Evidence
Chapter 4 - Inevitable Consequences
Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap...
"No, I give up", Jill remarked having spent the last few moments tapping the end of her pen on the table in thought.
"Let's come back to that one in a minute then", Alex agreed from where she sat, opposite Jill.
The two of them were sat around a table in the communal, hall like area of their prison wing where inmates were allowed to freely associate and socialise with one another.
They were each armed with a simple biro and in front of them sat the previous day's newspaper, open on the crossword page.
Alex was now in her eighth day in prison and Jill was pleased at the progress her new friend had made.
Jill had shown Alex around, helped her get her bearings and had introduced her to other inmates she deemed safe.
As a result, Alex no longer seemed quite as on edge as she had before.
She was still understandably nervous of some of the other prisoners. The fact that Alex was a police officer seemed to be becoming common knowledge and there were a few prisoners who regularly fixed Alex with very threatening looks.
It was a reaction to be expected but Jill was pleased that the vast majority seemed to not care and just accepted Alex as yet another new face.
Although Alex had made good progress and built some confidence, Jill clearly saw that Alex still found being in prison extremely hard to deal with.
Jill looked back down at the crossword for the next clue.
"Ottawa, capital city of...?" Jill read, "six letters".
"Canada", Alex responded instantly and began to write the word into the white squares of the puzzle.
"That was fast!", Jill was impressed, "I thought Montreal was the capital?".
"No, definitely Ottawa", Alex looked at the remaining blanks on the crossword.
"You been there or something?" Jill enquired, chewing the end of her biro.
"No, it's where ex-husbands disappear to", Alex explained.
"Oh, sorry", Jill lowered her pen and hoped she hadn't struck a sore point.
"Not to worry", Alex shook her head to reassure Jill, "one of those things".
The pair of them had been sat working on thier crossword for most of the morning.
It had helped pass the time and frequently they would stop discussing possible clues and simply chat.
Alex had found Jill to be a very good listener and she was fairly sure Jill felt the same way towards her.
They had discussed many topics in recent days and the pair had become firm friends.
"Crumbs, I'm gonna have to go in a minute", Jill suddenly remembered, "work waits for no man, woman, or ex-WPC".
Alex had learned that Jill had a small prison job working in the kitchens and, as a result, Jill would be taken off to do her work at about this time every week day.
"Will you be alright by yourself?" Jill asked as she got to her feet and scraped the chair along the hard floor.
"Yeah, sure", Alex nodded, "I'll see you later then".
Jill made a small waving gesture and headed off towards a prison officer to be taken to her work.
As a remand prisoner, Alex didn't have to work.
After watching Jill leave, Alex decided to head off, herself.
She got to her feet and decided to go back to her cell on the next level up.
The prison wing was old looking and resembled a very large hall. The painted brick and stone that made up the walls looked very old indeed.
The lowest level had some cells and the association area where both Alex and Jill did their crosswords. Up some old metal stairs was the next level with more cells including Alex's own.
Alex began to climb the stairs in no particular hurry.
Once at the top she walked along the landing, glancing down at some of the inmates the on the bottom level below her.
There was a large wire, mesh like material strung across from one side of the upper level to the other to prevent anyone from being pushed off the landing.
Despite having a practical purpose, things like this couldn't help but make the place seem that little bit more intimidating.
Alex finally reached her cell. It was the fourth one along from the top of the metal steps.
She walked back inside and sat back down on her bottom bunk once again.
Despite having been introduced to the other prisoners and having suffered no major problems, Alex still preferred to return to her cell and effectively 'disappear' when Jill was not around.
She didn't like hiding herself away but Alex still felt vulnerable when she was alone.
Her only problems were from a small group of prisoners, four or five at the most, who seemed like a gang.
They appeared to be in their early twenties, apart from the ringleader who looked a little older.
They had made a point of regularly pushing into Alex if they passed her and passing it off as being accidental.
Alex knew there was nothing accidental about it. It was pure and simple intimidation.
She didn't know if there was a reason why.
Was it because she was a police officer or were they just picking on her because she was new.
Whatever the reason was, Alex had made sure not to tell Jill.
She had been slightly comforted by Jill's promise to deal with anyone who gave her hassle, but at the same time Alex sought not to escalate any possible problems.
The only course of action Alex could think of was to try her best to ignore it.
She hoped that they would either eventually get bored or, unfortunately, move onto the next new person.
It was playground bullying but with adults who were old enough to know better.
Alex took her mind off this issue and wondered what she should do until Jill returned.
Two possible activities sprung to mind.
