Damaged Goods (31 page)

‘Where?’

Hermione shrugs and looks at the videos that are sizzling and smoking in the bin. The acid has worked well and the tapes are all but melted, filling the air with heavy chemicals.

McNally puts out his hand. ‘I’ll take that, Mrs Barrows.’

She holds the bottle against her chest and hopes nothing leaks onto her beautiful cashmere sweater. ‘Under what authority?’

‘It’s evidence that a crime has been committed,’ he says.

‘What crime?’ asks Hermione.

Valentine becomes furious and snatches the bottle. She waves it in Hermione’s face.

‘Do you know what those tapes are? They’re films of your husband having sex with little girls. He paid someone to find them for him, mostly from care homes, girls without families, girls without anyone to watch out for them, then he raped them.’

Valentine’s voice cracks, no longer an angry shout but a strangled cry. ‘And, not satisfied with that, he had someone get it all on film so he could enjoy what he’d done again and again and again.’

She stops to catch her breath, and McNally puts his hand on her shoulder. Hermione might almost find them sweet were she not so contemptuous.

‘Must you really behave like a fishwife?’ she asks.

‘I think you need to come with me, Mrs Barrows,’ McNally says.

‘I think we should call your superior,’ says Hermione, and punches the number into the telephone on William’s desk.

‘Yes.’ The familiar voice of Bradbury comes over the squawk box.

‘It’s Mrs Barrows again,’ Hermione purrs. ‘I have one of your subordinates here, an Officer McNally. Please confirm to him what we were discussing earlier.’

‘Jack, is that you?’ asks Bradbury.

‘Yeah.’

‘Barrows didn’t kill Grace,’ says Bradbury.

‘Of course he did,’ Valentine shouts.

‘Who the hell is that?’ asks Bradbury.

‘Never mind,’ says Jack. ‘How can you be sure?’

Bradbury sighs. ‘Mr and Mrs Barrows were at a charity dinner for the NSPCC on the night Grace Brand was killed. Also present were the Chancellor and his wife, and the editor of a national newspaper. I believe Judge Blechard-Smith sat at their table.’

Valentine and McNally are shocked into silence. Hermione stifles a laugh. She is pleased to have taken control of the situation, but crowing is so unseemly.

‘What about the tapes?’ says McNally, but the edge has gone from his voice. ‘She’s destroyed the lot.’

‘That’s being dealt with at a higher level,’ says Bradbury.

McNally guides Valentine away. She still hasn’t spoken.

Bye bye, silly girl
.

Lilly was still aghast when she got home. Jack had tried to impress upon her the futility of a confrontation about the tapes. Hermione Barrows was government, and his experience in Northern Ireland had taught him that what the government wants it usually gets. Justice, morality and the like came a very poor second to the ‘bigger picture’, whatever that might be at any given time.

‘But you came here to escape all that bullshit,’ she’d pointed out.

He gave a half-smile and dropped her back at Parkgate to collect her car.

‘You okay to drive?’ he’d asked.

Lilly had imagined how she must look, wounds at her throat and cheek, her foot swollen to twice its size.

‘I’ll keep her below ninety.’

Outside the cottage David was helping Sam unload something from the boot of his car. He did a double take when he saw Lilly’s cheek.

‘What on earth happened this time?’

Lilly evaded the question. ‘Thanks for bringing him home from school.’

David looked at the ground. ‘Actually,’ he said, ‘I’m collecting a few bits and taking him back to mine.’

Sam was also studiously avoiding her eyes and kicked at a stone that was lodged between two flagstones.

‘Sam?’ said Lilly.

‘It’s just for a few nights, Mum, while you’re so busy and everything.’

She looked from David to Sam and back again, but neither could tear their eyes from their feet.

‘What does Cara think about this new arrangement?’ asked Lilly.

‘She’ll be fine,’ said David.

‘So she doesn’t know,’ said Lilly.

This time David did look up, and when he spoke his words cut through her. ‘Sam’s unhappy.’

They got in the car and drove away. Lilly stayed on the drive long after they’d gone, and long after she could make out the car in the distance, unable to get David’s words out of her head. A bite was circling in the wind and it made Lilly shiver. Her cheek stung and she was tired, so very, very tired, but still she didn’t go inside. She wondered if Grace had felt like this when the girls were taken into care. Did she stand on the walkway outside number 58, afraid to go back inside to the place she could no longer call home?

