Page 74 of Veiled Justice
Channing nodded slowly. ‘You’re not being merciful at all.’
‘Not in the slightest. For those three, the bars will be a fate worse than death. Literally.’
‘Bars,’ Loki agreed. ‘Cage worst.’ His tone was mournful; he was speaking from experience. My heart twanged in sympathy for the little thing.
There was a knock on the door and DSU Thackeray strode into my office. I surged to my feet. ‘Sir!’
He waved me down. ‘At ease, Inspector. Detective Channing.’
‘Sir!’ Channing responded.
Thackeray looked around my tiny cubicle. ‘There’s not enough room to swing a witch’s familiar in here. We really need to get you a bigger office,’ he muttered. He fixed his piercing blue eyes on me. His face was freshly shaved and his uniform looked sharp and newly pressed. It was Sunday, I realised: he’d come into the unit specially to see us.
He spotted Loki. ‘You have a caladrius?’ he asked, surprised.
‘Yes, sir.’
‘Are you bonded to him?’
‘No, he just hangs out with me.’
His eyebrow rose. ‘They’re very rare.’
‘I’m aware.’
‘Of courseyou are.’ He looked amused. ‘You will have done your research. Anyway, I’m not here to discuss your bird. Good work, both of you. There will be some political clout thrown around with regard to these three arrests – there’s already been a lot of noise. I need to know that these cases are airtight.’
‘Vacuum sealed,’ I confirmed. ‘And I’ve copied all statements and evidence to my home unit in case anything happens to the data here.’ Corruption was rife in the Connection; a bribe here or there, and the confessions could disappear forever. ‘High King Krieg has also been involved in the cases,’ I went on. ‘He requested copies that have already been supplied.’
In a normal Common police station that would be a fireable offence because the chain of evidence had to be secure and it wouldneverbe given to a civilian. But Krieg wasn’t an ordinary civilian and Thackeray knew it.
‘They won’t like that,’ he muttered.
‘Because they won’t be able to make it go away,’ I couldn’t resist pointing out.
He smiled wryly. ‘Exactly. I am, of course, going to give you a stern reprimand and warn you to never do that again.’ He paused. ‘Don’t do it again.’ He winked.
‘No, sir. I consider myself firmly reprimanded.’
‘Excellent. And how is Channing doing?’ he asked, as if Channing were not standing a foot away from him.
‘He’s been an excellent assistant. I will endeavour to train him further as my partner.’
Thackeray nodded: heunderstood the distinction. ‘See that you do. That’s what he’s here for, Inspector.’ He slid a look to Channing. ‘Have you told her of your background?’
Channing flushed. ‘No, sir.’
‘Remedy that,’ Thackeray ordered him brusquely. He turned back to me. ‘Copy the files to my home office, too.’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘Good work,’ he repeated. ‘Take tomorrow off, both of you. The Inspector that Quintos called in to take over from you can cover your calls for a day.’ Before we could reply, he walked out.
I kind of liked that. Poetic justice. Quintos had pulled strings, trying to get me off the case, and now those strings he’d pulled were working in my favour. Now I had someone to step into my caseload while I took a day off to kick back and relax. If Quintos found that out, he’d be so pissed off. I’d send him a thank you note later.
Channing let out a breath. ‘Wow. That’s Thackeray? He’s a freaking legend.’
‘He’s a good man and a great police officer. He’ll go to bat for us and he’ll see the culprits behind bars,’ I said with satisfaction. I leaned forward. ‘What background do you need to tell me about?’
