For Reasons Unknown (17 page)

Hales’s smile was almost smug. Jonathan saw the light dancing in his eyes. He was enjoying himself.

‘She saw a man leaving your apartment and exiting the building. She gave quite a good description too. He was your brother wasn’t he?’

History was beginning to repeat itself. Jonathan was back in a room in a police station made to look like an ordinary living room. He was on the floor with a large drawing pad and a bucket of wax crayons. While creating a picture a woman was chatting to him, asking him how he was feeling, what he had seen in his house, was there anybody in the house who shouldn’t have been? Now, twenty years later he was reliving the horror. This time, however, there would be no kid gloves.

‘This isn’t happening,’ Jonathan said, barely above a whisper.

‘What isn’t?’

‘I don’t think I can go through with this. Can I go? I want to go home.’

‘I think it’ll be a while before you see your home again. Now, why did you lie when I asked you about your brother, and what was he doing at your apartment on Monday night?’

‘I have a headache.’ He felt like his head was going to explode.

‘Answer my questions.’

‘I can’t.’

‘Why not?’

‘I don’t want anyone to know.’ His bottom lip began to quiver.

‘Know what?’

There was a lengthy silence. Jonathan curled up on his seat, cradling his head. He sniffed back the tears and looked up.

‘All right, Matthew did come to see me on Monday night. It was the first time I’d seen him in years. I recognized him straightaway though. God only knows how he knew where to find me.’

‘What was his reason for visiting?’

‘The demolition. He’d come to see the house get knocked down.’

‘What did you talk about?’

‘Our parents, mostly. He kept asking me to go over that night again and again, all the details. It was like he enjoyed it. He kept smiling at me.’

‘Did you tell him?’

‘I had no choice. He scared me. He always scared me.’ Jonathan hugged himself, protected himself.

‘In what way did he scare you?’

‘He was angry, volatile. I thought he was going to hit me.’

‘Did he?’

Jonathan suddenly lost it. It was as if his spine had been torn out of his body and he just slumped on the table. His grip on his emotions went too, and out came a torrent of tears and wailing that resounded around the cold room.

Hales took a cotton handkerchief out of his inside pocket and handed it to him. ‘Here, take this. It’s crumpled but it’s clean.’

He took the proffered handkerchief and began wiping his eyes and his nose. The tears still came.

‘What happened?’ Hales asked when there was a brief gap in the sobbing.

‘Matthew kept staring at me, staring through me really. I knew something was going to happen, something horrible, but I had no idea…’ He couldn’t finish his sentence; the tears were overwhelming him.

‘Take your time Jonathan. Take deep breaths.’

‘He lunged at me and grabbed me by the throat. He squeezed hard and I couldn’t breathe. I tried to scramble free, but he was too strong. I thought I was going to pass out, but just before I did he released his grip, he pushed me and I fell into my coffee table. My head broke the glass and I hit my head on the floor. That didn’t stop him though. I honestly thought he was going to kill me. I looked up at him and he was smiling. He was just standing there and had this huge smile on his face. He was enjoying himself. He said that if he knew how fragile and fucked up I was he would have come round to see me much sooner.’

‘What did you say?’

‘There was nothing I could say. I was having difficulty breathing. I just wanted him to go. I thought that if he was going to beat me up then just let him do it and go.’

‘Why was he doing this to you?’

‘Because he could. He always hated me, right from birth. I thought I was free from him when I moved to Newcastle and when I came back I had no idea he’d find me and do this to me.’

‘What did he do?’

‘He picked me up from the floor. He held out his hand for me to take and helped me up. He dusted the broken glass out of my hair and pulled me towards him in a hug. He had a powerful grip. He whispered in my ear that we’d never hugged before and that brothers should always hug. He said that we’d had a lousy childhood and lousy parents who had never shown us love and attention. He released me and I looked into his eyes and I just saw pure evil. I knew what was coming…’

Sian Mills was having difficulty sleeping. Next to her, hogging most of the duvet, was her husband whose latest device for helping him to stop snoring wasn’t working. She tried to roll him over onto his side but it was no use, he was far too heavy for her. The sound of her mobile ringing was music to her ears. She didn’t mind if it was someone from India wanting to talk to her about her broadband supply; she’d happily have the conversation.

