A new story from me. I hope you enjoy it, and if you do, would you be so kind as to review?Just so you don't get confused, this one is set after End Where I Begin, but Beth is still alive and married to Max. Enjoy :D
It was a chilly day in April. PC Will Fletcher was walking towards Sun Hill station with his girlfriend, fellow police officer Emma Keane. He shrugged into his coat, trying to keep warm, his bare hands jammed into his pockets.
"I cannot wait for summer!" he muttered against the wind.
Emma laughed at him, before putting her arm through his, "Summer means short skirts and dresses, and bikinis."
"And sleeping naked." Will added with a twinkle in his eye.
"You wish!" she replied, hitting him playfully on the arm, holding the door to the station open.
"I'll see you later." Will said, giving Emma a quick kiss on the lips before heading towards the male changing rooms.
"Lunch at 1:30?" Emma shouted down the corridor.
"Yep, see you there!" Will shouted back.
*
He had just got his uniform on and was heading out the changing rooms when he was stopped by Jess.
"There you are, I've been looking everywhere!" Jess said with a sigh, pulling Will towards the courtyard and towards their patrol car.
"I'm obviously with you today then." Will said with a laugh as he climbed in the passenger seat.
"Yep, lucky you! We've been called to an attempted sexual assault on a 24 year old woman. Her name is Jennifer Archer." Jess said, indicating left out onto the road.
"Is that all we know?" Will asked.
"Fraid so. Smithy said to tread carefully with her, she sounded hysterical on the phone." Jess said, remembering the feeling.
"Well that much is obvious. I hate these cases." Will said, looking out the window.
"Why?" Jess asked, quickly looking at him.
"Because I hate seeing what men do to woman, just because they can. It's disgusting!" he spat.
"I know, but we have the chance to get these men off the streets. So lets go and do our job." Jess said, giving him a weak smile.
*
Will walked up the path to Jenny's house, closely followed by Jess. He knocked on the door loudly. Eventually the door was open a fraction, and a woman's face appeared in the gap.
"Hi, are you Miss Archer?" Will asked. The woman in the gap nodded slowly, looking over Will and Jess in their uniforms. "My name is PC Fletcher, and this is PC Stone. We've come to ask you some questions about the attempted sexual assault you reported?"
"Can I see ID?" Jenny asked quietly, in a soft Irish accent.
"Of course you can sweetie. Here you go." Jess produced her badge, showing Jenny. Will also got his out to show to her. The door closed and they could hear the scraping of a lock being pulled across. Then the door open, with Jenny behind it, and Will and Jess quickly walked into the foyer. Jenny shut the door behind them, putting all the locks back on. Jess and Will looked at Jenny closely; she had a dressing gown wrapped around her, her skin was pale and her hair was tied up in a messy bun. She had a haunted look in her eyes, something Jess and Will had seen too many times before.
"Shall we go and sit down? Then we can ask you some questions, if that's ok." Jess said softly.
"Yeah, go through to the living room. Do you want a drink?" Jenny asked, not making eye contact with either of the officers.
"No we're ok. Lets go and sit down." Will said, walking ahead into the living room and sitting on the sofa. Jenny sat in the armchair, her knees pulled up under her chin and her arms wrapped round her legs. Jess exchanged a look with Will and pulled a pad and pen out of her pocket.
"Jenny, we're going to ask you some questions about what happened. I'm sorry if you feel uncomfortable with the questions, but it'll be over soon ok?" Jess said quietly.
"Ok Jenny. Just start by telling us what happened." Will said, leaning forward.
"Ok, well I was walking home from work." Jenny started.
"Where do you work?" Jess asked.
"I work in a bar called Louies on Marshalen road, just round the corner. I finished work at 2am, and was taking my normal route home, which is across the playing fields and down the alley next to the house. When I was going down the path which leads to the alley, a man jumped out the bushes and dragged me in." Jenny said, taking a deep breath. Will handed her a tissue. "Thanks. Um, he put his hand over my mouth to stop me screaming. He pushed me down on the floor and tried to take my skirt off. But then he was interrupted by this group of men who had been drinking. The man got off me and ran away."
