DISCLAIMER:
This is a story. None of the characters in the story exist and the events that take place are purely imaginary.
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.
Party Games
Chapter 6 After his conference with the Commissioner, Martin had returned to his office and prepared for the rest of the day. The first action the Commander took was to telephone the Houses of Parliament and arrange to meet with Miles Youngman and Nigel Burrows, the two MPs that had been mentioned by David Newman in his interview the previous day. Appointments to meet the two Labour members were made for later that afternoon in their parliamentary offices. As he waited for the return of the other members of his team, Martin read a small file of newspaper cuttings, which had been left for him by Ron Alder. The Superintendent had prepared as complete a dossier as he could of the investigative journalism of Alan Birch. It soon became clear to the Commander that what had been said earlier was true and that it would be difficult to discern from the articles any clear single source for the reporter's information. When he had finished reading all that was in the folder, a sudden thought crossed Martin's mind. One of the best informed people he knew was Freddy Eversley, who seemed to have connections all over the place and kept himself up-to-date with most contemporary events. Martin was uncertain whether Freddy had direct connections with the intelligence services, but it would no have surprised the commander if his old friend knew people who were. With this in mind, Martin decided to act on his brainwave straight away and reached forward to dial a number. The phone was answered immediately and a voice boomed down the line,
"Freddy Eversley here, how can I help you?"
Martin replied rather more quietly,
"Hello, Freddy, it's Martin. How are you? Do you have a moment or two to talk? Is it a convenient moment?"
The jovial voice at the other end of the phone replied,
"Of course it is, my dear! What can I do for you today? I am, as ever, at your disposal. I was only saying to Brad the other day that we haven't seen anything of you, Tom and the boys for simply an age! It would be wonderful if you could come down for a weekend and stay at the Hall, it's just the right time of year to see it at its best. Oh, and if you could bring that gorgeous Mike Rickwood with you, that would be even better. But I don't suppose for one minute you've called to invite yourself to stay, have you?"
Martin sighed and then said,
"No, Freddy, I haven't tempting though the offer is. I'm afraid that I'm rather busy at the moment with the Nick Trafford murder investigation. I thought I'd have a chat with you see if you knew anything."
Freddy's voice did not change at all, although his comment seemed less upbeat than usual, "In what way do you think I can help? I know I'm on record as saying I thought that Nick Trafford was a dangerous man, but I hope you don't think that I had anything to do with killing him. I only met him a few times and I did appreciate his objectives but not always his methods. I think that he sometimes did more damage than good, but I suppose an old Tory like me might well do so. I was shocked when I heard he'd been killed, like most other people. Sorry, I'm waffling, what did you say you wanted to ask me?"
Martin half-smiled as he replied to his old friend,
"Don't worry, Freddy, I don't have you on my list of suspects and, in part, you've already answered my question, by telling me a little about what you thought of Mr Trafford. The other thing I wanted to ask about, however, was whether you have ever heard of, or met, a journalist called Alan Birch or a man named Darren Wright?"
Freddy sounded really serious for the first time as he replied,
"Isn't Birch the man with that awful hatchet job on Trafford in the paper today? I thought it was despicable, especially as the victim can't answer back. I'm all for having a go at political enemies but not like that! Personally, I've never met anyone called Alan Birch, but if I did meet him I'd give him the benefit of my strongly held views, I can tell you! Nor have I met anyone called Darren Wright, who seems a bit of a sleaze ball to me. Sorry I can't help, but, if you'd like, I'll ask around and see if anyone else knows anything. If I get something on either of them, I'll get back to you. And don't forget, we'd love to see you on a visit here soon!"
Before Martin could utter another word the phone at the other end of the line went dead. The Commander had hoped for more, but his disappointment was short-lived, because, moments later, Mark Jamieson appeared at his door, he smiled at his friend and said,
"Aly Young and I have just brought Alan Birch in for questioning. I've put him in an interview room, given him a cup of tea and told him that you will be down in a minute. I thought I'd have a word first though, sir, because it was almost as though he was expecting us. He showed no surprise when we turned up at the newspaper offices looking for him and, what's more, he was only too ready to tell us where we could find Darren Wright. Mike Rickwood has gone off to bring him in, so that he will be ready for interview once we've finished with Mr Birch."
"Thanks, Mark, good work", Martin said appreciatively, "I wonder if you'd mind if I conduct this interview with Aly and you observe from behind the one-way mirror. I'd like a second opinion from someone not directly involved in the face-to-face confrontation."
