Woman in the Water

by Katerina Diamond

  ‘You’re right.’

  ‘Always. Remember that.’

  Imogen walked over to the DCI’s office and knocked on the door. Adrian followed.

  He noticed that DCI Kapoor looked braced for bad news. As though that’s all they ever seemed to deliver.

  ‘We’ve identified our Jane Doe,’ Imogen said.

  ‘How? Who is it?’

  ‘Simon Glover and Leon Quick’s former boss, Reece Corrigan – it’s his wife, Angela,’ Imogen said.

  ‘We went to see Corrigan and she was there, like nothing had happened. Made a point of not acknowledging the fact that we had met before, either. It was very strange. She’s got to be half his age, easily. They live in some million-pound house over the Blackdown Hills.’

  ‘Well, tread carefully. We need to understand her situation fully before we wade in there,’ DCI Kapoor said.

  ‘We are about to go and see Rajesh Baqri, a man who sued Corrigan Construction in the year 2017. So far, no one is willing to tell us any specifics on what is so bad about the company, but given the way Leon Quick reacted to the questions we put to him, we think it’s something we need to get a clearer picture of. At least we know Corrigan is at the centre of whatever this is now,’ Imogen said.

  DCI Kapoor nodded then said, ‘DI Walsh spoke to Jimmy Chilton again, but he said he kept his resolve. If he knows something then he isn’t talking. Hopefully, you can get something out of this Baqri man.’

  ‘Also, we hung around the Corrigan house last night and waited for Reece to leave. When he was gone, we spoke to Angela, but she is too scared to turn against her husband. She thinks he is some kind of all-powerful being who can get to her anywhere, get to anyone. She pretty much admitted that he did it, but right now there is no way she will testify.’

  ‘Well, at the moment it’s all on her and without physical evidence, it’s possible he won’t get sentenced. She’s possibly right to be concerned. Let’s get some independent evidence to support a testimony if you can eventually convince her to give one.’

  ‘There’s plenty of physical evidence. She is the physical evidence,’ Adrian said.

  ‘I mean without witnesses. A man with his means could get off. It happens. They could argue she is after a payout and that she injured herself. They could argue that someone else did it. As frustrating as it is, we can’t just go on what we believe happened. There needs to be some kind of corroboration. At the moment, it’s he said, she said. Are you willing to take that risk? Her life could depend on it.’

  ‘Maybe Rajesh can give us something, then,’ Imogen said.

  ‘Bloody well hope so. So far, apart from some names, we really don’t have anything,’ Adrian said.

  ‘We have a suspect,’ Imogen said.

  ‘I spoke to Gary this morning, as well, to see what public information he can dig up on Corrigan Construction,’ Adrian continued. ‘Maybe we can get him on something else. My main concern right now is making sure Angela doesn’t get hurt any more than she has been.’

  ‘That’s what we all want, DS Miles,’ Kapoor said. ‘Continue to keep Corrigan in the dark about us connecting Angela to our Jane Doe. If he is a danger to her, we don’t want to put her at further risk. Some good news is I have heard that the Quicks decided against legal action, so you’re in the clear there. They acted out of grief. I think we can all appreciate how hard it must have been for them. Now, go on. Let’s nail this bastard.’

  ‘Thank you, Ma’am,’ Adrian said as he left the room, annoyed yet again that they wouldn’t be getting Angela out of there.

  He had forgotten about the Quicks’ threats to press charges. All he could think about was protecting Angela Corrigan. He just didn’t feel like they were doing enough, he didn’t feel like he was doing enough. What pained him most was that maybe Imogen was right and he was spiralling. He couldn’t think about that right now, though. All he could think about was helping Angela.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  ‘It’s been two years since this happened.’ Rajesh Baqri pointed at his arm. ‘I thought someone would have caught up to him sooner.’

  He gestured towards the sofa; Adrian and Imogen sat down opposite him.

  ‘What happened?’ Adrian asked, unsure if he wanted the answer or not.

  ‘I signed a non-disclosure agreement in exchange for a decent settlement. I can’t afford to give the money back, so I’m afraid I can’t talk to you.’

  ‘A non-disclosure agreement is not legally binding if its purpose is to cover up a crime,’ Imogen said.

