Doing the Best I Can_A Manchester Crime Story featuring DSI Jeff Barton

by David Menon

  ‘Sir, what if someone who was abused at that time is now seeking their revenge?’ offered Ng. ‘I know we still have to answer questions about Karina Kowalewski and why she died but the way the body of Stacey Donaldson was deliberately dumped in a park where her mother was more than likely to find her suggests that it was a deliberate act that had been carefully planned’.

  ‘I agree’.

  ‘Well if it is someone who was wronged by the circuit then let’s face it, there would no doubt be a long list for that’ said Bradshaw.

  ‘Yes, but the evidence we’ve got so far suggests it was only girls who were abused and not boys’ said Wright. ‘And I don’t mean to sound sexist or anything but I think it’s a male killer we’re looking for’.

  ‘I think that too, Ollie’ said Barton who was consumed with the need to make these now old men pay for their heinous crimes against their own children and those of their friends and if they couldn’t get enough on them before long they would all die and get away with it. None of them would ever face justice. And that was what was really sticking in Barton’s throat just like the lack of progress in the current murder case was too.

  ‘Have we heard back from anyone in Lytham, Emily? With regard to tracing the identity of the so-called hidden daughter of the Donaldson family?’.

  ‘Yes we have but you’re not going to like it, sir’.

  ‘I’ve got broad shoulders Emily as I’m sure you’ve already gathered’.

  ‘I spoke to Sergeant Mills of the Lytham police and he told me that there was no such person as we’d described in any sheltered residential premises in the town’.

  ‘Well now there’s a surprise’ said Ben. ‘But?’

  ‘But he called me back on my personal mobile, sir, just a few minutes later’ Emily revealed. ‘He said that yes, there was such a woman and that he’d lied to me initially because he was under instructions to do so from his boss who’d been leaned on by … ‘

  ‘… Greater Manchester Chief Constable Ronald Hermitage’.

  ‘The very same, sir. And the fact remains that there’s a woman in Lytham who could tell us so much that could be useful but we can’t get to her because of Chief Constable Hermitage’.

  ‘Which means that we’ve somehow got to outsmart Hermitage’ said Masters. ‘And that’s not easy when these are historical crimes’.

  ‘I know, but somehow we’ve got to do it’ said Barton.

  ‘And did you know, sir, that Hermitage had a daughter who was murdered when she was a child?’ Louisa offered.

  ‘No?’ said Barton, who was immediately intrigued. ‘I didn’t know that’.

  Emily picked up the file with all the information she needed in it. ‘Vanessa Jane Hermitage disappeared on her way home from school in May 1997. She was eight years old at the time and she was with her friend Imelda Stratton who also was found murdered. Ronald and his then wife Samantha had another daughter, Suzanne Elizabeth Hermitage, she’s three years younger than Vanessa, and she now works at MediaCity in Salford. There was an investigation of course at the time of the disappearance of the two little girls but the police found nothing that would point to whatever might have happened to them. No witnesses came forward to say they’d seen them, no evidence was ever found but Imelda Stratton was the daughter of Bernard Arthur Stratton, another one of Manchester’s top prosecution lawyers until his recent retirement, and whose son Ken is now the Conservative MP for North Cheshire. And Ken Stratton won’t have anything to do with a murdered children’s charity that they wanted him to be the patron of. He issued a statement saying that it would only bring back painful memories for him and his family’.

  ‘Well now’ said Barton. ‘It seems that this briefing has produced several potential leads to investigate. So let’s get to work’.

  Ben got home that night and if it wasn’t for the fact that he wanted to spend time with his little three year-old son Josh then he would’ve swapped places with any man in any city of the world. It was Wednesday and therefore his parents-in-law would be round for dinner and in all normal circumstances, as normal as the circumstances could be surrounding his relationship with Kaitlin and her handy fists, it would be just the one thing that he had to deal with. Sitting around a dinner table with a mother-in-law and father-in-law who thought he was lower than a snake’s arse had become a ritual, sometimes sufferable, sometimes absolutely excruciating, since he and Kaitlin had got together, but he’d learned to deal with it. But knowing what he knew about them now he found that looking into their eyes brought him down to the depths of a depravity that he’d never known before. The fingers that were holding the knives and forks with which to consume the beef that Kaitlin had cooked were the same as those who’d forced themselves on young girls in a sexually abusive way that will have damaged them forever. And they have the fucking nerve to look down on him?