Although he was disappointed not be included in the interview, Mark saw the logic in his friend's proposal and readily agreed. The Commander got up and walked down the corridor with his colleague down the stairs to the interview room. Martin entered the room after Mark had disappeared into the adjacent observation gallery. The Commander smiled across at Aly Young, who was sitting at the table opposite the newspaperman. Two empty cups stood on the table, at the end of which was a tape recorder loaded with two tapes. The Commander took a moment to try to make an assessment of the man sitting quietly on the other side of the table. Alan Birch was a small, slightly overweight man with thinning dark hair. The reporter had a small face, which wore an intelligent look. The Commander's judgement of the journalist was that he was not only intelligent but devious as well and that it would be difficult to extract information from him that Alan Birch did not want to give. Once it was clear that everyone had been introduced, Martin asked for this to be done again and checked that the journalist had no objection to the interview being taped. Martin was at pains to point out that Mr Birch was present voluntarily, was not under arrest but could seek legal advice at any time and could leave whenever he wished. Martin, as usual began politely,
"Thank you for coming in, Mr Birch. I expect you can guess that we are interested in the article you have in today's edition of your newspaper concerning the personal life of the late Nick Trafford. May I ask how you came to write this story? Did you find Mr Wright yourself or did someone tell you about him?"
A slight smile crossed Alan Birch's face as he prepared to reply to the question,
"If you are asking whether my report is the result of good investigative journalism, then my answer is that it was. I did some digging, made some calls and, bingo, up came Mr Wright."
Martin seized on part of the answer,
"You made some calls? Are you saying that you had a source and if so who was it?"
Again the journalist smiled and replied,
"Over the years, Commander, I have built up a range of people who talk to me off the record, including colleagues of yours from the Metropolitan Police and other Police Forces around the country. Of course, I never reveal their identity, no good journalist ever does, but I can tell you that this time my sources were not much help at all. In the end, I relied on journalistic methods of following up leads."
Martin had expected he would not get far with this line of enquiry and moved on,
"Let me congratulate you on your powers of detection, Mr Birch. You are wasted in journalism! I'm sure several of my colleagues would love to have you working with them as a detective! But let us move on. You discovered the identity of Mr Wright and decided to interview him. In light of all the publicity around this murder, why didn't you tell us what you had found?"
Again Alan Birch smiled slightly as he replied,
"Two reasons really. The first was quite selfish in that if it turned out to be a genuine story I wanted to keep my exclusive scoop to myself and I wasn't sure that it would remain that way if I told anyone else, including the police about it. The second reason was that I wanted to check it all out first. It wouldn't be the first time I've been the victim of a hoax. I didn't want to waste your time on a wild goose chase."
"Very public spirited of you, Mr Birch", Aly Young's voice interrupted the reporter's homily, "So why didn't you alert us after you realised you had a story and that you had uncovered a potentially important lead for the inquiry?"
Alan Birch turned to look straight at the young Inspector and said,
"Again, I was protecting my story. I discussed everything with my editor and we agreed that you'd soon be round once the story was published. That way we wouldn't delay the investigation by more than a few hours and we got our exclusive! A quick win all round, I'd say."
"I'm not sure we would entirely agree with you, Mr Birch", Martin said, breaking up this confrontation as he saw that it was going nowhere, "but perhaps I could move us onto another point. When you found and spoke to Mr Wright, what impression did you get of him and his state of mind? Did he say why he wanted to go public at this point?"
A cynical look passed over Alan Birch as he prepared to respond,
"I suppose, Commander, one consideration was the money. I cannot say how much but I will just say that I made him an offer he did not feel able to refuse! He also wanted to tell his story and point up a lead that had not been suggested in the coverage up to that point."
Martin took up the point,
"Did he not realise that by saying what he did, he might incriminate himself or implicate himself in some way?"
The journalist shook his head,
"No, not at all, I don't think it occurred to him in that way and I certainly did not get the impression that he was guilty of any crime. Bitter, yes, but a murderer I somehow doubt it, but you will no doubt ask him yourself."
"Indeed we will, Mr Birch. Thank you for your time," Martin said quietly and then added, "That will be all for now. I will arrange for the tape to be forwarded to you or, if you wish you can wait and take it with you."
"I'll wait, thank you, Commander." Alan Birch replied.
