Trick of the Dark

by McDermid, Val

  'I told him that my professional opinion was that Bill Hopton was a psychopathic personality who was capable of sadistic sexual violence. That chances were he would go on to commit violent sexual assaults or rapes that would likely end in murder. But I was equally convinced that he hadn't committed this particular murder. It just didn't fit with the picture I had built of his personality type.'

  'I bet that made you popular,' Catherine said.

  'Just a bit. The lawyer tried to get me to change my mind, but I wasn't prepared to alter my professional opinion to fit their theory of the crime. So I was bumped off the case. Which would have been the end of it if the defence hadn't got wind of what had gone on. They came to me and asked me to be a defence expert witness. I said no, I can't, it's a conflict of interest, I only have the information I have because I was hired by the CPS, so technically it belongs to them. So they went away and I thought I was done with Bill Hopton. Which was fine by me, because he was a particularly unpleasant and scheming individual.

  'Months went by and I forgot all about the Leicester murder. Then one morning I walked into the lecture theatre at the university where I teach and a process server slapped a subpoena on me. Whether I liked it or not, I was going into the box for Bill Hopton. And I was very uncomfortable about it, because I knew how circumstantial the prosecution case was. People think it's all like CSI these days, but it's not always that straightforward. This victim had been stripped naked and dumped in a pond, so the forensics were negligible.

  'Bill Hopton had been seen hanging around outside the victim's workplace. There was plenty of CCTV footage putting him there. The defence argued that he liked sitting in that particular square because he could piggyback free Wi-Fi from one of the cafes without actually having to spend any money.' Charlie checked the point off on her finger. 'The murder weapon was a wheel brace from a Vauxhall of the same sort of vintage as the one Hopton drove, and his car was missing the wheel brace. The defence claimed there had been no wheel brace when Hopton bought the car, and they produced the woman who'd sold it to him, who said she didn't think there had been one.' A second finger joined the first. 'Hopton had given an alibi that turned out to be a lie. But the defence said he'd lied because he didn't want to admit being with a prostitute. They produced the hooker, who was a pretty pathetic witness, but she stuck to her guns.' A third finger. 'And then there was me.' Charlie ticked off the fourth finger then folded her hand into a fist. 'I couldn't lie. And the jury, quite rightly, found Bill Hopton not guilty.'

  'I bet the prosecutors were fit to be tied,' Corinna said.

  'They were furious and they let me know it,' Charlie said. 'I reckoned my days of being an expert witness for the prosecution were over. So I went back to the rest of my life. Interviewing psychopaths, lecturing in Manchester and hanging out with my entirely normal wife Maria.'

  Magda tried to keep the startled look from her face. It wasn't that they'd been inculcated with homophobia; it had always been a case of hating the sin but loving the sinner. Nevertheless, she couldn't remember anyone ever being so casual about homosexuality in this house. Visitors who knew the Newsams knew better than to tread on their doctrinal toes. So nobody blasphemed in front of Corinna and nobody talked about being gay or having an abortion when she or Henry was around. Yet here was Charlie, openly referring to her lesbian partner as a 'wife' without being thrown out in disgrace as Jay had been all those years before. Maybe her parents were mellowing. Maybe her own revelation might pass off with less drama than she'd feared.

  She realised she'd missed some of Charlie's narrative and forced her attention back to their visitor.

  '… at least two years later. But this time there was no doubt about it. It was exactly the kind of frenzied, careless attack I would have predicted. There was forensic evidence galore and digital evidence on Bill Hopton's computer. But because he was moving around, it took them a few weeks to track him down. And by that time, he'd killed three other women.' Charlie's voice dropped and she looked suddenly older, lines appearing round her eyes as they narrowed. 'I felt like shit, I'll be honest. I knew I'd done the right thing, but I still felt as if I should have been able to prevent what had happened.'

  'Surely there was nothing you could have done,' Corinna said.

