front of him and said,

"I'm sorry to disturb you at this early hour, sir, but
my name is Mark Jamieson and I am a Superintendent at
Scotland Yard. Here's my warrant card. I understand
that an Andrew Laurie lives and works here. We
understand that he made contact with the local Police
Station stating that he had information about the
murder of the MP, Nick Trafford and I've been asked by
my senior officer to see whether Mr Laurie would be
willing to come down to Scotland Yard with me and
answer a few questions. Is he available?"

For a moment, the pub landlord looked blank and then
stammered a reply,

"Ye .. yes, Superintendent. I'm Phil Lloyd-Williams
and I'm the landlord here. I believe young Andy's in
his room, probably still asleep. If you'd like to wait
here I'll go upstairs and see and tell him to get up
and dressed as quickly as possible. Would you like a
coffee while you're waiting?"

Mark smiled and accepted the offer but made it clear
that he would only do so after Phil had been upstairs
to rouse the sleeping barman. A couple of minutes went
by and mark looked round the comfortable living room
until Phil came back into the room and invited the
Superintendent to sit down. The landlord busied
himself in the kitchen for a few minutes and then
returned with a cup of coffee, which he handed to Mark
who accepted it gratefully. The two men sat in silence
drinking the coffee and listened to the noise of
rushing around coming from the upstairs living
quarters and then Andy Laurie appeared in the doorway
and looked at Phil and Mark. The young barman spoke
nervously,

"Hello, I'm Andy Laurie, Phil told me you want to have
a word with me."

Mark smiled encouragingly,

"Yes, Mr Laurie, my name is Mark Jamieson and I'm a
Superintendent and I've been asked by Commander Martin
Roberts to invite you to come with me to Scotland Yard
and make a statement about what you saw on the night
that Nick Trafford MP was murdered. I must emphasise
that this is a witness and you have nothing to fear
and I have been asked to reassure you that we will
arrange to transport you back here as close to opening
time as we can manage. I'm sure Mr Lloyd-Williams will
not object to these arrangements."

Phil looked at the other two men and nodded,

"No, that's fine. Take as long as you like. Kenny and
I will be able to cope until you return. By the way,
oughtn't you to have something to eat or drink before
you go?"

Mark said quietly,

"I had hoped that we could get on with this. I'll
arrange for Mr Laurie to have something to eat and
drink when we get to Scotland Yard.

Andy looked at his employer and the Superintendent and
said,

"Thank you, Phil and you, Superintendent. I'll just
get my coat and then I'll be ready in a moment. I was
all right until you came but now I'm a bit nervous and
I'll be glad to get this over with."

The young barman disappeared again but quickly
returned and he and Mark went out to the
Superintendent's car and together they drove to
Scotland Yard. Neither man spoke much on the journey.
Mark was trying to assess the young man and had
reached the inevitable conclusion as to his reason for
being on Hampstead heath on the night of the murder.
Andy, who had spent a short time the previous night
and while he got washed and dressed thinking about
what he wanted to say and how he could avoid making
any incriminating statements and land his friend Kenny
into trouble, went over in his mind the answers that
he would give in his interview. The roads were
comparatively busy and the journey took a little while
but the car eventually arrived at Scotland Yard and
Andy was taken by Mark to an interview room, but not
before they had called in at the canteen and the
Superintendent had bought some food and drink for the
eye-witness. Once Andy was settled, Mark disappeared
off to report to the Commander.

Martin was in his office reading the latest report
from Aly Young and Mark Jamieson on the files that
they had removed from Nick Trafford's office. The
Commander had noted that progress had been slow and
that about a third of the papers needed to be examined
before the job would be completed. However, Martin had
agreed that both these senior colleagues, whose
opinions along with those of Mark he valued highly,
could observe the interview with Andy Laurie when the
time came. The Commander was pleasantly surprised to
see his most trusted colleague at the door of his
office some time earlier than he had expected and was
pleased to know that the witness was in the building.
Gathering the most senior members of his team
together, Martin led the way to the interview room.
The Commander swept into the room and startled the
young barman who had been deep in thought ever since
he arrived and had hardly eaten or drunk anything that
had been bought for him. Martin could see from the
expression on his face that his abrupt arrival had
frightened the young man and immediately apologised
and tried to sound conciliatory as he spoke,

