Case One (11 page)

“I ain't telling you nothing – 'less you think you can
make
me.” And he brought up his other fist, showing himself ready.

For a second Sam's right hand moved instinctively towards the baton on his belt, but he knew that a fight wouldn't help anything, so instead he reached for his radio.

“Three-One-Seven from Six-One-Four, assistance required. Stairwell, south end of the block.”

It was enough. With a sneer the blond youth said, “Fuck off,” then swung himself round and started down the stairs two or three at a time.

“
On way,
” Oz said over the radio. “
What's your situation?
”

“IC1 male teenager heading down the stairs. Blond. Grey jacket. Possible assault.”

Sam moved to look over the handrail and down, but even though he could still hear trainers slapping on the stairs below he couldn't see anything. He knew there was no chance of catching the suspect now, so he turned back to the kid in the corner.

“You okay?” he asked.

The kid nodded, and after a moment he pushed himself up off the floor.

“What's your name?”

“Charlie,” the boy said and winced. He raised a hand to examine the cut at the edge of his mouth.

Sam looked at him again, more closely. “Didn't I talk to you last night, with a couple of other lads? Charlie Atkins?”

Charlie nodded.

“So who was that? Do you know him?”

The boy called Charlie hesitated for a beat, then shook his head.

“So what happened?”

“Nothing,” Charlie said. “It's okay. I just need to get my stuff.”

He moved to retrieve a tin of baked beans from the step below him as Oz's voice came through on the radio.

“
Six-One-Four from Three-One-Seven. No sign of your suspect. Where are you now?
”

“Still on the stairs. Second floor.”

“
Okay, stay there. I'll find you.
”

“Received.” Sam turned back to Charlie. “If you know who he was, you can tell me,” he said.

Charlie shook his head, more definite now. “I don't,” he said.

15.

ATKINS FLAT
CLOUDSLEY HOUSE
13:19 HRS

“You know who it was? Then tell the officers.”

Leyton Atkins was a man in his forties, hair greying at the sides. He wore a collar and tie and had a pair of reading glasses on a string round his neck. He was standing in front of his younger son, Charlie, who sat on the edge of an armchair in the sitting room. The room had a violently patterned carpet and was very tidy.

“Tell them,” Mr Atkins repeated.

Charlie said nothing, just looked at the floor.

“
Charles…
” his father started again.

“Dad, leave him,” Ryan Atkins said. “He
can't
tell them.”

Sam looked towards Ryan. Up till now the older boy hadn't said anything and Sam hadn't made reference to their meeting last night, though he was sure Ryan had recognised him.

“Of course he can tell them,” Mr Atkins said. “If he knows who it was he can tell them.”

“Yeah, and then what?” Ryan said, making it clear his father didn't get it. “Nothing's gonna happen, except next time they'll be looking for Charlie when there isn't a copper around. Then he'll get worse than a couple of bruises.”

“Bruises? Can't you
see
his mouth?”

“I'm all right,” Charlie said then. “I just— I just want to forget it. I don't know who he was.”

Oz Sitwell shifted beside Sam.

“I'm afraid there's not a lot more we can do then,” he said. “I'll make sure it's logged on our system though.”

“What good will that do?” Mr Atkins said, unimpressed. “You know, this used to be a decent place to live when we first came here. Now there's gangs and drugs and vandalism, and that attack or whatever it was last night. And the police don't do anything to stop it.”

“We do take every incident seriously,” Oz said.

“Doesn't look like it to me,” Mr Atkins said flatly.

As Mr Atkins closed the front door behind them, Oz took a moment to look both ways along the walkway. He checked the time, then made a note in his pocketbook.

“Is that it then?” Sam said.

“Probably.” Oz put the pocketbook away. “Would you recognise him – the youth?”

“Yeah, definitely.”

“Okay, well if you spot him again, sing out, okay?”

“But if Charlie won't make a statement…”

“I know, but if you see him there's no reason we shouldn't make
his
life a bit more unpleasant, is there? Totally unconnected, of course.”

Sam frowned. “How?”

“Oh, you'd be amazed,” Oz said, then he tapped his clipboard. “Come on, we've still got the ground floor to do.”

16.

BOOTH RESIDENCE
ESCOTT ROAD
13:21 HRS

“Lauren, do you know anyone who would have a reason to hurt Ashleigh?”

On the sofa next to her mother, Lauren Booth shook her head, but Holly could see that she was too worried, too nervous, for it to be true.

DS Woods obviously thought so, too.

“But she
was
in an argument with someone yesterday afternoon, wasn't she?” he asked.

Lauren shook her head again, looked away. “I don't know.”

“I think you do,” Woods said. “We've got a witness who saw you and Ashleigh with a lad called Drew Alford after school. They said Drew was threatening Ashleigh. Is that true?”

“No. No. I don't know,” Lauren said.

Her father – who seemed to resent the intrusion into his living room on a Saturday afternoon – shifted on his feet. He and DS Woods were both standing.

“Listen,” Mr Booth said. “If she says she doesn't know… I mean, what's this about? I know you said you thought Ashleigh'd been mugged but—”

“It's about a suspected rape,” Woods cut in flatly. “We believe Ashleigh may have been sexually assaulted.”

“Rape?” Colin Booth said. He sounded genuinely shocked, but Holly was watching Lauren – and when her father repeated the word Lauren seemed to cringe.

“Lauren, what do you know about Drew Alford?” Holly said. “You need to tell us.”

Lauren was still for a moment, then when she spoke her voice was hushed and scared. “He was mad with Ash. He was saying stuff— He said…he said if she was going round spreading stuff about him she'd be sorry.”