  'I did recommend that Hopton should be sent to a secure mental hospital, but his lawyer screamed human rights abuse — his client had been found not guilty by a jury, he was an innocent man, the authorities were just trying to get off the hook. Nobody wants to get caught in the middle of that kind of aggravation,' Charlie said. 'So he walked free to kill four women.'

  'And the media love a scapegoat,' Magda said. 'Is that why they ended up going over the top on you?'

  'Partly. But it really kicked off when the family of one of the victims wanted somebody to pay for their loss. Literally. They decided to sue me for failing in my duty of care. Other relatives of the dead women got on the bandwagon and then one of them had the bright idea of complaining about me to the General Medical Council.'

  'But all you did was testify in support of an innocent man,' Catherine said.

  'Well, that's not how they see it.' Charlie drained her glass and reached for the bottle. 'Nobody else was ever charged with the Leicestershire murder, and the police are still happy to go off the record with journalists and tell them they're satisfied that they had the right man on trial. And that my testimony was the key to him getting off. And that's why I've been all over the papers.'

  'So what happens now?' Corinna asked.

  'I have to wait for the case to come to court. And for the GMC to hold a disciplinary hearing. Meanwhile, I can't practise. The university has suspended me on full pay. I'm picking up bits and pieces of teaching and stuff just to get myself out of the house. Poor Maria, she's the world's most down-to-earth person, and she's having to deal with me in all my anxiety and paranoia.'

  'Is that what you're doing in Oxford? Teaching?' Catherine again, curiosity overcoming sensitivity.

  'I wish. No, I came to visit a colleague. And since I was staying just round the corner, I thought I'd drop in on Corinna.' Charlie tipped her glass to her hostess. Then she turned to Magda. 'I didn't realise I'd be butting in at such an awkward time. I'll be honest. I'd seen the coverage of the trial in the papers, but I didn't make the connection with you.' She spread her hands in a gesture of apology. 'They didn't use your maiden name and I guess in my head I still think of you as Maggot.'

  Magda felt the rising tide of a blush in her throat. 'It's funny,' she said. 'Nobody called me Maggot for years. But you're the second person recently who's used my old nickname. '

  'Really?' Charlie looked relieved that her shifting of the subject had worked. 'Some kid you used to know? Or another one of your minders?'

  Magda looked at her mother, her chin rising and her shoulders squaring. 'Someone who used to be one of our minders until my mother threw her out of the house.'

  Corinna rolled her eyes. 'Now who's going over the top? I presume you're talking about Jay Stewart. For the record, Magda, I did not throw Jay out of the house.'

  'You told her she wasn't welcome any more. Because you didn't want a lesbian around your kids.' Suddenly the temper of the room had changed. All the emotion that Magda had been holding in check for months was bursting from its confines.

  'I said no such thing.' All the warmth had drained out of Corinna's voice.

  'Well, why else would you tell her to go? The only thing that had changed in her life was that she'd been outed on the college grapevine. What? Was it coincidence that that was the week you decided you didn't want her in the house any more?' Mother and daughter glared at each other, but Corinna said nothing.

  Catherine turned to Charlie, shaking her head, and said, 'And they say I'm the one who puts her foot in it. I bet you're really glad you came.'

  Magda seemed oblivious to the interjection. 'I'm waiting, Mum. If it wasn't because she's a lesbian, why did you cut Jay out of our lives?'

  'Whate
ver you might think, Magda, I'm not homophobic. I've always known Charlie's gay and it never got in the way of our friendship. I was always happy to have Charlie take care of you kids.'

  'So why?' Magda's voice was almost a howl. This wasn't how she'd planned today, but she couldn't figure out how to back down now she'd come this far.

  Corinna glanced at Charlie as if she might have an answer. Charlie simply shrugged. 'I had good reason,' Corinna finally said. 'And it was nothing to do with who Jay chose to sleep with. I'm sorry, Magda, but I'm not going to tell you why.'

  'You're going to have to do better than that, Mum.'

  'No, Magda, I'm not. I'm entitled to my privacy. I don't have to tell you everything.'

