A Criminal Act of Poverty

"Is he trying to be clever Sir?" Jones asked the Chief Inspector.

"He isn't that smart, Jones," Came the reply. "Back to the station and let's go over what we know and what we think we know,"

James McDougal watched them drive off and brought up a large amount of phlegm and spat it out in their direction. He turned and looked at the barber big Joe Brigham, "What's the word on the street about that Simpson fella?"

"Nothing concrete looks like he came a cropper at the hands of one of them whores at the Kings Arms," He quietly replied. "He had a bad habit of knocking them around,"

"Find out will ya? The last thing I want is Hunter snooping around. Let's see if we can find a way to keep him away from here for a while,"

When the DCI and the Sergeant got back to the station, it was well after noon. They went into the quiet of his office and Hunter pulled out a large notepad and half a dozen lead pencils.

He looked at the Sergeant and told him. "I want to go over everything before we speak to that Magill girl tomorrow. With a bit of luck, we'll be able to give it over to the DPP by the end of the week, hopefully, they will fast-track it. Nothing worse than having a bloody murder hanging around in the papers. Have you seen this morning's Tiser?"

The DCI filled his pipe and padded it in tightly, but loose enough to drag the flame from his lighter down onto the rich aromatic tobacco. He drew in a lungful of smoke held it momentarily and then let it slowly escape. Enjoying every moment.

"Right let's get down to it. What do we know?" He said as he sat down facing the young Detective Sergeant.

"Well Sir, we know that Edward Simpson had his throat cut two nights ago." As he started to speak the DCI commenced to write it all down.

"He was in a state of undress, and he had been in a fight, and most likely he was having his way with young Christine Magill when it happened." The Sergeant was counting on his fingers as he spoke. And accentuating each point as he named them.

"We know she was there, we have her shoes and her handbag, and the doctor tells us she has been knocked around rather severely." He hesitated a moment as Hunter looked up at him.

He chimed in with a comment, "And the good Doctor said she didn't have the Magill mean streak in her, that he has seen,"

The young policeman nodded and then continued less enthusiastically, "We know her brothers have form for knocking people about. AND that Simpson was on a winning streak at McDougal's expense and that he admitted the Magill boys are collecting for him. So if you are asking me one of the Magill boys is looking at a long stretch in Yatala Labour Camp,"

Huntington took more smoke and leaned back into his chair. Smiled at the Sargent before saying. "So we don't actually know too much, do we? No murder weapon, no motive, no witnesses," The DCI was also using his fingers as a point of reference for each remark.

Hunter started twirling a pencil around his fingers, something he did when he was in deep thought. His gaze was staring into space, then he stopped, looked at the Sergeant smiled and said, "When we talk to young Christine tomorrow, make certain we have that red-headed WPC with us. I hope you are still seeing her David?"

"Yes Sir, we go out quite often. Her name is Mary Quigley Sir,"

The DCI looked up at the young man and saw the look in his eyes that said they were very good friends. "Yes, I'm sure you do," He said with a smile on his face. "Also I want a few uniforms to have a look around the house, but only after I give the word."

He started making some notes and questions for the Sergeant, he handed Jones a piece of paper with four questions on it. "Jones, ask the other members of the house, just the girls, not the Mother at all and the boys won't give you an answer so we will leave them out of this, for now."

Jones looked at the notes and then the questions, simple questions he thought. He wondered what the Chief Inspector had on his mind.

He looked down at the questions once again before repeating them aloud, "What time did Christine get home that night? What was she wearing? Did you see any blood on her? What did they think had happened to her?"

"In that order, Jones and talk to the girls separately and make it as if you are recording each of their answers in the file. I want them to see the name on the file as Christine Magill, MURDER FILE."

"Sir, if I may ask why do you want WPC Quigley present?"

The DCI sat back in his chair clasping his hands behind his head before saying, "We had a simple motive given to us in your report yesterday. 13 Elmgrove Road. So I want to see the reaction we get if your red-headed lady friend actually flirts with either of the two Magill girls that were reported going into that tomboy's house. Discretely of course,"

"Sir, with all due respect that is a bit unsavoury isn't it Sir? I mean Mary may not be willing to do such a thing Sir, she is not in any way like that, Sir."