"Well done, good girl. Can I just look at your arms please?" Jess asked, standing up and slowly walking to Jenny. Jenny nodded, pulling her dressing gown off. There were bruises on her wrists where the man had held her down, and cuts down the back of her leg where she had scratched them on the undergrowth. "We'll take you to the hospital so you can be examined and your injuries photographed to be used as evidence ok?"
"Did you see your attacker?" Will asked. Jenny put her dressing gown back on and looked at Will, the first time she had made eye contact.
"No, but he was tall and very heavy. I think he had dark hair though." Jenny said apologetically, hating not being able to tell them any more.
"So you wouldn't recognise him if you saw him again then?" Jess asked, sitting back down next to Will.
"I don't think so, sorry." she said meekly.
"Hey, don't worry about it, you did a good thing telling us what happened. It was very brave." Will said kindly.
"I'm sorry to keep asking you questions, but do you have a boyfriend?" Jess asked, looking closely at Jenny.
Jenny started to nod, but then shook her head, "No, he broke up with me a few weeks ago."
"Is there a possibility he could have done this to you?" Will asked gently. Jenny's head snapped up and she looked at him in shock.
"Darren? No, no he wouldn't do that to me." Jenny said, adamantly shaking her head.
"Ok ok, is there anyone else who would want to hurt you in that way?" Will asked quickly.
"Well, I don't think so." Jenny said, thinking.
"What about your boss?" Jess asked.
"I don't think so, Alan isn't capable I don't think." Jenny replied.
"Ok, thank you. Could we just have an address or phone number for both Darren and Alan please?" Will asked, taking Jess' pad and pen from her.
"Yeah sure, let me just get them. But I don't think it was them." Jenny said, rooting around in her bag for her phone. She dictated their numbers to Will, and then told them where they could find the two men. "Is that everything?"
"Yes it is. We're going to take you to the hospital now, ok?" Will asked.
"Why?" Jenny asked, starting to panic.
"Remember we said so that we could get picture evidence and so you can examined to check you're ok?" Jess said slowly.
"Oh, oh yeah. Ok, I'll just go and get dressed." Jenny said, walking out the room.
"What do you think?" Will asked Jess, turning to face her.
Jess made a face, "I don't know. Something's not right though."
"Agreed." Will said.
*
Back at the station Beth and Emma were sat in the canteen enjoying a coffee when Smithy came in.
"Beth, Emma, I've got a job for you." he said, standing at the edge of their table. They both looked up at him. "Jess and Will have just gone to see a woman who claims to have been sexually assaulted last night. They're taking her to the hospital to be examined, but the victim gave us two names of possible suspects. Her ex boyfriend Darren Johnson and her boss Alan Richmond. I'd like you two to go and see Mr Johnson, see what he has to say for himself."
"Yes sarge." Beth said, finishing her coffee and heading out the canteen. She turned back, and saw Emma still sitting at the table, "Em! Come on."
"Oh sorry." Emma said, shaking her head. She got up and followed Beth.
*
They arrived at Darren's house. They put their hats on and walked up the steps to the front door, Emma knocking on it. A woman opened the door.
"Yes?" she said to them, looking from one to the other.
"Is this where Darren Johnson lives?" Emma asked.
"Yes why?" the woman asked suspiciously.
"Is he in? We need to talk to him." Beth said with a smile.
"Erm, yeah ok. Wait here, I'll just go and get him." the woman said, leaving the door open and heading up the stairs.
"She seems nice." Emma said sarcastically, walking through the door into the hall, shutting the door behind Beth. A few minutes later the woman came down the stairs followed by a tall muscular man with black hair.
"Tash said you wanted to talk to me?" he asked as the woman looked again at the officers before walking into another room.
"Darren Jonhson?" Emma enquired.
"Yeah that's me." Darren replied.
"I'm PC Carter, this is PC Keane. We would like to ask you some questions about a suspected sexual assault that took place last night." Beth said.
"What?" Darren asked, his forehead furrowing.
"Could we sit down and ask you some questions?" Emma asked.
