Down Among the Dead Men by Peter Lovesey

from an officer of executive rank from another authority.”
    â€œYou?” he said, on cloud nine. He hadn’t had a break from Georgina in years. “Nice work.”
    â€œIt hasn’t been confirmed yet. In matters such as this there’s a vetting process, but I agreed to put my hat into the ring, so to speak.”
    â€œThey won’t object to you, ma’am. You’re a shoo-in.”
    â€œDo you think so?” For a fleeting moment she looked quite kittenish. Then dignity was restored. “We’ll see. But if I do take this on, I’m going to need assistance.”
    â€œThey’ll see you right.”
    â€œSomebody I’m used to working with.”
    His blood ran cold. “Who’s that?”
    â€œWhy do you think I’m telling you this?”
    Anything. Anything but this. “I’m not sure that’s such a good idea, ma’am.”
    â€œWhy? You’re a free agent. You have no family. You can spend a few weeks in another county.”
    I’ll say I can’t leave the cat, he thought. He was as desperate as that. But the Home Office might not regard Raffles and his needs as a valid excuse. “Which county is it?”
    â€œI haven’t been told myself. They’ll put us up in decent accommodation.”
    The thought of shacking up with Georgina. Sharing a table for breakfast in some cheap hotel. “Just you and me?”
    â€œAt the beginning, while I get a sense of what is involved. We can get extra assistance later if required.”
    â€œWhat would my role be?”
    â€œThe part of the job you really enjoy—rooting out the truth from all the people concerned.”
    â€œTo be honest, I’m not comfortable investigating brother-officers.”
    â€œNeither am I, but it’s inescapable. There are bad eggs in every profession, Peter. They have to be found and ejected. I don’t always understand your ways of working. I don’t always approve of them. But you get results. And we already agreed who covers for you.”
    â€œDid we?”
    â€œThis will do you good, get you out of a rut.”
    â€œI hadn’t noticed I was in one.”
    â€œIt takes an outsider to tell. You and I will make a terrific team. Dallymore and Diamond, trouble-shooters.”
    Dallymore and Diamond.
    He was reminded of the story of a famous comic double act coming on stage at the Glasgow Empire, the toughest of all gigs. Mike Winters made his entrance and when his brother Bernie followed, a voice was heard to say, “Oh Christ, there’s two of them.”
    Teaming up with Georgina would be a low point in his career, if not the pits. True, she was the assistant chief constable and he the head of CID, but in this partnership she was the detective in charge, he the plod, gofer and sidekick. Bound by his promise of silence, he said nothing to the rest of his team, but he was in no hurry to tell them anyway. They’d think this was hilarious.
    That evening he confided in his friend Paloma and she laughed out loud. “You and Georgina. Who would have thought it?”
    â€œNow come on.”
    â€œShe’s obviously got the hots for you.”
    â€œThat would really top it off, having to barricade my bedroom door.”
    â€œIt can’t be a rational decision. You’ve always said she disapproves of how you run the show.”
    â€œThe truth of it is she wants me to do the door-stepping for her, grilling the wretched cops who messed up and don’t want to talk about it and she’ll take any credit that’s going. That’s her way.”
    â€œHer privilege,” Paloma said. “But there’s always a flip side, isn’t there?”
    â€œNot obvious to me.”
    â€œYou’re always saying you need to break free, get some sort of relief from the job. This could be it.”
    â€œWith Georgina for company?”
    â€œYou’ve got to admit it’s