by Gayle Curtis
‘I assume you told them?’ Sonny placed the plastic cup on the table.
‘Of course. I thought they wanted to talk to Miles about James Caddy – show him some photographs, see if he can identify him? I wish they’d hurry up, I want to get back to Ida.’
‘They’ll be asking him about everything, trust me.’ Sonny leant forward and rested his elbows on his knees. ‘Elise, there’s something I need to tell you. Something you need to hear from me.’
‘What? What is it?’ Elise sat up, anticipating alarm at anything that was said these days.
‘It’s difficult to know where to start,’ Sonny said.
‘Is it something to do with what happened to Ida?’
‘No, but you might not understand if you hear it from someone else.’
‘You’re worrying me now. Just tell me.’
Sonny looked up at the door and took a deep breath. ‘I had been asked by a colleague to represent a difficult client. He thought I was best placed to deal with her. She was seventeen at the time – she’d stabbed her older sister with a penknife. They’d got into an altercation one evening and things had got out of hand.’
Elise was quiet for a moment. ‘Did she die?’
‘No.’ Sonny frowned at Elise, causing her to wonder what was wrong with her question. ‘So, the girl, the sister, she was charged with attempted murder. Throughout the trial, she was evasive and difficult to represent. She thought I could work miracles without knowing all the facts.’
‘Why did she do it?’ Elise was suddenly absorbed in someone else’s life, giving her a small amount of respite from her own troubles.
‘To this day, I’m still not entirely sure. We had to be so careful how we dealt with her because she was a young seventeen, uneducated, and no one wanted to be accused of putting suggestions in her head. There was no talk of abuse – the two of them seemed to have a good relationship apart from the usual sibling spats – nothing obvious that might have pushed her into such a rage. Sometime near the trial, I asked her again, but more directly, why she stabbed her sister multiple times.’
‘What happened?’ Elise sipped the tea, waiting for Sonny to tell her more. There was a brief moment when she wanted to leave the room; the story was peculiar, forced somehow, and Sonny seemed to be acting differently. Or maybe she was viewing him from another perspective, she wasn’t sure.
‘She just laughed and said her sister owed her a tenner and she’d asked her for it too many times.’
‘That was it?’
‘That was it. Then I realised it was the first time anyone had asked her why. The most obvious question, and none of us, not even the police, had put this to her. We were all so busy tiptoeing around her.’
‘What has this got to do with anything we’re talking about?’
Sonny took another deep breath and shifted in his chair. ‘Just before her bail hearing, I went to her cell, so we could discuss her plea – she’d changed it from guilty to not guilty and I couldn’t understand why. Long story short, we got into a bit of a wrestle. She took my ballpoint pen from my book and stabbed me in the hand. I grabbed her wrists to stop it going any further and we grappled for a few seconds. I left the cell and went to get some first aid. My hand was bleeding quite badly by this time. When I got back, there were police officers running everywhere and I was cautioned and taken into custody. The bitch had torn her knickers, roughed herself up, made her wrists look worse and called for help, saying I had sexually assaulted her.’
Silence descended. Elise hadn’t liked how he’d referred to the young girl. It was a flash of a person she didn’t recognise; she’d never heard him call anyone a bitch before.
‘I take it they believed her?’
‘Everyone is entitled to make an allegation and receive a fair hearing. There was no CCTV in the cells – I shouldn’t have gone in there unaccompanied and I was seen leaving in a hurry. I had to prove it was to see to my hand and not because I’d committed a crime.’
‘But I can’t understand why they would believe someone with her background over a well-respected barrister like you.’
‘By this time, Elise, I wasn’t liked – not by my colleagues and especially not by the police. I was arrogant and obnoxious. I’d won some big cases and believed I was invincible.’
‘Even so, surely no one would believe someone like that?’
‘Why wouldn’t they? I had made the mistake of comforting her on a couple of occasions when she was upset – two police officers gave witness statements to that effect. My sexual history hadn’t done me any favours. I was married but known for shagging about, sometimes with girls like her. Drunken nights after work.’
