Maxwell's Retirement by M. J. Trow Page A

Hall was already behind his desk when she went in, closing the door behind her. In a cruel light, the DCI was beginning to look his age these days. An old fart like Maxwell could see something of the old copper in Henry Hall, with a whiff of Hilaire Belloc’s lion – ‘his shoulders are stark, and his jaws they are grim, And a good little child will not play with him’. All very apt.
    ‘Are you in the middle of something?’ Hall asked as soon as she had sat down.
    ‘Well, I’m trying to do a report on that robbery last week. He’s got a sheet as long as your arm and he was caught with all the stuff in his lock-up, but he also has a damned good brief and we want to be sure of getting him this time.’
    ‘Who is it?’ Hall was not known for his expressive voice or, come to that, his expression,but Jacquie was trained in the small nuances and knew that this was just a courtesy question.
    ‘Oh, whatsisface, Enfield. No bother, guv. Anyone can do it.’
    ‘Fine. Because I want you to concentrate on something else now, Jacquie. And, look, this is a bit awkward, really, but I have to ask. HR are wondering whether Nolan has … well, anything wrong with him?’
    Jacquie flew straight up out of her chair; had she had feathers, they would have been filling the room. ‘
What?
’
    Hall held out his hands in supplication. ‘Please, Jacquie, don’t shoot the messenger. It’s just that you’ve had a lot of odd half days and things lately – yesterday, for example.’
    ‘I’m sorry, guv, about yesterday, but he fell over and had to have stitches. I tried to get Max onto it – Sylv would have helped out, but … well …’ her voice trailed away, ‘I couldn’t reach him, and Nole needed to go to A&E.’
    ‘I do understand, Jacquie,’ Hall said. He wasn’t exactly a hands-on dad, Heaven knew – his boys could testify to that – but Maxwell seemed to dodge the column rather more than he would have expected. ‘But Max has short days and—’
    ‘Yes, I know, long holidays. Yes, yes.’ Jacquie was beginning to feel quite cornered. ‘And he has Nolan all through those holidays, in case anyonehasn’t noticed. But his days aren’t all that short. He has meetings. He has detentions.’
    Had Henry Hall had the necessary muscles, he would have smirked.
    ‘And before you say anything, he isn’t
in
detention himself. And – I can tell you, Henry, for goodness’ sake we all go back far enough – he never has his phone on. Well, that’s not true, he does sometimes, but it is becoming a bit of an issue, I will admit.’
    Hall sat immobile, the strip-lights on his glasses obscuring his eyes, windows to what he probably thought of as his soul.
    ‘So, last night we had a little lesson and now he will be using his phone, carrying it at all times. He will be able to take his turn at any emergency. And, to get back to HR,’ Jacquie almost spat, ‘no, there is nothing at all wrong with my child, unless being bright is wrong. And a bit on the clumsy side, possibly. Two left feet, bless him.’
    Hall breathed a sigh of relief. He knew Jacquie and he knew Maxwell and he knew Nolan. A brighter trio would be hard to find. He also knew that Jacquie could morph into an outraged mother tiger at the drop of a criticism and he despised the lily-livered HR manager for giving him the task of asking if Nolan had a problem. Why not just put his head in a vice and be done?
    ‘Well, that’s excellent, then.’ He made a note,which Jacquie tried, unsuccessfully, to read upside down. ‘How busy are you right now?’
    ‘Just the Enfield thing, ongoing. There is plenty else I could be starting, but they are still in my ‘to do’ pile. I suppose a few more days in there won’t hurt them.’ She smiled up at him, to show there were no hard feelings. He looked back. Probably, in his head, thought Jacquie, he thinks he is smiling. ‘But that’s it.’ She spread her arms, palms up.
    ‘Well, that’s good, because I have a job here