"I am sorry, Mr Laurie, I didn't mean to startle. Let
me introduce myself, my name is Martin Roberts and I'm
in charge of the investigation into the murder of Nick
Trafford. You already know my colleague,
Superintendent Mark Jamieson. We also have with us a
young Constable Tony James who will be here to witness
and record your written statement when we get to it.
So let me start by thanking you for coming in and
volunteering your help in this matter. We will want
you to sign a written statement later but I would like
to explain a few points to you before we begin. Also,
of course, if you have any questions or do not wish to
proceed at any time you are free to go and I will
arrange transport for you back to your place of
employment."

The young barman seemed to be reassured by the tone of
the Commander's remarks and nodded,

"I'll try to help as much as I can. Although I was
nearby, I want to say straight away that I had nothing
to do with the man's death."

Again, Martin tried to sound reassuring,

"You are not a suspect, Mr Laurie but we are
interested in what you have to say as you may have
been one of the last people to see Mr Trafford alive.
In order to do this I would like to say that we are
not interested for the purposes of the written
statement in why you were on Hampstead Heath but it
would be helpful to know informally why you were there
and whether anyone can verify your statement. I won't
follow this up unless we have reason to start treating
you as a suspect, which I have no reason to believe we
will."

The line that the Commander was taking was not one
that the young man had expected and he was uncertain
how to respond although his inclination was to trust
the Police and to tell the truth. This faith in the
Police was slightly shaken by the next comment that
was made. Martin leaned forward and said,

"Before we start in any detail, Mr Laurie, I'd like to
ask one important question. As you know Mr Trafford
was killed some days ago and yet you only came forward
to your local police very recently. Why is that?"

Andy Laurie had not expected this line of questioning
but was intelligent to realise that it was a
reasonable line of enquiry designed to verify that he
was a bona fide witness and the young man treated the
query seriously,

"I'm sorry about this, Commander, but I honestly did
not know anything about the murder. It's just that I'm
not very interested in politics and I don't often see
the newspapers or hear the news and I genuinely didn't
know until the other day. On top of that, I just got
the job at the pub with my friend, Kenny, and we spent
a couple of days moving out of our bed-sit and into
the pub. It was only when I saw the face in the paper
the other day that I realised I had seen the murdered
man on Hampstead Heath the night he died. As soon as I
did realise that it might be important I rang the
local Police Station, but I'm not an attention seeker
if that's what you think."

Martin smiled and nodded,

"That's fine, Mr Laurie. I do believe that you are an
important witness and that's why I'd like to
establish, informally, where exactly you were on
Hampstead Heath on night in question and what you were
doing there. Can you first show me on this diagram
where you were situated?"

Mark, who had been silently observing up to this
point, slid a scale drawing of the area across the
table and Andy studied it for a few moments and then
pointed with his finger to the spot where he had been
keeping watch while Kenny had been with his paying
client. After he had done so, Martin and Mark studied
the position and exchanged a look before the Commander
said quietly,

"Again, informally, tell me what were you doing there
and whether were you alone? Then go on and tell me
what you saw and after that, we'll make it more formal
and take your proper statement."

This was an area of questioning that Andy had hoped to
avoid but it was clear that it would be difficult to
do so, so he replied rather hesitantly,

"I suspect you know why I was up there, Commander. I
was out there hustling. Until I got the job in the
pub, I was out of work but I made some money by
selling sexual favours."

"I see", Martin did not sound surprised, "roughly what
time was this and were you alone up there?"

The young barman paused for a moment and then replied,

"This won't go in the statement, will it? You see, I
don't want to get anyone else involved or into
trouble."

Martin nodded and said,

"I understand, Mr Laurie, we are really only
interested in what you saw and that will be all we
will want in the statement. We can figure out with you
a reason for you being where you were such as a need
to answer a call of nature or something like that.
Please, don't worry, we're not out to get anyone into
trouble. So, were you alone?"

