Maggie tapped her pen on the table – a habit she’d had since her teenage years – and talked Mick through the preliminaries. She was sitting beside Mark in the interview, opposite Mick and his solicitor.
With all the information the police had on the affray and criminal damage, Maggie knew those would be the easier crimes to get Mick to own up to. Sure enough, he recounted the events of last night and held his hands up, stating he was ‘guilty as charged’. Maggie could see that Mick had something further on his mind, though.
‘Excuse me, officers, my client wants to know a few things before we proceed.’
‘Go on, Mr McCabe,’ Maggie responded.
‘He wants to know if the other man involved in the affray has been charged, whether Mr … erm … Quinn is pressing charges, and what would happen if my client didn’t want to pursue the assault charges against Mr Quinn.’
Before Maggie had the opportunity to say anything, Mark answered, ‘Mr Quinn has not made any indication whether he is going to pursue the assault charges. I can’t tell you anymore than that. It will be up to you, Mr McCabe, to pursue once you’re finished here. As for what would happen if you didn’t pursue charges … in all likelihood, the matter would be dropped. You both would still be libel for the criminal damage charges, because the owner of the pub whose window you smashed is pressing charges. The CPS will make the decision on how to take that further. Does that answer your question, Mr O’Dowd?’
Mick nodded.
Mark sighed. ‘For the benefit of the tape, Mr O’Dowd has just nodded his agreement to understanding.’
‘So, Mr O’Dowd, what caused the physical altercation with Mr Quinn?’ Maggie stared, maintaining eye contact and hoping to make him slip up.
‘Like I just told you. Someone pointed out that his wife was a fit bird.’ Mick slid his tongue over his nicotine-stained teeth and Maggie cringed. ‘Maybe she doesn’t like to be associated with an arsehole, which is why I’ve never seen her with him. Anyway, I said a few choice words about his missus and what I’d gladly do to her if he couldn’t satisfy her needs … that’s all. He said something back that I didn’t particularly like, some bullshit rumour.’ Mick puffed his chest out and leaned back in his chair. ‘So I thought I would teach him a lesson. Seems he didn’t like that much either!’
Maggie rolled her eyes and, much to his displeasure, interrupted him. ‘But there’s a reason for that, isn’t there, Mr O’Dowd?’
‘Yeah. There may well be. But that has nothing to do with what I’m here for, lady. I did my time, so why don’t you move along.’
Mick’s solicitor nudged him. ‘DC Jamieson, can we just stick to the facts of the current matters, please?’
The look of contempt Maggie fired at him did not go unnoticed by the others in the room, but she didn’t care. ‘Mr McCabe, I’m trying to establish the facts, and in terms of Vicki Wilkinson, the facts are: (a) she was severely beaten to within an inch of her life (b) she was in a relationship with Mick O’Dowd (c) Mick O’Dowd has a history of domestic abuse. And he’s currently on licence for an assault against a previous partner … so what part don’t you understand as factual?’
Mick’s solicitor wouldn’t meet her gaze and, instead, directed his answer to her colleague.
‘I understand the points raised. However, unless you have evidence that places my client with the victim at the time of the assault, all this is irrelevant.’ He smiled at Mark. ‘What he’s previously done, and what he’s on licence for, has nothing to do with these matters.’
‘I’m over here, Mr McCabe.’ Maggie waved her hands about. ‘Speaking to my colleague rather than me won’t change my line of questioning. Can we get on with this now? And in future – look at me when you have something to say. I’m the lead detective in this case … OK?’