It was more show than anything else. She knew nothing would be said that would incriminate Broome. All the important things had been said already. She pushed through the door, letting it swing shut behind her. She didn’t want to turn around but she did and paid the inevitable price.
He was looking back at her, the smile widening.
CHAPTER 54
She climbed the stairs to the first floor of the flats on the corner of Marlborough Avenue in Broomhill, pressed the bell and waited. Moments later, a silhouette appeared like a ghost in the frosted door. Lainey Henderson stood still, frozen like the glass and hiding in plain sight.
Did she think the frosting made her invisible or was she just hoping Narey would go away? After a few beats more, she relented and opened the door.
‘Morning, Lainey. If it’s not a good time, I can call back later.’
‘Late night last night, that’s all. You’re here now though. You better come in.’
She turned and padded through the hallway to the living room, leaving Narey to follow her. The room was dominated by two large bookcases and a huge sofa smothered in multicoloured throws and cushions. Shawls and scarves were pinned to the walls, fighting for space with plants and candles and buddhas. Whatever the opposite of minimalist was, this was it.
Lainey lit a cigarette and tilted her head back to take the first draw deep.
‘What can I do for you, Inspector?’
‘I wanted to talk about Leah.’
‘We’ve done that. There’s nothing more I can tell you.’
‘Or will tell me?’
Lainey shrugged unapologetically. ‘We’ve been through that.’
‘Lainey, I need more information to work with. It’s important and I need to know everything Leah told you.’
‘Important? You’re actually telling me it’s important like I don’t know that?’ Lainey jabbed her cigarette towards Narey accusingly. ‘You think you’re the only one that’s worrying about her? I read the newspapers. I watch the TV. I’m terrified about what has happened to her. You should be arresting Broome. Trying to force that bastard to talk rather than me.’
‘Lainey . . .’
‘No, I think you should go. I’ve not got time for this.’
Narey didn’t budge.
‘Lainey, I get the whole client privilege thing. But if Leah’s been murdered or kidnapped or whatever then your duty of care extends to helping find her killer.’
‘You’re fucking lecturing me. And I can’t deal with that kind of “if”. I can’t guess. Guessing is your job. I have to deal with the reality and just look after Leah.’
‘Then help me do the same. I need to know what she was thinking. If I can understand that then I’ll be in a better position to know what she might have done, where she might have gone.’
‘Or what might have happened to her.’
‘Of course. But the same thing is true. I need to know how much danger she might have put herself in. Just how far she would have gone to put things right. Do you think she would have gone to challenge Broome?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘Can we just drop this, Lainey. You do know. If you don’t, no one does. Your whole job was to talk to Leah about what she was thinking and why she was thinking it. You talked to her about how she felt about Broome and about the collapse of the court case.’
‘But I can’t tell you . . . I mean no, I haven’t talked to her about the case.’
‘Not at all or not since it ended?’
‘For fucksake, you’re just trying to confuse me.’
‘Yes, and it seems to be working. Not that you’d have to worry unless you were lying. You have counselled her since she was in court, haven’t you? She was here last week, three days after the trial collapsed. I know she was, so drop the pretence.’
Lainey stabbed her cigarette into the ashtray and drew another from the packet.
‘Okay, she was here. I didn’t want to talk to you about the session, about what she’d told me. So, it seemed easier just to say it hadn’t taken place than have you give me all this grief over it. I was just protecting my client.’
‘No, what you were doing was obstructing a police investigation. You lied to an officer in the execution of their duties and perverted the course of justice. You obstructed a potential murder investigation.’
Lainey lit the new cigarette and Narey saw the tremble in her hands.
‘Leah’s friend Shaz said that her last words to her were that she wasn’t taking this shit any more. What do you think she meant by that, Lainey?’
She sucked on the cigarette, buying herself time.
‘Leah had been pushed against a wall and had nowhere else to go, nothing else to do but push back. She felt everything and everyone had let her down. Those she’d trusted and put her faith in couldn’t be relied upon. She probably thought she had nothing left to lose. People don’t make the best choices when they’re thinking like that.’
‘So, you think she would have gone to challenge Broome?’
‘Maybe. She was angry. She had no one left she could rely on other than herself.’
‘And you.’
Lainey said nothing.
‘Did she tell you or suggest to you that she was going to confront him?’
‘No. And I’d have tried to talk her out of it if she had. I know how dangerous that man is.’
‘Yes, he is. What do you think she hoped to achieve by going there? Did she really think he would confess and tell the world he’d raped her? That doesn’t sound like Broome.’
Lainey was on her feet, agitated and smoking furiously.
‘Is that really what’s important here? Are you really blaming Leah for putting herself in that position rather than the bastard who’s hurt her? That’s like blaming the rape victim for wearing a short skirt or being drunk rather than the rapist.’
Narey bit her tongue one more time. ‘This isn’t about blaming Leah. It’s about understanding her actions. Again, what do you think she was trying to do?’
Lainey’s anger boiled over.
‘I’d think it was obvious that she was trying to do what you failed to. To bring a rapist to account for his actions.’
‘Not a murderer?’
‘What?’