Again Andy paused and then replied,

"No, I was with my friend. We'd been up on Hampstead
heath for a little while and it was getting cold and
we were about to give up when my friend saw one of his
regular clients and he approached him and they got
together in a suitable area that was well hidden. I
was keeping watch for my friend while he was engaged
with his client. As they had nearly completed their
business, I was on the lookout for another punter to
hustle. By the way, I like your idea about why I was
in those bushes, may I use it?"

Martin smiled and indicated that he had no objection
to this small subterfuge in the statement, especially
if it resulted in an important piece of evidence being
brought out. The Commander was aware that Andy was
encouraged by his approach and so he pressed the
eye-witness to tell him what he knew,

"Am I right when I say that you saw someone coming
along the path and you hoped he might be a potential
client?"

Andy Laurie nodded,

"Yes, there are two paths and they intersect although
most people take the lower one as the higher one
brings you closer to the cruising area and you only go
there if you are after some action. I saw this guy
coming up the lower path but then cross onto the
higher one, so I stepped out from the cover of the
bushes so that he would be sure to see me."

Mark, who had been silent during the first part of the
interview, intervened at this point,

"How well did you see the man coming towards you? You
were not that close and it was getting dark."

The barman turned and looked at the Superintendent and
replied confidently,

"I could see him quite well. There was some light and
I could tell that he was quite a posh guy. He was
wearing a suit and was well dressed. I could tell he
was a black man and that he had a nice face, to be
honest I really fancied him and he was comparatively
young. I tried to make him look at me so that he'd
catch my eye but he just walked past and didn't look
in my direction at all. I presumed that he must have
been going to a meeting because he was carrying a sort
of document case under his arm and he was walking
quite quickly."

Martin recognised the significance of Andy's last
remark and intervened to ensure that what he had heard
was confirmed,

"He was carrying a document case, Mr Laurie? Are you
sure?"

The barman nodded definitely and answered without any
hesitation,

"Oh yes, I saw it. It was dark but definitely one of
those cases you carry under your arm. Shall I go on,
there's not much more to tell?"

Mark, who was also aware of the importance of what had
been said, replied,

"Yes, please, Mr Laurie, finish you story and then
we'll get it down on paper."

Andy seemed pleased and so he concluded his narrative
by giving his account of how the stranger had walked
on towards the gates, near where, the young man knew,
the MP had been murdered. The barman described how he
had asked his friend to wait in case the stranger
returned but how they had heard the police sirens a
little later and had decided to go home. At the end of
his account, Martin smiled and said,

"Thank you very much, Mr Laurie, what you have told us
today has contained an important piece of information
we did not have before. I'm referring to the document
case you said you saw and I assume that you would
swear to in Court if necessary. What I'd like you to
do now is to give a written statement and sign it.
Constable James here will remain with you to help you
and then take you back to the pub. If you start as we
agreed and then write out what you saw and roughly
when you saw it and leave it at that, but be sure to
include the description of the man you saw and the
fact that he had the document case under his arm. I
really am very grateful to you and please be assured
we will be very discrete about your reasons for being
on Hampstead Heath at that time. You and your friend
have nothing to fear from us. I hope you will excuse
Superintendent Jamieson, and myself, but I would like
to follow up what you have told us straight away. Once
again, many thanks and I hope your new job at the pub
proves to be a success."

Andy looked both pleased and relieved that he had told
the truth and had been believed. The barman sat at the
table and started to write down his account while
Constable James sat close to him ready to help if
necessary.

As soon as the two more senior officers were outside
the interview room, Aly and Mark, who had been in the
observation box, joined them. Martin looked at the
other three and exclaimed,

"Did you hear that? Nick Trafford was carrying a
document case on the night he died!! You were at the
scene, Mike, and you co-ordinated the search of the
area. Did you see any such case?"

Mike responded to the question straight away,

"No, sir, I did not and I can assure you that if it
had been there we would have found it!! It was a
thorough and professional search. Nevertheless, I have
to say that I was inclined to believe what the young
man said. I didn't get the impression that he was
lying about what he saw."