“What sort of stuff?” Holly asked. “You mean stories, or gossip?”

“I don't know. I didn't know what he meant.” Lauren looked up. “He was really angry. Not shouting but just – just really wound up, kind of jabbing his finger. Do you know what I mean?”

“You mean he was threatening towards Ashleigh?” Woods asked.

Lauren nodded.

“Did he threaten you as well?”

“No.” Lauren shook her head. “He didn't even look at me. It was Ash he was looking at, all the time.”

“Where was this?”

“On the estate. Me and Ash were coming back here and he just came out of nowhere. It was like he'd been waiting or something. He comes up and he asks Ash if it's true what he's heard, that she's been saying things about him, and Ash just says she doesn't know what he's heard so she doesn't know if it's true.”

“How did he react to that?”

“He didn't like it. He said something about how she shouldn't try and be clever with him. And then Ash said why, was he afraid he couldn't keep up? – That was when he really started to get mad. He called her a snotty bitch. He said she knew what he meant and if she wasn't careful she'd find out he wasn't so stupid.”

“What did Ashleigh say to that?”

“Nothing. I mean, she just sort of gave him a look, then said ‘Come on' to me and we walked away.”

Woods looked up from his notebook. “So was that the end of it?”

Lauren nodded.

“Why didn't you tell us this before?”

“I don't know.”

“Was it because you're afraid of Drew Alford?”

Lauren didn't say anything.

“Lauren? Tell them,” her father insisted.

But as soon as he'd said it Lauren rounded on him. “Why? What do you know? If you'd taken her home like I asked you, instead of going out… But you couldn't be bothered, could you? You didn't care. Just cos she lives on the estate, just cos you think she's common.”

“I don't!” her father said. “I never said that.”

“Yes you did. You've said it dozens of times. You're always making comments about her. You probably think she deserved it!”

“Lauren, stop it!” her mother cut in. “I know you're upset but—”

“You don't know anything!” Lauren said, turning on her now. “You're just as bad as him. You're always on his side. Nobody listens! Nobody ever listens to what – to what
I
say.”

She pushed her mother's restraining hand aside and forced herself off the sofa, running from the room with a door slam behind her.

Her parents looked at each other for a moment.

“I'm sorry,” Mrs Booth said then, turning to Woods. “I don't know what's the matter with her.”

“I'll get her back,” Mr Booth said, determined. “I'm not having her behaving like that, doesn't matter what's caused it.”

He started towards the door, but Woods cut him off. “That's all right,” he said. “She's obviously upset so maybe we should leave it for now. I'd still like to get a formal statement if she's willing to make one, but it can wait till she feels up to it. Maybe you could give me a call?”

Holly left the sitting room first, hoping that she'd find Lauren just outside. She wasn't there, but as Holly made her way to the hall she saw the girl sitting on the stairs.

“You all right?” Holly asked.

Lauren nodded but it was a small thing.

“Is there anything else you can tell me about yesterday?”

This time Lauren shook her head. “No,” she said dully.

For a second Holly debated, then she said: “When Ashleigh left here yesterday she didn't go straight home. Do you know anywhere she might have gone, anyone she might have met? A boyfriend maybe?”

“No,” Lauren said again. “I told you, she isn't like that. I mean, she's not into boys yet – not serious; not more than fancying someone in a band or whatever, you know?”

“So there's no one at school?”

“No.”

“And not Drew Alford?”

“No. I told you. She thinks he's a moron.”

Behind her Holly heard DS Woods and Lauren's father leaving the sitting room. When Lauren registered it too, she stood up. “Will you find out who did it?”

“We'll try,” Holly said, knowing it didn't sound as positive as she'd have liked.

Lauren seemed about to say something more, but as she saw DS Woods coming along the hall she abandoned it and turned quickly to go up the stairs.

“Lauren…” her father called after her, but Lauren took no notice and a moment later they heard her bedroom door close with a dull thud.

17.

INCIDENT ROOM
MORNINGSTAR RD STATION
14:02 HRS

The afternoon quiet of the Incident Room made the place seem larger than it had that morning, when the activity had been concentrated and driven. Instead of uniform and CID officers coming and going, it was just the four of them now and Holly knew she was to blame for keeping the others away from whatever it was they'd rather have been doing on a Saturday afternoon.

Danny Simmons was already in the Incident Room when Holly and DS Woods entered. Then, about ten minutes later, DI Jackie Connors had arrived. She was about thirty-five, dressed down but still smart in a silk blouse and knee-length wool skirt. She noticed Holly as soon as she entered, but chose not to make any comment. Instead she had a short conversation with Ray Woods at the far end of the room, before returning to the whiteboards and examining the photograph of Drew Alford, which was now at the centre of the case details.

“Go on then,” she said to Woods. “How's he fit?”

She moved to lean against a desk as Woods picked up a marker pen and drew on the board.

“Tamsin Powell – known as Taz – says she saw Drew Alford threatening Ashleigh and Lauren Booth at about 16:00 hours yesterday on the Cadogan Estate. According to Tamsin, Alford might have thought that Ashleigh had been ‘disrespecting' him.”

“Can we confirm that?” DI Connors asked. “If we're going to prove motive…”

Woods nodded. “Lauren Booth confirmed that Alford was angry because of things Ashleigh was supposed to have said about him. From the sound of it, Ashleigh might have made things worse when Alford confronted her. It sounds as if she gave him some lip and in return he called her a ‘snotty bitch', amongst other things.”

Connors assessed that. “So you think it was a punishment rape then? Ashleigh insulted Alford so he decided to teach her a lesson.”