Broken Silence

by Danielle Ramsay

  They both knew what the outcome would be. Matthews’ career would be over. At least this way Brady might be able to convince Matthews to come forward and explain how the bloody hell he had got himself involved with Madley, not to mention his involvement with the victim. Maybe if Matthews came clean then the outcome wouldn’t include prison.

  ‘Conrad? If I’m not back out in ten minutes … well just bugger off. I don’t want you caught up in all of this. Understand?’ Brady instructed.

  It wasn’t worth ringing the doorbell to see if anyone was home, he already knew the answer. He took out the set of keys he’d lifted when he’d first come to see Matthews.

  ‘Shit!’ he cursed as an alarm started its countdown. Brady had to think fast or he’d have uniform pulling up outside, or worse some security guards believing they were the law. This was Earsdon after all; expensive houses with lots of fancy goods inside.

  He followed the noise to an alarm control unit under the stairs. Steadying himself he keyed in the code from Matthews’ old house and inwardly prayed. It went silent.

  ‘Shit,’ he muttered uneasily as he pulled himself together.

  He didn’t have long. He looked around until he found what he presumed was Matthews’ study. The drawers to his desk had been ransacked. Matthews had obviously been in a hurry when he had left and grabbed whatever he could. However, a spare set of car keys had been left in one of the drawers.

  Brady picked them up and headed towards the garage. Being a copper, Brady knew Matthews was aware of the likelihood of being traced. CCTV cameras were everywhere and once the police had a report on a vehicle it wouldn’t take long to track it down.

  When Brady reached the utility room he tried the door which connected the garage to the house, expecting it to be locked. It wasn’t. It swung open into a large, dark space. He stepped down into the garage and waited for his eyes to adjust to the dense blackness. Matthews’ car was parked against the opposite wall. Brady felt himself trembling and knew it wasn’t just the cold.

  Instinct made him try the boot first. It opened. There was a half-full black bin liner. Without thinking Brady shone his torch into it. He stepped back in disbelief at the sight of Matthews’ clothes; the exact same clothes he had worn to Madley’s nightclub the night of the murder. The pale shirt and tie were splattered in indiscriminate patches of rust-coloured blood. Brady had seen enough. He didn’t have the stomach to search through the rest of the bag and decided it was better left for the lab.

  He ran a trembling hand through his hair as he remembered Matthews’ coat draped over the victim’s body. The same coat he was filmed wearing as he left Madley’s nightclub with Sophie. Brady had accepted Matthews’ lame excuse that he had been worried that the victim might have traces of his DNA from when he drove her home and that he had covered her body with his coat as a convenient ruse for explaining why any of his DNA might be on her.

  Brady now realised the truth was much darker.

  He steeled himself as he walked round to the passenger’s side. He shakily opened the car door and shone the torch across the front and back seats; nothing. At least nothing that the naked eye could see. He was sure that something would show up under a forensic ultraviolet light. He opened up the glove compartment. Again nothing. Brady sighed as he bent down to have a look at the floor. He shone his flashlight under the passenger’s seat and caught a glimpse of something. He reached under and pulled out a mobile phone. At first he wondered whether Matthews had left his phone behind, but realised that was highly improbable.

  Brady opened the phone; it was an expensive Motorola. The exact type that the Simmons had said their daughter owned. It was switched off. Brady knew that after the call to Matthews’ mobile the phone had shortly lost its network connection; meaning someone had turned it off.

  Brady pulled out a small plastic bag from his jacket pocket and deposited the phone inside. He took another look inside and saw something sticking out from under the seat. It was an empty condom wrapper. He picked it up and placed it in an evidence bag.

  Brady closed his eyes for a moment as he thought about what he was about to do. His head was pounding; too much Scotch and not enough sleep. He reluctantly opened his eyes and started to call Conrad.

  ‘There’s no need for that,’ a hoarse voice suddenly threatened.

  Brady froze.

  He looked up. Matthews was stood in the doorway.

  ‘Jimmy?’

  Chapter Fifty-Six

  Matthews slowly walked towards Brady, his eyes glinting dangerously like a rabid dog in the dark.

