Never Apologise, Never Explain - James Craig [93]
‘We are the police, madam,’ one of the men had smirked up at her; his tone all the more galling given that he had to know exactly who she was.
She hadn’t realised it at the time, but the officers had a camera crew and a couple of newspaper journalists in tow. The first copy was already being filed, the first pictures transmitted down the wires, as Simpson went downstairs and sheepishly opened the front door. She was in the process of being done up like a kipper.
Forty-five minutes later, she was again standing on the doorstep, nursing a mug of black coffee, as she watched her husband, now in handcuffs, being bundled into the back of a black Range Rover by one of the officers. The other was busy loading cardboard boxes full of documents into the car boot. Earlier she had watched in disbelief as Joshua was informed of his rights and told he was being arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud.
‘Get me the lawyer,’ was the only thing he had said to her, before they led him out of the house.
Now, more than six hours later, the enormity of the mess she was in was becoming painfully clear. The front page of the evening paper’s website had a picture of Carole and Joshua posing on their wedding day – where on earth had they got that from? – under a headline that screamed TOP COP’S HUSBAND ARRESTED FOR £650M PONZI SCAM. Joshua was dubbed ‘the British Bernie Madoff’, after the disgraced American financier who had been given 150 years in prison for masterminding a £30 billion fraud that had wiped out thousands of investors.
Simpson finished reading the story and winced. The way the piece read, she herself had to be either a knowing accomplice or a complete fool for not noticing what was going on right under her nose. She placed her palms flat on the desk and tried some deep breathing. Next to her right hand lay a single sheet of A4 with a statement typed on it, running to just a couple of paragraphs. It hadn’t yet been picked up on by the denizens of the worldwide web, but the Met had at least managed to put out a press release stating that the commander herself was in no way suspected of any wrongdoing and that she would continue to perform her duties.
Simpson thought about that for a moment. How had they managed to come to such a definitive conclusion about her so quickly? Simpson didn’t want to think about it. Both she and Joshua must have been under long-term surveillance in the run-up to his arrest. The buggers would have gone through everything – bank statements, phone records, emails – with a fine-tooth comb.
With a trembling hand, she picked up the statement and read it again. As messages of support went, it was as much as she could hope for right now. In the longer term, she knew that her career was over. So far today there had been precisely zero messages of support from any of the higher-ups. The only call had come from Human Resources, offering her some ‘compassionate leave’. Simpson snorted at the thought. What kind of mug did they take her for? Once they got her out the door it would be hard, maybe even impossible, to get back in. The leave would drift into (very) early retirement or, worse, a posting to some hopeless Community Liaison job in some shitty part of the capital.
Drumming her fingers on the desk, the Commander tried to force herself to think. The family lawyer, a former Government prosecutor called John Lucas who charged an astonishing £800 an hour, was currently meeting with Joshua at Kentish Town police station (at least they hadn’t brought him here, to Paddington!). Once that was over, Simpson would need to speak to Lucas in order to get a full debriefing. In the meantime she could only wait.
At no time did it cross her mind that Joshua might be innocent. Now it was all about the process. In her head Simpson could hear the gears of the system grinding into action. For the first time in her life, she was on the wrong side of the law. She felt chilled and helpless.
Slowly, the shock gave way to frustration and anger at her husband. As she had feared, Joshua