Case One

by Chris Ould

  “No, ma’am,” Holly said. “I mean, yes it did but—”

  “But you chose to ignore it.”

  “I just thought— I just thought there was something we’d missed, ma’am,” Holly said. “And then the more I found out…”

  “Right,” Connors said dryly. “The hole just kept getting deeper.”

  She paused to look both ways at a junction, then pulled out and cancelled the indicator.

  “So tell me,” she said. “From the beginning. Tell me how you got to where you are: from Ashleigh to Alford to Booth.”

  29.

  HUCKNALL WARD

  QUEEN VICTORIA HOSPITAL

  18:16 HRS

  Ashleigh was half asleep in the dimly lit room when they arrived, but as the nurse showed them in she roused herself and sat up. She said yes when the nurse asked if she’d like a drink.

  “Mum went home,” Ashleigh told Connors. “There was no point in her staying.”

  “Would you like me to ask her to come back? I can if you’d prefer.”

  Holly thought that Ashleigh might well have preferred it, if only as a distraction, but in the end she shook her head. “No, it’s okay,” she said. “She could do with a break.” She looked at Holly. “Has something happened?”

  The DI took a seat on the edge of the bed, more friendly and approachable than Holly had seen her before.

  “Ashleigh, I need you to tell us about Colin Booth – about your relationship with him.”

  “What?” Ashleigh said. “I don’t know what you mean.”

  DI Connors held off for a moment, as if assessing the girl’s expression, then she said: “I think you should know that Colin’s been arrested.”

  “What? Why? – I don’t know what— What’s going on?”

  Connors said nothing and Holly knew it was her cue.

  “He’s Bic, isn’t he?” she said gently. “Colin.”

  Ashleigh shook her head. “I don’t know anyone called Bic. I told you before.”

  “We’ve seen your phone,” Holly said. “The texts between you and Bic. And we’ve got Colin’s phone too. He was outside the hospital earlier and we talked to him.”

  “What— What do you mean? What did he say?”

  “What do you think he might have said?” Connors asked.

  “I don’t know, do I? I don’t know what all this is about.” There was a note of rising distress in Ashleigh’s voice. “Look— Look, I don’t want to— I don’t feel very well. Can’t you just leave it? Come back tomorrow?”

  “We can’t do that,” Connors said. “This is serious and you need to tell us the truth now – you were with Colin on Friday night, weren’t you? After you left Lauren, before the accident. You went to meet him, didn’t you?”

  “No!”

  “Ashleigh, we know you did,” Holly said, as firm as she was gentle. “It’s okay. You can tell us. You’re not in any trouble, but we need to know.”

  She reached across the bed and took Ashleigh’s hand. And as she did so Ashleigh’s head slumped forward and her tears started to flow.

  “He said… He said we – we had to stop,” she sobbed. “He said he couldn’t ­– we shouldn’t see each other any more. He didn’t want to meet me or for me to come to the house to see Lauren, or anything. He said it was getting too difficult, too dangerous. But I couldn’t— I couldn’t just stop like that… I love him. He’s— He loves me too, I know he does. I know!”

  Holly held Ashleigh’s hand tighter. “How long have you been seeing him – meeting up with him?” she asked.

  Ashleigh shook her head. “Only three months. It started a few weeks before Christmas.”

  “And you had sex with him?”

  A nod, then: “Not at first. At first it was just – just coffee, going for walks, talking, you know?”

  She looked up at Holly then, wet tracks of tears on her cheeks but a sudden determination in her eyes. “He didn’t force me,” she said. “It was never— He was the one who didn’t want to – for ages. It was me. You can’t blame him. It was me. I wanted to do it. I just…I just wanted to show how much I loved him.”

  “When was the last time you had sex with him?” Connors asked.

  “Thursday. But he was…he wasn’t the same. He said Anna, his wife, had been asking questions. He was worried.”

  “But you still went round to the house with Lauren on Friday,” DI Connors said.