"As you wish, Mr Birch but you will excuse us if we don't wait with you," Martin remained polite but made it clear that he was leaving and his colleague followed him out of the room. Once they had arrived at his office, where they were joined by Mark, the Commander looked at the other two with an inquisitive expression. Mark, as the most senior officer present, took the hint,
"What an unpleasant man, I didn't like him at all! He sounded arrogant and he seemed to be laughing at us, taunting us, as though he knew something more, but wasn't going to tell us." the Superintendent exclaimed.
Martin privately agreed, but rather pointedly did not say anything about his friend's outburst. Instead, the Commander asked,
"Did you believe what he's told us so far?"
Mark thought for a moment before replying,
"On the whole, I'm afraid I did. I'd like to say the opposite, but his explanations seemed plausible. He obviously did try to milk his sources, but he implied they weren't much help. Unless Mr Wright contradicts what Alan Birch told us, I can't see any way other than to accept his account."
Aly Young intervened at this point and said pointedly,
"I'm not so convinced, sir. The Superintendent only said and so did Mr Birch that the sources were `not much help', which implies they were of some assistance. I think that in the interview our reporter friend tried to cover up his slip by saying that it was good journalism that led him to Darren Wright, but I took it to mean that someone gave him a good steer in that direction and he took it from there."
Martin smiled and nodded,
"Yes, I agree with you, Aly and also with you, Mark, in that I thought he was holding back, but we're not likely to get him to admit it or to say who gave him the help."
The discussion was interrupted by the return of Mike Rickwood and the quartet turned their attention to the interview they would have with Darren Wright. Martin expected this to be a far more straightforward interview and assigned Mark and Mike to the task, while he and Aly would observe them from the room next door. Once again the officers walked towards the interview room and split up just before they got there and Mark and Mike went into a room identical to the one in which Martin and Aly had interviewed Alan Birch. This time sitting at the table was Darren Wright, who looked as his picture in the newspaper had suggested. He was taller than might have been expected, but had a thin body, thick brown hair with a pale face and long, angular nose. Martin thought to himself that this was a strange partner for the lively and ebullient Nick Trafford to have chosen but did not pursue it further. After the formalities had been completed, the Commander listened attentively as Mark began the interview,
"I'm sure that you are aware, Mr Wright, that we want to talk to you about the story in today's newspaper concerning your relationship with the late Nick Trafford. Can you tell us when you and the late MP met and how long your relationship lasted?"
Darren Wright hardly raised his head and those present and those listening next door had to strain to hear what he said,
"I first met Nick in a club in Central London and we started seeing each other immediately after that. I moved in a few weeks after our first meeting and remained as his partner until the day after he was elected to parliament."
Mark looked impassive as he asked the next question,
"Was the decision to end the affair mutual?"
The MP's former lover looked up briefly and spoke more distinctly,
"No, it was his choice. I had no option but to agree."
Mark noted the answer and then asked another question,
"Did many people know about your relationship with Mr Trafford?"
Darren Wright looked up and said,
"It wasn't a secret if that's what you are asking, I suppose people in the Labour party knew and mutual friends. If you pushed me I could provide a list of the people I think knew about us, but not right away. What upset me most was that he seemed to want to end our relationship as soon as he got into Parliament. I think he thought that, if the public had knowledge about him and me, it would not be helpful to a successful political career. That's why he dumped me as soon as he was elected. He came home from the constituency and told me that now he was an MP, I'd have to go, just like that. As far as I know he didn't find anyone else on a permanent basis, but he did like sex and I'm sure he would not have remained celibate for very long. That's what I thought he was on Hampstead Heath for. He even went to places like that when he was with me, so without anyone, how else would he satisfy his desires."
Mike Rickwood leaned forward and asked,
"Are you implying that because he treated you badly you had a grudge against Nick Trafford? Is that why you talked to Mr Birch?"
The jilted lover looked across at the Police Officer and replied,
"I wouldn't say I had a grudge. I did think he treated me badly by using me and then dropping me when it suited him. I spoke to Mr Birch because he offered me money, which I badly need, as I have no permanent job. I also felt that it was right that a possible angle on the murder should be made public. Nick Trafford was not as saintly as many people have made out."
"Why didn't you come to the Police with your information?" Mark asked sharply.
The man on the other side of the table did not reply immediately and then said,
"As I have told you, I am not well, I haven't a job. I thought .. I hoped .. I might be able to get some money by selling my story."
The Superintendent wanted to pursue this further,
"So did you approach a newspaper or anyone else to ask advice?"
Darren Wright shook his head and said,
"No .. No, I really didn't know how to go about it. When Mr Birch telephoned and offered to talk to me and give me money for my story, I jumped at the chance."
