DISCLAIMER: This is a story. None of the characters in the story exist and the events that take place are purely imaginary. This is a detective story with sexual overtones and is a sequel to `Martin Roberts Investigates'. I hope that you like this as a piece of writing.
WARNING: Do not read this story if you are in any way offended by acts of a homosexual nature.
Do not read this if you are under the legal age for accessing adult sites.
Always indulge in safe sex.
Copyright Steven Rose 2003. Not to be reproduced without the author's permission.
MARTIN ROBERTS INVESTIGATES THE GREYMOUNT COLLEGE MURDERS
Chapter 7
As expected Martin had been up and about early that morning, rather earlier than Mike in fact. Although there were no children in the apartment, both Martin and Tom had become accustomed to early starts and so they woke out of force of habit. Martin got up and made some coffee and brought it back to Tom who placed his cup on his bedside table and lay back down again. Tom patted the bed beside him, indicating to his lover that he hoped Martin would join him there for a few minutes. Martin put his cup of coffee down as well and slid down and lay comfortably beside his partner and Tom began to run his hands over the older man's body. It was not long before the younger lover achieved the effect he was hoping for and Martin's dick began to grow and harden. Tom began to kiss his way down Martin's naked body until he reached the object of his desire, which he slipped between his lips and began to lick with sensuous tongue strokes. Not to be outdone, Martin moved his body so that he could return the favour to Tom, whose uncut cock was pointing straight out from his groin. Martin took his lover's cock between his lips and responded to the oral attention that he was himself receiving by doing exactly what his partner was doing to him. It was only a short while before the tingling sensation began in Martin's balls and he knew that he would soon unload his cum into Tom's waiting throat. Tom recognised the signs and tried to ensure that his own orgasm happened almost at the same time. The two lovers began to breath raggedly and then within seconds of each other tasted the creamy reward that their oral ministration so richly deserved. When they had milked each other dry the two men lay back on their bed and dozed for a few minutes before finally they both realised it was time to start the day properly.
Once they had recovered, washed, dressed and eaten some breakfast, the working day had begun for Martin and his partner. Tom drove them both to Mark's house where the two of them thanked Ruth for her kindness and consideration in looking after Harry and Simon and she had replied how pleased she and David had been to have them stay. This was especially so as the three young children had remained up and about long past their usual bedtime. The three boys still looked tired as Tom prepared to take his two charges back home with him. This left Martin who remained at Mark's so that he could travel on to the College in the Chief Inspector's car. Both the senior officers knew that they would have a long and tiring day ahead of them. The first item on the agenda was to meet the parents of the murdered student, Paul Ferris. They had been located on holiday in Scotland and had been flown down to London early that morning. Martin and Mark were due to meet them at the local Hospital where formal identification would take place. From past experience both men knew that this was never a pleasant moment and it was not clear how much they would have to say about one of the reasons why Paul had been murdered. As they drove to the Hospital the two policemen decided that they would be deliberately vague as to possible motives at this stage as they did not wish to upset Paul's parents any more than they already would be. It was therefore something of a surprise when the murdered boy's father asked very pointedly whether his son's homosexuality had been the cause of his death. Martin replied that at the present stage of the investigation they could not rule any possibility out. During this exchange, Paul's mother had stood head bowed silently sobbing. Martin had tried to be as gentle as he could be and he would have liked to pursue the matter of how many other people knew that Paul had been gay but decided that it was not an appropriate moment to do so. Mark and Martin offered their deepest condolences and sympathy to the parents and then withdrew, leaving them to sit beside the body of their son and a Woman Police Constable to offer support to the grieving family at this distressing time. A little later it would be necessary to make preparations for the inquest and the completion of other formalities but until then Mr and Mrs Forbes and their other family would be able to spend as much time as they needed in saying their farewells to their son and brother.
Having ensured that everything would be made as easy as possible for the Forbes family, Martin and Mark then drove on to Greymount College. As they did so Mark turned to his old friend and said,
"That was a bit of a turn up for the book wasn't it? His parents knowing that Paul was gay I mean."
