Lost Innocence

by M A Comley

The more she studied the file, the more something bugged her. Bingo! That’s it. Sally nodded. “All the investigating officers were men. Maybe it’s time a woman went to see him. Perhaps work on his compassionate side, if he has one.” She scribbled down some notes about the case in her notebook then looked up the number they had on file for any of the relatives of Abbott’s victims involved in the investigation. Sally rang one of the relatives whose daughter’s body was still missing.

  “Hello, is that Miranda Hathaway?”

  “It is,” the woman replied, a note of suspicion tinging her tone.

  “Sorry to ring you out of the blue like this. I’m DI Sally Parker. I’m in charge of a relatively new cold case team that has been set up in the area.”

  The woman gasped. “Does this mean you’re going to reopen Katrina’s—my daughter’s case?”

  “As far as I’m concerned, her case was never closed. Not according to the file, anyway. I’m sorry no one has been in touch with you recently.”

  “You’re not the only one. I need to know what happened to my baby before…” The woman broke off in a sob.

  Sally’s chest constricted a little in discomfort. “I’m sorry. The last thing I wanted to do was upset you. Before what, Mrs. Hathaway?”

  After a long pause, during which the woman tried to compose herself, she mumbled, “Before I die. I have terminal cancer. The doctor has given me three months to live. ”

  Sally closed her eyes, trying to force back the tears threatening to emerge. That was the problem with handling cold cases. Since the original crime was committed, the lives of those left behind could have changed dramatically.

  “I’m so very sorry.”

  “There’s no need for you to be sorry, Inspector. I’ve learnt to live with the prognosis and accepted my fate. What would be wonderful is me going to my grave knowing what happened to my baby and possibly laying her body to rest after all this time.”

  “I’ll see what I can do. A word of caution if I may. Looking over the case file, it’s going to take a massive effort, and I fear it’s going to be exceedingly challenging to get Abbott to talk. I noticed one extraordinary fact that could work in our favour, though—over the years, none of the investigating officers were women.”

  “You’re right. I hadn’t thought about that before. Maybe you’ll prove to be the good omen we need to find our daughter. To make things clear, I accepted her death long ago. I can feel her around me every day, so I know she’s passed away. I’d appreciate knowing where he put her body, though. It’s important for me to lay her body somewhere sacred. Somewhere her brother and sister can visit to pay their respects.”

  “I totally understand that. I just wanted to contact you to make you aware of the situation. I have every intention of visiting Abbott in the next day or two. Of course, I’ll keep you informed of any news that surfaces right away. Please, I wanted to assure you that I will do everything in my power to get the information from the prisoner.”

  “Thank you. I’ll be sitting here, waiting for your call, Inspector, with everything crossed.”

  “I’ll be in touch soon.”

  Sally left her office and returned to the incident room. She headed for the vending machine and bought all the team coffee, which she distributed. Stopping at Jack’s desk, she sighed and sat in the chair next to him. “Anything?”

  “Nope, it’s a waiting game, as per usual. What have you been up to? Mindless paperwork?”

  “Not exactly. Something made me look at the case files again, and I’ve extracted a case that I think we should prioritise.”

  Jack frowned and sat back in his chair. “Whoa! As well as this one?”

  “Yes, Jack. Do you have a problem with that notion? ”

  “No.” He pulled an imaginary zip across his lips.

  She shook her head and smiled. “You know what I’m like. I get frustrated when a case proves to be slow to get off the ground. I need to be actively doing something. It makes sense to run the two cases alongside each other. Let’s face it—this isn’t the first time we’ve attempted to do it.”

  “I know. Hey, don’t mind me. You’re the boss. What you say goes, right?”

  She furrowed her brow. “Do I sense a little reluctance?”

  “Not at all. I hope it doesn’t backfire and cause us to be overwhelmed. On your head be it.”

  “Thanks for the support, partner. You haven’t even asked about the case. Aren’t you curious?”

  He stretched and yawned. “Go on then, surprise me.”

