Kiss of Death. Paul Finch

Gemma said, ‘money is tighter than a duck’s you-know-what. There are cutbacks everywhere. Many forces haven’t recruited since what feels like the Stone Age. People are having to work longer and longer just to get their pensions. And, inevitably, sections like ours are under ever greater pressure to produce, and I quote, “impressive results”.’

      She paused. There was silence, the entire room, the brass included, paying rapt attention.

      ‘Now, you people here may consider that pretty unfair … I certainly do. Only a couple of days ago, the Serial Crimes Unit concluded the first part of its investigation into the Black Chapel. Not too long ago, we helped to halt a string of brutal underworld slayings and apprehended a notorious hitman.’

      Heck listened alongside everyone else. He still felt the bruises from that last one.

      ‘I would certainly call those results impressive,’ Gemma said. ‘And you Coldies have an equal track record. In case any SCU officers are uninformed about this, in the last twelve months, Cold Case, under the command of Detective Chief Superintendent Straker here, have brought charges against eight individuals believed to be connected to historic homicides. But it seems, ladies and gentlemen, that none of this is quite enough.’ She paused to tuck ringlets of blonde hair behind her ears. ‘I recently attended a meeting at the Yard, wherein representatives of the National Police Chiefs’ Council put it bluntly to me that the Serial Crimes Unit either had to find some clear and visible way to reduce its overheads, or it had to increase its arrest and conviction rate dramatically, or, preferably, both. One other alternative was laid out for me – we discontinue operations.’

      Mumbles of anger sounded, even though they’d all known this was coming.

      ‘What’s more, the whole of National Crime Group is under similar pressure.’ She glanced at Wullerton. ‘You want to say something about that, Joe?’

      Wullerton sat stiffly upright, arms folded. ‘No, it’s fine, Gemma … you carry on.’

      ‘Director Wullerton is too self-effacing to mention it,’ she said, ‘but he’s been putting up a hell of a fight on our behalf. He recently put a forceful case to NPCC that if we lose the Kidnap Squad, the Organised Crime Division and the Serial Crimes Unit … all at the same time, then in one go we’ll have left our society significantly weakened in its battle against some of the most serious threats currently posed by the criminal underworld …’

      There was silence again. Clearly, no one disagreed.

      ‘Unfortunately, it cut no ice,’ Gemma said. ‘However, two days after my meeting at Scotland Yard, I received a phone call from Detective Chief Superintendent Straker here, who advised me that she and her Cold Case team at the Met were facing an identical crisis. Do you want to take it from here, Gwen?’

      ‘Thanks, Gemma,’ Gwen said, standing up.

      She peeled off her suit jacket and hung it from a hook on a shelf.

      ‘I won’t elaborate on any of this,’ she said. ‘We all know we’re under the microscope. However, our two units are in a more invidious position than most because we can’t just send staff out onto the streets to bump our stats the easy way. At least …’ she paused, ‘that was what I thought. But then it occurred to me that maybe there actually are some offenders out there, still at large, whose pursuit and apprehension would comfortably fall within the remit of the people gathered in this room.’

      There was a stir of interest.

      Gwen nodded to one of her Cold Case detectives, who hit some keys on his laptop. The VDU came to life, initially depicting a gallery of twenty thumbnail mugshots.

      ‘Unlike the FBI, in the UK we don’t keep an official list of the Most Wanted,’ Gwen said. ‘But that doesn’t mean there aren’t a number of fugitives from British justice wanted in connection with some very serious crimes who may still be living here – either in hiding, or under false names and identities.’

      She turned to the screen.

      ‘My proposal, which I first made to DSU Piper and then to NPCC, was that SCU and Cold Case pooled their resources and drew up a list of the twenty Most Wanted fugitives from UK justice who were still believed to be in the country. And once we’d established that list, that we rekindled and pursued those particular enquiries. In short, that we made it our very next job to go after the twenty worst of the worst.’

      Heck eyed the rows of faces on-screen. On their way in, everyone present had been handed a bundle of paperwork relevant to their own particular part of the enquiry, but also providing overarching information about Sledgehammer as a whole. No doubt, all of these mugshots, and the rap-sheets attached to each one of them, would be included in said packages, but it was interesting to see the faces all on-screen together.

      ‘You won’t need me to tell you,’ Gwen said, ‘that if, within a reasonable timeframe, we can arrest and convict even half of the names on this list – because each one of these is an open sore which NPCC is both angry and embarrassed about – we will massively boost our value for money in the eyes of the people who matter.’

      She paused again, to let it sink in.

      ‘So, people … welcome to Operation Sledgehammer. DSU Piper picked the name, because we’re going to bring the full weight of the police service of England and Wales down on these scattered nuts, who are likely to be much more fragile than they realise.’

      There were several satisfied snickers.

      ‘In the first instance, as some of you are already aware, we’re assigning two detectives to each individual. I know it doesn’t seem like a lot, but that’s only for the initial phase of the enquiry. Once you’ve made substantial ground on your case, Silver Command – that’s myself and DSU Piper, we will joint-SIO this investigation from the Command Centre here at Staples Corner – will provide all the technical, financial and personnel back-up you require to see it through to the end. We’ve already made preliminary contact with the various force areas in which your enquiries are to be focused, and in most cases, you’ll find that local CID have already done some groundwork on your behalf.