  ‘The problem is’ said Mary Franklin, Kaitlin’s mother, ‘Is that her majesty the Queen has performed her duty as our head of state with such grace and that sense of duty that seems to drive everything she does’.

  ‘I agree’ said Alastair Franklin, Kaitlin’s father and, as far as Ben was concerned, an evil paedophile.

  ‘And I’m nervous about where the so-called new generation of royals are going to take the crown’ Mary went on. ‘Now that the Duke of Edinburgh is stepping down from public duties, the young ones are going to be taking over more of the work and I think that isn’t to be welcomed because they seem to be too modern’.

  ‘They seem to care about people and not some abstract notion of duty’ said Ben. ‘William and Harry are very much their mother’s sons’.

  ‘And that’s why I’m nervous about the future of the monarchy’ said Mary.

  Ben wondered if he was actually sitting at a dinner table in twenty-first century Britain. He’d always been in favour of his country becoming a republic. He didn’t see the sense in a modern democratic country like his to have a head of state who lived in a palace and seemed to have little to do with contemporary life.

  ‘It would be a retrograde step for this country to turn away from the traditional values that the monarchy represent’ said Alastair.

  ‘I agree, Daddy’ said Kaitlin who was, as usual, fussing round her father like she was some concubine rather than his daughter. All this fawning behaviour had taken on a whole new meaning for Ben. He wondered what it did actually represent.

  ‘Beautiful beef, darling’ said Ben who was truly enjoying the roast Kaitlin had done. It was lovely and pink in the middle which was just the way he liked it. At least he could enjoy that part of the ordeal.

  ‘Well it’s better than what we had to endure at that stupid restaurant you forced me to go to the other night’ said Kaitlin who looked at her parents for support and they smiled in shared conspiracy their acknowledgement of what she’d said.

  ‘That was lamb and you said you liked it at the time’.

  ‘I didn’t want to hurt your feelings, darling. You’d gone to so much trouble organising a trip that met your kind of standards but were way below mine’.

  Kaitlin once again laughed with her parents as if she’d just been acknowledging the silly notions of a child rather than the man who paid the mortgage on the house. It infuriated Ben. How fucking dare they laugh at him.

  ‘And you have an audience tonight, darling. That always inspires you against me’.

  ‘Let’s get back to the royals’ said Kaitlin’s mother, Mary, trying to steer her daughter and son-in-law away from the all too obvious tension that filled the air between them more often than not. Mary really wasn’t in the mood for their histrionics, especially as it was taking her everything she had in the way of restraint to keep her cool with her son-in-law. She’d spent the best part of the last week trying to comfort her dear friends Mark and Helen Donaldson over the horrifying murder of their darling daughter Stacey. They’d all been furious at Ben for not having taken the circuit’s money to charge the odious and so obviously guilty as sin Scott De
laney. If he’d only done that after the murder of the Polish girl then poor Stacey would still be alive. But her son-in-law had always been burdened by his stupid working class honesty and his insistence on not charging any suspect unless he was 110 percent sure of their guilt. Mary found this stupid need to be utterly tedious. Ben may be a senior police officer with all the power that his position brings but people from his sort of background will one day have to wake up and realise that they were not the ones in charge.

  ‘Yes, let’s’ said Ben not meaning a word of it. His mother-in-law was in full colonial mistress mode and firing directly at what she knew of Ben’s republican views. He wondered how deeply Mary was involved in the circuit and if she cared at all about the apparent suicide of Scott Delaney. He detested her perspective. She was one of the old boy brigade of fitting someone up for a crime whether they’d done it or not. As long as someone went down for it then people like Mary couldn’t give a fuck if they were the right someone. And if the police want to set someone up for a crime it normally meant that there was something else they couldn’t get them for.