Martin tried to sound reassuring as he replied,

"Neither am I, Mike, and I'm not disputing that you
and your men carried out a proper search, you should
know that. However, if Nick Trafford was carrying some
documents when he was seen by the witness and you
didn't find it, where is it now and what was in it?"

"I suppose it could have been empty and he was picking
something up. I guess we could ask the lady who found
him whether she saw anything", Mark suggested.

"Yes, that's possible but wouldn't we have found the
empty case?" Martin agreed, "I agree we'd better check
with Mrs Talbot, but my money is on the person who
killed Nick Trafford having the document case and its
contents."

"Mine too", said Aly Young, speaking for the first
time and then the Inspector added, "It blows a bit of
a hole in the `gay bashing' theory, doesn't it?"

Martin responded to the Inspector's comment,

"Not entirely, Aly. We have to run with that option as
well as the pure robbery possibility. However, I
believe in my guts that Nick Trafford thought that he
was meeting someone he knew and who could be trusted
and that person killed him and took the document
case."

Mike nodded but added a further suggestion,

"Or someone could have found out about the rendezvous
and sent another person to highjack the meeting."

Mark had listened to the competing theories and said,

"What I think is that we have taken one step forward
but the information has now given us too many hares to
run with. I don't know about you, sir, but I'd like to
try to eliminate some of these possibilities.
Obviously, if we could find out whether anything was
in the case, it might help us to narrow down the
possibilities."

Martin agreed emphatically,

"Yes, Mark, I most certainly agree, let's try to find
some angles on that problem. Why don't you put
together a team to talk to Ms Robinson and the other
people who shared the MP's office and see if they have
any ideas. They've had a bit more time to think about
things and get an idea of what, if anything, might be
missing from the files. In the meantime I'd like you,
Mike, to continue working on the papers we have got.
You never know something might turn up to help us from
that direction. Aly, would you come with me and we'll
go round to Mrs Powell's flat and ask her as the first
person to find the body whether she saw any documents
or a case nearby. If she did we have to try to work
out how it vanished after that time."

The meeting was about to break up when another PC
rushed up to the Commander and said,

"Sir, the Commissioner wants to speak to you
urgently."

Martin acknowledged the message and went back to his
office to speak to the Commissioner, but asked Aly to
wait for him before she went up to Hampstead.

"Thank you for calling back so promptly, Martin", Sir
Thomas Brown spoke without a hint of gratitude in his
voice, "I wanted to let you know that we may have
found the weapon used in the murder of Nick Trafford.
A very vigilant local Policeman was patrolling through
Hampstead Heath, some distance from the scene of the
crime and an object caught his eye and he went to
investigate. He found a piece of metal piping with
traces of blood on it. He did the right thing and
called the forensic team and they recovered it. I've
arranged for the pipe to be brought here to Scotland
Yard so that your team can have it examined. I assumed
that would be what you would want."

"Absolutely, sir", Martin sounded relieved and then
asked, "When do you think the weapon will be here?"

"They're on their way with it as we speak, Martin. I
wanted to warn you so that you and your team would be
ready for when it arrives."

"We will be, sir. Thank you." Martin replied.

Sir Thomas paused for a moment and then asked,

"Are there any other developments you need to brief me
about right now or will you speak to me at the end of
the day?"

Martin told the Commissioner about the interview with
the eye-witness but indicated that the man's statement
raised some more issues that needed to be pursued. The
Commander added that he would prefer to give a full
report at the end of the day and Sir Thomas happily
agreed and Martin heard the click at the other end of
the line as the Commissioner put the phone down.
Martin immediately contacted the forensic team and
made sure that they would be ready to examine the
suspected murder weapon as soon as it arrived. Then
the Commander went off to join Aly and together they
drove off to Hampstead.

Muriel Powell was surprised and delighted to see
Martin and his attractive Inspector colleague at the
door of her flat and she immediately asked them in and
offered them a cup of tea. The Commander would have
preferred to have got straight to the point of his
visit but accepted that this was not possible. The
elderly lady, accompanied by her dog, Monty, busied
herself in the kitchen and emerged after some time
carrying a tray with a pot of tea, three cups and a
large selection of cakes and biscuits, which she set
down on a table in the middle of the room. Beaming
broadly at the two Police Officers, the elderly lady
said,

"Well, Commander, I know you are a busy man and so
this is not just a social call to check that I am
alright, so how can I help?"