A look of distaste crossed Mark's face as he listened to the last answer, but it sounded as though the respondent was being honest. However, Mike, who seemed also to be annoyed at the man's attitude interrupted again and asked pointedly,
"Where were you on the night Nick Trafford was murdered, Mr Wright?"
The question startled the man sitting at the table and he jolted upright and snapped back angrily,
"I wasn't on Hampstead Heath murdering anyone, if that's what you're implying. I was at home. I don't go out much, especially at night and certainly not much since I got ill!"
The effort of making this vehement denial seemed to drain all the strength from Darren Wright and he slumped forward onto the table in front of him. Mark and Mike walked quickly round to ensure that the man was not seriously ill and, after a brief look, Mark indicated to Mike that medical attention should be given to Darren Wright and said, for the benefit of the tape,
"Because of the illness of Mr Wright, medical attention has been requested and will be provided. The interview is terminated."
As before, the quartet of senior officers went back to martin's room but this time it was Martin who spoke first,
"I don't think he did the killing and I don't think he knows who did. I'm inclined to believe that he gave the interview for the money. He's a rather weak and pathetic character and I don't see him as part of a plot. That doesn't mean to say that he wasn't set up by someone, who gave his name to Alan Birch."
Aly Young, who had also observed the interview, added her opinion,
"Yes, I agree, sir. He seemed too naïve to be able to plot that way and too weak physically as well as in terms of character to have devised a murder plot. On the other hand, he might just have let slip to someone about his relationship with Nick Trafford and his bitterness towards the MP and that person could have filed away that information for use at a later date."
Mark nodded and said,
"If that's the case, then the only person we know with information about the source is Alan Birch and, as we said earlier, he's unlikely to tell us."
Mike had little more to add to the conversation but put forward a suggestion,
"Why don't I drive Mr Wright back home after he's been seen by the medical people and is fit enough to travel. I might get him talking and he could let slip the name of someone important who knew about his relationship and could have fed it to Alan Birch."
Marin approved of the idea,
"It's worth a try, Mark, but be careful and make sure, if possible, you can get him to agree to giving us a list of names in writing."
Mark disappeared but the other two officers stayed behind in Martin's office. It had been such a hectic few hours that the three senior officers had not even had time to catch up on the news that the bill on Policing had passed a major hurdle in the House of Commons by an overwhelming majority. Ron Alder brought in copies of the major broadsheet newspapers, which had covered the debate and the vote, and whose reports were read with growing despondency by the assembled group. Martin put down the last of the papers and stood up and said,
"Not much we can do about this political problem for the time being, we've got a murder to solve. We can still go on challenging the bits of the legislation we don't like through the House of Lords if necessary but for now let's concentrate on showing that this reform is unnecessary by finding out who killed Nick Trafford!"
With that the Commander got up from his chair and indicated that he wanted the others to follow him as he made his way towards the Houses of Parliament and the first of the two interviews he was scheduled to have with the Labour MPs. As they walked through the building in search of the office of Nigel Burrows, the small party of Police Officers met the Home Secretary, hurrying in the opposite direction. James Broadbent beamed at Martin and said,
"I read that scurrilous piece in the paper today and I understand that you have spoken to the reporter and the other person involved. I hope that it has moved your investigation forward."
The Commander made a non-committal response and indicated that he was already late for his appointment before he added,
"I'm sure that Mark and Inspector Young can brief you on what has happened if you want them to, but I must get on and see Mr Burrows. Mike, will you come with me? I don't suppose we're going in the right direction for his office, are we, Home Secretary?"
James Broadbent gave the Commander directions and also indicated that he would take up Martin's offer of being briefed by the Superintendent. Mark had not looked best pleased at being lumbered with having to deal with the Home Secretary, but took it in good part and, while he, Aly and James Broadbent found a quiet corner to sit down, the Commander and Mike hurried off.
Martin knew little about Nigel Burrows except that he had entered Parliament somewhat earlier than Nick Trafford, had served briefly as a Minister but had left office and now sat as a senior backbencher on one of the major parliamentary committees. Mr Burrows office was pleasant and the chairs comfortable and Martin and Mike were made to feel at home by the MP, who seemed only too willing to offer what assistance he could,
"This is a terrible business, Commander. Regardless of politics and, in this case I have to say that I'm sorry but shared some of Nick Trafford's views, especially on policing, it's awful when one of our fellow MPs is killed. I liked Nick a great deal. He was very entertaining and a good and skilful debater. He spoke well in the House, too. I believe he was in line for promotion in the next re-shuffle. He'd have had to tone it down a bit, but he would have made an excellent member of the government. But you didn't ask to see me so that I could tell you how great I thought Nick Trafford was, did you Commander? So how can I help?"
