by Alex Clare
‘I’ll get those results as soon as possible.’ At the door, Hetty stopped, casting a quick look back over her shoulder. ‘I’m really sorry.’
It was an effort to wave her goodbye, Robyn’s arm felt as if it weighed more than usual. ‘What did you get, Chloe?’
‘Not much I’m afraid, Guv. They’re both rather deaf, so they didn’t hear anything before the wall started shaking. I’ve got their details in case. What did I miss?’ There was a hint of redness in Chloe’s eyes.
‘Dr Brockwell believes it is a case of rape.’ Robyn looked between them. ‘Have either of you worked on anything like this before?’
‘I had to respond to a nasty domestic once.’ Chloe sighed. ‘We collared the ex-husband with the hammer still in his hand and the wife ended up dropping all charges.’
‘I’ve not had a case where there were this many possible suspects.’ Lorraine bit the end of her Biro. ‘We need to narrow them down a bit.’
Chloe pulled her notebook out of her bag. ‘I’ve been trying to work out how many people we’re talking about.’ She put the open book on the table, pointing to a column of jottings. ‘The wedding party was nearly two hundred, there were twelve unconnected guests booked into other rooms, the hotel had twenty-six staff working, the catering company and the band were about ten each, not counting anyone who could have walked in off the street.’
‘It would help if we can work out the exact timings.’ Lorraine pulled the pad closer. ‘The first guests left the ballroom at about twenty past two. We don’t know exactly what time Eldon went up but the call to the ambulance was at two thirty-nine.’ She drew a circle around her notes. ‘Nineteen minutes.’
‘We can get closer.’ Robyn tapped the page. ‘The crucial time is between when the first dance finished and the call from 106 because that’s when Shazia and her attacker made their way to the room.’
Chloe’s phone rang and she stood up to take the call.
‘I’m guessing you didn’t get anything useful from the staff?’ Lorraine flicked a corner of the sheet.
‘Unfortunately not.’ Robyn sat back. ‘Just that someone who knew Shazia said she didn’t have any reason to commit –’
‘You’re kidding!’ Chloe’s exclamation caused them both to turn. She finished the call and laughed, rocking back on her heels. ‘You’ll never guess, Guv. Someone up there is in a very good mood today.’
Even though Chloe had only been in the team a few weeks, Robyn thought she was already copying some of Graham’s more irritating mannerisms. She wasn’t going to encourage her but Lorraine didn’t have the patience to wait. ‘What, what is it?’
‘You know I put the call in earlier to look out for our missing usher?’ Chloe paused, milking the moment. ‘Well, turns out we know exactly where he is. He’s in cell three after being arrested for drink driving.’
‘He’s already in custody?’ The prospect of an easy solution made Robyn almost light-headed.
Chloe nodded. ‘Picked up earlier this afternoon. His van went into the back of a car. A patrol was called and they breathalysed him. They’d done all the paperwork and were just about to let him go when they saw the alert.’ She sank into an armchair, swinging her legs over the arm.
‘Who’s in custody?’
Robyn jumped at the voice: Ady Clarke, chief reporter of the Meresbourne Gazette was standing in the doorway. ‘How long have you been listening?’ She saw Ady stiffen. ‘Sorry. I didn’t see you come in but you shouldn’t be in here.’ Even though Ady was an old friend, he was still a journalist.
‘I sent you a message to say I was here. How’s the girl?’ Ady stepped further into the room, hand reaching into an inside jacket pocket.
Robyn guessed he had activated a recorder. ‘I haven’t heard anything except she’s gone to a specialist unit.’
‘So is the person you have in custody connected?’ Ady’s blue eyes were eager. ‘Come on, I need something, Robyn.’ He smiled. ‘You know what my editor suggested? She said I should frame the story as a tragic recreation of the “Lady Ann” legend. Bloody woman. She’s come from some magazine in the south west, knows nothing about Meresbourne local history.’
‘But I thought Lady Ann threw herself off the balcony when her lover left her?’ Chloe sat forward in her chair.