‘What, teenagers?’ Elise was beginning to feel even more uncomfortable; she hadn’t known any of this about Sonny.
‘Yes, Elise.’ Sonny stood up and walked over to the door and peered out of the small square window. ‘You’re judging me. They weren’t all that young – I didn’t seek them out, if that’s what you’re thinking.’
‘Of course I’m going to think that. So would you, if your sixteen-year-old daughter was lying in a hospital bed.’
‘I certainly wouldn’t be here talking to someone I thought might be guilty of attacking one of my children. I’d want them dead.’
Elise looked up sharply, startled at Sonny’s tone. ‘Yes, I would want you dead, you’re right. What makes you think I’m suspicious of you? Or anyone else for that matter?’
Silence engulfed the room as Elise waited for Sonny to respond.
‘It doesn’t matter what I say. Ultimately, you’ll make up your own mind.’
‘Tell me why you think I’m suspicious of you.’
‘In my experience of dealing with this kind of thing, mothers are suspicious of everyone. You suspect me, Ray, even Nathaniel. Don’t tell me it hasn’t crossed your mind.’ Sonny turned from the door and stared at Elise. ‘The police think I did it, they’re watching to see if I make any mistakes; arresting other people to lull me into a false sense of security. I know how it works.’
‘What happened with the girl?’
‘I was found not guilty and she admitted afterwards that she’d lied.’
Elise rested her head in her hands, exhausted and nauseous, her mind jumping from one question to another, interrupted by flashes of Ida’s face smiling at the unidentified photographer. Now the images were scorched into her burnt-out brain.
‘You’re right, I was suspicious. What am I meant to think? It’s not like we grew up together, is it? I don’t know you like I would any other sibling.’
‘Would that make any difference? You’d still be suspicious of me. I was the first to find her – that puts me at the top of the list.’
‘I guess so.’
Sonny sat down again, just as DI David Davis entered the room with DC Chilvers.
‘Where’s Miles?’
‘Mrs Munroe, we need to speak to you for a moment. Where’s your husband?’ DI Davis placed a file on the table.
‘I have no idea. What is it? Has Miles identified someone? Is he okay?’ Elise said, beginning to panic.
‘Miles is fine, he’s still being interviewed. Mrs Munroe, earlier today we arrested Alistair King based on a confession and some forensic evidence to corroborate his statement. He’s admitted assaulting your daughter and we’ve charged him with attempted murder.’ DC Chilvers’s blunt words hit Elise in the face like shards of glass.
‘What?’ Sonny looked at the two officers, but they ignored him, focusing their attention on Elise, who had begun to shake uncontrollably. ‘A confession? Alistair?’
‘Yes. He claims they had sex a few days prior to the attack and she accused him of rape. On Monday the 29th, he skipped lessons and broke into your apartment so he could destroy any incriminating evidence, and he stole Ida’s laptop with the intention of deleting anything that might prove his guilt. Upon leaving the block of flats, he bumped into Ida and she agreed to walk with him to the cricket pavilion in the Maryon Park
, so they could talk. We believe Ida may have dropped her phone before they left, which was why you discovered it near the apartment. After they’d been to the cricket pavilion, they went back to your father’s house where an argument ensued, and he struck her on the back of the head with a heavy object.’
‘No. No. This isn’t right.’ Elise stood up, tears rolling from her sore, red eyes. ‘Alistair wouldn’t do that to Ida. He loves her.’
DC Chilvers looked at DI Davis. ‘At this time, we’re still looking at evidence and corroborating what he has said.’ DC Chilvers turned to Sonny. ‘Your description of the person running from the garden matched the clothes Alistair King was wearing that day.’
Elise staggered backwards, bile reaching her throat as DC Chilvers managed to grab her before she hit the floor, guiding her back to her chair.
‘Try and sip your tea, Mrs Munroe. You’ll feel better.’