  Magda looked as if she couldn't decide whether to burst into tears or throw something. 'Well, whatever your stupid reason, you're going to have to lift the fatwa. Because if Jay's not allowed in this house, I won't be here either. I've been trying to find the right time to tell you this, but it's obvious there's never going to be a good moment. Jay and me, we're together. She's my lover.' She didn't wait for a response from Corinna, but turned to Charlie. 'I'm glad you're here. Maybe you can explain to my mother that this isn't the end of the world.'

  'Oh, for goodness' sake, Magda. Of course I don't think it's the end of the world,' Corinna snapped.

  Magda's expression changed as something dawned on her. She rounded on Charlie, face scarlet with anger. 'That's why you're here. You're here because my mother realised Jay and I are more than friends. You're the token lesbian, the one she can use as a shield against the accusation of being a raging bigot. She had to dig back into ancient history, but finally she came up with one. You should be ashamed, letting yourself be used like that.'

  'You're making yourself ridiculous, Magda.' Corinna had the implacable chill of an iceberg on collision course. 'Charlie, I'm so sorry.'

  Charlie got to her feet, sighing. 'I think it's better if I leave. Magda, I'm really not here to give your mother some identity-politics Brownie points. For what it's worth, your mother has never had any apparent issue with my sexuality. I always reckoned she'd totally got that bit in the New Testament that says you can hate the sin but you have to love the sinner.' She picked up her coat and backpack and headed for the door. 'I'll see myself out.' She gave them a sketchy wave and a lopsided smile. 'I do know the way, after all.'

  'I'll be in touch,' Corinna called after her. As Charlie disappeared round the corner of the stair, she turned to her daughters and said, 'How gracious my children turned out to be. How dare you drive my friends out of my kitchen.'

  'Same way you would cheerfully drive my lover out of my life,' Magda said.

  'How can you be so certain about anything you've said today, Magda? We've never talked about any of these things. This is the first time you've even admitted Jay is your lover.' Corinna's voice had the edge of a steel blade.

  'See? The very words you use are loaded: "admitted". Like I was pleading guilty to a crime. This is precisely why I've said nothing up till now. Because I knew it was going to be a nightmare and, frankly, the trial was enough for me to contend with.' Magda picked up her coat. 'I don't know. I had this crazy notion that the world had moved on. That when it came to their own flesh and blood, even my parents could step away from their bigotry and accept that love was more important than dogma.' She struggled to get her arms into her sleeves, violently yanking at her coat. She was close to tears now, but determined not to give way. 'I genuinely hoped you would say something like, "Forget about the past, anyone you love has a place in this family." Well, that just shows how bloody stupid I am.' She turned on her heel and half-ran for the stairs.

  'Magda, wait,' Corinna said.

  From the third step, Magda looked back. 'I don't belong in this family any more.'

  5

  Charlie had made a bet with herself. Five minutes before Magda emerged. She'd give it ten to be on the safe side, but she didn't think she would be on the losing end. She hoped not; it might technically be spring but it was still bloody cold. She settled down on the knee-high brick wall that separated the Newsams' garden from the pavement. It was a typical North Oxford street. Big redbrick Victorian houses that had been built for an era when everyone had servants. Set back from the street, mostly protected by dense shrubberies. Four storeys, with small rooms in the attics for maids and children, and kitchens in the basement. When Charlie had first been a regular visitor to the Newsam house, most of them had still been family homes and on summer evenings the gardens had resonated with the cries of playing children. Now, only a few remained as single units. The economics of property prices in the area had led to most of them being transformed into flats and bedsits, recognisable by their banks of doorbells and intercoms. She wondered what sounds travelled now on the evening breezes.

  She'd been sitting on the wall for a little over three minutes when the door slammed and Magda strode furiously down the drive. Her eyes were heavy with tears, but she still had a grip on herself. Even in this state, Charlie thought, she had the kind of beauty that provoked a sharp intake of breath. When she saw Charlie, she stopped short. 'What the hell are you doing just sitting there?'