"Yes, it was a bit. I don't think they knew about his relationship with Lawrence Miller though. They did not mention his murder. Still, as you say it raises interesting questions about who else knew about Paul. I think we're going to have to confront your friend Alex Scott-Brown with this now."
"Yes, I suppose we will, although I still think we shouldn't rule him out as a suspect and I'm worried he might be given too much warning if we tell him too much."
"I know you do, but I don't think he's our killer. He may have his faults but murder is not one of them to my mind."
Mark shrugged in acknowledgement that the Superintendent would play it his way. He was not particularly looking forward to spending the next part of his day in a rather awkward interview with the Principal of Greymount College. Thus it was that on arrival at the College, Martin and Mark had held quite a tense meeting with Alex Scott-Brown. At the very start of the meeting the Superintendent had revealed to the Principal that a possible motive for the murders was sexual and that the two dead men had been having a gay affair. Alex was to all outward appearance shocked and was silent for a few moments before he spluttered,
"Are you were certain about this? I would never have dreamt it of either of them. When I came here there was a sort of tendency among a few of the boys for that sort of thing but the ring leaders soon left and I thought we had got it under control. We have to accept that in a boys only establishment like this there is bound to be a bit of experimentation from time to time but nothing serious and they soon grow out of it, no disrespect Superintendent. But now you say it was happening right under our noses and between a student and a member of staff!! I am appalled and shocked! I really had no idea."
Martin made little response other than to nod sympathetically and then the Principal raised another concern was which seemed to both the Policemen in the room to be rather more self-interested and calculating,
"Do you think it will be possible for this to remain confidential? I mean out of the newspapers. Life in Colleges like this is tough enough and two deaths and a homosexual scandal would be the last straw. What the Trustees would think is beyond imagination!"
Alex looked considerably relieved when Martin replied,
"In my view, Mr Scott-Brown, the gay relationship between Mr Miller and Paul Ferris need only become public if it proves to be decisive in identifying the murderer and is the motive for the killings. Naturally I hope that we can clear the matter up as quickly as possible and without any more unfortunate deaths but I will need the fullest cooperation from you and the rest of your staff. At the moment I am not proposing to tell them about the gay relationship and I assume you also will remain silent and tell no-one else about it either."
The Principal looked even more relieved when he heard the last sentence and nodded his concurrence immediately. The rest of the interview covered various aspects of what had happened the previous day. Alex Scott-Brown confirmed that he had been seated near the sports pavilion all afternoon and had hardly left his place and even then only briefly more than once or twice. At the time of the murder he had noticed nothing unusual happening and saw nobody enter or leave the pavilion. On all occasions when he was not sitting down the Principal said that he was in the company of several other people who would each vouch for his whereabouts.
After they Principal had departed, Mark and Martin interviewed as many members of the College staff as possible, as he or she became available. Each interviewee gave similar accounts of the sequence of what happened the previous day and what they had been doing and when. All the accounts seemed to be consistent in their description of who had been where and when and even those members of staff that were not present at the cricket or only briefly so were able top produce strong alibis. Almost all of the staff had been interviewed during the day and their statements revealed nothing startling or new. There were one or two that had not been available for one reason or another and among these was Dave Graham, the cricket coach whom nobody had seen that day. This was not unusual as Dave did not live in the College but some miles away and most people felt that after the trauma of the previous day he was probably too shocked to come in, an explanation that Mark and Martin found acceptable under the circumstances. In addition, it was possible for the two Policemen to pinpoint the cricket coach's whereabouts throughout the afternoon and it was difficult to regard him as a possible suspect in the murder of Paul Ferris. Nevertheless both the Superintendent and his friend the Chief Inspector were anxious to speak with him as he had, by all accounts, had a good view of the comings and goings into and out of the pavilion.
