by Mistry, Liz
He cleared his throat and, arms behind his back, legs apart, stood erect and glared over at Compo and Sampson. ‘I’m very sorry to have to bring this to your attention, Chalmers. Yesterday, I found two officers from your team behaving in an inappropriate manner.’
Nancy raised one hand and stepped closer to Hussain. ‘Were they abusing prisoners, or for that matter the public?’
Hussain irritated by the interruption shook his head, but before he could speak she continued. ‘Maybe they were doctoring evidence or conducting some other nefarious and illegal activity?’
Hussain tutted. ‘You are trivialising untoward behaviour, Chalmers and that’s not on. If you weren’t so… erm… close, with DCS Bowles, I’d be in his office now making a formal complaint.’
Nancy blushed at his sneering use of the word ‘close’, then shrugged noncommittally. ‘Of course, you must do as you see fit, Imran. Although, I hardly think that two officers who’d been on the job for over fourteen hours non-stop and who had just uncovered two very important leads that pushed our investigation forwards, jamming out for ten minutes in the empty investigation room, is a major transgression.’ She grinned, ‘Hell, if I’d been here, I’d have joined in myself.’ She turned her back dismissively on Hussain, who opened his mouth to reply. Before he could speak however, Nancy turned back and glared at him. ‘Especially in light of the fact that two of your officers are currently under investigation by internal affairs for their behaviour towards a fellow officer in public. An incident to which we have numerous witnesses.’
Hussain frowned. ‘What are you talking about? I thought we’d agreed to brush that silly incident in the pub the other night under the carpet. I’ve spoken to the officers involved.’
Nancy turned back and smiled. ‘Yes, we did have a verbal agreement. Nonetheless, I covered my back by taking witness statements just the same. Like you, I don’t like my police force being brought into disrepute.’ She stepped closer to Hussain and continued. ‘I’d thank you to clean out your own stable and allow my officers to behave as efficiently and impeccably as they always do. And I include in that statement their momentary release of healthy tension through a jamming session. Now if you’ll excuse me, Gus has an arrest on the Sharon Asif murder to make.’ and she all but shepherded Hussain out of the room.
When Hussain and Nancy had left, Sadia released a long breath and turned to Gus, her face flushed.
‘Look, about my dad–’
Gus interrupted. ‘Look, when we’re at work, he’s not your dad. He’s a senior officer. It’ll be easier for you if you keep that distinction in mind, ok?’
She nodded and turned back to her computer screen. ‘Yeah, especially if he’s going to be a dick!’
Chapter 88
Friday 4pm
Gus and Alice looked through the one-way mirror at Jamal, Naila and Amy. Jamal looked like he’d been ravaged by a Pitbull. His face was mottled. As they watched, his fingers worried at a ragged hole in the sleeve of his jumper. Alice moved away and pumped some money into the vending machine. When the can of Pepsi Max thudded out, she picked it up. ‘That’s for Jamal. The others don’t want a drink. You ready, Gus?’
Gus nodded and together they left the room and approached the interview room. Rolling the tension from his shoulders, Gus hesitated then opened the door. As soon as it opened, Jamal’s head jerked up and Gus saw that he’d bitten his lips to a scabby mess. He smiled at Jamal, patted him on the shoulder and walked past to take the seat opposite. Alice placed the can in front of Jamal and joined Gus at the other side of the table.
Gus looked at the three people sat opposite. ‘Are we alright to continue?’
The lawyer nodded, adjusted her pad on the table and sat back. Gus nodded to Alice who inserted a tape in the recorder and introduced the participants before Gus took over.
‘Ok Jamal, we’ve already got on file your previous statement relating to the weeks leading up to and including the period of incarceration of the children in the attic at 9 Inkerman Street. In this interview, we want to focus on the day and evening of the death of your mother Sharon Asif. Is that clear?’
Jamal nodded and his solicitor nudged him. With a smile she gestured to the recorder. Jamal sighed and said, ‘Yes, I understand.’
Gus leaned back, stretching his legs under the table and keeping his body as open and unthreatening as possible. ‘When was the first time you saw your mother, Sharon Asif, on Saturday the seventh February?’
