Jane had felt humiliation when she had been told by Bradfield that she was off the team and should go home, and had been deeply hurt when he had said there was no future in their relationship. She had subsequently felt a huge sense of betrayal when she had discovered, after his death, that he was married with children. Now, standing amongst so many police officers, some of whom she had worked with, all Jane could think of was how foolish she had been. How immature and stupid she had been not to have even considered that he was married. He never wore a wedding ring, so she naively assumed he lived in the section house, and she had never seen a photograph on his desk of his wife or children. She wondered why Kath hadn’t told her Bradfield was married. Perhaps in some way she had tried to warn her, or perhaps she just hadn’t wanted to jeopardize her position on the team. Either way, Jane harboured no bad feelings for her friend. She had just never thought to ask if he was married, but now she felt used. He had drawn her to him and made love to her, and she had been infatuated, believing at the time they could have had something special together. She had loved and admired him, but it had been a hard lesson. From now on she felt determined to keep a tight hold on her emotions, and never be drawn into another relationship with a serving police officer. The tragedy had not made her want to quit the force, but a change of direction was something she needed if she wanted to move on in her career. She thought about DCS Metcalf’s encouraging words and decided she would take him up on his offer of a personal recommendation to become a trainee detective on completion of her probation. After all, he owed her that for her loyalty.
Jane stood upright and faced forwards, holding up the order of service. The choir began to sing ‘The Lord’s My Shepherd, I Shall Not Want’. She tried hard, but just couldn’t get the words out and was unaware that tears were streaming down her cheeks. She made no sound as her heart poured out with sorrow. Midway through the hymn Sergeant Harris, who was standing next to her, pulled out a white folded handkerchief from his pocket, which he quietly and unobtrusively passed to her.
‘Thank you,’ she said, and wiped her eyes.
Later as they stood in the graveyard and watched Bradfield’s coffin being lowered into the ground, the police officers present all saluted. As the vicar read out the words of the Committal, ‘Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust,’ Bradfield’s widow and two children wept. The children each threw a white rose onto the coffin and then hugged their mother. Jane shed no more tears, but stared straight ahead and gave no indication of how deeply his death had affected her… that he’d broken a little piece of her heart.
Turn the page to discover more about
Jane Tennison and why she became a WPC
While she was a pupil at the Paddington and Maida Vale High School for Girls, Jane Tennison excelled in all subjects. She was also a gifted athlete, representing the first team at hockey and winning events in both track and field on sports days, which courted the admiration of her fellow pupils. Although she made friends easily, Jane’s reserved personality set her apart somewhat from the other girls. The usual classroom gossip about boys and teenage fixations with film stars and fashion magazines left her irritated; she much preferred to read books by Charles Dickens, Ernest Hemingway and the Brontë sisters.
Jane’s parents were caring and loving. The family lived in a smart flat in Maida Vale, and she had been given a good, solid upbringing in middle-class surroundings. Jane’s younger sister, Pamela, was the complete opposite of her – prettier, fashion-conscious, with scores of friends and very popular with the boys. Pam was bright but lazy and lacking motivation; she had left school when she was sixteen, with poor O-level grades and no real ambition in life. Eventually she found a junior position at the local hair salon where she washed hair, swept up and made hot drinks. Her only real aim in life was to meet someone reasonably well off, get married and have kids.
When Jane left school at eighteen, her parents had hoped that she would go on to university, obtain a good degree and become a teacher. However, Jane didn’t fancy student life, or more studying, so decided to take a year off. When her father, who had his own small accounting business, invited her to work for him as a secretary, she readily accepted. She settled in well, worked hard and was an asset to the company, even attending some evening classes at the Central London Polytechnic. After a year had passed Jane decided that she was happy where she was, to the delight of her father, who hoped to leave the company in his elder daughter’s capable hands when he retired.
