Chapter 16 Chapter fifteen

On their way back to the car, Jackson made a series of phone calls, a stopgap measure she took to thwart Acklan's attempts to speak to her.But Akram wasn't sure if she did it on purpose or if the calls were necessary.One of the calls asked for an update on Ben and a warning that the police would definitely want to see him, another called to tell the person she had decided to take personal responsibility for Ben's backpack, and the last was to apologize to her unit and say she was going to SA The police station in the east of Circe City is an hour away and cannot accept work assignments for the time being.She walked ahead as they entered the parking lot and ran into a drunken Jock head-on. "For so long," he snarled, "you think if I go on long enough I'll give up and leave? Want to steal my stuff, don't you?"

Jackson ignored him and walked straight to the BMW.She put her suitcase and Ben's backpack on the backseat. "I'm sorry if we've inconvenienced you," she said very nicely. "The trunk is open, Lieutenant. Grab's and take your own?" The corporal quickly ran over and stopped Aklan from moving anything, "I'll do it myself, thank you." He threw away Aklan's travel bag and picked up other things with his fingers, "What's going on?" When he walked away from the car asked Jackson suspiciously. "Let the lieutenant explain it to you."

"Where are you going to take that kid's backpack?" "Southwark East Gaol." "Damn it. All his stuff is in sunlight." "Then there's nothing to worry about." Jackson watched as Aklan emptied the trunk and closed the lid, "If you want, you can come with me... kill two birds with one stone, sign for the contents of the backpack on the one hand, so that if everything is in order If you come from the right way, you won't lose anything; on the other hand, you can vouch for the kid's honesty before the police. Interested?" "Depends on what you find."

"A cell phone that doesn't belong to him." Jock muttered in disgust, "You can't tell him on that. There are unsolicited mobile phones all over London, the easiest thing to find. That's no reason to cause trouble for this kid." "This is not a simple stolen phone, Jock, the owner of this phone was murdered." Jock stared at her with bloodshot eyes, "How do you know?" "I fixed it," she said. "It's still connected to the server. I think the police kept it on purposely to see if anyone would try to use it." "The kid won't know anything about the murder...probably not even who it was stolen from. Not to mention where you found it from."

Jackson shook his head. "I'm afraid I have to." She opened the car door. "It's up to the Lieutenant to come with me or not. And you... would you like to come with me? If you know anything that might help Ben matter, and you will ease his troubles." Jock shook his head. "I don't know anything except what I've told you. He and I barely know each other. I just pointed him to a place where he can stay overnight safely. He's been here about five or six times in all." "What have you all said?" "I...didn't say anything. He...music and some girl he liked. I never really listened to...just let him babble until he fell asleep."

"You said you met him a month ago. Do you know how long he had been in London before that?" "have no idea." "You also said gays were interested in him. Do you know if he ever walked with someone? Would he sell himself if he needed money?" Jock spat on the ground in disgust, as if to prove his own attitude towards anal sex, "Didn't ask. Can't stand those sodomites. I just pointed him to a safe place to spend the night." "What do you think?" "Depends on his taste. Apple juice is cheap... heroin is expensive. That's what most people who do drugs do." He was about to walk away, but suddenly got emotional. "It's not right!" Bastards aren't just stalking these little boys, they're stalking little girls. If you're going to tell the police something, tell them this."

"Of course," Jackson said lightly, "but which jerks are we talking about? Gays or drug dealers?" "Everyone! They treat these runaway kids like trash. If they don't fit in with this poor bunch of bastards, they're going to get these kids hooked on heroin. It should be banned." Shi Lumian spat again, "You can't blame the children when they turn bad. This is the only way they know how to survive." He nodded, "I'll see you again someday." Jackson watched him go. "Are you coming?" she asked Akram. He stared at Jock's disappearing figure for a moment, opened the rear door, and threw the travel bag in, "Yes."

