Straight Back

by Menon, David

  It was the second item that the presenter read out that caught Catherine’s attention. Her mouth literally dropped open with shock. The item was about a missing teenage girl from Manchester called Sheridan Taylor whose body had been found in the wreckage of a burned out car. She turned her head to see Leo standing there with her glass of wine in his hand looking like someone had stepped on his grave.

  “Wasn’t she one of your students?” asked Catherine.

  Leo swallowed. “Yes,” he said, before giving her the glass of wine. “I bloody need one of those too now.” He went back to the kitchen and poured himself a glass. He could feel his heart begin to beat faster and he leaned his forehead against the wall cupboard. He thought for a moment and then he looked up towards the front door and wondered how long it would be before the police came wanting to talk to him.

  “I’d just like to say how very sorry we are for your loss, Mrs Taylor,” said DI Rebecca Stockton. She was sitting on a chair in the living room of the Taylor home with DI Oliver Wright sitting beside her in the other chair. Ellie Taylor and her partner, Arif, were sitting opposite them on the sofa. Rebecca hadn’t exactly expected a warm welcome but it looked like this encounter was going to be harder than she thought.

  “Well, I’m gratified I’m sure,” said Ellie, her voice shaking with emotion. She was overwhelmed with grief but she was also bloody angry at the way the police had handled the case so far. “I was wondering when you’d show up.”

  “We came as soon as we thought it was appropriate, Mrs Taylor,” said Rebecca.

  “As soon as you thought it was appropriate? You’ve got a bloody nerve. How come you didn’t think it was appropriate to instigate a search for my daughter once you knew what had happened at the petrol station? How come you didn’t distribute the picture from the CCTV before this morning when, as we all know now, it was too bloody late!”

  Rebecca glanced sideways at Ollie.

  “Oh, don’t bother looking at him,” Ellie commanded. “You are the senior officer in charge of this case, aren’t you?”

  Rebecca swallowed. “Yes, I am, Mrs Taylor.”

  “Then I’m asking you to explain how my baby girl came to die all alone in a car that was on fire when you should’ve been out there looking for her?”

  Rebecca was at the tail end of an absolute hell of a day. Not only had she received sideways looks of disapproval from other officers outside her team but the press conference she’d had to endure earlier had been like a lynch mob. They all wanted to know why the search hadn’t been instigated once they had the CCTV picture and literally grilled Rebecca on it. But that all paled into insignificance compared to having to look the mother of Sheridan Taylor in the eye, like she was doing right now.

  “Mrs Taylor, if I may,” said Ollie, by way of rescuing Rebecca. “We had no way of knowing if it could’ve made a scrap of difference to release the picture of Sheridan as soon as we had it.”

  “So why didn’t you?” Ellie wanted to know. The fear of what her little girl might’ve suffered during those few hours was beginning to overwhelm her again, just like it had been doing all day since they’d found out. “I mean, do you have any idea what might’ve happened to her during those hours she was missing and how the thought of that is killing me?”

  “Do you know who the driver of the car might’ve been, Mrs Taylor?” asked Rebecca.

  “What?”

  “Well, it’s clear to us that Sheridan must’ve known who it was, otherwise she wouldn’t have got into the car so easily.”

  “My daughter may be sixteen but she’s still at school and wouldn’t know anyone who drives around in a big car, picking up teenage girls,” said Ellie.

  “Then how do you explain why she went off in that car, Mrs Taylor?”

  “Oh, I know what you’re doing,” Ellie snarled. “You’re trying to shift the focus away from your mistakes.”

  “Mrs Taylor, we’re doing nothing of the sort, we’re simply trying to work out what happened.”

  “I’ll tell you what happened. You didn’t put her picture out quick enough which lost you valuable time. My daughter’s death is on your hands, Detective.”

  Rebecca decided to take that one on the chin and keep going. “Mrs Taylor, the driver of the car is still out there and we’re determined to find him so we can give you the kind of answers that may bring you some kind of peace.”

  “Some kind of peace? Are you mad? I’ll never find some kind of peace over this!”

