The Drowned Man Read Online Free Page A

“What was Carpenter like?”
    â€œModerately ambitious and moderately talented,” Counter said. “He was good at his assignments, did a lot of complex customs investigations in his time. I have to say, there was something callow about him. I dunno . . . He had the aura of always wanting to be somewhere else, doing something else. Tended to think too far ahead.”
    â€œA dreamer?” Peter prompted.
    â€œAn aggressive dreamer, I’d phrase it. Always ambitious for something. Fancied himself a ladies’ man, too.”
    â€œWhy did you pick him?”
    â€œAh, Jesus. I scouted around my group and he simply volunteered. He asked for two weeks’ vacation while he was in Canada, and frankly, no one else wanted the job.”
    Echoes of Bartleben, Peter thought.
    â€œBut you said, Frank, that you’re bustling with work. Carpenter wasn’t in Customs anymore, was he? What files was he on?”
    Counter sat back and stared into his glass. “We seconded him to my group from Customs a year ago. Carpenter was on the task force looking at the alleged tapping of cell phones and text messages by the
News of the World
. The hacking scandal. You read about that one?”
    â€œI’m retired, not brain-dead,” Peter fired back.
    Counter looked startled, but proceeded. “You read, then, the allegations in the
Guardian
of massive phone-hacking of British nationals by Rupert Murdoch’s people.”
    Those British nationals had included the royal family. Peter stared coldly into Counter’s bleary eyes. “Did Carpenter work full-time on the hacking dossier?”
    â€œLet me catch up,” Counter said. “The Commissioner of the Met, that was a year ago, publicly declined to relaunch the investigation.”
    â€œAnd now we’re about to pay the price of procrastination?” Peter suggested.
    Frank Counter wiped sweat from his hairline.
    â€œThe
Guardian
was right,” he continued. “There were thousands of incidents. Celebrities, crime victims, the royal household, maybe even Prince Harry. Peter, we expect the House of Commons will announce a formal parliamentary inquiry sometime in the next six months. The mandate will encompass the Yard’s conduct in this matter and its cozy dealings with
News
staff. The Commissioner could look like a fool.”
    Peter had a sudden thought. The hacking allegations weren’t new. Why hadn’t Sir Stephen borne the brunt of the cock-ups back then? He had detected no unease from Bartleben that afternoon. “Tell me, Frank, why hasn’t Sir Stephen been tainted by this?”
    Frank shook his head in grudging admiration for Sir Stephen. “Bartleben was lucky. Some time ago, the powers that be decided to assign the hacking investigation to Counter Terrorism. CT! Lord knows why. That suited me fine, Stephen too. CT was glomming onto all the resources anyway. But then, for equally obscure reasons, they shifted the hacking business back to my unit, and it’s all landed on my shoulders. Sir Stephen dodged all responsibility.”
    Peter understood it was more than luck that had saved Sir Stephen. The boss was a master at bureaucratic games.
    Frank continued. “If they do a parliamentary inquiry it will keep me fully occupied for the next year or more. That’s why I can’t spare an officer for Montreal now.”
    â€œBut you could spare Carpenter. I’m confused,” Peter said.
    â€œThat’s a huge irony. While the hacking scandal was over at Counter Terrorism, John Carpenter served as our liaison. But frankly he wasn’t all that busy. We were all waiting for the techies to process more of the taps.”
    Peter could sense Frank rehearsing his testimony before the Commons committee.
    â€œIn fact,” Counter said, “six months before he left for Montreal I had assigned him another file involving football and cricket match-fixing. My unit has the lead on