Series 26, Episode 12: Respect: Part 4

Date: Sunday 15th May 2016

Investigating Officers: Superintendent Jack Meadows, DI Neil Manson, Inspector Dale Smith, Sergeant Jo Masters, DS Max Carter, DS Hannah McKay, DC Mickey Webb, DC Terry Perkins, DC Grace Desari


"We might as well jack it in." Max shrugged when Hannah returned to CID after going for a much needed cigarette break, his whole demeanour instantly riling her up.

"Yeah? Why's that?"

"No witness statement, no conclusive evidence, no case."

"We can't just drop it." Jo disagreed, catching her fiancée's eyes and seeing the fire burning in them.

"No? Jasmine Harris is a hostile witness in a rape case where she's the victim. Good luck turning that around."

Jack joined them, moving to stand in the centre of the room. "Well I think Max has got a point, but it would mean dropping a rape case and closing the books on the murder of a fourteen-year-old boy. And I don't think I could live with that." He admitted. "So what've we got to build on?"

"In truth, Sir, not much."

"Well we could have more than we thought." Smithy announced, entering CID quickly. "We think the person who fired the shot at the rape scene might have been trying to break it up."

"So maybe there's one decent individual in the mix."

"Maybe."

"OK, Mickey, play the CCTV and see if it backs it up."

He nodded and moved to the screen, starting the footage and talking through the images. "OK, so here we've got Jasmine being led in. The two that we have identified – Wilson and Simmons – are here. If we fast-forward another couple of people turn up. This guy in the hoody is Derek Bailey. Now he was the last one to go in… this was about 17:45. Now it all goes quiet for a minute until… here: 17:46."

"That's the same time that calls started coming in about a gunshot." Terry pointed out.

"OK… play it on. OK… Simmons, Wilson and Bailey is last to leave…"

"Hold on Mickey, rewind that back." Banksy requested, sitting up straighter. "Right… OK… So Jasmine is inside… Derek Bailey comes out and right then, look. Why does he stop? Was he thinking about going back in and checking on her?"

"So you think he fired the gun to stop the rape?" Jack asked, frowning. "So why haven't we brought this guy in?"

"We can't find him." Terry admitted. "Grace and I spoke to him yesterday."

"He was just a fishing trip at that point."

"Well we need to trace him." Jack ordered. "Have we got no friendly witnesses?"

"Jasmine may or may not have a flatmate… a girl called Willow." Mickey suggested.

"Well this could be our last stab. We need to work it."

"If we're giving this our all, I reckon we dismantle the drug outfit on the Parkway." Max proposed.

"That's genius… so what? A fourteen-year-old boy gets murdered–"

Max rolled his eyes, cutting Mickey off. "The Parkway Crew run the drug trade on the estate. We've got firearms and drugs out on the streets. We make arrests on that basis and we might be able to break up the gang."

"If we break up the gang then Jasmine and everyone else might feel more confident about giving evidence."

"Exactly." Max nodded in agreement.

"As if that's what you were thinking about." Hannah muttered, rolling her eyes at her fellow DS. "We'll need to put something in place afterwards, Guv. We'll leave a power vacuum otherwise and it'll be carnage as they try and take over."

Jack nodded thoughtfully. "Right, let's go for it. Let's call in Simmons, Gary Wilson and Derek Bailey. We know the targets."

As they dispersed slowly, Hannah paused for a moment to mutter about Max with her fiancée, before making her way downstairs for another cigarette. No one stopped her, apparently realising that her need for nicotine at the moment was much stronger than anyone else's need for her attention.

"Han… can you explain something to me?"

The redhead paused, shrugging and waiting for her friend to catch up as she headed back towards CID. Mickey handed her a cup of coffee, before launching into his questioning.

"You trying to soften me up or something?"

"No, I just… I don't get this whole thing."

"What thing?"

"Jasmine, Willow… they're bright girls. They've got a spark. Why do they let this happen to them?"

Hannah sighed. "That's just how it works."

"That's what Willow said when I asked her." Mickey admitted.

The redhead shot him a sad smile. "Sadly, it's the truth."

"Is that how things worked on the Larkmead when you were a kid?"

Hannah shrugged. "Things were different in the 90's… but not that different. The boys still ran things and the girls were expendable. We didn't matter at all."

"Did you ever…?"