  ‘Well, I had no proof anyway, so there isn’t much to say. Machine malfunction and then zap, my arm was gone. I sued the company and got a nice lump to live on for a while. Better than nothing.’

  Rajesh Baqri had a strange optimism considering his situation. His flat was nice, probably funded at least in part with whatever money Reece Corrigan had paid him off with.

  ‘Did you suspect that it wasn’t an accident?’ Adrian said.

  ‘I’ve given it a lot of thought over the last couple of years and in all honesty, I don’t know. The timing of it? The fact that he paid up leads me to believe that it probably is true. I got lucky, though. I could have easily been killed in that accident.’

  ‘Would you be surprised if it was planned?’ Adrian said.

  ‘No.’

  ‘Why would Reece Corrigan want to hurt you?’ Imogen asked.

  ‘The man is nuts. I once saw him pay a man five hundred quid to eat a bowl of wet cement.’

  ‘Jesus. Did the man do it?’ Imogen said.

  ‘He tried, but he couldn’t keep it down. Puked everywhere. It could have literally killed him.’

  ‘Why would Corrigan do that?’ Imogen said.

  ‘He gets off on humiliating people and playing God. He thinks he is above everyone else. Total narcissist.’

  ‘Anything else you can remember? What about his wife?’

  ‘Oh, yeah, when he brought her to the site you had to keep your eyes down. If he thought you were looking at her then you were in trouble. And God help you if you tried to help her out in any way.’

  ‘In what way?’ Imogen said.

  ‘In the losing your arm kind of way.’ He smiled bitterly before leaning back in his armchair.

  So, Rajesh Baqri had tried to help Angela Corrigan and then ended up without an arm. Adrian had to wonder if Reece Corrigan would have the balls to go after a police officer. He took an arm from Baqri, would he try to take something from Adrian?

  ‘Did you try to help Angela?’ Adrian said.

  ‘I didn’t want to get involved, but I used to ask her how she was doing, which was more than anyone else seemed to do. I guess I know why.’

  ‘Did you know Simon Glover or Leon Quick?’

  ‘Simon was one of Corrigan’s shadows; he’s always got one or two around him. They are probably the smart ones – keep your enemies closer and all that. What’s happened to Simon?’

  ‘What makes you think something has happened to Simon?’ Imogen said.

  ‘Well, aside from anything else, why would you be asking me about him?’

  ‘We pulled Simon’s body from the River Exe,’ Imogen said.

  ‘I saw that on the news. That was him?’

  ‘It was. He was beaten. Did you ever see anything like that happen while you were there?’

  ‘Obviously not to that level, but I did see a couple of beatings take place.’

  ‘Beatings for what?’ Imogen asked.

  ‘Anything Corrigan felt like, shoddy work, being lippy – we were walking on eggshells a lot of the time,’ Baqri said.

  ‘Who administered the beatings?’ Imogen said.

  ‘The ones I saw? Simon did. He did whatever Corrigan told him to do. Let me guess, he got involved with Angela.’

  ‘That seems to be the case,’ Adrian said.

  ‘How about her? Is she all right?’ he asked with a heavy sigh.

  ‘How close were you with Angela?’ Imogen said.

&n
bsp; ‘Not close, but anyone with eyes could see what was going on in that relationship. Most people were too afraid to do anything. I took her to the hospital once and I lost my arm for it. There’s something about Corrigan. It’s hard to explain, but you kind of get the feeling he would do anything, that nothing is off limits. He is one sinister individual.’

  ‘Why didn’t anyone go to the police?’ Imogen said.

  ‘It was understood that bad things would happen if you did. They weren’t empty threats – as you can see.’

  ‘We spoke to Leon Quick and he seemed terrified. Do you know why?’ Imogen said.

  ‘Quick was a bit of a gobshite, but he wasn’t in with Corrigan, not like Glover was. I don’t know why he would be terrified, though. Most of these little accidents at work came without warning. Sorry. I really don’t have much information. I wasn’t even there that long, so I’m not sure how much I can help you.’

  ‘We are trying to encourage Angela to make a statement telling us what happened the night Simon was attacked. We believe she has some information. Would you be willing to speak to her?’ Imogen said.

