Twisted (28 page)

‘Did it become a regular thing between the two of you?’

‘I hoped after the term break it would not be repeated but she would turn up on the odd Sunday evening. I tried very hard to dissuade her from continuing it, but I was in a sort of Catch-22 predicament. I told her I could lose my job and she swore she would never tell anyone, and she never showed any sign that we were having an affair when she was in my class. She never threatened me, but I always got the impression that if I didn’t allow her to be here with me, she could make it difficult.’

‘Do you believe that she was experienced sexually?’

‘Yes – as I said, she instigated our love-making. I felt guilty as obviously she was underage, but I was also incapable of ending it. I love her, and since she went missing I have been unable to sleep, worrying if I am to blame.’

‘Did she ever profess to love you?’

Miss Polka kept her eyes averted and started to cry, shredding the tissue between her fingers.

‘No, she never said anything really. She liked to touch me, kiss my body, but whether or not she had experienced a lesbian relationship before me, she never admitted it. The last time she was here with me was about six weeks before she went missing, and I honestly did try to say that we should not see each other, but whenever I attempted to dissuade her she would ignore it.’

‘Did she discuss her parents with you?’

‘Not really. It’s hard to understand, but she didn’t talk very much at all. I met her mother a few times at one or other of the parents’ days. She was very glamorous and appeared to be very caring towards Amy, and the same went for her father. I met him a couple of times – it’s no wonder that Amy is so beautiful as both her parents are good-looking, and her father was always charming.’

‘She never implied that she was unhappy at home?’

‘No, never; she said that their divorce was amicable, and that she had a lot of freedom because she could choose who she spent the weekends with. She never at any time with me hinted that there was a problem with her parents.’

Miss Polka seemed more at ease and Reid wondered if it was due to the fact that he had shown no reaction. However, when he asked if she felt that Amy was in a way controlling their ‘friendship’, and that if it did not continue she would expose Miss Polka’s sexuality, he saw the first flicker of how she really felt.

‘Yes I did, and as I said before I was in a Catch-22 situation, although it never felt as if she was blackmailing me, because she never asked me for anything.’

Eager to leave, he stood up. ‘I can’t promise not to reveal your lesbian relationship with Amy as it is now part of my inquiry.’

‘Will you be telling Amy’s parents and the school?’

He didn’t answer.

‘Should I resign as a teacher?’

He said nothing, refusing to tell her what to do or give her any confirmation of his intentions.

She ushered him out in her little ballet shoes, through her tiny hallway with all her paintings and pictures of herself. Glancing at them again, he noticed one of a pretty young girl with short blonde hair in her late teens; she was on a beach leaping in the air. It reminded him of Amy but obviously wasn’t her.

‘Is that you?’ he asked, pointing to the picture.

‘No, it’s my younger sister when we were on our last holiday together.’

‘She’s very pretty. Do you get to see her often?’

‘Not any more – she died six months later. Brain tumour. So sudden, it was heartbreaking.’

‘I’m sorry, I didn’t realize . . .’

‘It’s okay. I miss her dreadfully but have many happy memories.’ She made it clear the subject was closed.

‘Thank you for your time and for being open and honest with me,’ Reid said as she opened the front door of her cottage.

‘You know, it’s a sort of relief, and if I have to leave here then so be it. I hope that I had nothing to do with her disappearance, because I do still love her.’

Deep in thought, he walked back down the path, around the various outbuildings and towards the staff car park. He bleeped open his car, placed the iPad on the passenger seat and drove out. He was just heading past the racecourse when he pulled over to the edge of the road to fully take in what he had just been told. Try as he might to form some kind of profile of the missing girl, he found it deeply depressing that nothing quite made any sense. Unless she was so abused she was reaching out for some kind of comfort – but then he had to consider the fact that she was emotionally blackmailing Miss Polka. Even if this was the case, Reid knew that as a teacher she was responsible for her actions. It mattered not whether Amy was a willing participant in the affair as she was under sixteen. In the eyes of the law she was still a child and therefore unable to give informed consent. He felt Miss Polka, as a qualified teacher, must know that she had abused a position of trust and committed the criminal offence of sexual abuse. Not only had she risked her career, but arrest and if convicted a minimum of two years’ imprisonment. Even though Reid was in a quandary about what to do about Miss Polka’s admissions, he felt some admiration of the fact that she had been honest with him. Knowing about the evidence taken from Marcus Fulford’s flat, the Antigua video and vice squad CCTV footage, he believed that Miss Polka was telling the truth about Amy Fulford instigating their lesbian relationship and for now he would keep it to himself.

