After spekaing with Lynley, who was moving in his attempt to protect his DS, Kate returned to her office and went to see her own Gov. She smiled. Lynley's team seemed to be a harmonious one, she guessed Nkata had grabbed Havers the second she walked into the office to tell her all the gossip.
Kate knocked on Dalgliesh's door, and after hearing the familiar
"Enter", she went in.
"Good afternoon, Sir. I managed to speak to DS Havers, Sir, she'd come in to get a file and I thought it best to talk to her right away. DS Nkata had already filled her to the brim with the scuttlebut."
Dalgliesh smiled at her and indicated for her to sit down:
"All right, then, tell me about your conversation, Kate."
Kate retold her conversation with Barbara, adding her own thoughts and valuations. She could see Dalgliesh frowing at Barbara's omission of Emily's attack, he didn't like that. He could understand it on a human level, but DS Havers should have incduded it. He had an inkling there might be more to this story than first met the eye. He would question Havers himself if need be, and asked Kate:
"Do you feel that that is all there is too it? Loyalty between two women, even after the near death of the child?"
"No, Sir, I don't. I think DS Havers is a loyal, honest person, her Inspector certainly thinks the world of her, and DS Nkata was trying his best to protect her, but I'm sure in fact, that there is something else DS Havers is not telling, but in the office with Lynley, I thought it best to wait..."
"Hm. You're right. We'll see what Havers tells us tomorrow. Give her another chance if you think it best, wait with typing up the report until she's been here tomorrow. I'll make it clear I'll be understanding if she tells us everything she knows. If she' not honest, I'll make a second evaluation. That should be enough. As for a reprimand, let's first see how cooperative Havers is."
His voice was friendly and his eyes twinkled a bit, and Kate was not overly worried.
She'd nudge the DS onto the right path tomorrow... Fact was that they had enough to go on even without the DS's information, but Kate really wanted to help her. Kate hated hipocrites and racists more than anything else, and Barbara had been a woman to her liking. Plus that little girl of hers had really been adorable. What if she'd drowned?
Dalgliesh had already noted that Kate was on DS Havers' side:
"Tomorrow I'd like to speak to the DS first, thank you Kate."
He wanted to form his own opinion. Kate didn't like it one bit.
"Yes, Sir!" Ahwell. I guess I'll have to trust the DS's intelligence and honesty.
The next morning, Barbara went straight to Dalgliesh's office. She'd taken care to dress nicely, even if it wasn't her forte, and was wearing a pair of black wool pants, black shoes ( she'd even polished them the evening before) and since it was really chilly, a green blouse with a black cotton v necked pullover on top. Winston had told her once that wearing green enhanced her beautiful eyed. She'd nearly died of embarassment, but since then, she'd bought some green tops and blouses...
She'd even put on some mascara, and hoped dearly she wouldn't start bawling sometime during the interview.
She was really nervous now. What if Dalgliesh reprimanded her instead of leaving it to Lynley?
Damn that Emily! Barbara wished she'd never met her. On the other hand, saving Hadiyyah's life had brought her much closer to Azhar...
How strange life is.
Walking out of the elevator, Kate met her:
"Commissioner Dalgliesh wishes to talk to you, Seargent. Please follow my advice and be completely, 100 honest with him." With that she nudged Barbara forward, hoping the DS was smart enough to listen to her advice.
And Barbara was a lot of things, but stupid wasn't one of them. She'd understood the underlaying warning, and was frantically trying to come up with a way to be completely honest without mentioning Azhar's cousin. If her father found out her own brother had raped her, he'd be devastated. She'd since married an English man, and much to Azhar's surprise, no one had protested much. Barbara had silently thought that maybe Azhar's family had refused Angela more because of Angela herself than for other reasons, but had kept her peace. Azhar would have to deal with that by himself, she could only help by being his friend, and Hadiyyah's...
Kate and Barbara walked into Dalgliesh's office. Barbara noted he had a spacious office, with a breathtaking view. She guessed he was a really important bloke, that Dalgliesh was...
"Ah, Seargent Havers, thank you for joining us this morning. Please, have a seat."
There was a knock on the door. Dalgliesh's seargent, Benton-Smith, came in with a tray with coffee and tea.