If they had expected someone to greet them eagerly at the gate of the police station, they were disappointed.The men who had questioned Acklan clocked out shortly after his release, and the agents in charge of them knew even less about the case of Walter Tardin and Kevin Atkins than either of them.When he interrupted Jackson's explanation impatiently and took out a piece of paper to ask for their names and addresses, Jackson, who was overwhelmed by his work schedule, was irritated. "I don't have the time," she said briefly. "I'm on standby. We need to speak to Sheriff Jones or Inspector Bill because of the urgency of the matter," her eyes narrowed. "You know I'm Who. The reception policewoman gave you my name over the phone."

The officer shared the amused expression of those in the emergency room who looked at Jackson. "I still need more information from you, Ms. Jackson." "Dr. Jackson and Lieutenant Acland," she told him, "Gainsborough Road, Bell's Pub. If you tell the sheriff we have Kevin Atkins' cell phone, I promise he won't object to your arguing." Wake him up. Was found from a homeless boy who has been taken to St Thomas' Hospital. In the same hospital as Walter Tardin." He wrote down their names and addresses, "Phone number?" "Oh, for God's sake," she snapped impatiently, "call the sheriff!"

"I want to make sure it's necessary." "Then try Inspector Bill." "Same answer." Jackson stared at him coldly, "What time does the sheriff usually come here in the morning?" The man shrugged. "I don't know. It depends on when his shift is." "Where can I leave him a message?" "Leave it to me." She leaned forward, "Then write: 'Can't get past this arrogant, night-shift idiot who has a problem with lesbians. For gay murders, please contact Jackson at the Bell's. She's got something Evidence from a homeless person linked to the Kevin Atkins case.’ Add the time and tell your superiors that we carry evidence with us because we don’t trust you to keep it safe.” She put the backpack on Handed it to Aklan and stood up.

