Chapter 33

CHAPTER 33

‘I WILL ,' SAID R OSS.

The vicar turned to the bride and said, ‘Will you, Alice, take Ross to be your husband. Will you love him, comfort him, honour and protect him and, forsaking all others, be faithful to him as long as you both shall live?'

‘I will,' said Alice.

William stepped forward and handed the wedding ring to the vicar.

Alice smiled when Ross slipped the ring on her finger and repeated the wedding vows. Only the chief bridesmaid had a bigger grin on her face.

As the newly married couple walked back down the aisle together, they were greeted with smiles from both sides. Jojo, holding the train, followed them out into the churchyard, where a photographer was waiting.

He gathered the family together, along with the best man and the bridesmaids, before he took a series of snaps, while the rest of the guests made their way across to the Shamrock Hotel for the wedding lunch.

When the bride and groom appeared, everyone rose from their places and applauded Mr and Mrs Hogan as they made their way to the top table. Once the applause had died down, the guests remained standing while the vicar said Grace.

Only William ignored the smoked salmon as he turned the pages of his best man's speech once again – unnecessarily, as he knew the words off by heart. He looked up as his untouched plate of smoked salmon was whisked away, to see his father and the Hawk seated at the other end of the table, deep in conversation.

‘So now the date of the trial has been fixed, Julian, should I assume you are confident of a guilty verdict and sending Faulkner back to jail?'

‘Certainly not, Jack – one can never be certain of anything when Booth Watson is appearing for the defence.'

‘I think even Booth Watson will find it difficult to convince a jury that the Rolex with Faulkner's ex-wife's signature etched on the back didn't belong to him, or that four cellophane packets each containing a thousand pounds didn't come from the same bank account as the ones found on Kevin Scott on the day Avril was murdered.'

‘Booth Watson will remind the jury that Faulkner was in America at the time,' said Julian, ‘and I confess it would have helped if Christina had been willing to give evidence confirming it was the Rolex Daytona she gave her ex-husband as a birthday present.'

‘I think you'll find that it was Wilbur who talked her out of giving evidence,' said the Hawk, ‘and who can blame him after what happened to Avril.'

‘I'm only surprised Faulkner was granted bail,' said Sir Julian.

‘Booth Watson, as we all know, can be very persuasive,' said the Hawk, as a waiter refilled his glass.

‘However, Julian, on a more pleasant note, I can now tell you that next month William will be taking my place as the unit's new Commander.'

‘Does that mean you'll be retiring?'

‘No, I'm being kicked upstairs.'

‘How far upstairs?' asked Julian.

‘Assistant Commissioner in charge of public order and operational support,' announced the Hawk.

‘Congratulations,' said Julian, ‘but what does that actually mean?'

‘I get all the toys: horses, dogs and helicopters, which will allow me to take charge of everything,' said the Hawk, ‘from the Cup Final at Wembley to the Queen Mother's hundredth birthday celebrations.'

‘William has a great deal to thank you for,' said Julian as he raised his glass.

‘That's not a one-way street,' said the Hawk, also raising his glass as he looked across at his protégé, who was making a small emendation to his speech while his Irish stew went cold.

When William looked up from his speech, the babble of conversation in the room revealed how much everyone was enjoying themselves. He smiled at his wife, who was chatting to Wilbur.

‘How's Christina working out as chair?' asked Wilbur. ‘And don't flannel me.'

‘Like a duck to water,' said Beth.

‘Yet another English expression I've not come across before,' said Wilbur. ‘Is my wife the duck or the water?'

‘Christina is always so full of bright ideas that she wants done yesterday,' said Beth. ‘My biggest problem is trying to keep up with her.'

‘You're an ideal combination,' said Wilbur, ‘madness and common sense.'

‘On the madness front, has she mentioned the opportunity we have to purchase a Frans Hals for a million?'

‘Regularly,' said Wilbur with a sigh.

‘But if the Fitz were able to raise the full amount,' said Beth, ‘the Earl of Banbury has agreed to part with the painting in lieu of death duties.'

‘How appropriate,' said Wilbur, looking across at his wife. ‘So how much is it going to cost me this time?'

‘A quarter of a million would get the ball rolling,' said Beth.

‘I only wish you'd spoken to me earlier,' said Wilbur, ‘as I've already agreed to part with half a million. You know, Beth, I should have made a prenup with the Fitzmolean before I married Christina.'

