‘You’re taking this the wrong way, Martin.’ Jason heard the note of desperation in his own voice. ‘I didn’t intend to be in any way critical of you or your management. I think we’re all aware that there wouldn’t even be an Abbey Vineyards without your initiative and drive. It’s just that I — we — thought that as things move on and the enterprise gets bigger and more prosperous, it might be appropriate to adopt a slightly modified structure. I wasn’t intending to be at all critical of the way you have led us or continue to lead us.’
‘I’m glad to hear it.’ Martin allowed himself a slow smile as he felt his triumph complete. ‘In view of these assurances, I am prepared to forget today’s exchange, to move forward as if no opposition had been voiced. I think it only fair that I should add that if there is any future challenge to my authority, I shall be well aware of the likely source of it.’
Beaumont watched them leave his office without another word. They looked like two penitent school prefects who had been checked for a serious breach of the rules, he thought.
That was entirely satisfactory.
ELEVEN
In one respect, the Open University graduation day at Hereford surprised Chief Superintendent John Lambert, who was able to enjoy it purely as a spectator, proud of his friend’s achievement.
It was surprisingly like a conventional degree ceremony at any university. He had somehow expected these grizzled professionals of various ages and callings to be quite different from the youngsters concluding three years of full-time student life. But today they were surprisingly similar. There was the same sense of joyous achievement, the same slightly surprised air that they were now the holders of degrees.
In one sense, he was surprised to be here himself. You were always warned about making close friends in the police service. It might affect your judgement in crisis situations. It might force rash acts of schoolboy heroism which went against all the rules, when you stared into the barrels of a shotgun held by a violent man forced into a corner.
Such situations were still mercifully rare. More often, a sense of comradeship made officers cover up acts of villainy or weakness in colleagues they had grown to like. Mistaken loyalties had undoubtedly aided the spread of corruption in the Metropolitan Police in the sixties and seventies. More trivially, camaraderie might make you cover up minor omissions of timekeeping or short cuts in procedure in your colleagues, and thus affect the efficiency and reliability of the service and its reputation with the public.
Lambert was not exactly a law unto himself, but his seniority and reputation had secured him certain privileges. He had been able to retain Bert Hook as his detective sergeant for much longer than would normally have been the case. The situation had been consolidated by Hook’s surprising refusal to accept the inspector status which could undoubtedly have been his, in favour of retaining the work he enjoyed as Lambert’s assistant. It had never been openly stated, but each of them clearly understood and respected the fact that their virtues complemented each other’s.
One of Bert Hook’s advantages was that the criminals and others he came into contact with in CID work consistently underestimated him. They accepted too easily the stolid village-bobby exterior and manner as the reality of the man, and missed the shrewd intelligence which his manner and appearance concealed. That was useful to Lambert in his work, but he was delighted to be here today to witness the formal recognition of Hook’s intelligence and application in the conferral of an excellent degree, achieved by part-time study in conditions which would have defeated lesser men.
Eleanor Hook and Christine Lambert had awarded themselves new dresses to celebrate this joyous occasion. Jack and Luke Hook, who had known Lambert as ‘Uncle John’ since their early childhoods, were a little awkward with him now, as befitted their teenage status. In truth, they were rather in awe of his local fame as a solver of serious crimes, including the murders which always dominated the headlines. However, being fifteen and thirteen meant that they could not really acknowledge their awe of anyone, except the pop stars and top sportsmen they would never have to meet. But they were immensely proud of their father, though of course they could not demonstrate that in his presence. But there would be no more enthusiastic applause in the hall than theirs, when Bert eventually went forward for his degree.
The person least at ease in the group was Bert Hook himself, sweltering in his best suit beneath the blue and gold gown of the soon-to-be graduate. He had enjoyed his studies, in literature and history particularly, far more than he had expected to, but the formal reception of his degree was less to his taste. ‘This is like a school speech day,’ he said gloomily, looking round at the plethora of gowns like his. He grinned weakly at John Lambert. ‘Do you think Lord Wotsisname will ask if we can have a half-holiday?’
‘They don’t have school speech days any more. Mrs Fisher says they’re elitist because they single out the most able,’ said Luke Hook piously.
‘Your Mrs Fisher has a lot to answer for,’ said his mother darkly.
‘She doesn’t approve of Open University degrees. She says they’re too easy because you can pick them off in modules.’
‘That young lady talks too much about things she doesn’t know anything about,’ said Eleanor Hook. Then, thinking that she might be undermining the teacher’s position, she added guiltily, ‘Not that she doesn’t know her own subject and teach it very well.’
‘She’s a. . a bit of an idiot, really,’ said Jack. He blushed furiously, because he’d only just prevented himself from saying ‘tosser’ and shocking the delicate sensibilities of these adults. ‘She doesn’t think sport should be on the timetable and wants playing fields sold to build affordable housing.’
‘You’ll be able to tell her she’s an idiot at the parents’ evening, Mum,’ said Luke cheerfully. He turned to his father. ‘Perhaps now that you’re going to have time on your hands, you could come along in your gown to argue with her about the OU, Dad.’
‘This is the one and only day you’ll see me in this thing,’ said Bert Hook firmly, raising his arms beneath the gown and then letting them fall helplessly to his sides. ‘It’s hired at a ridiculous fee for this occasion and this occasion alone.’
‘Then I’d better take your picture whilst we have the opportunity,’ said Christine Lambert cheerfully, producing her digital camera determinedly from her handbag. She set the group beneath an aged oak tree and took several photographs of various combinations, including one of Bert Hook smiling shyly with an arm round each of his sons, which would later turn out to be unexpectedly impressive. ‘And now the one to be framed and put on the mantelpiece,’ she said, when Bert thought she had finished. He refused all requests for a picture wearing his mortar board, but she eventually persuaded him to sit alone in his gown with the offending headgear in his lap, in the conventional pose of the newly recognized graduate.
Twenty minutes later, he walked across the stage, with that rolling gait he had used so many thousands of times to walk back to his bowling mark, before making the best amateur batsmen in the country hop about a bit. Then the announcer told the audience that Herbert James Hook was a policeman, and there was surprised applause from the public to support the more raucous enthusiasm from his own group of determined supporters.
When the assemblage of proud relatives and friends emerged blinking from the hall into the sunlight, Bert was sent off to renew acquaintance with the group he had met with regularly over the last year. And this group of mature men and women laughed their delighted recall of incidents during their studies, for all the world as if they were twenty-one-year-olds giggling their delight and relief on this day of triumph. When they had set out so diffidently on this academic journey, this day had seemed distant, even impossible, to all of them. The day and the ceremony were all the sweeter for that. Both seemed afterwards to have passed very quickly.