Behind Closed Doors

by Carolyn Mahony

  BEHIND CLOSED DOORS

  BY

  CAROLYN MAHONY

  Behind Closed Doors

  Harry Briscombe Series, Volume 1

  Carolyn Mahony

  Published by Carolyn Mahony, 2018.

  Text copyright © 2013 Carolyn Mahony

  All Rights Reserved

  The right of Carolyn Mahony to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher and author.

  All characters and events in this publication, other than those clearly in the public domain, are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

  BEHIND CLOSED DOORS

  First edition. June 22, 2018.

  Copyright © 2018 Carolyn Mahony.

  ISBN: 978-1386404453

  Written by Carolyn Mahony.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Copyright Page

  Behind Closed Doors (Harry Briscombe Series, #1)

  Table Of Contents

  CHAPTER ONE

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Year: 2008

  CHAPTER ONE

  ‘Get off me! Get OFF me! Help me, someone.’

  The panicked scream that followed these words was blood curdling, and the man on the doorstep didn’t hesitate as he banged loudly on the front door of the house. ‘Hey! What’s going on in there? Is everything alright?’

  Silence for a moment, and then the sound of rushing footsteps down the stairs and the door was flung open.

  ‘Oh, thank God. Help me. He’s going to kill me.’

  The woman in front of him was holding one hand to her eye, her expression wild. The other hand was covering her mouth and nose, trying to stem the blood. He knew her, of course he did. They’d been neighbours for over two years.

  ‘What’s going on?’ he asked, looking past her to the man standing at the top of the stairs. ‘I heard the shouting from my front garden.’

  ‘Mind your own bloody business,’ the man snapped, throwing a venomous look at his wife. ‘I’ve had enough of this. I’m out of here.’

  He marched down the stairs, pushing past them both as he stormed out of the front door.

  ‘I’m calling the police this time, Ed,’ the woman shrilled after his retreating back. ‘Do you hear me? I’m not putting up with this any more. I’ve got the children to think about.’

  Just for a moment, the man stalled in his stride, his eyes narrowing dangerously as he spun round to look at his wife. ‘You try to stop me from seeing my kids and you won’t know what’s hit you.’

  ‘You can’t bully me any more, Ed. I’ve been to see people... got help. I’m not frightened of you any more.’

  She grabbed the phone off the hall table and punched three numbers into it.

  ‘See. I’m calling the police and this time I won’t be changing my mind. Do you hear me?’

  ‘Do what you want,’ he threw back at her as he stalked off up the path. ‘I don’t give a damn. Do you hear me?’

  ‘HARRY?’

  PC Harry Briscombe had just got into work, and he turned to see his boss, Sergeant Cowper, beckoning him over to the little kitchen where he was making himself coffee.

  ‘Sir?’

  ‘I need to go and check out a burglary at our local MP’s house and we’ve got a domestic coming in. Think you can handle it?’

  ‘Happy to give it a go.’

  Harry felt the surge of adrenalin he always felt when something new came up. He couldn’t’ help it; he just loved his job. That thought jolted a twinge of nerves at the thought of the big change ahead. CID. His dream, come true. He was transferring at the end of the month and whilst he couldn’t wait to start, he knew he’d miss the job and people here. Just when he felt he was finally finding his feet, happy in his comfort zone, he was about to uproot it all and go back to becoming a complete rookie again.

  ‘Good. It shouldn’t be difficult. You know what they’re like, these bloody domestics—she shouts at him, he shouts at her, he hits her. Waste of time in most cases. The women never bring charges and we end up acting as bloody marriage counsellors.’

  Harry had only dealt with one domestic previously and that was exactly what had happened. He couldn’t argue with his boss, but he remembered feeling really sorry for the wife at the time. It was obvious her husband had been a bully and a thug—she’d just been too plain scared to take him on.

  Half an hour later, he was sitting looking at the man opposite him in the interview room. The victim, Serena Hamilton, was being examined by the medical officer, so he was taking advantage of the time to interview the neighbour who had witnessed the argument. He opened up his notebook.

  ‘Thanks for coming in, Mr Mason, we appreciate it. In your own time, can you tell me what you saw?’

  ‘I didn’t know what to do, you know? I was just leaving the house for work, when I heard the most horrific scream coming from next door, followed by more screams from her, and shouting from him.’

  ‘What did you do?’

  ‘Well ... I couldn’t ignore it, could I? I mean, no one likes getting involved in stuff like that, but... I couldn’t just walk away. I’ve heard them arguing before, but never screaming like that. I banged on the door and asked what was going on.’

  ‘What did you see when the door was opened?’

  The man’s mouth tightened. ‘The wife, with her nose pouring with blood, and him, standing at the top of the stairs looking very threatening.’

  ‘So you didn’t actually see him hit her?’

  ‘No... but it was pretty bloody obvious what had gone on. And he definitely threatened her as he left the house.’

  ‘Oh?’

