Page 36 of The Other Side

“What circumstances?”

“The fact that this was a misunderstanding.”

“A misunderstanding?”

“Yes. The boys had been planning a prank and had already decided not to go ahead with it when you turned up. Schoolboy nonsense. Yet you treated the matter as though you were investigating organised crime.”

“I take it you’ve read my report, ma’am?”

“You also made several comments which they found inappropriate.”

“Such as?”

“You implied the boy’s lack of intelligence.”

What the ever-living fuck?

“You used words along the lines of asking whether Tim’s brain had ever informed him the plan was a terrible idea.”

Drum remembered the remark.

“I don’t expect police officers to mock children.”

“I wasn’t mocking him, ma’am. I was making a point.”

“That’s not the way his parents saw it. You threatened the boy with a criminal record.”

“No, I told him that the farmer didn’t want to pursue the matter. It was his mother who made the point about a criminal record. Ma’am.”

“They want you to receive guidance on dealing with respectable members of the community.”

Drum counted to five. “I caught their son and two other boys red-handed, trying to remove livestock from private property. I recovered the sheep, avoided having to call out a PC to make an arrest and ensured the boys understood the seriousness of what they’d done.”

“That’s your interpretation.”

“No, ma’am. That’s what happened. I think the real issue here is that the Motsons were embarrassed. I absolutely refute the suggestion that anything I did or said was inappropriate.”

“You should have requested the attendance of a PC to de-escalate the situation in a confrontational incident like this.”

“There was no confrontation, ma’am.”

“You’re not a PC. Watch your step. And you should know that your cottage is owned by the Motsons.” She ended the call.

“Fuck you! And fuck them,” Drum snarled and threw the phone down.

Chapter Seven

Drum drove to Stoney Middleton and parked just up the hill from Lily’s house. He was no longer thinking about the complaint against him, nor about the news that the Motsons owned the cottage, or about this book club meeting, but what was happening afterwards. He took off his hi-vis jacket and left his cap in the vehicle.

Lily opened the door when he knocked. “You came! Thank you. We’re almost all here. Come on in.”

Drum followed her into a sun room at the back of the house where several women and one man sat chatting. In the middle of the room was a coffee table piled with plates of sandwiches, cheese straws, cakes and biscuits along with bottles of wine. His stomach rumbled.

“Everyone, Drum is here! Say hello to our new PCSO. Everyone, introduce yourselves.”

He did his best to remember their names. Arthur was the easy one.

“I’m eighty-two, a retired history teacher. I was invited into the book club five years ago for perspective and stayed for the gossip.”