Twisted (23 page)

Mulling the Antigua holiday over in his mind, Marcus couldn’t recall Simon ever being alone with Amy. He was certain that Simon would not in any way have, as Lena had insinuated, been abusive towards the girl. That one time when he had appeared like the Sun King strolling along the beach, he had seemed to be as surprised as Marcus to discover they were there.

Marcus swung his legs down from the sofa and rested his elbows on his knees. Amy had visited the yacht with him, but only for a very short time because they’d returned to their hotel for lunch. Simon had been his usual witty self, and after about an hour went off on a speedboat, waving to them as he left. He and his crew were going to a different beach to water-ski, as the hotel did not have any speedboats, nor for that matter did it approve of the disruption of the boats’ high-powered noisy engines.

That was the extent of the encounter. Marcus was certain that no way could Simon Boatly have had any interaction with Amy that either he or Lena were not privy to. He was determined that his name would not be tarnished by Lena as he was a very valued friend.

The forensic scientists were still working hard in the lab as Reid walked along the trestle table with the young assistant, surveying the items removed from Marcus Fulford’s flat. The table was covered in white sterile paper sheets, on top of which were at least ten pairs of ladies’ underwear of different styles and colours. There were also separate bagged sheets and pillowcases from Marcus’s and Amy’s bedrooms. The assistant carried a clipboard, pointing out and checking off the tagged items they had been working on.

The assistant suddenly laughed out loud. ‘The end of that thing reminds me of an ice-cream whip,’ he said, pointing to a skin-coloured vibrator in the shape of a very large penis.

Reid did not find it amusing, just distasteful. ‘Who’s in charge so I can discuss your results so far?’

The assistant moved off to a side room and a man in a white lab coat came out and introduced himself. He was in his mid-thirties, dark-haired, slim and had a warm welcoming smile.

‘I’m Pete Jenkins, the lead scientist on this case. Thanks for coming in, DI Reid. I’ll deal with the bad news first: unfortunately we haven’t been able to raise a DNA profile for Amy from the toothbrushes you recovered.’

‘What, none of them?’ Reid asked, rather surprised.

‘It’s not uncommon as it looks like Amy gives her toothbrush a good clean after she uses it.’

‘What about blood from the used sanitary towel?’

‘Too old, decay and bacteria have destroyed any chance of DNA. However, we are trying to raise a profile from hairs removed from the hairbrush found in the bedroom at her father’s flat, but this process takes more time. We need a full profile for Amy to compare against the various female profiles recovered and obtained from vaginal secretions on some of the underwear found in her Mayfair bedroom.’

Reid was intrigued. ‘Various female profiles?’

‘Yes, we have managed to raise profiles on some of the underwear and they must have been worn by different women.’

‘What, like they were sharing them?’

Jenkins laughed. ‘No, there were no mixed female profiles on any underwear. The DNA indicates each individual pair has been worn by one woman, but there’s so far no match to any known profiles on the criminal DNA database.’

Reid didn’t quite know what to make of this, but felt slightly relieved when told there were no semen stains on Amy’s bed linen, although there were urine stains and unpleasant patches of faeces, and the blood on the mattress was menstrual.

Pete Jenkins continued. ‘Marcus Fulford’s bed linen was covered in semen and vaginal stains, as well as pubic hairs which are also yet to be tested for a profile.’

Reid smiled. ‘That doesn’t surprise me as it appears Mr Fulford is quite a womanizer.’

‘Well it’s reasonable to assume the semen stains are from Mr Fulford, but we urgently need a DNA sample from him for comparison. We also found a number of strands of hair on his bed that didn’t match in colour the hairs taken from Amy’s hairbrush.’

‘They may belong to Fulford’s girlfriend Justine.’

Jenkins frowned. ‘Or one of the unknown women whose underwear we have. We urgently need a DNA sample from every woman Marcus Fulford recently had sex with.’

Reid felt embarrassed at his lack of forethought. ‘It’s possible Amy had borrowed underwear from school friends, or they accidently left them behind after a sleepover at her father’s flat.

Jenkins’ frown deepened. ‘Big question then is why, and how, did they come to be in Amy’s room?’