Martin sipped his tea and nibbled on a fancy biscuit
and then replied,

"You're quite right, Mrs Powell, obviously we are
concerned for your welfare but there is something I
was wondering if you could help us with. We have
learnt that shortly before he died, Mr Trafford was
seen carrying a document case. My question to you is
this: did you see any sign of the document case or any
papers when you went to look at the body?"

Muriel Powell thought for a moment and then responded
to the enquiry,

"No, Commander, I saw nothing like that at all. It
certainly wasn't there when I found the body. If he
was carrying something like that then it had gone by
the time I found him."

"And there's no chance that Monty might have taken
them before you got there?" Aly Young intervened to
ask the old lady.

"No, Inspector, he was in my sight all the time and
he's not that sort of dog. If he'd found anything he
would either have brought it to me or left it where it
was."

Martin nodded before he then asked another question,

"Did you see any movement beyond the trees where the
body was? Did you sense another person in the area?"

"I've thought about that, Commander, but I can
honestly say that I did not and Monty did not bark at
the dark, only at the body. I'm sorry I'm not being
much help, am I?"

Martin smiled slightly but responded reassuringly,

"Not at all, you've helped clarify a number of things,
thank you, Mrs Powell."

"I think you're being too kind to me, Commander but
thank you anyway. Would you like more tea, or another
bit of something to eat?"

The Commander shook his head,

"No, thank you, Mrs Powell, Inspector Young and I
really do need to get back to Scotland Yard very
shortly. I'm glad you're feeling OK and I will be sure
to let you know how the case is progressing."

"Well, thank you again for coming, Commander and you,
Inspector. I'll put Monty in the kitchen while show
you out, it's nearly time for his walk but I don't
want him running off before I'm ready."

Martin and Aly got up and waited until the elderly
flat owner returned and then they said their
`farewells' and went back to where they had parked the
car and drove back to Scotland Yard. On the way, Aly
looked at the Commander sitting quietly in the
passenger seat and asked,

"Did that really clarify matters much further, sir?"

Martin did not answer for a moment and then replied,

"Up to a point I think it did. I think we all believe
that Nick Trafford was carrying a document case most
probably with papers inside. They were not at the
scene of the murder moments after he was killed. I
don't think Mrs Powell has them so that means someone
else took the case and the documents. The question we
have to resolve is what the documents were and who
might want to kill to get hold of them?"

"What if he was there to collect something from the
person he met?" Aly asked.

"In that case, why did the murderer take the empty
case?" Martin countered.

"To make it look like a robbery, I suppose." Aly
answered before realising that her theory was not very
plausible.

The Commander took up her thought and put it into
words,

"Not very likely, I suggest. First, the murderer did
not know that Mr Trafford had been seen with the case.
If he had and the case was missing then it points the
investigation towards murder but surely the ideal
motive for the death was either `gay bashing' or a
sexual liaison gone wrong?"

The couple in the car lapsed into a brief silence as
the car sped towards Scotland Yard and, a few moments
later, Martin was back in his office and saw that
there was a message from the forensic team to say that
they had some interesting information on the metal
pipe that had arrived from Hampstead. The Commander
dialled the number and found himself speaking to the
formidable head of the forensic team, David Harrison,
who immediately gave Martin the information discovered
so far,

"Good news, Commander, I can confirm that this piece
of piping was definitely used in the attack on Nick
Trafford. We found small traces of blood that match
that of the murdered man. But that's not all. I can
also tell you that we have found a partial finger
print on the weapon as well. We've ruled out it
belonging to the victim so now we are trying to match
it to our database of fingerprints. I hope to have a
result for you either late today or first thing
tomorrow."

Martin was delighted by the news, especially the
possibility of a fingerprint match and said so,

"Excellent work, David, this is the breakthrough that
we need to get on. Try your best to get the
information back to us as quickly as possible, but I'd
rather you made certain than we got it wrong."

"I couldn't agree more, Commander. Speak to you soon."

