Chapter 2: Have the Police Been

Then seeing he was still dressed from last night Tom told him to go and have a shower and get changed into clean clothes. We don’t want the police station smelling.’ he told him. ‘In the meantime, what is in all these boxes?’

‘Oh, they’re just some private papers for some legal research I’ve been doing.’ Stephen replied. ‘Really?’ Tom said, ‘Then you won’t object if I check will you.’ He pulled out and opened a pocketknife. As he went to open the first box, Stephen called out, ‘You can’t do that, they’re private.’

‘As a solicitor, I’m sure you are aware that when you are under arrest, nothing is private,’ Tom pointed out. ‘And as I suspect that these relate to the crime we are investigating, I’m entitled to open them anyway.’ He opened the top box, pulled out an envelope and opened it.

It was identical to the one Cliff had sent him, except for who it was addressed to. Tom did the same with the top box on each pile. ‘Well, this will be a surprise for your employers,’ Tom told him, ‘No one’s ever going to want to employ you again, are they?’

He counted the envelopes in one box, then the number of boxes. ‘By the look of this you have stolen over ten thousand pounds in postage,’ Tom told him. ‘That should easily get you a prison sentence. What have you got to say for yourself.’

‘No comment,’ Stephen replied, looking very dejected as he realised he’d been well and truly caught. They allowed him to go and have a shower and put fresh clothes on. As he walked to the shower, it was clear that both his head and his bum were hurting him.

Tom smiled to himself as he wondered how long it would be before he realised his balls were missing. Whilst Stephen was in the shower, Tom called in for a van to come and collect the boxes. ‘Will you be in for the next hour?’ he asked Robert.

Robert had stood at the bedroom door throughout, amazed at what he was seeing and hearing. He felt like he was taking part in a Tv crime drama.

‘Yes,’ he assured them, ‘I’ll stay in until they’ve been.’ Stephen returned from the shower and got dressed.

Tom guessed that he still hadn’t realised his balls were gone. He told him to make sure that he brought his keys with him, as they would need to check out his new office. ‘I’m not going to put you in handcuffs to take you out to the car,’ Tom told him, but make any attempt to run off and you’ll regret it.’

‘Will he be back?’ Robert asked. ‘He’ll be in court on Monday morning,’ Tom told him, ‘He may or may not go to prison then. I don’t know yet if he’ll be bailed or kept in custody over the weekend. But long term I suggest you start looking for a new flat mate.’

‘Even if he doesn’t go to prison, he’s not likely to want to stay around here.’ Robert stood and watched them go, then went in, made himself a drink and rang his friend from work to tell him about his exciting morning.

POLICE STATION - TOM & STEPHEN

Stephen was interviewed later in the day. The first duty solicitor who arrived, read the three letters Tom had brought back and then said that as they involved the firm he worked for, he refused to act for him. Stephen told them he would represent himself, so the interview continued.

Faced with the evidence, Stephen admitted what he’d done. A search of the new solicitor’s office he had prepared ready to open in a month’s time, revealed nothing new. So, at six o’clock, he was taken before the custody sergeant and released on police bail to appear at the local court on Monday.

‘You will be charged with the total value of the postage you stole, plus the cost of the paper and envelopes,’ he was told. ‘The theft of confidential information will require a private prosecution by the firms concerned.’

Tom rang Cliff and told him what was happening.

‘Oh, by the way,’ Tom told him, ‘He’s complaining about having a sore bum but doesn’t seem to have missed anything yet.’ ‘How did you guess?’ Cliff asked him. ‘I helped Lewis do it once,’ Tom told him. ‘Anyway, thanks for the tip off, the arrest will look good on my record.’