CHAPTER TWENTY

Saturday, 26 September

A navy blue sports holder containing Sam’s football kit sat in the passenger seat next to Lilly. They had bought it together during the Easter holidays. It was the make preferred by the England team and Sam was determined to track one down. By the sixth shop Lilly was peckish and losing patience. Weren’t these bags much of a muchness? Somewhere to sling your dirty boots and shin pads? Sam had looked at her with such a toxic mixture of disgust and pity that she had felt compelled to continue the dogged search. By three thirty, delirious with hunger, she harangued a young assistant with livid acne to call every shop in the same chain within a fifty-mile radius and had managed to secure the last one in a shopping centre in Watford.

Sam had paraded that bag like Donald Trump with his latest wife, savouring each ooh and ahh like fine champagne. Lilly had to admit that for the amount of kudos that bag had inspired it had been worth each painful minute in its pursuit.

Lilly was surprised that Sam had forgotten it. Maybe it was a good sign. Maybe Sam hadn’t been thinking straight when he’d asked to stay with his dad. Or maybe Sam didn’t want it any more and was planning to shed his former life with his mum.

Whatever the truth, Sam would need it for this morning’s match so Lilly drove to school.

How many times had Lilly prayed for silence during the morning school run, trying to navigate the country lanes and Sam’s conversations, which twisted and turned irrationally.

‘Let’s listen to music,’ she’d beg, but Sam would chatter over it, grinding Lilly’s brain to pulp. She had never done mornings well.

‘What’s the capital of Mexico?’

‘Do frogs’ legs really taste like chicken?’

‘What’s the distance between the earth and the moon?’

‘Is it better to be clever or kind?’

This morning there was nothing. Lilly could hear the engine, the tyres on the dirt tracks, the squeak of the cup holder when she took a bend. She had never felt so bereft.

She trudged towards the changing rooms, the bag slung over her shoulder, wondering whether she should just leave it on the bench and let it speak for itself or give it to him personally. She didn’t want him to think she wasn’t speaking to him but she didn’t want him to think she was hounding him either.

‘Now there’s a glum face.’

Penny smiled. Her lips shone with a hint of pink that made her face quite lovely.

‘I’m sorry about the other day,’ said Lilly.

‘Don’t be. You were right in a way, I’m not cut out to care full-time for a damaged child, however much I might want to.’

‘I didn’t mean to put you off.’

‘You didn’t. We’re going to provide respite care for a severely disabled child. Apparently his parents are just about holding up but are desperate for the occasional break.’

‘That’s fantastic,’ said Lilly, and meant it.

‘So what’s going on with you? I saw Sam coming in with his dad earlier.’

Lilly held up the kitbag by way of explanation. ‘He doesn’t want to be with me any more.’

Penny let out a tinkle of laughter and hugged Lilly. ‘Don’t take it to heart. My parents separated when I was six and I spent my life doing the dance of the seven households. For most people the grass is always greener and kids are no different. A week of Dad’s classical music and his girlfriend’s mung bean curry and he’ll be begging to come home.’

Lilly didn’t feel as confident.

‘Trust me,’ said Penny, and hugged her again.

Lilly’s mobile beeped to tell her she had a text.

‘Oh to be in demand,’ said Penny, and waved.

‘If only,’ said Lilly, and pulled out her phone.

J
UDGE HAS LISTED CASE THIS PM.
M
EET US AT
CCC. J
EZ

The Old Bailey was cold. Whoever was in charge of maintenance hadn’t noticed the change in the weather and the air-conditioning was still belting out.

The guards all wore their nylon security jackets, styled by some corporate guru in a bomber style. The look probably worked on the muscle-bound LAPD, but Group 5 Systems employed retired soldiers and disgraced coppers with healthy bellies and balding pates. Still, they were happy to be called into work at the weekend. ‘Double time,’ each one informed her.

At least someone’s doing well out of this case, thought Lilly.

Sheba stood at the top of the stairs, a pencil skirt hanging low on her hips, Fifties style.

‘What’s up?’ asked Lilly.

‘Jez is trying to find out now. His clerk got a call to say we were all needed here, even Kelsey’s being produced.’

Lilly let out a low whistle. ‘Must be serious.’

Jez emerged from the judge’s chambers, still in conversation with Brian Marshall. Jez was shaking his head in disagreement.

