by Hunter, Cara
She looks sulky. ‘It was supposed to be a surprise, wasn’t it.’
‘But he wouldn’t let you in.’
Her expression hardens. ‘He said he was working. That he didn’t want to be disturbed. Even by me.’
‘Especially as you were rather drunk already.’
There’s a silence. Then Hughes sits down heavily on the window seat.
‘OK,’ she says, ‘I’d had a few with my mates before I got there. But I wasn’t drunk.’
‘But he still didn’t want you in the house.’
She looks away. ‘He said I might wake up Tobin. That Marina wouldn’t like it.’ Her sarcasm is venomous.
‘And he pushed you away. Quite hard, from what the 101 caller said.’
Her eyes narrow and she’s suddenly wary. ‘Well, they’re wrong. He never touched me.’
‘The caller was pretty sure. And she had no reason to lie.’
Even if you do. The unspoken words echo in the room.
‘Like I said,’ she says. ‘It never happened.’
Ev breathes an inward sigh. How many times has she heard women say this? Women who’ve ‘fallen down the stairs’, ‘walked into a door’.
‘You do know that would be common assault, don’t you? Pushing someone like that?’
‘Oh, please.’
‘I’m serious. Just because you’re clever and educated and well off, doesn’t mean you can’t be a victim. Domestic violence can happen to anyone. And it often starts just like this – with things that seem trivial, only then there’s a next time, and a next –’
‘Are you thick or something? There won’t be a next time, because there wasn’t a first time.’
Ev makes a note, and takes her time doing it.
‘So you smashed the bottle you’d brought and stormed off.’
Hughes’ gaze flickers away, but she says nothing. This, at least, she can’t deny.
‘And then later that same night, he’s on your doorstep, telling you he’s been assaulted. By the same woman you’d been jealous of for months and whose house you weren’t even allowed into only a few hours before. How did that feel?’
Hughes flushes. ‘It wasn’t like that.’
‘What was it like then?’
‘He needed someone to talk to – he wasn’t thinking straight.’
‘And you advised him to report her?’
‘Of course I did. She tried to assault him. He had those scratches – he looked absolutely terrible. Aren’t the police always telling people to come forward – that too many abusers get away with it because crimes like this don’t get reported? Why should it be different just because it’s a bloke?’
Ev nods. ‘Yes, you’re right, we do say that. But false allegations are just as damaging as failing to make an allegation at all – arguably, more so. So I’m going to ask you straight – did you encourage him to exaggerate what happened or falsify it in any way?’
‘No.’
‘Even though this woman had been monopolizing your boyfriend? Even though you admit how angry you were?’
‘No. I didn’t. I told him to go to the college and tell them the truth.’ She holds Ev’s gaze. ‘Just like I’m doing now.’ She slides off the window seat and stands up. ‘And I’d like you to leave now, please. I have nothing else to say.’
* * *
Adam Fawley
9 July 2018
8.45
When I get to the office the following morning Quinn’s already got a whiteboard going. Blown-up pictures of Caleb Morgan and Freya Hughes that look like they come from their student ID cards, four or five snaps from the Balliol dinner, a couple of them a bit unfocused. Not unlike most of the attendees, I imagine, by the end. Quinn’s stuck a Post-it with an arrow on it next to one of them. It’s pointing at Marina Fisher’s wrist.
He comes up behind me as I’m standing there.
‘I take it you heard the 101 call?’
I nod; he emailed the recording over yesterday afternoon.
‘So, do we talk to Morgan?’
I shake my head. ‘I can’t see much point – Hughes is refusing to corroborate what the caller said and she’s bound to have told him Ev went to see her by now. He’s just going to come out with exactly the same story.’
‘Makes a difference, though, doesn’t it? To the allegation? Assuming we all agree Hughes is talking bullshit and he did actually push her, are we really supposed to believe he did exactly the same thing twice in the same night?’
I shrug. ‘We can’t prove he didn’t. Perhaps he does that sort of thing to women all the time. And even if he did push Hughes, it doesn’t mean he wasn’t assaulted by Fisher. But you’re right about one thing – we can’t afford to base this whole case solely on Morgan’s word. We couldn’t before and we certainly can’t now. So – what have we got?’
