Innocent Lies (Reissue)

by Chris Collett

  ‘Yeah, well don’t think too long, eh? Where are you up to with the missing girl?’

  ‘Don’t count on my company for the weekend, will you?’

  ‘Interestingly enough I never count on much where you’re concerned, but that’s okay,’ Anna said cheerfully. ‘Good thing we both know the score, isn’t it?’

  ‘Sure.’ Mariner’s chest tightened.

  ‘I know you’re not allowed to say, but how is it going?’

  ‘Even if I could say there’d be nothing to tell. It’s frustrating, to say the least.’

  ‘Mm, well,’ she said slowly, her voice dropping half an octave. ‘We can’t have you frustrated, can we? There ought to be something I can do about that. What you need is a few soothing words to help you relax.’

  ‘How’s Jamie?’

  ‘Jamie’s fine. Glued to the TV as we speak. Want to know what I’m wearing?’

  Mariner settled back in the armchair. ‘Go on then . . .’

  ‘Is that better?’ she asked him a little later.

  ‘Much,’ he said, although he didn’t like to dwell too much on the fact that this was what their relationship had come to.

  * * *

  The next morning Mariner gathered the team together to review what they’d got so far. It wasn’t much. The incident board displayed a blown-up version of Yasmin’s photograph, an enlarged section of the street map covering the area where she’d disappeared and a time-line leading nowhere. Colleen’s complaint about the absence of a press conference for Ricky seemed unfounded since Yasmin’s had yielded precisely nothing in the way of new leads. Only one call received had produced anything of substance to follow up and that had since turned out to be a dud too.

  ‘What are the options?’ Since he looked more like his usual lively self this morning, Mariner addressed the question to Tony Knox.

  ‘If we rule out accidents, basically there appear to be three possibilities at this stage, boss,’ said Knox. ‘First possibility: Yasmin has gone off of her own accord.’

  ‘Why would she do that?’

  ‘She’d had a row with her parents,’ said Millie.

  ‘Not her mother. Her mother had given in to her,’ Mariner reminded them.

  ‘She’d rowed with her dad though, and he seems to be the one who wields the power.’

  ‘And maybe she’s just had enough,’ offered Knox. ‘From what we’ve heard, it’s not the first time the old man’s been down on her.’

  ‘Okay,’ said Mariner. ‘But if that is the case, would Yasmin let things get this far? She’s an intelligent and, so we’re told, considerate girl. Surely wherever she was, she’d eventually let her parents know that she’s safe. We’re three days in now and nothing. And she doesn’t appear to have taken any money with her, so how is she living?’

  ‘All right then,’ Knox said. ‘Second possibility: she’s been abducted and is being held against her will.’

  ‘Who by?’

  ‘Peter Cox and his mates?’ Millie chipped in.

  Mariner was doubtful. ‘Now that we’ve talked to him, I don’t quite see it. It’s not really Cox’s style and if it was one of his followers, I’m not convinced that they’d be well-organised enough. Cox may be clever, but according to DS Jordan most of his honchos are pretty inadequate.’

  ‘Could be just a random pick-up,’ suggested Knox. ‘Someone offering her a lift home from the station.’

  ‘But we keep being told that she’s a bright, sensible kid,’ countered Millie. ‘She wouldn’t have gone off with a complete stranger.’

  ‘And why would she need a lift? It’s not that far to her house from there and, like we said, it’s a warm sunny evening. What reason would she have to get into a car with just anyone?’

  ‘Might not have been a stranger,’ Knox persisted. ‘Yasmin would know the Sheron family. We haven’t ruled them out yet and Hasan drives a minicab. It would be the most natural thing in the world for him to offer her a lift.’

  ‘It’s risky though in broad daylight. Chances are that someone would remember seeing him.’

  ‘Except that it’s exactly the kind of commonplace occurrence that most people don’t notice,’ said Knox, quite accurately. ‘The alternative leaves us looking at a total unknown, perhaps connected to the earlier attacks on the university campus, which would stand out even more.’

