Sorry for delays! This part is in a kinda different style but I'm battling with an issue of time (I go away in 16 days and I want to have finished this before I go, eek!) and trying to give Brian some answers without bogging down into the case and mucking it up. But, enjoy! Jessie xx

Tuesday

10am

"Mrs. Kaye? I'm Detective Superintendent Pullman, this is my colleague, Brian Lane. We're from the Unsolved Crime and Open Case Squad. We spoke on the phone…"

"Hi, Gerry Standing, Steve McAndrew, UCOS. You're the pathologist that worked on the Anthony Kaye case in '97?"

"Hello, yes this is Deputy Assistant Commissioner Robert Strickland, I need to speak to you regarding the investigation into the death of Anthony Kaye in police custody in 1997."

Mrs. Kaye invited Sandra and Brian into her simply furnished terraced house.

The pathologist nodded and led Steve and Gerry to her office.

The voice on the end of the telephone line let out a low sigh that Robert's ears could just make out.

It had begun.

11am

"Hi, Gerry? Yeh, how did it go? Ok, great. How long will you be? We'll see you back at the office."

"Sorry about that, so you're definite about that? Those injuries definitely occurred before death?"

"Hi, Sandra? Yes, I've just got off the phone to them. Right. Where are you going now then? Ok, I've just got a couple of things to see to here, I'll come down in an hour."

Sandra hung up the phone and looked across to Brian in the passenger seat. "You ok?"

Gerry and Steve frowned over the pictures the pathologist had laid over her desk. "Look, there…"

Robert sighed and stood up, lifting his jacket from the back of his chair. She wasn't going to like this.

12 noon

"Coffee?" Brian asked as Steve and Gerry returned. Receiving two certain nods in his direction, he precisely lined up five mugs and proceeded to make the coffee.

"Cheese and onion. Chicken mayo. Ham salad. And two plain ham," Steve divided the sandwiches between the team. Handing Sandra the two plain sandwiches.

"Afternoon," Rob entered the office. "How is it going?"

Sandra went first, adding Mrs. Kaye's comments to the tapestry of the case where they had been missing before. The woman had been shocked, confused but co-operative and grateful. "She couldn't tell us much," she concluded. "But she seemed genuine. She wants to know what happened as much as we do. Apparently the family weren't told much at the time."

"Do you think they'll be any come-back, should we uncover the worst?" Rob asked cautiously.

"I don't know," Sandra replied honestly. "If it wasn't suicide; if it was racial; if it was personal… I think we need to find that out before I can answer that question."

"And if it wasn't suicide, wouldn't they deserve something?" Steve asked incredulously. "I mean, come on!"

"Fair comment," Rob sighed. "What did the pathologist have to say?"

"Kaye suffered several injuries prior to his death," Gerry began. "Cuts and bruises mainly, looks like he took a beating. But because of the amount of drugs that were in his system, it's difficult to say how long before death the injuries occurred. It's possible he caused them himself if he was fitting; or that he might have been in a fight before Brian arrested him. None of them serious enough to be part of the c, o, d. Puncture marks in his skin from injections same story. The toxicology suggested that the drugs in his system had been administered several hours before he was arrested. But also that there were no abnormal amounts, as you'd expect for a suicide attempt."

"What if an additional amount entered his system in the hours before he died? He could have injected through a puncture mark that was already there?" Rob thought aloud. "Could it have been just a tipping point too much at the wrong time?"

"It's possible," Gerry said. "The pathologist said she'd have another look over them and the report and get back to us."

"The parts blacked out on the copy of the pathology report on file all relate to the cuts and bruises," Steve added sceptically. "As if they didn't want any possible links to a scuffle in the cells."

"How did you get on?" Sandra asked. She watched as Brian turned his eyes down and his concentration diverted to unwrapping his sandwich. She couldn't even begin to imagine what was going on in his thoughts at the best of times; and this was definitely not the best of times.

"Complete denial of any wrong doings by any member of the investigating team," Rob reported neutrally. "All the evidence apparently pointed to an accident death caused by a delayed reaction to a drug overdose, from drugs taken some time prior to arrest. He refuted any suggestion that Brian had been set up or used as a scapegoat. The doctor's report and the testimonies of Brian's superior office at the time were considered sufficient evidence to recommend early retirement on health grounds. He was sympathetic to the situation, saying that there probably wouldn't have been anything Brian could have done had he been there when Kaye died, but that he might have been negligent in observing Kaye's behaviour."

"That he should have noticed that the kid was off his head, but didn't because … that's well considerate," Gerry fumed not quite under his breath. "Sorry, mate," he looked across to Brian.

"It's ok," Brian's eyes rested on each of them in turn. "He might have had a point."

"Let's wait to see if the pathologist turns anything up before we give up completely," Steve said supportively. Mindful that Brian's next sentence in all likelihood would be a suggestion that the case wasn't worth pursuing. "We still need to give the lad's mam some answers."

"Yeah, and the fact that they weren't told anything really at the time," Gerry looked to Sandra for confirmation. "That's still fishy, right?"

"1997? Young black drug addict dies in custody? How much would you have told the family?" Brian frowned at his friend. "How much would they have believed?"

Rob looked around the subdued team before addressing Brian directly. "No-one said this was going to be easy Brian. But Gerry and Steve are right, there are still questions that need answering," he waited for the older man to acknowledge his words before turning to Sandra. "Can I have a word in your office?"

"Sure," Sandra handed him one of the sandwiches she was still holding and picked up her coffee from the side.

"Yours is in the red mug," Brian said to the DAC. "Milk, no sugar."

"Thank you," Rob smiled, picking up the mug and following Sandra to her room at the back.

She nodded at the chair opposite her desk before setting her coffee down. It felt a tiny bit weird to be having lunch with her …boyfriend? in her office at work; but a kind of weird that made her feel happy too. She unwrapped her sandwich and picked which half to eat first.

"So, what did you want to say?" she asked before she took a bite.

"I'm going to need to bring someone else in," he sipped his coffee. "Not over your head or anything," he grinned as he detected a bristle of indignance. "Just another pair of eyes if you like for when you're interviewing Brian and the other officers that you need to talk to. Kind of like an insurance, if anything does get turned up, we don't want to be accused of 'keeping it in the family' so to speak."

"That's fair," she agreed. "Do you trust what you were told this morning?"

He shook his head.

1pm

"Hello, Mr. Nixon? I'm Detective Superintendent Pullman from the Unsolved Crime and Open… you've heard of us, good. We're re-investigating the case of Anthony Kaye, death in police custody, that's right. Would you be able to come into the station tomorrow to talk to us?"

"Hello is that Andy Meadows? Former DI in the drugs squad? Hi, it's Gerry Standing from UCOS. We're re-investigating …"

"Hello, this is Steve McAndrew, UCOS, I'd like to arrange to see one of your prisoners, yes Derek Bradley, arrested May 1998. This afternoon if possible?"

"Hi, Brian Lane, UCOS, I rang earlier regarding the contact details for …"

3pm

"Right, we're off to see this former drugs baron, see what he has to say about grooming Kaye to take over the chain," Steve poked his head through the door. "See you in the morning then?"

Sandra nodded. "See you tomorrow."

5:33 pm

"You wanted to see me, Sir?"