He makes a resigned face. ‘Not much. I managed to speak to a few of Fisher’s old colleagues at Imperial last night. The blokes were generally positive – thought she was great at her job, breath of fresh air, just what the department needed, blah blah blah. None of them bought the assault thing – the basic line was Fisher could fuck any bloke she liked so why bother trying to break into Morgan’s jockeys. I’m paraphrasing, of course.’
I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve heard that from sexual predators over the years: ‘I can have any woman I want – I don’t need to rape anybody.’ It never got any of them off the hook and it shouldn’t be a get-out-of-jail card for Fisher either. Or am I just being naive? The law is blind, or ought to be, but sexual politics aren’t symmetrical. Perhaps that simply isn’t possible, however hard we try to rebalance the scales. Remember that old Joe Jackson song? Right or wrong, right and wrong, it’s different for girls.
‘And the women she worked with?’
Quinn makes a face. ‘There were only two. One of them said she might have taken Fisher rather more seriously if she hadn’t insisted on dressing like a prostitute.’
Yet another comment about her clothes. I can only assume she does it deliberately, to get a reaction. Does she really not care how divisive that reaction is?
‘Take it from me,’ says Quinn, ‘“fans of Marina Fisher” is the country’s last remaining men-only club.’
I swing round to face the rest of the room. Baxter, Asante, Ev, and now, just coming through the door, Somer. She looks a bit flustered from being almost late, but tanned from a weekend in the sun and the wind. She’s caught the sun and it suits her, but she doesn’t look rested. She just looks stressed.
‘Nice to see you, DC Somer – have you had a chance to get up to speed?’
She nods. ‘Yes, sir. DC Everett sent me over some stuff last night.’
My phone pings. Bryan Gow is in reception.
‘OK, everyone, while we wait for the DNA let’s see if we can make any progress on the digital side.’ I look around. ‘And at the risk of repeating myself, Caleb Morgan’s mother is going to be all over this sooner or later, and my money’s on sooner. So do me a favour and keep up to date on the paperwork, all right?’
* * *
JosephAndrews2018 @JosephAndrews2018 9.17
Sending love & solidarity to a friend of mine who’s a #sexualabuse victim at #OxfordUni. Abuse BY a professor ON a student. But this time the #abuser was a woman & the #victim was a GUY. This affects everyone, people. WHOEVER you are
#NOmeansNO #MeToo #HeToo
1 7 24
Annie Dexter @Adex201918 9.19
Replying to @JosephAndrews2018
This makes me so angry – no-one shd suffer this, men or women. I hope the uni authorities are being supportive & actually *believing* them. There’s also loads of support services out there – Samaritans, Nightline, the OU Students Union
#sexualabuseaffectseveryone #MeToo #HeToo
3 5 35
Michaela Mitchell @1010101MM 9.22
Replying to @JosephAndrews2018 @Adex201918
12 THOUSAND men suffered sexual abuse in
the UK last year, and a significant number of the perpetrators were women. It’s not common, but it *does happen*
End #sexualabusebythoseinpower #MeToo AND #HeToo
1 2 2
Lorna Bartholomew @9_9_Starfish 9.22
Replying to @JosephAndrews2018
When was this incident? I’m involved in the @OxASV campaign and I’ve asked around but no one I know has heard anything about it. Are the police involved?
#OxfordAgainstSexualViolence #MeToo #HeToo
4 6 11
JosephAndrews2018 @JosephAndrews2018 9.28
Replying to @9_9_Starfish
A few days ago. The police are def on it though whether they’re getting anywhere is another matter. Let’s just say ‘she’ is *very* prominent
Lorna Bartholomew @9_9_Starfish 9.29
Replying to @JosephAndrews2018
And how is he? Is he getting help?