‘Only Amy can answer that,’ Reid said but wondered to himself if Amy was keeping them as evidence against her father or to show her mother as proof of her father’s sexual exploits.

Jenkins continued. ‘The DNA from the semen stains on Mr Fulford’s bed linen matched semen stains recovered from some of the underwear in Amy’s room. The semen on the underwear probably got there as a result of seepage after sex. Assuming the semen on the bed linen is Mr Fulford’s then it’s reasonable to assume he had sex with the wearers of the ladies’ panties.’

Reid was stunned, and although finding it hard to follow the forensic data, he understood the implication. ‘So his semen is on Amy’s panties?’

‘I can’t obviously say a hundred per cent yes as I need to raise Amy’s DNA profile. If it is her profile and his semen then it’s reasonable to assume he was abusing his daughter.’

Reid looked sad. ‘To be honest, I already had my suspicions, but I doubted myself. Hearing what you just said puts a whole new perspective on the investigation and one that will cause Mrs Fulford unbelievable distress.’

‘I deal with fact and draw conclusions from the forensic evidence for the police and courts. I don’t envy your job in having to tell victims my findings.’

‘Will you call me as soon as you have anything further?’

‘Certainly, but above all I need DNA samples from suspects and witnesses for comparison and to confirm, or refute, my suspicions.’

Pete Jenkins went over to a large cabinet, opened it and removed a bag full of DNA sample kits, which he handed to Reid.

‘If you need more ring me or get some from your station supplies,’ Jenkins said, paused and then smiled at Reid, who looked despondent. ‘With the amount of seminal fluid we found I can say you’re looking for a suspect who ejaculates enough to fill a whole sperm bank at an IVF clinic!’

Chapter 17

B
y four o’clock Reid was back at the Richmond house and found a patrol car with a female officer in it waiting as he drove up. Asking her to stay put as he would be back with Marcus Fulford’s DNA in a few minutes, he rang the doorbell, and Agnes led him into the kitchen. Burrows looked tired, still sitting beside the phone, and had compiled an even longer list of names. Agnes reported that Mrs Fulford was in her office upstairs and Mr Fulford in the sitting room.

Reid went straight to the sitting room, where Marcus was lying on the sofa fast asleep. He woke with a start when Reid closed the door and, rather disorientated, sat up, ruffling his hair.

‘Sorry, I’ve had hardly any sleep since Amy’s been gone.’

‘I need to take a DNA swab from you, Mr Fulford.’

Marcus stood up, shocked. ‘Dear God, have you found her?’

‘Not as yet, but the forensic scientists need it for elimination purposes.’

‘I don’t understand – eliminating me from what exactly?’

‘As you are aware, we have taken numerous items from your flat in Green Street, and it is necessary to identify samples that have been recovered, specifically from female underwear and from bed linen.’

Having just woken, Marcus stretched his arms and shoulders, and didn’t at first grasp Reid’s obvious implication, but it dawned on him after a few seconds.

‘Jesus Christ, are you seriously suggesting I was having some kind of sexual relationship with my daughter?’

‘A DNA sample is the only way we can eliminate you from DNA found in Amy’s bedroom and possibly find who may have been having a sexual relationship with her. She may even have run away with that person.’

Marcus eventually complied and allowed Reid to take a DNA swab from his mouth; Reid then took it out to the waiting officer to take it to the lab.

Marcus had poured himself a brandy, shaken not by the process, which was very simple, but by the implications. As Reid re-entered the room Marcus gestured to the drinks cabinet but the detective declined his offer. He kept the conversation relaxed, thanking Marcus for his cooperation, admitting it was never easy or pleasant to have to request DNA but it was necessary to move the investigation forward. Sitting opposite Marcus, he took out his notebook and patted his pocket for his pen while asking after Mrs Fulford. Marcus said she was sorting out all her business calls and compiling a list of names of those she felt should be interviewed. Lena had been very distressed, and he felt it was good for her to be occupied. He leaned forward, adding there was something he thought DI Reid should be made aware of.

‘Lena suffers from depression; she has been diagnosed as bipolar and is on medication. Sometimes she becomes very lethargic and incapable of getting out of her bed, other times she is over-active, and hyper. She has been suicidal in the past, but until Amy’s disappearance she had been exceptionally well and clearly more than capable of running her businesses. In truth her disorder has in many ways been more of an enabling factor rather than an illness.’

