Millie
After me and Max got back to the station I went to the writing room and wrote up Charlotte's statement, it was tough listening to her retell her story. I got it all written up and printed out a few copies so we had a copy for Charlotte to sign, a copy to show in the interview to Josh when we arrested him and a copy me and Max can make notes on if we need to. I had to go back to the hospital to get Charlotte to sign her statement but before I did I wanted to go and see Max, I wanted to thank him for all the time and effort he's put into Charlotte's case and I also wanted to know why. As I said before, CID don't get involved in domestics… why was this case so special? I wanted to know more about Max and why he was the way he was. Surely there had to be a reason for him being so cold sometimes, he wasn't born this way.
I went up to CID and found Max at his desk, I handed him the other copies of Charlotte's statement which he logged and put in her file "Is there somewhere that we can talk?" I asked him. There was no one in the CID briefing room so we went in there and we took a seat next to each other "You can tell me to keep my nose out if you think I'm being to nosey but I wanted to ask. CID doesn't get involved in domestics… why is this one so important that you have been working so hard on it?" I asked him.
"There are a few reasons. Josh is a very hostile and violent person, the sooner he is off the streets the better and Charlotte is a nice girl and she's only 19. She deserves more and I don't want her thinking that all men are like that or that's all she deserves" He replied.
"But why Charlotte's case? Hundreds of domestic calls come in every year like this… why Charlotte's case?" I questioned.
"Because she reminds me of my sister" He replied "When my sister Karolina was 20 she got with this bloke, he was a nasty piece of work. Really controlling and aggressive but that was behind closed doors. In front of a crowd he was the loving boyfriend and Karolina looked really happy, they would talk about getting their own place together and then getting married. I used to go out drinking with him because I thought he was a good bloke… anyway… about 18 months after they got together I noticed some bruises on her arms, her cheek and her neck. I asked her what happened but she wouldn't tell me. Three weeks later she died in hospital after he beat her to death" He explained to me and I was in shock.
"Max I'm really sorry. I never should have asked, it was your business" I told him.
"It's not a bad thing to talk about. I was a PC at the time and although I wasn't officially involved in the case, I was working with CID to get that little bastard and I did. He was locked up for life and that was all well and good but it doesn't bring Karolina back… the day Charlotte got attacked was the 10 year anniversary of Karolina's death" He explained "I know it sounds silly but I think I was supposed to be involved in this case, bring Josh down and make sure Charlotte doesn't end up like my sister" He added.
"Well I am really glad you caught him… sounds like a complete douche bag" I commented.
"Oh he is, although he used to be the best thing since sliced bread… so Karolina used to say. He used to bring my mum flowers, he learnt Polish to impress the family, we used to go out together drinking and I taught him to drive" He told me.
"On the plus side he is going to rot for what he did to her and you're the one that brought him down… your mum must be proud of you" I said.
"When I told her that he had been arrested she cried and hugged me. Told me she loved me and she kept thanking me like I had done her a favour. Karolina was my baby sister, I wasn't going to let her killer get away with it" He told me "After I arrested him it felt good and I knew he was going to be walking the streets again but I couldn't help but feel envious that he got to live, albeit not a great life in his cell but he was still alive and my baby sister was in a coffin underground. It didn't seem fair" He told me.
"Is that why you joined CO19? To kill the people like Karolina's boyfriend?" I questioned.
"I think so… I told myself it was to help save the city but I think in the back of my head that was why I joined them" He answered.
"Sarge, if you ever want to talk to someone about Karolina or about anything in general then you know where I am" I told him with a warm smile.
"Thank you" He replied.
After Max's revelation I was in shock and I noticed he didn't name Karolina's killer. Max just kept referring to the killer as 'he' but I guess naming the killer probably makes it all the more real. It was a sad and tragic thing that happened but it also made a lot of sense, it answered a lot of questions as to why Max was the way he was… why he wasn't sympathetic with suspects of violence, maybe he sees Karolina's boyfriend in all of them. I could never imagine losing a sibling or anyone in such a nasty and violent way, no wonder Max was a little messed up.
I went back to the hospital and told Ben to take a rest whilst I was here as I would keep an eye on things, he seemed a little hesitant and made me promise to call him on the radio if there was any trouble. I promised him I would and he left, I entered Charlotte's room and saw two older people sit in the chairs… it must be her parents "Millie these are my parents, Julie and John" Charlotte said and I shook hands with them.
"Hi, I'm PC Millie Brown from Sun Hill" I introduced.
"Charlotte has told us everything that you have done for her and I cannot thank you enough for it. I know you haven't caught him yet but she said something about CID getting involved and they don't normally" Julie said to me.
"Yes. DS Max Carter from Sun Hill CID is on the case. They don't normally get involved but Max heard Charlotte's story and saw what Josh did and he decided that he wanted to help bring him in and get him sent down. He's leading a search party as we speak to a known haunt of Josh's" I explained to them "The reason I came here is for you to sign your statement. It's all typed up. Before you sign it I want you to read through it carefully and make sure everything on there is right and then sign and date it" I told Charlotte. I put the statement in front of her and handed her a pen. She read through everything and then she signed and dated it, I took it back off her and smiled "You should be really proud of her, she's done great" I told her parents.
"We are… we couldn't be more proud" John said.
"We don't want Charlotte going back to that place, especially since Josh isn't caught yet. I was wondering if it would be ok if she came to stay with us" Julie questioned.
"That would be fine but I do need to take down your contact details in case we need to speak to Charlotte… is that ok?" I asked and they nodded. Julie wrote down her address, landline number and also her mobile number as well as Johns.
"Great. That's all I need for now. We will be in contact when Josh is arrested and we will keep you in the loop. Don't forget that you can give me a call anytime you want, day or night, you have my number and I also have you details in case I need you" I explained "Paperwork will be sent through to you, just to confirm everything that's happened and also so you have copies of it all as well" I added.
"Thank you… for everything" Charlotte said.
"It's fine. Hopefully we'll be in touch soon to tell you we've got him, you take care" I told her.
"Can you thank Max for me. I know how hard he's working" She said.
"Of course" I replied.
When I got back to Sun Hill I went up to CID to tell Max that Charlotte was staying with her parents and to update her file but he wasn't there. I was about to ask Mickey where he had gone when the doors to CID opened and in walked Max "Ah Millie, I was looking for you. We have a definite sighting of Josh… I thought you would like to be there when we make the arrest" He said.
"You bet" I replied.
