The Darkest Walk of Crime Read Online Free PDF Page A

but he knew that he should retain as clear a head as possible.
    “As you wish. You don’t mind if
we indulge?” Smith sloshed generous amounts of Field’s brandy into two of the
glasses. “Now,” he said as he sipped quietly, “no doubt you are wondering why I
am here?”
    Mendick nodded slowly, watching
as Smith swirled the brandy.
    “Good, you’d be less than human
if you were not. Tell me,” his eyes pierced Mendick’s impassive mask, “in your
opinion, what is the function of the police?”
    The question was so unexpected
that for a moment Mendick could only stare. He recovered with a start, trying
to recall Peel’s nine principles of policing that he had learned when he first
started tramping the beat.
    “To prevent crime and disorder,
sir, as an alternative to their repression by military force; to maintain a
relationship with the public . . .”
    Smith pursed his lips and
flapped his hands in the air. “That’s the official line, but not what I wanted
to hear. Now, Inspector Field, what would you say to the same question?”
    Field had not touched his
brandy. “We patrol a volatile border, protecting the rich from the desperate
and preventing anarchy from overwhelming respectability.” He mused for a
second. “However, I would say that the primary function of the police is to
protect the seclusion of respectable neighbourhoods.”
    “That may be more accurate,”
Smith agreed. “A touch cynical, but not far off the mark. So would you both
agree, then, that one purpose of the police force is to guard the respectable
and propertied classes from the effluvia of society, the residuum, if you
will?” He waited only a second for the answer before continuing. “Or would you
say that the police have the task of ensuring that society retains its natural
shape and should remain unaffected by those who would wish it otherwise?”
Although he addressed the question to both, it was to Mendick that Smith looked
for an answer.
    “I would say so, sir, but I see
my principal duty as a defender of the law, more than as a protector of any
particular class of person . . .”
    “Ah!” When Smith held up his
hand, calloused ridges showed across the base of his fingers. Whatever position
he presently held, at one time Smith had known hard manual labour. “Define that
word; define that word, law .”
    Mendick found he was unable to
look away from Smith’s quizzical stare. He struggled for clarity. “Law is the
rules by which we live, a collection of regulations that maintain the balance
and fairness of society . . .”
    “And there you have it
precisely, sir.” Smith rose from his chair, jabbing a long forefinger at
Mendick. “Well done, Constable ; you hit it when you said the balance of
society. We must all do our utmost to preserve that balance, or we may
see this nation crumble. That is our duty, sir, and that is your duty.”
    “I understand, Mr Smith.”Mendick
would have liked to look toward Field, but Smith’s near mesmeric gaze held him
securely.
    “Good, then we are in
agreement.” Smith sat back down, seemingly content that he had made his point.
“Now, Constable, you will be attuned to the present unrest in the country? You
will know of the repeated demands for the People’s Charter and other subversive
nonsense?” Smith had assumed his previous air of chilling detachment, but
Mendick was aware of the passion beneath. He nodded. “Nobody in Britain can be
unaware of the underlying unease among some of the lower classes, sir.”
    “So tell me what you know,
Constable.”
    “Yes, sir. The People’s Charter
was born after the 1832 Reform Act when the middle orders obtained the vote but
the aspirations of the workers to achieve the same were discarded. The Charter
demands six electoral reforms, including secret ballots, payment for MPs and
the franchise for all males over the age of twenty-one. Those who support the
Charter are known as Chartists, and in 1839 they presented their demands