  ‘Life is hard enough with just one arm. I’ve been off Corrigan’s radar for a while and I prefer it that way. I doubt Glover is the first person he killed. I just can’t help you, I’m sorry.’

  ‘Well, thank you for taking the time to talk to us,’ Adrian said.

  ‘I hope you get him.’

  They stood and left the flat. Adrian turned to Imogen as they walked back to the car.

  ‘How does Corrigan have that much power? How does he get away with it?’

  ‘Some people just feel entitled to it. They take what they want and screw anyone who gets in their way. Like Baqri said, it’s narcissism.’

  ‘We need to put him away.’

  ‘We do. We also need to be careful. I know you, Adrian. You think you’re bulletproof, but you aren’t.’

  ‘We can’t be afraid of people like that. They can’t be allowed to get away with this stuff.’

  ‘No one’s saying that. We just need to make sure not to piss him off before we can put him away.’

  Adrian thought about what Baqri had said. What if Reece Corrigan knew that Adrian had tried to help Angela? What would he do then? Adrian wasn’t afraid, just curious. How far was Corrigan willing to go to protect what was his? Was he willing to hurt a police officer, or worse? At this point, Adrian had very little concern for his own safety; he just wanted to put Reece Corrigan away.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  ‘Where’s Adrian?’ Gary asked as he approached Imogen’s desk later that day. He looked more panicked than usual.

  ‘Last time I saw him he was coming to see you. What is it?’

  ‘Adrian asked me to check in with dispatch about the call Angela Corrigan claims she made to the police.’

  ‘You’ve got it?’

  ‘I’ve got more than that. I showed it to Adrian.’

  ‘And?’

  ‘He flipped out.’

  ‘Why? What’s on the call?’

  ‘It’s not what’s on the call that’s the problem. A uniform went to check on the call and he was wearing a BWV for at least part of the call.’

  Body worn videos were there both to protect the officers and to keep records of incidents that were likely to escalate. People generally behaved themselves when they knew they were being filmed. Domestic violence was one of the situations that had a propensity to get out of control.

  ‘Part of it? The first part, or the second part?’

  ‘He turned it off after a brief chat. I get the impression from what I saw that some conversation occurred after the camera was switched off.’

  ‘Which officer was it? One of ours?’

  ‘PC Ben Jarvis.’

  Imogen exhaled. Gary was right to be worried. Adrian already had a little history with Jarvis and this was hardly likely to build any bridges between them. Imogen was worried. Whenever she looked at Adrian at the moment, he had that look in his eye again. Dog with a bone. If he thought Jarvis had protected Corrigan in any way, he would kick off.

  ‘You watched it?’

  ‘Yep.’

  ‘Was it all by the book?’

  Gary screwed his face up and shrugged. ‘Yes?’

  The way the intonation in his voice went up several octaves indicated otherwise.

  ‘Shit.’

  Adrian was determined to get Corrigan put away and his determination concerned Imogen. Several days in a row now he had already left when she had woken and he wasn’t sleeping at night. He was wired. She knew this was all going to go wrong. Adrian was a good police officer and his heart was always in the right place, but he struggled to enforce the law when it came up against his own personal code.

  She had admired that about him at first, but then as time had gone on, she realised that it only led to more problems. From now on she had to rein him in, or he was going to do something stupid, maybe even get himself fired, or worse. She looked at the clock: it was lunchtime. If Adrian was looking for Jarvis, he probably went to the canteen. Time to do some damage control.

  Imogen rushed to the canteen, with Gary following close behind. When she got there, she found Adrian and Jarvis standing unnaturally close to each other by one of the tables. Adrian was leaning in and saying something – it looked like a threat. She hurried over to them.

  ‘Adrian, I need you to come take a look at something.’

  ‘I’ll be there in a minute,’ he said, not taking his eyes off Jarvis.

  ‘You need to keep your partner under control, Imogen,’ PC Jarvis said, smiling at Imogen.

  ‘Why didn’t you bring Corrigan in when you went to that house call?’ Adrian snarled.

  ‘You saw the video; she said she made the call as a joke,’ Jarvis replied.