  ‘Yeah. Told her that if she stopped him from seeing his kids, she wouldn’t know what had hit her. Poor little buggers looked terrified. They were standing at the top of the stairs and didn’t dare come down.’

  Harry was pleased he’d briefly done his homework before interviewing their star witness. ‘We’ve checked them over and they’re fine.’

  The man scowled. ‘Physically maybe, but what’s it doing to them mentally, seeing their dad beat up their mum like that?’

  ‘We haven’t actually established that’s what happened yet.’

  ‘Jesus... what does a man have to do before you lot put your necks on the line and risk charging him?’

  ‘I know you’re upset, Mr Mason—’

  ‘Course I am... so would you be if you’d walked into something like that. You better be going to do something about it. I wouldn’t put it past him to do some serious damage to her next time, the way he was behaving today.’

  Harry had seen from the notes that they’d been called out to the same address once before over claims of domestic violence, but that had been six months ago and the woman had done the usual thing of withdrawing her complaint. His boss’s words still rang in his ears. If Cowper knew that, he wouldn’t want to give it the time of day—he’d consider it a complete waste of time. But Harry wasn’t as old as Cowper, or as cynical. He still liked to think he could make a difference.

  ‘We’ll do our best to establish the facts,’ he said n
ow, ‘and obviously it’s helpful that you're prepared to act as a witness.’

  CHAPTER TWO

  KIMBERLEY SIMPSON PUSHED open the door to Whittaker & Mapley Solicitors and walked briskly up to the reception desk.

  ‘Where’s Ed?’ she demanded of Suzanne, their receptionist. ‘I’ve been trying to contact him for the last couple of hours or more. He was meant to be meeting up with me and Dan Brewer.’

  Suzanne looked at her boss nervously, wondering what she was going to make of the news.

  ‘Erm... I don’t quite know how to tell you this... but he’s been arrested.’

  ‘He’s what?’ Kimberley looked at her in disbelief.

  Suzanne nodded. ‘I’m not sure what’s going on, but he came in here to pick up some papers for your meeting and he was in a foul mood, I could see that. Next thing, just as he was getting ready to go out again, two policemen came in and arrested him.’

  ‘But—what for?’

  Suzanne bit her lip, and Kim guessed she might not like to admit she’d overheard what had been going on in her boss’s office.

  ‘Suzanne?’

  ‘It sounded like they were doing him for hitting Serena. Domestic abuse, they said.’

  Kim’s mouth dropped open. Then she gave a bark of a laugh. ‘Domestic abuse? Ed? Are you kidding? I’ve never heard anything so ridiculous. He wouldn’t do anything like that. What was his response?’

  ‘He denied it. Said they’d see it wasn’t the first time she’d falsely accused him... she was always accusing him of something. He said their relationship was on the rocks and she couldn’t accept it, even though he suspected she was having an affair with someone.’

  ‘Jesus.’

  Kim found she suddenly couldn’t look Suzanne in the eye. Did the girl know about her and Ed’s friendship?

  ‘I left a message on your mobile. Didn’t you get it? He said could you get down there as soon as possible, to represent him.’

  ‘Sorry, I can’t get to grips with this phone. You’ll have to show me how I pick up my messages. Which police station? Did he say?’

  ‘Hampstead.’

  ‘Okay. Can you cancel my appointment with Tim Walford? Leave the afternoon meetings, I should be back for them. I can’t believe this. He always said the woman was a nutter.’

  ‘Kim?’

  ‘Yeah?’

  Suzanne hesitated. ‘I know you and Ed are close,’ —so she did know— ‘but remember what you’re always saying to me... how important it is to keep an open mind? You weren’t there, and no one knows what goes on behind closed doors.’

  Kim knew she was only trying to see both sides of the argument, but she still felt a shaft of anger that the girl could even consider Ed could be guilty of something like that. But then, she didn’t know Ed like Kim did—wasn’t as close to him as Kim was. She could picture his clear-cut features now, the amused light in his eye when he found something funny, the tenderness and concern she’d occasionally witnessed when one of his children had been ill or she herself had been upset. Ed hit his wife? Of course he wouldn’t.

  But even as she thought it, she was dismayed by the sudden memory that seemed to flash from nowhere. She had seen him really angry once, a few months ago... and it had been an eye opener. But that had been another time when Serena had falsely accused him of hitting her—and who wouldn’t be upset about something like that? She wouldn’t let her mind be poisoned against him.

  ‘Ed would never hit Serena,’ she stated firmly, ‘I know he wouldn’t. I’d better get down there.’

  In the car, her mind churned. She knew things were bad between Ed and Serena. Ed had opened up to her quite a lot recently; concerned at the way their marriage seemed to be deteriorating.

  ‘We were so young when we got together,’ he’d said moodily in the pub one night, after one of their rows, ‘and she was always such a livewire. At first it added to the excitement of our relationship, you know? She did crazy things—dangerous things that sometimes scared me, but sort of wowed me at the same time.’

  ‘What sort of things?’

