CHAPTER 44
“Please explain, for the benefit of the tape, what you mean by ‘patch’, Diane”

“Um. Colours. Club emblem worn on the back of a cut-off. Sleeveless jacket. Very important thing for that sort of club”

“Thank you. What significance did you take from that?”

“Oh… Look. The club’s members would have been very well-known to the local bikers, with or without their colours. If they had turned up at the rally without their patches, it would have been remarked upon. People like them can’t do stealth on the biker scene, it would be like that Blackadder Christmas thing, Victoria and Albert pretending to be ordinary folk out to buy some Christmas prezzies. There would be ripples”

“Ripples?”

Ask a bloody question, please, don’t just repeat what I last said.

“Ripples, yes. People like that, with or without colours, are like nodes in a crowd. There is either a conspicuous distancing from them or an equally conspicuous clumping, depending on how stupid or sycophantic the ordinary bikers are. The SRR picked up on that one as well as the lack of patches”

My mind drifted back to the half-lit interior of the helicopter we waited in that night, my ballistic vest making me feel like some odd version of the Michelin Man, and my section tense beside me. Blake, Lexie, Alun, Barry and Bryn. The last two were fully armed, and Barry had made it abundantly clear that I would not be repeating my attack on a certain Transit van and its occupants.

“You stay back, girl. All the way back until we are sure it is safe, and then we will tell you, aye? This going to be really messy if it kicks off. No arguments”

My husband gave me a squeeze and a smile. Rhod was safe, Mam sleeping over, or rather probably under, given Fritz’s habits.

“Diane?”

“Um?”

Back to the interview.

“Sorry. I drifted off. Thinking about, you know…”

“We understand. Now, perhaps we can move on? You had established the probable absence of people of concern from the event you had under observation. Are we correct so far?”

“Yes. As far as we could tell”

“What time was this?”

“Around 2300 hours. That is when Sammy---Inspector Patel. That is when Inspector Patel called us all up. He wasn’t happy”

“Inspector Patel was Bronze Commander in the operation”

“Yes. Our Super, Bevan Williams was Silver”

“Yes. We understand. What did Inspector Patel have to say?”

“He was feeding the message up the line. None of us were happy about the situation”

“What do you mean, personally, by ‘happy’, Diane?”

“Personally? I thought we’d been blindsided. We’d gone to the wrong event”

“Did you perhaps think that you had misread the signs? That there was no attack imminent?”

“No. Not at all. If anything confirmed our fears, it was the Brawd’s absence”

Dawes’ mouth made an effort at a smile.

“Perhaps they just preferred a quiet night in?”

Was that meant to be a joke? Don’t bite, girl. Police, Professional.

“Not at all. They have a reputation to uphold, among what they see as the lower orders. They don’t miss out on such events; they have to be seen, be visible. Intimidate”

“What was Inspector Patel’s decision? As you were informed, of course?”

“He asked Bev Williams to send an unmarked unit along the A48, past the other rally”

“What time was that?”

“We got the report at 2345 hours. It came over the standard channel”

“What did you hear over the radio, Diane?”

“They simply said ‘Shots fired’ and called for urgent firearms support”

‘Shots fired’… the helicopter had whined and banged as the engine started up, and our pilot had made no concessions at all to our comfort, almost tipping us onto our sides as soon as he was clear of the ground, Barry and Bryn putting their heads as close together as thy could manage and shouting through their checklist. Noise and nausea.

“We took off immediately to respond to their request. It all got a little frantic. I couldn’t hear much of the radio traffic due the noise; we weren’t in fancy helmets. Then we had to hold for a while”

“Why?”

“Landing area. Bev Williams had sent more than one vehicle out. He’s not stupid”

“Clearly not, Diane. What then ensued?”

“Oh, once he’d put a block on the A48 we landed there. Brad’s lot had already put down, in the next field. Bryn and Barry were straight out”

“Bryn and Barry?”

“Local firearms officers. They told the rest of us to keep back”

“Can you describe the scene, Diane?”

I let my mind wander as I sought the right words, the safe ones. The engine of the helicopter making a whining sound, almost like a washing machine finishing its spin cycle, as everything wound down. The lessons from Rhys loud in my memory: watch for blade sailing, keep well down, and wait for the command. Didn’t seem to apply to my two friends from Traffic…

“OUT!” over the intercom, and I fought the bilk of my Personal Protective Equipment as I wrestled it and myself out of the door and onto the road. Stay down, move smartly away from the aircraft. It wound itself back up to speed and shot off into the sky again, other noises becoming obvious, and I immediately knew we were in the right place.