  ‘Well the royals so represent the best of the traditional values of English speaking people all around the world’ said Alastair.

  Ben didn’t know if it was because he was tired, or that it had been a long day, or if the presence of his in-laws was simply irritating the shit out of him, but he had to take his chance and land one on his filthy pervert of a father-in-law.

  ‘So tell me, Alastair’ said Ben. ‘When did you decide that traditional values as you call them included fucking your own daughter?’

  A deafening and pretty odious silence fell on the room until Kaitlin reached across and slapped her husband across the face. ‘Don’t you dare speak to my Daddy like that!’

  ‘Your daughter always turns to violence when the truth doesn’t suit her’ said Ben who observed that the eyes of his in-laws were like those of the proverbial rabbit stuck in headlights. His wife Kaitlin’s eyes were absolutely on fire with incandescent rage.

  ‘It is not the truth!’ Kaitlin squealed. ‘Rosie has been telling these lies for years!’

  ‘I don’t think so, darling’ said Ben as calmly as he could. ‘I think she’s telling the truth’.

  Driven by a sense of anger that came from deep within her, Kaitlin stood up and went for him and even though she was six months pregnant she managed to grab tuffs of his hair and shake his head from side to side, screaming all the time that her Daddy was innocent. Ben let her have her play for a moment before he grabbed her wrists and pulled her hands away. She struggled but for once he allowed himself to be the stronger one whilst their faces were almost close enough to touch and her parents just stood by just watching.

  ‘Now I may not come from the same background as you, Kaitlin but I’m so glad about that because my parents never laid a finger on me or my brother in any circumstances and never used violence to solve any problem. That makes them ten times better than the specimens who brought you up, darling. And why isn’t your Daddy defending himself? Why is he letting you do his dirty work for him? Are you that desperate for his praise because he fucked your sister and not you?’ He looked around. ‘And still he remains silent? But should we be surprised when the only ones he can stand up to are defenceless children who he forces to open their legs for him. Are there heaps of women out there, Alastair, who can’t form normal relationships with men because you and your friends violated them when they couldn’t defend themselves against you?’ You two absolutely disgust me. I mean, Mary, how could you stand by and let your freak of a husband do that to your own daughter? That makes you as guilty as him in my book. And Alastair? What was your motivation in all of this? What was it like fucking your own daughter? Was it like fucking her mother here? I suppose it must’ve all been a great deal tighter if you see what I mean because of her youth and inexperience? Your silence won’t help you much longer. We’re on to you. We’re on to you and all your friends and as soon as we’ve gathered enough evidence we’ll be making sure you all pay for what you’ve done. Your days of getting away with it are coming to a very definite end’.

  Ben let go of Kaitlin’s wrists and she ran from the room crying. Alastair and Mary stared out their son-in-law and then left without saying a word. After he’d closed the door on them Ben turned round to see Kaitlin standing there with his cricket bat in her hand.

  ‘You really are going to pay for that little outburst’ Kaitlin snarled through gritted teeth. ‘I’m going to make you wish you were dead’.

  ELEVEN

  Ben was fastening his young son Josh into the child seat in the back of his car when Kaitlin came out

  and confronted him.

  ‘What do you think you’re doing?’ she demanded. ‘Where are you taking Josh at this time of the morning? It’s barely eight’.

  ‘Me and Josh are moving to my parents place until you get yourself some help’ said Ben as calmly as he could. When she’d come at him the previous night with the cricket bat he’d recoiled and wrapped his arms around his body as much as he could for protection. He had to remember that despite the violence she was a woman who six months pregnant with his child. But it was only after he’d grown tired of being hit at and trying to work out if any bones had been broken or fractured, that he started to try and get the bat out of her hands. Once he’d got it from her she collapsed against the wall of the dining room and said she didn’t want to fight but that he made her so mad. She was blaming him for her own abusive behaviour. It was fucking classic.

  ‘I don’t need help!’ she screamed out. ‘I just need a supportive husband’.

