"Right you lot, settle down!" DCI Jack Meadows bellowed, striding into CID at the beginning of the morning shift. The team immediately turned to face him, their conversations stopping at once as their interested gazes settled on the relatively tall, slim red-headed woman standing beside him, regarding them with an expression that was dangerously close to indifference. "This is DC Hannah McKay. She's just transferred to Sun Hill from Cardiff CID. I've heard great things and her record speaks for itself, so I'm expecting you all to play nicely." He looked around quickly, his gaze settling on Jo. "Hannah, I want you to work with Jo today. She'll show you the ropes, alright?"
"Yes, Guv." The young woman nodded.
Jack nodded. "Good…"
As he turned and left the office, a tall dark-haired woman stood up and made her way towards Hannah. She smiled warmly and extended a hand for the younger woman to shake.
"Jo Masters."
"Hannah McKay… obviously." Hannah replied with a wry smile. "So, what are we working on?"
As Jo led her over to her desk, detailing the case she was working on, Hannah allowed her gaze to wander around the office. It was almost identical to the CID office she'd spent the past two and a half years working in in Cardiff and the year before that in Manchester. Harassed-looking men and women wading through piles of paperwork or chasing up leads was a comfortingly familiar sight. Her attention was caught by a tall, good-looking man dressed in an obviously expensive suit. He strode past the two women, flashing Hannah a toothy grin as he went.
"You wanna watch yourself there." Jo cautioned her with a smirk. "DS Hunter has a reputation around here."
"Message received and understood." Hannah replied guardedly, her gaze following the man across the room.
Arching an eyebrow, the brunette drew her new colleague's attention back to the case. "Let's go to the market and speak to Mr Hardcastle. We should see what he's got to say."
With a nod, Hannah followed the woman from the office. Wordlessly they headed out of the station and crossed to where the car was parked, two pairs of high-heeled boots tapping on the concrete beneath their feet. The silence between them as Jo drove them towards Canley Market Hall suited Hannah fine. Conversation tended to lead to questions which she often didn't feel like answering; particularly when she was in the awkward 'new girl' stage.
They drew up in the car park and got out, looking around. Hannah stared at the large stone building with an expression of distain. She had been born and grew up in Sun Hill and remembered the Market Hall from her childhood. It didn't appear to have changed at all since then, right down to the graffiti on the walls. She didn't need to read the words that adored the wooden doors in red spray paint to know what they said and wondered briefly that no one had bothered to clean it off in the almost fifteen years since Nathan Palmer had done it. Smirking slightly at the memory of that night, Hannah nodded at the woman beside her and returned the smile Jo sent in her direction as they made their way through the doors into the huge single room inside. Rows of tables lined the edges, with more tables in rows inside them. Hannah guessed that you could find almost anything you were looking for here; from books to vegetables and clothes to building tools. Ignoring all the other stalls, they made their way quickly towards the man they needed to question, keeping their minds focused on the case at hand.
The man behind the long trestle table at the back of the Market Hall watched as the two attractive women strode purposefully towards him. They were about the same height but the man, who had an eye for details, spotted that the heels of the red-head's boots were much higher. They came to a halt in front of his stall and the man was about to come out with a comment about it being his lucky day, when the brunette flashed her warrant card at him.
"Mr Hardcastle? I'm DC Masters from Sun Hill CID. This is DC McKay."
"How can I help you?" The man asked. The red-head didn't miss the sudden uncomfortable expression that passed through his eyes.
"We're investigating claims that drugs are being supplied from your stall. Would you know anything about that?" Jo continued.
Hannah watched the man carefully as he began to protest at the unspoken accusation. Her eyes flickered to his stock and she moved slowly along the table, scrutinising the objects carefully. It seemed to be the kind of stall that sold odds and ends; nothing in particular. Picking up a small wooden jewellery box, she lifted the lid and looked inside. Hannah could sense Jo's annoyance at her actions as the brunette continued questioning the stall-holder and she was seemingly paying no attention to what they were saying.
"Mr Hardcastle?" She asked, interrupting her colleague mid-sentence. "Where did you get these jewellery boxes?"
"I can't remember…" He answered with a shrug. "But I'll do you a special deal; buy one get one free."
"I don't think so." Hannah told him. With a smirk, she slid her nail between the base and the side of the box, working the joint loose. It fell apart to reveal a hidden compartment inside which was a small, clear plastic bag full of white powder. "You're nicked, sunshine."
Jo blinked at her for a moment, furrowing her eyebrows. Then she cautioned the man, as Hannah didn't appear to be intending to do it herself. The red-head gathered up the jewellery boxes into a plastic bag, before moving to speak to the woman at the stall beside Mr Hardcastle's. She returned a moment later, informing him that the woman had agreed to keep an eye on his stock until Uniform had been to search it and he could arrange for someone to deal with it.
