Necessary as Blood

research. It was too easy, and it‘s not the first time I‘ve used the Chronicle‘s archive when I needed information that I thought would help solve a case. I thought I could have my cake and eat it, too, more fool me. Because this time I blew it.
    ‘I thought my dad had gone for the day. I used his office, and he came back when I still had the file on Azad open. He saw what I was working on. And then‘ — Melody shook her head, as if astounded by her own folly — ‘and then I was stupid enough to ask him if he knew anything about Ritchie‘s club. That was all it took for him to put the pieces together.‘
    ‘And he didn‘t tell you he was going to run the story?‘
    ‘You don‘t know my dad. Nothing is more important than a story. Nothing. I could kill him.‘
    So that was how the paper had connected the police, the club and Azad, thought Gemma.
    ‘I should have known better,‘ Melody went on. ‘I should never have trusted him. And you should never have trusted me.‘
    ‘Melody, this wasn‘t a self-fulfilling prophecy,‘ protested Gemma. ‘Maybe you shouldn‘t have done the research at the paper...‘
    ‘But this is just the tip of the iceberg, don‘t you see? You know what the papers are like, and my dad‘s is one of the worst. Oh, he wants a shred of truth to a story, but given that, he can spin straw into gold. If he knew I was involved in a sensitive case, he‘d watch me like a hawk. And if anyone in the force knew of my connection with him, they‘d never let me near anything high-profile. Didn‘t you wonder why I‘d never applied for promotion? I couldn‘t risk it. I couldn‘t risk anyone taking an interest in me.‘
    ‘Melody,‘ Gemma broke in, ‘did it not occur to you that by leaking this story, your father might have been trying to sabotage your career? That he might have guessed you‘d try to resign? I mean, really, this doesn‘t amount to all that much, except that it caused some ruffled feathers, and it humiliated you.‘
    Melody stared at her. ‘No. But — oh, God. I was even more stupid than I thought. He‘s never wanted me to do this... He considers police work a waste of my very expensive education, and my intelligence, not to mention the fact that he thinks I should want to take over what he‘s worked so hard to build. And he‘s a persistent bastard, my dad, or he wouldn‘t be where he is.‘ She frowned. ‘I just handed him the opportunity on a plate, didn‘t I?‘
    ‘Are you tempted?‘ Gemma asked, wondering what it would be like to be offered the kind of life Melody‘s father must lead. ‘To take over from him, eventually, I mean? I think most people would be. Power, position — and money. Your dad must be richer than — well, I don‘t imagine he worries about the mortgage or the grocery bill, to put it mildly.‘
    ‘It‘s all on a relative scale,‘ Melody answered, with a bitter smile. ‘He has to worry about keeping up with his friends‘ private jets. But it‘s not really about the money, for my dad. It‘s about what he can do, how much influence he has, how far he‘s come from snotty-nosed little Ivan Talbot who scrapped his way out of a Newcastle council estate.‘
    Gemma stared at Melody, bemused. She felt as if she was trying to fit together two photographic negatives, one over the other, that didn‘t quite match. ‘Talbot‘s a common enough name. I‘d never have thought... But why on earth is your dad called Ivan?‘
    ‘My nan was reading Russian history at school when she got pregnant. She was a bright girl who raised a bright child, in spite of the obstacles. But‘ — Melody leaned forward — ‘I don‘t want to be him. I don‘t want his job, or his newspaper. I would never be more than Ivan‘s daughter, no matter what I accomplished. Can you understand that?‘
    Gemma thought about her own father, about his constant disapproval of her choices, and his bitter disappointment that she had failed to fit into his mould. What might he do to scupper her career, if he had the power?
    ‘And besides,‘ Melody went on raggedly, ‘all I ever wanted, for as long as I can remember, was to be in the police. I grew up watching every cop show, reading books on “how to be a detective“... Dad thought if he sent me to the best schools, and university... that I would eventually grow out of it, that I‘d learn to be "normal”. But I didn‘t.‘
    ‘And you‘re telling me that you would even consider letting him get away with