Case One by Chris Ould

occupied by a regular officer and his family, but since the introduction of the Trainee Police Officer scheme the ground floor had been converted to provide four rooms for TPOs, plus kitchen, lounge and bathrooms.
    Upstairs there was a self-contained flat which was occupied by Yvonne Dunlop, who got it at a reduced rent in exchange for being in general charge of the house – hence the message about bathroom cleaning. Yvonne was responsible for making sure the TPOs kept the place decent, didn’t break the house rules and behaved responsibly. She never had much trouble doing it, either. None of the four teenagers living there wanted to cross Yvonne, on duty or off.
    Holly put plates on the table and started to unwrap the food. Apart from Sam there was no one else in. The other TPOs ­– Tommo, who should have cleaned the bathroom, and Shiny Chris – were both on late turn at Barwick nick, and Yvonne hadn’t clocked off yet. She might still be at the hospital, depending on Ashleigh Jarvis’s condition. Holly would have liked to know what that was.
    As she dished out the chips Sam wandered into the kitchen. His hair was wet from the shower, uncombed.
    â€œYou’ve got beans,” Holly told him.
    â€œOkay,” he said flatly and went to the fridge in search of a drink.
    Holly sat down and started on her chips. She was hungrier than she’d realised and she ate quickly before the food could get cold.
    After a moment Sam sat down at the opposite side of the table. He pulled the tab on a can of Fanta and slurped it.
    â€œTwo seventy,” Holly said. The cost of his pie, chips and beans.
    â€œOkay.”
    â€œDon’t forget.”
    â€œI won’t.”
    They ate for several minutes in silence then, until finally Holly had had enough of it. Sam could be irritating when he held forth on a subject he
thought
he knew all about, but this complete silence wasn’t like him.
Plus
he looked like he was brooding over something.
    â€œOkay, so what
is
up with you?” Holly said in the end. “Something is.”
    Sam finished chewing his mouthful, then said: “It’s just Bob Mulvey. He’s a—”
    â€œYeah, you said that already,” Holly told him. “
Why?
”
    Sam shook his head.
    â€œOkay, please yourself,” Holly said. She wasn’t going to play cat and mouse.
    Sam picked up a chip, then changed his mind and chucked it back on his plate. “You know who found the bag and stuff in that bin shelter?” he said
    The fact that he was asking the question gave Holly the answer. “You?”
    â€œYeah. Only Mulvey calls it in like it was him.” The indignation in Sam’s voice made it clear just how bitter he felt. “I wouldn’t have minded if he’d said
we
found it. But he was nowhere near – he wasn’t even
there
.”
    â€œYou didn’t tell Staff?” Holly asked.
    Sam shook his head and put on a whiny little-boy voice: “
Sarge, it was me, Sarge, not him, Sarge.
”
    Holly nodded. “Yeah, that wouldn’t’ve been good.” Sergeant Stafford wasn’t exactly fond of people who complained. The way he saw it,
life
was unfair and if you couldn’t deal with the small stuff you wouldn’t be much use when the big stuff came along.
    â€œSo what are you going to do?”
    â€œNothing,” Sam said grimly. “Except make sure that next time
I
call it in. Sod Mulvey.”
    He skewered a chip with his fork and bit it decisively. As he did so Holly’s phone rang. She looked at the screen:
Mum
.
    For a second she debated, then pressed a button. “Hi.”
    â€œHi. It’s me,” her mum said.
    â€œHold on a sec.”
    Holly stood up and gestured to their plates. “Will you clear this up?”
    Sam nodded. “You finished?” he asked.
    â€œYeah.”
    â€œOkay.” He started moving the last of her chips to his own plate and Holly