Martin smiled warmly at the Labour MP and said,
"First of all, we are interested in what people thought of Mr Trafford and everyone we've spoken to so far has said much the same thing. However, we are also interested in what issues and causes your late colleague was involved with. David Newman suggested that you were someone Nick Trafford talked to and worked with either now or in the past. Can you tell me whether that is so and if it is what you were working on at the time of his death?"
Nigel Burrows looked thoughtful for a moment and then replied,
"Actually, the main thing we worked on was this policing bill. I know you don't like it, Commander, but he and I did research some of the miscarriage of justice cases together. He did far more than I, but it was interesting and he said that it would help the government's case. I tended to agree with him on that point. At other times we talked about various aspects of reform in relation to immigration law and also about gay rights. Nick was keen to enlist white, straight MPs to both these causes, because he did not want to be seen merely as the black gay MP championing blacks and gays. I agreed to support him on both these causes."
Mike Rickwood, who had been listening and not saying anything finally broke his silence,
"About these miscarriage of justice investigations, Mr Burrows, can you tell us whether there were any sensitive cases that either you both investigated or maybe just Mr Trafford? Also, did you meet with any strong resistance or obstruction at all?"
The Labour MP did not answer immediately but then said in answer to the questions,
"In a sense, all of the cases were sensitive. People being locked up for crimes they did not commit can cause a lot of anger and distress, but I only did a few cases, Nick did the bulk of the work. I never experienced any real resistance either from the Police or from within the political establishment, but I know Nick had the odd run-in with the powers that be."
"Do you know which cases they were?" Martin intervened sharply.
Nigel Burrows seemed anxious to get off the subject,
"No I don't, Commander, but he did keep a list so I expect it will be in the files and his researcher should be able to provide that for you. I have to say that I thought that all of the problems were quickly resolved, but if there were one or two that caused a lot of bother, I didn't really know about them."
"So, as far as you are concerned all the problems had been resolved by the time he died. Is it possible that he was he still working on some cases?" This time it was Mike that asked the obvious question. Nigel Burrows tried to back off,
"I really wouldn't know about that, the person to ask is Nick's researcher. He didn't tell me everything but he was the sort of person who, once he took up a cause, saw it through to a finish."
Martin was anxious to follow up this latest lead and brought the interview to a swift conclusion,
"Thank you, Mr Burrows, what you have told us has been really useful."
As soon as he was out of the MP's office, Martin turned to Mike and said,
"Please go and find Mark and ask him to come and join me for the interview with Miles Youngman. Once you've done that, I'd like you and Aly to find Diana Robinson and get from her the list of miscarriage of justice cases Nick Trafford worked on and also the files on the cases themselves. Also find out from Ms Robinson whether there is any way to find out which of the cases have been closed and which are still active. After that, take them all back to Scotland Yard and work your way through the list. You'd better ask Aly to help you do that. I want to know of any cases that are still active or of any recently closed ones."
Mike would have liked to stay for the second interview, but was also excited that this new lead might be important, so he went off to find the other two senior colleagues. Aly Young and Mark Jamieson were not far away from where Mike had last seen them and the Chief Inspector explained briefly what had happened. After Mark had left to join Martin, Aly and Mike went off to Nick Trafford's parliamentary office in search of Diana Robinson. The Commander was waiting for his friend and together they navigated their way to another part of the sprawling Palace of Westminster to find Miles Youngman. Rather like the previous MP that Martin had interviewed, the politician was a veteran member, having served for more than twenty years. He had never been a minister and, by the time the Labour Party gained office he was regarded as too old to serve in government. Nevertheless, he was held the influential role of Chair of the Parliamentary Labour Party and, as such, warranted an impressive office. As soon as Martin and Mark had settled down and the introductions were over, Miles spoke,
"May I offer you something to drink? I suppose that as you're on duty alcohol is out of the question."
Martin nodded but then said,
"A cup of tea would be just fine, Mr Youngman, thank you."
Mark signified that he, too, would be happy with the same and then he asked the first question,
"I expect you know why we're here. David Newman told us that you were a person Nick Trafford talked to and even worked with. Can you tell us something about him?"