  ‘Oh I’ve supported you to the point of sheer exhaustion, Kaitlin. And I can’t do it anymore. I just can’t do it anymore, you know?’

  Kaitlin stepped over to where he was standing by the back door. Josh was looking at his parents from inside of the car. Ben wondered what the poor little mite must be thinking as he watched his parents slugging it out with each other all the time. No wonder he seemed like such an anxious child who cried often.

  ‘We both know it goes way beyond that’ said Ben.

  Kaitlin slapped his face hard. He stood looking at the ground with clenched fists. He was breathing rapidly. He was fighting the temptation to hit her back. He kept telling himself that it would be exactly what she wanted. Every bully uses the first strike back by their victim after endless provocation as a reason to turn the tables on them. And he really wasn’t going to give her that.

  ‘Do you want a repeat of last night?’ she threatened.

  ‘Last night is the reason why I’m leaving and taking our son with me’ said Ben. ‘I should’ve done it long ago. Look Kaitlin, you’ve got to sort yourself out. You’ve got to free yourself from all the demons in your head that your so-called family have put there. When you’ve done that we can talk about me and Josh coming back but not until’.

  ‘But what about the baby?’

  ‘I’ll be applying to the courts to give me sole custody as soon as it’s born’.

  ‘You can’t do that!’

  ‘Watch me’.

  ‘But I’m it’s mother!’

  ‘Then start acting like one. If you really want to be a good mother to Josh and the baby then get some help’.

  ‘I told you I don’t need any bloody help!’

  ‘You really are delusional, Kaitlin’.

  ‘I only hit you because you make me’.

  ‘Anymore cliched excuses you’d like to throw at me? You hit me because you need to vent off your anger and I’m the easy target. You need to get to the root of that anger, Kaitlin. Now if you don’t mind I’ve got places to be’.

  ‘You can’t take my son!’

  ‘He’s our son and as his father I no longer trust that he’s safe here’.

  Ben picked up his car keys and Kaitlin went for his hand, squeezing it around the jagged metal until Ben gasped with pain.

  ‘You’ll never get away from me and the hurt I can cause you’ sa
id Kaitlin in a low menacing voice that still managed to put the wind up Ben even after the show of strength he’d been trying to make.

  ‘Get off me’ he demanded.

  ‘When I’m good and ready’ Kaitlin answered. She squeezed his hand even tighter and the sharp end of the key pressed into the palm of his hand. Ben grabbed her wrist and forced her fingers to release his hand. ‘You’re fighting back. What a new experience that is for me’.

  Ben gave her a contemptuous look before opening the back door and making for his car as quickly as he could. He managed to get his door shut and locked just in time before Kaitlin was banging her hands on it. Then he turned the car on and accelerated at speed down the drive and onto the road, leaving Kaitlin standing on the drive gesturing wildly and shouting expletives at him. She didn’t know that he’d been recording every second of their encounter on his mobile phone.

  Detective Constable Emily Ng had a good chat with her parents over the breakfast table whilst she consumed her usual favourite of Greek yogurt, nuts, and kiwi fruit. Her parents had playfully chided her over acquiring such Western tastes in food but it was good natured. They talked about her upcoming wedding preparations too and then she kissed them both before leaving for work.

  She didn’t tell her parents but something had knocked her off her certainty about her upcoming wedding.

  It was her growing attraction for her boss, DSI Barton.

  When she got to work she saw him sitting in his office and wanted to go and talk to him but held herself back. What was she thinking? She was engaged to the most wonderful man but since she met Barton she couldn’t manage to get him out of her head at times. He had a certain something that she realised she’d been missing but had never found. She put her bag down on her desk which was opposite to DS Adrian Bradshaw.

  ‘How’s things this morning?’ she asked Bradshaw after they’d exchanged the usual pleasantries. ‘Any big drama brewing?’

  ‘Well funny you should say that but I think there is, yes’ Bradshaw replied. ‘The boss took a call a few minutes ago and his face changed as he being told something. That’s when he went into the office’.