Martin was delighted and decided to share the good
news with the rest of his team, which quickly gathered
in the Commander's office. When the four senior
officers were all gathered together, Martin closed the
door and told them what had happened. The other three
members of the inner circle were as pleased as Martin
had been but the Commander sounded a word of caution,

"First of all, let's not get our hopes up. We may not
find a match or it may be an innocent party who
handled the piping some other time. I don't want us to
let up on the other aspects of the investigation. I
will not be available this evening, we have a parents'
evening at Harry and Simon's school. If anything
develops that is urgent, Mark will deal with it unless
it is so important when you can contact me on my
private mobile. OK, Mark?"

"Of course, sir. It'll have to be earth shattering for
me to contact you."

"Good", Martin responded, before repeating his
instruction, "not a word of this should leak out until
we are sure. I know I can leave early certain that
everything will be all your more than capable hands."

Before he left the building, Martin spoke with Ron
Alder in the Press and Public Relations Office and
briefed him on the current state of play in the murder
case and picked up on any other matters of potential
press interest. As with the investigation team, the
Commander expressed full confidence that under Ron
Alder's leadership, everything would run smoothly and
no inkling of what had been found would leak out. It
was thus with an air of confidence that Martin went
off to join Tom to attend the parents evening.

At the school Tom and Martin learnt nothing that they
did not know already about their two boys. The
teachers' reports confirmed that whilst Simon was the
more academic of the two, Harry was strong in
mathematics and excellent at sport. As they left the
school, the two lovers walked towards their car and
Tom asked,

"Drink or straight home?"

Martin smiled lovingly at his partner and replied,

"Straight home is very tempting but, for once, let's
make the most of being out and have a drink."

Tom nodded his agreement and drove to a local pub
where the two men sat comfortably together drinking a
beer. Martin seemed to be in no great hurry back home
although Tom had high hopes that when they did return
they would be able to make love before they went to
sleep. As they drink their beers, the younger lover
looked at Martin and said,

"Did the day go well?"

Martin understood the reason for the question and gave
Tom a full account of the day, ending with the news
about the murder weapon. A broad smile crossed the
younger partner's face when he heard the last comment
and he asked,

"Does that mean you may be able to find the murderer
quickly?"

Martin did not answer immediately but then replied,

"We could be in a position to make an early arrest and
charge someone if we can identify the partial
fingerprint and that would be a feather in all our
caps and please the Home Secretary no end! However,
that is a big `if' and it also begs questions of
motive and whether the guy acted alone. The best I can
say at this stage is that we should be able to
interview the person once we've identified him or her
and then proceed from there. I have to confess that
I'm not exactly confident. It all seemed a bit too
pat. First there is this Constable who stumbles on the
murder weapon, albeit some distance from the scene of
the crime. Not only that but secondly and fortuitously
it still has specks of the victim's blood on it and a
partial set of fingerprints as well. Am I cynical, or
it that just too much good fortune for one day?"

Tom laughed and said,

"Maybe you just deserved a lucky break!"

Martin laughed too and said, unconvincingly,

"Maybe I do. Do you fancy another?"

Tom had nodded and Martin was standing up at the bar
ordering a second round when his personal phone began
to ring. A feeling of excitement mixed with annoyance
passed through Martin as he reached into his pocket to
find the phone. Martin recognised the number
immediately as being Mark's and so he answered it
straight away,

"Hello, Mark! What's happened?"

Mark sounded angry as he replied,

"I hope I'm not interrupting, where are you by the
way? Can you talk?"

"I'm in a pub having a drink with Tom," Martin
responded, "However, I can go outside if it's urgent
and private. I'll explain to Tom and then I'll call
you straight back."

Martin ended the call and walked over towards his
lover who had realised that the phone conversation had
probably put paid to his hopes for a love making
session when they got home. Martin explained briefly
that the call had been from mark and that he had
sounded very annoyed and the younger man nodded his
understanding and watched as Martin went outside to
return the call. Once reconnected, Martin again asked
the question,

"You sound annoyed, Mark, what's happened?"