In addition to talking to the staff, a number of interviews with some of the traumatised senior students and members of the cricket team were fitted in at times that would suit the interviewee. None of the student's statements added anything of substance to what Martin and Mark knew already. None of those interviewed saw anyone enter or leave the pavilion at the time of the murder and none claimed to have any knowledge of any other means of entry into the building. Although the most senior boys and members of the cricket team were interviewed first on the grounds that they might have heard or seen something useful. It was also clear that, as almost all the students had either been watching or playing cricket, the many student spectators would need to be interviewed. Without assistance, the two senior officers would take some time to work their way through each year group and Martin was not convinced that this was the best use of their time. However, there was a problem in that so very few people were aware of the nuances of the case and Martin really wanted to leave it that way and this meant that the pool of additional officers to carry out interviews was limited. In addition the investigators were acutely aware of the upcoming national public examinations and wanted to reduce the stress on students and staff as much as possible. On the other hand, they also wanted to resolve the case as quickly as practical so that students and staff could get back to some semblance of normality. Most members of staff and all the students recognised the sensitivity with which the two senior officers had handled their interviews and were appreciative of the opportunity to make their feelings known. The shock and disbelief of some of those interviewed was matched by anger in others. Neither Martin nor Mark mentioned anything about a motive for the killing but a few staff and students asked if the two murders were linked and several offered interesting if somewhat implausible theories as to motive. By late afternoon the two senior Policemen had decided that the day had been long, difficult, tiring and generally unproductive in terms of providing new leads or clues. Mark and Martin had agreed that they finish for the day and come back in the morning with Mike Rickwood who would be able to help speed up the process of interviewing the remaining students. The two investigators hoped that this could be achieved by the end of the next day.
As Martin and Mark were preparing to leave, Alex Scott-Brown suddenly appeared at the door of the room they had been given as a headquarters. The Principal seemed somewhat flushed and out of breath as he reached them and two Policemen exchanged glances silently expressing the hope that he was not the bearer of more bad news. When he had caught his breath, Alex said, much to the two Policemen's relief,
"Your Sergeant Rickwood is on the telephone for you. It sounded quite urgent and I said that I would get the call transferred to the telephone in this room for you. However I thought that I just ought to check that you had not left for the day first."
"Thank you, Mr Scott-Brown. That's very thoughtful", Martin responded, "I don't know what is so urgent, he's supposed to be having the day off but it would be helpful if we could have the call transferred here."
The Principal disappeared almost as quickly as he had arrived and left Mark and Martin to consider what was so important that Mike needed to speak to them so urgently. The two men were about to speculate out loud but neither of them had time to say anything as the telephone in their small headquarters room rang almost immediately. Martin picked it up and answered it at once,
"Hello, Mike. What's so urgent? I thought it was your day off."
"It is, sir. I mean it was, but you asked me to look at the report on the evidence from the tower and I've found something very interesting and I believe important. I'm sure you will remember that several people have mentioned that students used the tower as a hiding place when they wanted to go for a smoke. Well, according to the report, there's no evidence of smoking to be found in the tower. There's no cigarette ends, no matches and definitely no traces of tobacco."
Martin looked across at Mark and, for the Chief Inspector's benefit, repeated out loud Mike's last remark,
"No evidence of smoking at the tower, you say?"
"Yes, sir, and I thought it was both interesting and possibly important."
"Yes, Mike both of those. Well done. It's an important new piece of evidence. All we have to do now is try to fit it into the broader picture. I think that you, me and Mark here need to think carefully whether this is an important clue and how it all fits together but not tonight. We're tired and it's getting late. I think that we all should have an early night and we'll discuss this information again when we are bright and alert in the morning."
Martin put the phone down and looked at his old friend,
"Well, Mark, you heard that, there's no evidence of smoking in the tower. Let's both go home and think about what this means for our investigation and meet back here with Mike early tomorrow. It could put a whole new complexion on the case. I'd like us to discuss this before we start interviewing the students and staff again. I think we may need to see one or two people again, so think about that as well."
