Waiting for Wednesday

Karlsson.
    ‘Does this have anything to do with
that Dr Klein?’
    ‘Why should it?’
    ‘Dr Klein and Dr Bradshaw were
treading on each other’s toes. One of them had to go. We went through a full
consultation process. The fact is that your Dr Klein is not trained in the forensic
field.’
    Karlsson paused for a few seconds. ‘In
my opinion,’ he said, ‘Dr Bradshaw does not represent good value for
money.’
    ‘Wait,’ said the commissioner.
He strode across to his desk and pressed a button. He leaned down. ‘Send him
in.’
    ‘What is this?’ said
Karlsson.
    ‘I don’t believe in being
underhand,’ said the commissioner. ‘Things like this should be dealt with
face to face.’
    Karlsson turned as a young uniformed officer
opened the door and Hal Bradshaw walked in. Karlsson felt his cheeks flush with anger
and hoped it didn’t show. When he saw the hint of a smile on Bradshaw’s
face, he had to look away.
    ‘Mal,’ said the commissioner.
‘I don’t believe in going behind people’s backs. Tell Dr Bradshaw what
you’ve just told me.’
    The three men were now standing in an
awkward triangle in the middle of the commissioner’s office. Karlsson had the
feeling that he’d walked into a trap.
    ‘I didn’t realize that talking
to my boss was going behindpeople’s backs,’ he said,
‘but I’m happy to be clear about things.’ He turned to Bradshaw.
‘I don’t believe that your presence is helpful to the inquiry.’
    ‘Based on what?’
    ‘Based on the fact that I’m
running it.’
    ‘That’s not enough,’ said
the commissioner. ‘Dr Bradshaw’s got a track record. He appears on the
Today
programme.’
    ‘I don’t think he represents a
proper use of public money.’
    Bradshaw turned to the commissioner and gave
a sigh. ‘I think this is a problem that you need to sort out between
yourselves,’ he said.
    ‘No,’ said the commissioner.
‘I want it sorted out here and now.’
    ‘I think my track record speaks for
itself,’ said Bradshaw. ‘The real problem seems to be Mr Karlsson’s
belief that a psychotherapist he happened to run into could be effective doing profiling
work as sort of hobby.’
    ‘Shall we stick to your track
record?’ said Karlsson.
    ‘Absolutely,’ said Bradshaw.
‘I’m here because Commissioner Crawford knew my work and appointed me
personally. If you have any objection to that, then now is the time to say
it.’
    ‘All right,’ said Karlsson.
‘I experienced your profiling skills on the Michelle Doyce case. Your analysis of
the crime scene was misleading. Your identification of the murderer was completely
mistaken and would have derailed the entire course of the investigation, if it
hadn’t been for Frieda Klein.’
    ‘It’s not an exact
science,’ said Bradshaw.
    ‘Not the way you do it,’ said
Karlsson. ‘Frieda Klein didn’t just get it right, she almost got killed
doing it. And that was after being effectively fired from the investigation.’
    Bradshaw give a sniff. ‘From what I
heard, Klein’s mishap came from the failings of your own officers. I may have myfailings, but I’ve never stabbed a mental patient to
death.’ He stepped back quickly when he saw that Karlsson had raised his right
hand.
    ‘Steady, Mal,’ said the
commissioner.
    ‘Frieda was fighting for her
life,’ said Karlsson. ‘And she showed you up for the idiot you are.’
He turned to Crawford. ‘He talks about his track record. Just check it out. From
what I’ve seen, Bradshaw is terrific at profiling criminals after they’ve
been caught. Frieda Klein was more useful when we were still searching for
them.’
    Crawford looked at the two of them.
    ‘I’m sorry, Mal, but I want Dr
Bradshaw to stay on the case. Just find a way to work together. That’s
all.’
    Karlsson and Bradshaw walked out of the
commissioner’s office together. Without speaking they reached the lift, waited for
it, got in and rode to the ground floor. As they stepped out, Bradshaw spoke. ‘Was
it Frieda who put you up to this?’ he said.
    ‘What are you talking
about?’
    ‘If she’s going to damage
me,’ he said, ‘she’ll need to be better at it than that.’
    They could all see that Karlsson was in a
thoroughly bad mood. It didn’t help that the principal operations room in the
police station was being painted. The desks were covered with sheets. Karlsson glanced
into the various conference rooms but they were already being used by other officers or
had been filled