A Full Churchyard (16 page)

He then shook hands with Mrs Jarvis, a tall, powerful-looking woman in her mid-forties. Dark haired and with an air of absolute efficiency about her, she gripped his hand firmly.

‘Delighted to meet you, Mr Pluke,' her smile was welcoming and warm. ‘We are so pleased that your wife is one of us, such a helpful and lovely lady. But I don't think you and I have ever met, have we? Except perhaps at the hospital some years ago? I used to be a nurse there but left due to all the unnecessary red-tape and filling-in of pointless forms with little boxes to tick. The NHS is being stifled by paperwork, Mr Pluke. It is so sad.' And then she turned to shake hands with Wayne.

Furnival was a tall, well-built man with barely an ounce of fat on his body. In his late fifties, judging by his appearance, he seemed fit and healthy with a good head of grey hair and rimless spectacles. Pluke felt he oozed charm and confidence.

‘I am sure we have passed one another as we have walked to work through the town, Mr Pluke. Like you, I walk to work every day but unlike you, I am a fairly new resident of the town – a mere five years.'

‘You'll find we are lovely people who will make you feel most welcome, Mr Furnival. I hope you found a warm welcome when you arrived.'

‘Yes, I did. I soon felt very much at home. You may like to know that I am a retired senior fire officer from West Yorkshire and as you know, the Fire Service has long enjoyed a reputation for its out-of-hours care for the community. Like police officers, we have to retire at a comparatively early age and so I decided this is how I could continue my former charitable work. Firefighters are always such hard workers for those less fortunate than themselves, they do such a lot of charitable work in their spare time, much of it unknown to the wider public.'

‘I am very aware of all that, Mr Furnival, many police officers do likewise. They regularly come across the poorest in society. Anyway, we're glad to meet you and your staff.'

‘How can we help you?'

Chapter 12

‘A
s I am
sure you know, Mr Furnival . . .' began Pluke.

‘Call me John.'

‘And I'm Wayne,' chipped in Wayne Wain.

‘And I am Detective Inspector Pluke.'

‘Oh,' said Furnival.

Pluke never explained why he did not immediately resort to the use of forenames especially during informal situations, but Wayne knew his boss felt it was most certainly not advisable during criminal investigations or indeed in any police enquiry, nor when meeting anyone for the first time. An added factor was that within many police stations there were distinct barriers between the higher ranks and subordinates and also civilian employees. The emphasis was upon formality, correctness and mutual respect. Pluke also expected children and young people to refer to him by his full name and rank; he thought it wrong for youngsters to call him Monty. Not even Millicent used that form of address. He was always Montague to her.

‘As I'm sure you know,' Pluke began to explain, ‘the Government is making severe cutbacks in public services and the police are no exception.'

‘We're acutely aware of that, Detective Inspector Pluke,' agreed Furnival. ‘It's happening to the Fire Service too and the cuts are permeating down to our level as carers, through local and district councils. Everyone is affected.'

‘From our point of view, and in common with all police forces, we've been instructed to examine the ways in which we execute our duties and responsibilities with a view to finding less expensive but equally efficient methods. I refer to all our work, not only criminal investigations.'

‘That won't be easy, Detective Inspector. So how are we involved?'

‘Your work rarely involves the police, Mr Furnival, but one area under scrutiny is the way that sudden deaths are dealt with. In particular, the Home Office is concerned about the police role and the time spent in dealing with deaths that do not develop into either criminal investigations or involve an inquest.'

‘I wouldn't have thought the police could ever spend too much time on that sort of thing, Detective Inspector Pluke. It's vital police work, that's how criminality is uncovered and offenders detected.'

‘That's true, but the top-and-bottom of it, Mr Furnival, is that the Home Office seems to believe that a lot of police time and expense is spent on unnecessary enquiries. In their view, this includes the investigation of deaths that occur from purely natural causes. My task, therefore, is to identify areas where savings can be made without jeopardizing criminal justice.'

‘It's a tall order, Mr Pluke. If the police are anything like the Fire Service, their time and expenditure will already have been cut to the bone.'

‘Then you can understand our dilemma. What I must do is to make our political masters feel they are doing something useful,' and Pluke produced one of his rare smiles. ‘If I can be seen, in my official returns, to reduce the time and effort of my officers – CID officers that is, the uniform branch will make their own decisions on this matter – then it will please the Home Office boffins. As I am sure you know, Mr Furnival, reforms are quite alright so long as they don't change anything.'

‘That's how I see things too. Well, if there's any way we can help, I shall be pleased to cooperate. So how do you think Crickledale Volunteer Carers can contribute? Surely you should be speaking to doctors, hospitals, the ambulance service and so on. . . .'

‘That will be done in due course, I assure you,' smiled Pluke. ‘This is just the beginning of our struggle to conform to Home Office directives without jeopardizing our service to the public.'

‘Although I understand your dilemma, Detective Inspector, I fail to see how we can help. We are a volunteer group working on the proverbial shoestring. Part charity and part officially funded.'

‘But you do operate under the aegis of the local council?'

‘Yes we do. We're ultimately responsible to the district council. They provide funds and help with the upkeep and running costs of this building and the agreed salaries of our permanent staff. A high proportion of our income is from charitable donations, so we don't pay wages or expenses to our volunteers.'

‘Which is why I'm here, talking to you,' smiled Pluke. ‘I have no doubt you will be, or have been, ordered to reduce costs?'

‘It goes on all the time, Mr Pluke. We're not exempt.'

‘So, Mr Furnival, I am sure you have specific procedures for particular events so can I begin by asking this – in the event of a death of a person in your care, under what circumstances would you call the police?'