Mark could see that the news was significant but agreed with his friend that it was important to think through the implications overnight and not to be too hasty in reaching conclusions. As he drove back towards London with the Superintendent, Mark decided that he would steer clear of this new information and chatted about other things. In any case, the Chief Inspector had one piece of personal news that he had intended to tell Martin and Tom the previous day but events had overtaken him. Mark was able to tell Martin that he and Ruth were expecting another baby at the end of the year and was pleased that this news brought a genuine smile of happiness to the Superintendent's face. Martin told the Chief Inspector that both he was delighted by the news and that he knew Tom would be as well when he heard the news. When they stopped briefly at Mark's house, Martin just popped in and kissed Ruth and congratulated her on the news before Mark took him back home.
Tom was waiting for Martin's return and was pleased that his partner was home early for once as he had some good news to tell him. Harry and Simon were playing contentedly in their room waiting for the meal that Tom was preparing for them. Tom kissed Martin as he came in and said,
"I've got some really good news for you. Sit down after you've said hello to the kids, then we can have a drink and I'll tell you."
Martin grinned and said,
"I've got some exciting news, too and something I'd like to discuss with you after dinner."
"OK", replied Tom, "but me first, Marty!"
Martin looked in on the two young boys who were almost too engrossed in what they were doing to acknowledge his presence but they did chorus a `hi Martin' before returning to whatever game they were playing. Smiling to himself Martin came back into the kitchen and before he and Tom sat down both men took a large glass of wine from the opened bottle. As he took a sip of the excellent red wine, Tom began to tell Martin his news,
"You know the Day Nursery that we wanted to get Simon and Harry into? Well, they phoned today to say that they should both be able to start there straight after half term. That means that in a couple of weeks or so, they will be out of the apartment from early morning to mid-afternoon. I will be able to be much freer to do consultancy work. I thought we could tell the boys over supper. I think they will be pleased, they are getting a bit bored stopping at home and going to the play ground every day. I think a bit more structure and discipline, not to say education will do them good!"
Martin looked genuinely pleased at the news and said so,
"Great, I agree with you, they do need more stimulation and a wider circle of friends. Perhaps I'll tell you and them my bit of good news over supper too. The other matter will have to wait until the boys are in bed. I hope you are not too tired as I need your input."
"Is it to do with the case, Marty?"
Martin nodded and Tom said that he would be pleased to help if he could and that Martin should now go and tell the children that supper was ready. While his partner laid the table, Martin went into the boys' room and told them to wash their hands and come to the kitchen for dinner. Harry got up slowly but Simon lingered for a few moments and his parent had to tell him again to hurry up. After a few moments the two boys and Martin returned to the kitchen and Tom served up a meal that everyone enjoyed. As they were about to have their dessert, Tom told the young boys the news about the Day Nursery and, since it was the one that both of them had visited and liked, they were genuinely pleased. They were even more pleased as was Tom with the news that Mark and Ruth were expecting another baby. Simon looked excitedly at the two older men and said,
"I hope it's not a girl. A girl would spoil our games with David, unless she can play soccer!!"
Harry agreed but Tom pointed out that as the new arrival would be very tiny when it was born the chance of he or she playing soccer for some time to come was very remote. Martin added that it might be nice to have a little girl, as she would be a nice contrast and someone different for the three boys to play with. Neither harry nor Simon seemed al that convinced by that argument but they were pleased and excited at the news and began to ask questions about the forthcoming baby. Martin and Tom had always answered the boys' questions openly and honestly and used this occasion to address some of the issues of simple sex education. Neither boy seemed very interested in the physical details of making a baby or of childbirth but did find the wait for the baby's appearance a little frustrating. When they had finished their meal the boys went off to get their photograph albums and the four of them sat contentedly in the main living room looking at pictures of Harry and Simon when they were babies themselves. Then it was time for the youngsters to have their bath and prepare for bed. Martin supervised the bath time which resulted in a large amount of water being splashed all over the floor before both children could be persuaded to come out of the bath, get dried and put their night clothes on. Eventually, the two boys were persuaded to get into bed but it was obvious that they would be awake for some more time as they were happily chatting to each other and too excited to fall asleep immediately. Tom and Martin kissed them both good night and then, having stacked the dishwasher with the day's dirty pots and pans, retired to the living room to finish the wine and talk.
