In Interview Room 2, Mrs Naylor’s expression was one Ed had often seen in London on the faces of kettled protestors: a mix of anger and frustration. Lucy held herself upright, stoically facing her mother from the far side of the table. Ed pulled out a chair and sat.
‘I’ve just seen Dr Masood. She said you’ve been talking to a counsellor.’
‘She’s not getting rid of it,’ blurted Mrs Naylor.
Lucy turned on her mother in anger. ‘Mum! It’s not an “it” …’ She fell silent for a moment, her face softened and her eyes came close to tears. ‘It’s a baby, Mum … my baby.’
‘Fathered by a madman …’ Glaring across the table Mrs Naylor was unable to keep the disgust and disbelief from her voice. ‘A man who’s held you captive for weeks … drugged you—’ she shuddered in horror, as if she were reliving her daughter’s experiences ‘—drugged and done God knows what else to you.’
Ed was shocked. Neither woman seemed concerned at her presence in the room. For a moment, Lucy seemed insensible to her mother’s words. Then she stiffened and, with one hand on the table, leant towards her mother as if making a debating point.
‘It’s a baby, Mum, a new life. All life is precious. Life is sacred.’
‘It’s his baby. It’s carrying his evil genes …’ Mrs Naylor’s voice broke. The anger left her face. She dropped her gaze and tentatively reached for her daughter’s hand. ‘Oh, love …’
Lucy snatched her hand from her mother’s reach.
‘Lucy, love, we’ve got to put this behind us.’ Mrs Naylor turned her outstretched hand palm up, willing Lucy to respond. ‘Please, love … say yes to a termination.’
The stiffness left Lucy’s body and her gaze softened. ‘Mum … how will that help me?’
‘It’ll put this horror in the past. You can start again.’ Mrs Naylor smiled weakly. ‘We won’t have a constant reminder.’
Ed moved quietly to leave the room. As she turned to close the door, tears started in Lucy’s eyes and she took her mother’s hand.
‘But Mum … what right do I have to take a life?’
Ed hurried to the canteen to speak with the counsellor. Lucy’s reaction had been a surprise but it was her decision and of no immediate concern. As long as she agreed to a paternity test the team would get the DNA sample they needed to identify the abductor.
Joanna Singleton was sitting with her back to the door but Ed identified her immediately as the mass of wild pepper-and-salt hair brushing the shoulders of a shapeless cardigan. She was hunched over an open pack of chocolate-covered shortcake biscuits and a black coffee. Her eyes, soft and dark, set in a round, homely face, smiled a welcome. Ed could imagine this woman sympathetically pushing a box of tissues across a low table and waiting for her client to compose themselves. She remained seated but offered a hand across the table as Ed joined her.
‘Hi, Joanna Singleton, the counsellor. You must be the new DI …’
‘Ed Ogborne, I started last month. Good to meet you, Joanna. How was Lucy when you saw her?’
‘She appears calm and composed but, of course, that’s at a cost. Lucy’s only just discovered she’s pregnant. The emotion will kick in later.’
‘I think it already has, at least for the mother,’ said Ed. She exhaled audibly. ‘I’ve just left them in the middle of a bitter argument.’
‘That’s something they’ll have to address and come to terms with.’
Surprised by the bald response and matter-of-fact tone, Ed’s voice mirrored the counsellor’s.
‘Lucy’s saying she doesn’t intend to have a termination.’
‘My job is to help her come to an informed decision, one that’s right for her. Ultimately, it’s Lucy’s choice.’
‘But Lucy’s pregnant as a direct result of being raped in the most horrendous circumstances. She’s carrying her attacker’s child. Surely you don’t believe …’
Ed stopped, aware of the emotion which had entered her voice. She’d expected greater concern for Lucy’s long-term future and she was hoping Joanna would appreciate the police position.
‘Ed … what I believe doesn’t come into it. We’re professionals, trained to keep our personal lives, our feelings and beliefs, separate from our work.’
‘But having his baby, it’ll only perpetuate the horror.’
‘Some would say that abortion perpetuates the violence from mother to child. Having the baby could help the mother work through her ordeal and bring closure. Adoption is always a possibility.’
