MELANIE GIBSON looked up as she heard Jane walk into the CID room early on Monday morning.
‘Some interesting news about West’s father. Turns out Daddy’s a diplomat,’ said Melanie.
‘In this country?’
‘Yes, at the American Embassy in London. He’s in charge of economic relations between Britain and the United States.’
Jane’s shoulders dropped. She let out a slow sigh. Investigating rape was hard enough, but throwing a diplomat into the equation was only going to complicate things. Not a good start to the week.
‘Where is he now?’
‘I just got off the phone with the embassy. He flies in from France at one o’clock this afternoon. I’m going with DC Mason this morning to check out West’s alibi.’
‘And Hayley Bannerman?’
‘She’s already on her way in. Her father phoned to say she was quite keen to get this over with. Kathy Spencer is already here. I think she’s waiting at the front desk for them to arrive.’
*
Dr Charles Bannerman parked his Volvo estate in the police car park. Walking around the large, dark blue car, he open ed the door for his daughter. Hayley faltered as she rose unsteadily to her feet. He took hold of her arm and gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile. In twenty years as a GP he had helped many patients get through various traumas, including rape, but he was finding it difficult to keep his emotions detached to help his daughter. He and Hayley had become very close since the death of his wife and he ’d proudly watched her grow into a beautiful and confident young woman. It tore him apart to see the hollow look in the eyes of the fragile girl standing in front of him .
‘I know this is going to be hard but you’re your mother’s daughter and have always been as strong as she was ,’ he said.
Gently squeezing her hand, he locked the car and they walked towards the station steps.
DS Kathryn Spencer watched them from a window over looking the car park. Five years in the sexual offences unit had taught her that rape victims were often easier to deal with than their families; husbands who could not cope, parents that did not understand. On more than one occasion she had watched the families actually blame the victim. She was relieved at how supportive the father had been so far.
She walked over and unlocked the front door , holding it open as they came in.
Kathryn smiled, asked how Hayley was feeling and led them to a room at the end of the corridor. The Rape Suite. Despite efforts to try and give the room a relaxed, comfortable atmosphere of a living room, it still had a sterile feel. Soft yellow paisley curtains, pale yellow walls and dark blue carpet made a half-hearted attempt at relaxing victims. A well-worn sofa and two arm chairs had been arranged around a large coffee tables cattered with out-of-date magazines. A television with children’s videos stacked neatly underneath stood against one wall. A pale blue door in the far corner led to a small surgical room where the police surgeon could examine victims and take samples. A two-way mirror covered a four-feet square of the wall next to the door to the surgical room so officers could watch interviews without intruding.
Kathryn offered them a chair. Hayley sat close to her father on the large sofa.
‘Coffee?’
Dr Bannerman looked at his daughter, who shook her he ad.
‘Thank you, but I think we’d both rather just get this over with,’ he said.
‘I appreciate that Dr Bannerman. We’ll get started.’
Kathryn turned to Hayley, whose eyes were red, her face pale. The girl clutched a very damp, screwed-up tissue. Kathy reached over to a small bookshelf, picked up a packet of tissues and placed them on the coffee table.
‘I need to get another officer to sit in on the interview with me and make notes. I’ll be back in a couple of minutes.’
‘Will it be a woman?’ Hayley asked nervously, tears welling up in her eyes.
Kathryn looked sympathetically at the girl. ‘It will,’ she said as she rose to leave the room, desperately hoping a female officer would be available.
Kathryn saw Jane in her office.
‘Just to let you know, I’m about to interview Hayley Bannerman. She’s requested that the other officer present be a woman.’
‘I think Melanie is busy with something at the moment. Go and collar DC Sam Parker. I think she’s grabbing a coffee in the canteen. While you’re questioning Hayley, find out if she knows anything about Jennifer Clarke, the young girl who died back in January. I’ll be watching from behind the glass.’
*
Hayley Bannerman shifted distractedly on the sofa, staring ather hands as she twisted the tissue around her fingers.
‘We were all out punting on the river, then we decided to go to Henry’s for a drink. It was about lunch time, I think. I didn’t really know him . He’d only just started hanging around with our group a few weeks ago.’
Hayley hesitated and looked to her father for reassurance.
Spencer encouraged her to continue.
‘You’re doing well, Hayley. This is really helping us. What happened after you had drinks at the pub?’
‘I started to feel a bit dizzy after I finished the drink, like I was going to be sick. I don’t know why. I’d only had one drink. I got up to leave and he and my friend Megan both helped me back to my room. It starts to get a little bit hazy after that . I lay down on the bed and they left. I remember he came back into the room later. Megan had gone. I was so thirsty. He walked around the room, looking at my things. He gave me a drink of water but I was still thirsty. Things started to go blank after that. I’m sorry...I’m sorry.’
‘It’s all right, Hayley. Just tell us everything you can remember.’
‘I woke up a bit later. My friend Megan was by my bedside. I’m not really sure what time it was. I felt dizzy and sort of, well, disorientated. I went to the bathroom to throw up. I didn’t have any underwear on but I don’t remember having taken them off. When I went to the bathroom, I knew I’d had sex.’
She looked uncomfortable and embarrassed. Kathryn’s heart went out to her , having to relive these details in front of two strangers and her father. Hayley pressed on, staring down at her hands and avoiding eye contact.