When Jill had shown her the prison library, if it could even be called such a thing, she had borrowed a book.
It was a book about the works of Shakespeare.
Alex recalled having done more than enough on this subject when she had been at school but, from the poor choice the library offered, it had been one of the few titles she had decided was readable.
It would do to pass some time at least.
The other possibility was slightly more difficult.
She could write a letter.
It was perfectly within the rules to write and send letters, but Alex felt the hard part would be finding the right words if she were to write to Gene.
She desperately wanted to make contact with him but she had felt too ashamed of her situation to request that he visit. In her eyes it would be too soon and she wasn't sure she could deal with him seeing her like this just yet.
The more Alex had thought about it, the more she had favoured the idea of writing him a letter.
It wouldn't be a long letter, just one to say that she was okay, that she was being well treated and that she missed everyone.
A letter also gave Alex the advantage of being in control, and control was something Alex had lost recently. In here Alex wasn't in control: other people controlled her.
If she were to write a letter, she could direct what was said, there would be no awkward silences, and by wording things in a certain manner she could even hide how devastated she really was.
In other words she could put on a brave face and, hopefully, Gene wouldn't see through it. At least, not too much.
Obviously he wouldn't think she was fine, he wasn't stupid after all, but she might be able to hide from him how truly miserable she really was.
She had already requested and been given some paper.
It was marked with the prison service logo and had the prisons name printed on it. Even that felt like an indignity. It was like a stamp of ownership over her.
After a moment of thought, Alex decided she would write the letter.
She knew Gene would be worried about her and she certainly wasn't blind to his feelings towards her. That had been made abundantly clear on their dinner date the day before the car bombing.
Both the paper and the book sat on the bunk where Alex had put them earlier.
She still had the crossword pen and decided that she may as well write the letter now.
She wasn't one hundred percent sure how to go about sending it but she would ask Jill when she came back.
Alex gave great deal of thought as to what exactly she should write as she placed the book under the paper to make it as neat as possible.
The beginning was obvious.
"Dear Gene...", she began.
She thought again. How did you start a letter from prison?
Before she could write anything else Alex looked up.
She could have sworn she heard a thud of some kind.
It sounded like it had come from the next cell.
Alex listened intently for a moment.
No more sound came and Alex put the thought to one side and continued her letter.
"I'm sorry I've taken so long to contact you", that sounded appropriate and truthful, "but as we all know I've had a lot to get used to recently".
Alex stopped again.
She listened longer this time.
That had sounded like a very faint moan from the next cell.
Alex put the writing paper, book and pen down.
She got to her feet and made her way towards her cell door, listening all the way.
She was sure she had heard something, yet she wondered if by investigating she might be making a wrong decision and placing herself into a situation she shouldn't be involved in.
Perhaps a dispute between two other prisoners was taking place in the next cell.
Despite that thought, her instincts forced her to follow up on what sounded to her like someone in distress.
Slowly, Alex emerged from her cell and took the two or three steps towards the doorway of the next cell.
Cautiously she peered into the cell.
Once she saw the sight, her training automatically took over and she rushed inside.
A young girl aged roughly twenty lay on the floor with blood flowing freely from a gash on each wrist.
"Somebody get a doctor!" Alex shouted, hoping that someone would both hear and care.
Alex hastily crashed to her knees at the young girl's side.
The nearest piece of material to her was a tatty shirt on the lower bunk.
Alex grabbed it and ripped it.
She tied the material around each wrist in turn and applied as much pressure as she possibly could in an attempt to stem the flow of blood from the wounds.
"Come on, stay with me!" Alex urged the young girl.
The girl was slipping in and out of consciousness and made the occasional incoherent moan.
Alex couldn't help but notice the small object that lay next to the girl's side where she had dropped it.
It was a small piece of metal which looked like it had been snapped away from some object, maybe a piece of furnishing.
It was clear that it had been crudely sharpened before it had been put to its grizzly use.
Alex was in no doubt that this had been a suicide attempt by the young girl.
As she fought to stem the bleeding, applying all the pressure she could, Alex leant down towards the girl to check for breathing.
She was relieved to find that the girl was indeed breathing but she was taking only very shallow breaths.
"Come on, don't you do this!" Alex continued to urge the girl to fight as the blood began to seep through the improvised bandages.
The sound of several people hurrying along the landing became audible.
Moments later, several prison officers hurried into the cell and gathered around the girl.
"We'll take it from here", a tall male officer ordered as he knelt next to the girl.
Alex felt her left arm being grabbed as another officer hastily pulled her away from the casualty.