"Mary, is it now Sergeant?" Hunter said with a smile on his face. He enjoyed teasing his young subordinate officer.

"A bit of play-acting Sergeant, I am sure the WPC will be able to manage that,"

He looked at the crime file once more and went over everything in his mind. He was almost certain now that the Magill girl had committed the crime but proving it in a court of law may be difficult.

He looked up over the file to find the Sergeant still standing there, his hands clasped behind his back. "What is it Jones?" His question came sharply.

"Sorry Sir, will you be arranging with the Desk Sergeant for the uniforms to be with us tomorrow or would you prefer me to request it?" Jones put it forward to the DCI knowing full well the Desk Sergeant would tell him to get stuffed.

"I see what you are getting at, I will do it, Sergeant," and with that, he picked up the phone and dialled the front desk. "Paddy, can you pop in please,"

The desk Sergeant Patrick 'Paddy' O'Reilly, knocked on the door and walked in. "Yes Sir,"

"Paddy, tomorrow morning we will need some of your boys, more than the normal half a dozen I would think. I am going to interview one of the Magills over the Simpson murder, I need your boys on stand-by to do a thorough search of their place." O'Reilly looked on and nodded.

The DCI continued. "I'm looking for some particular items. A woman's bloodied clothes and a very sharp implement, possibly a switchblade razor. They have a three-day head start on us so I want your boys to be thorough without destroying the place. Let's keep some good will shall we Paddy,"

The Irish desk Sergeant smiled at the inference, that his uniform branch lads were heavy-handed. They were of course but no more than normal.

Then without hesitating, he said "I want some WPCs included, at least 5 to accompany me and Jones in interviewing the girls. In particular WPC Quigley," As he said it he cast an eye at his Sergeant. He was shuffling from foot to foot. "In fact, I'll speak to them now and you best sit in as well Paddy. So we are all together on this. I want her charged by tomorrow afternoon."

"Right oh Sir, I'll send them in," The desk Sergeant stated in his broad Irish accent.

Hunter looked at his Sergeant, "If you have other things to catch up on Jones, there is no need for you to be in on this," he said it knowing the Sargent was keen to stay and listen to how he was going to arrange the interview, especially where it concerned Mary Quigley.

"Well Sir, I was interested in seeing how we are going to handle the interviews."

Hunter smiled at him and nodded. "Then take a seat,"

There was a knock at his door and a young WPC opened it, smiled and said, "I was told you wanted to see me Sir?"

"Err well yes, come in constable, there are others who are joining us," The Sergeant stood up and moved the chair to one side, making room for everyone in the small office. Soon there was another knock and three more WPCs walked in. WPC Mary Quigley was accompanied by Sargent O'Reilly. The office was full all standing and looking at one another, smiling, nodding. The DCI cleared his throat to get their attention.

He started in hushed tones to make certain they were all listening intently. "Good afternoon everyone. Tomorrow morning you will accompany me and Sergeant Jones, to interview a young lady in her home, she will be there we suspect with her mother and 3 other sisters." He looked around to ensure he had their attention. He did.

"I want each of you to accompany one of the young ladies each while in the house and to ensure they do not converse with each other after they have spoken to me or Sergeant Jones. Is that understood?" There was nodding and mumbles of "Yes Sir,"

"Now, none of these young women are either under arrest or even under caution, so we have no right to prevent them from talking to each other. But it is important that they don't, so without saying anything you lot will have to use your dark looks, the one you give the boyfriend from time to time," There was a lot of giggling and smiling as they nodded, knowing exactly what the DCI meant.

"Right then, any questions?" And without waiting for any he concluded, "Good, be here at seven am for a final briefing," Then looking to the desk Sargent, he nodded and told him, "They are all yours Paddy,"

He nodded and smiled back to the DCI before asking, "Didn't you want a word with Quigley?"

He stopped and looked up, smiled and then spoke. "Ah, Yes. Of course, a most important matter. Quigley, take a seat, please. I have a special task for you tomorrow." Both the desk Sergeant and Jones remained in the room. He started, then cleared his throat. "Quigley, two of the girls we will be talking to tomorrow are frequent visitors to a somewhat, libidinous house of disrepute," He was stumbling over his words, obviously embarrassed to bring up a request such as this.