  ‘And there are no reports of anyone in the area seeing or hearing anything out of the ordinary on Tuesday afternoon,’ said Millie. ‘Implying that Yasmin did nothing to draw attention to herself. Even though term has ended, there are still quite a few students around.’

  In the silence that followed Mariner conducted an internal debate about whether to voice what had been nagging at him now for some time. Eventually he had to come out with it. ‘What we haven’t yet given any thought to is the possibility that Yasmin could have stayed on the train and got off at a different stop.’ No one had even considered it because they didn’t want to — Fiske had effectively driven them off that particular scent.

  ‘Jesus,’ said Knox. ‘If Yasmin stayed on the train she could have gone into the city. That would really open things up.’

  ‘But we saw her on the CCTV,’ Millie reminded them. ‘We watched her get off the train at the university.’

  ‘Did we, though?’

  To humour him they loaded the video and watched again, comparing the two clips. ‘See, to me it doesn’t look like the same person,’ he said. ‘The gait is different.’

  ‘How can you tell?’ said Millie. ‘She’s running on the first, walking on the second.’

  ‘I know, but it still doesn’t look right to me. The second girl is of a slightly bigger build.’

  ‘There’s not much in it,’ said Knox, peering at the screen.

  ‘No, that’s true.’

  ‘So it could just be camera angle.’

  Mariner was getting the distinct impression that he was alone on this. Everyone else wanted, understandably, to believe that Yasmin had, as usual, got off the train at the university. It would make their lives so very much simpler.

  ‘If she went into the city she could have gone anywhere.’ Knox put their thoughts into words. It opened up the possibilities of London, Glasgow — anywhere in the country in fact.

  ‘But she had no money and, as far as we know, wasn’t planning to meet anyone,’ Millie reminded them.

  ‘As far as we know.’ But Mariner was increasingly beginning to feel that, where Yasmin Akram was concerned, they’d barely even scratched the surface.

  ‘It still brings us back to the likelihood of someone she knows being behind it,’ said Knox, making for safer ground.

  ‘Sure, statistically we have to consider the immediate family,’ conceded Mariner. ‘Mum and Dad have been less than forthcoming all the way along, which makes me wonder what else they haven’t told us. But it’s a long way off any kind of motive. We need to do some more digging, folks.’

  Mariner’s phone rang and Millie picked it up. Cupping the handset, she held up a hand. ‘Wait. I think we might have something,’ she said.

  CHAPTER 12

  The call nearly hadn’t made it past the incident room, due to the perceived reticence of the caller, who’d had a change of heart halfway through. One of the less experienced civilian staff had fielded it and almost logged it as a time-waster. It was only thanks to the intervention of a more experienced girl named Tanya, who’d recognised its importance, that it hadn’t been missed completely. She played back the recording of the initial contact.

  ‘Hello, is that the police?’ It was the voice of a young woman, timid and hesitant. It didn’t sound to Mariner like any of Yasmin’s school friends.

  ‘You’re through to the incident room, yes.’ A pause. ‘How can I help? Do you have some information?’

  ‘Yes. No. I don’t know.’

  ‘Who’s speaking please?’

  ‘I can’t tell you that.’

  ‘That’s okay. Is it about Yasmin Akram?’


  ‘There’s something you should know.’ Another long pause, broken only by the uneven rasp of shallow breathing: someone poised on the brink of a decision.

  ‘What is it you want to tell me?’ asked Tanya, kindly.

  ‘Nothing. No, sorry. It’s nothing—’ A click and then the empty line hummed.

  Mariner exhaled, suddenly aware that he’d been holding his breath throughout the exchange. ‘You said you’d traced it?’ he asked Tanya.

  ‘It’s a doctor’s surgery in Edgbaston.’ She gave them the address.

  ‘It’s a couple of streets away from the Akrams’,’ remarked Millie. ‘The family GP?’

  ‘I bet the doctor didn’t make that call. She was young, less confident.’

  Praising Tanya for her vigilance, Mariner called to verify the number and check the surgery’s opening hours. He didn’t want to scare anyone off so he’d do this alone.

