Series 23, Episode 88: Operation Brass Balls

Date: Monday 12th January 2009

Investigating Officers: DCI Jack Meadows, DC Jo Masters, DC Mickey Webb

Leaving uniformed officer to untie the man and lead him down to the waiting patrol car, Jo and Mickey headed back to Sun Hill to prepare for his interview. As they walked into the station, the PC manning the desk called out to the brunette DC.

"What's up?"

"Umm... You need to go to Inspector Gold's office."

"Why?"

"Your daughters are here."

Jo gaped at the woman behind the desk. "What? Why? What's happened?"

"I'm not sure. All I know is that you need to go to Inspector Gold's office."

Sparing Mickey a brief, cursory, glance, Jo banged the code into the keypad on the door that led her straight into the station and disappeared from sight. She barely noticed what she was doing as she hurried through the corridors, scattering PCs in her wake.

"Ma'am?"

"Ah, Jo." Gina looked up from her computer and smiled, beckoning the detective into her office. "I believe these belong to you?"

Molly was sitting happily on the other side of the desk, liberally highlighting a page of writing with a fluorescent green pen. On the floor beside Gina's chair, Caitlin sat in her car seat, her big brown eyes moving constantly around the room as though she was attempting to take everything in.

"I... Ma'am, I'm sorry, I... I don't understand. Why are they here? What's happened? Where's Hannah?"

"Well..." The Inspector leant back in her chair and fixed the younger woman with a curious stare as Jo scooped Molly into her arms. "I was behind the reception desk when DC McKay walked into the station with these two and said that she needed a break and it was your turn to look after them. Then she just turned around and left before I could at anything."

Jo groaned, looking down at the toddler in her arms rather than meeting her superior's challenging gaze. "Right..."

"Jo, is everything alright?"

"I... I don't know." The detective admitted. "Hannah's... This isn't like her. She wouldn't just leave the girls here. I know she's tired, we both are, but..."

"If you think she needs to see someone, a doctor perhaps, then you should sort it out sooner rather than later." Spotting the other woman opening her mouth to protest, Gina shrugged. "She might not thank you now, but in the long run it'll be better."

"Yes, Ma'am. Thank you. I'm going to..."

Without finishing her sentence, Jo moved Molly onto her hip and grasped he handle of Caitlin's car seat, leaving the office hurriedly. She had several hours left of her shift and couldn't have them at the station with her, but she didn't know what to do for the best. When both Hannah's mobile and the landline rang out until the answer phones kicked in, Jo bit her lip, thinking hard. She tried calling Freya, only to be told that both she and Ellie had a full day of lessons. Jo declined their offer to take the rest of the day off, reminding them that Hannah would go crazy if she knew.

The DCI poked his head into the office and sent her a stern look, spotting that she hadn't managed to arrange anything yet. He had warned her that if she didn't find someone to look after the girls she would have to take the rest of her shift off. Ordinarily Jo would have taken that option, especially if most of her shift involved paperwork, but she was stuck into the case and didn't really want to hand it over.

Just as she was staring blankly at the door of the DI's office, inspiration struck. Scrolling through her contacts, she dialled a number and held her desk phone to her ear, praying that her call would be answered.

"Hello?"

"Abi? It's Jo."

"Hi. How are you?"

"I'm OK, thanks. I've got a huge favour to ask you" Jo admitted, biting her lip. "Are you free to look after Molly and Caitlin? I wouldn't ask, but it's an emergency."

"Umm... I'm actually shopping with Mum at the moment." The young woman admitted awkwardly. Hearing the defeated sigh from the other end of the line, she glanced at her mother and shrugged. "But it's fine. Of course I'll look after them."

"Are you sure?"

"No worries. Are you at home?"

"No, I'm at the station."

"With the girls?"

Jo sighed again. "Yeah... Hannah just dropped them off here and she's gone AWOL. I'm in the middle of a shift or I'd take them home myself."

"Don't worry, we'll come and pick them up in about... half an hour?"

