Case One

by Chris Ould

  “I know that’s what you said, but it doesn’t explain why our forensic scientists found your DNA on Ashleigh.”

  “They can’t have. It’s not mine.”

  “Oh, it is. It’s a definite match.”

  Alford shrugged. “So maybe it was from when I talked to her earlier.”

  “Must’ve been a strange conversation – for one of your pubic hairs to get itself into Ashleigh’s knickers.” He looked flatly at Alford.

  Drew Alford scowled but said nothing.

  Woods waited several seconds, then he said: “You’re king of the hill, aren’t you, Drew? On the estate. So when Ashleigh said something that disrespected you, you were angry. You had to do something about it. You had to put her in her place.”

  “No comment.”

  “So when you saw her on her way home you attacked her. You took her into the bin shelter and you sexually assaulted her.”

  “No comment.”

  “So explain it for me,” Woods said, unruffled. “Explain to me how one of your pubic hairs came to be on Ashleigh Jarvis if you didn’t sexually assault her.”

  Drew Alford took a moment, then sniffed. “Cos she wanted it, that’s how.”

  In the observation room Holly tensed, then leaned in to see the monitor better.

  “Okay…” Woods said, his voice flat and even. “So tell me what happened.”

  Alford said nothing for a moment and Holly could tell he was rehearsing his story in his head, getting it straight. Finally he unfolded his arms and sat forward.

  “I saw her,” he said. “I’m going home and I see her. Then she sees me and she comes over.”

  “Ashleigh came to you?”

  “Yeah.”

  “What time was that?” Wood said.

  “I dunno. ’Bout quarter to seven. I didn’t look.”

  “Okay, go on.”

  “So she says she’s sorry about what she said before. She says she just said it cos Bex was having a go at her about something. Then she asks if I’m serious about her.”

  “Serious about who – Bex?”

  “Yeah.”

  “So what did you say?”

  “I said no. I said it was just a thing, right? Bex isn’t nothing special. So then Ash asks me if I think she’s special. She says, ‘You think I’m a ten?’ And I say I reckon she’s a nine.”

  In the observation room Danny Simmons snorted. “Great chat-up line.”

  Holly took no notice. She was watching the monitor closely as Drew Alford leaned forward a little more.

  “So she says, ‘I’m a ten. You want me to show you?’ And I said sure. So she says, ‘Let’s go over there, where it’s private,’ and we go over to the bin shelter. That’s where she starts snogging me, right? I’m telling you, she’s the one doing it all – snogging me, rubbing up, right? You know what I mean. She says she’s fancied me for ages but didn’t want no one to know.” He looked directly at Woods. “Listen, I’m telling you straight, right? It was all her idea, not mine. But I wasn’t gonna say no, was I?”

  “Because you fancied her?”

  “Yeah, sure, I suppose.”

  Woods nodded. “So then what happened?

  “She’s letting me, you know, touch her up, right? And she’s touching me too, right? But then all of a sudden she goes all weird. She starts crying and shit, saying how she’s changed her mind, it was a mistake. She doesn’t want to do it.”

  “So what did you do?”

  “Nothing.” He saw Woods’s dubious expression. “Listen, I’m telling you, it’s true. I’m pissed off, aren’t I? I know what she’s doing – she’s just prick-teasing. So I tell her she’s a bitch or something, I can’t remember, and then I tell her she’s gonna get a rep: she wants to watch out.”

  “You didn’t try to make her go through with what she’d started?”

  “No, man. I ain’t no— I don’t need to force her, right? Why would I?”

  “Because you were aroused?”

  “No! Listen, I want a shag I just call Bex, right? I don’t need that stuck-up bitch, Ashleigh. Why would I?”

  Woods took a moment, then said: “So who left the bin shelter first, you or Ashleigh?”

  “Her. She pushes past me and goes.”

  “How long after she’d gone did you leave?”

  “I dunno, a minute or two.”

  “And when all this happened there was only you and Ashleigh there, is that right?”

  “Yeah, I told you.”

  “When you left did you see anyone else?”

