by L M Krier
‘If I don’t know that by now, after living with you for years, there’s absolutely no hope for us.’
Ted was expecting Abigail’s legal representative to be high calibre. When he saw her and her parents entering the station preceded by the imposing pin-striped figure of Rafe Stewart-Smith, he almost groaned aloud. He had a fearsome reputation and a price tag which made Ted’s eyes water just thinking about it.
He’d not been available at short notice when Abigail had first been brought in. It had been a minion from the same firm who had come in on that occasion.
There was another man with the family. Not as tall as the solicitor but big and solid, with shoulder-length hair and a bushy full-face beard. As soon as Ted saw him, he was reminded of a TV series he’d watched as a boy. A fugitive from justice, living in the American backwoods, with a bear as his sole companion.
Ted was about to go across to greet them when Councillor Buller strode over to him, his face furious.
‘Right, we’re here. Now can we get this farce over and done with?’
Ted nodded to them in greeting. He was about to speak when Abigail rushed forward towards him and Jezza, beaming, signing and trying to articulate.
She looked totally different to when they’d seen her on Friday. Her hair had been recently cut and styled. Her face had a discreet touch of make-up. Her clothes looked new and she smelled of a light citrus fragrance.
Ted and Jezza had agreed between them not to attempt any sign language in case they made mistakes. They would simply speak and leave their expert to interpret.
The bearded man stepped forward and said, ‘She said Hello, darling, and hello, then what sounded like Jess. I’m Christy Madden. I’m here to help Abi with communication.’
‘Thank you, Mr Madden. We do, of course, have our own Makaton expert, but we have no objection at all to you being present for the interview.
‘Councillor Buller, Mrs Buller, if you’d like to take a seat over there, please, I’ll make sure that someone brings you a drink at some point. Abigail, if you would like to come with us, with your solicitor. Mr Madden, could you explain what’s happening, please.’
‘We’re sitting nowhere,’ Buller said angrily. ‘We’re coming to make sure our daughter is being properly treated.’
Ted had started to move away but turned back to him and explained patiently, ‘Councillor Buller, as I’ve said to you previously, and as no doubt Mr Stewart-Smith has explained to you, Abigail is an adult in the eyes of the law. Therefore you don’t have the right to be present. Her solicitor is there to protect her interests and we are doing everything we can to allow for her special needs.’
‘And I’ve told you before, I don’t like your attitude. I’ve a good mind to make an official complaint about you.’
‘Please feel free to do so, sir,’ Ted told him calmly. It was water off a duck’s back to him. Such things went with his role. ‘Some of my senior officers are currently in the station. If you ask at the front desk, I’m sure arrangements can be made for you to speak to the Assistant Divisional Commander, Superintendent Caldwell. But for now, unless I receive orders to the contrary, I’m not prepared to allow you to be present when we interview Abigail.’
The hint of a smile passed over Stewart-Smith’s lips. He and Ted had met, and clashed, before. It had ended in a bloodless draw and they now had a grudging mutual respect.
‘He’s absolutely right, Frank, I have to say. At present, you don’t have the right to be in there with Abi. I did warn you of that. That’s what you’re paying me for. And you can trust me, I promise. I will look after Abi’s interests.’
Ted led the way to the vulnerable witness room, then stood aside to let the others go in. A woman waiting there stood up as they entered. She looked surprised to see the bearded man and addressed him first.
‘Hello, Christy, I didn’t know you were on this one, too.’ Then she turned her full attention to Abigail, smiling at her, speaking clearly and signing as she spoke, ‘Hello, Abigail. I’m Emma. I’m here to help you.’
Abigail smiled at her and at the bearded man. She seemed perfectly relaxed.
‘Can we just have a few ground rules first?’ Christy Madden asked. ‘I can understand you wanting two interpreters to avoid any conflict of interest,’ he looked at Stewart-Smith as he spoke. ‘But Emma and I have worked together before, and I’m quite happy that she will interpret accurately and without bias. So, much as it would be nice to take your client’s money, do you really still need me here as well? Might it be a bit overwhelming for Abigail, for one thing?’
