Churchyard and Hawke Read Online Free Page A

best of a bad lot. . . .’
    Breaking off and showing signs of embarrassment, he added, ‘. . . but if you don’t mind, sir, I would rather wait until we get to Scotland Yard before going into detail about the Banks family and their accomplices. Detective Inspector Dyson is in charge of plain clothes police at Scotland Yard and has left word that he wants to be present when we discuss them.’
    ‘So Dyson is still there!’ Ames commented, ‘I thought he might have moved on to less demanding work.’
    Herbert Dyson had been a detective sergeant on one of the Metropolitan Districts when Amos had been at Scotland Yard. Amos liked neither the man, nor the methods he was rumoured to employ in order to secure convictions.
    When Amos had been sent to Cornwall to investigate a number of brutal murders, including that of the officer who was then in charge of London’s detectives, he had been made an acting detective inspector and it was expected he would take over the detective branch upon his return. Instead, the post had been given to Dyson - who was married to the daughter of one of the Metropolitan Police’s Assistant Commissioners.
    It gave Amos a moment of wry satisfaction that it was because of this he had accepted his present post with the Cornwall Constabulary. He now held a rank senior to that of Inspector Dyson . . . but Constable Churchyard was talking to him once more.
    ‘. . . I was forgetting you were once a Metropolitan detective too, sir. I expect you and Inspector Dyson will have a lot to talk about.’
    ‘I doubt it.’ Amos said, ‘we never worked together on any cases of importance.’
    There was something in Amos’s short reply that emboldened the young constable to say, ‘I’ve heard many of those who did work with you in those days say it should be you heading the detective branch now.’
    Amos shook his head, ‘I am quite happy where I am - and I have no doubt Inspector Dyson is doing all that was expected of him when he was appointed.’
    Tom Churchyard was a bright young man. He realized that Amos’s reply was a diplomatic one and not an endorsement of Inspector Dyson’s suitability for the post he held.
    Equally non-committal, he said, ‘I’m sure everyone at Scotland Yard would agree with you, sir.’
    It was enough. Without saying a word against the officer in charge of the Metropolitan detectives, each man was made fully aware of the other’s opinion of him.
    Arriving at Scotland Yard, Amos and his two companions were shown into Inspector Dyson’s spacious office on the ground floor and Amos thought ruefully that it was a far cry from the cramped attic office he had occupied when stationed here.
    Dyson was not in the office and did not put in an appearance for another twenty minutes. When he did finally arrive he showed no sign of having been hurried and made only a cursory apology, saying, ‘Sorry I’m late, Hawke, there was something that required my attention.’
    It was quite apparent to Amos that the detective inspector had deliberately kept him waiting and that his mode of address was intended as a reminder that he had once been the senior of the two. However, the situation had changed and Amos thought he needed to make this clear to Dyson immediately.
    Without any apparent rancour, he said easily, ‘It’s Superintendent Hawke now, Inspector Dyson and I have no wish to waste any more of your time than is absolutely necessary. Indeed, it’s Constable Churchyard I have come to London to speak with. I think he might have information that can assist an investigation my force is carrying out, so if you’d rather I returned to "K" Division with him. . . ?’
    Dyson was aware of the justifiable rebuke implicit in Amos’s words, but "Superintendent" Hawke stuck in his throat. ‘As the officer in charge of detectives it is important that I am aware of the activities of any criminals who reside in the Metropolitan Police area.’ With a smirk, he added, ‘Besides, next month I am