  “Does Christopher Abbott ring a bell?”

  Jack thought it over for a moment then shook his head.

  “Sorry to eavesdrop, boss. It does with me,” Joanna said behind her.

  Sally turned to face her. “You remember the case?”

  “Yes. From when I was younger. I was still living at home at the time, and I recall the commotion going on at the end of my road when they arrested the man.”

  “Bloody hell, Joanna! I had no idea. So he lived in your street?”

  “Not exactly. At the junction of our road. One of his victims lived in the same road. At the time of her death, my parents instructed me to give them my itinerary for every second of the day. They were super protective of me back then, even though I was nineteen. I have to admit that I tended not to go out at night much up until the time he was caught. As soon as my father realised what was going on, he marched down to the bottom of the road with our male neighbours and confronted Abbott when they put him in the back of the police car. The whole neighbourhood lived under a cloud for a few months. I recall there was an awful lot of guilt flying around between the neighbours.”

  “Guilt? Why guilt?” Sally asked, perplexed.

  “Some people said they suspected something was going on in his house but never spoke up. A few of them admitted they saw several young women enter the house and never leave it. ”

  “Oh crap. That’s awful. Fancy living with that on your conscience. I just rang one of his suspected victims’ mothers, a Miranda Hathaway.”

  “Mother of Katrina Hathaway, right?” Joanna asked.

  “You’re right. Did you know the girl?”

  “She went to my school. She was in the year lower than me and lived a few streets away. Abbott is a vile son of a bitch, boss.”

  “Aren’t they all?” she replied with a smile, hoping Joanna would get the inference to Darryl.

  Joanna nodded, a sympathetic expression on her flushed face. “They are. What’s going to be your first step? Do you want me to bring up the archives on the case?”

  “Hang fire on that. I’d really like you to keep pressing on with finding the Ryland family, if you will. I’d like to tinker with this case on my own for now.”

  “No problem, boss. If I have a spare minute, I’ll try and print the reports off in between.”

  Sally laughed. “I forgot how talented you were at multitasking. I’m not going to stop you, but please give priority at all times to the Ryland case.”

  “I will. I promise.”

  Sally turned her attention to Jack, enabling Joanna to get on with the tasks in hand relating to the Ryland case.

  “Who’d have thunk it?” Jack whispered.

  Sally rolled her eyes. “It’s a small world. Too small, at times. Anyway, I’m going to pay Abbott a visit in prison.”

  “Want me to come with you?”

  “I’m sure I’ll be fine. I’ll ring the governor in a moment and arrange a meeting with Abbott in the next day or two.”

  “Watch you don’t burn yourself out. I have a feeling you’re going to regret taking on another case once the information we need starts trickling through on this one.”

  “Hopefully, I’ll be able to prove you wrong, matey. Anyway, there’s an extra incentive for us to solve this one.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Miranda Hathaway is terminally ill.”

  Jack shook his head in despair. “Oh shit! That’s a bummer. Okay, then I can und
erstand you wanting to deal with this case. Promise me one thing.”

  “What’s that? ”

  “That you ask for help if you need it and don’t take your work home with you.”

  Sally chuckled. “Yes, boss. Just to put your mind at rest on that front, Simon would crucify me if I did that nowadays. We’ve made a pact to leave work behind us as soon as we step through the front door at night.”

  Jack raised a sceptical eyebrow. “And pray tell me how that’s working out between the two of you?”

  Sally pulled a face at him. “Hit and miss, but you knew that already.”

  “I thought as much. You need to chill more. There’s such a thing as being too devoted to a job. You can’t tell me the people at head office appreciate the amount of extra hours you put in.”

  “Probably not. Nevertheless, it makes me feel good, Jack. It’s also very difficult changing a habit of a lifetime, too.”

  “Granted. Donna will back me up when I say that I leave my work behind me.”

  Sally laughed. “Now why doesn’t that surprise me? Right, I’m going to make a call. Keep plodding on, gang.” She left her seat and took her coffee back to her office. When she placed the call to the prison in Norwich, she found the governor to be friendly but officious.