  “Okay, I apologise for the choice of words, Mrs Taylor but we’re doing everything we can with regard to this case.”

  “You’re a liar.”

  “I beg your pardon?”

  “You said, at your press conference this morning, that you’d put out a notice last night to all police stations in Greater Manchester telling them to inform you if there were any reports of missing teenage girls, no matter how long they’d been missing. And yet when I rang our local station at nine o’clock last night and told them that Sheridan had been missing since the afternoon I was told that they weren’t interested until Sheridan had been missing for twenty-four hours. Therefore, either they didn’t follow your instructions or you’re a liar.”

  Rebecca was seething. She knew that the notice had gone out. Why had that station slipped up? Heads would roll over this. As if there weren’t enough bullets being loaded into the gun and pointed at her.

  “I’m sorry, Mrs Taylor,” said Rebecca. “The notice did go out and I don’t know why it wasn’t followed in this instance but I can assure you there’ll be a formal enquiry and we will get to the bottom of it.”

  “A formal enquiry? You can have all the formal enquiries you like but it won’t take away my pain. You didn’t know how old she was. All you knew was that she was a teenager but you didn’t know if she was a minor or an adult and that should’ve given you an even greater incentive to try and track her down. Do you know what it’s like? Do you know what it feels like to watch the morning news and see your daughter’s picture splashed across the screen? Do you know what it feels like to find out from that same news programme that she murdered someone and then died in a burned out car? Can you conceive of how that feels? Can you?”

  Ellie didn’t know how much more she could take. When her ex-husband, Brian, had betrayed her in such a brutal and public way, she hadn’t known a broken heart like it but she’d had to pick herself and her daughters up and start all over again. She hadn’t had any choice, if only for the sake of her daughters Sheridan and Paige, and because she’d never been one to just give up the ghost when the going got tough. They’d moved from their dream home to somewhere that was less than ideal but she’d managed to keep the roof over their heads. She’d managed to work things out sufficiently so they could survive and continue with their lives. It had been a struggle and Sheridan had taken against everything, right from the start, which hadn’t made things very easy. Then Ellie had taken a part time job at the nearby refugee centre which was where she met Arif. He was the epitome of tall, dark and handsome with his dark, dark eyes and jet black hair. She’d fallen for him instantly although she’d been cautious not to let it show until she was sure that he felt the same way. She brought him into her life and his charm and the beautiful way he spoke English were a hit with everyone except Sheridan. Sheridan held out even when Ellie became pregnant with Tariq. Now she had a beautiful son to go with her beautiful daughters but still Sheridan refused to embrace any of it. She’d watched the anger rise up in her so unpredictably at times. She’d once hit her sister Paige and for a while Paige had refused to be alone with her big sister. And, all the time, Ellie’s ex-husband, Brian, hadn’t been in touch. She’d wanted him to take Sheridan for a while and see if a few weeks with her dad might calm her down and make her more rational. If only Brian had been willing to be a responsible parent, perhaps none of this would’ve happened.

  “Why didn’t you start looking for her last night?” asked Arif. “Who made that decision?”
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  “I did,” said Rebecca. “I didn’t want anyone protecting Sheridan if they recognised her. Because, let’s not forget here, that she murdered a stranger who was standing up for a man who Sheridan was abusing. Let’s not forget that, with all due respect.”

  “I think you’d better leave,” said Arif. He was holding Ellie as she sobbed.

  “Where are your other children?” asked Ollie.

  “Both Paige and our son Tariq are with their grandmother, Ellie’s mother, in Ashton-under-Lyme. Paige, as you can imagine, is distraught about the death of her sister and about the circumstances surrounding her death.”

  “You’ll pay,” said Ellie.

  “Sorry?” said Rebecca.

  “Your decision led to the death of my daughter and you will pay for that,” Ellie warned. “I’ll make sure of it.”