JosephAndrews2018 @JosephAndrews2018 9.29
Replying to @9_9_Starfish
Yeah, doing OK at the moment
Oxford Against Sexual Violence @OxASV 9.29
Hearing reports of a serious sexual assault on a male student by a female academic. If you still need proof that #sexualviolenceaffectseveryone this is it. Let’s stand strong with the men who’ve been on the receiving end of this #abuse and get the #HeToo hashtag trending
#VictHIM
27 65 352
Back at his desk, Andrew Baxter rolls up his sleeves. In every sense. It’s not as hot as it was over the weekend but the office has no air con and the creaky fan in the corner is just circulating hot air. He cracks open a cold Red Bull and picks up Marina Fisher’s phone.
* * *
Adam Fawley
9 July 2018
9.34
Bryan Gow is looking irritatingly fresh in a cream jacket and chinos, neither of which I’ve seen before. He has new glasses too, and – even more startling – a decent haircut. We’ve worked together for more than five years, but his personal life is still an enigma to me. I’ve always assumed he had far too many time-consuming geeky bloke hobbies to have room for a relationship, but this new look of his may suggest I’m wrong. Who knows, perhaps there really is a woman out there who put ‘Maths-obsessed trainspotting Civil-War re-enactor’ under WLTM.
‘Interesting,’ he says, looking up from the file. ‘This one’s hardly business as usual, is it?’
I make a face. ‘It’s a high-wire act over a bloody minefield. Morgan’s mother is Petra Newson.’
His eyes widen. ‘Ah. I see. Shit.’
I give a grim laugh. ‘Yup, all of the above.’
‘So you want me to review the interviews?’
I open up my laptop. ‘Fisher’s, particularly. Asante thinks something is off. Says her body language is all wrong. But there could be all sorts of assumptions at play here. See above under “minefield”.’
‘True, but DC Asante is a bright lad. Let’s have a look, shall we?’
* * *
‘I don’t know, you just look a bit – off, that’s all.’
They’re in the ladies’ loo on the first floor. Somer is leaning back against the basins and Everett’s by the window, watching her friend and trying to decide if she should be worried. Somer has seemed so much happier since she started seeing Giles Saumarez. Ev’s only met him once, but he seemed almost too good to be true, especially after that ill-advised fling Somer had with the undeniably attractive but calamitously unsuitable Gareth Quinn. Saumarez is in the job as well, so he understands the pressures, but not in the same force, which in Ev’s opinion is a far safer idea (not that she’s ever tried it). Giles is good-looking, considerate, supportive, funny. What’s not to like? The only wisp of a cloud on the horizon was the imminent arrival of his two teenage daughters, coming from Canada for a three-week holiday. Ev knows Somer’s been apprehensive about meeting them, and she was definitely much less enthusiastic than usual about going down to Southampton this weekend. Is that what this is all about?
‘If it’s the girls,’ she begins, ‘then it’s completely understandable –’
Somer shakes her head. ‘It’s not that.’ She takes a deep breath. ‘A job’s come up. In Hampshire. Giles thinks I should apply.’
Ev’s eyes widen. ‘What sort of job?’
‘In the Domestic Violence Unit. They can’t say so publicly but Giles knows they’d really like to appoint a woman and there aren’t many obvious candidates in-house. And if I got it, they’d fast-track me through my sergeant’s exams.’
‘Sounds like you’d be mad not to give it a go. What have you got to lose?’
Somer looks away. ‘I don’t know. It just seems like a huge upheaval. I’d have to move – find somewhere to live –’
Ev frowns. ‘But you’d be living with Giles, surely? Isn’t that the whole point?’
Somer shrugs. ‘I don’t know. He’s talked about the job but he hasn’t said anything about that.’
‘Well, perhaps that’s just because he doesn’t think he needs to?’ Ev takes a step forward. ‘Look, you’ve got a lot on your plate. You haven’t been in CID that long, and then there’s you and Giles, the girls coming over. You’d be a bit weird if you weren’t wondering whether upping sticks and relocating your whole life is really that great an idea. But sleep on it for a bit – there’s no need to make a decision right away, is there?’
Somer sighs. ‘No. There’s time.’
‘Right, then. Just focus on the girls coming over for now. That’s more than enough to be going on with.’
Somer smiles. ‘I’m sorry – you’re right. It’s a great opportunity. I’m probably just overthinking it, as usual. I’m fine. Honestly.’