"I'm just following standard procedure, Dr. Jackson," said the policeman. "If I called the sheriff every time someone claimed to have important evidence, he would be exhausted by now. May I understand that because you No longer wanting to report the crime, so you're ending this meeting?" "No, I'm ending because I don't have time to suck up to you. You can add that line below." "What about you, sir?" he asked Ackland. "Have you anything to add?" "That's all, but if I were you, I'd talk it over with someone before Dr. Jackson and I leave." He paused, "I was released by the detaining officer named Leif or Lavery Yes. If he's still on duty, you might do yourself a favor and talk to him." "You should let Jones eat him for breakfast," Jackson said after the policeman closed the door and left. "Why are you so helpful all of a sudden? What impression does this middle-aged Nazi policeman make on you?" Akram shrugged. "There's nothing he can do. Waking up your boss in the middle of the night is obviously a big deal." "He has a power complex, is narrow-minded, and bullies others." "You're no better than him. You challenge him only because he's easy to deal with. I don't see you dare to do anything to those patients in the emergency room who laugh at you." She crossed her arms and leaned against the wall. "Attacking or making things difficult for customers is a very bad way of doing business. The police are a completely different profession. They have to abide by professional standards and cannot treat ordinary people like bad people." Aclan was silent for a while.He wasn't sure what to think of this woman yet.There was so much about her that repelled him—the strength of her character, her outspokenness, the way she needed to control everything.Yet there was something about her that he liked. He admired her as a doctor, and she also admired how she turned a blind eye to negative reactions from strangers.In fact he was even angry for her, what right do people have to judge people they don't know well?He looked up and found her staring at him. "What?" he asked. "Do you have a problem with me, or with all women in general?" Acklan shrugged again, "You like to scare people. Maybe this guy does know your name... Maybe he's just a short-sighted, narrow-minded guy... But since you called him 'arrogant idiot', he didn't Will have a better opinion of you." It wasn't an answer to her question, but Jackson didn't point it out."Does it matter what he thinks of me?" she said. "unimportant." "If I wear a dress and make-up, his legs will be higher," she said softly. "Most people think I'm a man in women's clothes...or a male transgender who has undergone sex-change surgery. I Dressed like this," she let go of her arms, pointing to her masculine attire, "get ridiculed far less than I do in women's clothes. A lesbian in trousers and work boots is far less likely than a muscular, Transvestites in pale pink are scary." A momentary look of humor flashed across Acklan's intact profile, "You'd never wear pink. Not threatening enough. I bet you're genuinely intoxicated seeing people make way for you." .” Jackson stared at him for a moment. "Is that what the scar on your face and the pirate eye patch make you feel? Who moves aside faster? A man or a woman?" He didn't answer. "You need to take advantage of this carefully, Lieutenant. Some men like to see fear in a woman's eyes." Once the sheriff arrived, things moved a beat faster.The agent explained to him that because they wouldn't show him, he couldn't guarantee that the phone belonged to Kevin Atkins.The sheriff ignored him and went straight to Jackson and Aklan, "Where's the phone?" "Here." Jackson snapped the button of the medical case and handed him the envelope. "The battery was dead, but I started it on the emergency charger because I thought it belonged to the homeless kid, the kid. In a diabetic coma at St Thomas' Hospital. I was looking for next-of-kin contact information. The phone is still on." Jones opened the envelope and the phone slid to the table. "Where did you find it?" "Here." She held up her backpack. "This is the boy's—we think his name is Ben Russell—though we've never been able to confirm." She saw Jones touch the bottom of the phone with the tip of his pencil, The LCD screen was lit up, "I went into emergency mode, saw the name Belinda Atkins, and then looked up a series of calls with the surname Atkins. The phone number under Kevin's name was exactly this machine. number. I recognized the name." "His daughter's name is Belinda." Jones scrolled down the screen with a pencil. "Jeff and Tom are sons, and Sarah is his ex-wife...still named Atkins. It must be his." He frowned. Frowning and raising his head, "How did you unlock it? Or should we thank Lieutenant Aklan for his help?" Jackson shook his head, "I made it." She explained how it was done, "I'm not familiar with other brands of mobile phones, otherwise I would try another one." "Another one?" She nodded at her backpack. "Here. There's a Blackberry and a couple of iPods." "A pile of stolen goods." He shifted his gaze to Acklan, "What is the role of the lieutenant here?" "He stayed with me." "What do you mean? You mean you picked him up at Bell's before you came here?" Seeing Jackson's hesitation, Aclan became uneasy. "She came looking for me," he said. "When she found me, I was with that boy and another man. We were sleeping in an alley. The boy was unconscious and Dr Jackson admitted him to St Thomas' Hospital after realizing the seriousness of the situation." Jones nodded. "Inspector Bill called and said you were going the other way. How well do you know that boy?" "I