Ed didn’t respond immediately. The word adoption had triggered thoughts of her son. Ed had been so wrapped up in the horror of the abducted girls and their experiences at the hands of the as yet unknown abductor she’d forgotten her own pregnancy. At the same age as Lucy, she’d rejected a termination in favour of adoption. Why shouldn’t Lucy do the same?
To Ed the reasons were clear. The two situations were not comparable. Ed had not been raped. She’d been a naive, only too willing, partner. Pregnancy had been unwelcome, an unexpected accident. Had Craig stuck by her, things might have been different but, when she told him she was pregnant, he’d disappeared overnight. The word was he’d left Brixton, left the country, gone to relatives in Jamaica. Despite Craig’s desertion, she’d wanted the best for their son, her baby. At the time, thinking of his future, she’d agreed to adoption. He was taken from her and she’d never seen him again but a nagging guilt remained; had she acted in his best interests or her own?
When such thoughts came to mind, Ed was adept at putting them aside. She switched her mind back to the case, straightening in her chair, and refocused across the canteen table as if she’d been pondering what Joanna had said.
‘You’re convinced Lucy won’t go for a termination?’
‘I wouldn’t say that. She’s remarkably familiar with the religious and pro-life anti-abortion arguments but she’s only just discovered she’s pregnant. Maybe she’s exploring the ideas, rehearsing them, assessing them, reciting them aloud. I’m not convinced she’s a committed believer. Fifty-fifty she’ll change her mind.’
‘She’ll have a paternity test?’
‘I doubt it. Of course, we discussed it, but my impression was that Lucy is very disinclined and I’m sympathetic to her position.’
Caught off guard, Ed reacted angrily.
‘But … we need that DNA. We’ve got to nail this bastard before he strikes again.’
The counsellor regarded Ed with a neutral expression, finished the last chocolate-coated biscuit and swallowed the remains of her coffee before responding.
‘We have to remember it’s Lucy’s decision. At the moment she is facing this ordeal by seeing the baby as her child; the father doesn’t come into it. She’s keeping him out of the picture. In Lucy’s mind the child is fatherless, the result, if you will, of a virginal conception. Of course, she’s a rational woman and she wouldn’t defend that view if challenged. But, at the moment, the last thing she wants is to be challenged. So … she doesn’t want the father identified.’
‘What are the chances she’ll change her mind?’
‘Zero, unless she decides to opt for a termination.’
‘You’ll keep me informed?’
‘Of course.’ Joanna reached for her bag. ‘If there’s any change in Lucy’s position I’ll let you know.’
‘Thanks, let’s hope you’ll be in touch soon.’
‘I shouldn’t bank on it.’
Ed wasn’t.
Leaving the canteen on her way back to join her team Ed was already thinking of an alternative approach. If Lucy declined a paternity test Ed believed it highly probable there was another route to the DNA, a sample they desperately needed, a route they must vigorously pursue.
The door to the CID Room was still closing behind Ed as she announced, ‘We can forget getting a DNA sample from Lucy.’
Jenny was the first to respond.
‘She declined to take a paternity test?’
‘She’s not only declined the test, she’s declined a termination.’
‘What! Who’d want a sicko’s kid?’ Nat looked askance at Jenny. ‘Surely any woman’d want to …’
‘You sound like Lucy’s mother,’ said Ed, ‘but it’s not as simple as that.’
Without looking up, Mike muttered, ‘The sanctity of life …’
‘What did the counsellor say?’ asked Jenny.
‘As of now, she’s convinced there’s no way Lucy will agree to a paternity test. However, she thought the test and a termination were linked. She was less certain Lucy would continue to be opposed to a—’
‘Why should the counsellor be less certain?’ cut in Mike.
‘She wasn’t convinced Lucy’s a committed pro-lifer.’
‘So she may yet decide to go ahead,’ said Jenny.
‘I saw Lucy briefly with her mother. It wasn’t going well. To my eyes Lucy had said no.’
‘But she might change her mind.’ Jenny was being resolutely optimistic.
‘Don’t get your hopes up. Even if she does opt for a termination she could still refuse a paternity test.’
There was a subdued silence as the team pondered what Ed had been saying.
‘Damn!’ cried Nat, expressing their universal frustration. ‘DNA was a sure-fire way to our man.’
