Brothers' Tears by J. M. Gregson

Peach. The official bullshit for “We haven’t got anywhere yet, but we’re trying”.’
    â€˜Yes, sir. Fair summary. Surprisingly percipient of you, sir.’
    Tucker couldn’t remember anyone calling him percipient before, but he supposed it was a compliment. ‘Don’t try to bullshit me, Peach! I handed this investigation over to you with a brisk start made and house-to-house enquiries already under way. I want to know what progress you’ve made.’
    â€˜A brisk start? I see, sir. Well, I’m afraid the house-to-house has produced nothing. There aren’t too many houses around Claughton Towers and their occupants tend to be safely indoors during the hours of darkness.’
    Tommy Bloody Tucker ignored this, as he ignored most things which made unpleasant hearing. ‘You have a huge team on this, Peach. I expect results. Jim O’Connor was a well-known and popular figure because of his rugby past. He was also a successful local businessman. This is a high-profile case. I’m having to hold radio and television at bay, as well as the press. I need something to feed to them.’
    â€˜You could tell them that O’Connor was under investigation by the Inland Revenue for tax evasion and by the Drug Squad for supplying and selling illegal substances, sir.’
    â€˜I can’t go saying things like that about a murder victim. It wouldn’t be good PR. You don’t understand the importance of our image among the public, Peach.’
    â€˜No, sir. I’m more concerned with putting villains behind bars, sir.’
    â€˜Don’t take that line with me, Peach. It won’t work.’
    Percy reflected that putting away criminals was hardly a controversial line, save in the strange world of Tommy Bloody Tucker. ‘The wife wasn’t able to provide us with anything useful, sir. It’s my view that Sarah O’Connor isn’t grief-stricken by this death, but I could be wrong.’
    â€˜Ah! You may have stumbled upon something vital here, Peach. A woman could have done this, you know. It takes no great strength to pull the trigger on a pistol.’
    â€˜Yes, sir. That thought had occurred to me. I think DS Northcott is aware of it, also.’
    â€˜Bear it in mind, that’s all. You can’t trust women, you know.’
    â€˜Yes, sir. I’ve become aware of that, during my twenty years of service. However, not many of them possess Smith & Wesson revolvers which can blow a man’s head to bits. Nevertheless, it seems there were several such weapons around O’Connor and his henchmen. It wouldn’t have been too difficult for his wife to get her hands on one, if she had a mind to murder her man. So far, we have no evidence that she had.’
    â€˜The press are beginning to moan about our failure to protect the public. You know the kind of stuff – anarchy is stalking our streets unchecked, that sort of thing.’
    â€˜I do sir, yes.’ For a tiny moment, these two very different men were united in the face of an unfeeling media. Then Peach said, ‘O’Connor employed his own muscle. It didn’t protect him very well, did it?’
    â€˜His own muscle?’ Tucker did his goldfish impression, but on this occasion it merely irritated Percy.
    â€˜I interviewed a man called Steve Tracey this morning, sir. He’s been in charge of Jim O’Connor’s security for the last four years.’
    â€˜Security?’
    â€˜It’s the current euphemism for enforcers, sir. Tracey and his men beat up people who tried to obstruct O’Connor’s activities.’
    â€˜That’s illegal, Peach.’
    â€˜Your grasp of technicalities is as accurate as ever, sir. The problem is that we can never get witnesses to speak up in court, sir. There have been some bad beatings, but the victims aren’t prepared to stand in the witness box and point out the people who put them in