‘We are all most grateful,' said Beth, giving him a hug.

‘And so am I,' admitted Wilbur, as he glanced across at his wife. ‘Who would have thought Ohio Disposal would have helped build one of the great Dutch collections?' he said, as he smiled at William.

‘Feeling nervous?' asked James, as William pushed the speech to one side.

‘I'd rather address the Police Federation's annual conference than my father, Beth and the twins,' admitted William.

‘I've just spotted my goddaughter,' said James, looking across the room, ‘and, of course, Peter, but who's the young man holding Artemisia's hand under the table?'

‘Robert Hartley.'

‘Not …' began James.

‘Yes, he's the son of Simon Hartley,' said William, ‘and don't ask me how the two of them met, because I'm not supposed to know.'

‘But you're going to tell me anyway,' said James, as he put down his knife and fork.

‘In a prison cell,' admitted William. ‘Both of them were arrested while taking part in a Saudi protest rally outside Number Ten. Young Hartley even threw an egg at me.'

‘Did you have them clapped in irons?' asked James.

‘They both would have been if Ross hadn't come to their rescue.'

‘Join the club.'

William raised an eyebrow, but got no response. ‘What's the latest on the Declaration?' he ventured.

‘It's already hanging in the Library of Congress,' said James, ‘and will be unveiled by President Clinton next month.'

‘Without Faulkner or Booth Watson putting up a protest?' said William.

‘We haven't heard a word out of either of them since Simon Hartley confirmed the Jefferson letter was the one that had been in their family archives for over two hundred years.'

‘But Faulkner keeps telling anyone who will listen that the letter is a forgery,' said William.

‘I know,' said James. ‘And can you believe that Booth Watson is accusing the FBI's dirty tricks department of being responsible for the deception, even though I told him we could never be involved in such an outrageous activity?'

‘It wouldn't be the first time,' suggested William.

‘Nor the last. But not on this occasion,' said James, glancing across at Ross while wondering just how much William knew.

William looked back down to find his speech had disappeared. He wasn't in any doubt who the guilty party was. Someone who just happened to be chatting to Christina when his back was turned.

‘So where are you two going on your honeymoon?' Christina asked.

‘We're catching a plane to Dublin this evening,' said Ross, ‘and will be staying at the Shelbourne Hotel where I once worked as a student.'

‘You never cease to surprise me,' said Christina.

‘Yes, I had a holiday job there as a bellboy. But I was sacked after only a couple of weeks.'

Christina smiled. ‘Let me guess, one of the guests …'

‘No,' said Ross. ‘I was caught in a guest bedroom with a maid, and she wasn't making the bed.'

‘And after Dublin,' said Christina, laughing, ‘where else will you visit?'

‘Limerick, Cork, ending up in Blarney.'

‘Where I hear they'll be renaming the stone after you,' said Christina.

‘Then we'll be flying back to London,' said Ross, ignoring the barb, ‘by which time Faulkner should be safely locked up in the Scrubs with no chance of remission.'

‘And when you're back,' asked Christina, ‘are you also hoping to be promoted?'

‘I'll be returning to the Yard as a Chief Inspector under my new Commander,' said Ross, looking across at his best man. ‘William wants me to go undercover in the East End and find out who's taken over from the Richardsons.'

‘That should keep you well occupied,' said Christina.

‘And if that wasn't enough,' said Ross, lowering his voice, ‘Alice is pregnant.'

‘Congratulations,' said Christina, a little too loudly.

Ross's mother broke off from her conversation with Alice and asked, ‘What are you congratulating Ross on?'

Christina was rescued by the tap of a spoon on a glass and the words of the toastmaster, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, pray silence for the best man.'

William rose nervously from his place, relieved to find Ross had returned his speech, even if the pages were no longer in the correct order.

‘My lords, ladies and gentlemen,' began William, who paused, looked up and said, ‘there are no lords and certainly no gentlemen present today, but several ladies and one in particular I wish to address. So let me start by telling you, Alice,' he said, turning to face the bride, ‘that I don't know anyone more likely than your husband to drop a colleague in a hole – or anyone who would then do everything in his power to dig them back out and take the blame himself.'

The laughter that followed rather suggested there were several officers in the room who'd suffered from the same experience, while Ross looked rather pleased with himself.