  Jeff Barton was tucking into his breakfast on the flight from Hong Kong to Manchester. He’d opted for the ‘English’ breakfast but immediately wished he hadn’t. The sausages tasted of nothing, the bacon was as dry as sticks, and the scrambled eggs were okay but not exactly moist. His son, Toby, had gone for the Chinese breakfast of three different types of dim sum and was very proudly sitting there, eating it using his chopsticks. It made Jeff smile. He loved the bones of his son. Nothing and no-one would ever come between them.

  ‘Daddy?” Toby asked.

  “Yes, mate?”

  “Do you think Brendan will cook dim sum for my breakfast when we get home?”

  “Well, we can ask him,” said Jeff. He’d given Brendan, their live-in housekeeper and male nanny some time off whilst they’d been away but he was due back to the house later on today. “He could go with your grandma to the Chinese supermarket to get them. I don’t think they’re that difficult to cook.”

  “Or Grandma could bring them for him when she comes to see us?”

  “Yes, I suppose she could,” said Jeff. “I don’t think she’d mind.”

  Jeff and his son were returning to the UK by themselves. Jeff’s late wife’s parents, with whom they’d travelled out, were staying on in China for another week. They’d had a wonderful holiday. Jeff took great delight seeing Toby soaking up his late mother, Lillie Mae’s, Chinese heritage and he was determined that he would always do so. Lillie Mae’s mother, Cynthia, had talked with Jeff at great length one evening. She said that she and her husband would completely understand if Jeff met someone else and wanted his life to move on. All they asked was that he’d maintain contact with them and never allow Toby to forget his Chinese heritage. Jeff had reassured her on both counts.

  Jeff did want to finally move on with his own personal life. He’d done a lot of thinking whilst he’d been away and now understood that Rebecca Stockton could be the new woman for him. He’d treated her badly. He’d led her up the garden path and then closed the door on any future relationship. But he’d been wrong. He knew that now. So, when he got back, he was going to try and make it up with Rebecca and see if she would give him one more chance.

  Shortly after takeoff from Hong Kong, they’d lifted the armrest between their two seats, Toby being by the window and Jeff being on the aisle, and Toby had snuggled up to his dad whilst they watched a film and played some games on the small seatback video screens. Then they’d both dropped off and now, as the map on the screen was showing them, they were flying over Hamburg, Germany, before crossing the North Sea and beginning the descent into Manchester. Just another hour or so and they’d be home and Jeff was looking forward to finding out what had been going on in his absence.

  SIX

  The next morning Jeff walked into a situation that, if he didn’t get control of, would begin to threaten the integrity of his team. He’d gone into work early – a combination of jet lag not letting him sleep and an eagerness to get back to work. He took the notes on the case with him to a meeting with Chief Superintendent Chambers and then went back to the squad room where the rest of the team had arrived for work and clearly gone into a sharp row.

  “I’m just saying that, on reflection, the decision perhaps wasn’t the right one,” DC Adrian Bradshaw insisted as he appeared to be locking horns with DI Rebecca Stockton. DC Joe Alexander was looking on but in the restless state he appeared to be in, Jeff didn’t think it would be long before he waded into the battle.

  “So you’re saying I screwed up then, Adrian?” Rebecca demanded.

  “I’m saying we all make mistakes, ma’am but Ellie Taylor on the news this morning seemed genuinely upset and angry that we seemed to have wasted those hours when we could’ve been out looking for her daughter.”

  “So you are saying I screwed up?”

  “If that’s how you want to take it, ma’am, but that’s up to you.”

  “The DI has no choice, from the way you’re sounding, Adrian,” Joe sneered. “So don’t come all this ‘you’ve chosen to take it the wrong way’ bullshit because that’s exactly what it is.”

  “And this poor wretch of a girl who everyone is falling over themselves to protect the reputation of had just murdered someone! Are you forgetting that little detail, Adrian?”

  “Of course I’m not, ma’am,” said Adrian, in as firm a voice as he thought he could use against a senior officer. “But it’s no good us all thinking we didn’t make a mistake when, in my opinion, we did and we missed a potential opportunity to find her alive.”

  “It’s easy to throw wisdom at the fire after it’s been lit in the wrong place,” said Joe. “We’re a team here, Adrian, and we take collective responsibility.”