  Brady felt himself tense up. Matthews was desperate and Brady had witnessed his brutish temper when threatened.

  ‘I can help you,’ Brady offered, aware he wouldn’t stand a chance against him. Not with the state of his leg.

  ‘You want to help? Then give me her phone and leave,’ Matthews quietly suggested.

  Brady clenched his hands as he prepared himself.

  ‘I can’t do that.’

  ‘You owe me, Jack,’ Matthews threatened.

  ‘It’s too late.’

  ‘Why? No one’s looking for me.’

  Brady tried his best to sound in control. He swallowed hard.

  ‘Not yet, but the evidence is there in your car, Jimmy,’ Brady slowly stated. ‘And there’s a surveillance tape of you and Sophie at Madley’s nightclub the night she was murdered.’

  ‘You fucking bastard!’ Matthews shouted as he lunged at him. ‘You really believe I’m capable of doing that? You think I could murder her?’ he questioned as he delivered a hard and fast blow to Brady’s stomach.

  Brady doubled over in agony, unable to breathe.

  Matthews yanked him up by his hair so he could see his contorted expression.

  ‘And I didn’t fuck her if that’s what you’re thinking!’

  ‘I didn’t say you did!’

  ‘No? But that’s what you think,’ accused Matthews.

  ‘I don’t think that, but others will when they’ve watched the tape. You were all over her,’ Brady panted, as he tried to get his breath back.

  ‘She was pissed. So pissed she didn’t even realise who I was. She kept throwing her arms around me and trying to kiss me. For fuck’s sake! I was trying to persuade her to go home to sober up. Only a sick bastard like you would think something else. I was just trying to keep her from getting picked up by the other perverted bastards who go to Madley’s nightclub.’

  Brady gasped in air as he tried to steady his erratic breathing.

  ‘I won’t be the only one looking for you,’ he breathlessly wheezed. ‘Soon Gates will know about the tape and then you’ll have no choice but to come in. Gates is clever, he’ll put two and two together and—’

  ‘You bastard! You’ve fucking opened your mouth!’

  ‘I haven’t told anyone!’

  ‘You fucking liar!’

  ‘Madley gave me the surveillance tape. You fucking stole from him, Jimmy. Fuck! The last person you steal from is Madley. He wants to make sure he gets even with you. He’s using the tape of you and the victim to incriminate you and destroy your career for good,’ Brady explained as he tried not to breathe in Matthews’ sour breath.

  ‘That fucking bastard! Did he tell you how he’s making his filthy money? Did he?’ Matthews spat in his face.

  ‘He just gave me the surveillance tape, Jimmy. It was enough. It shows you with her. It shows you leaving with Sophie.’

  ‘Give me the tape then!’

  Brady shook his head.

  Matthews shoved Brady hard against the car.

  ‘For fuck’s sake, Jimmy!’ shouted Brady. ‘Don’t you get it? No one steals from Madley, Jimmy. Christ! Surely you know that much about him!’

  Matthews lodged his arm under Brady’s neck, pinning him even further back against the car.

  ‘He gave me a copy of the surveillance tape and he’s also giving a copy to Gates. It’s over with,’ Brady croaked.

  ‘I don’t believ
e you,’ he said as his eyes stared wildly at Brady.

  ‘Why would I lie? You know me,’ Brady replied.

  ‘I thought I did. But not any more.’

  He rammed his arm hard against Brady’s neck forcing him to gasp for air.

  ‘And where’s my fucking wife, you bastard? I disappear and you fucking move her into your place! Is that what you’ve been waiting for all this time? Me to clear off so you could have her? Well, I’m not going to let it happen. Not while I can still do something about it!’ Matthews growled as he watched Brady struggle to breathe.

  ‘No … Jimmy… you’re not thinking straight!’ gasped Brady.

  ‘Maybe you and Madley are in this together. I wouldn’t be surprised since you both come from the same shit hole. You’ve set me up, you bastard! What the fuck else has Madley told you?’

  ‘I only know what I’ve seen, Jimmy. The tape … and then … oh fuck … your clothes in the car and Sophie’s phone …’ Brady cut off, trying desperately to think of something to calm Matthews down.

