Daniels was staring out of the window. Gormley suspected she hadn’t told the whole truth about her meeting with Jo earlier. She was brooding about something. He didn’t know what, but suspected it had little to do with the case.
A knock at the door surprised them both. Maxwell poked his head in, asking for a second of their time. Daniels beckoned him in, curious to know what he wanted. Since his transfer to another team, he hadn’t been seen for dust. She wondered if he’d come cap in hand, thinking he could get his old job back. If so, he didn’t have a hope in hell.
‘What do you want?’ She didn’t wait for an answer. ‘If you’re sniffing around for Martin, you’re wasting your bloody time.’
Maxwell’s brow creased, as if he had no idea what she was on about.
‘Well? Spit it out, now you’re here.’
He handed her a disk. ‘I found more footage of Jo Soulsby while working on another enquiry . . . I think you should take a look at it, boss.’
‘Where the hell have you been?’ Gormley snapped. ‘Haven’t you heard the news?’
‘She’s been bailed, Neil,’ Daniels explained. ‘Expects to be cleared of all charges. Given that she’s done nothing wrong, why would I be remotely interested in whatever’s on this disk?’
Maxwell hesitated. ‘Because she was in another part of town, being dragged up a back alley by two thugs.’
Complete silence.
Oh my God! Daniels felt sick. Outraged. She couldn’t quite believe what she was hearing. Maxwell had drawn her a picture she just couldn’t get out of her head.
Poor, poor, Jo.
What she must have gone through.
Daniels was close to losing it, unable to conceal her disgust.
‘. . . I couldn’t actually see what happened,’ Maxwell continued. ‘But it doesn’t take a lot of imagination to fill in the blanks. I only wish we’d found it sooner. To be raped by Stephens was gross, but to suffer at the hands of two morons in the street, well, it doesn’t bear thinking about. She’s innocent, all right.’
Gormley stood up, about to usher him from the room.
Daniels put her hand up to stop him. ‘No, Hank. It’s OK, this is important. It ties up a lot of loose ends, explains why Jo hung around in town, her blocked-off memory, why she was in a state when the taxi picked her up.’
She didn’t really know what else to say. What to think. Maxwell was an unlikely source of closure. Gone were the smart-arse remarks, the snide glances. It was as if this latest shocking revelation was too awful even for him to contemplate. His lips were moving again but Daniels didn’t hear a word of his apology, the shame he felt for the way he’d behaved, his request to be given another chance.