Please forgive the huge delay. I blame writers block and exams for conspiring against me. But I have now left college, and got past Christmas so fingers crossed I am back on track. I apologise if sections of this seem rushed, they were. I have had the bulk of it written for months but have been struggling to fill in the gaps. Please review because this could all be rubbish for all I know.
Chapter 10 - Flying
"Morning Mickey, I've got a case for you. Mugging during the night on a Michael Edwards, his wife rang us and uniform had a quick look and handed it over to us, here's the file." Jack said dropping the folder into Mickey's hands.
"Cheers, Guv."
"You alright?" Jack said leaning against Mickey's desk.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"Been to see that counsellor since?"
"Once." Mickey replied nodding.
"Keep going, yeah? It can't hurt."
---
I looked through the file, it seemed pretty simple. Just interview the victim, have a look at CCTV and check out the local muggers with the same MO.
---
"Good morning, DC Webb from Sun Hill CID, could I speak to Mr Edwards please?"
"Yes," said a tired looking woman. "Come in." She showed him through to a tidy living room.
Sat in a chair was a pale gentleman. "Please sit down." The woman said indicating the chair beside her husband. "I'll make some tea."
"Thank you." Mickey said sitting down.
"I'm DC Mickey Webb from Sun Hill, I understand that you were mugged last night and am here to ask you a few questions, won't take too long. Is that ok?"
The man nodded silently.
"Could you tell me what happened last night, please." Mickey said taking out his notebook and a pen.
"I was walking home from work."
"We're do you work?" Mickey asked looking up from his notes.
"Holbourn Estate Agents, on the high street."
"Yeah I know it. What route did you take?"
"Along East Street, onto the main road and then Rowland Road."
"Where were you attacked?"
"On the corner of Rowland Road."
"What sort of time was this?"
"About quarter to nine."
"Do you often walk home late?"
"No, I stayed late preparing for an important meeting that was supposed to be this morning and my wife had the car to take our eldest daughter to a orthodontist appointment."
"Did you get a good look at your attacker?"
"Not really, he was white, taller than me and had quite long dark hair, but I didn't get a look at his face at all."
"Did he say anything to you."
"He just told me not to make any noise." Mr Edwards looked down avoiding Mickey's eye.
"Did he have an accent at all."
"Er, local, I think."
"Can you tell me exactly what he did."
"He, he grabbed me from behind and told me not to make any noise, then he went through my pockets and took my wallet. Then he kicked me and hit me a few time and ran off."
"He just took your wallet then?"
"Yes."
"Did you have anything else of value on you?"
"Just my mobile."
"Have you got any idea why he didn't take it?"
Mr Edwards just shook his head.
"Can you give me a description of you wallet and what it had in it.
"It was just an ordinary black leather wallet, it had some a few credit cards in it which my wife has cancelled and a few photos of my family and a little cash, ten, twenty quid at the most."
"Could you give me the name of your bank and I can check if anyone tries to use them."
"My wife made a list all the cards." He said handing Mickey a sheet of paper.
"Thank you, that's very helpful. Ok, I think that's all for the time being, is there anything else you'd like to say?"
"No." He said looking down.
"Are you sure?" Mickey asked frowning.
Mr Edwards just nodded.
"Is there something you're not telling me?"
"N, no." He stuttered.
"Ok, here's my card. Just give me a ring if you think of anything else, no matter how unimportant it may seem." Mickey stood up. "I'll see myself out."
After leaving the house Mickey sat in his car for several minutes thinking. He couldn't help thinking that Mr Edwards was lying to him about what had happened, he was convince that there was more to it.
"Any leads on the mugging?" Jack asked when Mickey returned to the CID office.
"Not really, it was in a quiet residential area so no CCTV and the guy didn't get a good look at the attacker, just a vague description, white, tall, longish brown hair and a local accent. That could describe half of Sun Hill. But I don't know, it's like something didn't quite add up. While I was talking to the guy my instincts were shouting that he was hiding something, I'm just not sure what." The conversation stopped suddenly when Mickey's phone started ringing.