"Uh yeah sure, follow me." Darren said, as if in a daze. He led the two woman into the kitchen and sat down on a bar stool.
"Last night at about 2:15am, Jenny Archer..." Beth began.
"Jen? She was the one was attacked?" Darren asked, and then he sighed.
"Yes, I understand she's an ex girlfriend of yours." Emma said.
"Yep, we broke up a few weeks ago. She was too clingy, and she kept making stuff up. When I said I was leaving her she told me she was pregnant. When I made her do the tests in front of me, they were all negative. She's a liar." Darren said simply.
Beth and Emma exchanged looks before Emma said, "Where were you last night at around 2:15am?"
"Are you serious? You really think I would assault her, if she has that is." Darren said angrily.
"What do you mean by that?" Beth asked.
"Oh so you don't know about the fact that she cried rape when she was 16?" Darren asked disbelievingly. He looked at their faces and gave a bitter laugh, "No of course not. She wouldn't have told you that. Basically she was sleeping with her dads best friend. He said he would leave his wife for her, but he didn't. When he tried to break it off with Jen, telling her it was a mistake, she went crazy. She went straight to the police station and reported him for rape. Later she admitted she had been lying, but by then the damage was done."
Emma quickly wrote down what Darren was saying, "We would still like you to answer our questions though."
"Ok, at 2:15am I was asleep in bed with my girlfriend. She can tell you that. Anything else?" Darren asked.
"Do you know why anyone would want to hurt Jenny?" Beth asked.
"Because she's a liar, she ruins peoples lives." Darren said bluntly.
"I'll ring Jess, let her know what's happening." Emma said, walking towards the patio doors and pulling her phone out.
"So, if Jenny is lying, why would she do it?" Beth asked.
"Because she wants attention. She wants people to care for her, and she thinks by making things up that people will. But it just gets her in trouble. After the whole thing about her crying rape, her dad disowned her. Her mother had died, so she had nowhere to go. That's when I met her. She was a complete mess. To be honest I think she could have done with some psychiatric help." Darren said, "I still care for her, but I couldn't take her games anymore. I hope she's ok."
"Thank you Darren. We'll be in touch if we need to talk to you again." Beth said with a small smile, signalling to Emma to follow her out. When they got back in the car, Emma turned to face Beth.
"Jess and Will thought something wasn't right about Jenny, but the doctors have found evidence of sexual assault, and there's semen on her thigh. Eddie has gone down so he can run it through the system, see if any matches come up. When I told them about what Darren said, they thought it could be a possibility that it could be happening again, but of course we still have to investigate in case this time it really happened." Emma said.
"I believe Darren, I think he's genuine. We need to get back to the nick and tell Smithy what we've just found out." Beth said, putting her belt on as Emma started the car up.
*
Callum was walking round the station trying to find Sally. He finally found her in the canteen, balancing a cup of tea on her huge bump. He laughed as he sat down across from her.
"Jess used to do that when she pregnant with Lexi, but Lexi would kick Jess so that the cup fell off." Callum said with a smile.
"My baby obviously isn't as clever as yours." Sally said with a laugh.
"It's not long to go now is it?" he asked her.
"Nope, 6 weeks." Sally said, beaming at him.
"Nate is so antsy about it all, I hate being partnered with him at the minute!" Callum said, getting up from the table and helping Sally up.
Sally laughed and threw her cup in the bin, "Try living with him! He keeps telling me that I should stop working now. I don't see why though, I'm fine to work! Anyway, where are we off to?" Sally asked, following Callum down the corridors.
"Going to talk to Mr Alan Richmond. He's a potential suspect in a sexual assault that Jess and Will were called out to." Callum said, opening the door for Sally to get into the car.
"Thanks. Have we got any more suspects?" Sally asked as Callum started the car.
"Well Emma and Beth went to talk to the victims ex, but he has a confirmed alibi and Beth believed him." Callum replied, checking both ways before he pulled out.
"So it's up to us then?" Sally said with a laugh.
"As usual!" Callum replied.
*
Callum and Sally made their way into Louies bar, and spotted a man down the other end of the bar. Sally sat on a barstool by the man.
"We're closed." he said without looking up.