‘Hello?’ she asked, not lowering her voice. She didn’t care if she woke her husband. It would make a change from it being the other way round.

‘DS Mills?’

‘Speaking.’

‘It’s PC Murphy. I’m sorry to wake you at this hour but I thought you should know what’s going on.’

‘PC Murphy? What’s happened?’

‘I’m on night duty and I heard screaming and shouting coming from one of the interview rooms. I went and had a look and Acting DCI Hales is interviewing Jonathan Harkness. I probably shouldn’t be calling you but I know DCI Darke is working on the case and thought she should know about it. I couldn’t find her mobile number so thought I should call you. Is that OK?’

He was talking to a broken connection. As soon as she heard who Hales was interviewing she hung up the phone and scrambled around in the dark for her trousers. She was dressed and out of the house in record time.

The green digits on the dashboard told her it was almost 2 a.m. Why was he interviewing Jonathan Harkness in the dead of night? In fact, why was he interviewing him at all?

The temperature was minus four degrees on the gauge, and her car took several attempts to start. The sodium lights from the street lighting danced on the frost. There was no other traffic about and Sian was soon on the main road heading into the city centre. While waiting at a red light she searched for Matilda’s number in her phone.

‘Hello?’ Matilda’s voice was croaky and she sounded groggy. Sian had wondered how she was coping with everything that had befallen her over the past nine months, now she knew: alcohol.

‘Matilda, it’s me, Sian. Are you lucid?’ She didn’t mean to ask that but it came out before she had time to think.

‘Lucid? Of course I am. What makes you ask that?’

‘Look, I’ve just had a call from a PC on night duty; Hales is interviewing Jonathan Harkness.’

‘What?’ Now Matilda really was lucid. Alcohol had helped calm her down after her disastrous meeting with Dr Warminster and the horror of Stephen Egan’s hit-and-run. Add to that Jonathan being constantly on her mind and worrying she was going to turn into him, an isolated recluse, and of course she needed a bottle or two of something to help her relax.

She had fallen asleep shortly after midnight. Once again she had been on the sofa and just passed out from exhaustion and drunkenness. The phone call hadn’t woken her though, her bladder had done that. She had been on her way back to the sofa when her mobile burst into life.

‘What the fuck is he doing?’ she screamed down the phone.

‘I’ve no idea. Are you coming in?’

‘Of course I am.’

‘Are you OK to drive?’

‘Just get Jonathan away from Hales and wait until I get there.’

Matilda hung up and went into the hallway to look at herself in the mirror. Would she pass for a respected member of the police force? Not with a stained shirt, knotted hair, and bags under her eyes big enough to hold a weekly shop. She ran up the stairs two at a time and turned on the cold water tap in the bathroom. She gave a sharp cry each time she splashed the icy water onto her face. It physically hurt but it did the job. She looked at her reflection once again and appeared to be better for it.

She was frantically running a brush through her tangled hair when her mobile started ringing again. She wasn’t going to answer, but saw Adele’s name as the caller. What was everyone doing awake at this time of the morning?

‘Adele?’ Matilda answered.

Adele was whispering into the phone. ‘I can’t talk for long but I really think you should get to the station right now.’

‘What’s going on?’

‘I was on call. I was here to see to a bloke in custody who was having a seizure when Hales found me. He’s asked me to conduct a rape exam on Jonathan Harkness.’

Matilda pulled up in the car park of South Yorkshire Police HQ and slammed her car door closed. The noise resounded around the empty space, bouncing off the walls of the building. Not caring whether she slipped on the frost, she stormed to the back entrance and almost pulled the door off its hinges.