Mark was angry and did little to hide his feelings,
"You'll never guess what but the papers have got hold
of the story about the murder weapon. I don't know how
and neither does Ron and I'm certain it didn't come
from Mike or Aly, but they've got it anyway. Ron wants
to know what he should do about it. He's put out a
holding statement saying that we are conducting
forensic tests and he thinks that he may be able to
keep the reporters at bay for a while with that but I
am at a loss to where the leak came from."

Martin understood his friend's anger and felt a
similar emotion himself and said,

"I don't believe it came from any of our team either,
Mark. In my view, there are only two possible sources,
the Commissioner or the Home Secretary. I know the
Commissioner knew because he told me about it earlier
this morning and my money is on him saying something
to someone. The Home Secretary is a possibility but he
has promised not to interfere and I'm inclined to
accept that in this case he hasn't. We can't be sure
that we will get anything positive from the weapon and
I doubt if the Home Secretary would say anything
before he was sure that it would not leave him with
the proverbial egg on his face. Do you need me to come
in?"

Mark sounded relieved as he replied,

"If you wouldn't mind. I think I can manage the
investigation end but Ron needs help in case the press
manage to find out more and we could do with you to
handle them if they do."

Martin looked at his watch and said,

"OK, I'll tell Tom and I should be with you in under
an hour."

Martin explained to his partner what had happened and
Tom realised at once that Martin needed to get back to
Scotland Yard and offered to take his lover there. The
younger man borrowed Martin's phone and called his
sister, Ginny, who agreed that Simon and Harry could
stay overnight with her and that Tom could collect
them in the morning. With everything arranged, Martin
and Tom were soon speeding towards Central London in
less than then minutes. Martin knew that it would be a
long night and the following day would be equally
difficult. When they stopped outside Scotland Yard,
Martin leaned across and gave his lover a tender kiss
on the lips and then said,

"Thanks for being so supportive, Tom, I love you and I
will make it up to you soon!"

Tom looked at his partner and replied,

"No need for thanks, Marty, I do it because I love you
as well!!"

Martin pulled away from Tom and got out of the car.
The older man turned and waved as Tom drove away. Once
the car was out of sight Martin walked briskly inside
the building where Ron Alder and Mark Jamieson met him
and together the three senior officers disappeared
into the Commander's office.

Ron Alder was the first to speak and sounded very
apologetic,

"I can't think how the news got out, sir. I'm certain
it was nobody from the Press Office! At the moment the
holding statement I issued seems to be keeping them
off the scent. There's a copy on your desk but
basically it says that we have found a potential
murder weapon and that it is being tested and we
expect to have the results of the forensic examination
in the morning and will issue further information as
and when we have it and deem it unlikely to prejudice
further enquiries."

Martin acknowledged his deputy's report and said
soothingly,

"As I told Mark, I suspect the leak came from higher
up and I think you have done well to contain the
story. I assume it will be in the later editions and
on radio and television news bulletins. What is good
is that they do not seem to know about the
eye-witness, which again points to someone higher up."

Mark spoke for the first time,

"You didn't tell the Commissioner about Andy Laurie?
He's going to be livid when he finds out!"

Martin smiled and then replied,

"Possibly, but remember Mr Laurie was late in coming
forward, we've had a number of `eye-witness' already
and all have proved to be attention seekers. It was
therefore wise to be cautious until we had checked the
young barman's story. Incidentally, I haven't told the
Commissioner about the search of Nick Trafford's files
yet, either. I suspect he'll know about that because
the Home Secretary will have found out it and told
him."

Mark smiled at his old friend and said,

"I hope your explanation sounds as convincing to Sir
Thomas as it does to me!"

"It's my problem, Mark", the Commander said calmly,
"but we were promised no interference of a political
or other nature in this investigation and I will take
full responsibility for the conduct of the enquiry.
Now, what time do the late editions arrive in the
Press Office, Ron?"

Ron Alder looked at his watch and said,

"In about thirty to forty minutes. I can ask for them
to be faxed over as soon as they are available if you
wish."

Martin nodded and Ron went off to make the necessary
arrangements. Mark stayed behind in the Commander's
office and said,

"Why don't we grab a coffee while we're waiting and I
can tell you about Ruth's scan."

