by Carla Kovach
‘No probs,’ he said, flinching as he tried to shuffle up the bed further, holding on to the thick dressing that covered his stab wound.
‘Look, my son has been through a lot and I’d appreciate it if you just—’
‘Dad, sir, please. I nearly got killed yesterday and I’m not proud of some of the things I’ve done. I want to talk, so just sit down and shut up.’
Oscar’s face reddened and Gina wondered if that was the first time ever the boy had managed to stand up to his father. Maybe he’d taken out all his pent-up frustrations on his peers.
Mr Spalding slowly sat, keeping his gaze on Gina as he did. ‘If that’s what you want but you should have a solicitor present.’
‘She tried to kill me. I don’t need a solicitor and I’m sick of everything. I don’t want to be this person any more. It’s because of you, Dad, and this is where it ends. I’ve had enough. I’ve done a lot of growing up over this past twenty-four hours.’
Gina smiled sympathetically. She knew there were things she’d have to question Oscar about, mostly his use of Rohypnol, but her main focus was on his attempted murder. ‘Thank you. We know you’re in a lot of pain so we’ll try not to keep you too long. When you get out of hospital, we’ll need you to come down to the station to make a formal statement.’
‘Course. The docs say I’ll be in a couple of days so we’ll come then, won’t we?’ Oscar turned to his dad.
The man leaned back, suspiciously eyeing Gina and Jacob up. ‘It’s getting late and he needs plenty of rest so if you get on with it, we’d be grateful.’
‘Thank you. Oscar, I’ll start with the forensics that we found. We found your blood on a nail file in Caro Blakely’s bedroom. Can you explain that?’
‘Yeah. I did something stupid and I think I scared her. I’d been sending her anonymous messages saying that I knew what had happened to her at the first party and that if she met me, I’d tell her everything. Naomi sent some of these messages too. We needed her to shut up but she was freaked out, a liability I guess.’
‘Please carry on.’
‘Yeah, I sent a message asking her to meet me in the woods. I was going to jump out and tell her it was just a joke, all part of the dares that we were joking around with. I hoped that I could persuade her to keep quiet and that it made sense as we all did things we weren’t proud of now. That was the plan. I hoped she’d see that we all had something to hide, including her, and that she wouldn’t tell. I didn’t get the chance though because she half turned in the dark, stabbed me in the leg and ran off, so that backfired. I know scaring her like that was stupid after what had happened to Leah and Jordan. I had no idea at the time that it was Caro who killed them. I mean, she could have killed me for that stupid prank.’
‘What did you want her and the others to keep quiet about?’
‘It wasn’t just me. None of us wanted our secrets to come out. Will I get into trouble if I say?’ He scratched his nose.
‘We’ll have to look at the severity of everything but this case is a huge one. It will go to Crown Court and witnesses, including yourself, will be called. If you cooperate now, it will benefit you in the future.’
Mr Spalding sighed and nodded.
‘The things we did were stupid. They’d start with drinking games, things like streaking through the woods and dancing naked and filming it so that no one would talk. But it was done for laughs. We got worse the more we drunk. We’d smash wing mirrors off cars, spray obscenities on peoples’ garden walls and steal from the lorry drivers when we were drunk. We’d post dog mess through letter boxes. Dare each other to sleep with and kiss some of the others even though we might not fancy them. That’s it. That’s what we did.’
‘How about the Rohypnol?’
Oscar sighed. ‘Jordan said he got it from a dealer.’
‘Did you drug Caro Blakely?’
‘I was being egged on by Jordan but I only gave her a sprinkle and pocketed the rest. I didn’t really want to hurt her.’
‘What happened?’