Ady took the opportunity to install himself into a chair opposite Chloe. ‘You’ve been looking at the portrait upstairs. The real Lady Ann, who lived here, hence the name, didn’t kill herself. Her father was making her marry some merchant who was very rich and very ugly. She said she would only marry in Flanders lace which her fiancé had to fetch himself. As soon as his ship had left the harbour, she ran away, married someone else, had eight children and lived to seventy-two.’ While he was talking, Ady’s eyes were scanning the open notebooks. ‘Not such a romantic story, I guess.’
‘You can have two minutes, Ady.’ Robyn bent forward and gathered up the notebooks.
Ady’s attention immediately switched away from Chloe. ‘Just give me the basics – was it an attack or a suicide attempt?’
‘I can’t say at this stage. We’re keeping an open mind.’
‘Right.’ Ady raised an eyebrow. ‘Any connection with the attacks on women recently?’
Robyn knew Ady was a good journalist because he got his facts right: that also made him infuriating. ‘Uniform are following up on those. Look, just because there’s all the focus on Loveless, our one local celebrity, does everything have to have a female angle? If you want to help out, couldn’t you run a safety guide or something? Remind women not to walk home alone?’
‘Would you front it?’ Because they had been at school together, Ady often asked things others wouldn’t.
Robyn glared at him. ‘Ask Fell. He likes getting his picture in the paper. We need to get on.’
‘Who’s in custody?’
‘Ady, I’m sorry, it’s too early to say. I’ll let you know when we can.’ She stood up, nodding to Chloe and Lorraine. ‘Come on, we need to get back to the station.’
Chloe’s phone buzzed. When she looked at it, her face tightened. ‘Sorry, Guv. It’s Ravi. I’d like to see if he’s OK.’
Robyn nodded, seeing Ady move closer to Chloe, sensing further revelations.
‘I think we’ve done all we can here anyway. Look, thanks for today, good work.’ Robyn began shepherding them to the door. ‘Goodbye, Ady.’
In the lobby, Chloe headed for the car park. Lorraine muttered something which could have been ‘Look after him.’
‘Right, back to the station.’ With a jolt, Robyn remembered how she had got there. ‘Lorraine, I’m going to be a few minutes behind – my car’s in the shopping centre car park.’ She crossed to the reception desk. Lawrence’s face creased as she approached. ‘We are leaving now and the room can be cleaned.’ For the first time, his smile was genuine. She checked behind her: Ady wasn’t in sight. ‘You need to know there is a journalist around asking questions – I’d advise your staff not to talk to him.’
The desk phone rang and Lawrence’s hand reached out though his eyes were fixed on them. ‘You’ll get those sheets back soon, won’t you?’
‘Are you really so upset about a few old bedsheets?’ Lorraine put the key-card back on the desk. ‘How nice to have such easily solved problems.’
‘You don’t understand.’ As Jade stepped in to answer the phone, Lawrence drew himself up. ‘We are an ambassador for the town. Our sheets are the finest Egyptian cotton and are toned to the rooms. These can’t just be bought on the High Street.’
Lorraine laughed. ‘An ambassador?’ She cast a glance at Sophie. ‘I think some of your staff must have missed the diplomacy course.’
6
When he was brought into the interview room, Jake Newman didn’t wait to sit down before starting talking. ‘Oh man, not more – who are you? The woman at the desk said I’m being held for something to do with the Lady Ann but she won’t even tell me what.’
They sat down. Lorraine
went through the caution and started the recordings. ‘Mr Newman, do you know why you’re here?’
The man leaned back, putting his hands on his head. ‘Didn’t I just say? Look, I know why I got pulled in. I’ve explained all this.’ His hands came down to the table. ‘I don’t know why you’re keeping me here and the only thing taking place at the hotel was a wedding.’
‘Explain it again to me and DI Bailley. Why did you leave the hotel?’ Lorraine crossed her legs.
The man sighed. ‘Someone called, an emergency job, water spraying everywhere. I’ve got a baby, so can’t afford to turn down work. I changed out of my suit and went.’
‘You’re a plumber?’
‘No, I’m a hairdresser. Course I’m a bloody plumber.’ Newman pulled out the front of his blue t-shirt, showing the logo of a heating company.