"You're a lifesaver." Jo told her seriously. "I owe you one."

Laughing, Abi agreed and said that she would remind her of that the next time she needed a babysitter for Harry. Ending the call, Jo asked Kezia to keep an eye on the girls while she went to inform the DCI of the arrangements. He nodded distractedly, before asking whether there were any developments on the case.

With half an hour to kill while she waited for the Nixons to arrive, Jo thought back to her conversations with Mickey and Gina about Hannah. She really was worried about her girlfriend and, although she knew that the redhead wouldn't thank her for it, she knew that she had to do something.

Riffling through her purse, Jo found the card that Hannah's midwife had given her in case of any problems and picked up the receiver of her desk phone again. She hesitated for a moment, debating her decision. Then she took a deep breath and dialled.

"Hello, Pippa Cowbridge."

"Hi, Pippa, it's Jo Masters; Hannah McKay's partner."

"Hi, Jo. How see you? How's little Caitlin?"

"I'm fine, thanks. Caitlin's doing great, too." Jo told her with a smile, glancing over to where the little girl in question was doing her best to pull her socks off. "It's actually Hannah I wanted to speak to you about."

"Oh, right. What's up?"

"She's... Well, she's not herself. I'm really worried about her." The detective admitted, lowering her voice slightly. "She's losing her temper more than normal, she's crying a lot, she's not sleeping... I just don't know what to do. I've tried talking to her, but she gets all defensive and thinks I'm criticising her abilities as a mother."

"I think the best thing is for me to have a chat with her." Pippa said after a slight pause. "From what you've said is sounds like Hannah could be suffering from postnatal depression."

"Oh..."

"Don't worry. It's relatively common and in most cases women who suffer from PND feel like their old selves relatively quickly with a bit of help. She'll need your support, though."

"Of course. I just want her back to her old self. I hate not knowing what to do to help her feel better."

"I know it's hard." Pippa sympathised. "What if I pop round this evening and have a chat with her? I won't mention that it's come from you, I'll just say I was in the area and wanted to see how you're all doing."

Jo breathed a sigh of relief, feeling as though a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. "That would be great."

"Shall we say about half six?"

"Perfect. Thank you."

Replacing the receiver, Jo smiled at Mollie, who was looking questioningly at her from the floor beside her chair. Seeing that the three-year-old had a copy of Bob Hawkins witness statement in her hands, the detective gently wrestled it from her grip and placed the crumpled papers on her desk. Taking Molly's hand firmly in her own, Jo picked up Caitlin's car seat and took them down the the canteen to wait for Abi and Sam to arrive.

x-x

"What've I missed?" Jo demanded, striding back into CID after handing over her daughters and having a quick chat with Sam about what was going on. The blonde had been sympathetic, asking if there was anything she could do to help, but Jo told her that watching the girls was enough.

"It turns out that Steve Barnes took that camcorder from the backseat of a car outside a supermarket and sold it on the next day. He claims that he tried to buy it back when two guys, wearing balaclavas, threatened him." Mickey informed her, glancing up from the pile of papers on his desk as his colleague settled herself on he surface beside them. "He can't ID them because he never saw their faces. When he couldn't get the camcorder back from Bob, they tied him up in his house."

"Does the supermarket story check out?"

"Yep. Come and take a look." Mickey led the way over to the television where the CCTV footage from the supermarket car park was still paused on the screen. He rewound it slightly before setting it playing. Jack joined them, curious to see for himself.

"There's Steve Barnes..." Jo tapped the screen with her fingernail as the man appeared in shot. "And there's the BMW."

"Right, check the registration number."

Mickey moved away to do as he was told, while the other detectives carried on watching the footage. He read out the licence plate number, before Jo called him back to the screen.

"You might wanna see this, Mickey."

"That's the woman! That's her from the camcorder." He agreed, jabbing his finger towards the woman on screen who was opening the back seat of the BMW and putting her shopping inside. They continued to watch as she got in and drove off. "It's not her motor, though. The BMW is registered to a Craig Francis; 48, Kellitt Street."