‘When it began to take effect, we drew on her. That’s how stupid it got. We didn’t rape anyone if that’s what you think? It was all done for jokes and pranks. But Caro was scared and went a bit mad. I felt bad about it so we settled her in a tent and carried on. Anyway, I hooked up with Elsa at the first party, then Caro stumbled in while we were…’ He looked at his dad. ‘We were having sex and she called Elsa by Leah’s name. She looked livid. I know she likes me, she always has done to the point of obsession and it got too much. I was glad she caught me and Elsa. I thought then that she’d get the hint that we would never be a thing. Anyway, it must have been about three in the morning, I felt really guilty and I was so drunk. I felt bad about hurting her feelings so I went into her tent. She was woozy and tried to talk but I told her to just rest and we’d talk the next day. I just lay on the ground in her tent and fell asleep. I swear I didn’t touch her. That’s all it was. The next morning, she was sick and hung-over and really angry at all the drawing on her body which I helped her clean off. It sounds immature now but when we were drunk, it seemed so funny. She couldn’t look at me after that and she’d started to give Leah horrible stares as she still thought I’d slept with Leah.’
‘And the most recent party on Saturday?’
‘We invited Caro but she didn’t even answer. We just assumed we’d upset her and she wasn’t coming.’
‘And what happened to Leah that night?’
‘We were going to do the same, joke around and get something embarrassing on Leah so we did give her a bit of roofie.’
‘But you had sex with her.’
‘Yeah, but that was earlier in the evening, before the roofie. I don’t need to drug girls into being with me. It was to joke around. Everyone was in on it, not just me. We were going to draw on her face and hope she didn’t notice in the morning as we all thought it was so funny when we did it to Caro. She’d sort of drifted a little and we had this joke going that Naomi would give her a love bite for a laugh thinking that her mother might see. We pulled down her T-shirt to the top of her breast and Naomi actually bit her and we all burst out laughing but she was hammered. It was nothing more than a stupid prank that went too far. That really brought Leah round and she went wild and got really angry with us even though she was struggling to stand and walk. After ranting around the fire for a few minutes, she staggered off into the woods. We all ran after her, told her we were sorry and that we’d look after her, that was near the clearing but she told us she hated us and that she’d trusted me and I’d let her down. I did let her down…’ Oscar ran his hand over his head. ‘It’s my fault she died. I did let her down. Earlier she was saying how much she liked me and I felt bad as for me it was just sex. Anyway, she was going at us, shouting and telling us to shove off so we left her behind and headed back to the camp. I said she was just attention-seeking and that she’d come back when she finished sulking.’ He paused. ‘We left her.’
‘So you drugged her and left her alone thinking she’d make her way back to you?’
Mr Spalding stood. ‘Don’t say another word, son. My son is the victim here and here you are trying to blame him for all this.’
‘Sit down!’ Oscar trembled and stared at his father. ‘This needs to come out. I’m so ashamed of what I did. If I’d treated Caro better, she’d have never have had a jealous fit on Leah and come over that night to kill her. The worse thing about it is…’
‘Go on.’
‘I thought I saw her lurking around that evening, watching us but I was high, I thought I’d half imagined it. I could have said something earlier and Jordan would still be here. It’s all my fault.’ Oscar began to link his fingers and twiddled them. ‘I deserve to be punished.’
‘You were punished, son. That bitch nearly killed you.’
‘Mr Spalding, I’d appreciate it if you let Oscar speak.’ Calling anyone a bitch wasn’t sitting well with Gina especially after all the mean things that had happened. Jaco
b continued making notes.
‘She’s not a bitch, Dad. Caro has problems and she needs help. I’m as much to blame.’
Mr Spalding sighed and shook his head.
‘Can you take me through what happened earlier today?’
‘Yeah. Caro messaged me and said we had to talk. This was in the early hours. She came to meet me by the back of the summer house and she asked me to walk with her. We decided to go to the school gym unit, which is where we used to hang out. I knew we’d left a few cans of pop and it was comfortable sitting on the crash mats. When we got there, she opened me a can of pop and we started talking. A few minutes later, I was out of it. She got me back and drugged me, probably with one of her dad’s sleeping tablets. How’s that for revenge? As I was going under, she kept saying that I would now know how it felt, that Anthony told her that I’d drugged her and now I was going to pay. There was a manic look in her eyes and she said that I had it coming to me, just like Leah and Jordan did. Then she started crying, saying that we were best friends and that I’d abandoned her for the slut, that’s what she called Leah. Then I was gone.’