‘Those are my instructions, Mr Madden,’ Stewart-Smith told him. ‘In the circumstances, I would propose a compromise. I would suggest that Emma here does the interpreting and you follow closely. But please let me know immediately if you feel anything at all requires further clarification or is open to differing interpretations.
‘Shall we all sit down and get started now?’ Ted asked. ‘We can move the chairs round if we need to, so Abigail can see to lip read.’ Then he looked directly at Abigail and began speaking slowly and clearly. ‘Abigail, I’m Detective Chief Inspector Darling, this is Detective Constable Vine. You met us both before, on Friday. We’re going to be recording this interview. Is that all right with you?’
While Ted spoke, Emma’s hands moved in rapid explanation and she mouthed his words clearly for Abigail to follow. Abigail nodded happily and beamed at them both, as if at old friends she was pleased to see again.
‘I need to ask you about the man – the boy – who was found in your kitchen. Do you know what happened to him?’
Emma listened then spoke for her, faithfully interpreting exactly what she said and signed.
‘Bad boy. He hurted me. Shouted in my ears. I was frightened. He said bad things. I thought he would hit me. I hit him. He falled down.’
‘Abigail, do you know what happened to the boy when he fell down?’
‘He bleeded. Then he went to sleep. Not woken up.’
Jezza and Ted exchanged a look which spoke volumes. Could Abigail really not know that the boy she called Latte was dead?
Ted was more than a little surprised that so far Stewart-Smith hadn’t challenged anything his client had been asked nor advised her to say nothing. It seemed clear that he would be relying on claiming that his client had been acting purely in self-defence. Without any witnesses, it was going to be extremely difficult to prove otherwise.
‘What did you hit the boy with, Abigail?’
This time she didn’t speak, simply mimed something which was easy to understand. The movement of a corkscrew being turned.
‘Could you please clarify what exactly she means, Emma?’ Ted asked her. He was starting to get a glimmer of why the solicitor was sitting so passively.
‘A thing for bottles, she says. He wanted beer so I took bottle thing to take top off bottle.’
‘And who was this boy?’
Emma frowned. ‘She’s signing coffee but saying what seems to be Latte.’
Ted nodded. ‘Thank you.’ Then he went on, ‘Abigail, can you please tell me again why you hit Latte.’
‘She said he frightened her. He was a bad boy. Then she said her daddy told her that if a bad boy tried to hurt her she must pick up a thing near to her and hit him with it.’
‘Abigail, do you know that Latte is dead?’
She smiled at him, shaking her head as if she’d just heard something silly.
‘She says not dead. Latte sleeping. Latte falled down and now he sleeping.’
Chapter Twelve
‘What d’you think, boss?’
Ted had called for a short break to go and consult with Jim Baker. It was a tricky case and he wanted to make sure his Big Boss was thinking along the same lines as he was at every stage.
‘What do I think?’ he rumbled. ‘I think that bastard father has spent the entire weekend schooling her in what to say. Except he clearly forgot to tell her not to mention his bloody great idea of virtua
lly telling her it was fine to stab any bugger who bothered her.’
He looked across at Jezza with his most stern expression and said, ‘And you didn’t hear me swearing then, did you DC Vine?’
‘Not at all, sir. Perish the thought.’
‘I would love to get him on an inciting charge, but I know that’s just a pipe dream. The question is, where do you plan to go from here, Ted?’
‘We need to explore Abigail’s pregnancy, which will certainly be opening up a can of worms. If the parents don’t know about it, it will put Stewart-Smith into an ethical dilemma over whether or not he should say something to them. But we are going to have to broach that subject with her because so far it’s our only route to identifying this character Data, as far as I can see.
‘It’s going to be difficult to handle, especially as we’re not sure if Abigail knows herself yet. Or rather if she understands what it’s all about. Jezza and I have discussed at length how that part of the interview will go. She already has Abigail’s trust so she’s going to do the bulk of the questioning next. It’s one of the reasons we need those school records, so we have a better idea of Abigail’s level of understanding.’