  Ashleigh nodded. “I’d been texting him but he hadn’t replied. I didn’t know what was – what was going on.” She looked at Holly to see if she understood.

  Holly nodded. “So what happened on Friday?” she asked.

  Ashleigh rubbed her eyes. “It was horrible. He said we had to stop. It was too risky. And I— I said all sorts of things. I was a bitch.”

  “Did you have a row?”

  Ashleigh nodded. “I tried to get him to change his mind. But he wouldn’t. He just said – he said he loved me but we had to forget what had happened and try and start again without each other.”

  “So then what happened?”

  “I shouted at him. I was crying. I don’t know. I just couldn’t stand it, so in the end I just went – ran off and left him.” She paused, swallowed hard.

  “It’s okay,” Holly said. “Just take your time.”

  Ashleigh sniffed. “I was just walking, crying. I don’t know how long, but then I saw Drew and I thought – I thought, okay, if Colin thinks I’ve been seeing someone else that’ll make him realise how much he wants me. So – so then I went up to Drew and said hello.”

  “Because you wanted Colin to feel jealous,” Holly said.

  Ashleigh picked at the sheet on the bed. “It wasn’t— I didn’t mean it for real,” she said. “Not with Drew. I just thought if I snogged him or something… I knew he’d tell someone afterwards, then Lauren’d hear and if she told Colin…I thought, he’d have to call me then.”

  On the edge of the bed DI Connors drew a slow breath. “Can you tell us what happened then – with Drew?”

  Ashleigh didn’t meet her eye. She looked at the bed cover. “I told him I— I said, just snogging, and at first it was okay. But then he— He was touching and…he wouldn’t stop. He wouldn’t— He wouldn’t let go. He said he knew I wanted it, even when I pushed him off. I knew if he…if he could— So I pushed him again, really hard and then I just ran.”

  30.

  INTERVIEW ROOM 3

  MORNINGSTAR RD STATION

  18:19 HRS

  “How old is Ashleigh, do you know?”

  “Yes.”

  “How old?”

  “Fourteen.”

  “The same age as your daughter?” Woods said.

  “Yes.”

  “Okay. So can you tell me the nature of your relationship with Ashleigh?”

  For several seconds Booth said nothing, just stared at the table.

  “Colin?”

  Slowly Booth shook his head, still saying nothing.

  “Was it a sexual relationship?” Woods asked.

  Another moment of stillness, then finally Booth nodded.

  “For the tape, please.”

  “Yes.”

  In the chair next to Woods, Danny Simmons shifted, but Woods remained still.

  “Do you know that the age of sexual consent in this country is sixteen?”

  “Yes.”

  “So you’re admitting that you’ve had a sexual relationship with Ashleigh even though you knew she was under the age of consent – is that correct?”

  Booth put his hand over his eyes, head bowed. “Yes.”

  “How many times have you had sex with her?” Danny Simmons said.

  “I…I don’t know.”

  “Two or three times? More than that?”

  “More.”

  “Ten? Twenty?”

  “No! Not as many as that.”

  “So somewhere between ten and twenty times.”

  “Yes.” Booth’s voice had a flat sound of defeat. “Yes, I
suppose so.”

  “Do you know any other girls of about Ashleigh’s age?”

  “What?”

  “Do you have a relationship with any other teenage girls?” Danny Simmons repeated clearly.

  “What? No! No!” Booth had raised his head sharply at the question. “Look, it’s not like that.”

  “Not like what?”

  “Not like you’re thinking. It isn’t. There isn’t anyone else. It’s just Ashleigh. I…I didn’t mean it to happen. It just did. But it’s not— Not like you think.”

  “What is it like then?” Woods said.

  “It’s… Look, I knew we should stop, all right? I knew. I tried. On Friday. I told her we couldn’t do it any more. I knew the longer it went on… And with her coming to the house… I was afraid Lauren or Anna would realise, see something. I just couldn’t do it any more.”

  “So what happened?” Woods asked.

