Chapter Ten Betrayed
It was a matter of timing and being at the right place and at the right time. Brand had dined out at his usual Bistro. He wasn’t married, so he could please himself what time he reached home. He did have a few acquaintances and being bi-sexual wasn’t worried whether it was a man or woman that he went to bed with. That’s how he had come across Roger who was attentive to Brand’s wishes, although he would never go that extra mile. Roger was cautious and having heard about Aids was not going to become a victim of some disease. Roger was very rich and because of this Commander Brand was a kept man and not the other way around. Brand’s assertions and forcefulness was distributed around the office staff and police officers, including higher ranks. Like Wragg and especially Wragg who he had grown to hate because of his abilities and the way he was favoured to be promoted quicker than most at New Scotland Yard. Brand had his eye on a young lad who showed promise. Maybe it was his idea to woo this young lad and promise him that if he was willing to be seduced, he would become the next D.C.I.
Obviously the young man in question was not interested and told Brand that he was engaged to be married and his taste of being seduced was by a woman. Brand took this news on the chin and his consummate hatred for Wragg still inspired him that this police officer was to be promoted and he set the wheels in motion for this to happen.
It was obvious to Wragg that Brand hadn’t given a thought to his back ground. He didn’t know that Wragg had been given the George medal for his heroic actions against a serial killer and on top of that had captured more criminals than Brand had hot dinners and best thing of all he was very kind to his staff which went a long way to be a very happy place to work in. When Wragg was seconded to New Scotland Yard with a promise that he would back with them probably after a year, that was dashed because of the crime and terrorist wave that had hit London. There was no going back for Wragg and besides he had heard that one of his friends who had joined shortly after him had been promoted and was going to take his place and he, like Wragg was friendly to his staff which went a long way to complete harmony between him and the people who worked in the office. It was as though Wragg had not left the district. He was pleased that Detective Inspector Brian Cranley had listened to him when he was in control of that district. He thought, ‘Brian would do the right thing.’
* * *
Brand took his time over the meal and decided to have a dessert just this once with a liquor and coffee. He had plenty of time to kill before he met Roger at the George & Dragon pub a couple of miles down the road. It was a nice evening and he would walk. He left the Bistro at quarter past seven and got to the public house exactly at 8pm. He didn’t want to be late as Roger was strangely affected by people being late. Brand went straight to the bar and ordered a double whiskey for Roger and he had his usual pint of lager.
Roger was hidden partially by the wooden wing of the bench he was sitting on and the elaborate piece of woodwork that surrounded the enclosed booth. It was one of those redeeming features of yesteryear as originally the George & Dragon had been a stable and these stalls had been left by the present owner of the pub. There were six in a row and if you wanted a private and secluded drink from the rest of the clientele, this was the place to be.
Brand walked across the carpeted space towards the booth with the drinks and smiled when he saw Roger. Roger was not in a jovial mood which was unusual as he always seemed not to have a care in the world and the first words that he uttered as Brand placed the drinks on the table and sat opposite him were, ‘Have you done what I asked you to do?’
‘No! Roger I haven’t. It was a risky proposal and I wasn’t willing to take a chance and if you worked in my office you would understand. There are no solid walls that divide offices up, it’s all glass. If I can see Wragg, he can see me and the rest of the staff can as well.’
Roger grunted, ‘It was a simple thing I asked. All you had to do was telephone this person.’
‘I have just told you, I’m surrounded by offices with people working at their desks, everybody would hear me. Obviously you haven’t taken in what I told you.’
Of course none of this was true, there were passages of about five feet wide round his office with reinforced glass panelling that had a bullet proof coating and no-one would be able to hear any conversation that he had, but as he didn’t want to do what Roger had asked of him. It was a feasible excuse.
Roger grunted his disapproval.
‘But don’t worry about it Roger, I have a better idea.’
‘What idea is that then?’
‘You’ll read all about it in the papers tomorrow, that’s all I’m prepared to tell you,’ said Commander Brand as he drained the last dregs of his drink and looking at his watch. ‘I must go. See you tomorrow Roger!’
* * *
Commander Brand stood outside the George & Dragon waiting for his pre-ordered taxi to arrive. As he entered the cab he announced his destination. It was a garage. Lurking in the shadows of the pub stood Roger Grey. He was puzzled by Brand’s destination and Grey was lucky when a passing taxi with no fare, when he managed to flag down. He had to follow Brand to see what he was up to and whether it would spoil his already planned fixtures, as he liked to call them.
From the taxi Roger saw Brand talking to a man. They must have been chatting for some time as it was ten minutes before a taxi arrived to pick up Roger. Roger saw the man shaking his head and the brown coloured envelope that Brand tried to give the man passing backwards and forwards between them. Whatever Brand was asking the man, he definitely didn’t want to do it.
Roger’s thoughts were interrupted by the taxi driver.
‘Where to now sir or are you getting out?’
‘Out’ said Roger and paid him and off he drove.
Brand had hired a car from the garage and drove off at a very slow speed and parked just round the corner from the garage. Brand got out of the car and smashed the rear lights and disabled the car registration light. He trod in the dog’s excrement and he felt nausea as the smell invaded his nostrils as he tried to clean it off with a twig and rubbed the sole of his shoe on the kerb. He got back into the car and laid back, so anyone passing would think the car was parked.
Roger thought he would have to run fast to catch up with Brand. He was carrying his case that he should have placed in a lockup cubicle in Charing Cross Station because he forgot he was meeting Brand at the pub and he nearly ran into the back of Brand’s car. The metal case swung forward and almost hit the car because Roger had slipped on something soft. Either it was dog’s do-do or grass, he wasn’t sure until a smell began to rise to his nostrils and he tried to clean his shoes on the wet grass. He saw someone approaching with a dog and hid behind one of the trees on the other side of the road and waited. The man and the dog went on by and was about 25 yards past the car when Brand fired the engine of the car and drove towards the man and the dog. Roger tried to shout a warning until he saw another person running towards the road and he slipped back behind the tree. He saw the man with the dog being flung into the air. Brand drove off and someone who had tried to warn the man of the impending disaster was on his mobile.
Roger walked away without being seen, dodging from one tree to another. It was a well lit road and he was glad when he turned the corner where the garage was. While he waited for his taxi, he saw the same man emerge from the workshop and was in the process of locking up. This was the man that Brand had spoken to and Roger went over for a chat.
Roger’s taxi arrived and he spoke to the driver to take him quickly to Charing Cross Railway Station as he had to catch a train to Lewisham as he was meeting his fiancée on the platform. The taxi driver smiled and pulled away from the kerb quickly taking Roger’s breath away. He was going so fast that Roger had to hold onto the leather strap that hung at the top of the rear door. They hadn’t gone very far when the taxi slowed down as a police car and ambulance came hurtling towards them on the other side of the road, sirens blaring. The taxi driver fired the accelerator and off they went over the speed limit. There were no speed traps along the route the taxi driver took to get to Charing Cross. They arrived at 9:35pm. The driver wished him luck and picked up his next passenger. Roger raced to the booking office to get a platform ticket.
* * *
Brand had arrived at the station and abandoned the car in a restricted area and had time to rub a cloth over anything he thought he had touched without his gloves on and patted his breast pocket to make sure he still had the package with him. He didn’t have to buy a ticket as he had his season ticket – it was 9:40pm when he arrived on the platform waiting for his train to arrive. The station announcer blared out that the train to Lewisham was going to be delayed by 10 minutes. Another announcement was made. ‘Would passengers wishing to alight at Lewisham Station please go to the front end of the platform.’ Brand and a few other people waiting on the platform walked up to the other end waiting for the train to arrive.