Chapter Two

SHE AWOKE ONE night with fear sucking the breath from her lungs. She opened her eyes and strained them into the blackness. She was in a dark room - her dark room? - and she wasn’t alone. Someone - something? - prowled the shadows beyond her vision.

WHAT?

Fear.. .fear... FEAR ...

She sat bolt upright, sweat pouring down her back, screams issuing in a tumult of sound from her gaping mouth.

Light flooded the room. Comfort came in the shape of a woman’s soft breasts, strong arms and sweet voice. ‘There, there, Jane. It’s all right. Come on, love, calm down. You had a nightmare.’

But she knew that was wrong. Her terror was real. There was something in the dark room with her. ‘My name’s Jinx,’ she whispered. ‘I’m a photographer, and this isn’t my room.’ She laid her shaven head against the starched white uniform and knew the bitterness of defeat. There would be no more sweet dreams. ‘Where am I?’ she asked. ‘Who are you? Why am I here?’

‘You’re in the Nightingale Clinic in Salisbury,’ said the nurse, ‘and I’m Sister Gordon. You were in a car accident, but you’re safe now. Let’s see if we can get you back to sleep again.’

Jinx allowed herself to be tucked back under the sheets by a firm pair of hands. ‘You won’t turn the light off, will you?’ she begged. ‘I can’t see in the dark.’

Query prosecution of Miss J. Kingsley/driving with 150mg per 100ml

Date:   22 June, 1994

From:    Sergeant Geoff Halliwell

Miss Kingsley was thrown from her vehicle before it impacted against a concrete stanchion in one comer of the airfield. She was unconscious when she was found at 21.45 on Monday, 13 June, by Mr Andrew Wilson and Miss Jenny Ragg. Miss Kingsley suffered severe concussion and bruising/laceration of her arms and face when she was thrown from the car. She remained unconscious for three days and was very confused when she finally came round. She has no recollection of the accident and claims not to know why she was at the airfield. Blood samples taken at 00.23 (14.6.94) show 150mg per 100ml. Two empty wine bottles were recovered from the floor of the car when it was examined the following day.

PCs Gregg and Hardy had one brief interview with Miss Kingsley shortly after she regained consciousness, but she was too confused to tell them anything other than that she appeared to believe it was Saturday, 4 June, (i.e. some 9 days before the incident on 13.6.94) and that she was on her way from London to Hampshire. Since the interview (5 days) she has remained dazed and uncommunicative and visits have been suspended on the advice of her doctors. They have diagnosed post-traumatic amnesia, following concussion. Her parents report that she spent the week 4-10 June with them (though Miss Kingsley clearly has no memory of this) before returning to Richmond on the evening of Friday, 10 June, following a telephone call. They describe her as being in good spirits and looking forward to her forthcoming wedding on 2 July. She was expected at work on Monday, 13 June, but did not show. She runs her own photographic studio in Pimlico and her employees say they were concerned at her non-appearance. They left several messages on her answerphone on the 13^th but received no reply.

Interviews by Richmond police with her neighbours in Glenavon Gdns, Colonel and Mrs Clancey, reveal that she made an attempt on her life on Sunday, 12 June. Col. Clancey, whose garage adjoins Miss Kingsley’s, heard her car engine running with the door closed. When he went to investigate, he found her garage full of fumes and Miss Kingsley half-asleep at the wheel. He dragged her outside and revived her, but did not report the incident because Miss Kingsley asked him not to. He and his wife are deeply upset that she has tried to do it again’.

Both Col. and Mrs Clancey and Mr and Mrs Adam Kingsley made reference to a Mr Leo Wallader who was until recently Miss Kingsley’s fiancé. It appears he left 12 Gienavon Gdns on Friday, 10 June, after telling Miss Kingsley he couldn’t marry her because he had plans to marry her closest friend, Meg Harris, instead. Mr Wallader and Ms Harris are unavailable for interview at the moment. According to Sir Anthony Wallader (father) they are currently travelling in France but plan to return some time in July.

In view of a recent MOT certificate on Miss Kingsley’s vehicle, which tends to rule out malfunction, and the fact that the chances of hitting the concrete stanchion by accident are virtually nil, it seems clear that she drove her car into it deliberately. Therefore, unless she recovers enough of her memory to give an explanation of the events leading up to the incident, Gregg and Hardy incline to the view that this was a second attempt at suicide after a drinking session in her car. Mr Adam Kingsley, her father, has offered to pay the costs of the emergency services, meanwhile Miss Kingsley has been transferred to the Nightingale Clinic where she is receiving treatment from Dr Alan Protheroe. Mr Kingsley’s solicitor is pressing for a decision on whether or not we intend to proceed against Miss Kingsley. My view is to do nothing in view of her father’s willingness to pick up the tab, her disturbed state of mind and the fact that she chose such a deserted location. Please advise.