DI Jack Frost 02 - A Touch of Frost

involve the son? It’s entirely up to you, of course.”
    “I don’t see what you mean,” said Frost, adding his cigarette ash to the corpses of two fat cigars in Mullett’s large ashtray.
    “The girl’s admitted everything. Roger was only trying to help her. Should he be punished for that?”
    “Yes,” said Frost.
    Mullett sighed a mouthful of cigar smoke. The inspector wasn’t being at all understanding. He readjusted his smile and pressed on. “I wouldn’t dream of interfering, of course, but I can’t help feeling that everyone’s interests would be better served if we didn’t make it known that Roger Miller falsely claimed his car was stolen. It can only complicate things.”
    “Oh?” grunted Frost.
    “Yes,” said Mullett, bravely plunging on to deeper and more dangerous waters. “If we remove that element we remove Roger from any official involvement in the hit-and-run. We could say the girl drove the car, had the accident, but didn't tell Roger what had happened as she didn't want to get him involved. That would completely eliminate him from any charges." He clapped his hands together and smiled at Frost, certain he would see the sense of all this.
    Frost laid his cigarette to rest alongside the two cigar corpses. ‘It’s a nice fairy tale, Super, but it’s not the truth and it’s not what they say in their statements.’
    Mullett cleared his throat. ‘Not in their old statements, no.’
    There was an almost audible click as Frost’s head jerked up. ‘What do you mean, old statements?’
    ‘I have had fresh statements taken.’
    At first Frost couldn’t believe what he had heard. He stared at Mullett, who suddenly found a paper knife on his desk that required fiddling with. Frost felt like snatching it from his hand and burying it to the hilt in the desk. He could hardly keep his anger in check.
    ‘Am I hearing you correctly?’ he shouted. ‘Are you trying to tell me that you have gone behind my back and taken fresh statements - different statements?’
    Mullett shrunk back from his onslaught. ‘It’s not quite like that, Inspector. Sir Charles’s solicitor had a word with them both, as a result of which they each decided to change their stories slightly.’
    Frost was now furious. ‘You conniving sod! What bloody business have you got, going behind my back, conspiring with your rich mates to get witnesses to change their statements?’
    Mullett’s fist pounded down on his desk, making the ash tray jump. ‘You will kindly remember whom you are talking to, Inspector.’ The look of contempt on Frost’s face was unsettling. Surely the man could see this was all for the best. He would try to reason with him.
    ‘Listen to me, Inspector. First, Sir Charles is paying the full costs of the girl’s defence.’
    ‘That was her bribe,’ hurled Frost. ‘What was yours?’
    The Superintendent’s mouth opened and closed. Rage made him speechless. His entire body quivered. ‘How dare you,’ he managed at last. ‘You’ve shot your bolt now, Frost. You’ve gone too far this time!’
    But Frost was still on the attack. ‘So what do you intend to do?’ he snarled back, ‘report me to the Chief Constable?’ He snatched the phone up and offered it to Mullett. ‘Here you are - take it. Report me! Shall I dial the number for you?’
    With a half-hearted flutter of his hand, the Divisional Commander waved the phone away. ‘Please listen. Not only is Sir Charles paying for the girl’s defence, he is also ensuring that sufficient funds will be made available to compensate the unfortunate victim’s widow.’ He paused, then added significantly, ‘But, what I am sure will be of great interest to you is that he has also generously agreed to make a donation of five thousand pounds to start a fund for the widow and children of PC Shelby.’ He leaned back, confident that his ace would not be trumped.
    ‘It’s not only his bloody after-shave that stinks,’ said Frost.
    Ignoring this remark, Mullett continued in a voice ringing with belief in the justice of his argument. ‘As I said, this is your case. The decision is yours and yours alone. It’s only a slight bending of the rules. I’m sure Mrs Shelby and her young family would be very grateful for the money, but if you feel we should deprive them of it, well, as I said, the decision is yours.’
    You shit, thought Frost, you utter shit! But he knew he was beaten. Wearily, he stood up. “All right, sir. Whatever fiddles