Jamal’s fingers continued to pluck at the woollen fabric of his jumper, his head remained bowed as he spoke. ‘I stayed at my mate Frankie Robb’s place on the Friday. Went there straight after school and stayed over till the Saturday. Then he was going to the football and I knew I should go back and check on the kids. I never liked to leave them with her for too long.’
‘When you say ‘her’, Jamal, do you mean your mother?’
‘Yes, my mother.’ He sniffed and then wiped a tissue over his nose and eyes. ‘When I got in, they were watching telly in the living room. She was lying in her bed, wearing that bloody dressing gown and a short nightie. She stank. The whole fucking house stank… piss, sick, shit… everything. Imran’s nappy was full and even he stank. His little Babygro was covered in muck and shit, but there was nothing else. I changed his bum. It was sore, so I slathered Sudocrem over it. She didn’t buy that for him. Mrs Khalifa next door gave it me. She never bought owt for us.’
Jamal paused, his fingers working like a piston on his jumper. His eyes were glazed and he stared blankly at the ceiling. Gus exchanged a glance with Naila, who gently placed her hand on Jamal’s arm.
‘You’re doing really well, Jamal,’ she said.
Jamal swallowed before continuing. ‘I woke her up – my mum that is – and told her I’d used the last nappy. Told her she needed to buy more. She just grunted, so I got a cup of water and threw it over her.’ A faint smile flickered at his sore mouth, before his eyes clouded over. ‘She was mad then. She jumped up. I could smell the sweat and booze and… sex on her.’ Jamal’s fists clenched on top of the table. ‘Fucking whore bitch! She grabbed my wrist.’ His fingers moved from the jumper to the skin underneath, Gus could see the yellowing remains of a bruise on his wrist. He leaned over and touched Jamal’s arm with one finger.
‘Jamal, I can see an old bruise on your wrist. How did you get that?’
Jamal stared up at Gus with a frown. ‘I just told you. She did it. She grabbed my wrist and twisted like she always does.’ He stood up quickly. Turning round he hoisted his jumper up to reveal a series of bruises on his skinny back. ‘She did those too, kicked and punched me for waking her up.’
Gus released a long breath. ‘Ok, Jamal you can sit down, love.’ He glanced at the lawyer whose face revealed her shock. Gus knew that things had changed dramatically. Jamal now had a motive and possibly an excuse for killing his mother.
Gus inclined his head towards Naila. ‘I’m going to terminate this interview for now, Jamal, because you’ve made allegations of abuse by your mother and shown us injuries we previously didn’t know existed. What will happen now is that a doctor will come in and do a medical examination to document your injuries. You’ll have some tea and then we’ll continue,’ he looked at his watch. ‘Probably tomorrow now.’
Confusion clouding his face, Jamal looked from Naila to his lawyer for corroboration before giving a single exhausted nod.
Gus noted the time and signed off from the tape.
Chapter 89
Friday 5:15pm
As Gus and Alice walked along the corridor, leaving Jamal in the capable hands of his lawyer and social worker, his phone vibrated in his trouser pocket.
Rummaging awkwardly Gus found it, glanced at the screen and scowled. ‘Shit, that’s my alarm to remind me I’ve got to go see the shrink. Drop me off will you, Al.’ He flexed his bad shoulder. ‘I discovered this morning that I’m not fit to drive yet.’
‘Sure,’ said Alice, changing direction and heading
towards the escalator, with Gus following behind, cursing under his breath.
When they got in Gus said, ‘What the hell’s so funny?’
Alice pouted and looked toward the roof of the lift. ‘Not a thing, Gus. Not a thing.’
Lashing snow made the short drive along Manningham Lane and onto Bradford Road, in rush hour treacherous. Gus spent most of the journey cursing and bemoaning the stupidity of psychiatrists and their unreasonable demands on patients who were perfectly fine, whilst Alice smiled and ignored him.
She followed him into the waiting room and was introduced to Gus’ soulmate Nemo. Alice, like Gus, took a liking to the hulking fish and seemed happy to entertain him whilst Gus was with Dr Mahmood.
Force of habit had Gus walking towards his chair and focussing on the damp patch on the wall above Dr Mahmood’s head, whilst she sat behind her desk and, elbows resting on her chin, studied him. ‘How have you been, Angus?’ she asked.