‘You said rapist rather than rapist and murderer. You don’t think Broome killed Leah?’
‘I . . . I didn’t say that. I don’t know but . . .’
‘You do know though, don’t you? You know exactly what happened to Leah.’
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about but you need to get out of here. This is harassment.’
Narey laughed. ‘Do you know how much trouble you are in, Lainey? Do you have any idea? I don’t think Leah would want you to get arrested for lying to the police, for obstructing an active investigation.’
There was a noise from somewhere behind Lainey. It came from the adjoining room.
‘No! Look, I can’t take any more of this right now. I’ll tell you anything I can but you need to go and give me peace to think about it.’
Narey stood up. ‘I think it’s too late for that. Leah knows that even if you don’t. Isn’t that right?’
The inner door to the room swung open and Leah Watt walked through it.
‘She’s right, Lainey. It’s too late to lie to her.’
CHAPTER 55
Leah looked drained. She was pale and her eyes were propped up by dark rings. The clothes she was wearing clung to her like she’d outgrown them and they clearly weren’t her own. On the plus side, she was alive.
She was scared too, that much was obvious, her body half-turned away from Narey as if ready to run. She could barely look her in the eye.
‘When my daughter, Alanna, does something stupid and hurts herself, maybe climbing on something she shouldn’t and falling off, I have to hug her first to make sure she’s okay. Only then can I give her a telling off.’
Leah curled a lip. ‘You’re not my mother.’
‘I’d still like to hug you.’
‘Does it have to come with a lecture?’
‘Definitely.’
The younger woman huffed then gave in. The air escaped from her and she seemed to shrink three sizes. When her eyes reopened, they were wet and red. Narey took two steps and enveloped her.
Leah howled into Narey’s chest, letting go days, months, of fear and frustration. Narey wrapped her tighter in her arms and barely managed to fight off tears of her own. She held her like that until Leah cried herself dry.
When she let her go, it was gradual. Lots of mother-hen checks before finally releasing her. They sat together on the couch, Lainey staring at them.
‘So, tell me about it. What were you thinking?’
The shrug was like that of a five-year-old. Knowing but unknowing. Hoping it would all just go away.
‘Okay, let’s try it another way. Talk me through what you did after you left your parents’ house. Where did you go?’
‘Into town. I got the bus in and got off at Buchanan Street. I walked up near to where your police station is. Near the passport office. I wandered around for a bit then back into the city centre.’
‘You had a plan?’
‘No. Yes. I suppose so. I knew what I was going to do.’
‘You weren’t going to take this shit any more.’
Leah’s eyes opened wide. ‘You spoke to Shaz? Shit. Is she okay?’
‘She thinks you’ve been murdered. How do you think she is?’
Fresh tears formed. ‘I didn’t think. I just had to . . . When the idea came to me, I wasn’t thinking about anyone else. Just him. And me.’
‘Where did you go next?’
She managed to look ashamed. The five-year-old who wanted to lie but didn’t know how.
‘To Broome’s offices at the Templeton Building.’
‘How did you find your way there?’
Leah started and stopped. Her brain working out that Narey knew the answer to the question or else she wouldn’t have asked it.
‘I used Google Maps. Followed it from the city centre.’
‘Even though you knew exactly how to get there.’
‘Yes. But how did you know that?’
‘Shaz told me the two of you used to go to the Barrowlands for gigs. So even if you didn’t know how to get to Templeton’s, you wouldn’t have had to use your phone for directions until after the ballroom. You were using it because you knew it could and would be traced.’
Leah just nodded sullenly.
‘I knew this before I took a team to search Templeton’s but it suited me to go there anyway to noise him up. I figured you wanted to make sure everyone knew where you’d gone.’
‘Not everyone. You. I wanted you to know I’d gone to his office. I wanted you to follow me. To . . . investigate.’
Narey wasn’t a fan of being played. ‘You wanted me to arrest Broome for murder. So, you faked it. The blood, the torn clothing.’
A guilty nod, eyes down. After a deep breath, she rolled back the sleeve of the borrowed sweatshirt to reveal a bandage wrapped tightly around her wrist.
‘I cut it. Let it spray. It took longer to stop it than I’d thought. I was prepared but it still gushed. I nearly passed out but I didn’t.’
‘Christ, Leah. You could have killed yourself.’
‘So? I felt dead anyway. What kind of life was I going to have with him doing that to me and getting away with it? More than getting away, lording it on television. Calling me names, saying it was all my fault. All my fault and yours. I thought if you could arrest him, put him away, it would work out for you, too.’
Narey wanted to hug her but also to slap some sense into her.
‘And you were going to hide all your life? Let your mum and dad think you were dead? And Shaz and your other friends? How did you think you could keep it going?’
‘I never . . . I just . . .’
‘Leah had been through an incredibly traumatic—’
‘Whoa!’ Narey cut Lainey off mid flow, ‘I want to hear this from Leah, not you. We’ll get to you in a minute. Don’t worry about that.’
Leah switched between them, conflicted and confused.
‘I hadn’t thought it through but I didn’t care. I still don’t. I feel bad if people are worried but he needed to be stopped. That’s all I was thinking about. What he did to me . . . I couldn’t have him doing it to anyone else. How did you know that I was here? With Lainey.’
