by J. S. Law
‘But you suspect this Chief Stoker, right?’
‘I do, but I have no evidence to support that.’
‘OK. But you want to go right back through the place again, don’t you?’ asked Felicity. ‘You think now that you’ve had these ideas and suspicions, that if Walker did leave you a clue, now you might recognise it.’
Dan was nodding, standing up. ‘I do. You fancy helping?’
‘I do,’ said Felicity. ‘But Dan, you know I can’t withhold evidence too. You know I’ll have to report everything we’ve discussed tonight to Branok Cornish when I speak with him first thing tomorrow morning, and I do mean everything, Dan.’
‘You should do whatever you have to do,’ said Dan.
‘I know.’ Felicity walked past Dan and headed towards the stairs. ‘Shall we start in the study?’
Chapter 34
Saturday Morning – 4th October 2014
The night started with high hopes as Dan and Felicity spent time going back through Walker’s house room-by-room, cupboard-by-cupboard, and drawer-by-drawer. A good hour was spent looking through and discussing the pictures from the spare room, desperately trying to fathom some link or order, but there was none. After that, their enthusiasm waned, but they continued through every other nook and cranny in the house. By the time it started getting light outside, both Dan and Felicity were empty-handed and exhausted.
The parting was quiet; they were both tired and talked-out.
Dan fell into her car, immediately noticing the seventeen missed calls on her mobile phone.
They would be from Roger Blackett and John. There was a message too, the small icon illuminated to prove it, but Dan had no stomach to hear it at the moment and she tossed the phone back onto the passenger seat.
The urge to get some sleep was strong and she considered booking back into another hotel. She had her things in the back of the car and the idea of another night in fresh sheets, with a warm bath, seemed very tempting. But as she pulled out and turned around in the road, she knew she would need to head back to the dockyard.
Her phone rang; this would be missed call number eighteen, Dan decided, and carried on driving.
Her thoughts were continuous and mixed, as though she was trying to do a jigsaw puzzle depicting a scene of waves. There were hundreds of pieces and it was impossible to tell which order they went in, or if any were missing; so many were similar and seemed to fit into multiple places.
Being convinced there was a killer on board Tenacity was one thing, but suspecting that this same person had attacked her so many years ago seemed stupid in the cold, hard light of day.
She tried to order her thoughts as the traffic density increased near to the dockyard entrance. She held up her pass, not really looking at the guard and only fully stopping when she realised he had no intention of moving aside to let her car pass.
The man stood in front of her vehicle, looked down at her licence plate and then at the armed police officer who was standing nearby, cradling his Heckler and Koch MP7 across his abdomen.
Dan sat back in her seat and waited. In her mind, she had figured out what it was already; Blackett had placed her name on the gate with orders that she be sent to his office as soon as she showed her face.
The man stopped next to her window and twirled his fingers, gesturing for her to wind down the window.
Dan did.
‘You should probably just do a push-button motion these days,’ she said, without a smile. ‘Nobody actually winds their windows down any more.’
He seemed to sigh before looking at her. ‘Do you have any identification please, ma’am?’ His voice was absent, as though he was bored, but Dan suspected that he was delighted to be the one to stop her.
‘Yes. I just showed it to you.’
‘May I see it again please, ma’am?’
Dan handed him her Special Investigation Branch ID and waited as he walked back into the small shack that was set up between traffic lanes for the security supervisor to use.
He picked up a phone, examined the card carefully as he spoke, and then walked, very slowly, oblivious to the ever-growing queue that was forming behind Dan’s car, back to her open window.
She had thought about shutting the window again to see if he would do a pushing motion this time, but he didn’t look smart enough to be so easily trained and so she thought better of it.
He leaned down and looked inside at her. ‘Ma’am, I’m going to have to ask you to—’
‘Report immediately to the squadron building and Commander Roger Blackett?’ she interrupted.
He looked heartbroken for an instant. His mouth opened but no words came out until he stood back up, looked around at all of the other cars and said, ‘Yes.’ He handed her ID back and waved her in.
‘Moron,’ said Dan as she drove away. She hoped he’d heard it, but couldn’t be sure.
The thought of disobeying Blackett crossed her mind. She contemplated heading up to the Wardroom and grabbing some sleep, taking a shower and spending some time trying to gather her thoughts, but decided against it. There would be enough questions to answer. Her phone was still on the passenger seat and she looked at the message icon.
‘Forewarned is forearmed,’ she said, and played the message over the car speakers.
The short message from Roger Blackett was enough to confirm that she wouldn’t be taking any detours, and Dan couldn’t help but accelerate as she drove towards the squadron buildings.
John met her just inside the door.
‘John,’ she said, not even looking at him. ‘We’re missing something, something that we, that I, shouldn’t be missing. Grab all of Ben Roach’s belongings and bring them into the interview room; I want to go through all of them again, but we need to be really quick.’
John didn’t answer, nor did he move out of her way.
She stopped and looked at him.
‘What?’
‘Blackett’s up there waiting for you, Danny. He’s not alone. They’re waiting for you in Interview Room One.’
Dan frowned.