  ‘I don’t know. Well, yeah, I can think of one. Once, when we were down in Devon on holiday with our uni friends, she ran right up to the edge of the cliff and walked along it with her arms outstretched to balance herself, shouting that unless I promised to love her forever more, she’d throw herself off. She was only kidding, of course, and she had no intention of jumping, but she knew I had a thing about heights and it terrified me, seeing her so close to the edge. It was a bloody dangerous thing to do.’

  ‘So what did you do?’

  ‘Promised to love her for evermore, of course.’ He sighed. ‘I knew she manipulated me, but in the early days it just felt fun—different, being with her. These days it’s just hard work.’

  Kim had felt uncomfortable being on the receiving end of his confidences but they’d become close these last few months and she knew there was no one else he’d dream of sharing it with. And if truth be known, she was flattered that he chose to turn to her, though she didn’t like to analyse too deeply her reasons for that.

  IN INTERVIEW ROOM 1, Harry Briscombe observed the young woman sitting opposite him on the other side of the table, plucking nervously at the tissue in her hand. He could sympathise... he reckoned he still felt almost as nervous as the people he was questioning in these interviews. It was important to him that he got it right.

  ‘Can I get you a drink, Serena?’

  She shook her head, then changed her mind. ‘Actually, yes. A glass of water please.’

  She spoke in a subdued voice, and he nodded at the WPC, who moved over to a table in the corner where a jug and several glasses were laid out. As he waited for the water to be delivered, he studied her more closely. She was around thirty, he judged, blonde and extremely attractive, with bright blue eyes and pale, porcelain skin that added a translucent glow to her fragile beauty. A beauty that was somewhat marred by the damage to her nose and the visible bruise that was spreading from her cheek bone up to her eye. Her fingers trembled as she took the glass that was handed to her.

  ‘When you’re ready ... can you tell me exactly what happened in your house this morning?’ Harry asked.

  The woman took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, in the manner of someone familiar with that particular method of self-calming.

  ‘We had an argument.’

  ‘Do you remember what it was about?’

  ‘Of course I do. Sorry—I didn’t mean to snap. It’s just all so fresh in my mind still.’ She hesitated. ‘I’ve suspected he’s been having an affair for quite a while now. This morning, I challenged him about it.’

  She broke off.

  ‘And...?’

  ‘He didn’t like that. He told me I was talking rubbish; he was too busy working for me and the kids to have time for affairs. He asked me why I thought that and I showed him a receipt I’d found for a hotel in London, when he was meant to be in Manchester on business.’

  ‘Do you have that receipt with you?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘It would be good if you could let us have that. What was his response?’

  ‘He said it was an early business breakfast before he headed off to Manchester, and it was easier for him to stay in London the night before. He said he hadn’t told me because he knew how paranoid I was about him being unfaithful and if I’d known he was staying in London overnight I’d have created a scene. But he knows I wouldn’t. I’m not like that.’

  She broke off, the tears welling in her eyes as she looked at Harry. ‘It was my fault—I shouldn’t have pushed him. I know what he can be like when he’s angry. It was stupid of me. Stupid.’

  Harry dropped his eyes to the report in front of him, giving her a moment. He didn’t know what to say. He knew the general consensus of opinion among his peers—that the law shouldn’t interfere in domestic problems between husband and wife, better that they sort things out themselves and left the police to deal with more important issues�
�but it wasn’t something that sat easily with him. He’d read a lot about domestic violence, knew, for example, that a high percentage of murders were included in that category. He also knew that for some unfathomable reason, most victims blamed themselves, which was exactly what Serena Hamilton appeared to be doing.

  ‘You reported him for hitting you back in April I see, but then you withdrew the accusation. Said you’d made a mistake?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Had you made a mistake?’

  She hesitated, then said in a quiet voice, ‘No. He... he pushed my head into the bath water when I got back from the police station—held it under until I agreed to withdraw the allegations. I thought he was going to kill me.’

  ‘These are serious allegations you’re making.’

  ‘I know they are. You don’t believe me, do you? You’re like everyone else. He’s a respectable solicitor, educated and charming. No one’s going to believe me over him. That’s why I withdrew the allegations last time.’

  ‘We’re taking your accusations very seriously, I can assure you of that. We’ve already sent someone round to his work to pick him up and I’ll be questioning him after you. But I need to know something from you. You’ve stated that you want to press charges?’

  She nodded.

  ‘We need to know that if we do decide to go ahead and prosecute, this time you’ll stick with those charges. Will you do that?’

  Her stricken eyes met his, but her voice was firm as she nodded.

  ‘Yes. Because this time I have a witness, and I feel that if I don’t—next time he could kill me.’

  CHAPTER THREE

  AS SOON AS KIM ARRIVED at the police station, she was shown into an interview room where Ed was sitting, tapping his feet on the floor, waiting for her. He was smartly dressed as always in a navy pinstripe suit, his blond hair combed carefully off his brow, but she could tell from the expression on his face that he was in a state. He jumped up straight away and was about to embrace her, but she frowned and shook her head, even though she felt terrible not being able to give him the support he needed.