by Black, Helen
Jack exhaled. ‘You really think so?’
‘I really do,’ she said. ‘It’s a red herring. Obviously the defence will seize on it, but it’s a red herring all the same.’
‘So where do we go from here?’ he asked.
‘You’re the senior officer in the case.’ She winked at him. ‘But if it were me, I’d demand Chloe’s records going back to the year dot, then we can all see how crazy this girl is.’
‘I bet they’d make interesting reading.’
‘Too right,’ said Kate. ‘Oh and I’d also haul in that shrink of hers for questioning, insist he stop protecting Chloe and start explaining what exactly is wrong with her.’
At last Jack smiled. Harry Piper was just the type of man Jack detested. Smug and over-entitled. If he were a copper he’d be on the fast-track programme. Dragging him into an interview room would give Jack great pleasure.
Standing in the reception area of the police station, Lilly was fired up.
After her conversation with David, she’d dashed back to the shower, then headed straight out to speak to Jack. She was determined to make him see that Chloe’s rape proved beyond all doubt that she wasn’t involved in Lydia’s death.
‘Can I help you?’ asked the copper without any enthusiasm. Front desk duty was everyone’s most hated job.
‘I’d like to speak to Officer McNally,’ said Lilly. ‘He’s with the MCU.’
The lad (and he was most definitely still a lad) ran his finger along a list of names and extension numbers.
‘Is he expecting you?’
‘Not exactly.’ Lilly watched the finger hovering over the phone. ‘We’re working a case together and it’s vital I see him.’
The lad sighed. He might only be seventeen, but he was clearly already weary of everyone and his wife declaring their case urgent.
‘Tell him it’s Lilly Valentine.’ She slid her card across the desk. ‘He’ll want to see me.’
The lad gave a shrug and dialled the number.
‘No answer,’ he told her.
‘He could be away from his desk,’ Lilly pointed out. ‘You should try his mobile.’
The lad sighed even more theatrically and punched in the number for Jack’s mobile phone. As he waited for an answer, he picked at a scab on his neck until it began to bleed.
‘Gone to voicemail,’ he said.
Lilly tried to be patient and smiled. ‘Could you call one of his colleagues and find out where he is?’
‘I don’t know who his colleagues are,’ he said. ‘It’s a big station.’
Lilly bit her tongue. It was hardly Scotland Yard and it wasn’t beyond the wit of man to try someone else in MCU. Was there any wonder so many people had no faith in the police if this disinterested teen was their first point of contact?
She was about to spell out what the copper should do when she spotted a WPC she recognized skipping through the snow outside the door. Lilly abandoned the extra from The Inbetweeners and headed after the WPC. Someone had tried to clear away a path outside but it had frozen over in the night and made the pavement more treacherous. Lilly cursed as she tried not to fall on her arse.
‘Excuse me,’ she called out to the younger woman who was moving with impressive speed towards the car park. ‘Hello there.’
Damn, what was the WPC’s name? Lilly had met her first in court and then again at the Grove when the knife had been found in Chloe’s room. God, Lilly’s memory was hopeless. And it should be easy to conjure up, because she remembered it rang a bell.
Kate. Lilly snapped her fingers. That was it. Kate.
‘Hey, Kate,’ Lilly yelled.
The WPC was almost at the entrance to the car park when she halted and turned. She squinted at Lilly and frowned.
‘Sorry to bother you.’ Lilly trotted towards her, slipping and sliding, her arms flapping. ‘I don’t know if you remember me.’
‘Of course I do.’
‘Oh good,’ said Lilly. ‘It’s just that I’m looking for Jack McNally and I wondered if you might know where he is.’
The WPC didn’t smile. ‘You used my first name.’
‘Sorry,’ said Lilly, with a nervous laugh.
‘How did you know my first name? Did Jack tell you?’
Blimey, this one was hostile. Lilly was used to it of course. As a defence brief she was rarely greeted with warmth. ‘I think Jack used your name when we met at the Grove,’ said Lilly. ‘It kind of stuck in my mind.’
The WPC stared hard.
‘I need to speak to him about the Chloe Church case,’ she said. ‘There have been some developments.’