  * * *

  By ten thirty he was parked outside the converted bungalow and watching the last of the patients leave after morning surgery. When he’d seen no one enter or exit for a full ten minutes, he locked the car and walked up the footpath. Behind the desk, the young receptionist was still hard at work, her faced tense with concentration as she entered data into a computer.

  Taking a gamble Mariner walked up to the desk and showed her his warrant card along with what he hoped was a friendly smile. ‘Hi,’ he said quietly. ‘Did you make a telephone call at eight fifty-four this morning?’

  Wide brown eyes looked up into his as she considered her options. ‘How did you—?’ Her voice was just a whisper but Mariner recognised it at once. He heard a door open behind him.

  ‘Is everything all right, Nadine?’ Mariner turned to see an older woman, mid-forties perhaps, with dark, penetrating eyes. She barely came up to his shoulder. More Middle East than Asian sub-continent, her short greying hair was swept back off her forehead and she was casually but immaculately dressed in slacks and a sleeveless blouse. ‘I’m Dr Shah. This is my practice,’ she said, regarding him with some curiosity.

  ‘DI Mariner.’ He let her see his ID. ‘I’m the senior officer investigating the disappearance of Yasmin Akram,’ Mariner explained. ‘I think Nadine might have contacted our incident room this morning with some information, but unfortunately the call was terminated before she was able to pass it on.’

  ‘Nadine?’

  The girl’s eyes flicked from one to the other of them, finally resting on her boss as she nervously licked her lips.

  ‘Come into the consulting room,’ Dr Shah said to Nadine. ‘I’ll make some tea.’ She turned to Mariner. ‘I don’t know what’s going on here but, if you don’t mind, I’d like to talk to Nadine alone first. Yasmin is a patient here, so I should make sure that anything Nadine has to tell you is not likely to be in breach of confidentiality.’

  Mariner fought down his frustration. ‘If Yasmin is in some kind of danger then patient confidentiality may be an irrelevance,’ he said. ‘It’s important that we have access to any information that will help us to find her.’

  ‘I appreciate that, Inspector, but I would ask you to respect my professional judgement. Yasmin is my patient and needs to know that she can trust me. Any decision about what to tell you is mine and mine alone. I will listen to what Nadine has to say. If I consider that there is anything that will help in your investigation without compromising my relationship with Yasmin then I will allow her to pass it on.’

  Mariner had no other option than to wait. While the two women were closeted in the doctor’s consulting room, he paced the waiting room outside like an expectant father. Then abruptly the door opened and Dr Shah appeared looking grim-faced. ‘Inspector, I think you should join us.’

  In the tiny room Mariner pulled up a chair facing the two women.

  ‘It is with reluctance that I tell you this,’ said Dr Shah. ‘But if it does, as you say, put Yasmin in danger then I would be unable to forgive myself for not passing on this information. I would just ask that you use it judiciously.’

  ‘Of course,’ said Mariner.

  ‘I’ve been the GP for Yasmin and her family for nearly ten years, so I know Yasmin very well. About six weeks ago, Yasmin came to see me because she wanted to begin taking the contraceptive pill.’

  ‘The pill?’ Mariner could barely contain his surprise. It flew in the face of everything they’d been told so far about the girl.

  ‘You understand that ordinarily I would not be telling you this.’ The doctor was still wrestling with the dilemma.

  ‘You’re doing the right thing,’ Mariner said.

  The doctor seemed less convinced, but she continued. ‘At seventeen Yasmin is, of course, technically above the age of consent, but knowing her family’s traditional views I also was more than a little surprised by the request. She openly told me that she had not discussed this with either of her parents and had felt unable to do so. But as we talked it over it became clear that Yasmin was already seeing someone and intended to proceed with or without my help.’

  ‘I see,’ was all that Mariner could muster. So much for honesty and openness with her parents, he thought.

  ‘She seemed a little apprehensive,’ Dr Shah continued. ‘But made it clear that she was going ahead with the physical relationship and wanted to have some control over protecting herself. Yasmin is a bright girl and had clearly thought this through. The logical thing for me to do was to at least prevent her from getting into difficulty. I also agreed that I would respect her privacy in this matter.’

  ‘So her parents don’t know.’

  ‘That’s right.’