The elderly MP smiled and then said,
"He was young and energetic, a real go-getter. He was not afraid to tread on a few toes, but immensely likeable. The whole of the Parliamentary Party is devastated by his murder. He was so talented, he'll be hard to replace. He talked to me a lot about life in parliament and all the little tricks of the trade as it were. I helped him with introductions to people who could help him with some of his campaigns. I didn't always approve of what he was doing but us old ones have to teach the next generation how to play the game. So, in short, my answer to your question is that I gave general help, but I didn't really get involved with his day-to-day work."
Martin smiled and took a sip of the steaming hot tea and then asked,
"Can you think of anything that Mr Trafford did that might have caused trouble either for himself or someone else?"
Miles Youngman gave some thought to this question before replying,
"It's difficult to know. By the nature of the game, politicians gain enemies sometimes unknowingly. In honesty, I'd have to say he could have caused trouble by his delving into the miscarriages of justice cases. It might have been thought that he was sometimes over-zealous on that score."
"Any particular people, Mr Youngman?" Mark intervened.
The MP shook his head,
"I never heard anything direct, just the odd whisper going the rounds, but most of it seemed quite trivial. You'd be surprised how many secret supporters you have in the Police Force, even among Labour MPs!! No, no particular name springs to mind. Do you seriously think there might be a link between his investigations and his death? I thought it was a gay-bashing incident."
Martin again smiled and said,
"We have to investigate every lead. We have no firm evidence as yet to rule out any possible motive for the murder. That's why I'd be grateful if you could let me know if you think of anyone who might have expressed concerns about Mr Trafford's work."
The Commander thanked the veteran parliamentarian and then made it clear that, as soon as they had finished their cups of tea, he wanted Mark and he to leave. As he explained once he was outside and attempting to find his way back to the quickest exit from the Palace, Martin had two reasons for not wishing to linger for a long time in Miles Youngman's comfortable office,
"First of all, Mark, I'm keen to find out how Aly and Mike have got on getting hold of the files on miscarriages of justice that Nick Trafford kept in his office. Secondly, I didn't want Mr Youngman to back track or just come up with any old name to fob us off. I sensed that he was lying. I believe that he does know the names of quite a few people who have spoken to him about their concerns about Nick Trafford. However, I got the distinct impression that he doesn't want to say so or, at least, not just yet, he doesn't."
Mark agreed with his friend's assessment and they pair walked swiftly back towards Scotland Yard, fully expecting to find the other two senior investigators at their desks and working hard on the files from Nick Trafford's office. This, however, was not the case and Martin was told that neither Aly nor Mike had yet returned to Scotland Yard so Mark undertook to locate them and find out what the problem was. A few minutes later, the Superintendent returned to tell Martin the latest news,
"They've been delayed for two reasons, sir. The first is that it took them some time to find Diana Robinson and she is the only person currently with a key to the filing cabinet. She has finally been located but that has led to a second problem. The number of files is so great that we are going to have to get some transport over there to bring them back here or do the scrutiny over there. I said I thought you'd prefer it done over here, so I've arranged for a van to collect Aly, Mike and the files and bring them back here. Do you want them to ask Ms Robinson to come as well?"
"Not at this time, thanks, Mark. I assume that Mike has the information about which files are still active and which of them have been closed. I may need to talk to Ms Robinson at a later time, but not just yet."
The Superintendent nodded and left the office and was immediately replaced by Ron Alder who had come to report on a number of matters concerned with Press and Public Relations. Martin listened to the report in silence and at the end gave his approval to a press release regretting the passing of the Police bill by the House of Commons and a number of other minor matters that required his confirmation. At the end of this, Ron looked at his superior enquiringly and said,
"How did it all go today?"
Martin tried to be upbeat,
"Mr Birch confirmed some of my colleagues' worst opinions of journalists, while Mr Wright probably did not exactly make a great impression as a representative of the gay community! However, we still have to follow up the idea that Nick Trafford was the victim of either gay bashing or some sexual encounter that went wrong. As for the two MPs, they provided another possible line of investigation that might prove fruitful and I've got a van collecting a whole pile of stuff from Mr Trafford's office as we speak. I was hoping that I can get away early tonight as I haven't seen Tom and the children for longer than a few minutes since the murder, but Mark told me he and Ruth have an engagement this evening that he can't avoid. It looks as though I'll have to stay on. I believe he's already left and won't be back in circulation until sometime later tonight."
"Well, sir, I don't see any reason why you shouldn't get off early tonight. I'm happy to stay and look after Press and Public Relations and, from what you say, Mike Rickwood and Aly Young will be around reviewing the documents they are retrieving from Nick Trafford's office. I can keep an eye on things for you and they're sensible enough to let me know and we can contact either you or Mark if anything important happens."