  ‘Let’s talk about this? Before it’s too late,’ Brady attempted.

  ‘It’s already too late.’

  ‘Don’t be a fucking fool!’ Brady spluttered as Matthews pulled out a handgun.

  Matthews steadily aimed the gun at Brady’s head.

  ‘Shit, Jimmy! You won’t get away with this,’ Brady reasoned nervously.

  ‘You broke into my house making some crazy accusations. Then you threatened me with this gun. I struggled with you and the gun went off. Simple,’ explained Matthews chillingly as his gloved hand released the safety trigger.

  ‘Put the gun down!’ ordered a loud, stern voice.

  ‘Put the gun down!’ repeated the voice. ‘That’s an order, Jimmy.’

  It was Gates’ voice. Behind him stood Conrad. Outside, Brady could hear the reassuring wail and screech of sirens as back-up arrived. He slumped back against the car realising that Conrad had disobeyed his order to abandon him if he didn’t return after ten minutes.

  He closed his eyes and rested his head back against the cold metal as armed officers surrounded Matthews. He shakily breathed out, unsure of how he could ever thank Conrad for what he had just done.

  Chapter Fifty-Seven

  ‘They’ll crucify him if he goes inside. You know that, don’t you?’ questioned Gates.

  Brady didn’t know what to say.

  They both knew the reality for coppers who found themselves on the wrong side of the bars. He’d tried for the past hour to get Matthews to open up. But he wouldn’t. He had decided on his right to silence until convicted. And with the amount of evidence they had stacked up against him, his conviction looked an absolute certainty. Forensics had pulled out all the stops since Matthews’ arrest. Gates had called the whole team back in, regardless of hangovers and sleep deprivation. There was an eerie disquiet around the station. Everyone found it hard to believe that Matthews could have murdered the girl but the evidence looked indisputable. Ainsworth’s team had found DNA from the victim in Matthews’ car on both the passenger and the driver’s seat. The victim’s hair, tissue and blood had been scraped up, presumably contaminated by Matthews when he had left the murder scene. It was no surprise when the blood on his shirt matched the victim’s.

  ‘Tell me one thing. Did you know? Had Jimmy confided in you?’ asked Gates.

  ‘No sir,’ answered Brady.

  ‘If I find out that you’re lying to me, Jack, you’ll be facing more than just a disciplinary hearing,’ Gates threatened as his cold, detached eyes bored into him.

  Brady hazarded a guess that Matthews’ sudden role in the murder had managed to scupper Gates’ newfound chances of promotion.

  Brady held Gates’ scrutinising stare.

  ‘Get out of my sight, Jack. I don’t want to see your face in front of me again until you’ve succeeded in getting Jimmy to talk. Understand?’ Gates demanded.

  ‘Perfectly, sir,’ Brady replied.

  He turned and limped towards the door.

  He couldn’t shake his instinct that Matthews was hiding something from him. Worse, he couldn’t shift the nagging doubt that he was innocent. But then, why wasn’t he talking? The only answer that came to mind was that he was protecting someone. And it definitely wasn’t Ellison. Matthews had made it quite clear that he would have been prepared to let Ellison go down for murder; regardless of whether he actually killed her.

  The question Brady had to figure out was who? He already had an idea who it might be, but as of yet, he couldn’t bring himself to seriously consider it.

  ‘And Simmons?’ called out Gates before Brady walked through the door.

  ‘About to interview him now, sir.’

  ‘Just make sure you nail the bastard!’ Gates added.

  Simmons’ solicitor had kicked off big-time and had threatened to publicly humiliate Northumbria Police over their treatment of his client. Problem for Brady was that Simmons’ solicitor was Claudia.

  To add to his problems Gates had been dragged in front of the Chief Constable to explain why Simmons was planning on suing the force for inappropriate handling of his step-daughter’s murder. The fact that he had been treated as a prime suspect hadn’t helped. Brady knew it was his fault that Gates’ integrity had been called into question. It was down to his dealings with Simmons, and it was his dealings alone that would clear Gates’ name with the Chief Constable.

  ‘The evidence alone will do that, sir,’ Brady quietly replied.