  ‘And you’re sure that Yasmin is in a relationship?’

  ‘Of course, I can’t be absolutely certain, but that’s what she told me. I had no reason to disbelieve her.’

  ‘Did she mention a name?’

  ‘That side of it really isn’t my business.’

  ‘Well, thank you, Dr Shah. That certainly adds a new dimension to our investigation.’

  Dr Shah looked over at Nadine, who had sat silent throughout. ‘There is a little more to it,’ she went on. ‘Contraceptive pills affect women differently and I wanted to ensure that Yasmin would have no side-effects with the one I prescribed, so initially she had only a month’s course as a kind of trial. The plan was that if she was happy with it she would come back for a full six months’ prescription, which she did, at the beginning of last week.

  ‘On the day Yasmin came in for her repeat prescription our computer system was down so I wasn’t issuing any non-urgent prescriptions. I feel that those printed are preferable as there can be no query about the interpretation of handwriting. Yasmin didn’t need the pills immediately so we agreed that as soon as it was ready the prescription would be left at reception for her to collect when she could. The following day our computer was working again, so I prepared the prescription and it was put in the envelope marked with Yasmin’s name to await collection.’ She turned to the receptionist. ‘Tell the inspector what happened, Nadine.’

  The girl cast Mariner an anxious look. ‘Mr Akram has also been receiving ongoing treatment for high blood pressure.’ Somehow that didn’t come as any surprise to Mariner. ‘He came into the surgery to collect a repeat prescription and he must have seen the envelope with Yasmin’s name on it. He asked if it was for his daughter. He gave me her address and date of birth, and I checked and found that it was hers, so I gave it to him to pass on to her.’

  ‘Isn’t that against the rules?’

  Nadine’s face told him that it was. ‘I’m really sorry.’

  ‘She is new to the job,’ Dr Shah said. ‘We have talked about this, but clearly I didn’t place enough emphasis. I must take full responsibility.’

  ‘So you handed Mr Akram a prescription for his daughter for the contraceptive pill that he had no idea she was taking? Did he look at it?’

  ‘No, he left the surgery. But he must have looked at it when he got outside, because he came back a few minut
es later and wanted to know why Yasmin had been to the doctor and what was wrong. When I said I didn’t know he started to get angry. He demanded to know what the prescription was for.’

  ‘And you told him.’

  ‘I recognised it and I didn’t think. I said I thought it was for a contraceptive pill.’ The girl was dying inside and Mariner almost felt sorry for her.

  The doctor rushed to her defence. ‘To be fair, that is almost irrelevant. Mr Akram could have walked into any pharmacy or accessed any number of internet sites to find that out. The damage had already been done.’

  ‘What was Mr Akram’s reaction when you told him what the prescription was?’

  ‘He was furious. He didn’t say much but I could see from his face. I told him that the pills could be to help regulate Yasmin’s menstrual cycle and help with period pain. I had to do the same thing once . . . but he didn’t listen. He wanted to speak to Dr Shah and when I said she was out on her rounds, he stormed out.’

  ‘Did he come back?’

  ‘No.’ Dr Shah provided the answer.

  ‘Who did you think he was angry with, Nadine?’

  ‘Me, Dr Shah, Yasmin, maybe? I don’t know’ Being forced to face the implications of what had happened for the first time, Nadine’s voice cracked and again she wiped away a tear. Dr Shah put a protective arm around her.

  ‘Thank you,’ Mariner said to the doctor. ‘I appreciate you sharing this with me. I understand what a difficult decision it has been.’

  When Nadine was calm again, Dr Shah walked him out. ‘I may never know if I’ve done the right thing, but that’s something I’ll have to live with.’

  ‘I feel sure that you have,’ said Mariner. ‘If it helps us to find Yasmin—’

  ‘When I saw the news of her disappearance I recognised her of course, but the talk has been of racially motivated abduction, and I thought you would naturally find out about any boyfriend through Yasmin’s friends. Nadine didn’t even tell me about her mistake because she was afraid she would lose her job.’

  ‘And will she?’

  ‘I think everyone should be allowed to get things wrong at least once, don’t you?’