‘Ross has made so many appalling decisions over the years,' continued William, ‘it came as a complete surprise that he was capable of making such a sensible one when it came to how to spend the rest of his life. However, I still can't understand how such a bright, beautiful woman could possibly have fallen for him – and then I remembered that Alice is a headmistress, and having to deal with errant children is simply part of the day job. Now she's on overtime. Truth is Alice,' said William looking directly at the bride, ‘Ross has won life's lottery, while you have ended up with a losing ticket.'

The loud laughter and applause that followed allowed William to turn the page.

‘Allow me to end,' said William, before realizing he had turned to the wrong page, but quickly replaced it, ‘by saying how proud and honoured I was to be invited to be Ross's best man. I wasn't his first choice. In fact, six others turned the job down before he asked me. Unfortunately, the first three are on the "most wanted" list, the next two are on remand awaiting bail, and the sixth has yet to complete his sentence for daylight robbery. So, you ended up with a man' – William turned to face his closest friend – ‘who admires you for your courage, integrity and possession of a moral compass that continues to guide us lesser mortals. The truth is, Ross, you're one in a million. And frankly, one is quite enough.'

William had to wait for the laughter to die down before he could continue.

‘Allow me to try and end for a second time,' said William, but was stopped in mid-sentence when he looked up and saw three uniformed police officers entering the hall.

William immediately recognized the senior officer, who was heading towards the top table, but was taken by surprise when he spotted Miles Faulkner standing in the doorway, a huge grin plastered on his face. The senior officer only stopped when he reached Ross's side.

‘My name is Derek Sinclair,' he said, ‘and I am head of the anti-corruption unit.' Ross stared at a man he'd crossed swords with several times in the past. ‘Inspector Hogan, I'm arresting you for attempting to pervert the course of justice by planting evidence on a defendant in the hope that it would influence the outcome of a murder trial in which you were the arresting officer.'

Beth immediately jumped up, put her arms around Alice and tried to comfort her, while Jojo wondered if this was something that always happened at weddings during the best man's speech.

‘Don't say a word,' said an authoritative voice coming from behind them.

‘Who are you, sir?' asked Sinclair, looking at an elderly gentleman who had appeared out of nowhere.

‘Sir Julian Warwick QC and I will be representing the defendant.'

‘That's your choice, of course,' said Sinclair scornfully, as two officers took hold of the prisoner.

‘Is that really necessary,' interjected William, ‘when the groom is about to leave on his honeymoon?'

‘ Was about to leave on his honeymoon, Chief Super-intendent,' said Sinclair, ‘and in any case I can't risk Hogan leaving the country only days before the trial.'

‘You're a shit, Sinclair,' said William, standing between them, ‘and don't forget I outrank you.'

‘No one outranks an anti-corruption officer, Chief Super-intendent, as I feel sure I don't have to remind you,' said Sinclair as he pushed the prisoner forward.

The best man followed the bridegroom as he was escorted across the dance floor by Sinclair. When they reached the door, Faulkner was waiting for him.

The two men faced each other like heavyweight boxers waiting for the bell to ring.

‘Sorry to have interrupted your speech, Chief Superintendent Warwick,' he said, ‘or is it Commander? But I just had to give Ross a wedding present, after all he's done for me in the past.'

William didn't flinch.

‘Sadly, your friend will not be spending his honeymoon in Dublin, as originally planned, but in a prison cell bereft of his bride,' continued Faulkner, landing the first blow.

‘Then let's just hope for your sake you don't both end up in the same prison,' said William, parrying.

‘I can't wait to hear what you have in mind, Chief Superintendent,' provoked Faulkner.

‘Life imprisonment,' suggested William.

‘For buying a Rolex watch from an ex-con who was set up by your friend?' said Faulkner. ‘I don't think so.'

William clenched his fist, looked his nemesis in the eye, but at the last moment somehow managed to restrain himself.

‘In fact,' said Faulkner, the smug smile remaining in place, ‘Mr Booth Watson assures me if your friend is the main prosecution witness, the case will never come to court, because as a convicted criminal he won't be able to lay a finger on me. So glad to hear your wife is pregnant,' he added, looking at Ross as he passed. ‘If it's a girl you can call her Avril.'

Ross hurled his captors aside, leapt forward, raised a fist and with a single blow knocked Faulkner out.

‘That's hardly going to help your cause,' suggested Sinclair, as his two officers grabbed Ross and handcuffed him.

‘You may well be right, Superintendent,' said Ross, as he stared down at the prostrate body, ‘but I can assure you it was worth it.'