Loud bangs, and screaming. I understood the urgency of our pilot’s departure as a flood of people came rushing out of the field entrance down the road from us, and then I nearly pissed myself as a new sound made itself clear: a ripping noise that could only mean some sort of automatic weapon. I wanted to piss myself, but that wasn’t a P, P option, was it?

“It was chaos. I could hear shots, and there was something that sounded like automatic fire. Our aircraft left immediately, and we were almost swamped with bodies”

“Please clarify that word, Diane”

“Ah. I mean people. Rallygoers trying to escape the shooting. We got them out and had them lie down in the road. Our carriers arrived in a little while, the first one in only twenty minutes, thank fuck. Sorry”

“Not necessary”

“Thank you. Anyway, that gave us some bodies to contain the crowd”

“Why contain them? Why not just let them disperse?”

“Not safe, was it? Anyway, there was the possibility some of them were involved”

“Thank you. Go on?”

“What to say? I’ve been out with the firearms team before, and it’s normally a containment thing. They rock up, announce armed police, and so on. Hands up, turn round, on your knees. This… It was a full-on battle. Like one of those cowboy films, where they have a shoot-out in a bar, hiding behind tables and stuff. There were at least two vans burning when we looked through the hedge”

“Ah”

“I couldn’t see it all, obviously. Brad had a loud-hailer or something, bloody loud, whatever it was. Shouts out that we’re armed police, and the noise died down for a bit. Then someone shouted out ‘Fuck you’, and I heard the automatic again. Followed by four quick shots, individual ones”

Dawes turned to Noble.

“That accords with the other testimony regarding Philip Jefferson’s demise. I think we can close that line down”

He turned back to me.

“Thank you, Diane. That was a crucial piece of evidence. Now, I do have to ask this. Who was ‘we’ and why were you looking through the hedge?”

They took a pause at that point, as the shakes got too bad, and I found it impossible to stay P, P. Thirty minutes in the ladies’, asking myself if I wouldn’t rather take their offer of a day’s respite, and answering that I just wanted it over. Wash and repair your face, girl. I made my way back to the little room and before we went through the Dance of the Tapes again I simply had to apologise.

“Sorry, gentlemen”

Dawes gave me a real smile this time.

“Once again, not at all Diane. You have already helped us to clarify the death of Philip Jefferson, and more importantly have confirmed it was due to the reasonable, appropriate and necessary use of lethal force. Two of what you call ‘Brad’s boys’ will be breathing more easily, though I rather doubt it will improve their sleep”

I looked at him, then, really looked, and suddenly I was seeing Adam. Older, male, but still my friend. I raised my eyebrows, and he nodded.

“Yes, Diane. I was a firearms officer for many years. I understand the issues rather better than most. Now, shall we begin again?”

Through the formalities, and once more I was face to face with those memories.

“You said you were looking through the hedge?”

“Yes”

“I am sorry to jeep returning to this, but were you not advised to remain prone?”

“Yes, but it wasn’t me”

The crowd had been spread across the tarmac, as the flashing and banging continued from the field. Some of the rallygoers were screaming, and Lexie was beside me, trembling hard at each shot. Flickering yellow light sent shafts through the foliage, catching the odd face or leather-clad body, some of those faces wet with tears.

Brad’s voice boomed out.

“ARMED POLICE! WE HAVE ALL EXITS SECURED! YOU HAVE NOWHERE TO GO! CEASE FIRING!”

The banging started to die off, and I felt my friend’s shaking ease.

“Nearly over, girl. Nearly done. Going to be a shitty one to sort out, after”

“Yeah, Di. Thanks. They’ve stopped, haven’t they?”

“If they’ve got any bloody sense they have—NO!”

She started to stand up, and I half rose to pull her back down. I could see through the hedge, two vans burning merrily away, a few dark figures prone on the grass, yellow light shining off tactical goggles. I could hear the voice as well, when he shouted out “Fuck you!”

I heard the automatic weapon start firing again, saw the flashes, and I heard the two double-taps as a couple of Brad’s boys shot whoever had the machine gun.

And I heard the thump of the round that went into Lexie’s head.