"Mickey Webb?"
"It's Helen Edwards, John Edwards' wife. My husband has disappeared, he went out with out saying anything to me just after you left. He's been acting very strangely since last night, I'm really worried about him." Said an anxious voice.
"Ok Mrs Edwards, try and stay calm. Did your husband take a mobile with him?"
"No, he left it here, he didn't even take a coat with him."
"Ok, I'll come round now, I'll be a few minutes." Mickey hung up and turned to Jack.
---
"Mrs Edwards, any word from him?" Mickey said as soon as she opened the door.
"No, he just rushed out of the house, he didn't even take his coat with him."
"Is there anywhere your husband goes if he needs to think?"
"The park, he always has done since he was a kid.
---
He was huddled on a park bench staring into space. "Mr Edwards?" Mickey called gently from a few feet away. "Your wife's really worried about you." Mickey sat down next to him, but at a careful distance away
"I, I couldn't be around her. She deserves better."
"Do you want to talk to me, tell me what really happened last night?"
"Should've stopped him."
"There was nothing you could do."
"Really?" Mr Edwards looked up. "I should've been more of a …" He couldn't find the right word.
"A man?" Mr Edwards nodded miserably. "What happened to you?"
"I tried to stop him, really I did. But I was so scared and he was so strong. He raped me and there was nothing I could do to stop him."
"There was nothing you could've done, if you'd fought more then he might have killed you."
"Wish he had. I feel so, I don't know how I feel."
"I do, you feel numb, and dirty and ashamed. You feel empty, like some huge part of you has been taken, is gone forever."
Mr Edwards looked up at Mickey. "How do you know this?"
Mickey shrugged. "Personal experience." There was a silent understanding between the two men.
"I recognised him, he's been watching me. Thought I was imagining it at first, I've seen him waiting outside work a couple of times."
"But you don't know who he is?"
Mr Edwards shook his head. "No idea."
---
"Mickey, you alright?" Jack asked taking one look at his DC's pale face.
"John Edwards, he wasn't just mugged. He was raped."
Jack paused for a second, looking at Mickey. "I think you should pass this case onto someone else."
"No, I can do it. I have to see this one through, Guv."
"Alright, but if you can't do this, just say."
"Thanks, Guv."
Jack sighs. "So what's your plan?"
"Mr Edwards said that he had seen this guy hanging around outside his work recently, I've got the CCTV recordings from the cameras on the high street, hopefully he'll be on it."
After a number of mind-numbingly boring hours watching the CCTV from the high street Mickey finally caught sight of a man watching Mr. Edwards, he looked back over previous recordings and found the same man turning up repeatedly. During one recording the man gets into a parked car.
Finally, a lead. Mickey thinks thankfully. He quickly traces the registration plate and comes up with the owners name.
---
Gasping for breath, I ran after the man. I was just seconds behind him as we left the woods. In the distance I could hear sirens - back up - and I mentally sighed with relief. I wanted to get this man (and I use that word loosely) more than anyone but the idea of catching him alone terrified me.
I wonder what I am doing here, why I went after this man alone. Was I walking, or rather running, myself into another potentially dangerous situation. Could this all end the same way as before.
What was I thinking of when I traced this man's address? Why on Earth did I not get someone to come with me? Maybe I deserved what Delaney did to me, maybe it was punishment for my repeated stupidity.
I think I can hear sirens in the distance. Help? Or is it my desperate imagination playing tricks on me?
In front of me, he was running across the road and without really considering the consequences I followed after him.
That's where I made my mistake – not looking both ways.
Suddenly I felt an alarmingly large bang followed by a strange sensation of flying which could have lasted many minutes or just a few seconds.
Then another bang and a splitting pain in my head. The last thing I remember is the squealing of breaks, the pounding of running footsteps and the sound of an anxious voice calling my name.