Reid sat back, needing a moment to take all this in. ‘Did she react badly to your separation?’

‘Obviously, but to be honest I don’t know why I’m spilling all this out to you, and I don’t mean it to be in any way detrimental to Lena. I am probably trying to make myself appear less of a jerk because I instigated the separation, but neither of us ever allowed our marital problems to affect Amy. Lena is a wonderful mother and she is very protective of her, but eventually I think she saw that it was better for all of us.’

‘Were you having extramarital relationships before you separated?’

Marcus nodded, and then draining his glass he held it loosely in his hands. ‘I’m not proud of it, far from it, but yes, I was unfaithful; nothing that ever lasted and I was always discreet and I think part of my promiscuity was Lena’s fault as much as my own. You’ve no idea what all this is doing to me, especially the insinuation that there was more than a father-daughter relationship between Amy and me. You think I’m stupid? Wanting my DNA, as you so blithely said for elimination purposes. I have done nothing wrong, and I am as shocked as you are to discover that stuff in her bedroom.’

‘But you must understand my position,’ Reid said calmly. ‘I am merely trying to find out if there is a viable reason why your daughter might have run away.’

Marcus refilled his glass. ‘I honestly have been a good father. Every time Amy stayed with me I kept the weekend free, and I swear to you that it would only have been on the odd occasion she met my girlfriends, and as far as I can recall Simon Boatly never even visited his flat while she was there.’

‘Why have you brought his name up?’

Marcus gritted his teeth. ‘Because Lena has got it into her head that he could have been there and abused Amy, but the only time he was with her, with both Lena and myself, was when we were on holiday in Antigua, more than two years ago, and he and Amy were never alone. He’s my best friend, for God’s sake. I know him and I don’t want any aspersions cast on him – he’s not even in the country.’

Reid chose his words carefully, explaining that forensic tests had revealed seminal fluid and different female DNA on the panties taken from Amy’s bedroom, and he would therefore require a list of everyone that used Simon Boatly’s flat. Although they had spoken to his girlfriend Justine, Reid said that specifically he was interested in any other women Marcus had recent intercourse with as they had found strands of hair that were not a match for his daughter’s.

Marcus bowed his head, sighing. ‘Justine was one regular visitor, but there was another woman.’

‘Who, Mr Fulford? Withholding evidence is a criminal offence, so I need to know right now.’

‘I have also been seeing one of the women that works for Lena; her name is Gail Summers. I really don’t want my wife told about Gail – she’s been very helpful to me regarding the divorce and if Lena did find out she’d fire her.’

Disgusted by Marcus’s attitude and behaviour, Reid decided that he’d spent enough time with him, and headed out of the room, suggesting that perhaps he put the stopper on the brandy bottle. He closed the door behind him and was making for the kitchen when Agnes approached him and asked if he felt it was all right for her to leave as it was just after five.

‘You’d better speak to Mrs Fulford,’ he said abruptly, and continued into the kitchen.

Burrows was still by the phones and was more than happy to go back to the station with him, even if it meant trawling through the list of names she’d accumulated during the day. Agnes returned, reporting that she had been told she could go home and that she was going over to the garage to tell Harry that he would not be required either.

‘What does he do over there? Sit in the car all day?’

‘Oh no, Mr Fulford had a gym above the garage – well, the equipment is still there but after he left Mrs Fulford made it a sort of sitting room. Harry has a TV and small kitchenette with a microwave. Your officers searched it when they were over there with the dog.’

Reid nodded, though he had not been aware that it existed, but hoped, as Agnes had said, that it had been searched properly. He made a note to check the search reports when he returned to the station. By now he was worn out, and yet he hesitated to leave without speaking to Mrs Fulford; as Burrows put on her coat he said he would just have a few words and trusted that was all it would be.

Lena, still at her computer, turned as Reid gave a light tap on the open door. There was always that moment of hopeful expectancy, which he quickly defused by saying there was no news. She looked very pale, and said she hoped he didn’t think badly of her but working took her mind off the constant anxiety.