An awkward silence followed the scene.
‘I’m sorry about that,’ Ed finally said.
‘No need,’ Kim said quickly, but she couldn’t deny she was shocked. Shocked at the physical signs of abuse on Serena's face and shocked by the other woman’s words too. She hated herself for thinking it, but how well did she really know Ed? Was he capable of carrying out that sort of violence? Had she been letting her feelings for him get in the way of assessing the situation rationally?
No! She felt immediately disloyal even considering it.
‘Come on,’ she said, starting the engine. ‘Let’s get you to your car so you can pack your stuff while she’s at the hospital.’
But conversation was forced as they drove, and she sensed his relief was as big as hers when she finally dropped him off.
CHAPTER FIVE
‘WHAT DID THE HOSPITAL say?’ Harry asked WPC Sarah Davidson when she returned to the office an hour and a half later.
She offloaded her bag onto her desk and pulled out some paperwork. ‘No signs of sexual abuse, but her injuries were confirmed as recent physical trauma to her nose and face. I’ll write up a report.’
‘Do you believe her when she says she’ll go ahead this time and prosecute?’
‘I think so, but she’s obviously frightened, even though her anger and concern for her kids seems to be carrying her through at the moment. My guess is she’ll need a lot of support and we’ll need to make sure she gets it.’
Harry sighed. ‘If we charge him, we need to know she won’t back out this time. I’ve just been filling Cowper in and he was adamant about that. Says it’s a waste of time in most cases, and costly if we get it wrong and fail to deliver.’
Sarah looked indignant. ‘With all due respect to Sergeant Cowper, I totally get why women find it difficult to press charges. We can’t protect them or their children twenty-four hours a day—and if my husband held my head under water because I’d reported him for abuse, I’d certainly think twice about doing it again. You can’t blame her for feeling anxious about it.’
‘I don’t... all I’m saying is that we don’t want it collapsing at the first hurdle, or worse, at the final hurdle. It has to be a water-tight case from the start, otherwise Cowper won’t recommend taking it forward.’
‘And what do you say, Harry? Are you just another man who thinks it’s not the police’s business what goes on behind closed doors? That she probably brought it on herself?’
‘No. I don’t happen to agree with that train of thought at all. If he’s guilty, I’ll see he pays for it.’
Sarah smiled. ‘Good. Anything I can do to help?’
‘I don’t think so, at the moment. I’m going to head off to question her other neighbours—see if anyone else heard anything or suspects that things aren’t right in that household. At least her next-door neighbour says he’s prepared to act as a witness. Then, once we’ve got as much info as we can get, Cowper said to leave it a day or two and interview her again—to make sure she’s not backing out.’
‘Apparently, she’s been taking advice from the Women’s Refuge and Citizen’s Advice Bureau,’ Sarah said. ‘She’s adamant she won’t back out this time, and I believe her.’
Kim was clearing her desk for the day, when her mobile rang and she saw it was Ed. She picked it up quickly. ‘Hi,’ she said. ‘How are you doing? I thought you’d be coming in this afternoon.’
‘Sorry. I couldn’t face it.’ He sounded moody, but she could hardly blame him. ‘I rearranged my appointments and took my stuff round to my parents. It hasn’t been an easy afternoon.’ He sighed. ‘Don’t fancy a drink, do you? I could do with a bit of cheering up to be honest.’
‘Come over to mine,’ she said impulsively. ‘I cooked a lasagne at the weekend and there’s plenty for two. It’ll be quieter for you.’
‘Thanks, Kim. That would be great. My parents had already arranged to go out tonight, so I’d be eating alone.’
‘It’s settled then. I’m just leaving and should be home about seven. See you then?’
When she opened the door to him an hour later, she was shocked at his appearance. He looked tense and depressed, and it was as much as she could do not to pull him to her and give him a reassuring hug.
‘You look awful,’ she said.
He managed to twist his lips into some semblance of a smile. ‘Thanks for the compliment.’