Mike was glum but Jenny looked particularly upset.
‘It’s one step forward and two back. I get my hopes up and then I think we’re never going to get him.’
‘You’re all forgetting Teresa,’ said Ed. ‘We’ve assumed she was pregnant and that her parents took her abroad for a termination. Perhaps we should think differently.’
‘What d’you mean?’ asked Nat.
‘Teresa was grabbed on her way home from a Bible class. The Mulhollands were a churchgoing family. Like Lucy at the moment, they could’ve been morally opposed to abortion.’
‘So, we should be asking if Teresa has a child, a son or a daughter,’ said Mike.
‘Perhaps we should ask if she has a sibling.’
Nat looked at Ed in surprise. ‘A sib?’
‘Here’s what I’m thinking. Teresa has the baby abroad. The Mulhollands return to England. Middle-class propriety kicks in. The Mulhollands pass the child off as the mother’s. That was ten years ago. By now, Teresa would have a ten-year-old sib.’
Jenny gave Ed an admiring glance, but it went unnoticed because she was fully engaged, driving the investigation forward.
‘Mike, it’s imperative we trace the Mulhollands asap. If Teresa has a child we could get the DNA sample we need.’
Mike nodded.
‘No, Mike, this is urgent. Let’s really push. We must find them quickly.’
Mike grunted and wrote on his pad.
Clearly feeling he’d been sidelined, Nat asserted himself.
‘Don’t we need to follow our other lines of inquiry?’
‘Of course,’ agreed Ed. ‘If we don’t find a DNA match, or some suspects refuse a sample, we could be buggered.’
Ed looked round the table. Nobody spoke.
‘Okay, the Olympic Torch Relay’s coming through town this afternoon but the Super has made sure none of us is involved. So, press on with the lines of inquiry you’re already following.’
Jenny made to speak but Ed had already turned to her DS. ‘Sorry, Mike, I’ve got an extra for you. With Podzansky keeping himself so much to himself, I’d like you to use your local knowledge and contacts to see if you can come up with anything on him.’
‘On that point, Boss …?’
‘Which point, Jenny? Podzansky?’
‘No … the Olympic Torch Relay.’
‘What about it?’
‘Nat and I were wondering if we could go down to the cathedral to have a look.’
‘I’ve got a small job for you to do first. Get round to Leaman’s place and speak to one of the other tenants. Play it subtly but find out as much about him as you can.’
‘And then can we go to see the Olympic Torch?’
‘I don’t see why not,’ said Ed. ‘There’ll be lots of young women on the streets so perhaps you’ll see one of our suspects eyeing up his next victim.’
‘It’s a bit early for that, isn’t it?’ objected Mike. ‘It was six years between Teresa and Kimberley, and another four before Lucy, so, on past form, we’d expect it to be at least a couple of years before he strikes again.’
‘On past form, you’re probably right, Mike, but we can’t be certain. Things change; at any time he may start behaving very differently.’
Ed didn’t want to go there but they had to be open to all possibilities. She cursed herself again for accepting the bloody package was a meal for the abductor.
‘We know the blood on the wrapping paper came from an unknown woman. Lucy told us he brought the package into the building where he was holding her captive. Any mutilation and murder must have happened somewhere else.’
‘What about the DNA from the bloody paper?’ asked Nat. ‘Have we got a match?’
‘Sorry, with everything that’s been going on I forgot to say. Nothing so far, I’m afraid. There’s been no match with Missing Persons.’
‘I’m not surprised,’ said Mike. ‘He’s too bloody smart. Now that he’s going for murder and mutilation, he’ll have chosen some down and out, someone who’s not on Missing Persons because no one’s reported them missing.’
‘Nothing from the National Database as yet,’ said Ed, ‘but if the poor woman was on the edge of society, we may have her DNA on record.’
Mike nodded in agreement.
Jenny looked from Ed to Mike and turned pale. She spoke softly, almost as if she were speaking to herself.
‘This man’s a monster. If he’s already murdering down and outs and—’ she glanced at Nat ‘—collecting body parts, who knows when he’ll flip? At any moment, he could snatch another girl from the streets of Canterbury and start mutilating her!’