  “Would you grant me permission to come and visit Abbott, Mr. Ward?”

  “Of course. Although it wouldn’t be right of me not to try to dissuade you. He’s a nasty piece of work, Inspector. Caused more problems on the inside than any other inmate here.”

  “I’m positive I can handle him. You’ll ensure there’s a prison guard with me when I interview him, I take it?”

  “It would be mighty foolish of me not to guarantee that occurs. When are you thinking of coming?”

  “Time’s getting on now. By the time I drove out there, it would be around six. That wouldn’t be good for you, would it?”

  “You’re right. Maybe leave it until the morning, in that case?”

  Sally nodded, forgetting he couldn’t see her. “Agreed. I can be there for ten thirty in the morning, if that suits you.”

  “It does. I’ll see you then.”

  “Look forward to meeting you.” She hung up. Mr. Ward was new to the job. He’d taken over from the governor who had been helpful in getting Darryl transferred to Scotland. The previous governor had retired in the last few months, according to the secretary who had patched her through to Mr. Ward.

  The rest of the afternoon was spent nipping in and out of the incident room to check on the team’s progress. In between, Sally opened the odd brown envelope to deal with. At six o’clock, she decided to call it a day and went into the outer office to dismiss the team. They all seemed a little dejected not to have discovered anything substantial. Sally assured them that things would look much brighter in the morning and told them to go home and have a rest.

  She left the station with her partner. “Thanks for all your efforts today, Jack. It’s appreciated, as always.”

  “There’s no need to say that. We all know how much you appreciate us, even through the extremely frustrating times, like today.”

  “Maybe tomorrow will be different. Don’t forget I’ll be heading off for the prison first thing.”

  “Will you be going straight from home?”

  “I might as well. You know how busy the roads leading into Norwich can be at that time of the morning.”

  “Yep. I’m surprised at you forgetting about that when you made the arrangements.”

  “I know. I’m such an idiot once my enthusiasm for a case takes over. Have a good evening. Send my regards to Donna and the kids.”

  “Will do. Drive carefully in the morning. There’s no need for you to do your Lewis Hamilton impersonation on the open roads.”

  Sally roared with laughter. “As if I would.” She jumped in the car and rang Simon’s mobile. “Hey, how are you doing?”

  “I’m packing up, getting ready to leave. Should be home in about half an hour. What about you?”

  “I’m leaving now. Want me to pick up a Chinese on the way home?”

  “You read my mind. I’ll have a beef chop suey and fried rice. I’ll pick up the tab for this one; you bought the last one we had.”

  “Don’t worry. You can take me out for a slap-up meal at the weekend. See you soon.”

  She ended the call and drove to the smart Chinese restaurant just down the road from Simon’s house. The food was the best she’d ever eaten whether it was at the table in the restaurant or as a takeaway meal.

  Sally pulled into the drive and placed the key in the front door as Simon parked his car behind her. They shared a brief kiss then served up the meal before she divulged what Jack had jestingly suggested about Gretna Green earlier that day. “What do you think? I’d love all our friends to be at the wedding. Hate the thought of omitting anyone in case it causes ill-feeling in the future.”

  Simon chewed his lower lip for a few minutes before he finally grinned. “I think it’s an excellent idea. Of course, we’d need to fork out for accommodation for everyone, too. We can’t expect them to pay for that.”

  “Even if we do that, it’s going to be a darn sight cheaper than an over-the-top wedding.” She flung her arms around his neck and kissed him, tasting the saltiness lingering on his lips from the meal they had shared. “It’s going to be a fabulous wedding. I can feel it in my bones.”

  “Now all we have to do is pick a date and hope that everyone will be able to attend. There’s bound to be a couple who won’t be able to make the trip.”

  “This is the most excited I’ve been for a long, long time. I’ll see if I can squeeze in the time to ring the wedding planners up there and check what dates they have available. They’ll probably be booked up for two years in advance, knowing our luck.”