‘Well, the obvious answer would be if there was a break-in at the person's home, or perhaps if the person appeared to have been attacked. Or if we suspected suicide or any sort of crime. In any of those circumstances, it would be an automatic reaction by any of our volunteers to call the police before taking further action.'

‘So are the police your first choice? What if there were no suspicions or if emergency treatments were not necessary? Wouldn't you call a doctor first? Or the ambulance?'

‘As you know, Mr Pluke, one must interpret rules with common sense – I'm a great believer in the old saying that rules are for the obedience of fools and the guidance of wise people. What I am saying is that there is no set procedure – it all depends on the circumstances in each individual case, but I am sure you realize that the police are first considered in most of our emergency calls.'

‘Surely you provide some kind of training or guidance for your volunteers?'

‘We do, and my Fire Service career has helped. Like the police, fire fighters are trained in the recognition of suspicious deaths and the action that needs to be taken. I have revived that training for the benefit of my carers.'

‘So what happens if one of your volunteers is first at the scene where there is a dead person? Say in the dead person's own home? They are not trained like police officers and fire fighters so what would they do?'

‘I have to say again that it would depend upon the circumstances, what they saw or what they thought had happened. They'd probably call this office to seek advice and guidance. I hope our training, brief though it is, would cope with most eventualities, but we can't anticipate everything. No one can.'

‘So you don't have a book of rules? A small leaflet explaining how they should react? One that is issued to all the volunteers?'

‘As a matter of fact we don't. We can't anticipate every set of circumstances and can't provide guidance for all situations. There are simply too many variations so we must trust that an element of common sense among our carers would prevail. And, of course, we do encourage them to use their initiative.'

‘That doesn't always work, especially in an emergency when panic can dominate one's actions.'

‘That's a good point, Chief Inspector. . . .'

‘Detective Inspector,' corrected Pluke. ‘Not Chief Inspector.'

‘Sorry.'

‘The reason I'm asking all these questions, Mr Furnival, is to try and establish whether your carers instinctively first call the police as a matter of routine in
all
cases where the cause of death is unknown. This is the kernel of this discussion. Or would they think of calling a doctor before contacting any of the other agencies?'

‘Oh, I think they'd call the police. . . .'

‘But if a doctor was first on the scene and certified the cause of death by acknowledging it had resulted from natural causes, then the police would not need to attend. That would save a lot of time and expense. Do you agree?'

‘Well, yes I do. . . .'

Pluke continued. ‘That would represent a substantial saving in police time and money over the months and years. This is what the Home Office is agitating about.'

‘Well, I must agree that the police aren't needed at the scene of
every
sudden death. If the casualty was examined first by a doctor who decided it was a natural death, then there would be no need for the police.'

‘That's precisely the point I'm making, Mr Furnival. As things stand, the police are routinely called to the scene of almost every sudden or unexplained death, even when it is not necessary. This is where savings can be made. And you and I are aware that we never call the ambulance if the person is obviously dead. Ambulances are there to save life, not to deal with death.'

‘You've raised some good points, Detective Inspector Pluke. Rest assured, I shall do my utmost to persuade our carers against calling the police to
every
death although it will be difficult to persuade them to do otherwise.'

‘I'll be pleased to help you find the right type of training,' offered Pluke.

‘It's more involved than that, Detective Inspector. You're asking our carers to make very important, on-the-spot decisions. We have to take account of the fact that some apparently natural deaths might be due to murder. Then there's the question of preservation of the scene and so forth. Our carers need to be aware of those matters.'

‘Investigating a death is never simple, Mr Furnival and I'm aware that the action taken upon first arriving at a scene of death often presents difficulties to an untrained carer.'

‘Surely that's why calling the police is the most sensible thing they can do,' said Furnival. ‘It's a safe and valuable starting point. The police will know what to do next and which procedure to follow.'

‘Absolutely true, but all this boils down to is that the Home Office doesn't want police officers dealing with tasks that are not police matters.'

‘You've raised some interesting points, Detective Inspector Pluke. My immediate reaction is that it would be very useful if there was some kind of formal training that could be undertaken by our carers to show them the best way to deal with a whole range of emergencies. They need practical examples too.'

‘Our training school has a film that shows exactly that, Mr Furnival, it explains to trainee constables – specials and regular officers – how to respond in a range of circumstances. I'll speak to our Force Training Officer to see whether he could lend a copy to the CVC.'

‘That's a very good beginning.'

‘Fine. We might even run a special course for your carers, to help them deal with whatever circumstances they encounter. That could be done without spending too much and in the long term it might help to save money and increase efficiency.'

‘We all need to do that, so is there any way I can help further?' asked Furnival.

‘Yes,' smiled Pluke. ‘Would you object to me talking to all your volunteers, one by one. Not during those times they are working, of course, but in their spare time. At home, perhaps? I need their cooperation in the compilation of my report to the Home Office and it would help if I could quote actual circumstances where carers have acted instinctively and called the police when perhaps, with a little thought, they might have called a doctor first. This is not a criticism, by the way, but we must look to the future.'

‘I don't want to upset my staff by apparently being critical of their work. They do a wonderful job for no money, and their clients warm to them. But if you can convince our staff to think twice before taking action, I see no reason why we can't help. I can see the logic behind Home Office thinking, so I'll give you my full support.'

‘Please don't alert them in advance, Mr Furnival. I would like to speak to them cold, as it were, to get their instinctive response rather than a carefully thought-out reply. I don't want responses that have been approved by someone in higher authority.'

‘Then I'll show my cooperation by offering a list of all our carers? With their addresses and personal details.'

‘That would be of enormous help. And this is entirely confidential, as we can all appreciate. . . .'