‘I’m not good at compliments. You know that. How did it go at the house?’
He nodded. ‘Okay. I did what I had to do and packed up some stuff, but Serena got back just as I was leaving. It wasn’t pleasant. She’s still making noises about bringing charges.’ For the first time, Kim could see it was beginning to worry him. ‘I never thought she’d do it, but now I’m not so sure. It could ruin my career if she did that—and she knows it. Why would she do that? She’d suffer as much as I would if I lost my job.’
‘It’s probably just her anger talking.’
‘What’s she got to be angry about? I’m the one being slandered here!’
He checked himself with an obvious effort. ‘Sorry—I don’t want to take it out on you—but I’m so angry I could throttle her.’
The expression on her face must have changed because he looked suddenly horrified as he realised what he’d said. ‘Not literally, obviously. You won’t repeat that to the cops, will you? You know what they’re like... they’d use it to tear me apart.’
‘Of course I won’t. I know it was only said in the heat of the moment. Now come on, you can open the wine while I dish up the lasagne. Let’s change the subject and not talk about Serena, shall we? And after supper, maybe you’ll have a look at the new mobile phone I’ve got—show me how the bloody thing works. No point having a techie friend and not making use of him.’
The lasagne was good and so was the wine—and Kim knew she’d drunk more than she probably should have. They talked about work and mutual interests, gently teasing each other with an ease born of the friendship that had developed over the years, and for a while it was enough. But afterwards, as they sat chilling in her lounge, they seemed to drift back to the subject.
‘Nothing I ever did was good enough,’ he said broodily, staring into the glowing embers of the wood-burner. ‘We went to Kenya on safari for our honeymoon. I did it as a surprise for her because I thought she’d love it—and I didn’t skimp on the cost either, even though money was tight then. All she did was moan the whole week about snakes and spiders that we never saw, and the dust thrown up by the open safari vehicles as we tracked the animals. Told me I was a control freak because I hadn’t consulted her on whether she’d like that sort of holiday. It never even occurred to me that she wouldn’t.’ He turned to look at her. ‘I can’t see you reacting like that.’
Kim laughed. ‘That would be my dream come true, but I guess we’re not all alike.’
‘And thank God for that.’
His expression stilled as their eyes met, and he raised a hand to coax a wisp of hair off her face. Kim caught her breath. It was a definite step over the line that had governed their relationship up to now, and one of those defining moments when she knew that what happened next could possibly determine her whole future.
‘You said there’d been things you needed to do at the house,’ she said hurriedly, delaying the moment. ‘What were they?’
He shook his head. ‘Probably best you don’t know. I don’t want to involve you in any of this.’
‘Ed...’ she looked at him, worried. ‘You haven’t done anything stupid, have you?’
‘Of course not,’ he soothed. ‘It might just give me some leverage when the time comes, if she does go ahead and try to press charges. Don’t worry... I’ve not done anything illegal, as far as I’m aware.’
‘I don’t like the sound of it.’
‘It’s nothing for you to worry about, really.’
He clearly wasn’t going to tell her and she shrugged, realising she’d have to take his word for it.
‘You’re a great friend, Kim...’ He hesitated. ‘You know how I feel about you, don’t you?’
His voice had deepened and she thrilled to the sound of it, but part of her held back, knowing that it didn’t feel right. Not yet.
‘Ed—’
‘No, let me speak. I know this isn’t great timing but I couldn’t say anything before because it didn’t seem right while I was trying to make things work with Serena. But now this has all blown up, I know that she and I are over, and there doesn’t seem much point denying how I feel about you. I get you might not feel the same...’
She wanted to say that of course she did, but for some reason the words stuck in her throat.
He looked at her astutely. ‘It’s freaked you out, this stuff with Serena, hasn’t it?’
‘No—’
‘Then show me... show me that you don’t believe I could do the stuff she’s accusing me of. I need you to believe in me, Kim.’