‘What do you remember next?’ The man’s snores in the next bed got louder, making it harder for Gina to hear.
‘I woke up with a stiff neck, feeling spaced out. I was tied to an old chair with the ropes used for skipping. She laughed like some crazy person as she said I snored like a pig. That’s when I saw the body on the floor. I didn’t know it was Naomi at the time, all I saw was a pair of legs sticking out of the blanket and I knew then she was going to kill me. I shouted at her and called her lots of names I’m not proud of using and then she pulled out what looked like a little chopping knife and screamed so loud as she stabbed me, I thought my eardrum was going to burst.’
‘And?’
‘It was like reality hit her. She kept looking between me and Naomi’s body on the floor, half tearing her hair out and crying. I played unconscious in the hope that she’d also think I was dying or dead. Then her phone pinged and she split. I was just relieved she hadn’t killed me. I thought I was going to die. However much I tried to wriggle free and loosen the ropes I couldn’t get out and I was bleeding. It was as if my hands weren’t working or they were shaking too much. The sun was blinding me through that little strip of a window near the roof. It was confusing and disorientating. They said I was dehydrated when I came in.’ He paused. ‘Am I in big trouble?’
Mr Spalding stood again. ‘Son, I’m not taking no for an answer this time. He’s had enough now. We’ll come to the station with a solicitor when he’s discharged but that’s it for now. Please leave my son to recover. He’s been through a lot.’
‘Thank you for all that, Oscar. You’ve been really helpful.’ Gina nodded to Jacob and he closed his pad. Gina checked her phone and a message had come through. Caro Blakely was now at the station and ready to speak. It was time to get the full story.
Seventy-One
Caro sat at the table, the appropriate adult sent by Children’s Services on one side and a solicitor on the other side. The woman from Children’s Services popped her glasses on. The short round solicitor loosened his tie and mopped his brow with the end of it. Jacob leaned over and turned the fan on before taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly. Evening had come and it wasn’t getting any cooler. The girl was wearing standard issue track bottoms and a grey T-shirt after her snagged black T-shirt had been entered into evidence. The material had appeared to match that of the torn material found at the scene of Jordan’s murder and Caro had worn it again all day. ‘Caro, you’re going to have to speak to us eventually.’
The girl placed her head in her hands and sobbed. ‘They drugged me, they deserved it. I just wanted Oscar to love me but he humiliated me after I’ve been such a good friend to him all these years.’
‘Caro, please tell me what happened on the night of Leah’s murder.’ Gina leaned back, listening to the recording device hum in the background.
‘I knew they’d be there so I sneaked out. It was easy getting out of the house as my dad was always taking sleeping tablets and my mum couldn’t hear me moving around over his snoring. I couldn’t let them get away with what they did to me. I wasn’t going to kill her. I just wanted to hurt them, maybe have a go at them and ruin their party but I watched and waited, not knowing what to do, then they all left Leah in the clearing. As I did, I saw that perv from Oak Tree Walk lurking but he ran off when I caught him. I knew he wouldn’t say anything as he wasn’t meant to be there. Oscar slept with her…’ Caro sniffed. ‘I loved him, I always did. I did everything for him, everything he ever asked me to do, and he promised that we’d be together forever but I saw him go into his tent with Leah again, earlier that night. The others had chanted and joked about them outside but I got angrier. I remembered him having sex with Leah at the last party. It was meant to be me.’ Gina didn’t correct Caro on the fact that Oscar said he’d slept with Elsa on the first night. ‘He was meant to want me. Leah spotted me, her pupils were all big and she just laughed at me and called me a loser as she swayed about the place. I pushed her and she fell back. She didn’t even try to fight me off, she didn’t have the strength and I don’t even remember strangling her but my hands were around her neck and she’d gone. I got on my bike, which I’d hidden way back and hurried home. At first I thought she’d wake up and all would be fine then the news broke on Facebook and I knew she was definitely dead.’