Jezza and Ted had had a long discussion earlier on the way they planned the interview to proceed. Jezza had seemed in better spirits. Ted wasn’t going to pry but she appeared to be quite happy to talk about her situation to him, in the privacy of his office.
‘The Professor was bloody marvellous, boss. Thanks so much for that. She made time for me last night. She even invited me round to her place so we could talk in private. I felt I could say absolutely anything to her. In fact I pretty much did. She told me all the current statistics for the possibility of me having a child with autism. They were a bit more worrying than I’d thought from my own research.
‘So after talking about all the options with her, I’ve decided to have a termination. Next week.’
She was looking anxiously at Ted. Scanning his face for judgement. Not finding any.
‘The timing’s just not right for me. One day, maybe, I will have a child. But for the moment, I can’t do it. There’s my career, for one thing. You know I’m not looking for promotion now. Maybe the dizzy heights of DS sometime in the future, but I’m honestly not that bothered.
‘I love my job. I love all of the team and being part of it. Maybe that makes me a selfish bitch, but I don’t want to take a break from it just yet.
‘And then there’s Tommy. Not just the risk that any baby I have might well be the same as him, if not more challenging. I’ve no idea how he would react to sharing living space and attention. Perhaps if Tom goes to boarding school in the future or something. I don’t know. All I do know is that the timing isn’t right for me now. Not at all.’
‘Jezza,’ Ted told her gently, ‘It’s entirely your decision. I told you. I’ll support whatever you decide. Just let me know when you need time off. And I’m glad you talked to the Professor. She’s very easy to talk to. Even I’ve managed to tell her things, and that’s something I’m not good at.’
‘We seemed to get on like a house on fire. She’s amazing. Not at all how I expected her to be. Different altogether, away from work.’
‘Are you going to be all right talking to Abigail today about her pregnancy? If you’d rather not ...’
‘Boss, it’s fine. Really. I feel relieved, more than anything, now I’ve made the decision and booked the appointment. Nat and I had another long talk last night and he was as supportive as ever. I honestly don’t deserve him. So I’m quite happy to talk to Abi. And as she says she loves me, I might be the best person to do it.’
‘Sorry for the short delay. I hope you’ve all had something to drink while you were waiting?’
Ted and Jezza retook their seats, rewarded once again by beaming smiles from Abigail. Ted turned his attention to her and said, ‘Abigail, Jezza would like to ask you some questions now, if that’s all right with you? If you’re happy to talk to her?’
Abigail nodded enthusiastically and signed something which Jezza and Ted both now recognised without needing the translation of Emma. Two hands over her heart, then pointing to Jezza.
‘She said I love you.’
Stewart-Smith frowned at that then addressed Ted as if neither Jezza nor his client were present in the room.
‘Can I just clarify, is there some sort of special relationship between this officer and my client? If so I may need to request that she is questioned by someone else.’
‘Don’t we need to consider Abi in this, and what she wants?’ Madden put in.
Emma nodded agreement, and added, ‘You certainly need to make sure Abi can lip read what you’re saying and give me time to interpret for her, rather than speak about her in her presence.’
He inclined his head in her direction but made no comment. He did, however, turn to Abigail and say, slowly and distinctly, ‘Are you happy for this officer to ask you questions, Abi?’
There was no mistaking the enthusiastic expression on Abigail’s face as she nodded her head vigorously.
‘Thank you, Abigail,’ Jezza began. ‘Can I ask you, please, do you have a boyfriend?’
A blush and a child-like giggle. Then a nod of the head.
‘Do I need to interpret that for you?’ Emma asked. ‘Abi is saying yes, if so.’
‘And what’s his name?’
She signed and spoke, though not clearly. ‘Data.’
‘And are you sleeping with Data?’
Abigail’s face took on a puzzled frown. Emma and Madden both started to speak at the same time. Emma indicated that she was happy to let him go first.