"Run that through CRIMINT." The DCI ordered urgently.

"D'you know him, Guv?"

"Hopefully not.

"Here we go... Craig Francis, released from Longmarsh Prison sixteen months ago for serving nine of a twelve month sentence for armed robbery. Category A prisoner. Seems like a nice bloke."

"That's not the half of it."

"And is he who you thought he might be?" Jo asked warily, glancing sideways at Jack.

"Unfortunately."

"Here we go... known associates. The woman from the camcorder and supermarket CCTV footage; Charly Myers. Different address, but she's obviously Craig Francis' long term girlfriend."

"But that's not Francis who she's with in the camcorder." Jo pointed out, frowning.

"Then they're playing with fire, because if Francis ever sees that footage, Charly and her lover could be looking at a very messy end." The DCI paused by the doors. "I want to see everything you've got so far in my office."

The two DCs nodded and began gathering up their evidence. They took it along to Jack and began outlining where they were up to in the case. He listened intently as they explained about Bob's shop and Steve Barnes' involvement, nodding his head in agreement.

"You know, she's been with Francis a long time." Jo pointed out. "She could have the contacts to set something like that up."

"Or it's Francis himself. 'Cos if he found out what was on here he'd do everything he could to get it back." The DCI reminded them. "I mean, footage of your girlfriend being given a tour of the shrubbery of a local park, it's not something you'd want people seeing, is it? And we need to find who this guy is; make sure he's safe." Jo exchanged a smirk with Mickey at Jack's choice of phrase, before following him through the double doors into CID. "Grace, Kezia, can you just stop what you're doing? Now, if this guy's on our system I wanna know. So try WADS, facial recognition, you know the score. OK, you two. I want you to visit Charly Myers and if Francis is there just back off. You know, say you're investigating a local burglary or something. This is a dangerous man we're dealing with, so don't take any unnecessary risks."

Jo and Mickey nodded and headed straight out of the station to visit the woman. Mickey drive quickly through the streets, not speaking because he could tell that his colleague was deep in thought. He glanced across at her several times, but she was simply staring blankly out of the window.

Finally they arrived at the address that had shown up on CRIMINT. Mickey let out a low whistle at the house that they quickly identified as Charly Myers', before locking the pool car and jogging up the steps to knock on the door, letting Jo trail along behind him.

"Charly Myers?"

"Yeah?"

"DC Masters, DC Webb, Sun Hill CID." Jo said bluntly, showing her warrant card. "D'you mind if I come in?"

The woman moved to block the doorway. "Errr... It's not really a good time."

"Oh, d'you have someone with you?"

"No, I'm on my own... What's this about?"

"Yeah, it would be better if we spoke to you inside." Mickey replied simply, nodding his head towards the doorway.

She sighed and then reluctantly stood back, letting them into the house, before firmly closing the door behind them. "So, are you gonna tell me why you're here?"

"We've recovered some of your property."

"And what's that?"

"A camcorder." Jo said, starting to lose patience with the woman in front of her.

"Nope, sorry, I think you've got the wrong person."

"Well I don't think so, unless you've got a twin sister." Mickey shrugged. "I'd say we made a pretty definite identification, didn't we? Right down to that tiniest little mole on your butt."

"Thanks Mickey, I think she gets the point!" Jo muttered, nudging him with a smirk. "We also have CCTV footage of the camera being taken from the back seat of your car."

"OK! It is mine! So what?"

"So, we wanna know who was with you in the camcorder footage."

Charly chuckled mirthlessly. "That's none of your business."

"Well it clearly is. And it weren't your partner, Craig Francis, was it?"

"A man with a considerable reputation for violence." Jo pointed out, arching an eyebrow.

"How d'you think he'd be if he found out about this affair, eh?"

"He won't."

"That's why we're here. We need to make sure he's safe. You got a name for us?"

Charly sighed. "Look, I can't tell you. He's married."