don't know him at all," Ackland said. The sheriff had a suspicious smile on his face, "You want me to believe you? Within 24 hours you had access to two complete strangers... Walter Tardin and the kid... Both of them were clearly involved in the same murder Investigative investigations linked to ... You claim not to have known either of them before. That kind of coincidence is not going to happen, Charles." "Obviously it happened, or it couldn't have just happened to me." "No one is so unlucky." Aklan pressed the eyepatch with his palm and kneaded the throbbing nerve endings with the heel of his palm. "If I'm unlucky, it's good for you," he pointed out. "If Jackson didn't follow me, the boy wouldn't be sick." If you don’t, you won’t get this phone. For another doctor or a healthy child, these things will stay in this backpack intact.” "Assuming it was there in the first place. How long were you alone with the kid before Dr. Jackson came?" "Never. When I got there, an older man was already in that alley." "So there's no chance of getting the contents of that kid's bag into yours without being seen or vice versa?" "yes." "And there's no chance of it being conveniently lost," he laughed again emphasizing the word "lost." "What did he get for you?" "Yeah...but he's not holding something for me." "Why should I believe this?" Akram put a hand on the edge of the table to steady himself. "I don't know," he said sternly, "unless the boy told you the same...unless you didn't believe him either." "You look sick," Jones said dryly. "I suggest you sit down before you fall." "No, thank you. I'd rather stand." The lieutenant took a few steps from the table and straightened himself. Jones signaled to Jackson decisively, "He needs to be careful, doctor...it looks like he is going to faint, please take care of him, please?" She shook her head, "Unless he asks me to help...wrestling with a reluctant patient and pinning him to the ground is far beyond my remit. I'll leave this tricky stuff to you and here the police," she watched as the sheriff pushed back his chair, "although I do not recommend the unnecessary use of force." She ended her answer politely. "Oh, for God's sake!" Jones stood up impatiently, and walked around the table. "Sit down, man!" He grabbed Ackland's arm and pushed him onto the chair. "Here Not Guantanamo Bay." He barely had time to finish the sentence when Ackland grabbed his wrist and in a classic wrestling chokehold, forcing Jones' chin to his chest with one hand and wringing it with the other. his forearm bone. "You shouldn't do that," he whispered into Jones' ear. "I'm not bothering you...I'm not threatening you...I've made it very clear several times that I don't like people touching me." Jones didn't protest. "You've made your case, Charles. Now let me go, or you'll be in serious trouble." Jackson stepped back, stopping the agent from approaching, "You heard him, Lieutenant. You can take him down now, but it's not fair anyway. He's twice your age and three times your weight… Here we have a friend who wants to arrest you." Akram stared at her for a moment, let go, and pushed the sheriff away. "What do you think of a middle-aged Nazi policeman?" he asked. "I thought you didn't like bullies." "I don't like it, but that doesn't mean I want them to die of a stroke." She pointed her chin to a corner of the room, "You look like you're going to throw up, help me, sit in that corner and put your Head between knees." Seeing him backing away, she turned her attention to the agent, "If you're willing to stand in the other corner, I'll take care of your boss... If you don't agree, I'll hold this line, Prevent another confrontation. You seem a little too agitated to me." "Sir?" "I'm fine." Jones sat back in his seat and loosened his collar. "No one was hurt." He took a few deep breaths, then turned to Jackson and said, "You think it's too much for me to ask the lieutenant these difficult questions? We've been investigating the case for months...tonight is the first time we've had meaningful leads...both leads involving this young man." Jackson shrugged. "The first one didn't. For a moment it seemed like it was, but you've shown yourself that he wasn't responsible for Tadin's attack. You might as well say that both leads involved me—if I didn't hand him over to you, and you'll still be prowling around for the lieutenant—so why don't you ask me some tough questions?" She smiled slightly, "Why don't you turn on the tape recorder?" "It's a good thing, isn't it, otherwise the attack would be recorded on tape and your friend would face charges." He rubbed his wrists thoughtfully, looking at Akram's bowed head, "Are you very ill, Charles? You won't die in front of me, will you?" "No." "I don't think so. This one you grabbed was pretty tough." He took another deep breath. "If you try to sue me, I'll pull out your intestines and make a garter. This investigation is already running low on funds." …if I grant compensation because a witness wants to claim that personal space was violated, then damn me.” "You don't really care much about the fact that you were attacked." "That's right... I'm a policeman, and the law protects me in a special way, but it doesn't protect you in the same way. How much would you do if Dr. Jackson wasn't here?" "If you're asking if I'm going to beat you to death, the answer is 'no,'" Ackland said. "This particular way of killing is discouraged in the military. It takes too long. If I If I want you to die, I will directly smash your spine." "Why mention beating?" "This is how Kevin Atkins was killed." "How did you know?" "Dr. Jackson Googled his name on