The WPC folded her arms. ‘You mean the rape.’
The way she said the words, so blunt and cold, made Lilly shiver.
‘You think Jack should drop the charges against your client,’ said the WPC.
Lilly folded her own arms and stared right back at the other woman. Being suspicious of the defence was one thing, but this was taking the piss.
‘I think I should speak to the officer in the case about it,’ she said. ‘And that would be DI McNally.’
‘He won’t change his mind,’ said the WPC.
‘I beg your pardon?’
‘Jack and I discussed it earlier.’ She gave a smile. Well, not really a smile, more the pulling of her facial muscles into the facsimile of one. ‘He’s pushing on with the charges against your client.’
Lilly felt her jaw slacken and instantly clenched her teeth. Jack had been running it past this pair of frosty knickers? Why? She wasn’t even on the team, was she?
‘We’re both in complete agreement about the fact that the rape is unimportant,’ the WPC added.
‘Unimportant?’
‘I think Jack described it as a …’ The WPC scratched her temple. ‘Ah yes, now it’s come to me. He described it as a red herring.’
Lilly was incredulous. Jack was one of the most intelligent and thoughtful coppers she had ever met. It was the thing she most loved about him. Or had been. The old Jack would never have used any of those words about a brutal attack on a vulnerable child. Then again the old Jack would never have used this piece of stone as his sounding board.
‘So where is he?’ she asked.
The WPC gave that weird pretend smile of hers. ‘I believe he’s making an arrest.’
‘Who?’
‘I don’t think I’m at liberty to tell you that.’
‘Never mind, love.’ Lilly caught sight of Jack’s car pulling into the car park. ‘I’ll ask him my bloody self.’
I have to suck in my cheeks to stop myself laughing. When you know people are watching you have to react in a certain way. Like when Jack’s looking at my mouth. I use lip balm so they’ll stick together just a fraction of a second.
But this is all so funny that I’m struggling.
First of all the ex accosted me outside the station. She looked ridiculous tottering about in the snow. I thought she might fall at one point, which would put me in a difficult position, wouldn’t it? Leave her in the slush or touch her.
I tried my utmost to explain to her that there was no point harassing Jack because he’d already made his decision about the fat girl, but some people just don’t listen.
Then when Jack arrived, she almost leapt at him, making some very snide comments about me I might add. Apparently, he shouldn’t be discussing the case with ‘a junior officer’. He was about to put her firmly in her place when lo and behold she spotted the nasty little shrink in the car.
‘Is this a joke?’ she screamed.
‘No joke,’ Jack replied.
‘Then do you mind telling me why the hell you’ve arrested Harry?’
Honestly, I thought she’d jump out of her (not very firm) skin.
‘Perverting the course of justice,’ said Jack.
Then she made this choking noise in her throat and for a second I thought she might have some sort of fit.
‘And what exactly is he supposed to have done?’ she yelled.
�
�I don’t think this is the time or place to go into it,’ said Jack.
‘Fine.’ She put her hands on her hips. ‘I’ll see you inside.’
Then she bent forward and spoke to the shrink through the car window. ‘I don’t know what this bullshit is about, Harry, but rest assured I’ll sort it out.’
Like I say, too, too funny.
We watch her now, sloshing her way back to the station entrance, the bottoms of her trousers getting soaked through.
‘Someone’s very cross with you today,’ I say.
‘She’s always bloody cross with me,’ Jack replies.
‘I don’t understand it,’ I say. ‘You’re just doing your job. It’s nothing personal.’
He nods but carries on watching her receding figure.
‘You’d better get His Lordship booked in pronto.’ I nudge Jack with my hip and cock my thumb at the shrink still sat in the back of the car. ‘We don’t want Miss Valentine to blow a gasket.’
At last he turns and smiles at me. ‘I suspect that horse has already well and truly bolted.’
He’s correct of course. I’ve wound her up like a clockwork toy. Sorry, Jack, but it’s for your own good.