‘I’m sorry. I tried to help as much as I could; as much as you’d let me,’ he said, and slipped past her without another word.
She watched him as he pushed open the door, thought about reaching out for him, maybe following, but the door slammed shut before she could do either.
It only took a few seconds for her to get to the landing and a few more to reach Interview Room One, but it felt like a long time. Her stomach was empty and her eyes were sore and she was sure the metallic taste of bile was ebbing at the back of her throat. The early signs of a migraine, probably through lack of sleep, were lapping at the bows of her mind. She blinked hard as she stood outside the door and slapped herself lightly on the back of the neck to jolt some life into her flagging brain. Then she knocked.
Blackett opened the door.
‘Hey, Roger,’ she said quietly, her heart sinking as she saw the grave look on his normally friendly face.
‘Lieutenant Lewis,’ he said, his voice stony. ‘Come in.’
He stepped back and waved her into the room. ‘You remember Captain Harrow-Brown.’
Dan looked down at the Captain as he sat on an interview chair, leaning back with his long legs delicately crossed and his hands, the white fingers laced together, resting on his thighs.
He didn’t smile or nod a greeting and even though she was standing and he was seated, he managed to look down his long, thin nose at her.
‘Take a seat, Lieutenant Lewis,’ said Blackett, as he moved around the table and sat down across from her.
‘So, what’s going on?’ she asked. ‘I’ve an investigation running and I’m making progress, if you—’
The Captain snorted, cutting Dan off and making her turn to look at him.
‘If you wanted an update,’ she continued.
‘There is to be no update from you, Lieutenant Lewis,’ said the Captain slowly. He touched the tips of his fingers together and pointed
both hands, palms together, towards her. ‘There will be no more updates from you at all.’
She looked at Blackett, her oldest friend, a friend of her family and her dad, but he turned his head away and looked out of the window, powerless to help.
The Captain stood up and tossed some papers towards Dan. He did so with a flick of his wrist, in a way that seemed designed to ensure that they scattered as they landed before her.
‘This is a report from the Commanding Officer of HMS Tenacity, Lieutenant Lewis. A report concerning your behaviour during your short time on board, behaviour that has resulted in a one-billion-pound asset being pulled out of global allied operations. A situation that leads to a briefing at Prime Ministerial level, a briefing that I personally have to deliver, and all because, what? You got claustrophobic?’ He sneered as he turned away from her.
‘I was attacked, physically and violently. My investigation was blocked at every turn on board that submarine.’
‘Really?’ The Captain spun around to face her again. It seemed as though he was enjoying it, as though there was an audience watching and he was playing to them. ‘And yet no one knows about it? No one at all until you submitted this …’ He paused, seeming to search for words as he gestured to a piece of paper that was waiting on one side of the interview table. Her handwriting was instantly recognisable and the letter looked as though it had been perfectly preserved since the moment she had handed it over to Tenacity’s Commanding Officer. ‘Fabrication,’ he finished, seemingly happy with his word choice.
‘It’s the truth,’ she said quietly.
‘What is truth, Lieutenant Lewis? Because I have various accounts in this report, signed by numerous serving officers and ratings that describe your behaviour on board HMS Tenacity in quite some vivid detail.’
She looked at Roger Blackett again, trying to meet his eyes, but he still wouldn’t look at her.
‘You did not take a single meal the entire time you were on board. Despite the time-sensitive nature of your assignment, you cancelled whole days of interviews. You spread rumours that you were investigating a murder, something you were, in fact, not there to do, and then managed to witness a “murder”.’
He used his fingers to make air apostrophes as he spat the word murder towards her like a dart from a blowpipe.
‘A “murder” that has since been proven to have been a terrible accident and which your callous actions made far, far more damaging to the ship’s company and their morale. You were then “physically attacked”,’ he performed more air apostrophes, ‘by multiple assailants – a scenario that has previously featured heavily in your career theories, I might add – but chose not to mention this to anyone on board at all, but instead to compromise secure communications to send a message back to Fleet about this alleged murder and assault.’
He paused to look at her, his narrow face making his eyes look as though they were sinking deeper into his head as Dan’s vision narrowed.
‘And these events, I should duly note, only cover your conduct in the naval investigation. The civil police are also keen to speak with you concerning a whole raft of indiscretions including withholding evidence. Have I missed anything?’ he asked, and waited.
‘Missed? No,’ she said. ‘Interpreted in the way that suits you best, yes.’
The Captain’s face darkened and she saw his jaw muscles clench tightly. They were over-pronounced against his skinny head, the muscles bunched clearly underneath his skin, which looked as though it were a translucent material that was stretched across bare bone and knotted rope.
‘Dan,’ cautioned Blackett as he spoke for the first time.
‘No, Commander Blackett,’ said the Captain, using Roger’s rank to remind him of his superiority. ‘Let Lieutenant Lewis speak. I doubt she can do any more harm to herself, or others, at this juncture.’
Dan sat back, but maintained eye contact with the hawk-like Captain.