Back at the station, Hannah left Jo to check the man in with the custody Sergeant, disappearing off as her mobile began to ring. The brunette stared after her with a mixture of bewilderment and annoyance. When, ten minutes later, Hannah returned, she had a packet of cigarettes and a lighter clutched tightly in her hand.
"Ready to interview Hardcastle?"
Hannah nodded. "How are we going to play this?" She asked as the two women headed through the double doors to the interview rooms.
"As a team preferably." Jo told her bluntly. "I don't know how you're used to working, but around here we don't do one-woman operations."
"Understood." The younger woman replied equally bluntly, pushing open the interview room door and going inside.
"Interview commencing at 2:47pm, officers present are DC Masters and DC McKay. Also present are Mr Simon Hardcastle and Mr Neil Harrison, Mr Hardcastle's legal representative." Jo said, taking charge of the interview. "Mr Hardcastle, can you tell us where you bought the jewellery boxes you were selling on your stall?"
"I can't remember…"
"I don't believe you." Hannah told him abruptly.
Jo glanced sideways at the younger woman, before continuing. "Mr Hardcastle, inside these jewellery boxes we found large quantities of a banned substance, namely cocaine. If you don't tell us where you bought these boxes then we're going to have to charge you with intent to supply."
"There was a guy selling them cheap in the pub." The man admitted. "I realised I could make a decent profit, so I took them off his hands. I didn't know about the drugs, though."
"What did this man look like? Did you get a name?"
Hardcastle shook his head. "No, he never said."
"Convenient." Hannah muttered.
"Well what did he look like?" Jo pressed, openly glaring at the other woman.
"He was in his fifties, possibly sixties… grey hair, glasses… about five foot ten, very thin…" Hardcastle told them slowly, furrowing his eyebrows as he thought back to the man he'd bought the boxes from. "Oh… the barman called him Jinx."
Standing up abruptly, Hannah moved to the door. "DC McKay is leaving the room at… 2:56pm."
Jo's mouth fell open as the younger woman vanished from the room without a word of explanation. Hannah headed straight for the CID office, sitting at her desk and tapping at the computer's keyboard agitatedly. She typed a name into the database and smiled triumphantly as her theory proved to be correct. Closing down the programme, she retrieved a sheet of paper from the printer and headed back to the interview room.
"DC McKay has re-entered the room." She said, taking her seat and putting the paper on the table between her and Hardcastle. "Simon, is this the man who sold you the jewellery boxes?"
"Yeah… yeah! That's the guy."
"Fabulous." The red-head said. "Interview suspended at 3:08pm."
As she turned and left the interview room once more, Jo followed, grabbing her arm and forcing her to stop. "What the hell are you playing at?"
"Nigel Anderson, commonly known as Jinx, has previous convictions for possession with intent, dealing, intimidation, GBH and assault. He also has connections to all the big dealers in Canley, supplying pretty much the entire network. He's our man."
"How do you know this? You've been here all of five minutes." Jo demanded in frustration.
Turning away, Hannah started walking towards the exit. "I grew up in Sun Hill. I only moved away eight years ago."
"Where are you going? Another cigarette break?"
Fixing the brunette with an expression that clearly said she thought it was a stupid question, Hannah raised an eyebrow. "To bring Jinx in, obviously."
With a growl of frustration, Jo followed her quickly towards the pool car before she got left behind. She had only known the younger woman for about seven and a half hours and she was already infuriated by her. Wondering how Hannah knew where to look for the suspect, Jo sat in stony silence as they moved through the streets, not feeling inclined to engage in small talk.
"Hannah McKay." The red-head said answering her mobile on the second ring. She glanced sideways at Jo and saw that she was looking out of the window, apparently not paying any attention to her colleague. Pushing the hands-free device more firmly in place, she lowered her voice slightly. "Hiya, everything alright? Yeah? That's great! No… would you mind? You're a star. Alright, thanks darling."
Jo opened her mouth to question her colleague on the phone call but, seeing the closed expression on the younger woman's face, she thought better of it. They continued in silence, until Hannah pulled up outside a run-down semi-detached house that had obviously seen better days.
"This is it."
Jo glanced sideways at her. "How do you know?"
Not answering, the young woman stalked confidently up the path and banged on the front door, waiting for someone to open it. She didn't even have time to show her warrant card, before the man who had appeared grinned, looking her up and down.
"Well, well, well… Hannah McKay." He said, leering at her. "Long time no see."
"This isn't a social call, Jinx." She informed him shortly. "Nigel Anderson, you are under arrest for the sale and distribution of a banned substance. You do not have to say anything but it may harm your defence if you do not mention, when questioned, something which you may later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence. Do you understand?" He smirked and nodded. Rolling her eyes, Hannah pulled him by the arm. "Just get in the bloody car."
Author's Note: Re-watching The Bill lately I remembered just how much I loved it. This idea wouldn't leave my head until I wrote it, so here it is!