Alex was fully trained and qualified to deal with situations and injuries such as this, yet once again this valuable expertise counted for nothing in this place.
"She's slashed her wrists!" Alex explained, determined to get across as much vital and accurate information as she could before she was inevitably ejected from the cell.
"I've stemmed the bleeding as well as best I can", Alex added as she was reluctantly pulled to the door by the officer.
She looked on as the girl became surrounded by the officers kneeling next to her, working on her.
Alex was frustrated and, once back on the landing she shook off the officer's firm grip on her arm in anger.
"Make sure she gets help!" Alex urged before turning sharply and marching back to her own cell.
She walked back inside and headed to the wash basin.
With a turn of the tap, she began to wash the girls blood off her hands.
In 2008 police health and safety rules would forbid her from making physical contact with another person's blood without the use of first aid gloves.
But this had been a life or death situation and Alex had reacted in the only way she knew how.
She shook off the last of the water and dried her hands on a towel.
She was sure the officer who had dragged her from the cell had not understood her meaning when she had urged that the girl be given help.
She hadn't been referring purely to medical help, but more to mental help and emotional support.
She wondered what underlying problems there must be for such a young girl to do such a thing as slash her own wrists.
Perhaps it was simply the fact that the girl felt she couldn't cope with prison, or perhaps she was simply vulnerable.
Whatever the reason, Alex knew the girl was now going to receive the treatment needed for her physical injuries, even if it was in a less than ideal location.
Alex sat back down on the bunk once again.
She could hear the prison officers and, presumably, a prison doctor working away on the girl.
It sounded that she was at least still alive and Alex was thankful for that.
Alex's attention was drawn to the landing once again when she saw movement.
As she looked up she saw the girl being carried past on a stretcher, the prison officers following.
The most senior looking officer stopped by Alex's cell door and looked in, focusing his eyes on Alex.
"Good work", he nodded in a formal manor, "reckon you've saved this one".
Alex nodded. She knew he was simply stating the facts and not praising her personally.
With Alex's nod of acknowledgement, the officer turned and followed the others leaving Alex on her own once again.
She remained where she was. She couldn't help it but she was worried about the girl and hoped desperately that she would be alright.
She supposed that, in here, the only way to find out the outcome would be to simply wait and see if she reappeared.
Alex felt the last of her adrenalin rush begin to fade away as she calmed down where she sat.
She was used to situations like this having been put through numerous first aid courses over the years by the future Met. Used to the situation but not the location.
Alex looked once again to the letter she had begun writing to Gene.
After what had just happened, Alex no longer felt in the writing mood and decided that she would come back to it later.
She leant back in what was fast becoming her usual place, almost like it was a hiding place - sitting on her bunk when Jill wasn't around. Out of sight and out of mind of the other prisoners.
The events of the last few minutes had shown Alex in no uncertain terms what this place could do to someone who didn't stay strong.
Alex knew everyone reacted differently to situations.
In comparison to the girl in the next cell Alex assumed she could be deemed as doing quite well in this situation.
Outwardly she was staying calm and collected.
Inwardly she wanted to scream her innocence from the rooftops and beg to be released.
She hoped she would never come to the point where slashing her own wrists might become an option.
Alex rarely allowed herself to think about the future.
At the moment she simply took life one day at a time. It was all she could do because, if she didn't currently deal with life in this way she feared she might crumble.
Alex snapped herself out of these thoughts. It was a waste of time to think like this.
She couldn't allow herself to dwell on her negative situation.
With that in mind, Alex got back to her feet and moved to the doorway.
The prison officers had long since left the cell next door and things had promptly returned to what passed here for normality.
Alex didn't intend to stray far, just to the landing to stretch her legs.
As Alex reached the cell door she neither saw nor heard any warning of the impending ambush.
The first indication of anything being wrong was the impact.
A fist from a person lying in wait outside the cell door made sharp contact as it struck Alex hard in the face, causing her to stumble backwards into her cell.
Before Alex could even look back up, she felt another strike to the head as her attackers quickly bundled into her cell to avoid any alarm being raised by witnesses
The force of the second blow caused Alex to fall backwards against the wall, the back of her head striking the brick work. Slowly she sank to her knees, dazed.
Alex finally caught a glimpse of her assailants as she looked unsteadily up, feeling warm blood in her mouth from a cut to her lip.
It was the gang of girls who had been watching her with disdain over the last few days.
The lead girl stepped back and nodded to one of her lackeys, a black haired girl in her mid twenties with a small broken heart tattoo on her arm.