Robyn sat back, letting Lorraine continue. She approved of the technique, irritating him enough so it would be hard to maintain a lie.
‘Now, now, Mr Newman, we have to be sure. What time did you leave the wedding?’
‘Not long after two when I didn’t have anything else to do.’
‘To do – what do you mean?’
Newman frowned. ‘I told all this to the first guy?’ He rolled his eyes. ‘OK, OK. I was an usher for my mate, Lulu. It was me made sure he was ready on time and took his speech and everything ‘cos the others are hopeless at organising and his brother, supposed to be the best man, was a waste of space. At the hotel, we had to put some decorations up and then welcome everyone and see guests to their seats. The last thing was to partner the bridesmaids in the first dance. Once the formal bit was over, we was all planning to get drunk, so it didn’t matter if I slipped off.’
‘Did you tell anyone you were going?’
‘Nah. I figured I’d not be long.’
‘Was there anyone else in the room when you got changed?’
‘Nope. All the lads were in the party.’
‘So you got in your van?’ Lorraine raised one eyebrow.
The man shook his head. ‘Yeah, yeah, I know it was daft. Like I said, I need the money and I was really careful.’
‘The name of your client?’
‘Bloke I know called Jason. He’s fitting out the new site for Pickley Plastics – I gave the other guy all the details.’
‘Tell me what you did after you left the hotel.’
‘I didn’t have to go far, it was the industrial estate just past the football stadium. Blokes working in one of the units went through a pipe. Simple fix, so I wasn’t there long.’ Newman folded his arms. ‘Why are we going through this again?’
‘Because I want to.’ Lorraine inclined her head. ‘What time did you leave their premises?’
‘Dunno exactly. The match was on the radio while I was driving back. I heard the own goal.’ He grimaced. ‘I shouted at the radio and it was then I bumped into that bloke’s car.’
‘And were found to be over the limit.’
‘Yeah, yeah. So I got brought here.’ Newman was staring at Lorraine. ‘You lot was just about to let me out and then, bang, I’m back in a cell. Now unless you haven’t been listening, I was nowhere near the hotel since just after two o’clock, so if you’re interested in something there, I’m not the one you should be talking to.’
Lorraine glanced across. Robyn inclined her head to the door.
‘Interview terminated at seventeen twenty-four. Just think about what you did next.’
Robyn stood up. Lorraine held the look with Newman for a second more, then followed.
‘Oh come on, what are you playing at? When can I go back to the wedding?’ His shout followed them into the corridor, over the sounds of the ring road coming in through the open windows.
‘So, Guv, do we tell him Shazia was raped and watch his reaction, or keep pushing him?’
‘If he went when he said he did.’ Her voice sounded wrong, too deep and she had to cough. ‘It looks like he was nowhere near the hotel.’
‘Damn, I thought we had this sorted.’ Lorraine shut her eyes for a second. ‘Shall we put it to him and see how he reacts?’
Robyn nodded. ‘He might give us some insights into who could have done it.’ The earlier sense of an easy solution had gone.
When they re-entered the room, Newman was slumped forward on the table, head pillowed on his arms.
‘Mr Newman? Mr Newman, we have some more questions for you.’ Lorraine slapped her pad on to the table.
Newman shifted, blinked, then pushed himself up from the table, yawning. ‘Sorry, the baby’s not sleeping well at the moment.’
Robyn nodded to Lorraine to start. ‘Mr Newman, what were you doing at around two-thirty this afternoon?’
Newman’s eyes narrowed. ‘Are you kidding? We just went through this. I was driving to the industrial park. Go and talk to the guys. They might be still there now, they were talking about pulling an all-nighter to get things finished for Monday.’
‘Do you know Shazia Johar?’
‘Shania? Isn’t she a singer?’
‘Shazia. Shazia Johar. She’s one of the bride’s cousins.’
He shook his head. ‘All we was doing was saying “bride or groom?” which wasn’t difficult anyway, given one lot was brown and one white. Vasanti’s got about a million relatives – I don’t think I know any of their names.’ He scratched his chin. ‘Apart from Daffy, obviously.’
Lorraine raised her eyebrow. ‘Not that obvious – who’s he?’
