Chapter 4 Chapter Four

The door clanged open seconds later, and Terry returned with a tray of plastic cups. "It's fucking impossible," Taylor said. "Superman is not so fucking fast!" "Watch your words, Barry." Red followed Terry through the door, squinting at him. "Remember to put two pounds in the swear word box before you go." Tyler stared at his superior, speechless for a moment. "Just call me Wonder Woman, babe," Terry said. "I was the one who was faster than Superman's bullet. Of course, the boss is also responsible for this. When I was going out, she happened to walk over with the tray."

"I've been standing outside listening, actually," Red said. When Harris and Taylor heard this, the complacency on their faces disappeared immediately. Red looked at Harris. "Pink lace bra, Jace?" Harris' cheeks flushed. Tyler held up his hands in a look of innocence. "It's none of my business, boss." Then he pleaded with a playful smile. "I'm just saying there's a girl over there who looks a lot like Terry, and he didn't get to rip her off in his mind." "In fact, you're teaching him how to be a slut, Barry. I've heard the whole conversation between the two of you."

"Okay, but..." Tyler struggled to get up from the chair, "Jess said her breasts weren't so—" "Okay, Barry." Red gestured to Terry to share the coffee.She went to stand in front of the interactive screen, waiting for everyone to be seated. "I have good news and bad news to tell you." Taylor wailed. "What you consider good news is usually bad news for us, boss, and this seems like double bad news to me." "The good news is, now we have overtime pay." Taylor and Harris howled with delight. "We're fine with that, boss."

"And it's two weeks of overtime pay." Taylor and Harris cheered louder. "Two weeks of overtime? Go ahead!" "It must be fun when the salary is paid at the end of the month!" Harris smiled. "And the bad news, boss?" McKenzie asked. "There are three conditions, Jim." Reid said seriously, "First, we can only get the second week's money if we succeed in the previous week." "What's the meaning?" "Chief Superintendent Blake gave us fourteen days' overtime pay just to catch a prisoner. If—although that's unlikely in light of the third point I'll make later—if we Get this guy and we'll be able to do some of our own work for overtime the next week. Get him in three days and we'll have eleven days of free time."

"So who's that prisoner, boss?" Terry Miller asked. "What did that person do to make Blake so generous?" Taylor continued. "Did you hear about the fire in Wandsworth Road yesterday?" "Is that the old 'Falina Lane' bakery building?" "That's right there. Looks like the guy who's been setting fires all over town for the last few months." "Arson case?" McKinsey was puzzled, "The two weeks of overtime paid by the superior is just for an arsonist? How is it possible, boss?" "That's what our chief superintendent means, Maizi. This is the eighteenth fire in the capital recently. No one has any clue about the case. Now the ball is kicked to us. This happened in the The first fire in our precinct. Mr. Black felt that if we were lucky enough to catch this prisoner, it would give our Bureau prestige and everyone else would be honored."

McKinsey doesn't look convinced. "Even so, Boss, it's unheard of to be paid overtime for an arsonist." "Attempted murder, Wheat. Two bums were seen escaping from it. I'd bet they had nothing to do with the arsonist, and I'd say the arsonist didn't know they were in there, but it just gives Give the superintendent a reason." "Good guy," McKenzie said, "but didn't you just say there was a third point?" Red made an exaggeratedly frustrated look. "According to Superintendent Black's incomprehensible infinite wisdom, he wants Barry and Jess to be in charge of this investigation."

"You're kidding," Terry finished, looking at Red, Taylor, Harris, and back to Red. "No way? This is not a joke." "It's—great!" Taylor was so excited that he punched the table. "Did I tell you the boss was keeping an eye on us, Jace? Come on, let's get this right!" Harris was so surprised that his jaw almost dropped to the floor, and until Red sighed in despair, he still hadn't recovered from the shock. "You still have to report back to me, Barry Taylor. Remember this. I want you to debrief twice a day, once at noon, and once between shift changes. You need to come here first to discuss investigative strategy."

"You are satisfied, boss." Taylor couldn't wait to pull Harris up, "Come on, partner." "Sit down, you two. I'm still your officer here, and you can only go when I tell you to go." Taylor and Harris had no choice but to sit back on their chairs, but they still couldn't stop their smirks. "The London Fire Brigade is still on the scene. They are waiting for you to come over at half past ten. Listen carefully to what they say. They are experts, and you are not." "Boss." Taylor leaned forward, unable to sit still. "Are you finished?"

"No, Barry, it's not over yet. The London Fire Brigade has sent over the preliminary test report, and you have to read it before going to see them. I sent the report to your mobile phone." "Understood, boss. Come on Jace, we need to start reading the report." "Don't worry," Red said. "It won't take more than an hour to go to the scene after reading the report. You can walk there in ten minutes. So, before you leave, I want to know more about the farce at the Scarlett Club last night." "What?" "Especially, Barry, how on earth did you trick poor Brenda into going with you to Half Naked Night?"

Taylor shrugged. "That was her idea, boss. I had no idea it was half-naked night. I swear to God." "Given that the last time you went to church was at your birth and baptism, Barry, that's not convincing at all. Besides, I've seen Brenda a few times, and I don't think she's that, which has to be Again, she is not a girl who can tolerate other women showing their breasts in front of her lover." "I feel the same way, Barry," McKenzie said. "Add me," Terry added. "Hey, me too," Harris said too. Taylor glared at Harris and lowered his voice: "Who the hell are you helping, Jess?"

"The dirty word box, Barry Taylor." Red pointed. "You've got to throw another pound in there." "One quid? Just for fucking swearing?" "It's two pounds now," said Red. "Ah, it's enough...that's enough. The question is, who in the first place promised to use the damn... naive swearing box?" "We all agreed. For 'children in need,' remember?" "I might not be on duty that day." "With your workload, it looks like you're not on duty every day, Buzz." Terry said. "Fuck you, Tet." Tyler turned to the Governor. "Anyway, I think swear words with swear words can be counted, just like a bitch..." "Smelly ice cubes!" McCutche interrupted with a glare at him. Taylor reluctantly took two pounds out of his coat pocket. "And the two pounds from before," Red said. Taylor glared at her. "My children have needs too, you know." "Your baby will be fine, Barry," McKenzie said. "They've got to be ok. That's a hell of a lot of alimony they're asking me to pay to those bastards from the Child Welfare Department. They have to be ok, okay?" Red held out his hand. "That's one more pound, Barry. It's five pounds now. Padsey Bear will love you." "What the hell did I do this time?" Taylor looked around in confusion. Harris laughed. "You just said bastard, Bazai, didn't you realize what you said?" Red held out his hand to Harris, "You have to give a pound too, Jess, thank you. There is no need to repeat it just now." "But it's not fair!" Harris protested. "I'm talking about bastard because Bob said bastard." "Two more pounds!" Red, Terry, McKenzie, and Taylor said in unison.