"This ones your's I believe Kim", she nodded to the girl, "promised you we'd get her".
Kim nodded with glee and stepped forwards.
"This is for my bro!", Kim spat and aimed a vicious kick at Alex's stomach.
Alex fell forwards onto the floor from her knees and struggled to shield herself with her arms as Kim continued to kick her as hard as she could.
She gasped for air as the angry young girl continued to plant kick after kick into her with all the force she could muster.
"Good going!" the lead girl observed as she watched her young protégé lay into the police officer.
Alex was struggling to breathe. Every time she made a gasp for air, she would receive another kick to the stomach or chest.
"That's enough!" the lead girl ordered and another of the gang pulled Kim away from Alex, holding the angry young girl back by her arms.
They looked down at Alex as Kim struggled momentarily against the other gang members grip.
Alex lay barely conscious on her side on the hard floor making the occasional gasping cough.
Her hair had mostly covered her face but blood could be seen trickling from the gash Alex had received to her lip.
"Right now go!" the gang leader ordered, "quickly!".
They turned to leave, releasing Kim.
Kim took full advantage of the opportunity and, before leaving the cell, dashed forward and gave Alex a forceful kick to the head.
"OUT!" the leader ordered and Kim this time obeyed, finally satisfied.
With everyone out the gang leader took one last look at Alex before leaving.
The police officer was now clearly unconscious on the floor, eyes shut and no movement except for her shallow breathing.
The gang leader nodded in satisfaction and then left.
"Alex! Alex!"
...
"Come on Alex, wake up!"
...
"Alex?"
Jill was frantic with worry.
She had returned from her kitchen job and been unable to find Alex in the association area.
Naturally Jill had assumed that the only other place Alex could be was in her cell so Jill had decided to go and find her. They could finally finish that crossword after all and Jill had been giving much thought to the clue they hadn't been able to figure out.
Upon reaching Alex's cell, Jill had looked in and been horrified to see her friend lying unconscious on the floor having clearly been attacked.
"Alex, come on, speak to me!"
Jill hastily knelt beside Alex, gently tapping her face with her hand to try and generate a response.
Jill concluded that this couldn't have happened too long ago as the blood from the gash on Alex's lip was reasonably fresh.
"For goodness sake, wake up!" Jill again urged.
She pushed Alex's hair back out of her face and continued to try and rouse her hurt friend.
Finally Jill was relieved the see a slight movement.
As Jill spoke her words of encouragement she saw Alex's eyes partially open.
"That's it, come on", Jill continued.
Jill's own police training was coming back to her as she witnessed her friend regaining consciousness.
"Don't try to move yet", she said, placing her hand on Alex's arm for reassurance.
Alex breathed out a painful breath and finally opened her eyes fully, focusing on Jill.
"Hey", Jill continued now her friend seemed to be regaining her senses, "You okay? Anything broken?"
Alex blinked a couple times as she got her bearings back and events started to come back to her.
"I don't think so", Alex rasped in a pained whisper and held her hand out for Jill to help her sit up.
Taking the hint Jill took Alex's arm and gently helped her friend sit up, leaning Alex's back against the bunk.
"What on Earth happened?" Jill enquired looking serious, "And don't say it was an accident. Someone got to you didn't they?".
Reluctantly Alex nodded as she rubbed the bump on the back of her head. It was swelling up nicely and was already tender to the touch.
"A group of them", Alex explained, "a girl called Kim seems to have a grudge against me".
Alex made a pained sound as she felt her lip with the back of her hand and then saw the blood.
It stung terribly in reaction to her touch.
Jill got to her feet and grabbed the nearby towel.
"Here use this", she urged passing it to Alex.
Alex held the towel to her lip to stop the last of the bleeding, as she continued to explain.
"She said this was for her brother", Alex recounted what had happened.
"Hmmm..." Jill thought as she took in the details, "she's a right little yob, that Kim, but from what she's said in the past her older brother's even dodgier, really shady bloke apparently".
"So he must be someone I arrested", Alex sighed in the comprehension that she had unwittingly gained an enemy in the prison without even realising it.
"Probably", Jill agreed, "Kim's got a bit of hero worship, where her brother's concerned, but she's too thick to hit the big time like her brother. She'll never be anything more than a vicious little mugger."
"What's her brothers name?", Alex cautiously asked as a list of nasty male characters she had encountered in 1981 ran quickly through her mind.
"Dunno, sorry", Jill said apologetically, "but she's always on about him. Reckon you can stand yet?"
Jill took Alex by the arm, helping her to her feet.