  ‘But she made the call. It’s your duty to investigate.’

  ‘She insisted she had done it to wind him up.’

  ‘And you accepted that? I mean, I know you did; I saw it.’

  ‘There really wasn’t enough to bring him in on. She told me she was fine and so I left.’

  ‘Why did you switch off the camera?’

  ‘Because the call was over. I was leaving. What are you implying?’

  ‘I’m implying that you’re bent.’

  ‘Me? That’s a joke coming from you.’ Jarvis laughed. ‘How many rules have you broken? How about all the accusations that have been made against you for harassment or assault? And you think no one knows you’re banging DS Grey here? We all see you for what you are. You’re going off the deep end, mate.’

  Before Imogen had a chance to react, Jarvis was on the ground. He touched his lip to check for blood. Imogen grabbed Adrian’s arm; it was rigid with anger. She yanked him back and pulled him towards the door.

  ‘For fuck’s sake, Adrian.’

  ‘I suppose I was wrong?’ Adrian snapped.

  ‘The man is a dick – doesn’t mean you have to be one, too,’ Imogen said.

  ‘Is everyone insane? Am I in Upside-down Land, or something? Jarvis was sent to a domestic abuse call and he barely even questioned the accused. Does he not understand how these things work?’

  ‘We are supposed to use our judgement on call-outs, his was wrong. Are you telling me you’ve never been wrong before?’

  ‘Great. Did you hear what he said to me? And I’m the bad guy?’

  ‘I didn’t say that. You need to keep your head. I don’t want to work this case alone and if you carry on this way then I will be,’ Imogen hissed at him angrily.

  Adrian shook his arm free and walked out of the canteen. Imogen went over to Jarvis, who was pretending to laugh it off in front of all the others in the canteen.

  ‘What the fuck was that?’ She got up close and spat the words at him.

  ‘Miles came after me!’ Jarvis said.

  ‘Because you turned your video off. What was it you didn’t want anyone to see? Did Corrigan pay you off?’

  ‘Actually,
no. I turned the video off because I wanted to have a candid word with the husband. I told him in no uncertain terms to leave his wife alone. She wouldn’t report it, so what could I do? I had to walk away.’

  ‘How did he take that?’ Imogen said, not quite sure she believed this spontaneous chivalry on Jarvis’s part; it certainly didn’t line up with what she knew of him. She also wondered why he had left this out of his report.

  ‘He told me he would fuck me up if he saw me again. He was very convincing,’ Jarvis said, with a little more conviction than his last statement.

  ‘Why didn’t you just tell us that?’ Imogen said, frustrated.

  ‘Well, at least I figured out why you keep knocking me back.’

  ‘I knock you back because I think you’re an immature twat and I’m not interested in you, Ben. Thanks for proving me right.’

  ‘You’d better go check on your boyfriend.’

  ‘He’s not the one bleeding,’ Imogen said.

  She walked away from Jarvis. She hadn’t lied to him – even if she had been single, she wouldn’t have gone out with him. Jarvis had asked Imogen out almost as soon as he started working at the station over a year ago. She said no to him, but that didn’t seem to stop him from asking again. If you have to say no to someone three times and they ask you a fourth time, that’s just unwelcome and off-putting.

  He had that air of entitlement around him that some men have, as though they should get everything they want just because they want it. The universe doesn’t work like that. When Imogen had first met Adrian, she assumed he was like that, but that wasn’t him at all; it wasn’t the women he slept with he didn’t have any respect for, it was himself.

  Still fuming from the things PC Jarvis said, Imogen went to find Adrian and reprimand him again for letting Jarvis anger him in that way. But the truth was, if he hadn’t punched Jarvis, she probably would have.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  The car journey that afternoon was unusually quiet. Adrian stared intently at the road ahead as they made their way to the construction site that Corrigan was on. The traffic jam added to the tension in the car. Imogen had told Adrian what PC Jarvis had told her. That he had turned the camera off to intimidate Corrigan, and that Corrigan had doubled down and threatened him back. They were going to find out what Corrigan had to say about the incident. As it was a recorded police incident they could say it popped up as part of their investigation into Simon Glover and his contacts, hopefully minimising the risk to Angela Corrigan.