"We're the police." Callum said, showing the man his badge.
The man sighed and looked up, "Yes?"
"Are you Alan Richmond?" Sally asked.
"Yes why?" he asked.
"We're investigating a sexual assault on one of your staff." Callum said, taking his hat off.
"On who?" Alan asked, looking interested.
"Jenny Archer." Sally replied.
Alan gave a short laugh, "I wouldn't listen to her if I were you."
"Why not?" Callum asked, staring at the man.
"She's a liar, a compulsive one at that, and she's vicious!" Alan stated.
"Care to elaborate?" Sally said.
"When her ex tried to split up with her, she went mental, couldn't handle it at all. Came into work hysterical, I sent her home, she was no use to me. She started to become really obsessive over him, calling him all the time, going to his house all that sort of stuff. She was walking to work last week, and I heard shouting outside. I went out and Jenny had launched herself at the new girlfriend of her ex. I had to pull her away! I've got it on CCTV if you want to see it. And I've got CCTV of her walking home last night if you want that as well." Alan offered.
"Yeah that would be great. Can we ask you a few questions now please?" Callum asked.
"Go ahead." Alan said, getting glasses out the dishwasher.
"Where were you last night between 2am and 2:30am?" Sally asked, pen poised.
"At my sister's 50th birthday." Alan replied.
"Any witnesses?" Callum asked.
"Only about 100 of them. I can give you all their names and numbers if you want." Alan said.
"We'll only need 2. Do you know anyone who would want to hurt Jenny?" Sally asked.
"Nope, but she rubs a lot of people up the wrong way, although I dunno why someone would want to do that to her." Alan said, straightening up.
"Ok, thanks for your time. If you could get that CCTV for us please?" Callum asked, putting his hat back on.
After Alan had given them the CCTV, they were walking back to the car when Sally asked, "So what do you think? Is he telling the truth?"
"I think he is, and he has no reason to lie if it's all on CCTV and his alibi is tight. So we're at a dead end. We have no suspects." Callum said, throwing the CCTV tapes into the boot of the car.
"Better go let everyone know at the nick then." Sally said, heaving herself into the car.
*
Jess walked into the waiting room at the hospital, two teas in her hand. She handed one to Will then sat down.
"Eddie has just rung me, he's got the results of who the semen belongs to." Jess said, taking a sip.
"Oh yeah, who?" Will asked.
"Graham Wright. Beth looked him up on PNC for me, he's had youth convictions, but nothing sexual or violent. Beth has looked him up, and he's now a counsellor. And guess who one of patients was?" Jess said, her eyebrows raised.
"Jenny." Will said.
"Correct. According to Beth, he stopped being her counsellor about three months ago, although it doesn't say why. I think we should drop Jenny home and talk to Wright. Then go back to Jenny see what she says." Jess suggested.
"Agreed. Let's go." Will said, tipping his tea in the bin on the way out.
*
"Mr Wright?" Jess called into the office. Behind the desk was sat a man aged about 40 with light brown hair and glasses. He looked up expectantly.
"Yes?" he replied.
"Hi, I'm PC Stone, this is PC Fletcher. We'd like to talk to you about Jenny Archer. Can we come in?" Jess asked.
Graham stood up and indicated to them to take a seat, "Of course. How can I help?"
"Jenny has alleged that she was sexually assaulted last night on her way home from work." Will said.
Graham looked disgusted, "Really? Is she ok? Was she hurt?"
"She's ok. She's at the hospital being checked over. Now, the doctors found traces of semen on her thigh, and it was found to be a match to you." Jess said.
"Did you see her last night Mr Wright?" Will asked.
"Call me Graham. And yes I did. After work she came to my house, and we uh, well we had sex." Graham said, a blush appearing on his face.
Jess and Will exchanged confused glances, "You slept with Jenny? Do you know what time it was?" Jess asked.
"Erm, well she finishes work at 2am, and she got to mine about 2:15 am. She stayed for about an hour and then went home." Graham said.
"Was it consensual?" Will asked.
"Yes of course! You don't think I assaulted her! She came round and immediately started kissing me." Graham said, indignant.
