Dead Tomorrow

stuff?’
    ‘Your fame as a seafarer goes before you.’
    ‘Did you ever see that film, Master and Commander ?’ Grace frowned.
    ‘Russell Crowe.’
    He nodded. ‘Yep. Saw it.’
    ‘That’s how I feel. Like I’m one of his crew who took a cannonball in the stomach.’
    ‘Listen, mate. Ari may be hacked off with you, but that doesn’t give her automatic rights to screw your life up.’
    ‘You’re wrong. Shit, do you remember Kramer versus Kramer ?’
    ‘Meryl Streep?’
    Glenn Branson smiled for a fleeting instant. ‘Fuck, I’m impressed. Two films in a row I’ve mentioned that you’ve actually seen! Yeah, Meryl Streep and Dustin Hoffman. Well, that’s about my situation.’
    ‘Except you’re not as good-looking as Dustin Hoffman.’
    ‘You know how to kick a man when he’s down, don’t you?’
    ‘In the nuts. It’s the only place.’
    Bransonpeeled off his mac. ‘So, right, the other letter is the divorce petition from the court. You can’t believe this, man, you can’t fucking believe what she is saying!’
    The Detective Sergeant slung his mac over his arm, held out his fingers and began counting them off. ‘She says there is an irretrievable breakdown, OK? She’s alleging unreasonable behaviour by me. That I’m not interested in sex any more. That I’m drinking excessively–yeah, well, that’s true, she’s driving me to fucking drink, right? She’s citing lack of affection .’
    He dug his hand inside his mackintosh and pulled out several sheets of folded paper, clipped together. Reading from the top one, he said, ‘Apparently I refuse to join in with the family. I shout at her when we are in a car together. I keep her short of money–shit, I bought her a fucking horse! And get this–apparently I don’t appreciate how Ari looks after our children.’ He shook his head. ‘That’s rich, that is! What am I supposed to do? Tell everyone, Sorry, I know this is a murder inquiry, but I have to get home and bath Remi ?’
    The words gave Roy Grace a sudden chill. He suddenly realized that’s exactly where he was going to be when his child was born. It was normal for him to be in his office by seven in the morning, if not even earlier. And not to get home until eight, or even later. When his child was born, could he change those hours?
    Not without harming his career.
    He looked at Glenn, stared into his questioning eyes. And he knew the answer was one that the DS was not going to like. To be a good police officer was to be married to the force. For those thirty years until you collected your pension–and longer now, if you wanted–your work would comefirst. You were a lucky person if your spouse or partner accepted that. A tragically large number, like Glenn’s wife, Ari, did not.
    ‘You know the problem?’ Grace said.
    Branson shook his head.
    ‘She’s probably right. A little insensitive, sure, but fundamentally right. You have to decide if you want a successful career or a successful marriage. It is possible to combine both, but you need a very tolerant and understanding partner.’
    ‘Yeah, well, the irony is I joined the police so that my kids could be proud of their dad.’
    ‘So they should be.’
    ‘So how proud of me would they be if I quit?’
    ‘And went back to being a bouncer? Or a security guard at Gatwick? It’s not what job you do,’ Grace said, ‘it’s the person you are. You can be a good, very human bouncer. You can be a vigilant security guard. You can be a crap cop. It’s what you are inside, not what it says on your badge or your ID card.’
    ‘Yeah, yeah. Sure. But you know what I mean.’
    ‘Look, I’ve told you before, with the mess I’ve made of my life, I’m not the right person to give marital advice. But you know what I really think? If Ari loved you, really loved you, she’d stick with it. I’m not sure she does really love you at all–all this legal process and stuff she’s throwing at you. I think if you did quit the force to appease her, at some point she’d want something else. Whatever you do is ultimately going to be wrong for her. I think she’s that kind of restless person. Appeasing her will never be more than a short-term solution. So, if I were you, I’d stay with your career.’
    Bransonnodded gloomily.
    ‘Know what Winston Churchill said about appeasement?’ said Roy.
    ‘Tell me?’
    ‘An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last.’

36
    The two bodieshad been dumped in the sea in