  “Don’t you dare think you’ve got to remind me of the nature of teamwork, Joe,” Adrian shot back. “You know, as well as I do, that I’ve never been one to fly solo on any investigation. Whatever I’ve done has always been for the benefit of the team.”

  Joe knew Adrian was right on that one. “Except in the case of the argument we’re having now.”

  “There wouldn’t be an argument if you stepped back just a little and tried to understand what I’m saying.”

  “You’re saying that I did wrong, DC Bradshaw,” said Rebecca. “Well, at least I know where I stand with you.”

  Jeff took great delight in taking advantage of the fact that they hadn’t noticed him standing in the doorway of the squad room. “Good grief!” he exclaimed.

  It was pathetic the way their three heads swung round displaying three sets of rabbit eyes caught in the headlights. He really had to struggle not to laugh.

  “Look at you lot. Can’t I leave you lot for two weeks without you falling out? I’ve seen Toby and his mates act better than that and they’re only six years old. Now grow up, the lot of you!”

  They all apologised and then wished Jeff ‘welcome back’ from his holidays with the broadest smiles any of them could manage after the heat of the previous moments. Rebecca then glared at Adrian. She wasn’t going to forget this.

  DS Ollie Wright then came in. “Ah, sir, welcome back,” said Ollie. “How was your trip?”

  “It was wonderful, Ollie, thank you,” said Jeff who was glad to see Ollie hadn’t been part of the circus a few moments ago. It wouldn’t have been like him anyway. “Now Ollie, I want you to look at the staff lists of the schools that Sheridan Taylor attended and see if there’s anyone who taught there when she was a pupil and who subsequently ended up on the sex offenders list. See if she was ever part of any scandal. Then, in a couple of hours time, I want you and me to go out and see Ellie Taylor to see if we can pour some oil over troubled waters. Say about eleven?”

  “That’ll be fine, sir,” said Ollie and went to his desk to begin trawling the lists that Jeff had requested.

  Jeff then turned to Adrian and Joe. “And, if you two boys can promise to play nicely together, I want every bit of CCTV in and around that warehouse where the burned out Mondeo was found. It must have been picked up by something at some point. Also, check out the most direct route between where the petrol station is in Ancoats and where the warehouse is in Cheetham Hill. It was
late afternoon and it was starting to get dark. It’s my guess that Sheridan Taylor was assaulted in the car and her attacker probably used the warehouse for seclusion that combined with the fading light to provide perfect cover.” He then turned to Rebecca. “DI Stockton? My office, please.”

  “I’m going to stand up for myself,” said Rebecca after she’d sat down in Jeff’s office. “I’m not just going to roll over and take a bollocking.”

  “Who says anything about a bollocking?”

  “Well, you’re undermining me by taking Ollie out to see Ellie Taylor.”

  “It’s about damage limitation, Rebecca. You should be able to rise above it.”

  “Yeah, I get that, I really do but … well I thought from your tone out there………..”

  “I was angry at the way you three were arguing so openly,” said Jeff. “It would’ve had a negative impact on the team if anybody from outside had seen it. You know how it is in this place. They love to get something on another team.”

  “I know and we were being stupid,” Rebecca admitted. “Look, did you have a good holiday?”

  “Yes, I did,” said Jeff. “We were spoilt rotten by all of Lillie Mae’s family, as you can imagine, and, wherever we went, everybody made a huge fuss of Toby.” He patted his stomach. “I’ve put on a bit of weight too. Every day there was so much food prepared for us.”

  “That won’t do you any harm,” said Rebecca. “You were too thin anyway.”

  It was that rare moment when something personal passed between them. Jeff liked the way that Rebecca’s auburn hair dangled around her shoulders and she looked good. Whilst he was away he realised what a damn fool he’d been. It wasn’t that he didn’t find her attractive. He’d always found Rebecca attractive. It was just that he hadn’t been able to find a way to step into the future without Lillie Mae. Maybe it had happened when Lillie Mae’s mother had basically given him her blessing for him to move on with his personal life and find someone to spend the rest of his days with.