CHAPTER 6
I was called into the Super’s office two weeks later, and as I had expected Bev had Sedgewick and Weir with him. There was the usual ritual of greeting and coffee before I was asked to deliver my updates.

“Rather a lot of the former residents are no longer with us, gents. Ion and I have managed to speak to nine survivors, and I am sorry to say that six of them are not willing to cooperate”

I shook my head, and sipped some coffee.

“Sorry, but that came out wrong. What I mean is that we have six people who do not wish, or perhaps couldn’t cope is a better way of putting it. Couldn’t cope with having it all raked up again”

Bev nodded.

“I thought that might happen. They do realise that if we go ahead it will still come out in the press”

“Absolutely. One of them actually put it quite well. ‘I’ll get to see it in the papers, get to see he’s gone down, and the wife won’t need to know why I’m crying’. That was his point, sir: as long as he knows it’s done, he’ll be happy, but he can’t face the man himself”

“Who have you got, then?”

“Deb Wells, of course, plus a damaged old man in Southport, Benjamin Nicol-Clements. And Arthur Henry Bowles”

Weir muttered “Jesus Christ” and Sedgewick winced as Bev nodded.

“Was he at all after a deal of some kind, Di? Bowles?”

Once more, I considered my answer carefully, and understood how unfounded Bev’s suspicions were.

“No, sir. I don’t believe that was at all what he wanted. To be honest, he ended up in tears with the memories. He seems quite resigned to the fact that he will never come out of prison, and I have absolutely no issues with that”

Sedgwick looked up again.

“How did you find him, Di?”

“Bloody frightening, Mr Sedgewick, and I got the impression he terrifies the screws. If we can lay Charles Cooper’s ghost to rest, they might have an easier time with him”

Bev smiled at that.

“Gentlemen, DC Owens has ever been one for the bigger picture. Di, we know about Ms Wells, of course”

“Harry---er, Bowles, that is, he knew her when she was in Mersey View. I used an appropriate pronoun for her, and he picked up on it straight away”

“You neither confirmed nor denied, as the Yanks say?”

“Exactly, sir”

“Indeed. Southport?”

“Benjamin Nicol-Clements. Convicted sex offender, gross indecency with a boy of fourteen when he was only nineteen himself. His husband made some remarks about the conviction being unsafe, and I have had a dig through what records there are”

My boss fixed me with a very, very flat stare, completely devoid of tells.

“I know that look, DC Owens. What did you find?”

I couldn’t help it, and my lip curled.

“Pardon my French, sir, but was it open fucking season or something on gay men, back then?”

His own mouth twisted.

“I am afraid it was very much like that in some places, Diane. It was only decriminalised in 1967, after all. Attitudes sometimes change before laws, but not in this case. I note from what you say that both persons involved were below the age of consent at the time as well, so your suspicions may well be absolutely on the mark”

“He was nineteen, sir”

“The age of consent was twenty-one for gay men back then”

Ye gods, that was half of the Smugglers’ clientele under age! Bev asked the obvious question.

“Would this be a case for your team, Diane?”

“Honestly? I don’t know, sir. I suspect not, and if it turns out that Ben was actually guilty, what does it achieve? I am more interested in offering him the same opportunity I would like to give Deb Wells, and a chance to see their nightmare as a wreck rather than a bogeyman”

He nodded.

“Liam, this is what we are asking for. If it proceeds to an actual trial, we need to be sure that there is no perception that we have spoon-fed any witnesses. We all know that, but what Diane is asking for is that two of them get to see Cooper, but not hear what he says. That is right, Diane? You do not propose to take Arthur henry Bowles along with you?”

“No, sir. I suspect that would not only be impractical but extremely risky for all concerned”

“Thank god for that. Liam, would Diane’s proposal be acceptable, or, indeed, possible?”

The young inspector sat nursing his cup for a few seconds, then nodded.

“Yes. I do believe so. We have a decent interview suite at the Divisional HQ, set up with a full video facility. There is a monitor room with more than enough space, as well”

He grinned. “Not just a place for Custody to keep an eye on drunks. After…”

As quickly as it had arrived, his grin vanished, and he shrugged.

“After that other place. Interviews for that would have been far more easily done with some audio-visual kit rather than just the old system. They were still writing it down back then, believe it or not. So what we have isn’t exactly state of the art, but it has cameras and monitors. Diane?”

