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TURKS AND CAICOS - 2

I wouldn't want to give the impression that my trip to the Turks and Caicos was all work and no play... I did take the last day off, after I had delivered my book (Dead Like You) but I also had another reason for being there - the Assistant Commissioner of Police, the wonderful Neil (Nobby) Hall suggested it would make a great location for a Roy Grace novel - that he goes there on holiday, perhaps with Cleo, and then a brutal murder happens. The local police learn that the Brighton detective, who has far more homicide experience than they do, is on the island, and he then gets embroiled in solving the crime - and deeper and deeper into the murk below the beautiful turquoise ocean.....

So I had some terrific research experience with a whole different kind of policing. One of their main problems, lying geographically between Haiti and Forida, is the amount of trafficking of drugs and of illegal aliens (or "Irregular Migrants" as they now have to called, to be politically correct...) from Haiti to the USA. Unfortunately for the Turks and Caicos many stop off there, with their machete and gun culture, and are a prime source of the country's crime.

Not many of us know the Turks and Caicos islands. They are one of the last remaining outposts of colonial Britain. Beautiful and broke, thanks to years of corruption by their local government, now ousted by the UK and currently under direct rule.

I spent time going around with Nobby ( the nickname comes from a naval tradition - anyone called "Clark" or "Hall" is automatically nicknamed "Nobby".) and out on patrol with the Maritime Police looking for drug smugglers and people traffickers. We didn't find any but we did rescue a lilo!!!!

World's smartest police headquarters???

Nobby Hall outside the main police station

Spotting this fellow obeying the no loitering

Nobby in full formal Assistant Police Commissioner rig.

PJ and Nobby relaxing at the Trafalgar Night Ball, where we drank some pre-1970 naval rum. (Before 1970 a tot of rum (about a third of a large tumbler) was issued daily to all sailors at 11.30am. By midday most were drunk - the only way to cope with the tedium of life at sea in the old days.... but then the practice was stopped. Luckily Nobby came across a stash somewhere in Portsmouth - and put it do good use, filling my glass....)

Ooops, wrong guy, folks!!!

Tough Days In Paradise

Every profession/job has its good and bad parts and the life of an author is no exception. Loneliness, deadlines, writer's block and the fear of bad reviews are just some of the clouds that cast dark shadows on our lives. But, there are some great upsides, too. For me one of the very best is that I can work anywhere, so long as I have my trusty Mac laptop. I often find, in particular when nearing the end of a book, that going away gives me both the solitude I need, and the stimulus that comes from a change of scenery.

So welcome to my current office, in the Turks and Caicos islands (500 miles south of Miami, close to the Caymans, Jamaica and Haiti) where I have just completed the first draft of my 6th Roy Grace novel, "Dead Like You". There are still months of work ahead on it, editing, checking facts, in particular all aspects involving the police, and also the very sensitive subject of how rape victims are interviewed and treated.

This novel is about a serial rapist, nicknamed Shoe Man by the Police, who attacked a number of women in Brighton in 1997, taking their shoes on each occasion, and then mysteriously stopped. Now, 12 years on, someone is doing the same thing again. The difficult question for Roy Grace and his team is whether this is a copycat offender, or whether Shoe Man is back.

For those of you keen to know more about Sandy, you will learn some insights into their marriage - there are scenes in this novel set back in 1997, when Roy and Sandy were still very much together - and for the first time you will read about their relationship from her perspective...

As you will see in the photo below, in keeping with my location I have exchanged my traditional 6pm vodka martini for a Margarita. Cheers!

Turks And Caicos

Operation Otter

The Grand Hotel, Brighton

At 3am on October 12 1984 a bomb planted by the Irish Republican Army exploded at the Grand Hotel, Brighton. The target was then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and her ministers. It failed to kill her or any ministers, but five people were killed, including Conservative MP Sir Anthony Berry. Several people, including the wife of MP Norman Tebbit, were left permanently disabled. Standing outside, as dawn broke over Brighton seafront, Margaret Thatcher famously said, "This is the morning I was not meant to see." The IRA replied with a sinister message: "We only have to be lucky once, you have to be lucky every time."

The bomb failed to change the political landscape. All it did was make the policing of party political conferences a nightmare for everyone. OPERATION OTTER is the name of the security operation for the policing of these conferences in Brighton. In the words of Assistant Chief Constable, Robin Merrett, the Gold commander for this year's conference security, "When a conference of the ruling political party takes place, effectively government is moved to the conference location. So for the next four days Brighton is the seat of Government. We are responsible for its safety."

Deliveries Screening Tent

I was among a privileged group of people, mostly police officers from other counties who will be hosting such conferences soon, taken backstage around all the different areas involved in the security process. These included the Control Room at Brighton Central Police Station, the Vehicle HQ and canteen at the Territorial Army HQ, the security screening area, on the edge of the city centre, and the Conference Centre itself. Planning for the event began over a year ago, and the security searches commenced in June. No vehicles are allowed to make deliveries to the Conference Centre - all have to come to the Deliveries Screening Tent where they unload, the goods are screened - food, drinks, everything - and then loaded into Police trucks and delivered by the police Nothing, absolutely nothing, is left to chance. When Peter Mandelson turned up and his security badge did not register on the swipe card, even he had to wait a considerable time before being cleared to enter.

Major operations like this often prompt new ideas, and the tiny motorized Police scooter/cycle pictured below is currently undergoing trials. Had a scary moment when I started racing off at an alarming speed towards the horizon - or rather a brick wall with a lot of expensive metal parked in front of it....!

PJ Test Drives The World's Smallest Police Car

Help! Where Are The Brakes! Oi! Come Back!

Siren and Flashing Lights

It Even Has A Siren And Blue Flashing Lights!

So, nice one IRA. Just like those who would blow up planes, and have now caused the infuriating airport security we have to put up with, no political goals have been achieved. Decent human beings have long proved their resilience and ability to deal with and rise above the hatred shown by warped minds. That is one of the things that has always given me great faith for the future of the human race.

Seaview, Brighton

The View Maggie Thatcher Wasn't Meant To See

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TURKS AND CAICOS - 2

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