Tom lay languidly back on the sofa and smiled at his partner and said,
"Well, Marty, I'm ready to offer my thoughts on whatever it is that you want to discuss with me."
Martin, sitting directly opposite his lover, grinned back and told Tom about the telephone call from Mike Rickwood and the significant information that had been conveyed to him. Tom listened intently to what his partner was saying and when he had finished speaking he thought for a moment before replying,
"As I see it, there are a number of possibilities to explain this factor. The most obvious conclusion, however, is that this tower building was never used as a place of refuge for smokers. In fact given that the place has been deserted for years it is the only explanation for why no evidence of smoking was found. This then raises the question of why such a suggestion was ever made."
Martin nodded his agreement first to the suggestion that the tower had probably never been used as a smoking den or at least it has not been used as such in recent years. He also agreed with his lover that there was a clear need to consider the reasons why anyone should want to suggest that it had been. Tom took another long draught of wine and then continued,
"It seems to me that one of a number of possibilities need to be considered. The first is that this was a rumour put about by Lawrence Miller to keep people away from the tower and giving him a free run in the building. The second is that some other members of the gay group, probably Paul or Bobby had the rumour circulated so that they could use the building as and when they wanted to have sex together. The final possibility is that it was neither of the first two and that somebody else was using the tower for another purpose and wanted to keep people away. I think the first things you need to do is to establish how well known it was that the tower was used by smokers and also where the suggestion came from in the first place. I don't suppose who first told you about the tower being used by smokers?"
Martin looked at his partner and said quietly,
"I think Mark told me about it but he was told initially by Raymond Collinson who is House Master of Marston House and was Lawrie Miller's boss. In addition, I was present when Andy Collins, the assistant House Master in College House, mentioned it in connection with the search for Lawrie Miller. I'm not sure this gets us very far as it does not eliminate any of your suggestions. We can't be sure whether Paul told Lawrence Miller or the other way round. Secondly, either Andy or Raymond could have been the author of the suggestion because they had other motives for keeping people away from the area. I think I'll want to think about it even more carefully and hope the others have done so too."
Martin looked at his watch and suggested to Tom that they go to bed early that night and his body language suggested that the older man was more than willing to continue where they had left off earlier in the day. Tom happily agreed to his lover's suggestions and soon the two men were standing naked in the shower gently soaping each other all over and paying particular attention to their most sensitive and sexually excitable parts. As they emerged from the spray and reached for the towels they would use to dry each other off, both lovers were sporting impressive erections. Tom fondled the exposed head and silky smooth shaft of his partner's dick and whispered,
"I can't wait to get that deep inside me. Marty, I want you to fuck me hard tonight!! I think I've earned it. Call it my fee for professional advice!"
"I think you've earned it too, although I'm not sure that you've done more than confirm my dilemma. But I'm more than willing to pay my fee, if that's what you want!!"
Martin had gently eased his hand round to grasp his partner's prick and was teasing the foreskin back off the head of Tom's cock, exposing the sensitive glans. When they were sufficiently dry the two lovers eased themselves onto the bed and Tom lay back and opened his legs wide to enable Martin to have easy access to his love channel. Martin lay down between his lover's legs and began to use his tongue to lick and rim the rosebud hole while his hands played gently with Tom's cock shaft and balls. Tom sighed contentedly as his partner continued to arouse him until he was more than ready for Martin to replace his tongue with his prick. The older man eased himself closer and allowed Tom to guide his pre-cum covered cock closer to the entrance to his waiting hole. Slowly but surely Martin's dick head disappeared inside the wet and greasy entrance and was swallowed up inside Tom. Feeling his lover's prostate Martin used the end of his cock to tease it for a few moments and was rewarded with a long sigh and another gush of pre-cum from the piss slit of Tom's sensitive glans. Tom began to push back forcing his partner's prick deeper inside him until they both knew it could go no further. As they were so used to each other's needs and desires the two men soon relaxed into a rhythmical movement that ensured maximum pleasure together with the prolongation of the enjoyment. Gradually the pressure grew more and more intense and both men began to approach orgasm. Martin plunged into Tom faster and faster and Tom's cock began to twitch uncontrollably between them. With a loud grunt Martin started to release his ball juice deep inside his lover and was rewarded by the sight of Tom's piss slit starting to expand and widen in preparation for the arrival of the younger man's jizz. Moments later, the angry red piss slit was fully open and Tom's cock began to expel and spray his spunk some of which hit Martin on the body while the remainder landed all over his lover's naked chest. As his moment of orgasm passed off, Martin waited for a moment until he was sure that Tom had finished cumming and then he slumped forward and lay on top of his partner. For several moments the two men enjoyed the squelchy stickiness of Tom's cum as they hugged each other tightly. Slowly the lovers disentangled themselves from each other and cuddled closely together in the warm glow of post sexual fulfilment. Some short time later, Tom and Martin exchanged kisses and then both of them drifted into a contented sleep.