The station was silent. Office doors were locked, windows had closed venetian blinds, and just the strip lighting in the corridor lit up the station. It was eerie. The only sound was footsteps and the distance buzz of the lighting.

Matilda made her way straight to the MIT room. It was empty. She hit her palm down hard on the table; the sound resounded around the room.

‘Sian?’ she called out.

Matilda left the room and stormed down the corridor in search of DS Mills. She eventually found her coming out of the toilets.

‘What the hell is going on?’ Matilda yelled. Her eyes were wide with anger, she was physically shaking.

‘OK, calm down.’

‘Calm down? What the fuck has Hales got to do with Jonathan Harkness? What right does he have to bring him in for questioning without running it by me first?’

‘Come with me.’ Sian tried to lead Matilda away from the middle of the corridor and into a private room where they could chat, but Matilda was seething.

‘He’s really going to pay for this,’ she continued her rant. ‘Masterson said to him…’

‘Look, Matilda just calm down all right? Come in here, now. Come on.’

Sian opened the door to the closest office she could find and turned on the lights. She had no idea who this room belonged to but they kept it very neat and tidy. She waited until Matilda sat down on a chair and showed visible signs of relaxing before she continued.

‘Here’s the situation as I understand it; I had a phone call from PC Murphy…’

‘Which one’s he?’ Matilda interrupted.

‘Er, tall, lanky, Beatles haircut, got run over by that transit on Queens Road trying to stop a robbery.’

‘Oh yes, I remember him. Go on.’

‘Well Murphy called and told me he heard shouting from one of the interview rooms. He went into the observation room and saw Hales interviewing Jonathan Harkness. He had a word with the duty sergeant who said Hales had arrested Jonathan for the murder of his brother.’

‘What?’ Matilda shouted, jumping up. Sian held out her hands to try and stop her running out of the room and hunting down Hales.

‘Wait a minute, Matilda. Sit down and let me finish.’ She waited, again, until Matilda had sat. ‘Before he rang me, Murphy was told by Hales to fetch a doctor as Jonathan needed an examination. Luckily, good old Adele Kean was downstairs tending to a man in custody who had had some form of seizure. Anyway, Hales told Adele that Jonathan said that on the night his brother was murdered Matthew was in his flat and he sexually assaulted him.’

‘What?’ Matilda shouted again, though this time not out of anger but out of horror. ‘Why didn’t Jonathan bring any of this up before?’

‘I’ve no idea.’

‘Didn’t Hales ask him that?’

‘I don’t know. I haven’t spoken to him.’

‘Where are they all now?’

‘As far as I’m aware Adele is still in with Jonathan. Hales is around here somewhere.’

‘I’m going to tear that bastard limb from limb.’

This time Sian didn’t try to stop Matilda from leaving the room. She took a step to one side and followed her down the corridor. Unfortunately being a few inches taller than Sian and fuelled by rage-induced adrenaline Matilda was soon around the corner and out of sight. Sian broke into a jog. She had a feeling she was going to have to act as referee.

‘How long does a rape examination take?’

Hales was sitting in the lonely canteen with a tired-looking desk sergeant opposite him. The hours of darkness were slowly ticking away and with each minute that passed Hales knew it was getting closer to Matilda coming in and finding out he had usurped her case. He hoped he could get a confession or a new development out of Jonathan to rub in her smug self-righteous face.

‘You know how long a rape exam takes,’ the reply came.

Hales looked at his watch, again. ‘I’m not sure whether to believe this or not. Why would a man rape his own brother?’

‘That’s a question for a psychologist. I’m just a semi-retired desk sergeant with Type 2 diabetes running out the clock.’ He looked up and saw Matilda storming towards the double doors of the canteen. ‘I think I’ll be heading for the bomb shelter now.’

Hales looked at him with a frown, wondering what he was talking about until he heard his name being called.

‘Hales, what the fuck is going on?’

He smiled to himself. As soon as he heard Matilda’s bark his mood lifted. He wasn’t dreading this at all. He would delight in bringing her down a peg or two.