‘I’m sure Emma and I were both about to say the same thing, officer. Makaton isn’t like British Sign Language. It’s rather more limited as it’s designed partly with people with learning disabilities in mind. To that extent, it’s not quite as nuanced. A question like that is open to misinterpretation.
‘Emma and I will be able to interpret in some detail any specific questions to do with sexual activity, but they will need to be quite direct. No euphemisms.’
‘I agree,’ Emma confirmed. ‘We might have to make it much more basic than that. It is possible to be quite explicit. But euphemisms do indeed present a problem so they’re probably best avoided.’
‘We’re happy to be guided by both of you,’ Ted confirmed.
‘Abi, do you have sex with Data?’
Emma repeated the question, her hand movements explicit. More giggling from Abigail, her eyes downcast, her head nodding.
Jezza looked to Emma rather than at Abigail as she said, ‘I need to deal with the subject of consent. If Mr Stewart-Smith and Mr Madden have no objection, I’m happy to be guided by you as to how to convey that meaning, and whatever answer Abi gives.’
Jezza sat back and watched the exchange between the two of them. Abigail seemed quite animated. Jezza recognised the now familiar gesture for ‘love’ as Abigail signed and said, ‘I love Data and Data loves me.’
‘Right, at this point, I’m going to have to raise an objection about the line of questioning. With the greatest respect to this officer,’ Stewart-Smith made no pretence of remembering Jezza’s name, ‘my client uses the same word and phrase about loving her and loving this person Data, whoever that might be. It’s not clear to me at this stage, therefore, what her level of comprehension is.’
‘I’d be happy to leave this particular topic for now and come back to it in a second or subsequent interview,’ Ted told him. ‘I think it might be better to carry out the interviews for shorter times than we would normally use. Please carry on, DC Vine.’
‘Do you have any photos of Data, Abi? On your phone, perhaps?’
She shook her head then signed. Emma interpreted.
‘No photo on my phone. Data shy. Not like photo.’
‘Can you tell us the names of any of your other friends, Abi? Would it help you to write them down for us, or is it easier for you to tell Emma?’
Emma only got a single-handed gesture to the heart, Jezza noticed, as Abigail signalled her willingness to speak through her. Jezza pressed on. It was going to be slow work, with Abigail’s poor speech and not knowing how well she could spell each name.
When she’d finished reeling off a list, with a lot of stammering which clearly made it harder to interpret, Emma repeated: ‘Data, Latte, Kane, which she signs with a C rather than the more usual K so I don’t know which is correct. Then Onnie, and she’s not clear on the first letter; Beff, Arwar, Oren and Rhys, I think, although that’s unclear. Are you happy with those interpretations, Christy?’
He nodded. ‘That’s pretty much what I made them too. We might need to confirm in writing at some point.’
‘Would any of your friends have photos of Data, Abi? Perhaps a nice photo somewhere of the two of you together?’
Abi nodded enthusiastically and rattled away with attempts to speak, and accompanying hand gestures. Emma looked shocked for a moment, then the professional mask returned.
‘She says Kane has pictures of them. Her and Data together. He takes pictures when they’re in bed. When Data is loving her. And she says she doesn’t love Kane.’
‘I see. Thank you,’ Jezza said, then turned her attention back to Abigail. ‘Abi, do you know you’re going to have a baby?’
Stewart-Smith looked surprised. He opened his mouth to speak but Abigail was already replying. Emma interpreted as Abigail made an unmistakeable rocking motion with her arms, whilst at the same time shaking her head vigorously.
‘No baby. Jezza is silly.’
‘Yes baby, Abigail. The doctor you saw here says very definitely yes baby.’
Eyes wide in wonder, Abigail looked directly at Jezza as she asked and signed, ‘Baby? Here?’ pointing to her own stomach.
Ted sensed rather than saw the sudden change in Jezza’s behaviour. Heard her swallow hard before trying to speak. He immediately took over.
‘I think, everyone, that might be enough for today. Abigail, you’ve had a surprise. Mr Stewart-Smith, you might perhaps like to go somewhere with your client to take further advice. I’m sure I don’t need to remind you of the confidentiality question which arises, in view of her age.’