"The thing is, we found scratches down the back of her legs and bruises on her wrists." Jess said.
Graham's face went bright red, "Well, god this is embarrassing, but she likes it rough. She begged for me to go harder and be rough, so well, so I did."
"Ok then. But we understand that Jenny was a patient of yours. It's unethical to have a relationship with a patient, as they're vulnerable, isn't that right Doctor?" Jess asked.
"Well yes, but Jenny stopped being my patient three months ago after things became passionate between us." Graham answered.
"What were you seeing Jenny for?" Will asked.
"I'm afraid that's confidential." Graham said sharply.
"Mr Wright, it's essential that we understand why Jenny has said she was sexually assaulted when you claim it was consensual." Jess replied, matching Graham's sharp tone.
"Ok fine. I was treating her for depression. Her and her boyfriend, or ex as I should say, had a volatile relationship, they were constantly arguing. She would become easily upset and downcast, and this led to depression." Graham said sadly. "I thought she was getting better, but obviously I was wrong."
"Ok, thank you for your time Mr Wright. We'll be in touch." Jess said getting up. Will followed her out of the room, and they headed back to the hospital to see Jenny.
*
"I've let Callum know what's going on. He says that from what her ex and her boss have said, and now her counsellor, the sexual assault was fabricated. I don't think we should arrest her though, for wasting time. She needs help." Jess said, walking down the corridors to where Jenny's room was.
"I agree. I think it was a cry for help. I don't understand how she could sit there and tell us she'd been assaulted though. It's undermining those who actually are raped." Will said, shaking his head, "You know what, I feel sorry for her, and I shouldn't, but I do. I think we ask her about Graham and then take her home."
"Yeah, sounds good to me. We'll take it slowly, I don't want her to become upset." Jess said, opening the door to Jenny's room. "Hi Jenny. Is it ok if we come in?"
Jenny was sat at the edge of the bed, looking straight ahead. She nodded her head once, "Sure."
"We've just spoken to Graham Wright." Will said. Jenny's head snapped up and she turned to look at Will. And then her face collapsed and she started to cry.
"Jenny, you weren't sexually assaulted were you?" Jess asked quietly.
Jenny shook her head, "No, I got so confused. I didn't know what was happening. I thought someone had attacked me, but they didn't. It was just Graham."
"We know, it's ok. Why did you say you had been assaulted though?" Will asked softly.
"I don't know, I just don't know. I'm so sorry for wasting time. Am I going to be arrested?" she asked fearfully.
"No sweetie, no you're not. We're going to refer you to a new psychiatrist though, who's going to help you." Jess said, putting her arms around Jenny. Jenny cried into her shoulder.
"We're going to take you home, ok? You're first appointment with Dr Marshall is tomorrow. We've got the details for you here." Will said.
"Come on honey, let's get you home." Jess said, leading Jenny out of the hospital and to their car.
*
"I'll take her in. You ok waiting here?" Will asked Jess as they pulled up to Jenny's house.
"Yeah that's fine. I'll let Smithy know." Jess said, smiling at him.
Will walked round to the back door to let Jenny out. She smiled gratefully at him and walked to the door to let them in.
"Thank you Will. You've been kinder to me than you should be, giving that I've given you the run around all day. I am sorry, but sometimes I get confused. Do you want a tea?" Jenny asked as the door opened.
"Sure, only quick though. And don't worry about it, we understand that you're not yourself. Here, this is my card. Call me if you need anything ok?" Will said, handing her his card. She rubbed her thumb across it and then placed it by her phone.
*
"Good day?" Emma asked, snuggled up with Will on his sofa.
"No, not really." Will said truthfully.
"That case really got to you didn't it?" Emma said, sitting up so she could look at him.
"Yeah. I don't know why though, that's the funny thing. But I guess it ended up ok." Will said with a smile.
"Mm, it did. God why is your house so cold?" Emma complained.
"I'm sorry! I've got a good way to get warm though." Will suggested cheekily, lifting Emma up and walking to the bedroom. He kicked the door shut with his foot, and a few seconds later the sounds of Emma's giggling filled the house.