‘Daksh, Vasanti’s brother. He’s on our team. That’s how they met, after one of our football matches. He was supposed to be an usher too until Lulu realised it would spoil his plans for a final steak feast.’ Newman looked between them. ‘Because her family don’t eat beef, do they? So that was like the most rebellious thing he could do before the wedding –’
‘We’re asking these questions because at around two-thirty this afternoon, Shazia was raped in your hotel room.’ The casual banter was getting under Robyn’s skin: her dry throat made the tone sound harsher than she had meant.
Newman’s mouth slowly opened. On the table in front of him, his hands clenched into fists. ‘What?’
‘I repeat, a girl was raped in room 108 and you admit being in there at a similar time.’ Robyn leant forward. ‘Did you do it?’
Newman sat bolt upright in his chair. ‘No way. Why would I do something like that? I’ve got a girlfriend, we’ve got a baby.’ He was breathing fast, short snorts of air. ‘Anyway, I was away before halfpast two. I wasn’t even there.’
‘We’ll find out if you’re lying.’ Lorraine’s tone was conversational. ‘What did you do with your key-card when you left the hotel?’
Face flushed, Newman looked between them, slumping back down in his chair. ‘I took it with me.’ He dug into his pockets ‘It must be still in the van. It was only a plastic card and the others had their own.’
‘Who are the others?’ Lorraine sounded brisk.
‘Lulu, Axe and Lassie. Oh and Julian, Lulu’s brother.’
‘Can you give us their full names, please?’
‘Louis Gage, Justin Trudwick and Colin Bartholomew.’ He seemed to realise something more was expected of him. ‘We all play football – it’s just a team thing.’
‘OK, Louis to Lulu I can just about get but how did you get from Justin to,’ Lorraine paused, ‘which is which anyway?’
Newman shrugged. ‘Justin is Axe or Axeman because he looks like a bloody Viking and he brings down a lot of people. He plays centre back.’
‘So Colin is Lassie. Really?’ Lorraine chuckled. ‘You mean you macho football types are happy to be called after a fluffy dog? Come on.’
‘It’s the football team. We just call each other stuff.’ Newman hunched his shoulders together, closing in on himself. ‘Like it means anything.’ His hand brushed his eyes. ‘How is she? Is she OK?’
Lorraine paused. ‘She jumped from a first-floor balcony and is in hospital.’
Newman’s mout
h opened. He looked between them as if waiting for one to crack and admit it was a joke. ‘No way, no bloody way.’ He ran his hands through his hair. ‘What bastard did this?’
‘Anything you can tell us about where you all were before you left would be helpful.’ Lorraine gave him a small smile.
‘Well, Lulu was up on the stage, of course. He and Vasanti had to sit on these decorated thrones for everyone to come and pay homage. Some part of her culture, apparently. I thought he looked a right twat and I tell you, when I brought them over in the van this morning, the glue wasn’t even dry on some bits.’ Newman gave a mirthless laugh.
‘Can you think of anyone who might have done this?’ Robyn narrowed her eyes.
‘No!’ Newman recoiled. ‘It must have been someone who broke in.’
It was the reaction Robyn had been expecting. ‘Did the day go as planned up to the dance?’
Newman’s shoulders relaxed. ‘Yeah, pretty much. Not been to a wedding so big before, so some stuff was bound to go wrong, wasn’t it?’
‘Like an usher losing the rings?’
Newman folded his arms, sitting back in his chair. ‘Axe was just pissing around. Even Lulu laughed about it. Well, after he’d had a drink.’
‘Not at the time, though.’ Robyn tapped her pen on the table. ‘And I understand you talked about what you’d like to do to the bridesmaids too.’
‘Hang on.’ Newman had gone pale. ‘Like, maybe you, being like, well what you’re like and don’t know but men talk about stuff like that. We talk about women.’ He turned to Lorraine. ‘Especially the good-looking ones. You must know, it’s just talk. I live with my girlfriend, Jess.’
‘And I bet Jess will be delighted you’re talking about other women.’ There was a hint of a sneer in Lorraine’s voice. ‘So who said they’d like to do a bridesmaid then?’