Jack gave the custody sergeant Piper’s details as quickly as possible. Piper wasn’t making any problems but Jack wanted to get him out of the custody area sharpish, if only to get away from Lilly’s eyes, which were boring into the back of his neck with the subtlety of a pneumatic drill.
She was too involved in this case. Sure, she always gave every client her full commitment, but this was worse than usual. It was as if she’d decided that Jack was the enemy, when all he was doing was investigating a crime. Nothing personal, Kate had pointed out, making it sound so sensible and reasonable. But Kate was sense and reason personified. Lilly on the other hand …
As the sergeant neared the end of the custody sheet, he looked up at Lilly with an innocent smile. ‘You’re Mr Piper’s solicitor, I take it.’
‘Yes,’ she snapped.
Jack felt sorry for him. He’d schlepped into work despite the weather and was probably hoping for a quiet shift, only to be faced with the full force of angry Valentine.
‘I have to check these things,’ said the sergeant. ‘Just in case.’
‘Just in case what?’ Lilly threw out her arms. ‘I couldn’t have exactly wandered in could I?’
‘Well, no …’
‘I mean I couldn’t be on my way to the shops and have taken the wrong turn could I?’ Poor guy. Lilly was on a roll now. ‘Or maybe you thought I sneaked in, is that it?’
‘Of course not …’
‘I’m sure you must get that a lot? People sneaking in for a look at the secret workings of the custody suite?’
The sergeant went pink. ‘You might be Mr Piper’s appropriate adult.’
‘Does he look under eighteen to you?’ Lilly nodded her head towards Harry.
‘Why don’t you just give the sarge your details, Lilly?’ said Jack.
Lilly glared at him, removed a card from her breast pocket and pressed it into the sergeant’s hand. Why did she have to be like this? Why did she have to be so difficult?
‘It would waste a lot less time if you just told the sarge who you are,’ he said.
‘Waste time?’ Lilly shouted. ‘You’ve arrested Harry on some ridiculous charge and you’re lecturing me on wasting time?’
‘It’s not a ridiculous charge,’ said Jack.
‘Then tell me what evidence you’ve got because from where I’m standing it looks to me like the case against Chloe is collapsing and you’re clutching at straws.’
Keep calm, Jack, keep calm.
‘I asked Dr Piper for Chloe’s medical records and he refused to furnish them,’ he said. ‘I also asked him some questions about his patient and he refused point-blank to discuss her.’
Lilly narrowed her eyes. ‘That’s it? That’s all you’ve got?’
‘The information is imperative,’ said Jack. ‘By refusing to co-operate, Dr Piper is deliberately hindering the police in their investigation.’
Lilly swivelled on one foot to face the custody sergeant. ‘Can I use interview room three to speak to my client?’ She didn’t wait for him to nod, but simply took Harry’s elbow and led him to the room in question. When she got to the door, she looked over her shoulder. ‘I’d call up to the chief super if I were you and give him the heads-up that if this turns out to be as big a pile of shit as it sounds, he’s about to have his arse well and truly sued.’
When the door slammed, the sergeant let out a breath. ‘I bloody well hope you know what you’re doing with this one, Jack.’
Jack let out a laugh. He was sure he knew what he was doing, wasn’t he?
‘My God,’ said Harry. ‘When you mean business there’s no stopping you, is there?’
‘He had no right to arrest you,’ she said.
Harry shrugged. ‘I guess he’s just doing his job.’
‘No way,’ said Lilly. ‘He has completely overstepped the mark here.’
Harry perched on the corner of the table in the middle of the room. Signs of tiredness were etched around his eyes.
‘You don’t have to discuss your patients with the police,’ she said.
‘I know.’
‘In fact you shouldn’t discuss them with the police.’
Harry smiled. ‘I know.’
‘Jack knows perfectly well that what he’s asked you for isn’t on,’ said Lilly.
‘Then what’s he up to?’
Lilly held up her index and middle fingers. ‘Two things. First and foremost, he’s digging. He knows Chloe’s case is on the skids and he’s looking for anything that might prop it up.’
‘And the second thing?’ Harry asked.
‘He’s making this personal.’
‘Why would he do that?’