Gus pursed his lips and shrugged. ‘Busy, very busy. In fact, so busy I’m going to have to cut this appointment short. I’ve got lots to do.’
Dr Mahmood stood up and walked to the front of her desk. Placing her hands on her hips, she stared so hard at him that he almost flinched. When she opened her mouth to speak, Gus expected an avalanche of annoyance but, instead, she spoke very quietly. ‘The thing is Angus, it’s not up to you when this appointment terminates.’ She held up two hands, palms facing upwards. ‘You see these two hands of mine?’
Gus directed his gaze to her hands and then immediately swung his gaze back to his patch with a curt nod.
She continued. ‘Well, these hands carry a heavy weight on them. Do you know what that weight is?’
Gus shook his head, suspecting he wasn’t going to like whatever revelation she was about to make.
Dr Mahmood lowered her voice even more. ‘It’s the weight of power. I have power over many things Angus. However, the power pertaining to you is my ability to revoke your fitness to work status, should I deem it necessary.’
Gus narrowed his eyes and directed his gaze straight at her.
She inclined her head, in what Gus could only describe as a regal fashion. ‘I have no desire to revoke that status, Angus.’ She said, moving round her desk and sitting back down. ‘Nonetheless, I will not accept tardiness or a ‘no show’. I’m aware that in your line of work, there are occasions when you may need to postpone our appointment and that’s fine. However, you will have the courtesy to notify me to schedule an alternate time. Is that understood?’
Gus had the grace to acknowledge that he had been rude to her and that he should have set his phone alarm for his earlier appointment. He would still have needed to cancel, but it would have been courteous to contact her first. He nodded and said, ‘Perfectly.’
With a smile she said, ‘Right, let’s crack on. How have you found your return to work? Be warned, I expect a proper answer this time.’
Gus bit his lip and then described his working week in detail.
Afterwards, he felt a lot of the tension he’d carried into the room had dissipated.
Dr Mahmood looked at him across the table with narrowed eyes. She shook her head slowly from side to side and then rested her forehead in her hands. ‘If you’d only loosen up about your accident like you did just now about your current case, I’d be a lot happier with your return to work.’
With a slight smile Gus said, ‘I’m fine. Honestly. Being back at work is all the therapy I need.’
Dr Mahmood exhaled a deep breath. ‘I’m not one hundred percent sure of that. At some point you will have to let it all out in order to heal. I only hope it doesn’t break free when you’re in a compromised position.’ She reached across and flicked the mouse to bring her diary onto the computer screen. Monday 8am suit you?’
Gus took out his phone and made a show of setting his alarm for it. ‘Fine.’
Chapter 90
Friday 7:20pm
Laden with bacon butties and chocolate chip cookies newly bought from Chaat’s, Alice and Gus went into the incident room and deposited their goody bags on his desk.
‘Dive in, troops!’ Gus glanced round, spotted Sadia sitting at her desk, phone glued to her ear. He walked over and dropped a greasy paper bag on top of her desk. ‘Egg for you.’
Sadia looked up, her brown eyes flickered momentarily in confusion and then she mouthed ‘thank you’.
Gus gave a single nod and walked back to his own desk grabbing the last bacon sandwich and shouting to Compo to get the coffee on.
When she’d finished her phone conversation, Sadia sidled over to Gus. ‘Thanks for the egg butty. I didn’t order one.’
Gus glanced up and wiped ketchup from his fingers. ‘You’re welcome. No one ordered owt.’ He grinned. ‘You could say impetuosity got the better of me.’
As he looked up at her from beneath his dreads she grinned at him. Her almond shaped eyes were huge and lidded by lashes that, on anyone else, he’d have assumed were false. On her, he knew they’d be natural. Her smile revealed perfectly white teeth with an endearing overbite at the front. He stared at her, then shaking himself he turned back to his paperwork.
Sadia laid her hand on his arm and squeezed lightly. When she spoke, the carefree tone of minutes ago was replaced by an urgency that immediately had Gus’s full attention. ‘That was Janine, Beth’s FLO on the phone. Two things. Well three really, first DHL just delivered an identical box to the one that came the other day. They’ve obviously realised that, now the press have taken up residence at the gate, they can’t drop things off so easily.’
