Jack
DI Warren leaves for now. Of course, Nikki will have to be taken to the station to make a statement about what happened in the car park at some point. I will be going with her.
I'll tell you that for nothing.
"Right, you two." Leo remarks, when the DI has left. "Time to talk."
"Who, us?" Nikki and I retort innocently, in unison – though we are perfectly aware that the remark is aimed at us.
"It's ok you're not in trouble." Leo sighs.
"Makes a change" Clarissa chuckles before she can stop herself.
"Yes, Clarissa, thank you." Our boss responds. "It's quite clear that there is something going on that Clarissa and I are not aware of – something to do with Kate. Would you like to share anything with us? It won't go any further than this room if it doesn't need to"
"I don't know that much...she took a disliking to me as soon as we met for some reason." Nikki comments.
How can anyone take a disliking to Nikki – that's what I want to know, but yes, for some reason Nikki seemed to get the DI's back up pretty much straight away.
"Maybe it was because I showed empathy towards Emma Henderson," Nikki muses "But I could see she was scared, she'd just lost her mum – not mention finding her body, and Kate was just taking her Dad away without any explanation at all. I just tried to calm the child down and reassure her but apparently that was 'overstepping my role'." Nikki shrugs screwing her nose up and looking decidedly unimpressed. "She kept having 'words' with me about it and made it as clear as possible that she preferred Jack! I don't really care either way, but I thought that was a bit unnecessary when we are all working together. Anyway, I had my doubts about Roly Henderson's guilt and I found a strong case against Alan Lane. Kate on the other had refused to listen and was intent on having Emma's dad sent down for murder – until Jack spoke to her...somehow he managed to get her to listen to me..." she trails off and I know it's my turn.
As much as I don't want to get Kate in trouble for her past – which other than Daddy's influence, has nothing to do with the present, she did try to hide evidence and I did warn her that I would spill what I know if she didn't co-operate in this matter where Nikki is so obviously right. She isn't co-operating.
I clear my throat, as the nerves hit. What if I do get in trouble for trying deal with it myself? Suddenly I feel like I'm about to be made to stand outside the headmaster's office again – a regular occurrence at one point in my life.
"I walked in on Kate holding a broken shelf at Roly Henderson's" I admit. "She said that she had broken it when she leaned on it to look out the window and that she was embarrassed. I wasn't convinced, so I bagged it up for evidence anyway."
"Well done." Clarissa interjects.
"Thanks." I respond with a slight snigger. "Kate invited me to the pub and her dad was there. I could see straight away that he had some sort of influence over her, so I went back to the crime scene for another look. I found the bit of broken shelf that Kate hadn't found and I worked it out. Kate had some sort of problem - substance issues – judging by the way one of her colleagues was acting – you know, just things he said. Her Dad is trying to 'micromanage' her come back and Roly Henderson is a 'quick fix' to the case."
Leo narrows his eyes. "So why lie about the shelf?"
"Because Roly Henderson wouldn't have broken in through his own window." Nikki pipes up. "That must have been the point of entry."
Well done, Nikki. She's so sharp, bless her.
I nod "Exactly. I had already bagged the shelf up, so the evidence was safe. I noticed Kate's hostility towards Nikki when we first got to the crime scene and I confronted her about the shelf after she had another go at Nikki for 'overstepping her role' DI Warren asked if I wanted her 'head on a block'. I simply told her that Nikki had a strong case against Alan Lane and if she didn't co-operate then her 'attempt to hide evidence' and 'Daddy's influence' might come to light."
Clarissa chuckles. "Blackmail, Jack...really?"
"Well, considering what happened to Nikki as a result of Alan being released I don't feel bad about it at all." I retort.
"Right." Leo remarks, turning to Nikki, "So what happened at the station before Lane attacked you?"
"I took Lane's DNA, then Kate's Dad turned up and pulled her out of questioning him. Dad had words again – and didn't respond well to me wanting to prove Alan Lane's guilt. Then Kate released Lane – and you know what happened after that. I didn't like the way Lane looked at me when I took his DNA or when he passed in his van."
"It's a bit stupid, isn't it?" Clarissa declares.
Seriously?
"Stupid?!" I splutter, appalled.
"That's not what she meant, Jack." Leo intervenes quickly. "Clarissa means that Lane was stupid to go after Nikki immediately after he'd been released – and in the police station car park no less."
"Oh."
"I guess he was angry." Nikki suggests "and anger isn't reasonable or sensible is it. As you can see, Kate is still not co-operating even after I had an encounter with that awful man" she comments "which is why I asked to go out for a glass of water. I could see that Jack was on the point of punching a wall, and I thought it best to remove him before he got in trouble or hurt himself – not that I can blame him really. That woman is infuriating."
"So you didn't want water." I mutter in disappointment. I can't deny that I was pleased she wanted my help – or I thought she did.
Nikki gives me a warm smile. "The water was very welcome, thank you Jack...and as you will have worked out it takes one hand to hold the glass and another to turn the tap, so I can't
really do it on my own at the moment."
Nikki
The case changes quickly upon the discovery that Lane's wife, Imogen may not be dead after all. The only part of her body that was recovered was her finger and lots of blood. Her finger is safely packed and stored – unlike mine - and Leo is able to perform tests that were unavailable at the time of the original crime. The tests reveal that Imogen was alive when her finger was severed and what's more, there are traces of anaesthetic on it.
Why would Alan Lane care about the pain she was in while he was killing her? He certainly didn't care about the pain I was in. There's clearly more to this case.
The case escalates even further when we find the body of Anne Percival – the former detective who managed to lock Alan Lane up for Imogen's murder – despite not finding her body. DI Warren and I informally interviewed her during the brief stint when the former was on side with us. Anne Percival has been tortured – we presume that Lane has worked out his wife may still be alive and is trying to find her. Anne Percival did seem to know more than she let on in her earlier chat with DI Warren and myself. To our horror, Leo also discovers that Lane has left a little gift in Percival's mouth.
A bag containing numerous severed fingers.
They match up with various murders of women over the years, including Joanne Henderson, Eleanor Marshall – the other murder I had been looking into before Alan Lane attacked me, and Anne Percival herself.
One of the fingers is mine. It's weird to see my own finger staring back at me on the screen.
As horrified as I am by my own situation, not to mention all these other poor women who have 'fallen victim' to Lane's apparent search for his wife, I can't help feeling a tiny bit triumphant. This is concrete proof of my attack being connected to Joanne Henderson's murder – direct proof that Alan Lane is the guilty one. Kate cannot ignore his guilt now.
And she doesn't. She seems as certain as me that Alan Lane killed these women, despite what her father says.