Lilly’s throat felt tight. She wanted to tell Harry the truth about her relationship with Jack, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. The fact that she hadn’t mentioned it before would make her look like a liar. Which, she supposed, was exactly what she was.
‘Jack and I go way back,’ was all she could manage.
‘You’ve battled it out on cases like this before?’
She should tell him. It was completely wrong not to tell him. ‘Yes,’ she said, sickening yellow bile of cowardice sweeping through her.
‘And I’ll bet you’ve beaten him too.’ Harry leaned forward. ‘You’ve got to understand, Lilly, that loss of pride and loss of face can be a very destructive force on the psyche. Especially in men.’
Lilly nodded and rushed from the room.
Outside the interview room, Lilly tried to keep the disdain from her voice. ‘This is beneath you,’ she told Jack.
‘Just doing my job.’
‘Carry on like this and you won’t have one,’ she hissed.
He looked as if she’d just shot him at close range.
‘Don’t give me the injured puppy routine,’ said Lilly. ‘You’ve dismissed the rape of a child as unimportant and now you’ve nicked her psychiatrist on some trumped-up charge when she needs him most.’
Jack smoothed his tie. ‘That’s just the way it’s come out.’
Lilly shook her head. Once upon a time she wouldn’t have believed this of Jack if the Pope himself had sworn it to be true.
‘Who are you, Jack?’ she said.
‘A copper,’ he answered. ‘Nothing more, nothing less.’
‘Well, I don’t recognize you at all.’
Lilly and Jack glared at one another across the desk. The introductions had been made and he’d read the caution to Harry.
‘I can see you’re champing at the bit to say something, Miss Valentine,’ Jack said.
‘Not especially,’ Lilly replied.
‘Really?’
Lilly shrugged. ‘Given how idiotic this whole situation is, I’ve told my client that he is well within his rights to refuse to answer any of your questions.’
<
br /> ‘So he’s going to give a “no comment” interview?’ Jack let out a snort. ‘Having failed to cooperate at his office, I can hardly say I’m surprised by that.’ He poured himself a plastic cup of water. ‘Though a jury might, of course.’
Lilly sighed. ‘Who said anything about a “no comment” interview? I may have told my client that he doesn’t have to say a word if he doesn’t want to, but it transpires there are quite a few things he does have to say to you, officer.’
Jack took a sip of water and wiped his lips with his thumb. ‘Excellent.’
Harry cleared his throat but Jack held up his hand.
‘If I can just stop you there, Dr Piper,’ he said. ‘There’s a time-honoured tradition in police interviews. I ask the questions and then you answer.’
‘There’s a time-honoured tradition of having evidence before making an arrest,’ Lilly muttered.
Jack ignored her and smiled at Harry. Harry smiled back. ‘Fire away.’
‘A couple of hours ago I called you in your office at the Grove and asked if I could come and see you to discuss Chloe Church,’ said Jack. ‘And you agreed?’
‘Of course,’ said Harry.
‘Yet, when I arrived and asked you to tell me about Chloe’s condition, you declined to do so.’
‘That’s correct,’ said Harry.
‘And when I asked that you furnish me with a copy of her medical records you also refused.’
‘Indeed.’
‘Your actual words were …’ Jack took out his notebook and began thumbing through the pages.
‘Let me save you some time, Officer McNally,’ Harry said. ‘My actual words were “Over my dead body.”’
Jack tapped his notebook with a nod. ‘“Over my dead body.” Interesting turn of phrase wouldn’t you say?’
‘Not particularly.’
‘Really? Given the circumstances involved?’ Jack asked. ‘One of your patients has been murdered, yet you refuse to help the police?’
Harry gave a laugh that turned into a groan, then morphed yet again into a sigh.
‘Officer McNally, how long have you been in the force? Let me guess, fifteen years, maybe twenty? Either way, someone of your rank and length of service must have heard of the Hippocratic oath.’ He didn’t wait for Jack to reply. ‘Let me refresh your memory. It’s an oath that dates back to Ancient Greece and it sets out the ethics involved in being a medical professional. I will prescribe regimens for the good of my patients according to my ability and my judgment etcetera, etcetera. Ringing any bells now?’