Despite the satisfactory lovemaking session, Martin did not sleep very deeply or well that night and he awoke very early. As was usual in an English summer it was light but there was still hours before the usual time they needed to get up. Martin spent some time thinking about the conversation he had had with Tom over possible explanations for the deception over the use of the tower. He had been forced to admit that the suggestions his partner had made were all equally plausible and did not help provide any clear clue over a suspect. This was the second matter that concerned the Superintendent in that there had been two murders, which might, or might not, be connected and the motive for which had not yet been established. Without determining whether they were connected or the motive, no obvious suspects had emerged. Martin lay wide awake thinking over all these possibilities and interspersing his thoughts with loving gazes at his partner who slept peacefully beside him. The older man had always been amazed at Tom's ability to sleep well and loved to look at him when he was dead to the world. As Martin admired the fine features of the face and body of the man he loved, he somehow managed to avoid the temptation to reach out and caress him, fearing that to do so would awaken him. Tom slept beside him blissfully unaware that his partner was wide awake.
Martin must have drifted off again as he was awoken with a start when Harry and Simon burst into the bedroom and leapt onto the bed. Tom, as usual, pretended to be both surprised and angered by this rude awakening and threatened to do terrible things to the youngsters who laughed uproariously at his threats. Two wriggling and giggling children were soon destroying the bed in which Tom and Martin slept and both older men knew that they would have to get up and start the day. After a few more moments of friendly rough and tumble the boys were sent off to get into the shower. As usual, Harry and Simon made straight for the en-suite shower and soon the noise of fast spraying water could be heard coming from next door. Martin went in and supervised the shower in an effort to curb the amount of wet that would inevitably be distributed around the bathroom. The boys soon emerged from their morning shower and Tom took over, ushering them back to their room so that they could get dressed and Martin could clear up the mess and get ready for work. The older man got showered and dressed quickly and then, while Tom was getting showered and dressed, Martin took the boys into the kitchen where together they got the breakfast things ready. Over breakfast the two children talked excitedly about going to the Day Nursery in a couple of weeks and expressed a desire to visit it one more time before they started for real. Tom indicated that he would be happy to try to arrange that but not for a day or so. Instead he intended to take them to the swimming baths for swimming lessons later that day, news that brought another round of excited chatter from the two boys. Martin said that he thought that swimming was a good idea and promised that he would take the boys as well, although he was rather vague as to when that would be. Fortunately for Martin just as the boys began to ask him when he intended to take them swimming, there was a ring on the door bell and he rushed to answer it. Standing at the door was Mike Rickwood who had arrived to take the Superintendent to Greymount College. It was a somewhat relieved Martin that returned to the kitchen and hugged and kissed Simon, Harry and Tom a fond farewell and then disappeared out of the door to join the waiting Sergeant.
On the drive to the College Martin and Mike chatted briefly about the Sergeant's discovery in the report on the evidence from the tower. The Superintendent told the Sergeant that the information had caused a lot of interest for himself and Chief Inspector Mark Jamieson. Mike was pleased to learn that this was the case and anxious to know more but Martin said that he was still mulling over in his mind the significance of what they had learned. The Superintendent added that he was keen that the matter should only be discussed once they were all assembled and Mark would be able to make his observations as well. Mike accepted this decision although he was slightly disappointed that he was not going to be able to offer his view on his discovery to his commanding officer. On the other hand, the Sergeant knew that, although Martin and Mark outranked him, he would be given a fair hearing at the meeting and that his views would carry equal weight in the discussion.
