Chapter 30
251 Words
30
Zoran and Milan were told they’d face no further charges with regards to the shoplifting. The police were unable to prove their involvement, and the shopkeeper was advised that he might want to upgrade his ancient grainy CCTV system to one which might be able to help him in future.
In reality, shoplifting was more or less a nothing crime. It was the sort of offence that took up time and resources for the police and the court system, when ultimately there was never going to be any sort of result which would help anyone. Shoplifters weren’t sent to prison and the shopkeeper wouldn’t benefit in any way whatever happened. Besides which, it had become apparent that the police now had bigger fish to fry.
The police’s main issue now was the safety and welfare of Zoran and Milan. If there was a credible threat to their lives, the police had a duty to do all they could. Hawes, however, wasn’t having any of it — there was no way he was going to sanction protection for them without any concrete evidence of their lives being at risk. But, having also refused to allow CID to put the brothel under surveillance, it wouldn’t be possible for them to obtain any evidence. They were stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Culverhouse knew the s**t would hit the fan if he was right and Hawes was wrong, but there was no way he could go above the Chief Constable’s head. He’d just have to hope that he was wrong.
- Writer