Rather reluctantly, the Commander agreed to this arrangement,
"OK, but call me at home if anything urgent or important happens. In any case I won't leave until I've seen Mike and know that the records have been safely delivered to this office."
While he waited for this to happen, Martin telephoned Tom at home and spoke to Simon who whooped with delight when he heard the news that their parent would be back before he and Harry went to bed. At the moment he put the phone down, Aly Young appeared carrying a large container in which some of the files from the dead MP's office had been transported. The Inspector was followed seconds later by Mike Rickwood carrying another even larger box. The two boxes were placed together in the corner of the Chief Inspector's workspace, but Martin motioned them to bring them into his own rather larger office. Looking at Aly, the commander said,
"Is that all there is?"
The Inspector looked rueful as she replied,
"No, sir, Mike's just gone back to get the last one!"
Martin smiled and nodded and said that he would talk to both of them when Mike returned, which was some moments later. Once the final box had been added to the others, the Commander, having checked that there was an annotated list of cases, told the other two officers what he wanted them to do,
"First, please check the list and make sure that it correlates with what is here. Note any discrepancies, we'll deal with them in the morning. Then briefly check all the cases that are closed. No need to go into too much detail, but flick through to see if anything strikes a chord. The ones I really want you to concentrate on are those that have only recently been finished with and any that are still active. If you find anything important, tell Superintendent Alder and call me at home. If necessary, I'll come back and deal with it immediately. Otherwise, don't work too late, don't allow these files out of your sight, lock the door when you've finished and I'll see you in the morning and, hopefully, not until then!"
"Good night, sir", Aly and Mike chorused and the senior of the two officers added, "We'll only call you if we find something absolutely vital that can't wait until morning."
With a nod of thanks and a broad smile, Martin prepared to leave for home, but, as usual, the Commander did his round of seeing the officers working the night shift before he went, a gesture that was much appreciated by those in his team. Less than fifteen minutes later, however, Martin was on the train and making his journey home. Harry and Simon had been waiting excitedly for their parent's arrival and when they heard his key in the door and saw it open, they came running towards Martin down the hall. Giving him just enough time to remove his coat, the two young boys dragged the older man down to the living room where Tom was waiting with a glass of red wine, which he handed to his lover. Martin smiled and embraced his partner and then sat down while the two boys disappeared to the kitchen, A few moments later, Simon appeared back in the living room in order to announce that dinner was ready. With, no doubt, some assistance from Tom, Harry and his brother had had cooked spaghetti bolognese for themselves and their parents. Martin and Tom both expressed their delight at the quality of the meal the boys had prepared and Harry and Simon beamed with pleasure. After the meal was over, there was time for the younger members of the family to watch some television while the older couple washed up the dirty dishes. Soon, however, it was time for the boys to go to bed and they insisted that Martin supervise their preparations and chat to them before they went to sleep. The older of the parents was more than happy to do this even though it meant he would probably be very wet by the end of process as the boys invariably splashed a lot of water around when they were in the bath or shower. Tom re-filled the glasses in the living room and could hear peals of laughter coming from the bathroom so he walked along the corridor and, with an amused grin on his face, watched from a safe distance as his lover attempted to retain some semblance of order. Eventually, bath time was over and the boys were finally in bed and Tom and Martin were able to relax and finish their wine in comparative peace. The older partner told Tom about his day and his suspicions concerning the newspaper article and the possibility that there was a connection between the MP's death and the files he was working on. The younger lover attempted to be encouraging but also was keen to take advantage of the chance of an early night,
"Everything will probably look better in the morning, Marty, so why don't we go to bed and enjoy ourselves for a change. I can't remember when you last able sucked my cock or I had your beautiful dick impaling me!"
To emphasis his point, Tom ran his hands sensuously up the inside of Martin's leg and gently squeezed his groin causing the older partner's prick to swell and harden. The younger man briefly abandoned his quest for just long enough to allow Martin to get up and follow him down the hall to their bedroom. Once there the couple quickly undressed and within minutes, Martin was expertly using his lips and tongue to tease back his partner's foreskin and tease Tom's sensitive glans and piss slit. Tom groaned with pleasure as he felt his lover's rough tongue work on the rampant cock and whispered encouraging words in Martin's ear,
"Suck that cock, Marty!! Suck it all into your warm throat!! I love the feel of you working your lips over the length of my hard dick!! Suck it deep into your throat!! I want to fire my spunk onto your tongue and into your mouth!! Suck it, Marty, suck it hard!!"