The woman from Children’s Services tilted her head as she watched on and Caro turned to her. ‘Can you tell my mum I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to kill her, I just wanted to make her say sorry.’
‘Caro, can you tell me what happened to Jordan Rolph?’
She sobbed a couple of times and wiped her eyes. ‘He sent me a Snapchat saying that he’d seen me lurking on the night of Leah’s murder. He said he was going to tell the others that I’d been watching them that night. I told him I saw who killed Leah and that I’d tell him if he met me in person. He called me straight back and said that he knew it was me and he’s not an idiot.’ The girl tittered which Gina found a little disturbing. ‘He said if I had sex with him, he’d conveniently forget. We both sneaked out. When I got there, he was standing at the top of the steps with his hands in his pockets and I was shaking, petrified that he would tell. I didn’t know what else to do and I wasn’t about to have sex with him…’
‘What did you do?’
Caro shook her head and wiped her nose.
‘Caro, what happened next?’
‘I kicked him hard and he fell. I didn’t mean to kill him but when I checked on him at the bottom of the steps, I could see from the light of my phone that he’d cracked his head and he didn’t seem to be breathing.’
‘So you left him?’ Gina gulped. Gina had left Terry dying at the bottom of those stairs for ages.
Caro nodded.
‘Moving on to today and Oscar.’
The girl yelled out and began to wail like a trapped cat. ‘I loved him.’ She stood and slammed her fists into the wall until they bled.
‘I’m sorry, for the safety of my client, I’m going to have to request that we end this interview.’
Gina nodded and swallowed. It wasn’t going to give her any pleasure to charge the sixteen-year-old with triple murder and one attempted murder but it had to be done. ‘We’ll prepare the charge sheet. Interview ended at twenty past nineteen hundred hours.’
Gina left the room with Jacob and the solicitor, then she caught Lara’s eye as she sat waiting in the family room. Gina opened the door.
‘What will happen to my daughter?’
‘She’ll be charged and will await trial. We’ll know more later. In the meantime, I’ll get someone to come and speak to you if you’ll just wait here in the family room.’
‘I can’t believe this is happening to us.’ Lara broke down.
‘I’m so sorry, Mrs Blakely.’
Wyre came in with a hot drink.
‘Thanks, Paula.’ She left the t
wo of them together and stood in the corridor, clearing her head of the chaos that was swirling around.
‘That was intense, guv.’ Jacob led the way back to the incident room.
‘It was. Why don’t I feel like we have a victory?’
‘A kid murdered three kids, it’s sad all round. I just can’t process it.’
Gina shook her head. ‘It’s going to be a long night.’ She swallowed, knowing that she still had to deal with Hannah this coming weekend. Caro Blakely was now going to pay for all that she’d done. Was Gina going to pay for her wrongs now?
Her phone beeped. It was another message from the anonymous number.
I know you killed my Terry!
She called Briggs. ‘There’s something I have to do before I interview Caro Blakely again.’
‘What’s happened?’
‘I know who’s sending the messages.’
‘Who is it? I need to know—’ Gina ended the call before he made his way across the station and to her. Pushing her way through the journalists, she saw Briggs coming out of the main door but he stood no chance of catching her up as the mob swarmed around him for some news. Pulling away, her hands shook and her stomach sunk. This was going to be a showdown.
Seventy-Two
Gina’s ex-mother-in-law’s straggly grey hair fell in all directions. She held up her phone to Hetty. The woman retied her dressing gown and leaned against the doorpost.
‘I banked on you coming.’
Gina held back, not wanting to shout and yell on the doorstep of the woman’s house. ‘How dare you send me these messages, and to my colleague too.’
‘Police, my arse. I know what you did to Terry and I know what your colleague did to our Stephen. You must be a good shag for him to go that far to help you out of the shit.’
Gina seriously wanted to slap the woman right now. Respect in Hetty’s household had never existed in any context.
