AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘I assume you think it’s Chrissie Stringer who’s most at risk of winning, or should I saylosing, the public vote?’ Commander Ratface said. ‘She’s responsible for an actual atrocity, Douglas Salt just took advantage of a loophole and a flawed healthcare system.’
‘That’s what I think, sir.’
Ratface frowned. ‘But notwe?’
‘No, sir. Tilly says Douglas Salt will get the most votes.’
‘Really?’
‘She says it’s a rigged vote and Salt will win by a landslide.’
‘That seems … counterintuitive.’
‘It does, sir. She’s basing this on how the location of an event dictates how much media coverage it gets. She quoted aNew York Timeseditor who said, “One dead fireman in Brooklyn is worth five English bobbies, who are worth fifty Arabs, who are worth five hundred Africans”.’
‘That can’t be true, surely.’
‘It isn’t, sir. Tilly says, from the perspective of the news media in the west, five hundred Africans have nowhere near that value. She also quoted’ – Mathers checked her notebook – ‘someone called Stephen Barnett from 2006. He said, “One death in your street isworth ten in the next town, one hundred in a European country and ten thousand a long way away”.’
‘She’s saying that Douglas Salt had more media attention? I’ve never heard of him. Chrissie Stringer, on the other hand …’
‘The Botanist is a British serial killer, sir, but this is a global vote. The PR firm Chrissie Stringer hired was successful at changing the narrative to one of a woman having to be ruthless in a man’s world, whereas Douglas Salt was the lead on the news for weeks in the States. And Americans have died as a direct result of his actions. Miss Bradshaw says he’s winning the media coverage by a factor of ten.’
‘But really it’s flip-a-coin time?’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘What are your next steps?’
‘Excuse me, sir?’
‘You still have our confidence, Detective Chief Superintendent Mathers. There will be a couple of things we’ll want to review later, but, on the whole, there isn’t anything you could have done differently. You remain in charge of the investigation.’
Mathers picked up her dress hat and got to her feet. ‘Thank you, sir,’ she said. ‘I’d better get back.’
‘I understand you have handpicked the officers guarding Chrissie Stringer?’
‘I have, sir. She’s in a safe house and no one with prior involvement in the case is on her protection detail.’
‘And Douglas Salt?’
‘He refused to leave his house, sir.’
‘Why?’
‘Says it’s more secure than anywhere we can provide.’
‘You’re protecting him there?’
‘Sergeant Poe is, sir.’
‘But with our support?’
‘No, sir.’
‘No?’
‘It’s all very unorthodox, sir, but, given the circumstances, I think it’s exactly the right move …’
