Shepherd looked round to see Charlotte Button standing in the doorway. She smiled at him and gave him a small wave.
Shepherd walked over to her. He didn’t want to shake hands with her. He didn’t even want to talk to her. She was wearing a fawn raincoat and carrying a Louis Vuitton shoulder-bag.
‘Is he going to be okay?’ she asked.
‘Yeah,’ said Shepherd.
‘You did good work today, Dan.’
‘Where the hell were you?’ he snarled.
‘It’s complicated,’ she said.
‘No. Quadratic equations are complicated. A boss being there when her team needs her, that’s basic police procedure. Hell, it’s common fucking sense.’
Button’s face hardened. ‘I know you’ve been through a lot today, but I won’t allow you to verbally abuse me, DC Shepherd.’
‘We don’t use ranks,’ said Shepherd coldly. ‘Ever.’
‘You work for me, Dan. I don’t work for you. Remember that.’
‘Yeah, well, that could change,’ said Shepherd. ‘I needed you today.’ He jerked a thumb at Sharpe. ‘He needed you.’
‘I hope you’re not suggesting that I’m responsible for what happened to Jimmy.’
‘There were two of us, unarmed, on a train with four suicide-bombers. We should have had back-up. There should have been armed cops with us.’
‘Dan, let’s not start off on the wrong foot.’
He flashed her a tight smile. ‘We’re not dancing here. It’s not a question of right foot or wrong foot. Four terrorists with bombs could have killed a hell of a lot of people on that train, and you had your phone switched off.’
‘I don’t have to justify myself to you,’ said Button. ‘But I can tell you that I was at the American embassy for most of today, interrogating the man who planned the bombs on the Eurostar. And a lot more.’
‘Who is he?’
‘A Saudi. I was involved in his interrogation and I have to say it was pretty fucking unpleasant.’ She smiled thinly. ‘I’ve had a pretty shitty day myself, Dan. But, unlike you, I don’t come out of it covered with glory.’
Shepherd nodded slowly. ‘Okay. You’re right. I wasn’t aware of the big picture.’ He ran a hand through his hair. ‘I need to get home.’
‘I’ve arranged a plane,’ said Button. ‘There’s a car outside that’ll take you to the airport. I’ll stay here and arrange Jimmy’s transport back to the UK.’
‘What’s happened to the Uddin brothers?’
Button looked uncomfortable. ‘They’re out of the picture.’
‘They were arrested?’
‘We took them in, along with their contact in the Passport Agency.’
‘Will I be giving evidence?’
‘There isn’t going to be a trial. Not in the near future, anyway.’
Shepherd frowned. ‘Why not?’
‘They’re being taken to Guantanamo Bay.’
‘What?’
‘They provided passports to Hagerman. The Americans want to know who else they supplied. They’re putting them on a military flight tonight.’
‘They could be questioned here. Why the hell take them to Cuba?’
‘The Americans wanted them, and the way the world is just now, the Americans get what they want.’
‘The brothers probably don’t even know who Hagerman is,’ said Shepherd.
‘I agree,’ said Button.
‘They’re not terrorists.’
‘In which case they’ll be released.’
‘When? After three years? Five? Ten?’
‘When they’ve proved they’re not terrorists.’
‘How do you prove a negative?’ asked Shepherd. ‘They’re just guys who broke the law. Okay, prison here, that’s fair enough, even though we both know of men who’ve done things a thousand times worse and never been behind bars. But they don’t deserve to be clapped in irons and kept in cages.’
‘I’m not the enemy here, Dan.’
‘Then who is? The Yanks?’
‘It’s the way of the world. The Uddins provided terrorists with passports. That puts them in the terrorist camp. It’s like Bush said, you’re either with them or against them. There’s no middle ground any more.’
‘They probably thought they were helping asylum-seekers,’ said Shepherd.
‘So they can explain that.’
‘They shouldn’t have to explain it to military interrogators in Cuba,’ said Shepherd. ‘We made the case. They should be put on trial here and, if they’re found guilty, a judge decides on a fair sentence. That’s their right, laid down by the bloody Magna Carta. The right to a fair trial. And not to be punished until they’ve had one. It’s bugger all to do with the Police and Criminal Evidence Act or the European Court of Human Rights. It’s what our ancestors fought and died for hundreds of years ago.’
‘The world has changed, Dan,’ said Button, quietly.
‘Too bloody right it has.’
‘I’m sorry,’ she said, and patted his shoulder as if she was comforting a bereaved relative.