Martin smiled broadly and replied with enthusiasm,

"That sounds like a great idea, but let's collect the
coffee from the canteen and come back here. I want to
be on hand when Ron comes back with the papers."

It was not long before the two senior officers were
back in Martin's office and the Superintendent had
imparted the news about his wife's scan. Mark reported
that Mother and baby were developing normally and were
both well. The couple had been asked if they wanted to
know the likely sex of the baby but both he and Ruth
had agreed it was more exciting not to know and wait
until the child was born to find out. Martin nodded
enthusiastically as Mark spoke but made little other
comment. As the minutes ticked by it was clear that
the Commander's attention was turning to the imminent
arrival of the newspapers. He did not have to wait
much longer as Ron returned clutching faxed copies of
the front pages and lead stories on the murder
investigation. The Deputy Chief Press Officer
summarised the bundle,

"Not too bad overall, sir, only one has gone further
than the brief statement, although most seem to have
concluded that it is the murder weapon and are
anticipating a statement to that effect later this
morning."

Martin nodded and asked,

"And the exception?"

Ron looked down and then replied,

"A piece by our old friend, Alan Birch. I think you
should read it."

The Superintendent handed his superior the copy of the
article the headline of which Martin read out loud,

"`MURDER WEAPON SENSATION'

"Police have tonight found the weapon used in the
killing of Nick Trafford, the Gay MP found battered to
death on Hampstead Heath some days ago. Sources close
to the investigation are saying tonight that there are
bloodstains on the weapon that match the victim's
blood group and that other forensic evidence from the
weapon, believed to be a piece of metal piping could
lead to an early arrest.

"Last night Scotland Yard would not officially confirm
or deny these reports but it seems clear that if they
prove to be true then the murder of Nick Trafford may
indeed have been the result of an unfortunate
encounter with a `gay-basher' in an area of Hampstead
Heath which is well known for gay cruising."

Mark intervened at this point and said,

"Sarcastic bugger!! I wonder who the `source close to
the investigation is?"

Martin did not respond to his friend's last question
but read the rest of the article, which summarised the
work that had been done so far in the investigation,
pointing out that it was the reporter and not the
Police that had discovered the MP's former lover
before discussing the political significance of the
crime. Martin paused for a moment and then said,

"Hang on, there's more in an editorial!"

The Commander turned the pages and found a short piece
on the editorial column devoted to the investigation,
which again he read out loud,

" `TIME FOR DYNAMIC ACTION'

"The news that the weapon used in the murder of Nick
Trafford has been found hopefully will lead to the
early discovery of the perpetrator of this highly
political crime. It is to be hoped that the
investigation team, led by the highly respected
Commander Martin Roberts, will now devote all its time
and effort to arresting the `gay basher' responsible.
It is a surprise to this newspaper that Commander
Roberts has been so reluctant to pursue this avenue of
investigation, particularly given his own personal
life style."

There was a brief silence after Martin had read the
paragraph and then Mark angrily spoke up,

"That is a despicable thing to say. It's a carefully
worded attack on you personally and the way that you
have handled the enquiry. I'd like to wring that
editor's neck!"

Ron Alder also added his condemnation of the whole
tenor of what had been written and added,

"I've a good mind to lodge a formal protest."

Martin was clearly stung by the comments in the
newspaper but remained the calmest of the three and
said,

"They are entitled to their opinion and maybe we have
soft pedalled on the `gay bashing' approach. However,
I'm still not convinced that they are right about
this. I find some of the evidence too convenient.
Also, they don't know about the document case, which,
to my mind, puts a completely different complexion on
the crime."

"What document case is that?" A voice intervened from
behind them.

Martin, Ron and Mark, who had been standing with their
backs to the door, spun round to see the Commissioner
standing in the doorway. With a half smile on his
lips, Sir Thomas went on,

"Martin, I think we had better have a little chat,
don't you?"

Martin nodded and, watched by the other two officers,
followed the Commissioner out of his office. Mark and
Ron watched in silence as the Martin and Sir Thomas
went upstairs to the Commissioner's imposing office.

If you have any comments, good or bad, please contact
me on cutrose40@yahoo.co.uk