  “Don’t be such a pessimist. I’ll ring them, if you like. You have enough on your plate at work at the moment, love.”

  “That’s kind of you, Simon. You’re a gem. I don’t know how long I’m going to be stuck in Norwich tomorrow, so it might be best if you do it.”

  “Norwich? What’s that about?”

  She inhaled a deep breath then let it out slowly. “I have to question a prisoner.”

  Simon stiffened. “About what?”

  “It’s nothing to worry about. I know what’s concerning you, and it’s fine. I’ve rung the governor already, and he’s assured me there will be a guard in the room with me during the visit. I’m not apprehensive about it in the least, love.”

  “Well, I am. Is Jack going with you?”

  His face was stern. She wondered for the briefest of moments if she should lie. Nonetheless, she decided against it and shook her head. “No. It’ll be fine, I promise.”

  “Why isn’t he going with you?”

  “Simon, please, this was my decision to go alone. I need Jack to concentrate on the other case we’re dealing with. The Ryland case.” She went on to explain the phone call she’d had with Miranda Hathaway, and he seemed far more willing to accept the situation. “I need to do this, if only for her sake, love. Don’t be cross with me.”

  He grasped her hand in his. “I’m not angry. I apologise if it came across like that. I’m just concerned. You’re soon going to be my wife. I suppose I’m being a tad selfish, not wanting anything harmful to happen to you. It’s only because I care. Nothing more sinister than that, I promise.”

  “I know. Hey, I love you even more for caring so much about me.” They shared a kiss again then cleared up the kitchen before they retired to bed for an early night.

  Chapter 4

  Sally left the house around nine the following morning, and it wasn’t until she was ten minutes away from the prison that the butterflies took flight in her stomach. She decided to give herself a good talking to before she arrived. “Don’t be foolish, girl. If you go in there looking scared shitless, he’s going to mock you from the outset. Harden up!”

  With her nerves still intact, only just, sh
e parked the car and approached the visitors’ entrance, withdrawing her warrant card from her pocket before she entered the building.

  An officer in uniform greeted her with a brief nod. “Can I help?”

  “I’m here to see one of the prisoners, Christopher Abbott. Governor Ward is aware of my visit.”

  “Ah yes, I have a note here to expect you. Empty your pockets then pass through the barrier, if you will?”

  Sally did as she was instructed and sighed in relief when the alarm didn’t go off. In her experience, the machines were hypersensitive, and it usually only took an innocent belt buckle or something similar to set off the alarm. She had dressed extra carefully that morning with that in mind.

  The officer walked her through the gloomy narrow corridors, and the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end as thoughts of her last encounter with her ex sprang to mind. She tried to shove his image back in the little box where she usually stored it and quickly focussed on what lay ahead of her. She had a feeling she was going to need all her inner strength to deal with Abbott.

  At the end of the second corridor, the officer stopped outside the governor’s office and rapped his knuckles on the door. A voice bellowed an answer, instructing them to enter.

  Sally followed the officer into the room. Governor Ward was in his fifties. Large-rimmed spectacles sat on his nose, and his hair was mostly a steely grey .

  “Hello, Governor Ward. It’s good to meet you.”

  He rose from his chair and invited her to take a seat. Extending his hand, he shook hers briefly. “The pleasure is all mine. You’re a little early. Can I get you a drink?”

  “Not for me, thank you. The traffic was better than anticipated.”

  “Not many people can say that at this time of the morning. Right, I’ve told the officers on his wing that you will be questioning Abbott today. No one foresees any problems, but as a precaution, two of the officers have volunteered to be on duty during your interview—one inside the room and the other standing guard outside.”

  Sally inclined her head. “If you think that’s necessary.”

  “I do. I wouldn’t feel I was doing my job properly if those men weren’t in place. As I told you on the phone, the man has caused a lot of problems in here over the years. Some of those incidents have led to his time behind bars being increased. Some prisoners never learn.”