Chapter 6: A Black Belt In Judo

‘Yes fine,’ Danny assured him, ‘Thank you.’ ‘DCS Hopkins said to tell you he thinks I would be a good ally for you to have.’ ‘Thank you, sergeant, that would be good. Although I should perhaps warn you that as I am not actually a policeman, I work within the law, but I’m not restrained by any rules.’

‘I wondered how someone so young could achieve the DCS’s brief outline of your record,’ he said with a grin. ‘I’ll help however I can.’ he offered his hand, ‘My names Andy.’ Danny shook his hand, ‘Good to meet you, Andy.’

In the canteen Danny got himself a coffee and a cake and took it over to an empty table. He had no idea how long he would be there, so he pulled a book out of his pocket and did some studying.

He was engrossed in studying a drawing when a female voice said, ‘That looks revolting, are you Danny?’ He looked up to find a uniformed WPC looking down at the picture in his book. He stood up and offered his hand, ‘Yes, I’m Danny.’ he told her.

‘I’m WPC Clair Moore,’ she replied shaking his hand. ‘Sergeant Gately on the desk said to come and see you, and you’d tell me what it’s all about.’ ‘Would you like a coffee and a cake?’ Danny asked. ‘Yes, please.’ she said. ‘Can I ask what your picture is?’ ‘It’s the insides of a human kidney.’ Danny told her, ‘I’m training to be a doctor at the university.’

Returning with her coffee and cake he asked her, ‘How long have you been in the force?’ ‘I came here three months ago straight from training school.’ she told him. ‘Have you arrested anyone yet?’ Danny asked. ‘No,’ she told him, I’ve hardly been out of the station. I’ve been buried in paperwork most of the time.’

‘I’d like you to help me catch someone stealing drugs from a hospital.’ Danny told her. ‘If you do, it will be entirely your arrest. But before you agree, let me tell you that whilst I do my best to uphold the law, I’m more concerned with catching the criminal than sticking exactly to the rules.’

She smiled, ‘I haven’t been here long enough to experience it myself,’ she said, ‘But the others are always moaning about working with their hands tied.’ ‘Perhaps you can set them a new example to follow.’ Danny said grinning. ‘I like the sound of that,’ she told him, ‘But I can’t give a blanket ok in advance.’

‘That’s fine,’ Danny said, ‘I’ll expect you to follow me when we’re working together, but you will always do so completely voluntarily. Any questions?’ he asked.

‘I don’t understand how a trainee doctor, a very young trainee doctor at that, is able to come in here and virtually commandeer a policeman to help him.’ she said. ‘Fair question,’ Danny replied. He told her about counselling at school and how he had built up a good relationship with the local police. ‘They gave me this.’ he said showing her his card.

‘I’ve never seen, or even heard of anything like this.’ she told him. ‘I believe there are only two in existence.’ Danny told her. ‘Ok, I’ve changed my mind,’ Clair told him. ‘After seeing that, you’ll have my full support. If I find I can’t work with you for any reason, I’ll tell you. But not until after we have finished whatever we are doing at the time.’

‘I can’t ask fairer than that.’ Danny said. He showed her his recording of Gavin helping himself from the trolley. ‘So why can’t we just go and arrest him?’ she demanded. ‘Because you don’t know all the facts yet.’ Danny said smiling.

‘At the hospital where this is taking place is a nurse who came to me for counselling. That’s how I found out this was happening. He caught the man you see pinching the drugs and was going to report him. Then he discovered that the man had some embarrassing photos of him. They were from a few years ago and he had no idea they existed. He has them on his phone, so we are hoping he hasn’t copied them anywhere else.’

‘He wasn’t doing anything illegal or wrong, but he was terrified of his parents and girlfriend seeing them. The man assured him the drugs were for his own use, he wasn’t dealing. My friend believed him and conceded defeat. He didn’t report him. However, he was determined he wasn’t going to let him keep doing it and get away with it. So, he came to me for help.’

‘With his help I fitted a hidden camera into the room where the trolley is stored. You’ve seen the result of that. Now your responsibility is to the law. Mine is to the person who came to me for counselling. It’s my duty to help them above everything else. I can do that in several ways. But if I have your help, I can do it so that you get to arrest the thief.’

‘Ok, how would it work?’ she asked. ‘On the day I believed he would next raid the trolley you and I would be at the hospital. We would wait until he was leaving the hospital, and you would stop him and arrest him on suspicion of theft.’

‘You would search him, find the drugs and his phone. You would pass his phone to me. You would handcuff him and take us both back to the station. On the way, in conversation with you, I would let him believe the hospital had noticed the missing drugs and asked me to put a camera in the room. Whilst you were interviewing him, I would be in another room going through his phone and deleting any photo’s I saw fit.’

‘I would also download onto a disc, the recordings of him stealing from the trolley. A trolley he is not supposed to have a key to, in a room he is not supposed to have access to.’

‘As you left the room to get his statement typed, I would return his phone to you. You would then put it in with his possessions when you took him to the custody sergeant.’

‘His solicitor and him would see the recording, so he would be advised to plead guilty. It would be a quick court case, and you would have your first arrest.’

‘Ok,’ she said, ‘What do I do now?’ ‘What duty are you on this Friday?’ Danny asked. ‘I finish at six.’ she told him. ‘I’ll have a word with Sergeant Gately on my way out and see if he can make sure you are off by five. Do you drive?’ ‘No but I’m taking lessons at the moment.’ ‘Ok, I’ll collect you here at five on Friday.’

‘Things don’t always go according to plan,’ Danny warned her, ‘We might get there and find he doesn’t do it that day. In which case we have wasted our time and will have to try again next week.’

‘What makes you think he’ll do it on Friday?’ she asked. ‘Last week he did it on his first and last day at work,’ Danny told her. ‘This week he did it on Monday, so it’s likely he’ll do it again on Friday. I’ll check each night anyway, but in my experience, they keep to a routine.’

‘Is there anything else you want me to do?’ she asked. ‘Yes, can you go and check the police computer and see if he has any previous,’ Danny said. His name is Gavin Dunning and he’s twenty or twenty-one. I haven’t got a home address but he’s local.’

When she returned, she told him, ‘He got a caution for possession of class A drugs three years ago. The quantity was very small. That’s all that shows up.’ Danny thanked her and said, ‘I’ll bet the hospital doesn’t know that.’

‘Tell me a bit about yourself.’ Danny asked. ‘I’m twenty-two,’ she told him, ‘I worked as a secretary in an estate agents when I left school. Then I decided I wanted a job with a bit more excitement, so I joined the force. Up to now I may as well have stayed put.’ she said sounding sad.

‘Once you start getting arrests,’ Danny told her, ‘You’ll find you get included in proper police work more often. Although I’m not anticipating this happening regularly, once people know about me it tends to spread.’

‘What about your home life?’ he asked. ‘I have my own flat,’ Clair told him. ‘I got it after my mum died two years ago. My dad died a year after I left school.’ ‘I’m sorry,’ Danny said. ‘I lost my dad too, but I still have my mum.’

‘Do you live in at the university?’ Clair asked. ‘Yes, my girlfriend Lorraine and I share a room in the halls of residence. She’s training as a doctor too.’ ‘Lucky you,’ Clair told him, ‘I’m still on my own.’

‘Well, they say everyone has someone out there waiting for them somewhere,’ Danny said, ‘And you’re still young.’ ‘I can see myself retiring and still being a... ‘ she broke off horrified as she realised what she had been about to say. She went very red.