The older lover needed no more encouragement and he sucked rhythmically up and down his partner's rock hard shaft and used his hands to play with Tom's balls and finger fuck the younger man's hole. In response to the oral and manual stimulus, the younger partner began to face fuck Martin with a steady but increasing speed. As might have been expected, it was not long before Martin felt his lover's dick swell even larger in his mouth and the older man licked and teased Tom's piss slit as the younger man moaned with pleasure,
"Oh, yes .. Marty ..don't .. stop .. I'm .. cumming!!"
Martin's mouth was suddenly filled with a rush of cum spurting from his partner's cock head and the older man swallowed the creamy spunk as quickly as he could so that he did not waste a drop. Finally, Tom's orgasm reached its conclusion and Martin spent a few moments cleaning up the last remnants of jizz from his lover's increasingly sensitive cock. Tom gradually withdrew his cock from between Martin's lips and the younger partner showed his appreciation of his partner's efforts by smiling broadly. Without much delay the younger man lay back on the bed and opened his legs to indicate that he was ready for his lover to slide his erect prick inside his tight but welcoming love channel. Martin moved into position and guided the head of his cock towards the winking hole and slowly entered Tom, who again groaned with pleasure as his older partner's felt the velvety, cut glans enter him,
"Oh yes, Marty, slide your cock right inside me!! I want to feel you deep inside me!! Impaling me on your beautiful prick and teasing my prostate as you fuck in and out!!"
Martin had pushed right inside his partner and his balls were slapping against Tom's arse cheeks as he pistoned in and out of the welcoming hole and he responded to his lover's encouragement in a rasping voice,
"Take it, Tom!! Take my hard cock in your love tunnel!! I'm impaling you on my prick!! Making your cock hard again as I fuck you!! I'm going to fuck a second load of cum out of you!!"
In response, Tom began to move back to meet his partner's inward thrusts and it was clear that Martin would not be able to hold back much longer. The older lover increased the speed of his fucking motion,
"I'm almost there .. Tom!! I'm .. cum .. ming!!!"
Martin's stopped working his prick in and out and held it still as he felt the tell-tale sign of his spunk working its way from his balls to his piss slit. With a groan of pleasure, the older partner felt his cum spray out and coat the inside of Tom's welcoming hole. As Martin climaxed deep inside him, the younger lover felt his own orgasm begin to overtake him. Tom yelled out and squeezed his lover's dick with his powerful arse muscles and then his jizz flew out. The first powerful shot hit Martin on the face before the rest landed on Tom's chest and stomach. Exhausted and exhilarated Martin allowed his cock to gently slip out of Tom's hole and then the older lover flopped back, panting, onto the bed beside his younger partner. Tom smiled dreamily at Tom and whispered,
"Thank you, Marty. I love you!!"
Martin, still trying to recover his self control, smiled back and said,
"Thank you, too, Tom. I love you so very, very much."
Moments later, the two men had drifted off into a restful sleep and remained undisturbed until their usual time for getting up. As was the norm, the two men were awoken by the loud noise that usually accompanied Harry and Simon's welcoming of the morning. The two young children would get up, get showered and get dressed but rarely quietly and it was common for either Tom, most often, or Martin, when he could, to have to go in and tell them to behave and keep the noise down. This occasion was no exception although for once it was Martin who attempted to exercise control over the morning ablutions. Having tried to reduce the decibels with only limited success, Martin went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. As he brewed the coffee and sorted out the cereals, the older parent went to collect the newspaper and looked at the fax machine, which suddenly began to whirr into life. Martin picked up the morning paper and was pleased to note that the headlines had moved on from his murder investigation. He remained in a good mood until the fax machine stopped spitting out the message, which, when he had read it, made the Commander very angry indeed. Harry and Simon noticed that one of their parents was annoyed and stayed quiet as Martin went in to his bedroom and said to Tom, "I'm sorry, Tom, I had hoped to stay and help with breakfast, but something ahs come up and I need to get to Scotland Yard straight away. Can I leave you to finish off and get the boys to school?"
Tom decided not to enquire as to the nature of the message that had caused his lover such annoyance but quietly said,
"Of course, Martin. You get off. Don't worry about anything. Ring me and let me know what's happened when you've got time and things are a bit more settled."
Martin smiled a brief thank you' at his partner and said a warm but brief goodbye' to the two boys and then grabbed his coat and left the house for the journey to his office.
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