His hand came up to draw her towards him, and just for a moment his eyes burned into hers, before he lowered his head. She knew immediately that he hadn’t been lying. There was a desperation to his kiss that showed her how much he needed to know she was on side. And then that need changed to a different type of need, and her own rose to match it. Her last thought before all conscious thought was thrown to the wind, was that of course he was innocent.
Ed wouldn’t hurt a fly.
CHAPTER SIX
‘HOW’S THAT DOMESTIC violence case coming on?’ Cowper asked, approaching Harry’s desk with a frown. ‘It’s been three days now.’
Harry looked up from where he was studying a missing persons report. ‘The wheels are turning... slowly. She got the Restraining Order, much to the husband’s disgust.’
‘Well, we’ll need to make a decision soon on whether we’re going to proceed or not. How did you get on interviewing the neighbours?’
‘I put the report on your desk yesterday. Didn’t you see it?’
‘Must have got buried. What did it say?’
‘Not much, to be honest. Neighbours on the other side said they’d heard shouting on occasions but not to the extent where they felt they needed to intervene. The guy who witnessed it this time reckoned he’d almost gone over once or twice before when they’d been rowing, but said he felt awkward about interfering. This was the first time he’d done anything about it.’
‘Pity. If we had more on file, we’d have more to go on.’
‘We have got the other episode she reported. It would count for something, surely? You’re not thinking about letting him get away with it?’
Harry couldn’t help showing his frustration at the thought, and Cowper shook his head, sighing.
‘Things aren’t always as straightforward as we’d like them to be, Harry. You’ll come to see that. We need as much proof as we can get—and more—to make this type of case stick. And I’ve already told you the reasons why... cost, man hours and reputation. It doesn’t look good when we go through all the motions of taking it to court only to have the whole case collapse on a technicality, or because she pulls out. I’ll get myself a coffee and go through the file—take a view after that.’
At seven o’clock that evening, Harry let himself into his flat. It was an early night for him and he toyed with the idea of watching a film, but his heart wasn’t in it. The truth was he couldn’t get the Hamilton case out of his head. Half a dozen other issues had come up during the day that had prevented him from digging deeper, and he somehow felt he was letting Serena Hamilton down by not going the extra mile for her. After reading through the notes, Cowper had expressed reluctance to prosecute because, as he’d put it, ‘at the end of the day, whilst the neighbour may have heard the screaming and shouting, he didn’t actually witness the husband hitting the wife’, and Hamilton’s lawyers will make that the basis of their whole defence if they’ve got any sense. It might feel watertight to you, Harry, but it isn’t. I’ve seen these things fail all too often with a clever solicitor.’
‘But surely common sense dictates it had to be him. Who else was it going to be who hit her... one of the kids?’
‘It wasn’t witnessed and who’s to say she didn’t hit her face on the banister as the husband suggested? It’s not an impossibility and it could open up enough of a loophole to cast doubt. And that’s all his defence needs.’
Harry moved into the kitchen and poured himself a beer while he cooked a steak and prepared a salad, something he’d done often enough to perform on autopilot.
He wished he had someone to vent his frustration to. He just didn’t feel that Cowper was taking Serena Hamilton’s allegations seriously enough. It was at times like these that he missed living with his grandmother, which he’d done since he was a small boy. She was such a sharp, astute woman and her own father had been in the police. They’d had many lively debates about the wrongs and rights of the world while he’d been doing his training, and he was sure she’d have an opinion or two to offer.
‘Follow your instincts,’ she always said to him, ‘they rarely let you down. But keep an open mind for that rare occasion when they do.’
He wasn’t sure quite how that fitted into this particular situation, but he resolved that the next morning he’d dig a little deeper into Ed Hamilton’s background... see if there was anything at all he could find that might add some weight to his wife’s accusations.
He’d just finished eating his meal when his mobile rang. It was Cowper.
‘Are you busy?’
‘Erm... no, not particularly.’