the hospital computer." Jones glanced at Jackson, who nodded. "That's pretty common knowledge," he agreed. "Has the case been followed in the papers, Charles?" "No." "But you were in London when Kevin Atkins was killed. You discussed the case with Dr. Campbell." Akram raised his head cautiously and stared at the Sheriff closely. "If it happened, I don't remember it. I just remember that I stayed in my room most of the time to prevent her from discussing anything with me." .She just talked for the sake of talking, and I don't remember how many things she said that were worth hearing." Jones, who had heard Susan Campbell lecture on short-term memory loss on the phone, agreed with him on this point, "So who's the other guy in the alley?" "Ask Jackson. She's talked to him more than I have." "doctor?" "He called himself Jock, was in his 50s, and said he was a corporal in the Falklands War. About 5ft 10in tall...grey hair and beard...brown overcoat...smelly, see Looked older than his age. He refused to come with us, but I think he was pretty well known on the street. Judging by the facts he told us, he had been on the street for 20 years." The Falklands War piqued Jones' interest. "Have you met him before?" he asked Ackland. "Once. I saw a bunch of drunk punks bullying him and I chased them away and helped him climb over the railing into the alley. So I know the alley." "What were those punks doing at that time?" "kick him." "Is this sick boy one of them?" Ackland hesitated. "I don't know. There was a boy who pissed on Jock ... but I didn't see his face. He was wearing a hoodie. The others were girls." "If he ever bullied Jock like that, I don't think Jock would help him tonight," Jackson said dryly. "He told me he's been trying to protect Ben from being gay. He wants me to get the message across to you The streets are not safe for boys or girls, drug dealers get them hooked, and people who drive slowly down the road looking for a partner can take advantage of them instantly." "Tell me something I don't know," Jones said equally dryly. "Are you saying this jock is homophobic?" Jackson understood what he was going to infer next, "A lot of people are, Sheriff, but I don't think that means he's a killer." Jones turned to Ackland and said, "Will he vouch that you never tampered with this backpack?" "I doubt it." "This man is an old alcoholic for many years, not the type to volunteer information," Jackson said to the frowning sheriff. "He will very easily say he doesn't remember...assuming you can find him." "Where was the last time you saw him?" "Outside St. Thomas'. He's probably not there by now." "Well, let's hear what you have to say. As far as you know, the Lieutenant was ever alone with the boy's stuff?" Jackson glanced at Acklan as if seeking permission to answer. "Yeah," she admitted, "for a while he was in my car with Jock and I was in the hospital." She explained why she let Ackland drive away when she entered the emergency room with paramedics Her BMW, "I asked the lieutenant to search the backpack to see if he could find any information that might help us find Ben's loved ones... He brought the backpack to me about 20 minutes later." "And show you this phone?" "yes." "Why didn't you tell me this sooner?" "You're only interested in what's going on in the alley." Jackson paused to collect his thoughts. "Look, I'm obviously a little confused by you, because I don't understand why you keep blah blah blah blah. Kevin What good does it do Charles to have Atkins' phone in the boy's backpack? It makes no sense at all...especially since he could have thrown it in any gutter between the parking lot and the entrance to the emergency room. " "He didn't know you'd be able to open your phone without a passcode." Jackson frowned, trying to follow his logic, "What difference does it make? He knows we're trying to identify this kid, so the odds are pretty high that Atkins' phone will end up being checked. If he can simply Throw away all the evidence, why take a gamble on something so unpredictable?" "It depends on what the bet is. What if the little guy died? In that case, the case would look very different. A dead young gay man, not happy to betray himself, would be a convincing gay killer." Jackson immediately looked exasperated, and Jones spread his hands in a gesture of calming her anger, "Don't be so naive about other people's motives, doctor. If you sit in court all day, you will hear many words like This even more incredible story." "Ben showed no signs of dying. The paramedics started hydration in the ambulance, and as soon as he was in hospital his endocrine function returned to normal. Even before we left Covent Garden, both the Lieutenant and Jock Everyone knows that Ben's chances of survival are very high." "You're wasting your tongue," said Ackland, rising from the floor and leaning his shoulders against the wall. "I told you it would be like this." "At least I'm protecting your interests," Jackson said coldly, "which seems to be better than your own. You have two hobbies: losing your mind in anger and being martyred in despair... Martyr in despair makes you I'm annoyed." She stared at him disapprovingly, "After you attacked Rashid in the bar yesterday, we settled the matter with silence... It doesn't impress me. Crime is not a negotiable commodity, Lieutenant, you You cannot buy pardons from the Pope with money like in the medieval Roman Empire." He stared back at her unkindly, "Don't treat me with a superior attitude." "Then stop acting like an asshole and accept the crime you've committed. Punishment won't turn back time...and neither will painkiller refusal..."