‘Old Blechard-Smith is beside himself,’ said Jez. ‘Apparently he’s a close personal friend of the Barrows and wonders what effect that might have on the case.’

‘He’ll have to recuse himself,’ said Lilly.

Jez nodded. ‘That’s what he wants. This business is a total nightmare from his point of view, and he’d like nothing better than to hand it over to some other poor sucker.’

‘So let him,’ said Sheba.

‘I’m not so sure,’ said Jez. ‘If he stays he’ll bend over backwards to give Kelsey a fair crack of the whip.’

It made good sense. Once again Lilly was impressed by the barrister’s tactics.

‘He wants everyone’s views in half an hour,’ said Jez.

Lilly didn’t need that long. ‘He should stay,’ she said, ‘and he should make Hermione Barrows explain why she destroyed those tapes.’

Jez laughed. ‘He’s not going to do that, Lilly, but we can submit that Kelsey won’t get a fair trial without the jury having the full picture, and ask him to chuck the case out now.’

‘Will he go for it?’ she asked.

Jez shrugged. ‘Depends on what the prosecution say. Marshall’s pretty jumpy but at the moment he’s peddling the party line that William Barrows was not involved in Grace’s murder so the tapes aren’t pertinent to this case.’

‘That’s bullshit,’ said Lilly.

At the far end of the atrium, outside courtroom four, Lilly made out the figures of Jack and Bradbury. She set off towards them.

Bradbury smiled. ‘Miss Valentine.’

Lilly ignored him. ‘Jack, will you tell the judge what happened yesterday and that you suspect William Barrows of Grace’s murder?’

‘Barrows has an alibi,’ said Bradbury.

Lilly didn’t take her eyes from Jack. ‘If they can sweep what he did to those girls under the carpet they can set up an alibi.’

‘That’s quite a conspiracy theory,’ said Bradbury.

‘Why can’t
you
tell the judge?’ asked Jack.

‘Because I’m too biased. But you, you’re on the other side, and if you think she didn’t do it, he’ll believe you.’

‘And what if I think she did?’ he asked. ‘What if I don’t know what to think?’

‘Come down to the cells with me and speak to her. Look her in the eye and ask her yourself. If you have any doubts you should say so.’

‘And if I don’t?’

The spectre of the letter floated in the ether between them.

‘Then you must do what you think is right.’

Jack looked at Bradbury. ‘We need to know one way or the other.’

Bradbury closed his eyes as if in thought, then gave the slightest of nods.

The cells were even colder than the rest of the court, and Kelsey leaned against the wall, a rough brown prison-issue blanket wrapped around her shoulders. She jerked her head towards Jack and Bradbury. ‘What are they doing here?’

‘We need to talk about your mum,’ said Lilly.

‘Not in front of them we don’t,’ said Kelsey.

Lilly reached out to touch her client. The blanket was stiff and itchy in her hand. ‘The whole thing’s gone tits-up, love. We found out who the man in the videos is. Your mum met him when she was in care, he might even have abused her when she was a child.’

‘Did he kill her?’ Kelsey asked.

‘We don’t know. He’s legged it.’

Kelsey pulled the blanket tighter. ‘Then he must have.’ She finally looked at Jack. ‘You thought I’d done it, didn’t you?’

He wasn’t in the habit of lying and sucked in a gulp of air. When he spoke his voice was steady. ‘Yes, and if I’m honest I’m still not convinced that you didn’t.’

The explosion Lilly anticipated turned out to be little more than a spark, with Kelsey banging a fist on the wall.

‘Whatever she done, I loved her. She weren’t perfect but she was my mum.’

‘If you didn’t kill her, what were you doing at the flat on the night she died?’ he asked.

Kelsey pressed the heels of her hands into her eye sockets. ‘It’s complicated.’

‘Try me,’ said Jack.

Kelsey released her hands and blinked to clear her vision. ‘I needed to tell her everything was going to be okay, that me and the babies could come home.’

‘From where I’m standing, Kelsey, things didn’t look okay.’

Kelsey nodded as if she understood his point. ‘But I’d got it sorted, see.’

Jack held open his palms for her to continue.

‘Mum was desperate to get us moved, but the housing people kept saying no, so she went to see the MP, told her all about what was going on. She said she needed proof, and Mum was just about ready to give up when I says if it’s proof they need I’ll get some.’

‘And how were you going to do that?’ asked Jack.