‘But let me go on, please, Lieutenant Lewis, if I may?’ he said with a sneer of sarcasm. ‘You managed to bypass security protocols to send your message, subjecting a young and inexperienced sailor to what will likely be a custodial sentence, and then came back into the arms of your former partner, a subordinate, with whom Commander Blackett saw fit to pair you.’
Dan recoiled, her mouth open.
‘Don’t try to deny it,’ said the Captain slowly. ‘We know that Master at Arms Granger spent the night before last in a hotel room with you.’
Dan looked back to Blackett, caught his eye, pleading. But he shook his head slowly and looked away again, this time down at the table.
‘So, we are to believe that the ship’s company of HMS Tenacity sexually harassed you, that someone attacked you during your time on board, and not only did you do nothing, report it to no one, seek no help, refuse to be examined upon your return, but you ran immediately back to the first man you knew to get your leg over? Hardly the actions of a recent victim of sexual harassment and assault; don’t you agree, Lieutenant Lewis?’
Dan sprang to her feet, her fists clenched.
‘Oh sit down, please, Lieutenant Lewis,’ said the Captain, his face a mask of scorn. ‘Spare us all your righteous indignation.’
‘Roger?’ Dan looked to her friend.
He shook his head again, but still said nothing.
‘There will be no help for you this time, Lieutenant Lewis,’ said the Captain, with what might have passed for a smile. ‘You are relieved of duty, subject immediate. You are to return to your home and remain there until court martial proceedings can be brought against you. You are not to contact Master at Arms Granger, nor any member of the ship’s company of HMS Tenacity; you are no longer part of that investigation, although you may be required to give statements in support of it, and about your conduct during it.’
‘I gave my statement to the Commanding Officer of Tenacity; you already have it.’
‘Yes, and it will be used in the investigation, Lieutenant Lewis, you have my word on that.’
Dan felt the room begin to spin slowly around her.
‘You should also know, Lieutenant Lewis, that the job you were sent on board Tenacity to complete has been accomplished in less than two days by my officers. All information has been gathered with reference to Chief Walker’s unfortunate suicide, and all members of Tenacity have been accounted for on the nights in question. This information will be handed to the appropriate civil authorities forthwith.’
‘Roger?’ she asked again, more quietly this time.
‘You are done here, Lieutenant Lewis,’ said the Captain. ‘This investigation is done and so, I strongly suspect, is your career in Her Majesty’s Royal Navy.’
Chapter 35
Saturday Afternoon – 4th October 2014
It seemed like, and probably had been, hours before Dan saw Roger Blackett push open the door to the drab squadron building and walk towards his car.
She was sitting in her car nearby, watching and waiting.
He must have spotted her as soon as she opened her door, immediately looking behind himself, back at the squadron building entrance and then up towards the darkened windows, as if instinctively checking that he wasn’t being observed. Then, seeming to weigh it up, he reached into his pocket, pulled out a packet of cigarettes and walked slowly over to a small sheltered alcove between two buildings.
Dan also looked around before she hurried over and joined him.
‘You can’t be here, Danny,’ he said, as soon as she was in earshot. ‘I can’t talk to you at the moment, you know that.’
She stopped once she was in the alcove and out of view.
‘I’m not lying,’ she said.
‘I know you’re no liar, Danny. I’m in no doubt of that. I know John Granger’s no liar either. But that won’t count for shit at court martial; the evidence is all against you. They’ve twenty-odd statements about you from Tenacity and not one reads well.’
‘I was alone, Roger. My word against all of theirs.’
>
‘You chose to be that way, Dan—’
‘They wouldn’t let John on board,’ she cut in, her voice rising.
Blackett shook his head. ‘Danny, you chose it a long while ago. I told you to get help the night that you were …’ He paused and then shook his head, seeming not to know what word to use to describe the night Dan was attacked and flogged. ‘I told you to tell people, to trust the folk around you. You should have gone home; I’d have taken you myself. You could have told Charlie and your dad, had people around you that loved you and cared for you. You chose not to and you’ve been alone ever since.’
‘I had you.’
He snorted and nodded. ‘And if I were a real friend, Danny, a better friend, I’d have made you go to the police that day. At the very least I’d have made you go home, take help. I should never have done what I did. Those pictures,’ he paused, and Dan sensed he was hesitating, unsure of how far he would go, ‘those pictures weren’t supposed to be for evidence. God, I don’t know what they were for. All they’ve been are anchors to the past, keeping you back there, stopping you from moving on from it. That’s why I paired you with John. To remind you what it was like before that night, to have someone on your team; John would have backed you then and I knew he’d still back you now.’
Dan bowed her head and looked at the ground.
‘I need to go, Danny.’ Blackett dropped his cigarette and stubbed it out.
‘There’s something there, Roger. I know there is. If I could get down to check out the machinery space, No.2 AMS, then I know I could find something.’
He turned and looked at her. ‘It’s done. It’s checked. We had a team down there and there was nothing. Some old papers, some books and a half empty safe.’
He watched her, an almost pitying look on his face.
Dan thought quickly, knowing she must have looked desperate.
The Old Man had said to her that the boat had been crawling with people for weeks. If she was right, then whatever was on there that Ben wanted to show her, must still be on board now.