  Alford hesitated, but only for a fraction of a second. “No.”

  “And where did you go?”

  “Home.”

  “So when we ask Ashleigh about this, she’s going to confirm what you’ve said? She’s going to tell us that you didn’t try to force her to have sex with you?”

  “She’d better, cos if she doesn’t she’s lying. No way I did that. No way.”

  Woods seemed to consider that for a second or two, then without any trace of emotion he said, “Okay, Drew, you’ve been very helpful. I’m going to terminate this interview now and have a chat with my colleagues, okay?”

  “So I can go, right?” Alford said.

  “No, I’ll need you to wait. Interview terminated at 16:21.”

  22.

  MORNINGSTAR RD STATION

  INCIDENT ROOM

  16:43 HRS

  “He’s charm on a stick, isn’t he?”

  DI Connors pressed a button on the remote and stopped the playback of Alford’s interview.

  “Can’t nick him for that though.” She gestured at the whiteboards. “Can’t nick him for this, either.”

  “Sure?” Woods asked.

  “Has Ashleigh come round?”

  “No.”

  “So there’s no complainant and there’s no firm evidence of rape or even attempted rape. Assault… Maybe. Just. – No, not even that.”

  “Okay,” Woods said, accepting it. “Just wanted to be sure.”

  Holly took a half-step forward.

  “Ma’am – she did have scratches on her thighs. And if she hadn’t been scared of Alford, trying to get away from him, I don’t think she’d have left her coat, shoes and bag in the bin shelter.”

  She looked to Woods for confirmation, but when she saw his expression she knew she’d made a mistake.

  “If Alford made the scratches,” Connors said. “If he did so intending harm rather than in the heat of passion when he tried to feel her up. If she left the shelter in fear rather than in a hurry to catch the Number 10 bus. If—”

  But clearly she’d got tired of the ifs and waved it all away before turning back to DS Woods.

  “Send him home. We’ve got his statement. If things change we can go back to it, but we’re not going to get anything else until or unless Ashleigh tells us what was going on. Pack this up till Monday. We’ll need to see what it’s done to the budget, too. Now, I’m going home to cook. And it’s not risotto: it’s poached salmon, new potatoes, mixed salad and dressing. Eight thirty. Don’t be late.”

  “Not with that menu,” Woods said.

  Connors nodded, then turned to leave. As she did so she gestured Holly to go with her. They went as far as the corridor before Connors stopped again and turned to her.

  “Just so you know: initiative’s one thing; trying to run before you can walk is another. Right?”

  The flat put-down was even harder than Holly had expected.

  “Yes, ma’am. I didn’t mean to—”

  “There aren’t any short cuts, okay?” the DI said, cutting her off. “I don’t like the TPO scheme. I think you’re all too young for the job, even if you are supposed to be potential high-fliers. There’s a time and a place for training and in my opinion CID isn’t it – and we don’t need a mascot. You understand what I’m saying?”

  “I—” Holly started to say, then bit her tongue. “Yes, ma’am,” she said.

  Connors nodded. “Right, as long as we�
��re clear,” and she headed away.

  23

  Through the thin bedroom wall Ryan heard the bathroom door close and lock. By the time he’d finished texting Dav the shower had started to run. It was the regular Saturday evening ritual: his father got ready to go to the club for a few hours – the only night of the week he ever did go out.

  Now he was sure that his father was occupied, Ryan swung his legs off the bed and pocketed his phone. He made his way down the hall to the sitting room and found Charlie scrolling through a game menu on the Xbox. He looked up when Ryan entered.

  “Want to race?” he asked, holding out the second controller.

  Ryan shook his head.

  “You going out?”

  “Maybe. In a bit,” Ryan said. “So who was it? And don’t say you don’t know, cos I know you do.”

  Charlie knew what he was talking about and couldn’t help running his tongue over the cut on his lip. “I don’t,” he said, shaking his head.

  “Listen,” Ryan said. “I can’t do anything if you don’t tell me.”