‘Has she been sexually assaulted? Do you mean he raped her?’
‘No, and there’s no evidence of that. It was the one and only time, and Ida became cross with him because she didn’t want their relationship to change. He thinks she regretted it and accused him of forcing her. He says they argued about it at your father’s house and he lost his temper.’
‘Has anyone called Nathaniel?’ Sonny said, reaching across and taking Elise’s hand in his.
‘Would you like me to call your husband or do you want to do it?’ DC Chilvers said.
‘What exactly did he do to her? What did he hit her with?’
‘Come on, Elise,’ Sonny said. ‘Don’t upset yourself with questions like that.’ He squeezed her hand before she could pull it away.
‘We have only just received this information and we’re still waiting on some forensic reports.’
‘I want to know exactly what he’s done to her. You said there’s forensic evidence to support what he’s saying?’
The two police officers looked at one another.
DI Davis linked his fingers together before giving a considered response. ‘It’s probably best we wait until all the facts become clear and Forensics can tell us more, Mrs Munroe. Your brother is right – speculating will just upset you.’
‘I want to know what evidence you have.’ Elise’s voice was rising. ‘I’ve known Alistair since he was six. He’s stayed with us, been on holiday with us, he’s part of our family – and you’re telling me he’s tried to kill my daughter?’
DC Chilvers addressed Elise directly. ‘We found significant amounts of unidentified spatter on his clothing, which would suggest he attacked her – enough to corroborate what he’s saying anyway, should he change his plea.’
‘It “would suggest”? What does that mean?’ Elise began squeezing her fingers together, wanting to feel some pain.
DC Chilvers took a deep breath, trying to find the right words to explain it. ‘When your father’s clothes were tested, Forensics found blood spray, conducive to someone breathing out. So when he lifted Ida off the ground, the breath that came from her mouth contained particles of blood that were expired on to Dr Coe’s clothing. Alistair’s clothes had significantly more, which would indicate spatter from the blow to the head. We’re still waiting for the results to confirm exactly what the staining is.’
‘That wasn’t what I meant. You used the words “claimed” and “suggest”. Are you saying you’re not sure he’s telling the truth? Are you still looking for other suspects?’
‘In a case like this, especially when a teenager makes a confession, we never stop looking at the entire picture. Alistair hasn’t told us exactly what weapon he used and where it is. This is an important fact we need to establish to prove he’s telling the truth.’
‘But why would he confess to something he hasn’t done?’ Elise couldn’t understand any of it. She thought she knew Alistair like he was one of her own children. There had never been any thoughts he might be unhinged. In fact, he was the one person she had dismissed when Ida had been attacked.
‘People do, I’m afraid.’ DC Chilvers handed Elise her tea. ‘It can be for notoriety, infamy, that kind of thing, and sometimes they do it because they feel guilty about something else, that they might have failed that person in some way, so they admit to the crime as a way of punishing themselves.’
‘Sounds to me like you don’t think he’s guilty.’
‘We keep an open mind throughout an investigation, Mrs Munroe. Everyone is still a suspect until we reach a conviction,’ said DI Davis, glancing briefly at Elise. It was then that she realised it wasn’t just all the people around her who were under suspicion. She wasn’t exempt because she was Ida’s mother. They were all guilty until proven innocent.
Elise looked up and focused her gaze on Sonny. Everything appeared to slow down, the floor and walls seemed to be moving towards her.
She was certain Alistair wasn’t guilty at all.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
NOW
Nathaniel threw a pile of tabloids on to the bed. It was a few moments before Elise stirred and pulled herself into a sitting position.
‘Did you know it’s exactly a year since Buddy has been gone?’ he asked her.
Elise shrugged, making him even angrier than he already was. It was almost like she’d regressed to being a child.
‘Still not long enough for you to sell yet another story to the bloody press. This is low, even for you,’ Nathaniel snapped at her.