Chapter 21

I
t was pouring with rain by the time Reid got back to the station and he was in a foul mood. DS Lane made it worse by greeting him with the problems they’d come up against as they attempted to arrange the underwear identification at the forensic lab. Reid listened as Lane told him Marcus Fulford had agreed to be there whenever requested, but Justine Hyde, Gail Summers and two prostitutes were due later that afternoon and he couldn’t be certain that things would run to schedule. Reid grunted that he didn’t give a damn, he just wanted it sorted. ‘When’s Lena Fulford getting there?’

‘Car was sent to collect her ten minutes ago,’ Lane said and then in his usual jokey way asked if Miss Polka was also to be present, as he would like to see her again.

‘She bats for the other side, Jimmy,’ Reid said to shut him up but deliberately avoided mentioning her affair with her pupil. ‘You got hold of the punter driving the car yet to see what Amy did or didn’t say?’

‘DC Wey is going to see him as I’ve got to help you at the lab. He’s an art dealer with a gallery in Brook Street.’

‘I told you to get it sorted. I want an answer by tomorrow morning,’ he barked and Lane nodded before walking off sheepishly.

As Reid drove into the car park at the lab, he could see Lena Fulford heading into the building with DC Burrows. Remembering there was a small waiting room off the main corridor leading to the examination labs, he guessed that was where they would be and as he passed the glass-fronted door he was able to see he was right. He tapped on the glass for Barbara to join him in the corridor, so he could make the suggestion she keep Mrs Fulford waiting until he had time to check out the lab himself. Barbara said Marcus Fulford had called her to say he was on his way in.

‘Keep them both in there until I get back to you.’

Burrows, keen as ever to do as he asked, returned to the waiting room. Reid continued down the long corridor until he reached the double doors of lab two, and was just about to enter when heading towards him was Lane, with two women. They were none too pleased about being there, and Lane hurriedly explained that he had made a mistake and had taken them into lab three. He introduced a Russian girl called Tanya; her companion was a well-endowed Liverpudlian in a faux fur jacket and high-heeled thigh-length boots.

‘Bloody liberty this, and I’m losin’ money being here,’ she said in a strong Scouse accent.

Reid snapped at her that their priority was trying to trace a missing teenager. He told Lane to wait a few minutes, as he wanted to speak to the forensic scientist in charge.

‘’Ang on a mo, you’se bizzies saying we just ’ang out in the corridor, do we?’ she snapped back, hands on her hips while switching her head from side to side.

Reid drew her close by the collar of her faux fur jacket. ‘I didn’t get your name, sweetheart.’

‘Joyce, and I ain’t your sweetheart or anyone else’s.’

‘Just behave yourself. You’re lucky not to have been arrested, so the quicker you help us the quicker you’ll be out of here and back on the streets to ply your trade, so look at this as a good public relations exercise.’

Fighting to keep his temper, Reid went into the lab, where an equally belligerent scientist was tapping his wristwatch, ready to confront him.

‘It’s almost six and I’ve been on duty here since eight thirty, so I hope this is not going to be a long drawn-out game show. I have been ready since after lunch and there have been repeated phone calls back and forth to Richmond interrupting me. This is not the only case I am working on, DI Reid.’

‘Sorry, you are . . . ?’

‘Andrew Bracken, filling in for Pete Jenkins who’s out at a crime scene?’

‘Just show me the items and we’ll get on with it.’

Bracken led Reid to a trestle table where the stained ladies’ underwear had been tagged and laid out. Each pair of panties was pinned to display it in an easily identifiable way.

‘Okay, I believe you have two girls waiting outside. Let them come in so we can get this over and done with,’ sighed Bracken. ‘I will take a DNA mouth swab as well for profiling and comparison.’

‘How much will that cost?’ Reid asked.