Mary Quigley was a woman who had been exposed to some of life's, worst environments and knew that some older men found it hard to explain themselves when speaking to the so-called 'fairer sex'. She spoke up.

"Excuse me, Sir, I have done some minor plain clothes work in the past,"

"Yes, you have and have done extremely well at it. All right then, I will just come out and explain myself." He took a deep breath.

"Tomorrow, I need you to put on some makeup and possibly some of that perfume you girls put on and make eyes at the two girls concerned." He put his hand up in Paddy's direction as the Metropolitan Police Force had a clear policy of no or minimal makeup for their WPCs.

"Paddy, it is a one-off and I want her to stand out to these women, if they feel comfortable around her they may give us something extra." The DCI stated.

Desk Sergeant O'Reilly hadn't said a word nor had he even made any movement to suggest his disapproval. He was, in his own way, enjoying the DCI's discomfort.

Mary Quigley looked at Sargent Jones with an awkward smile, hung her head, then looked straight at the senior officer and said, "Sir, am I understanding you correctly, that you want me to wear some makeup and flirt with some women who visit that tomboy's house. Then befriend them and see if they might confide in me?"

Hunter smiled back at her and nodded, "Yes you have it correct,"

"Sir with all due respect, if I turn up there in uniform and I flirt with them, it is unlikely they would trust me let alone confide in me. May I suggest Sir, that I don't accompany you tomorrow, but as I am certain there will be a crowd in the street once you turn up there, that I join the crowd and make myself known to the girls some other way."

"Well after tomorrow Quigley, I am hopeful of arresting her for the crime. No, we do it my way thank you," He said sharply. "That's all,"

WPC Quigley nodded and answered "Yes Sir,"

The desk Sergeant opened the office door and let the WPC leave, he stood there momentarily as if he was about to say something before leaving himself. Jones shuffled some papers, then excused himself. Hunter sat down and started to fill his pipe. It was awkward moments like this that he missed his wife even more so. Normally he could have spoken to her about such matters and he was certain her advice would have helped him handle it a lot better than he had.

He walked to his door, opened it and looked out at the station busy with whatever they were doing, slowly puffing on his pipe, he went over to Jones and quietly asked, what he thought of Mary's idea.

"Well Sir, she has had a little bit of experience of working in plain clothes, and I think the Magills are not likely to go out with a known Police Officer,"

"Hhhmmm, you're right you know Jones. We'll have to put any arrest warrant off until a bit later. But let's see what tomorrow brings us." As he said it the Sergeant had a bit of a smile on his face. It wasn't too often that the DCI changed his mind and even less frequently he acknowledged him in such a way.

The DCI slowly wandered over into the uniform section and poked his head in through the door, catching the WPC's eye, he signalled to her to accompany him.

Once in his office, he closed the door. "Quigley, I've reconsidered what I said earlier, I think it would be best if you didn't accompany us but go in plain clothes and see if you can get acquainted with them. You will have to work fast but I don't expect you to go above and beyond your duty, if you get my understanding?"

"I do Sir and I won't Sir. Thank you Sir. Would you still like me here at 7 am for the briefing Sir?"

"Yes of course, best we are all on the same page, so to speak," He replied.

DCI Huntington arrived early the following morning, but he wasn't the first in the station. There was a buzz, a feeling in the air, he saw it when he walked in, and he felt it. He smiled inwardly, knowing that the uniform boys and girls were excited and were ready.

He went into his office removing his overcoat, trilby hat and a warm woollen scarf his wife had given him some time ago, for no reason other than she thought he needed a scarf.

He sat at his desk when Jones knocked and popped his head in, "Good Morning Sir, Everyone is ready when you are," He said with his cheerful disposition. Huntington thought to himself, that he was rather cheery for this time of the day. I wonder if he took young Mary Quigley out last evening. Smiled to himself and thought why wouldn't he.

He gathered his notes and went in search of O'Reilly. He found him at his normal place, the front desk. "Paddy, will you address the troops on how you want the mob in the street handled and I'll talk to the rest of them, especially about how I want them to handle the search if it has to be done,"

The desk Sergeant looked up took a mouthful of his hot black sweet tea and nodded.