‘Well, I’ve got a little job that I think you might enjoy. They’ve just brought Edward Hamilton in for breaking the terms of his Restriction Order. Apparently, he forced his way into the house and tried to take his children. You up for dealing with that?’
Yes! Harry thought. ‘You bet,’ he said. ‘Anything in particular I need to say or do?’
‘Just take a statement from him and remind him he can go to jail for breaking the terms of the Order—although he’s a solicitor so he’ll already know that. The kids are still with their mum and there’s not much we can do at this stage, except give him a bollocking and tell him that if he does it again, we will bang him up.’
‘Okay. I’ll report back to you tomorrow.’
He ended the call and went to get his jacket. Breaking the Restraining Order was a massively stupid thing to do—especially when you knew the consequences of that as well as someone like Edward Hamilton did. It showed complete arrogance and disregard for the law—that as a lawyer he was supposed to be upholding—but he was just digging a deeper hole for himself in the long run. Perhaps this was his first mistake.
‘Kim? I need you to do me a favour.’
Ed sounded almost desperate over the phone, and Kim turned the volume on the television down as she took the call.
‘What’s up?’
‘The police have arrested me.’
‘What? What for?’
There was a pause. ‘For breaking the terms of the Restraining Order.’
‘Oh, Ed, no... why did you do that?’
‘Look, I don’t have time to go into it now. They’ve allowed me one call and I’ve made it to you because I know you’re the one person who won’t let me down. I know it’s a big ask, but there’s something I need you to do for me—something I hope will settle this bloody mess with Serena once and for all.’
‘I can’t do that,’ Kim said in horrified tones when he’d finished explaining. ‘How can you even ask me? It must be totally illegal. What if I get caught?’
‘You won’t. There won’t be anyone around. Serena will be driving the kids to school. She’ll be gone almost an hour, round trip. No one will know you’ve been there.’
‘But... even if I did, I don’t know anything about—’
‘I’ll talk you through it. It won’t be that difficult. Look, I wouldn’t ask if I wasn’t desperate. You know I wouldn’t. I hate that I have to involve you, I really do. Bu
t can’t you see how this could change everything? For you and me too?’
Her heart flipped. Was he saying what she thought he was?
There was a long silence.
‘Oh, forget it,’ he said. ‘I was only doing this to give us a chance... I thought after the other night you felt the same.’
Kim immediately felt swamped by guilt. She thought back to their lovemaking that night and how totally consuming it had been. They hadn’t repeated it though, as Ed had said that in the current circumstances it would only be adding fuel to the fire. But there’d been a tacit understanding between them that once this was all sorted...
‘I do feel the same, you know I do, but... Ed, it’s a huge ask. If I got caught...’
‘I know. You’re right—I’m sorry, I’m not thinking straight. Don’t worry about it. I’ll see if they’ll let me make another call—try and think of someone else.’
Why did she feel she was letting him down so badly? She could ruin her whole career if she got caught.
‘No—I’ll do it,’ she said quickly, before he could hang up, or she could change her mind, ‘but you’ll have to give me a blow-by-blow account of what I need to do. I’ll never figure it out for myself. Hang on while a get a pen and some paper.’
‘No, don’t worry. I’ll drop round after I leave here. Go through it with you then. Thanks Kim, I appreciate it.’
At the police station, Harry took the stairs up to the interview room two at a time. He’d had a briefing from the PC who’d responded to the call-out and felt reasonably confident about the direction his line of questioning would take, though he was well aware that Ed Hamilton was far more practiced at these Q&A sessions than he was.
In the room, he sat down and placed his case notes on the table.
‘We meet again, Mr Hamilton.’
‘So we do, Constable Briscombe.’
He was impressed that the man had remembered his name, but then again, a solicitor’s life was made up of detail.
‘You don’t need me to tell you the serious implications of breaking a Restraining Order, I’m sure?’ he said, taking a seat and rearranging his papers.
Behind Closed Doors Page 3