  “You don’t need to do anything,” Charlie said. “It was just…”

  “Was it the Kaddys? Cos if it was—”

  “No,” Charlie said, then realised he’d said it too quickly. “I told you, I never saw him before. And anyway, you don’t need to do anything. I can look after myself. I’m not a kid.”

  “Yes you are,” Ryan said flatly.

  The bluntness of the statement stung Charlie, made worse because Ryan had always been able to look after himself. His lack of fear and his certainty that he could handle whatever came along just seemed to be instinctive. It was something that Charlie knew would never come naturally to him, no matter how much he wished for it.

  “It doesn’t matter,” Charlie said. “It’s only a cut. It’s nothing.”

  Ryan held his eye for a second longer, then shrugged dismissively. “Okay,” he said. “Please yourself. I was only trying to help.”

  “I know,” Charlie said, because he knew it was true – and because he didn’t want Ryan to think he didn’t care. He held out the second game controller again. “Have one race, okay? Till Dad goes out.”

  Ryan hesitated for a moment. Then he shifted and took the handset because he could see that Charlie wanted them to be mates again. “I choose the circuit then,” he said, taking a seat.

  24.

  MORNINGSTAR RD STATION

  17:21 HRS

  Sam and Oz were waiting when Holly escorted Drew Alford out of the custody cage into the yard and right away Sam could tell she wasn’t happy. She was straight-faced and walked stiffly as she accompanied Alford the short distance to the patrol car.

  Oz Sitwell had clearly picked up on Holly’s demeanour too. “Doesn’t look like our Hol’s having much fun playing for the other side,” he said.

  “No,” Sam agreed, and a small bit of him wasn’t unhappy about that. He knew it was mean-spirited, but he couldn’t help feeling jealous that Holly had managed to get herself on the inside of the investigation while he had been stuck on the boring and unproductive door-to-door enquiries.

  “All right, Drew?” Oz said, shifting. “Going home without charges? Must be your lucky day.”

  “Yeah, well that’s cos I didn’t do anything,” Alford said.

  “Listen—” Holly said sharply. Then she stopped herself, but not before Sam saw something in her expression that he hadn’t seen before. It was a flash of genuine anger that made her look surprisingly dangerous – not at all what he was used to, but not unattractive.

  “We’ll talk to you again when Ashleigh comes round,” Holly told Alford, her voice more measured.

  “Please yourself,” Alford said, then turned to Oz. “So are we going or what?”

  “Back seat,” Oz said, and he stepped forward to open the car door.

  Holly didn’t move as Alford got in, and it was only when Oz swung the door closed with a thud that she turned on her heel and headed back into the nick.

  From the observer’s seat Sam kept an eye on Alford in the rear-view mirror while Oz pulled out of the yard and drove them towards the Cadogan Estate. As soon as they moved off Alford started texting on his phone. When he finished he sat and looked out of the window, like he was in the back of a taxi. If he was disturbed by his experience in the station Sam could see no sign of it.

  Once they reached the Cadogan Estate Oz pulled in to the kerb outside Penrice House, then turned in his seat to speak to Alford.

  “You want us to come up to the flat with you?” he said, but with no apparent intention of doing so.

  “No.”

  “Okay. On your way then. And don’t forget you’ll have a court date coming up on that robbery charge.”

  “I didn’t do that neither,” Alford said.

  “Course not,” Oz said.

  The rear door was security locked and couldn’t be opened from inside, so Sam got out and pulled the handle. When Alford climbed out he headed straight across the road towards the flats without a word.

  “So what do you reckon?” Sam asked, getting back into the car.

  Oz considered for a moment. “If he didn’t do it this time we’ll get him for something else in the end,” he said. “Sometimes you’ve got to play the long game. Although if he was smart he’d know that’s how he could get away with it.”

  “How do you mean?” Sam asked, puzzled.

  “Cos if he was smart he’d think, They’re going to be waiting for me next time, so I’ll be clever – I won’t give them a next time. – But he’d have to be smart and he’s not: see? Straight back in.”