  “I went out. I told Anna I was going to the pub but I knew Ashleigh would know I was waiting for her. I sat in the car round the corner and when Ashleigh came a bit later I drove to the car park on Alma Way. That’s where I told her.”

  He paused for a moment and drew a heavy breath, shook his head. “She…she got upset. Really upset. She was crying and saying she didn’t want to stop and she knew I didn’t want to either. She talked about running away – the two of us – and I told her there was no way we could do that. We just had to stop… In the end she just— She just got out of the car and ran.”

  “Did you go after her?”

  Booth shook his head. “I thought— I thought it was better like that – if I didn’t. I thought if I went after her she’d think I’d changed my mind, and I hadn’t. I couldn’t. So I just let her go.”

  He broke off then, finally looking directly at Woods. “I know it was—­ I know I shouldn’t have… It just got out of hand. I’ve never done anything like that before, I swear it. Never.”

  For a moment Woods looked as if he might believe that. But then he reached below the desk and brought out a transparent evidence bag containing a mobile phone.

  “For the benefit of the tape, I’m showing Mr Booth exhibit HB1. Is this your phone, Colin?”

  Booth looked, then nodded. “Yes.”

  “This is the phone you used to send and receive texts and calls with Ashleigh?”

  “Yes.”

  “Okay.”

  Woods reached under the table again. This time he brought out a bag containing two more phones.

  “What about these? Exhibit RW1 and RW2. Do you recognise them?”

  Booth looked at the phones but said nothing.

  “We found these in the boot of your car. What can you tell me about them?”

  For a moment longer Booth remained still. Then he said: “I’d…I’d like to talk to a solicitor now. I don’t want to say any more.”

  31.

  QUEEN VICTORIA HOSPITAL

  18:28 HRS

  Holly pressed the call button by the lifts, listening as DI Connors spoke on the phone.

  “Everything?” Connors asked. There was a pause, then she said: “Okay, we’ll review when I get back. We’re leaving the Vic now.”

  She rang off and turned to Holly. “Colin Booth’s rolled over in interview. He’s admitting an ongoing sexual relationship with Ashleigh.”

  “So we can charge him?”

  Connors nodded. “For Ashleigh? Yes, for definite.”

  “What about the other phones, from the boot of his car? Has he said…?”

  “No,” Connors said. “He asked for a brief, so the interview’s been suspended till he gets one.”

  “And Alford? I mean, if Ashleigh’s willing to make a statement about the attempted rape…”

  Connors looked at her speculatively. “One result’s not enough for you?”

  “Not if they’ve both committed offences,” Holly said flatly.

  “Yeah, well, it’s Ashleigh’s word against Alford’s,” Connors said. “And attempted rape’s even harder to prove than rape itself.”

  “There’s the forensic evidence to back it up though.”

  “Yeah, and if we take it to trial Alford’s defence will use the fact that Ashleigh came on to him, and why. When a jury hears that it’ll change the way they look at her. They’re liable to think, Oh, she’s that kind of girl… Having it off with an older man, putting it about a bit… It’ll colour the way they think about her and give Alford the benefit of the doubt.”

  “That’s wrong though, isn’t it?” Holly said. “It doesn’t matter why she was there ­– she said no. She didn’t want to have sex with Alford and he knew that.”

  “I’m just telling you the way juries think,” Connors said flatly.

  The lift arrived and Connors waited until they’d got in before she spoke again. “Listen, we’re going to send Booth down for what he did to Ashleigh, and if the other phones we found are linked to more girls, he’s looking at ten years inside, maybe more. You should be happy with that.”

  “Yes…no, I am,” Holly said.

  Connors gave her a measured, impassive look, then seemed to relax – just a little. She said: “Yeah, well, if it was up to me I’d castrate them both with a pair of house bricks ­– Booth and Alford – but that would probably infringe their human rights. Pity though.”

  The lift came to a halt and when the doors opened they stepped out.

  “I’ll see what the CPS say about Alford,” Connors said. “But don’t get your hopes up. I’m pretty sure they’ll let it go. Just be satisfied with Booth for the time being, okay? Take what you can get.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Good,” Connors said.