Ev gives her arm a quick squeeze. ‘Well, you know where I am if you want a chat. Whenever, OK?’
After she’s gone Somer turns and stares at her reflection for a long time. The woman in the mirror doesn’t look like someone on the threshold of an exciting new chapter. She doesn’t look fine, either. She doesn’t look ‘fine’ at all.
* * *
Adam Fawley
9 July 2018
10.57
I lean forward and press pause. The video freezes mid-frame. Marina Fisher and her lawyer, and facing them, me. Asante isn’t in the shot. Kennedy is saying something; Marina has her hands folded quietly on the table in front of her.
‘So, what do you think?’
Gow sits back. ‘Fascinating. Fisher’s a piece of work, isn’t she.’
I raise an eyebrow. ‘That’s one way of putting it.’
‘And the clothes – the little-girl-lost look – is that the sort of thing she normally wears?’
I laugh drily. ‘Er, no. One of her former colleagues described her as dressing like a call girl.’
His eyes widen. ‘Ow. Or rather me-ow.’
‘Quite.’
‘I imagine that makes collegiate life a mite abrasive at times.’
‘It’s not making this case any easier either.’
‘And you want to know if she’s telling the truth?’
‘Well, is she?’
He gives me a narrow look. ‘Not entirely, no.’
* * *
Oxford Against Sexual Violence @OxASV 10.02
This latest #Oxford incident is a timely reminder that #sexualviolenceaffectseveryone, men AND women. Pls RT to show support
#HeToo #VictHIM
62 211 677
Ricky Jamieson @Hatrick333 10.02
I was assaulted by my female professor too. It was ten years ago and I never had the courage to #speakout. Standing with the #OxfordVictim today
#HeToo #VictHIM
11 48 97
Darren Jessop @COYSboy4evva 10.04
Replying to @Hatrick333
It happened to #MeToo. Blokes are too embarrassed to speak out because people might think they’re weak. And as for the cops – forget it. I never said anything either and it f*cked me up for years. But I’m doing it now
#HeToo #V
ictHIM
17 35 71
Rupert Deller @DellaFellaxx1313 10.05
Replying to @Hatrick333 @COYSboy4evva @OxASV
Tagging @SurvivorsUK too – they do amazing work supporting sexually abused boys & men & their families
#standupandspeakup #HeToo #VictHIM
27 51 75
Shirley Farrell @3579littlewhiteline 10.06
Replying to @Hatrick333 @COYSboy4evva @OxASV @DellaFellaxx1313
I’m a #rapesurvivor too. My attacker was over 6 feet and 17 stone. There was nothing I could do. It’s not the same for men – it just isn’t
#womenagainstviolenceagainstwomen
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Oxford Against Sexual Violence @OxASV 10.07
Replying to @3579littlewhiteline
Your experience must have been truly horrific. But men really can experience sexual violence too. The nature of it may be different, but it’s just as real for the victims. Hope you’re getting the support you need
#sexualabuseaffectseveryone
Kath Beecham @KathyLatte_73065 10.07
Replying to @Hatrick333 @COYSboy4evva @OxASV @DellaFellaxx1313
What worries me is the prospect of this story getting picked up and used by the male violence apologists and woman-haters. It’ll be meat and drink to them, sadly
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Oxford Against Sexual Violence @OxASV 10.08
So moved and proud of the guys speaking up about their experiences of #sexualharassment on campus today
#standupandspeakup #endvictimblaming #sexualabuseaffectseveryone
#HeToo #VictHIM
199 442 1.1k
* * *
Adam Fawley
9 July 2018
11.20
Gow rewinds the tape, then plays it again, slow motion now, the sound on mute. I watch, frame by frame. Fisher keeps eye contact, her hands still calm in front of her. There’s no tell-tale fidgeting, no foot tapping. Her body is controlled, her movements minimal.
‘And this,’ says Gow, ‘is where you ask her how the dress got damaged. Watch how she replies.’
On the screen, I see Fisher pause, then mouth ‘I don’t remember’. That’s all. Gow presses stop, rewind and play, slowing it down even more. ‘Did you see it that time?’
‘What am I looking for?’