Mike had spent part of his night's rest thinking about what he would say when asked about the significance of the tower report. He had woken early and thought of little else since he got up. He found the evidence confusing and contradictory and was uncertain why it was important because he could not see its relevance in establishing either a motive or a clue to the killer's identity. The Sergeant hoped that the other two more senior officers would be able to guide him towards a clearer understanding of the particular piece of evidence he had unearthed. Mike was keen to learn and was pleased that he was able to again sit at the feet of two past masters in Mike Jamieson and Martin Roberts. The two were different in style and personality but they never seemed to act at cross-purposes and each respected the other. Martin was renowned for his concern for his team and this was a trait that Mark shared and had implemented in his own command. Both men went out of their way to ensure that all members of the team felt involved even those that were forced to work unsociable hours and do unglamorous work. This had been a factor that had made Martin a highly respected and much admired boss. One day, Mike hoped he would have command of a team like Martin's and would use his model to build the relationships and the responsiveness among its members.
However, when it came to methods of investigation and evaluating evidence, that was a different matter. The Superintendent liked to think through the possibilities, again a quality he shared with Mark, although sometimes, Mike felt that Martin dug his heels in too much. Even when he was right in the end, as he had been the first time the Sergeant, then a lowly PC, had been involved with the Superintendent's team, he had a tendency to refuse to follow other lines of enquiry. Once a direction had been intellectually discounted it took a lot for Martin to reopen that line of enquiry. By contrast, Mark was often less certain of his position and allowed a greater flexibility among his team in suggesting avenues of enquiry and pursuing clues and suspects. Mike found Mark's methodical manner more akin to his own when dealing with facts, not that Martin wasn't methodical as well but in a rather different and more cerebral way. Both methods, Mike thought, would get you there in the end but he still felt more comfortable with Mark's approach than he did with Martin's.
Although Martin was still thinking through the implications of Tom's remarks and how he would want to proceed with the next stage of the investigation, he also took a few moments to reflect on how nice it was to be working with Mark again. Mark was a colleague the Superintendent could trust implicitly and a good friend as well. Martin also enjoyed working with Mike. The Sergeant was not only good looking, a point some people had suggested was the real reason for his incorporation into the team, but intelligent and methodical too, Since the retirement of Inspector Bob Matthews Martin had needed someone who would work through the evidence and organise things for him. Mike did that and more. He had far more initiative than the retired Inspector and would soon be promoted to that rank himself, although the Superintendent was certain he would rise even higher. As a fellow gay officer, Martin hoped that he would be able to show Mike the way to play the system without compromising principles or nature. The Superintendent was also pleased that Mike and Mark also liked and respected each other and felt that his Chief Inspector friend, another man destined to rise higher, would also offer encouragement and a role model to the Sergeant.
As their car approached Greymount College, Mike noticed another car's headlights flashing him from behind and recognised it as that belonging to Mark Jamieson. The Sergeant turned to Martin and said,
"That's the Chief Inspector right behind us, sir."
"Good, Mike. I'm glad he's here. I'm anxious to get us all together so that we can discuss the latest developments and exchange ideas."
After they had parked and got out of the car and exchanged morning greetings, the three Police Officers walked slowly into the building where their incident room was situated. Martin closed the door and turned to the other two and said,
"Well, gentlemen, let's get down to business. We've got a lot to discuss and the sooner we start the better. It could be a long day but also, I hope, that maybe it will be a productive one."
Martin looked at the other two men and Mike and Mark nodded their agreement with his proposal. Martin smiled at the two Officers and pointed at the chairs that were standing to the side of the room. The two younger men carried their chairs over to the table and, after the Superintendent had indicated that they should do so, the Mike and Mark sat down and started the day's work.
if you have any comments email me cutrose40@yahoo.co.uk