Elise moved her messy blonde hair from her face and pulled back the quilt, swinging her legs out of bed.
‘Hung over?’
‘Nathaniel, you once said to me that to deal with the press was to be their friend. So, that’s what I do now, give them a story before they make one up.’
‘You had no right to sell a story about my mother.’ Nathaniel walked around the bed, cornering her so she wouldn’t storm off to the bathroom like she usually did when they argued.
‘It wasn’t just about your mother. It’s not always about you,’ Elise said. ‘It’s stopped them finding out about Buddy, hasn’t it?’
At the mention of his son’s name, Nathaniel sat down heavily on the bed and, as predicted, Elise went straight to the bathroom. Moments later he heard her switch on the shower.
The previous day, they’d had a call from a social worker informing them that a decision had been made to place Buddy into adoption – find him a permanent home. It hadn’t appeared to have had any impact on Elise, but Nathaniel felt like someone had placed his body under a guillotine and sliced him in half. It didn’t matter what he said or offered to do, social services were adamant the decision was final. It reminded him of that desperate day when they’d taken Buddy away – up there with one of the worst days of his life.
A year ago, Jed – that was the social worker’s name – had visited to tell them the news. Nathaniel could see his lips moving but the words didn’t seem to be sinking in. Buddy was going to be taken to a foster home until the situation could be assessed again, in twelve months’ time. It was in Buddy’s best interests, Jed had said. Then Nathaniel heard Elise say she’d been sober for five days and he wanted to punch her in the face for being so pathetic and sounding so childish. They’d been here so many times before, and it was only ever three or five days at the most, and then she tended to replace the drugs with alcohol.
Nathaniel could recall all the times he should have done something during that year. He knew the social worker’s visit was inevitable. Then there were all the incidents they didn’t know about.
‘Buddy stays with a childminder when I’m at work,’ he’d explained, ‘and the rest of the time he’s with me. I don’t ever leave him alone with my wife.’
‘Don’t do that, Nathaniel. Don’t talk about me as if I’m incapable of looking after him.’ Elise was slurring now, having tanked herself up before the social worker arrived. The irony was, she didn’t even want Buddy. Nathaniel had never been a violent man, but the last few years with Elise, his temper was a constant spark immediately inflamed at
the smallest irritation.
‘We know that, Mr Munroe, but our main priority is Buddy and we need to know he’s safe at all times. There have been too many concerns for his welfare.’
Nathaniel looked away, remembering all the other incidents social services didn’t know about – on one occasion Buddy had fallen out of his high chair and on to the tiled floor; Elise hadn’t been watching him and it had resulted in a broken arm. Then there’d been another time when Karen, his stepmother, had been babysitting, and found strips of zopiclone under his cot mattress – Buddy had been sick, and she had made the discovery whilst changing his bedding. Elise had protested that she’d had to hide the tablets where no one would think to look because she was being constantly nagged about them, completely missing the point that their son could have found them, with catastrophic consequences. They’d had to rush him to hospital to check the cause of his sickness, which luckily hadn’t been anything to do with the drugs.
Nathaniel’s father and stepmother had threatened to report everything to social services if he didn’t do something about it.
Aside from all this, there had been the issue of Elise stalking the Patons and her public outbursts. They’d been given too many chances already.
‘I’ll leave,’ Nathaniel told them. ‘I’ll pack my bags and take Buddy right now. He can live with my father too, until I get a place to live. We can get a court order like there was for Miles.’
Lauren, the younger social worker who hadn’t spoken other than to say hello, stared at the coffee table, unable to look at Nathaniel. Buddy turned his attention to Nathaniel and began to crawl towards him.
‘I’m sorry, Mr Munroe, but it’s too late,’ Jed said. ‘We’ve tried to speak to you and your wife on numerous occasions about this matter and nothing has changed.’
Nathaniel shot a glance at Elise, who had said nothing. Her face was blank, indifferent and cold. He scooped Buddy into his arms and stood up.