"Did I what, Mick?"

"Were you a 'link'?"

She smiled bitterly. "It didn't have a name back then, but yeah… I guess so."

"Were you ever…?"

"Mickey, you need to learn to talk in full sentences." Hannah told him bluntly, knowing that he was trying to ask her whether she'd been through anything like Jasmine had, but refusing to acknowledge it. "Come on… let's go and find out the latest."

"Derek Bailey's gone off radar." Smithy announced as they entered CID. "Ruby Collier says he's in some sort of trouble."

"With the crew?"

"Well, that's the message."

"It's likely that he fired the gun that stopped the rape." Callum pointed out.

Jack nodded slowly. "He might be under threat from Gary Wilson. He could be our only witness. We need to find him."

"What about that kid Willow?"

"She said that Jasmine is Wilson's girl."

Max laughed. "As predicted, she's riding us."

"She's a rape victim."

"And her boyfriend sanctioned it."

"Makes absolutely no difference, Max." Hannah reminded him angrily. "Rape is rape."

"Look, our priority is finding Derek Bailey, so let's get on with that, shall we?" Neil suggested, not wanting to let tempers flare any more than they already were.

"Is Ruby still in custody?" Mickey asked as Jo passed them.

"Yeah."

"D'you mind if I have a word with her?"

"Well Mel and Roger have talked to her already," Jo pointed out, "got everything she's going to give us."

"I just want a quick chat, that's all."

"We're not missionaries, Mickey. We're not here to save people."

Hannah arched an eyebrow at fiancée. "Really, babe?"

Jo smiled sarcastically at her, as Mickey persisted. "We ain't here to bury them, either. These boys are running wild. They've got more respect for their dogs than they have the girls."

"Well you don't need to tell me that." The Sergeant agreed with a sigh.

"So we need to do something."

Hannah looked hopefully at her fiancée until she sighed and mouthed 'ten minutes' at the DC. Jo sighed deeply as he headed away quickly, before following Hannah's gaze and watching as Max shook his head and leant back in his chair with an expression of exasperation on his face.

"Mickey's right, Jo." Hannah murmured, smiling weakly at her. "We need to do something… otherwise that makes us no better than Max."

Jo shot her a look. "Don't even joke about that."

Shrugging, Hannah moved away to follow up on a couple of reports she still needed information to complete. She pointedly avoided looking anywhere in Max's vicinity, just his mere presence annoying her at that moment. She hated how dismissive he was being, but knew that she shouldn't really have expected anything else.

"Hey, is there a Claymore House on the Parkway?" Mickey asked, shooting Hannah a look and heading towards the board at the front of the room.

She followed him curiously. "Yeah… why?"

"Ruby Collier just sent me that." He said, showing the DI his phone.

"What d'you say to her?" Neil asked curiously.

"Well as far as I could tell, all the wrong things." Mickey shrugged. "Took a few of DS McKay's comments on board… apparently it's done the trick."

"Is that a good lead?" Jo asked, looking confused.

"Could be, yeah." The DI agreed. "Claymore House, no number. Give Sergeant Stone the location."

"You've traced Bailey?" Jack asked as Jo radioed through to Callum.

"We'll soon find out."

"Right, even if we find him and even if we convince him to give evidence, it's pissing in the wind without Jasmine." Smithy pointed out. "If she doesn't testify then it's Bailey's word against the rest of them."

"Well we only need one of them to fold."

"Then if this is our last push, then I think we need another crack at Jasmine. Hannah… do you think you can try speaking to her again?" Smithy asked, looking at the redhead hopefully. "She was so close to opening up to you, I'm sure of it."

"I dunno, Smith…" She sighed, shaking her head. "She's in such a bad place… Mick?"

He shook his head vehemently, walking away. "Nah, nah… as far as she's concerned, I've sold her down the river."

"Well then you convince her that that's not the case, Mickey."

"Listen, if I speak to that girl–"

"Hang on a minute, right. You've been having a go at everyone about giving up, but you're gonna be the first one to throw in the towel, are ya?"

"Sir… Liam Martin's mother is in the front office." Jo said, breaking the tension.

"Thanks, Jo."

As the Superintendent headed downstairs, Hannah turned to Mickey, lowering her voice. "Look… you know I don't really want to talk to Jasmine again… but Smithy's right. We can't just give up. We could talk to her together?"

