When Cross and Ottey arrived at Swift’s flat there was already an ambulance outside and a couple of patrol cars. There was no room left for them to park. She saw Carson’s car parked at the side of the road as she parked. Inside they found Alice giving a statement to a detective. She was wearing a white paper forensics suit and her right hand was sealed in a clear plastic bag taped at her wrist. Carson had insisted on her statement being given as soon as he got there. He wanted it to be as contemporaneous as possible.
‘She was extraordinary,’ Swift told Cross and Ottey. ‘As soon as I’d called the police and you, she made me photograph the room and her, as if I were working a case. Her legs, her eyes and face, her hands, her pubic area, her torn knickers on the floor.’ He faltered as if saying this out loud made it worse. ‘She made me bag her hand. Melissa,’ he said, pointing to a forensics officer, ‘took her clothes and put her in the suit. She was brilliant, very businesslike.’
‘Did she scratch him?’ asked Cross, looking at the bag on her hand.
‘Yep. I think she’s in shock,’ Swift replied.
‘Of course she is,’ said Ottey. ‘She’ll need to go to hospital for—’
‘He didn’t rape her, thank God,’ he interrupted.
‘She’ll still need to go.’
‘Yeah, I know. She…’ He laughed despite himself. ‘She managed to grab him. She couldn’t see a thing, but she grabbed his… stuck her nails in. He was bleeding. I saw it.’
‘She’s a brave woman,’ commented Ottey. ‘How could she think straight? It’s amazing.’
Cross had wandered over to the bedroom. He knelt by the bed.
‘Evidence bag. Tweezers,’ he announced to no one in particular.
Swift grabbed his work bag and provided them. Cross picked up the discarded condom from the floor and carefully placed it in the bag. There was blood on it.
As the detective was finishing Alice’s statement, Carson asked Cross and Ottey to go outside.
‘I can’t believe this is happening. Has happened. But they both positively ID’d Warner,’ he said. Then listened as Ottey told him about the kitchen incident and the night Alice pepper sprayed him in the car park.
‘So that’s why he pepper sprayed her.’
‘Yep. Payback,’ replied Ottey.
‘Josie, this is terrible. I feel responsible. But I can’t do anything if I’m not told. You have to report this kind of behaviour. You’re a senior female officer in the department. You have to come to me. Why didn’t you?’
‘These kind of complaints from young women against senior officers don’t have a great track record in being seen through. Alice didn’t want to,’ she replied.
‘I see. Well, that’s awful. I get it, of course. But it’s not okay. We’ll talk about this later. I mean, if that’s all right?’ he asked plaintively.
‘Of course.’
‘So, what about Warner? Something tells me this behaviour hasn’t come out of the blue.’
Ottey then explained their trip to Kent, the existence of the WhatsApp group, Warner’s behaviour in Manchester and the other victims who were unwilling to come forward.
‘Will Alice press charges?’ Carson asked.
‘By the look of things, I’m almost certain of it,’ replied Ottey.
‘Perhaps that’ll encourage the others.’
‘Hopefully.’
‘Well, this isn’t the Met,’ Carson announced a little grandly. But Ottey was willing to forgive him. ‘We’re going to put a stop to it.’
‘Will you go upstairs with it, sir?’ Ottey asked.
‘I’m not sure. George, you haven’t said much.’
‘I haven’t said anything,’ Cross pointed out.
‘Should I go upstairs with this?’ Carson asked. Ottey was impressed with his openness and appeal for advice.
‘Not immediately, no. As soon as you do, it becomes a different problem. Their priority will be about how to manage this outwards. I think we should just concentrate on arresting as we would any other sex offender. The fact that he’s a police officer should have no bearing on it.’
‘Are you suggesting they’d cover it up?’ Carson asked.
‘I’m not suggesting anything. It just becomes a bigger, different question, upstairs. For us it’s a simple one. Get him in a custody suite and assemble the evidence before we go to the CPS,’ Cross replied.
‘Do we hand it over to the rape team?’ Carson went on.
‘I think we should make the arrest and, as I say, get the evidence together. It makes sense to then have specialist officers interview him though. So yes, we should hand it over to them. It also makes it cleaner if we’re not involved in the interview itself. It won’t give the prosecution any distracting ammunition.’
‘Agreed. I’ll put out an APB.’
‘No, don’t,’ said Cross.
‘Why not?’
‘Aside from saving valuable and scarce resources, let’s lull him into a sense of false security. Make him think he’s got away with it. He has done so before, let him think he’s done it again. That way he’ll resume where he left off. As normal. Going back to work as if nothing has happened, which is where we’ll pick him up.’
‘That’ll involve informing his superiors.’
‘No. Don’t.’
‘They’ll be mighty pissed off, George,’ he said, laughing at his naivety.
‘So what? When this comes out and the fact emerges that they’ve let this happen on their watch, they’ll have a lot more to worry about than our arresting him on their turf.’
Alice was taken to hospital in the ambulance which she thought was completely unnecessary. But they pointed out that as they were there, they might as well. Swift and Ottey went with her. Carson drove Cross to his flat as it was on his way home. Melissa, Swift’s forensic colleague who had been in the flat, came to the hospital and took cells from under Alice’s fingernails. She also swabbed her dried tears for traces of pepper spray, and her face for any residue of Warner’s sweat.