‘Your job, if you don’t follow correct procedure. What we are doing just now is already highly irregular, but I understand your need for quick answers to assist your investigation in finding out what has happened to Amy Fulford.’

Lane led in Joyce and Tanya.

‘Okay, ladies, move along the table and if you recognize any item as belonging to you, please do not touch it but just point and state that it is yours,’ Bracken said.

The ringtone of Reid’s mobile began to sound and he stepped outside to take the call. It was Burrows in a state of some agitation, informing him that Marcus Fulford had joined his wife in the waiting room, Justine Hyde was due to arrive at any moment and Gail Summers was in reception. Reid attempted to calm her, suggesting that she offer them tea or coffee, and pointing out there was a vending machine near reception. He was about to go back into the lab when DC Wey appeared.

‘Not missed anything, have I?’

‘Stop wasting time, Takeaway – what did you get from the art dealer?’

Wey flipped open his notebook. ‘The dealer, a Philip Salver, aged fifty-eight, denied ever kerb crawling, and when told he was caught on CCTV said he’d only stopped to ask directions. He’d been to a private gallery exhibition and was actually going to pick up his wife, who was dining with friends—’

‘Just get to the point, for Christ’s sake,’ Reid said in a raised voice.

‘When I suggested his wife might like to see the CCTV he changed his tune and said it was the first time he’d ever kerb crawled.’ Wey rolled his eyes and continued to read from his notes. ‘Salver said he drove round the block three times and because the girl never moved he assumed she was a hooker so he pulled over and stopped then—’

‘Did Amy say anything?’ Reid interrupted impatiently.

‘According to Salver she leaned in and said, “What do you want?”, and seeing how young she looked and the school uniform, he panicked and drove off.’

‘So she wasn’t soliciting, and didn’t say anything that intimated that was the case,’ Reid remarked.

Wey shrugged his shoulders. ‘That depends on how you interpret the phrase “what do you want?”, plus she was standing around for a while. Looking at the video, Salver was parked up beside Amy for at least a minute, so a lot more could have been said that he won’t admit to and really we can never prove.’

Before Reid could react, Lane came out of the lab with Joyce and Tanya, who had both given DNA swabs, but weren’t happy about it.

Joyce took up her swaggering hands-on-hips stance. ‘Bloody cheek, sticking that horrible thing in our mouths.’

‘You’d think she’d be used to it in her trade,’ Wey whispered to Reid, who was not amused.

‘What you say, Bruce Lee?’ Joyce asked.

‘My name is DC Wey and I was just wondering if you recognized any of the underwear.’

‘One pair, yeah, but I never left a bleedin’ punter without me kecks unless he was paying for them. All I knows is some blokes offer me extra cash to keep me knickers. They’re usually sickos who like to wear or sniff them.’

‘Has this man ever bought any?’ Reid asked, showing her a photograph of Marcus.

‘Looks familiar . . . What’s his name?’

‘I’m not at liberty to say.’

‘Well that’s not much use, is it?’

‘What about you, Tanya?’ Lane asked.

‘
Nyet
.’

Joyce laughed loudly. ‘She doesn’t understand or speak much English apart from hand-, blow- or full job and cash up front.’

‘Get them out of here,’ Reid snapped and the girls were led off. Wey watched them walking down the corridor and couldn’t help laughing at the way Joyce turned to give the finger.

‘Cheeky cows,’ Wey said with a grin.

‘Just go into the lab and wait for me there,’ said Reid with gritted teeth. He waited in the corridor as Justine Hyde was brought in from reception by Lane, after he had ordered a taxi for the belligerent tarts. Justine was carrying an overnight bag and a holdall bulging with all her hairdressing equipment. She apologized to Reid for not being available earlier, but she had been at a hairdressing event and had come straight from the station.

‘I am training with the salon, you see, and so I sort of double up doin’ reception work as well as being trained and it was a really good opportunity – it was all about colouring and highlights and—’

Reid interrupted her eager to get on. ‘Lane, take Miss Hyde into the lab. I’ll be in the waiting room when you’re finished.’ As Reid moved off, he could hear Lane saying that he was sorry for the inconvenience and thanking Justine profusely for her time.

Justine followed the sergeant into the lab and he helpfully took her overnight bag and put it down, along with her holdall of rollers and dryers.