Mick O’Dowd had now been under Lucy’s supervision for a good few weeks and she was still none the wiser about his background. The transfer area hadn’t sent their file across and what had been sent was vague and incomplete. Also, Mick wasn’t very open about his past and, when Lucy tried to discuss his convictions, he immediately shut down the conversation.
Mick didn’t know that Lucy had some suspicions about his relationship with Vicki Wilkinson, after seeing the pair leave probation together once or twice previously. On one of the occasions, they’d been holding hands, and Lucy had felt a chill run down her spine as she watched them walk away. Lucy needed to flag her concerns with Mark at the police, Sarah who was Vicki’s probation officer, and Sharon, in the hope that she might be able to go out and see Vicki to discuss the risks. In fact she needed to contact Sharon and chase it up. The police were usually very good at sharing information with Lucy. However, she knew that they were under significant pressure with two murder investigations and some things accidentally slipped through the net.
Lucy wasn’t convinced that Vicki would pay any heed to any information or advice from Sharon, but she needed to make sure that Vicki was aware of the risks. Lucy only wished that she’d known about Mick when he and Vicki had got together. Vicki had only let it slip when Lucy was covering for Sarah, but she’d quickly moved on and Lucy stupidly forgot to follow up at the time. Knowing Vicki, it probably wouldn’t have made much difference.
Lucy had a meeting with social care in the early afternoon and made the decision to do an impromptu home visit to see Mick. She wasn’t sure what she would find, but something told her she needed to do this. Home visits formed a part of licence conditions and, although they should normally be done in pairs, lack of staff within probation meant that officers sometimes had to go alone. Lucy would make sure she followed protocol and rang a designated member of her team before and after the visit. If she didn’t call, the alarm would be raised.
There was something about how sneaky Mick came across in supervision that Lucy thought this was the best way to catch him off guard. Although she had forgotten to fill in a risk assessment form before leaving, she wasn’t overly worried.
If anything were to happen, she could easily be facing a disciplinary meeting or worse, but other officers got away with it. She didn’t want to raise any concerns unnecessarily.
The path leading to Mick’s door was surrounded by grass that had not been cut for some time. Beer cans littered the yard and from where they were positioned, it looked like whoever had been drinking had just dropped them from the windows above. Lucy shook her head and hoped that no children were living here. She called the office before going any further and let the reception staff know she had arrived. Lucy confirmed she’d call again once the visit was over, anticipating at least half an hour, if not less.
Mick’s previous probation hostel had been instrumental in securing this accommodation, so Lucy could safely assume that Mick was probably not the only offender living here. It was a two-storey building which had been divided into six flats. The door was propped open, so Lucy bypassed the buzzer system and walked inside. She was immediately hit with the sickly sweet smell of heroin. She tucked this information away in her head to share with her police colleagues, although she wasn’t concerned about Mick – alcohol was his demon of choice. The carpet was mangy and worn, with stains everywhere. As Lucy made her way to Mick’s door, she avoided touching as much as possible. Feeling slightly nervous, she took a breath, and knocked on the door. Lucy thought she heard a woman’s voice inside as heavy footsteps made their way along the hallway.
The look of surprise on Mick’s face soon turned to a sneer. ‘What do you want? I don’t remember you telling me you were doing a visit?’
‘And hello to you too, Mick. You’re right, I didn’t tell you. But if you paid attention to your licence conditions, you’d know that I don’t have to. Do you want me to continue explaining all this on your doorstep?’ Mick stepped aside and let Lucy in.
It was Lucy’s turn to be surprised when she found Vicki sprawled on the sofa, wrapped in a blanket and wearing only a skimpy vest top and not much else. At least now her suspicions were confirmed. She wanted to grab Vicki by her shoulders, shake her, and advise her to run as far as she could – but she couldn’t due to data protection.
‘Hi, Vicki. Is this the new boyfriend you mentioned?’
‘Boyfriend?’ Mick laughed at Lucy’s comment. ‘We’re just friends with benefits, right Vicki?’
Vicki looked uneasy and Lucy mouthed, ‘sorry’.
‘’Course, love. Not sure where she got that from. Never said anything. She ain’t even my PO.’ Lucy could hear the venom in Vicki’s response.
‘Right. I must be getting things confused. Sorry. Anyway, I won’t be long. Vicki, do you mind if I speak with Mick alone for a few minutes?’
‘Suit yourself, I’ll go out for a fag.’
Vicki didn’t even bother getting dressed. Lucy observed Vicki wrap the thin blanket around herself like a skirt, pick up a lighter, mobile phone, and a cigarette from the table in front of her and walk out the door.
‘Do you mind if I have a seat, Mick?’
He pointed towards the chair. ‘Suit yourself.’
‘First, I need to remind you that one of your licence conditions is that you need to tell us if you are in an intimate relationship. Are you sure you have nothing to tell me?’
‘What the fuck? Haven’t we been through all this shit before? What business is it of yours?’ Mick’s voice raised slightly as he spoke, and Lucy saw Vicki peer through the window.
‘Due to the nature of your current offence, and previous history, you need to tell me when you become involved in a relationship. Like you have just pointed out, we’ve been through all this before.’
Mick shrugged his shoulders. ‘She isn’t my girlfriend. I see her every now and again for … well … do you want the details?’
‘No, I don’t need the details. So, are you saying that you only occasionally see Vicki? As that’s not the impression I’m getting. She looked very comfortable when I walked in.’
‘Is there anything else you want to talk about, as I’m done with this conversation.’
He was clenching his fists and Lucy could hear the aggression in his voice. Pushing the matter could place her in a difficult and potentially dangerous situation. However, she also did not want Mick to think that he could intimidate her or blatantly breach the conditions of his licence without having to deal with the consequences.
Standing up, she stared evenly at him, ‘OK, Mick – I can see you’re upset, so I’m not going to push this matter now. However, I will record my concerns and because I feel that you are seeing Vicki and have not disclosed it, I’ll be sending you a formal warning for breach of your licence. Two more and you can be recalled to prison. Understood?’
Lucy calmly picked up her bag and headed towards the door, but then had second thoughts. She could be putting Vicki at risk, especially considering she’d let slip that Vicki was the one who mentioned a new boyfriend in a supervision session. Lucy turned and told Mick that she was going to log a safe-and-well check to be carried out on Vicki in the next few hours.
She’d speak to Vicki outside. If Mick had been thinking of doing something, a threat of a police visit might buy Lucy and Vicki some time.