  32.

  EMERGENCY DEPT

  QUEEN VICTORIA HOSPITAL

  18:35 HRS

  “Do you know him?” Sam asked. “Had you seen him before?”

  Tyler Smith shook his head. “I dunno who he was.”

  He was lying on a trolley in a cubicle with the curtains drawn. He wore a surgical gown and there was a drip going into his arm. He didn’t look as pale as he had back at the precinct, Sam thought, but his face was still drawn and pained – nowhere near as tough or as menacing as he’d been when he’d split Charlie Atkins’s lip yesterday.

  “So why did he attack you?”

  “I dunno.”

  Sam glanced to the foot of the bed where Oz was standing, listening and watching patiently. It had been his idea for Sam to do the questioning, but the lack of success didn’t seem to worry him.

  “It must’ve been about something,” Sam insisted, turning back to Tyler. “Was there an argument?”

  “No.”

  “So he just walked up to you and stabbed you – is that what you’re saying?”

  “Yeah.”

  Sam knew Tyler was lying but there didn’t seem any way to break through the brick wall and he was becoming frustrated.

  “Must be a change, you being the one on the receiving end. How’s that feel?”

  Tyler Smith gave him a dark look but said nothing.

  “Listen,” Sam said. “If it’s some kind of grudge and you’re afraid of him…”

  “What?” For the first time Tyler Smith showed a reaction. “I ain’t afraid of him, that little—” He stopped himself.

  “So you do know who he is.”

  “No. No comment.”

  At last Oz seemed to have heard enough. He shifted and said, “Okay, Tyler, have it your own way. You can tell Drew you were a good boy and kept quiet. But if I hear of anything that sounds like tit-for-tat over this, I’m coming looking for you – right?”

  Tyler had shifted uncomfortably at the mention of Drew Alford and for a second seemed about to reply, but then he looked away.

  Outside the cubicle Sam put his pocketbook away. “That was crap,” he said, dispirited.

  Oz shrugged. “Not really.”

  “Maybe we should have given it a bit longer.”

  “Nah. He was never going to tell u
s who it was. Only thing you can do is warn him off from trying to even the score.”

  “Think it’ll work?”

  “Maybe – least until he’s healed up. Then it’ll depend on what Alford wants – whether he can keep a lid on it, whether he wants to. No telling there.”

  “So we just wait and see what happens.”

  “Yep.” Oz looked at his watch. “Come on, we’re supposed to be off.”

  33

  It was dark and there were only the two of them. They stood near one of the wet benches in the precinct, both with their hoods up like cowls. Every so often Drew Alford’s features were dimly lit as he drew on his cigarette. Ryan Atkins didn’t smoke.

  “If Tyler says it was Charlie, Charlie’s going to say why. The car and the shop. Self-defence.”

  “That’s not what Skank and Rizza’ll say.”

  Ryan nodded. He’d expected something like that. “So?”

  Alford sniffed, appearing to think about it. “You thought about what I said before?”

  “Yeah.”

  “So…? – If you’re in with us, that’s it. Tyler’s gonna keep quiet.”

  “And he stays away from Charlie.”

  “Course.”

  “He’d better.”

  “He will. He does what I tell him.”

  Ryan took a beat, then he said flatly: “Okay.”

  Alford nodded and flipped his cigarette away. He reached into the pocket of his hoodie and took out a wad of tissues wrapped round something harder. He held it out to Ryan.

  “That’s yours – or Charlie’s. Thought you’d want it back. I’d dump it if it was me though.”

  Ryan took the bundle. He could feel the shape of the knife through the tissues without having to unwrap it. He also knew that by accepting it he was confirming the agreement to go in with Alford.

  “Yeah,” Ryan said. He put the bundle away. “I’ll see you later then.” He took a step to one side.

  “You going home?” Alford asked, shifting.

  “Yeah. Why?”

  “I’ll go with you. I want to check something out in your block.”

  “What?”

  Alford shook his head. “Not yet. Later.”