‘I didn’t. Not for sure. But Lainey lied to me, told me she hadn’t seen you when I knew you’d been at the café and that meant you’d most likely been to see her. I studied CCTV at Templeton’s and saw a car stopping briefly near the building. It looked familiar and when I ran a check, I found Lainey owned a make and model that matched. It wasn’t enough in itself but it made me wonder. I came in here suspicious but the more Lainey talked, the surer I was that you were here.’
‘I was just looking after her!’ Lainey reacted furiously. ‘She had to be somewhere safe. When she told me what she’d done, I tried to convince her to go to you. But when I realised she wouldn’t be persuaded, I took her in. And I don’t regret it. No matter what happens to me.’
‘It’s not her fault,’ Leah was desperate. ‘I made her. Didn’t leave her with any choice. It’s all down to me. Please, Rachel. Don’t arrest her, please! Just me. It was all me.’
Narey could only shake her head at the pair of them.
‘I’m not sure which of you is the more fucking stupid. Actually, I do. Leah has an excuse, a huge excuse. But you, you should have known better. You’re the grownup here.’
‘I said I don’t regret it and I don’t. I saw it as my job to protect her. And I still do.’
‘Give me fucking strength.’
‘What are you going to do, Rachel?’ Leah’s voice was pleading.
She stared at them both. Made them sweat. Made them work for it.
‘I’m going to do nothing. For now, at least. I want you to stay here.’
‘What?’
‘I want you to stay here, get some rest and some sleep. It’s the safest place for you. Just because Broome didn’t harm you when you went to his office, doesn’t mean he won’t.’
Lainey was not getting this at all.
‘You want us to keep on pretending? To let people think Leah has been killed?’
‘Oh, I’m not happy about this, Lainey. Far from it. What Leah did was stupid and dangerous. She could easily have been killed. But . . . stupid or not, it has done a job. The case against Broome was all but over until her little stunt.’
‘So, it’s—’
‘It’s an utter fuck up, that’s what it is. Don’t take any credit for this. That’s not how it works. You’re putting my job at risk. You’re putting the chance of nicking Broome at risk. But the damage is done and you showing your face now is just going to make it worse. You stay put as long as you can, give me a chance to make this right. Once it’s done, if it’s done, then I’ll figure out a way for you to reappear without us all going to jail.’
They were open-mouthed.
‘Do you get all that?’
They nodded.
She sighed hard. ‘I’m glad someone does.’
CHAPTER 56
It had taken three attempts but Narey had finally persuaded Elspeth Broome to agree to listen to someone she wanted to bring into the hospital room to talk to her. It was a grudging acceptance and shared by a dark-haired nursed who hovered by Elspeth’s bed like a guard dog.
Narey didn’t wait for anyone to change their minds. She opened the door to the room and gave the signal to come in. The sound of heels on linoleum quickly followed.
Suzie O’Brien, red hair tied behind her, took up a seat in front of Elspeth Broome’s bed and told her story. How she was out with friends, how she lost the night and her memory. How she knew she’d had sex even though she had no recollection of it, even though there’s no way she could have given consent.
&nbs
p; Elspeth looked shocked, confused too.
‘I’m sorry. That must have been terrible for you. But I don’t understand why you’re telling me this.’
Suzie looked to Narey, who nodded at her to continue. ‘Well, as I think you know, a collection of photographs was found in your son’s house. Photographs of women, taken without their knowledge or permission. My photograph was among that collection. In fact, there were two of them, taken on different days. Going by some of the things in those photos, I think they were taken just a few weeks before I was drugged. Before I was raped.’
Elspeth didn’t want to hear it. The word smelled and her nose wrinkled.
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about. I think you should leave now. I really think you should go.’
The nurse, Anne according to her name badge, got to her feet, but Narey saved her the trouble of saying anything.
‘Okay. If that’s what you want. Anyway, Suzie has told you what happened to her. You’ve heard it. She’s going to go now.’
Elspeth looked the other way as Suzie left. Only turning her head back once the door had closed again.
‘That woman didn’t see anything. Didn’t even know anything had happened. She might just have had too much to drink and woke up somewhere she shouldn’t have been.’
Narey didn’t respond. She just let Elspeth talk it through.
‘I mean, I’m sorry for her. She’s obviously upset. She’s been through a lot, I can see that. But nothing at all might have happened to her. And it’s got nothing to do with my son.’
Narey expected no less. Suzie was always going to be a hard sell. She hadn’t convinced Elspeth, just as she probably wouldn’t have persuaded a judge or a jury. It was why she’d been sent in first.
‘Okay, Mrs Broome. I understand that. I really do. But please keep in mind what Suzie said, even if you can’t accept it. There’s someone else I’d like you to meet.’
The woman sighed and rolled her eyes in protest. The nurse spoke for her.
‘Inspector, do I need to remind you that Mrs Broome is extremely frail. I don’t want her upset or tired unnecessarily.’
‘Oh, it’s necessary. I wouldn’t be doing this otherwise. I won’t make this take any longer than it needs to.’
The Photographer Page 26