Kelsey shrugged. ‘Get a video from Max.’

‘Somehow I doubt he would just have given one to you.’

‘Course not, and anyway a video of one of them other girls wouldn’t have proved anything, would it?’

Lilly’s pulse quickened, afraid of where this was leading.

‘Who would need to be on the video?’ said Jack, his voice shockingly calm.

Kelsey picked at the edge of the blanket and pulled at a thread until it began to unravel. ‘Someone who would stand up and say they were underage. Say where it happened and who made them do it.’

Jack took a breath. ‘And who would that be?’

When she spoke she didn’t look up.

‘Me.’

Before anyone else could speak, Kelsey whipped up her head, her eyes defiant. ‘It’s not as if I were a virgin.’

‘What did your mum have to say?’ asked Jack.

The defiance melted. ‘She wouldn’t have it, kept crying and crying, saying there had got to be another way. I told her straight, if you can think of one then let’s have it. Next day she puts us all in care.’

‘That must have been hard.’

The genuine sympathy in Jack’s tone proved too much and tears began to trickle, unchecked, down Kelsey’s cheek. ‘I’d never been away from home before, not even for a night, and they wouldn’t even let me see the babies. I couldn’t take it, no way.’

‘So what did you do?’ he asked.

‘I did what I had to do,’ she said, her words echoing those of Max.

Bradbury handed Kelsey and Lilly a tissue. Until then Lilly hadn’t realised that she was crying too.

‘Let me get this straight, Kelsey,’ said Jack. ‘Max arranged for you to have sex with William Barrows and for it to be filmed.’

Kelsey opened out the tissue and hid behind it. ‘If that was his name, then yeah.’

Lilly moved towards Kelsey but Jack shook his head. This was clearly something he needed to finish, however hard.

‘Tell us what happened next.’

Kelsey lowered the tissue and began to shred it. ‘I thought it would be okay, that it was something that needed to be done. I thought I could just put it behind me, but I couldn’t.’ She sprinkled the pieces of paper like confetti into her lap and ran her finger over her lips. ‘No matter how many times I brushed my teeth I could still taste him. I tried the bleach but it didn’t make me feel any cleaner. I reckon that’s why Mum took the drugs, it was the only way to stop her feeling so bad.’

Kelsey looked up at Lilly. ‘Will I always feel like this?’

‘You need some help, love,’ said Lilly.

Kelsey nodded as if this seemed reasonable. ‘I couldn’t get a copy of the video anyway. Max wouldn’t give me one and I couldn’t find one at his place to nick. It was a stupid idea really.’

She gestured to Lilly. ‘Then she gave me a better one.’

‘A better what?’ asked Jack.

‘Idea. She told me that evidence can be written down, like statements and that, so I wrote down everything that had happened to us and sent it to that MP.’

When Lilly found her voice it was loud and clear. ‘You wrote to Hermione Barrows?’

Kelsey nodded. ‘I thought they’d have to re-house us. I thought she’d help us when she saw what I’d written.’

‘You thought you’d saved the day,’ said Lilly.

Kelsey smiled as though the memory warmed her. ‘I was so happy I went to tell Mum.’

‘What did she say?’ asked Jack.

Kelsey’s smile faded and her face crumpled. ‘She was mad as hell, said she couldn’t believe I’d sell myself like that. Said I’d let that man ruin my life. That was a bloody laugh considering what she’d done over the years. I had to get out so I went for a walk. About half an hour later I’d calmed down but she had someone in there. I thought it must be a punter so I went back to The Bushes. That’s when I wrote that letter.’

‘What letter?’ asked Bradbury.

‘Later,’ said Jack.

Back at ground level Jack and Bradbury were huddled in discussion, each talking, then listening, shaking their heads then nodding. From her position at the other side of the corridor Lilly couldn’t guess which way they would go. Jez and Sheba virtually sat on her to prevent her from intervening further.

‘You’ve heard the term over-egging the pudding,’ said Jez.

When they finally moved towards her their pace was so heavy, their faces so grave, she assumed the worst. Her fears were crystallised when it was Bradbury, not Jack, who spoke.

‘This isn’t a decision we have taken lightly,’ he said.

Lilly nodded. It was a fair decision. They had listened to Kelsey and that was as much as she could ask.

When Bradbury spoke again Lilly barely paid attention. ‘But Jack is prepared to speak to the judge.’