Chapter 7: The Superintendents Secret

Detective Chief Superintendent Hopkins had a notification that all five surveys had been completed. Danny and Lewis knew they were each doing one, but that was unknown to Simon, Aiden and Tom who unknown to each other had all been asked to do one.

He had also asked Derek whom he had no idea was Toms uncle as well as five other officers from other stations whom he had known for years and watched their progress in the force.

The next weekend he had gone through them all. He was very pleased with the results. Everyone, as he had hoped and expected, had shown that they thought along the same lines as he did.

He decided it was time to put phase one of his plan into operation. One of his twelve whom he was at training school with many years ago was a computer whizz.

Lee had been collecting funds confiscated from criminals ready for this for several years. He sent him some money and asked him to prepare twelve untraceable mobile phones and to link them to a central computer so messages could flow freely and securely between the twelve without any delay or interception.

He also asked him to procure something that would check a meeting room for bugs or prevent any bugs picking anything up.

Whilst he got on with that, DCS Hopkins went to the Manor Hotel where he had been to a family party a year ago. It had been held in a private dining room which he had thought at the time would be ideal for his purpose.

He had a word with the restaurant manager, Mr Franco and explained that he would like to book the private dining room from time to time for a social dinner. He told him how he would like the service of the food handled and a few other odds and ends.

Satisfied he returned to the station and sent out invites to the other eleven. They were invited to a dinner on a suitable evening in the next few weeks. They were asked to let him know of all the evenings they would not be able to attend so he could select a date to suit everyone.

He added a note that families should be told it was just a social meeting. Whilst fellow officers should not be made aware of the meeting at all.

Twenty-four hours later he had had replies from everyone. Danny and Lewis were available every evening. He looked through all the dates and there was only one date which suited everyone except Tom.

DCS Hopkins rang Derek. He gave him the date of the meeting and asked him to discretely arrange a change of duty for Constable Tom Dexter so he could attend.

Derek was surprised but pleased to find that the DCS was including Tom in whatever he was up to. He called Tom, told him he was acting on the DCS’s instructions and checked which day he could move Toms duty to. Then he promptly did so.

Tom then texted the DCS to confirm his availability. He got an invite text back twenty minutes later giving the location, the date seven days later and the time. ‘We will make it a formal occasion,’ the text said. ‘However, if anyone doesn’t have a dinner suit, a lounge suit will be fine.’

A week later they all started arriving at the Manor Hotel. Lewis had his dinner suit from John’s wedding. Danny and Tom had each decided to treat themselves. All the others were longer serving police officers who had attended many formal dinners and had all come in evening dress.

They were all directed into the private dining room and waiters took their orders for drinks whilst everyone mingled and chatted. David had been put in charge of the room. Danny greeted him as an old friend and introduced Lewis to him.

When everyone had arrived and been served with a drink, the serving staff withdrew. Inspector John Woods, the DCS’s computer whizz opened a box he had brought in. He found a plug and plugged a strange looking gadget in, standing it on a chair in the corner of the room.

After it had made a few strange buzzes and beeps he nodded to the DCS. ‘Gentlemen, please take your seats.’ he announced. ‘The gadget you’ve just seen John plug in has confirmed the room has not been bugged. Should anyone attempt to eavesdrop it will alert us so you can rest assured that anything we discuss tonight will remain in this room.’

‘Most of you know each other,’ he said, ‘And that will improve during the evening. ‘There are only two in the room who are not policemen,’ he said, ‘Danny and Lewis. If you haven’t met them yet I’m sure you will have heard of them.’

‘We will use Christian names only in this room, no ranks.’ he said. ‘After the meal I will tell you why you have been invited tonight and what I am planning. In the meantime, please enjoy your meal and get to know those nearest to you.’ He pressed the bell in the wall near to his seat and the starters were brought in.

A hub bub of chatter started and only quietened as everyone started eating. Lewis, Tom and Danny had been seated between two people they hadn’t met before. The Super had done that so everyone could get to know each other.

When the last course had been cleared, coffee was served all round, then a selection of cheese and biscuits were placed down the middle of the table so that any who wanted could help themselves. A couple of bottles of port also appeared, with a port glass being placed by every diner. The waiters then went round taking orders from anyone who wanted other drinks.

Once the drinks orders had been served, the staff withdrew, and the door was shut. No one would enter again unless they sent for more drinks.

DCS Hopkins rattled his glass for attention. As silence descended, he stood up and said, ‘Gentlemen, please be upstanding for His Majesty, The King.’ Everyone stood up and raised their glass, saying, ‘The King’ as they did so.

They all sat down again, including the Superintendent. He then announced that he had a lot to say that evening, so he was going to remain seated to speak. ‘If anyone else has cause to say anything’, he added, ‘I suggest they do the same’.

‘Please don’t let my speaking stop you from eating and drinking,’ he said with a grin, ‘Not that I think it will for a moment, but please rattle the plates quietly’.

This drew a round of laughter. He went on to welcome everyone to the evening. Then he said, ‘I’ll now introduce you all to the three youngest guests this evening. Lewis, would you stand up please.’

‘This is Lewis,’ he said. ‘He is still at school but does voluntary counselling for all age groups. As a result, he has located one murder victim and presented us with her killer, been responsible for us locking up several rapists and a number of other villains assisted by Simon and Aiden.’

‘Danny you now please,’ he said as Lewis sat down. ‘Danny is also at school and also does voluntary counselling. He too has been responsible for us locking up a number of rapists and others. The recent major drugs bust wouldn’t have happened without his evidence and his active support. He was also the one who discovered the lady in the well. Danny has also been ably assisted by Simon and Aiden.’

‘Lewis and Danny also both played a part in catching the killers of the eight to late shop owner recently. Now you Tom,’ he said. ‘Tom is our newest constable on the station, he got roped in to help Lewis and Danny when Simon and Aiden were away on special duties. As a result, he has an astounding record of arrests for someone who has not yet finished his first year.’

‘Tom also assisted in the rescue of the lady from the well and then the pathology team in recovering the other six bodies. He has been highly recommended by the pathologist.’

‘This group,’ he began, ‘Started three years ago. You were all invited personally to join in over time. There is no one here who is not well known to me, and most of you know everyone else. There has never been anyone who asked to come, nor will they be accepted if they do. You have all enjoyed our get togethers, but there is a bigger picture which before tonight you have not been party to.’

‘A wise man once told me, never discuss Religion or Politics so I will do my best to avoid doing so. However, I must first digress to my opinion of the present state of our country, our police force and our laws. Clearly there are very many things wrong with all three. I don’t need to go into detail for I know that you have all experienced them yourselves to various degrees.’