‘Ah, Detective Chief Inspector Darke, what brings you here at such an early hour; on your way to the off-licence and thought you’d drop in to say hello?’

Matilda stopped in her tracks – she looked as though she’d been slapped in the face. ‘What’s going on?’ she asked. Her voice was quieter and shook slightly.

‘I’m sure you’ve been filled in by whoever it was who called you. I’ve arrested Jonathan Harkness.’

‘On what grounds?’

‘I’ll admit it’s circumstantial at the moment, but I’m sure once we get him fully questioned he’ll confess.’

‘You’re wrong.’

‘I don’t think I am. I have witness statements and psychiatric reports saying he’s completely crazy and a very clever psychopath.’

The double doors to the canteen creaked open and Sian squeezed herself through the small gap she had made.

‘Oh, that’s who called you. I might have known. Thanks for your loyalty Sian.’

Sian looked at the stained floor. She hated having to take sides.

‘Why are you doing this?’ Matilda asked.

‘My job is to make sure that people are brought to book for the crimes they have committed and see that justice is served.’ He stood tall with his hands behind his back and a sense of smugness on his face.

‘You’re a bastard, do you know that? Why didn’t you bring any of this to me?’

‘You? You are joking, surely? Have you looked in the mirror lately? You’re a wreck. I don’t even know what you’re doing back here. There’s no way you can lead a team of detectives in a murder case any more. You’re finished.’

Matilda swallowed hard. ‘What’s this about a sexual assault?’ she eventually asked, her voice was brittle and quiet.

‘A complete fabrication. It’s a ploy to buy time.’

‘There could be something in it.’

‘Why would his brother rape him? What possible motive could there be? He’s lying.’

‘Jonathan Harkness is a victim in all this. Why are you treating him like a number one suspect?’

‘Because he is a number one suspect.’

‘You’re wrong.’

A PC pushed open the canteen doors, which bumped into Sian, pushing her out of the way. ‘Dr Kean has finished,’ he said before disappearing.

As Hales headed for the doors he stopped by Matilda and leaned in to whisper in her ear. ‘You reek of alcohol.’ He sniffed harder. ‘In fact, you stink of failure too. You may as well pack your desk up now.’

Adele Kean was in the incident room helping herself to a coffee. She was shattered. She spooned three heaped teaspoons of espresso instant coffee into a mug and gave a loud and wide yawn while she waited for the kettle to boil.

‘Let’s hear it then.’ Hales entered the room and didn’t hold the door open for Matilda who followed. A few seconds later Sian came in.

‘Good morning to you too. Anyone want a coffee?’

‘Nobody wants a coffee. Just tell me what you found.’

Adele could almost feel the tension radiating from Hales. She looked at Matilda, whose face was expressionless. ‘What’s going on?’

Matilda shook her head as if telling Adele not to push anything and she’d fill her in later.

‘Nothing’s going on. Come on Adele, out with it.’

‘Well, since you’ve asked so politely, Jonathan has undergone a series of tests and I’ve taken samples from him, which will have to be sent away, but there is evidence of severe anal bruising consistent with a sexual assault.’

‘Fuck!’ Hales screamed, kicking a dent into a filing cabinet. ‘You’re sure?’

‘Definitely. I also found fragments of glass in the back of his head, which, he says, came from a glass-top coffee table in his living room that his brother pushed him into.’

‘He could have done that himself,’ Hales said. ‘Have you seen
Scream 4
? At the end the killer…’

Matilda jumped to Jonathan’s defence. ‘I doubt he’s getting ideas from films. He doesn’t even own a TV for Christ’s sake.’

‘Freak!’

‘Did he say anything to you?’ Matilda asked Adele.

Adele frowned when she looked at her friend. Matilda’s timid voice and red eyes were worrying her. ‘He said that his brother sexually assaulted him on Monday night and that it wasn’t the first time. Matthew raped him twice when they were boys before their parents were killed.’