Sins of the Fathers (34 page)

Alone again, now that Rutter had gone, she was on the phone, talking to her literary agent in London.

‘I've had a wonderful idea for a book,' she said. ‘I'm going to base it on one of the regional police forces.'

‘That's not a very good way to go, if you're aiming at it being a blockbuster,' the agent cautioned. ‘It might sell well in the area where it's set, but that's about the extent of it. Most people – and Londoners especially – aren't really interested in how the police work in other parts of the country.'

‘But you see, it
won't
be about how this police force works,' Elizabeth Driver said.

‘No?'

‘No! It'll be about how it
doesn't
work – and it will be sensational!'

‘You might have trouble getting enough information to fill a whole book,' the agent said, still dubious. ‘Police forces tend to be tightly-knit, and, as you know from your own experience, they're very good at keeping reporters like you at arm's length.'

‘Not this time,' Elizabeth Driver said confidently. ‘This time I've got a man on the inside, and he'll give me everything I need.'

‘What rank is he?'

‘An inspector.'

‘Not bad, providing he has contacts in the higher ranks.'

‘He does. His
chief
inspector
thinks he's wonderful, and would never dream of hiding anything from him.'

‘And does this inspector of yours know exactly what it is you're planning to do?'

‘Of course he doesn't,' Elizabeth Driver said. ‘He hasn't got a bloody clue. And he'll continue to have no bloody clue – at least until the whole thing collapses in on him.'