‘I was sore, you know, and when I looked in the mirror I could see bruises starting to show on my neck. I was confused and upset. I couldn’t remember what happened. I didn’t know what to do and so Megan called Dad in Norwich. That’s when he came and got me.’
As a GP, Hayley’s father had immediately realised something was seriously wrong. His daughter seemed disorientated and unsteady on her feet, as if she was drunk, but she didn’t smell of alcohol. Besides, he knew she didn’t drink much. Her dilated pupils and her unquenchable thirst made him suspect she may have been drugged. The bruising on her neck worried him, too. His daughter was extremely distraught, crying continually. He had not been able to get much sense out of her so he took Hayley straight to Addenbrooke’s Hospital to have her checked over.
Hidden behind the two-way mirror, Jane groaned inwardly as she watched Hayley giving her statement. The bruises on her throat meant only one thing, the bastard had tried to strangle her. She was determined that this case wouldn’t end, as so many invariably did, with the suspect walking free, leaving his victim racked with guilt, anger and shame.
As Jane made her way back to her office, she noticed an unfamiliar face with Steve. She motioned Steve into her office.
‘Who’s the new guy?’
‘DC Dan Miller, the new detective Divisional Headquarters told us about last week. I’m giving him the grand tour.’
‘It never rains but pours in this place,’ said Jane looking at Dan through the glass. He was desperately trying to look completely absorbed in a file on Steve’s desk to overcome the uncomfortable situation of being in a room of busy people he didn’t know, with nothing to do.
‘Okay,’ she added. ‘You’ve got ten minutes to give him the full tour before I call the team together. We’ve got to get on West’s tail.’
Jane walked out of the goldfish bowl to introduce her self to Dan. He was barely five feet six inches tall, in his early thirties with already-thinning dark hair.
‘DI Blackburn,’ she said, thrusting out her hand. ‘We’re a bit informal here, you can call me Jane in the office. Good to have a new face around. Steve’s going to give you a quick tour, then we’ve got a team meeting in about ten minutes. There’s quite a lot going on at the moment. You’ll have to hit the ground running. What made you put in for the transfer?’
‘Family commitments. My parents have moved to this area. My wife Julie’s folks are only fifty miles away. We thought it was more convenient to be in this part of the country,’ he explained.
‘How long did you spend in Manchester and Newcastle?’
The new recruit looked surprised as she continued, ‘Did you spend any time in West Cumbria?’
Dan hadn’t noticed but the whole office was watching him .
‘I did,’ he said. ‘My father was a research scientist before he retired and we spent six years living near the nuclear plant at Sellafield, where he worked. I was born in the North East and spent my first few years there. I started my police career in Manchester, ma’am, sorry... Jane’
The office broke into a cheer. Melanie reluctantly tossed a ten pound note to Gary, who said with a grin, ‘That’ll teach you to be a disbeliever.’
‘Thank you, thank you.’ Jane acknowledged the clapping,‘Get on with whatever you were doing. Show’s over.’
Turning to Dan she said, ‘I’ll leave you in Steve’s capable hands. Ten minutes and then I want the whole office together.’
Steve grinned at the disbelieving look on Dan’s face.
‘She must have read my file,’ said Dan.
‘You know how police bureaucracy works. Your paperwork won’t catch up with you for another month. Jane’s father was in the Navy so as a child she moved around a lot. She has a natural gift for spotting and copying accents. When she first joined the force she realised the importance of being able to pinpoint accents and dialects. She’s given up a lot of her free time to develop her skill. She’s had help from a couple of linguistics professors. Believe me, it’s saved us hours of work in the past. Handy little hobby. Okay, on with the tour.’
‘This is Jill, our secretary. Do yourself a favour, don’t call her the office clerk, she doesn’t like it,’ said Steve approaching the tidiest desk in the office. ‘There’s nothing this lady doesn’t know about what goes on in this place...’
‘And what is supposed to be going on?’ Jill interrupted with a grin.
‘If you’re unsure about anything, don’t waste your time with us. We’ve no bloody idea. Ask Jill. I suggest you make friends with this lady if you want to keep ahead of the game around here.’
Jill rose from her seat to shake Dan’s hand. For the second time in ten minutes, a look of astonishment flashed across Dan’s face. At 5’11”, Jill towered over him. She was in her late twenties and wore a constant expression that said, "Been there, done that ". A young PC appeared from behind Dan, fresh-faced and enthusiastic. He handed Jill a buff folder and said nervously, ‘Um, Jill, how about the cinema tonight? The new Clooney film’s on.’
She snatched the file from his hand and, with a dismissive wave of her hand, abruptly ended the conversation by announcing she was on a fat-head free diet. Steve and Dan looked at her in awe, then roared with laughter as the wounded PC shamefully scurried back downstairs.
‘So what’s it like working for a woman?’ Dan asked as they moved on.
‘Jane’s great to work for. Efficient, no-nonsense, demanding. She’s one of those people you don’t have to call “Ma’am” or “Boss” for you to realise she is definitely in charge. Some of the top brass think she’s too informal with her staff, but she gets results. Like you, I moved back here to be close to my family. After I started, I copped the odd racist remark around the station. She pulled me in and told me I was smart, university- educated, happily married and had half the women in the office after me, of course I was going to attract some racist remarks, it was all that was left to attack. Then she asked me how I thought she felt being a woman in the force and taking that kind of thing every day. It was just the boost I needed.’
Steve looked at his watch.
‘We’d better he ad back for the meeting. Time to see her inaction.’