  'Waiting for you.' Charlie stayed where she was. 'I'm going down to Schollie's to see Dr Winter. Do you want to walk with me? Or we could go for a drink, if you'd rather.'

  Magda looked taken aback. 'You'd keep Dr Winter waiting just to buy me a drink? You must have forgotten what she's like.'

  Charlie grinned and stood up. 'I don't have a firm appointment. I thought I'd just take a chance on finding her at home.'

  Magda gave a little snort of laughter. 'Where else would she be? It's not like she's got any friends to hang out with.'

  'I always thought your mum got on pretty well with her.'

  'She's got more stroppy in her old age. Mum, that is. And Dr Winter really can't be doing with anything other than craven submission. So it's not as comfortable a relationship as it used to be.'

  'You sound like you should be in my line of work,' Charlie said. 'So, what's it to be? A walk to college or a drink?'

  'A walk, I think,' Magda said cautiously.

  Good choice for someone who wanted to be sure of her get-away, Charlie thought. She turned on to the street and Magda fell into step beside her. 'Why did you wait for me?' Magda said at once.

  'I thought you might appreciate someone in your corner to sound off to.'

  'And you're in my corner?'

  'I've been out since I was twenty. People talk about coming out as if it was a discrete moment. One minute you're in the closet, the next you're out. Only it's not like that. It's a whole succession of moments. You come out to your friends. To your family. To your colleagues. To the faceless person on the end of a phone from the car insurance firm. To the mortgage broker. To the new neighbours. To the pub quiz team. These days it's mostly OK because even the raging homophobes know better than to show off their prejudices in public.' Charlie gave a deep sigh. 'But every single gay person I know has been on the receiving end of a vile and hurtful reaction at least once in their life. I suspect it's similar for black people, except they don't have a choice about confronting it. So yes, I'm in your corner. I know how hard this is. Especially since you've been rendered so very publicly straight by the terrible thing that happened to Philip.'

  'I just want them to be pleased that I'm happy,' Magda said plaintively. 'I've had such a shit time since Philip died, you'd think they could maybe manage that.'

  'It doesn't work like that. It actually makes them more protective. Corinna's desperate for you not to be any more hurt than you are already. She thinks that what you're doing is a recipe for getting hurt.'

  'Why would Jay hurt me? She loves me.'

  Where to begin, thought Charlie. Like so many doctors she'd encountered, Magda seemed to be an uneasy mixture of maturity and naivete. Charlie put it down to an unnaturally prolonged time as a student combined with exposure to emotionally shattering moments. 'Our parents alway
s want us to have the easiest, happiest life. Looking at it from the outside, being a lesbian doesn't promise that. Add to that the fact that, for whatever reason, Corinna and Jay fell out a long time ago. She's scared for you. That's what's at the bottom of this.'

  'There's nothing to be scared of. I'm happier than I've ever been. I thought I loved Philip, but this is like watching a colour film after you've only ever seen black and white.' They turned a corner into another street which looked just like the one they'd left except that its different orientation meant the tree buds were further advanced.

  Charlie grinned. 'Believe me, I know that feeling.'

  'How long have you and Maria been together?'

  It was, Charlie thought, the invariable question from the newly minted. 'Seven years. We did the civil partnership three years ago.'

  'What does she do?'

  'She's a dentist. She specialises in implants. Frankly, it would drive me completely nuts in about three hours, but she's fascinated by it.'

  'How did you meet?'

  The other inevitable question. 'At a wedding. One of her colleagues was marrying one of mine. We were both invited to the reception. Her gaydar twitched first and she chatted me up over the dessert buffet. I thought she was very cute. Tell you the truth, I thought she might be a bit of a bimbo.' Charlie laughed, still rueful at her mistake. 'I could not have been more wrong. What about you and Jay? How did you meet?' She glanced quickly at Magda, who had her chin tucked down and her eyes on the pavement.

  'Well, obviously, we met when Jay was still considered a fit and proper person to take care of us kids.'

  'Of course. But I don't imagine you kept in touch all these years. How did you run into each other again?'