The horns of a dilemma

Shortly after Temple had left his office, Baker's phone rang. He stared at it before answering. It was Bellamy. Baker froze, it was as if Bellamy had spies in the station noting who visited his office. Maybe he was being paranoid, he thought. "What a pleasant surprise." He forced himself to say. "How are you?"

"I'm fine. I hope I'm in for a pleasant response from you, Clive." He paused. "Have you talked to Temple and sorted things out?"

"I hope so I ..."

"Hope, isn't quite good enough. Either you have or you haven't. Which is it?" Bellamy's tone of voice was distinctly unfriendly.

"Well, he's a very determined man and ..."

"So, I take you have not sorted it out. I'm very disappointed in you, Clive. It'll be nothing to the disappointment felt by the Jacksons, Dr McBride and Rex Redbourne though!" He heard Baker's intake of breath down the receiver. "You'll have to monitor every step he takes. Red tape him, for God's sake. You are the boss, after all. I'll be in touch again." He slammed down the phone.

"Damn! Damn!" Baker said to himself. He was on a loser whichever way he turned. He knew Temple's type and knew he would not be deterred from his objectives. He also knew that Bellamy had his reasons for wanting anything to do with Redbourne quashed. He held his head in his hands and wished retirement was an option for him.

As soon as the conversation with Baker ended, Bellamy rang WingCo at the Blandford and put him into the picture. WingCo digested all that he heard and pulled a face at Judy who was sitting in the office with him. After the brief call, WingCo shook his head. "We'll have to bring McBride in on this, Judy. Unfortunately, we're in this too deep to get out easily. Besides which, we haven't yet made enough money to just up sticks and run for it." He sat back in his swivel chair. "Anyway, why should we get out of it? It's a nice little earner. No flat-footed copper is going to ruin things for us."

"I've got to call in at McBride's surgery, later today. I'll talk things over with him. Between us, I'm sure we can sort things out." Judy tried to reassure her husband. She glanced at the clock. "I think I'll go now, in fact. Afternoon surgery will be ending and he will fit me in at the end, I'm sure."

The receptionist told Dr McBride that Mrs Jackson was waiting. He wondered why she had come and decided it was not just for her health. He left her till last, telling the receptionist to go home, since he could deal with matters.

"More sodium amytal?" he asked Judy.

"Yes, please. But that's not why I've come. I'll be more doped than those bloody dodgy dogs of Redbourne's, at this rate!" She looked closely at McBride. "Which brings me to the real reason I'm here. Bellamy tried to fix things about that Inspector Temple, you know what I mean?" McBride nodded. "Well, it seems he's not fixable! In fact, the more he's warned off, the more he wants to dig into out business! We don't want him and his sidekick snooping round the Blandford anymore."

"And I don't want him monitoring who comes in and out of this surgery." McBride added glancing out of the window. "There's no one there at the moment, so don't look so worried! But when Davey was brought here, the other night, a uniformed copper was standing watching everything that was going on."

"Something's going to have to be done, Stuart, we're all in this too deep and there's more to be made, anyway!"

"I'll have a chat with Rex. He'll know how to deal with the likes of Temple. He's had plenty of practice." He wrote out a prescription for Judy. "Here, try to get some sleep with these. You look tired, Judy."

"Look tired! I bloody feel tired! Having those policemen wandering round has given me nightmares."

After she had gone, McBride drove round to Redbourne's place. Tracey was just leaving, as he walked in. She looked flustered, unsure whether to stay or leave.

"You just go off home, Tracey. Rex and I have some things to discuss. It won't take long though." She smiled gratefully and clattered across the room in her high heels, closing the door behind her.