He walked into the area used by the desk Sergeant to issue the daily work orders. The buzz died away quickly and the DCI went straight onto the front foot.

"All right everyone, we are going in as three separate groups. Group one will be myself, Jones and the WPC's. Now, you girls, you will all be allocated to each of the Magill girls," He pointed to June Peters and Pixie Hoffmann, "You two will be with me and the mother and the target. Peters, I want you close to the Mother, don't take any nonsense from her. Hoffmann stay close to the target Christine Magill."

Looking at the other WPCs he poked his finger at Olive Welsh, "You will watch over the eldest girl Shelia, you know what she is like, and don't take any nonsense." Then turning to the remaining two WPCs, "You other two watch the remaining two girls."

Then addressing them all he told them. "Keep them separated before and after they have been interviewed. Remember they are not under arrest or even under caution but they are suspects in a murder inquiry."

He looked down at the floor and cleared his throat. "I don't want the cells full of the Magills this evening, so unless they get right out of hand, give them a little bit of grace. Understood?"

There was a lot of nodding of heads but too few actually said anything. The desk Sergeant stepped forward, "So we go softly, softly, lads do you understand me," It was then that he got a chorus of "Yes Sergeant,"

"Right then," He handed back the group to the DCI who was just standing there. The gap between the uniform branch and the detectives was as wide as it had always been.

The DCI continued and addressed them all, "The second group will be doing the searching," He told them. "I am looking for a switchblade razor and any bloodied female clothing. They will be well hidden. Let's not turn the house over and start a riot but go where you feel you have to go," He stopped and looked around the room making eye contact with every living soul there

The desk Sergeant came forward stood next to the DCI and addressed the room. "All right you lot, the senior constable will take his squad and go with the DCI, while the rest of you will be on street duty. We are there to keep the peace not create a war, understood. I'm looking at you, Murphey," The desk Sergeant was looking at a younger constable who was known to have a short temper and a loud mouth.

The groups went their separate ways. The DCI took his two teams into his office and closed the door. He looked at everyone. Then addressing the WPCs, "You must behave pleasantly towards the girls, help them without giving in to them,"

Then he turned to the boys that were going to do the searching if required. "Now you lads, wait around the corner from the house, but senior, keep an eye on the front door, He told the senior constable "If we need you the Senior Sergeant will give you a wave, come along smartly but not like a bull at the gate," He took a deep breath, "I want you to be thorough without turning the place upside down. These are cunning swine, so look slowly, carefully and thoughtfully. Put things back where you find them, and document every find. When we go to court I don't want you to be relying on memory. So each entry will be time-logged and counter-signed by either Jones here or the senior constable. Is that clear?" All of them acknowledged their orders.

As they were finishing there was a knock at the door, and when told to enter in came Mary Quigley. A very androgynous-looking woman entered the room, dressed as a feminine-looking male, which is the only way she could be described. The men looked on and smiled broadly at her, while the women, neither giggled nor even paid her any attention, Pixie went to her hugged her and said, "You look perfect, they will be putty in your hands darling," And gave her a little peck on her cheeks. June smiled and winked, while Olive took a deep breath and sighed. The other girls gathered around her to show support.

Sergeant David Jones stood back, smiled at her and remarked, "You do throw your heart and soul into everything you do, don't you Mary?" His eyes sparkled as he took in her appearance. She blushed.

The DCI commented, "You will play your part well Mary, thank you for doing this." Then he pointed out to the men mostly, that WPC Mary Quigley was doing the force a huge service by trying to infiltrate and get close to some women of ill-repute. His way of describing the women who frequented the tom boy's house on Elmgrove Road.

"If you come across her during your duties today, you will ignore her," He said in a hard direct tone.

At 9.50 the two police cars pulled up at 70 International Ave, they gathered on the street. Curtains from houses nearby were being adjusted as nosey neighbours watched, knowing what was happening. The DCI looked up towards the front door of the Magill's home and saw the curtains move, now knowing they were expected, he opened the gate, and the hinges squealed anyone's arrival, he walked up to the front door and knocked. The WPCs followed on behind and waited for the Sergeant to signal their next move.