  Oz gestured and, in the light of a street lamp on the far side of the road, Sam saw three teenage lads appear from beneath a concrete walkway and head towards Alford. One was distinctly bigger than the others, with blond hair. Sam squinted.

  “I think that’s the one who attacked Charlie Atkins,” he said. “The one on the right – blond.”

  Oz looked, then pulled the car round a little way, flicking the headlights on to full beam so they illuminated the three youths.

  “Yeah, that’s definitely him,” Sam said.

  “Tyler Smith,” Oz said. “Okay, that figures.”

  In the headlights Alford and the others shielded their eyes for a moment, then Alford gestured for them to move. Together they disappeared from sight amongst the shadows of the concrete columns.

  “You don’t want to pick him up?” Sam asked.

  “No, we’ll get back,” Oz said, checking the wing mirror, then pulling out onto the road. “It’ll be knock-off by the time we get there. Like I said: play the long game. Same as you and Bob Mulvey.”

  “What?”

  Oz gave him a canny glance. “He was pretty pleased with himself last night, finding the scene of crime.”

  Instinctively Sam opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again.

  “Right,” Oz said shrewdly. “That’s what I thought.”

  “Did Holly tell you?”

  Oz shook his head. “I know Mulvey,” he said, as if that explained everything.

  25

  “They talked to any of you?” Alford said, looking round the others suspiciously.

  Standing in a half circle by the fence around the recreation area they all shook their heads: Tyler, Skank, Rizza.

  “Yeah? Well someone’s tried to drop me in it,” Alford said, unconvinced.

  “What did they want to know?” Skank asked.

  “Where I was, what I was doing.” Alford looked round the others again, gauging their reactions. “So you know what you say if they come back, right? All of us were down Jak’s offie, like I told you last night.”

  More nods, but this time Alford caught a slight distraction from Tyler.

  “What?” he said, zeroing in on the larger boy.

  “What? Nothing,” Tyler said, but there was an unmistakeable unease in the way he shifted from one foot to the other.

  “You talked to them?” Alford said.
<
br />   “Fuck off. No.”

  Alford eyed him suspiciously. He knew there was something Tyler was holding back, but before he could take it further Rizza cut in.

  “So how come they reckon it’s you – you know, raped whatshername – Ashleigh?”

  Alford rounded on him swiftly. “They don’t think it now cos it wasn’t,” he said sharply. “They know I never touched her. It was all bollocks and anyone says it was me again they’re gonna get fucking done. Anyone. Right?”

  Rizza nodded briskly to show he understood. No one was going to give Drew an excuse to kick off when he was in a mood like this – not even Tyler would risk that.

  “Okay,” Alford said, as if he was finally satisfied. “Anyway, she wouldn’t know what to do with it if you put it in her hand. I wouldn’t waste my time on it.”

  “I would,” Skank said with a leer, and then he yelped as Alford’s fist hit his ear.

  “What the fuck! What you do that for?” His voice was a whine.

  “Cos you’re a fucking dickhead,” Alford said. “You wanna get pulled in an’ all cos someone says they heard you saying something like that? Have some fuckin’ sense.”

  He pushed Skank in the chest and made him stagger backwards, then immediately turned and moved away from the fence.

  “Where we going?” Rizza asked.

  “Find Madder,” Alford said. “I need a smoke.”

  26.

  Danny Simmons drove in silence and made no attempt to get Holly to talk. She was glad about that because she wasn’t sure what they’d talk about if it wasn’t the case, and she didn’t want to talk about that because – well – there was nothing to talk about now.

  Outside the Section House Danny brought the car to a stop but left the engine running.

  “There you go then,” he said, giving the place the once-over through the window, then turning back to her.

  “Thanks.” Holly reached round and undid her seat belt.

  “It goes that way sometimes,” Danny said. “You think you’ve got it sorted and it all comes apart.”

  Holly knew he meant it as consolation so she nodded. “Thanks for letting me sit in,” she said. “I learned a lot.”

  “Listen,” Danny said, “it’s Saturday night. You’re off duty. Get a movie out, have a pizza, think about something else.”