Alex winced with pain as she got to her feet and Jill pointed to the bunk.
"C'mon, lie down", Jill urged, "think you need a rest".
Alex saw the sense in Jill's recommendation and sat herself down on the bunk, pulled her feet slowly up onto it and laid painfully back. She could feel the inevitable bruises starting to form on her body as she breathed.
"That's better", Jill smiled sitting herself down, "now take it easy".
Alex smiled in thanks to her good friend as she continued to dab the towel on her cut.
"I take it you're not going to make a complaint?" Jill asked, "It might serve to make matters worse".
Alex nodded in agreement. She may be new to this place but she knew you didn't go grassing people up to prison officers, even if you were the victim.
"Good", Jill agreed, "If you did you might turn more than just that Neary bitch against you".
"Neary?!", Alex repeated the name, "Kim's surname is Neary?!".
"Yeah that's right", Jill nodded, "Kim Neary, she's in for burgling a pensioners house and then attacking the old bloke when he caught her at it. World war two veteran too, the bitch".
"Neary..." Alex repeated again as she thought of the possible implications of this, "...shit!".
"You remember her brother now then?" Jill asked seeing that Alex had clearly realised why Kim held a grudge against her.
"Simon Neary", Alex began, "Ran a large vice ring, smuggled various illegal items, killed our informant and was trying to import guns by the time we went after him".
"But you got him?" Jill checked," 'cos Kim's always on about her older brother being in jail".
"Yes we got him", Alex nodded where she lay, "but he was shot, shot badly. And not by a police officer...I'd managed to persuade his boyfriend to turn informant...that's who shot him".
"Boyfriend?" Jill raised her eyebrows, "Kim's certainly edited that bit of info out of her stories!".
"Yeah well..." Alex had long ceased being surprised by 1981's attitude towards that particular subject, "I'm guessing she probably holds me responsible for both her brother's shooting and his arrest".
Alex finally put the towel one side once she was satisfied she had done all she could for her wound.
"Stopped bleeding?" she checked.
"Yup", Jill nodded.
The two fell silent as their conversation reached it's natural conclusion.
Jill remained where she was on the end of Alex's bunk.
She wasn't planning on going anywhere now this had happened.
She would remain here, as Alex rested, in case any of the girls returned.
If they did, she would give them something to think about as Jill was certainly more than able to defend herself.
Yet she felt slightly guilty at the same time.
"It's my fault", she blurted out.
Alex opened her eyes, having shut them in response to the headache she could feel coming.
"My damned kitchen job", Jill continued, "if I hadn't left you to go chop up bloody vegetables, this would never have happened".
"It's not your fault at all", Alex was surprised, "You can't be around all the time...and I have to take some responsibility for myself".
"I know, I know", Jill relented, "I just don't like people doing this to a friend. It makes me so mad".
"I think they just saw a window of opportunity", Alex explained.
"The girl next door you mean?" Jill asked clearly having heard about the attempted suicide.
"Yeah", Alex nodded, "Once the officers took her away, I guess they were distracted for a moment and the girls took their chance".
"Sounds about right", Jill agreed.
"Well you just shut your eyes and rest", Jill ordered, "I'll sit here and read your book, even if it is deathly dull".
Alex smiled and complied with Jill's words.
She shut her eyes again and hoped she might even drift off to sleep.
She certainly felt like she could do with a sleep.
Her entire body ached. Even the pillow hurt the back of her head and Alex could feel her bruises with every breath she took.
Yet she felt the inevitable was over. Her fears about being a police officer in prison had, after all, been validated.
She had avoided any confrontation for eight days but she just knew that there would be someone who would seek to cause her harm.
With this in mind, and now knowing her attacker's connection to Simon Neary, Alex couldn't help but worry whether or not she might even make it to her trial.
Her conclusion was that, from now on, she was going to have to be very, very careful.
It was possible that this act may have satisfied Kim, but Alex couldn't rule out that she might try again or attempt even worse.
With no trial date yet set, Alex would simply have to wait it out.
If luck decided to shine her way the trial would come quickly and she would be released after being found not guilty.
Alex had tried hard to stay positive and reassure herself that the evidence against was flimsy and proved nothing.
She just desperately hoped that the jury would also see it that way.
But until then, all she could do was go out of her mind with worry in prison.
End chapter 4.
(Author note - As with chapter 2 I sometimes have problems with formatting when I upload fics to the site. Sometimes it loses gaps and bunches stuff all together, despite having been beta'd. If this happens with this chapter, please take that into account as I don't yet know what causes this website to do this).