"I dunno, Han…"

"Nor do I, Mick, but I do know that I won't be able to enjoy my wedding if those boys get away with this." She told him. "Do you really want to ruin my wedding, Michael?"

"Hannah. Emotionally blackmailing me ain't gonna work."

Sighing, she shrugged. "Cards on the table. I feel as though letting them get away with what they did to Jasmine will make getting Ashley Jamieson, Simon Henderson and Jake Webster sent down completely meaningless. Why should my rapists and abusers get justice when Jasmine's won't?"

"You can't compare your situations with hers, you know that."

"No, I know that. Doesn't mean I won't, though."

Mickey rubbed his jaw agitatedly. "Fine."

She smiled at him, reaching out to squeeze his arm reassuringly and going to grab keys to the pool car. They headed out of the station together, both of them quieter and more subdued than normally. Mickey made no attempt to stop the redhead driving and, as they headed towards the Parkway Estate, he considered asking her again about whether she'd been through anything like Jasmine was going through. One look at the closed expression on her face made him change his mind, however.

Hannah parked up and they wandered through the estate looking for the teenager. Finally spotting her sitting against a wall in one of the storage areas underneath one of the tower blocks, they made their way inside quickly.

"I'll let you speak to her." Hannah suggested, hanging back as they approached the teenager sitting on the ground. "Give me the nod if you need a hand."

"You're not coming over?"

She shook her head. "I think you've got this. She trusts you, whether she wants to admit it or not. I think you need this, too."

Mickey looked at her for a moment, before squeezing her hand. He turned and headed towards the girl, talking to her for a moment, before lowering himself to sit on the pallet beside her. Hannah watched as they talked for a little while, before Mickey stood and held out his hand to the teenager.

Hannah smiled weakly as they approached, apologising again for what had happened. She held open the car door for the teenager, before climbing into the passenger's side. None of them spoke as they made their way back to the station, but both detectives kept sneaking looks at the girl in the rear view mirror as she stared silently out of the window.

Showing her into the soft interview room, Mickey asked whether Jasmine wanted anything to drink, before starting the interview. Hannah just listened as the teenager talked and her colleague prompted every now and again.

"There was nothing I could do about it. They took me into Nayfield House and just started knocking me about. I knew what they were gonna do."

"Who was the instigator, Jasmine?" Mickey asked gently. "Who started things?"

"Gary Wilson. Not that the rest needed much encouragement."

As they went through the rest of the details and then Mickey went to get a copy of the transcript for Jasmine to sign, Hannah watched her carefully. She sighed as she saw the tears rolling silently down the girls cheeks and, when they were alone together, she stood up and stepped towards her.

Hannah held open her arms in the teenager's direction. "Come here, kid."

Jasmine didn't need to be told twice. She fell into the DS's embrace and buried her face in Hannah's shoulder, her tears soaking through the fabric of her t-shirt. Rubbing soothing circles on her back, Hannah just held her, letting her cry without doing anything to try and get her to stop. She knew that the teenager would have a lot of emotion that she needed to get out and trying to stem that would just cause more problems later on.

Briefly, Hannah wondered when the last time someone had hugged Jasmine like this had been. She remembered well enough what it was like not to have someone looking out for her and to feel completely alone when she'd been the teenager's age and it made her heart hurt as the girl continued to sob into her shoulder.

"Is it enough?" Jasmine asked after a while, looking up at the older redhead imploringly. "Is it enough to get them?"

"We'll make sure of it, love." Hannah assured her with a warm smile.

"Thanks."

"Don't thank me… or us. You're the one who was strong enough to do this. You're the one who did the right thing by speaking out."

The teenager smiled weakly and said nothing until Mickey returned with Kirsty and some information about a hostel that Jasmine could stay in until they found somewhere safer for her. Hannah squeezed her shoulder as she left the room, leaning against the wall outside and exhaling deeply, her eyes slipping closed as she let the fact they'd got the right result wash over her.

"Well done."

Opening one eye, the redhead looked at her fiancée for a moment, before pushing away from the wall and walking over to join her. "What for?"

"Surviving this case?"

Chuckling softly, Hannah shook her head. "How long 'til you finish? I just want to go home, have a bath and go to bed."

"I think that can be arranged." Jo told her, nodding her head towards the door.