"Well we don't want to rock the boat, Miss Myers, but Craig's already aware that there something going on."

"No, no, no. That's not possible."

"Look, the camcorder that got stolen from your car ended up in a second hand shop." Mickey explained quickly. "The same second hand shop got ram-raided this morning. They were after your camcorder."

"So somehow he's found out about the pair of you and that there's something on that camera. He didn't get it, but he's not going to give up." Jo tried to reason with her. "I'd say he'd do anything to find your lover. So d'you see why we need to find him first?"

"No, you don't." She shook her head. "It was me who organised the ram-raid. I was trying to get the camcorder back."

Jo and Mickey exchanged a look. "In that case, Miss Myers, you're under arrest."

They took her back to Sun Hill and straight to custody to be checked in. Jo glanced at her watch warily, seeing that she had two hours left of her shift and two and a half before Pippa arrived at the house to speak to Hannah. This new twist in the case unsettled her; it could either mean things were wrapped up soon, or it could mean that things were about to get far more complicated. In her gut, Jo didn't believe that Charly Myers had organised the ram-raid at all, which wasn't helping her mood.

They started the interview and let the woman talk. She seemed keen to get everything off her chest without much prompting. That, in itself, stuck Jo as odd, but she allowed her to talk unimpeded.

"Listen, Charly, there's no doubt you're looking at prison, here," Jo informed her coldly, "but unless you give us some names you're going to be looking at a much longer sentence."

"Then I guess that's something I'm going to have to live with." She replied calmly. "What'll happen to the camcorder now?"

Jo shrugged. "It's evidence."

"I've admitted my part in all of this; I'll plead guilty. You don't need it. Can't you just have it destroyed?"

"It doesn't work like that!"

"Unless that happens, Craig could still find out."

"Which is why I'm going to ask you again to give me the name of the man you were with."

"I've told you all I'm going to."

"You know he could still be in danger?"

"He doesn't have to be. All you have to do is lose that camera."

"It can't be done."

"Well then, if something happens to him you'll be as much to blame as I am." Charly informed them, leaning back in her seat.

Gritting her teeth, Jo ended the interview and stood up. She left Mickey to deal with the woman, headed out into the yard for some fresh air. She was so lost in thought that she almost didn't feel her mobile vibrating in her pocket. Managing to retrieve it just in time, she answered the call.

"Hannah? Where are you?"

"I'm sorry... I shouldn't have left them with Gina. I just need some time on my own. I felt like... I felt like I couldn't breathe."

"Where are you now?"

"The river."

"Stay there, I'll come and pick you up."

"No, it's fine."

Jo shook her head, already half way to her car. "Hannah, I'm on my way."

She drove as quickly as she could, spotting her girlfriend immediately. Hannah's hair stood out vividly against the grey January sky as she sat on the bridge high above the freezing bridge below her. Anxiously, the brunette jogged over to where she was, wrapping an arm firmly around the younger woman instinctively. Hannah started at the contact, whipping her head around to see who it was.

"Jo..."

"What are you doing out here, love?"

"I needed space." Hannah looked towards the car and frowned. "Where are the girls?"

"With Sam and Abi. The DCI said they couldn't stay in the station." She shivered unconsciously. "Come on, let's get you home."

"Will you come?"

Jo sighed. "I'll take you, love, but I'm on shift until six. We're in the middle of a case and the DCI isn't in the best of moods today anyway. I can't push it. I'll come home as soon as I can."

"There'll be no one else there... we'll have the house to ourselves for once." Hannah tried to change her mind, raising her eyebrow.

It was almost enough to work, but at the back of the older woman's mind she was conscious that her girlfriend wasn't well and she was supposed to be at work. "I can't, sweetheart."

Hannah scowled. "Fine."

Jo trailed behind her miserably as the redhead stamped over to the car and wrenched the door open, throwing herself into the passenger's seat and slamming the door behind her. She hoped that Pippa would be able to offer some advice that would help Hannah get back to normal as quickly as possible.