“Yes, sir?”

“Mr Williams has been busy on your behalf. Let us know when you ant to play this, and we will accommodate you. The only issue is where we deliver the results”

They settled into a discussion about demarcation, a genteel turf war in effect, but as I saw it the case was down to Cheshire as that was where the offences in question had taken place. Use Weir’s facilities, get Sedgewick’s lot to pay for the prosecution and take the kudos for ourselves. I was turning into another bloody Elaine, I realised, with just as much management bullshit bingo coming out of me. What was that term Adam used to use? Arsebollocks, that was it.

Annie, not Adam. As I made my way back to the team room, I wondered how she could cope. I was looking to let Benny and Deb see what their tormenter had become, hopefully broken, and what could anyone do for Annie? Her hell came from events, not people that could be put on trial.

I still found a smile, though, remembering the open joy on her face as she saw her man, that Eric, and my smile turned into chuckles as I imagined doing a Candice on him: hurt her, and I’ll kill you.

I called Jon over to join me with Sammy, and ran through the plan with them. Jon raised his hand..

“Please tell me you’re not talking about Bowles!”

“No, mate”

“Thank god for that”

“But I will be putting his evidence to Cooper, so if it goes to a contested trial, he’ll have to come out for the day. It is actually tempting, yeah? Leave them both in a room to talk about the good old days”

Both of them laughed out loud, although Jon’s sounded a little forced to my ears. Sammy held up a finger.

“One thing, Owens, one thing you’ve forgotten…”

He tailed off, grinning in that feral way once more.

“You haven’t, have you?”

I put on my most innocent expression.

“Are you suggesting I am plotting, Mister Inspector Patel, sir?”

“Jonny boy, what are we talking about?”

“Um, don’t know”

“What is the remedy for negligence?”

“Depends whether it’s tort or criminal---”

“No, son. Not the penalty, the remedy”

Slowly, Jon's smile came out as he cottoned onto what Sammy was asking.

“You are a devious cow, Diane Owens!”

“Who, me? It was all in that file you didn’t finish, Jonny boy. Apparently, Sammy, the family that broke Castle Keep, their boy who was in there, they knew the right sort of people and went for damages, compensation, all that shit. Did quite nicely out of it, which of course doesn’t change the hell he lived through, but, well, Deb’s place can always do with some extra funding. Cheshire’s loss, our gain”

Jon looked straight at Sammy.

“Has she always been like this?”

Sammy’s grin shifted from feral to cheeky.

“And would you have her any other way, mate?”

I settled down after our meetings with an assurance of a budget for travel and accommodation, spending the rest of the day with the timeline programme so that I could show at a glance where and when all of my identified victims had been during Copper and Hamilton’s reign at Mersey View, So much damage, so many victims, and clearly it was an iceberg. Not only had I not managed to find, or even identify, every victim at Mersey View but I knew there were so many other places that had been just as bad or, as that other file demonstrated, even worse.

My mood got an unexpected lift just as I was about to close everything down for the day when my instant messenger icon began flashing: Paul Welby.

Got a minute?

I rattled back a quick ‘yes’.

Got something to run past you Di

First chapter from Paula

My in-box showed a new mail, with an attachment. I sent back, Paula’s book?

Yes. You mind?

Not a problem. Got to rush. Ta, Di

I forwarded the mail, smiling to myself. It seemed people could indeed heal. I knew the two of them were on dodgy ground, given their professional relationship, but then all of her relationships had been strictly professional for years, by definition.

He sent one last message.

Smugglers Friday?

My answer summed up what I thought.

Why the hell not?

I looked around the office, everyone there but Blake and Lexie, and I knew full well what my husband would say in response to my call to the team.

“Mates! Pub on Friday?”

To my surprise, but by no means entirely, Rhys looked at Jon before answering, and only gave his shout of “I’m in!” after getting a nod from my fresh meat.

And Jon called ME devious!

I took my laptop to bed with me that night, and cuddled up with Blake as we read Paula’s first chapter. I had tried to get into it as I waited for tea to brew, but I had come to a very abrupt stop as she began her description of a dark street, a big car, and a big man.

No. Not on my own, not without him to hold me and remind me how very, very lucky I really was.