Gus’s blue eyes narrowed as she continued. ‘Janine has contacted forensics and, as a precaution, she’s left the box in the middle of the garden with a PC on guard. The second thing is that Beth’s moving in with Wendy Horan, her deputy head, for now. She’s requested police security, but won’t countenance a safe house. She said she’s not ever doing that again.’ Sadia sighed, ‘And the third thing is, she’s relieved Janine of her duties. Said she’s fed up with having a minder and it’s causing her too much stress.’
‘Ok! Get a police presence at the deputy’s house and get a team to go over it for security. I want a panic alarm in each room and I want the premises covered front and back twenty-four seven.’
He put his hand into his pocket and fingered the card Sergeant Ormerton had given him. ‘Tell forensics not to touch the box. I want it checked over by my contact in the army before they touch it. Does Beth know it’s there?’
Sadia shook her head. ‘No, Janine opted to keep it quiet till she’d heard from us.’
‘Good, tell her to try to keep Beth there for now, but away from the windows if possible.’
He picked up his phone pumped in Ormerton’s number and gestured to Sadia to get her coat. ‘Get a squad car. You can come with me. Compo, tell Alice I’ll be back ASAP.’
Chapter 91
Friday 8pm
Blinding sleet and icy roads made the drive to Ilkley take longer than Gus had anticipated. When they pulled into the drive, the reporters, remembering Sadia’s earlier impatience, crowded the sides of the vehicle, but wisely left the front free.
Gus grinned at them through the side window as they swept through the first gate into the area he privately thought of now as ‘the paddock’, before being buzzed through to the drive. The forensic team had arrived and Gus saw an army vehicle parked near the door. He got out of the car and raised his arm in greeting to Ormerton who strode towards him.
Ormerton shook Gus’s hand vigorously. ‘No bombs or explosives of any description this time. The bastard clearly didn’t want to risk damaging the contents of the box.’ His eyes narrowed. He hoiked, deep in his throat and spat a glob of phlegm onto the snow in a gesture that jarred with his posh accent. ‘Fucking animal!’
‘Is it bad then?’ asked Gus.
Ormerton nodded abruptly and glared at the gob of phlegm before kicking some fresh snow over it. ‘Best go and see for yourself. I’ve extende
d my stay by a few days. I’ve taking a bit of a shine to those buns called fat rascals in Betty’s cake shop down the road.’ He grinned. ‘…and, of course, the rather less fat, but just as delicious Charlotte, who works there, is an added attraction. Call if you need me,’ he said and saluted Gus, before climbing back into his truck and driving off.
Gus, face grim, headed round the corner to the white forensic tent. Sadia trailed behind, muffled in a huge Puffa coat that dwarfed her slender frame. Before he pulled the flap back he glanced towards the kitchen window where Beth was silhouetted, holding her baby against her shoulder and staring straight at him. Wendy stood beside her, but he could tell from Beth’s body language that any comfort from her friend had been rejected. He raised a hand in the air and waved it once. Beth nodded slightly in response and kept her gaze locked on him as he suited up. With a deep breath, Gus stood aside allowing Sadia to precede him into the tent. Hissing Sid walked towards him and shook his head. ‘Doubt we’ll get much from the box or its wrappings but we wanted to let you see it in situ.’
Gus approached the box, pre-warned by the solemn expressions around him that it would not be pleasant. The SOCOs had left the box open on the snowy ground. Gus looked in and saw a white sheet of folded paper. A quick glance at Sid gave him permission to lift it and open the sheet. It was written in the same child’s hand as before, but with a darker colour, and in ink, rather than crayon.
Sid saw Gus’s frown as he studied the message. ‘You’ve got new email.’
Gus glanced up and then followed his gaze back to the box where a pad of cotton wool covered whatever lay beneath. A muscle twitched in Gus’s cheek as he leaned over and with his gloved fingers lifted the pad.
‘We reckon the note’s written in blood, Gus!’ said Sid as Gus looked at the small item lying in the box.
With an abrupt nod Gus turned to Sadia. ‘Get the techs to access Beth’s email, ASAP. I need to know what’s on it.’