  He had repeatedly pushed Jed to continue searching Simmons’ hard drive, refusing to accept defeat. He had had a gut feeling that Simmons was sexually abusing his step-daughter and had been since she was eleven years old. Forty-eight hours later and with the murder investigation coming to a close, he had finally received a call from Jed giving him the ammunition to bring Simmons back in. Brady had been certain that once his hunch about Paul Simmons had been vindicated he would rest easy. But the sickening reality couldn’t have been further from the truth.

  Chapter Fifty-Eight

  ‘You bastard! This better be good or you’ll find yourself out of a job!’ threatened Simmons as Brady walked into the interview room.

  ‘Do you know what bloody time it is? I was dragged out of my bed at seven on a Sunday morning and forced to sit for nearly three hours in one of your holding cells like a criminal waiting for you to bloody roll into work!’

  Brady ignored him and instead turned to Simmons’ solicitor. He was expecting Claudia and was both surprised and equally disappointed to find Michael Travers in her place. He realised this was her way of saying it was over. And what better way of delivering that message than through Travers? She knew he hated the uptight, arrogant bugger. And Claudia knew he had every reason to, especially when Travers was trying his damned best to seduce her.

  Brady resisted the urge to wipe the arrogant smile off Travers’ tanned, almost triumphant face.

  ‘I hope for your sake, DI Brady, that you’ve brought my client in to apologise!’ Travers stated abruptly.

  ‘For?’ asked Brady.

  ‘Oh for goodness sake! Don’t play the idiot with me. I’ve already put in an official complaint about your unfoundedallegations against my client and his step-daughter,’ Michael Travers said irritably. ‘So don’t push me.’

  Brady couldn’t help but smile.

  ‘Aren’t you forgetting the claim for damages that you’ve lodged? How much exactly is it that your client’s suing Northumbria Police for?’ asked Brady.

  ‘I don’t expect to sit here and be insulted. Be warned, DI Brady, if this is some cheap stunt of yours then mark my words, I’ll have you.’

  ‘Oh we can do better than some cheap stunt, can’t we, DS Conrad?’ said Brady as Conrad sat down beside him.

  ‘Yes sir,’ replied Conrad as he placed a file on the table.

  ‘What’s this?’ demanded Travers, his voice losing its self-assured edge.

  ‘This,’ Brady said gesturing at the file, ‘s
hows what kind of a man you’re representing.’

  ‘Get to the point,’ demanded Travers impatiently.

  Brady looked at Simmons.

  ‘I accept that you didn’t murder your step-daughter, sir,’ Brady began. ‘But I’m sure a jury will agree that what you did to her over a period of four years is worse than what she suffered in those last moments before she died.’

  ‘This is ridiculous! What kind of unfounded allegation is that?’ spluttered Travers.

  ‘It’s not unfounded as you’ll find out soon enough,’ Brady answered as he turned to Travers.

  Brady could see that the solicitor was worried. His voice had lost its slick, arrogant Oxbridge edge.

  ‘Let me see that,’ ordered Travers as he gestured towards the file.

  ‘Be my guest,’ offered Brady as he picked up the file.

  But instead of handing the file over, Brady opened it andstarted to carefully place the contents in front of Simmons and his solicitor.

  ‘What exactly is this, DI Brady?’ demanded Travers as he quickly took in the stark photographs.

  Taken aback, he turned and looked at his client whose face had turned white.

  ‘Don’t say a word. Understand?’ Travers quickly instructed.

  Simmons stared at the photos incredulously, not believing what was in front of him.

  ‘But … it was—’

  ‘Encrypted?’ finished off Brady. ‘Message from our computer forensic officer – if you are going to encrypt something, don’t use anything based on dictionary words.’

  Simmons stared at Brady numbly.

  ‘It took a while but our forensic officer’s password cracker got it in the end,’ added Brady. ‘One thing I can say about Jed is, he doesn’t give up easily.’

  Brady smiled as he looked at Simmons.

  ‘Suddenly you’ve gone very quiet, sir. Maybe you’ve decided that suing us for wrongful arrest isn’t such a lucrative prospect any more?’