him for approval. "But horseshit we can live with."
Of the nationals, only
The Guardian
gave the story any particular prominence on its front page; the
Sun
offered an exclusive interview with Kelly's grieving mother on page five, and the
Mirror
countered with a centre-spread of colour photographs showing Kelly as Mary in a school production of
Godspell.
"All right." Bill Berry brought the room to attention. "Before we get down to the main business, a word or two about Mr. Brent. Unless you've had your head in the sand the past twenty-four hours, you'll be aware of how he's been shooting his mouth off."
There was enough angry muttering to suggest this was the case.
"Well," Berry continued, "we've been taking a closer look at the righteous Mr. Brent, and he's not the paragon he seems.
"For one thing, rather than being the concerned family man he's setting himself up to be, it seems he walked out on the family home when Kelly was just seven, her brothers eleven and nine.
While he was AWOL, he was being chased by the Child Support Agency for nonpayment over a period of almost two years."
Positive sounds from the assembled troops: payback time. They were enjoying this.
"Brent moved back about five years ago, since which time he's got himself involved in a couple of local businesses, part shares in a Caribbean restaurant in Hyson Green and some gimcrack record shop in Hockley. Both aboveboard as far as we can tell, but might be worth taking a look."
Berry paused and scanned the room. "More importantly to us, he's got something of a record. A twelve-month suspended sentence for possession of a class C drug back in '89, and a three-year stretch for aggravated assault."
"Explains why he's not been home much," one of the officers at the back remarked.
Laughter all round.
"So," Berry continued, "if Mr. Brent doesn't keep his head down and his mouth closed, I'll have the Press Office pull the rug from under him so fast, he won't know if he's on his head or his arse."
More laughter.
The DS looked towards Resnick. "Charlie, you want to bring us up to speed?"
Resnick positioned himself in front of a diagram showing the immediate area where the incident had taken place.
"Fortunately for us," Resnick said, "there were three CCTV cameras in operation at the time of the murder. One, here, at the side of Gordon House; another farther back along Cranmer Street, the direction from which DI Kellogg would have approached; and lastly, here, on St. Ann's Hill Road, just short of the intersection.
"What seems clear is that one group of youths, a number wearing Radford colours, made their way into St. Ann's along Forest Road East and Mapperley Road and entered Cranmer
Street at its western end, here. They then met with a group of similar size from St. Ann's—we're talking around a dozen to fifteen—some of whom came along Cranmer Street from the other end, some cutting up alongside these houses here, where there's a lot of rebuilding going on, on St. Ann's Hill Road."
"Prearranged, then, sir?" Anil Khan asked.
"Looks that way."
"Turf war," Frank Michaelson said.
"Could be."
"Radford and St. Ann's," Bill Berry remarked. "Never mind the Montagues and the bloody Capulets. Not as dead set against one another as St. Ann's and the Meadows, maybe, but close enough."
"According to DI Kellogg," Resnick said, "the shooter was wearing a black-and-white bandana, which, as we know, are Radford gang colours."
"Could be a Notts fan," someone suggested jokingly.
"Anything to do with County, he'd have bloody missed," someone else called out.
More laughter, especially from the Forest fans in the room, Resnick, despite his allegiances, smiling along with the rest.
"Tracking down the gunman," he said, "that's obviously our priority. DI Kellogg will be working with a sketch artist later today, to see what they can come up with. We've spoken to Joanne Dawson, the girl who was injured before the shooting, and we'll need to talk to her
Of the nationals, only
The Guardian
gave the story any particular prominence on its front page; the
Sun
offered an exclusive interview with Kelly's grieving mother on page five, and the
Mirror
countered with a centre-spread of colour photographs showing Kelly as Mary in a school production of
Godspell.
"All right." Bill Berry brought the room to attention. "Before we get down to the main business, a word or two about Mr. Brent. Unless you've had your head in the sand the past twenty-four hours, you'll be aware of how he's been shooting his mouth off."
There was enough angry muttering to suggest this was the case.
"Well," Berry continued, "we've been taking a closer look at the righteous Mr. Brent, and he's not the paragon he seems.
"For one thing, rather than being the concerned family man he's setting himself up to be, it seems he walked out on the family home when Kelly was just seven, her brothers eleven and nine.
While he was AWOL, he was being chased by the Child Support Agency for nonpayment over a period of almost two years."
Positive sounds from the assembled troops: payback time. They were enjoying this.
"Brent moved back about five years ago, since which time he's got himself involved in a couple of local businesses, part shares in a Caribbean restaurant in Hyson Green and some gimcrack record shop in Hockley. Both aboveboard as far as we can tell, but might be worth taking a look."
Berry paused and scanned the room. "More importantly to us, he's got something of a record. A twelve-month suspended sentence for possession of a class C drug back in '89, and a three-year stretch for aggravated assault."
"Explains why he's not been home much," one of the officers at the back remarked.
Laughter all round.
"So," Berry continued, "if Mr. Brent doesn't keep his head down and his mouth closed, I'll have the Press Office pull the rug from under him so fast, he won't know if he's on his head or his arse."
More laughter.
The DS looked towards Resnick. "Charlie, you want to bring us up to speed?"
Resnick positioned himself in front of a diagram showing the immediate area where the incident had taken place.
"Fortunately for us," Resnick said, "there were three CCTV cameras in operation at the time of the murder. One, here, at the side of Gordon House; another farther back along Cranmer Street, the direction from which DI Kellogg would have approached; and lastly, here, on St. Ann's Hill Road, just short of the intersection.
"What seems clear is that one group of youths, a number wearing Radford colours, made their way into St. Ann's along Forest Road East and Mapperley Road and entered Cranmer
Street at its western end, here. They then met with a group of similar size from St. Ann's—we're talking around a dozen to fifteen—some of whom came along Cranmer Street from the other end, some cutting up alongside these houses here, where there's a lot of rebuilding going on, on St. Ann's Hill Road."
"Prearranged, then, sir?" Anil Khan asked.
"Looks that way."
"Turf war," Frank Michaelson said.
"Could be."
"Radford and St. Ann's," Bill Berry remarked. "Never mind the Montagues and the bloody Capulets. Not as dead set against one another as St. Ann's and the Meadows, maybe, but close enough."
"According to DI Kellogg," Resnick said, "the shooter was wearing a black-and-white bandana, which, as we know, are Radford gang colours."
"Could be a Notts fan," someone suggested jokingly.
"Anything to do with County, he'd have bloody missed," someone else called out.
More laughter, especially from the Forest fans in the room, Resnick, despite his allegiances, smiling along with the rest.
"Tracking down the gunman," he said, "that's obviously our priority. DI Kellogg will be working with a sketch artist later today, to see what they can come up with. We've spoken to Joanne Dawson, the girl who was injured before the shooting, and we'll need to talk to her
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