Friendless Lane Read online

  Stone jumped to his feet. ‘Shall I call for some help?’

  Lilly put a hand up for him to wait, then pushed down on the nape of Julia’s neck. ‘Head between your knees.’

  Julia allowed herself to slump forward and Lilly rubbed her back.

  ‘I think I’m dying,’ said Julia.

  ‘No,’ Lilly reassured her. ‘It’s a panic attack. Just try to breathe.’

  After a few minutes, Julia got her breathing under control.

  ‘You’re going to be okay,’ said Lilly. ‘We’re here to help you.’

  Julia nodded, straightened and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. Stone handed her a glass of water.

  ‘Thanks,’ she mumbled and took a sip.

  ‘Mrs Blythe, I assume,’ said Stone.

  She gave a tight smile. ‘Mr Stone.’

  ‘Well now we’ve got the boring formalities out of the way, how about a nice chat?’

  Julia and Lilly both laughed.

  ‘You must think I’m quite mad,’ said Julia, hugging the glass to her chest.

  ‘No,’ said Lilly. ‘Mr Stone thinks you’re upset.’

  ‘Quite right, Miss Valentine,’ said Stone. ‘So why don’t we begin at the beginning?’

  Lilly explained what had being going on in the Blythe household. How Velvet had been meeting a man in a car. How she would come back from these assignations drunk or stoned. How she was uncharacteristically secretive and angry.

  ‘The most worrying feature of all this is that Velvet is so vulnerable,’ Lilly said. ‘Given her learning difficulties.’

  Stone steepled his hands at the bridge of his nose. His face gave nothing away, so Lilly turned to Julia.

  ‘Perhaps you could fill us in on what happened last night?’

  Julia drained her water but didn’t put down the glass. Instead, she rested it on her lap, the black wool of her skirt darkly visible through the base.

  ‘She went out without telling me, as usual,’ she said.

  ‘Can I ask if you made any attempt to stop her?’ Stone asked.

  Julia’s pale face burned pink as sunset, but she looked him straight in the eye.

  ‘You mean did I chain her to her bed? Or knock her unconscious with a brick?’ She didn’t lower her gaze. ‘Because the answer is no, I did not do that. If you have any other suggestions as to how I can stop a strapping teenager from walking out of the door, I’m all ears.’

  Stone opened his palms for her to continue.

  ‘Her phone was turned off, as always,’ said Julia.

  ‘Did you call the police?’ Stone asked.

  Julia blushed again. ‘What would be the point? I’ve tried them before, and social services, but no one’s interested. No one cares.’

  Stone raised an eyebrow but its meaning was inscrutable.

  ‘Anyway, I stayed up,’ said Julia. ‘I always do.’

  ‘What time did she arrive home?’ Stone asked.

  ‘Ten thirty,’ Julia replied.

  ‘Pretty good going for a teen,’ he said.

  ‘I could tell instantly that something was very wrong.’

  ‘How?’

  ‘She usually shouts at me if I ask her where she’s been.’ Julia’s eyes misted. ‘She often tells me I’m just trying to ruin her life.’

  ‘But not last night?’

  Julia sniffed. ‘No, last night she looked … well, she looked as if she’d had every last bit of stuffing knocked out of her.’ She turned to Lilly, appealing for understanding. ‘She looked defeated.’

  Lilly leaned over and placed her hand on Julia’s knee, hoping to pass over some strength, to plug the holes where Julia’s energy was seeping away.

  ‘We stayed up together and I made us tea and toast.’ A slight smile formed at the corners of Julia’s mouth. ‘I told her that everything was going to be all right.’ The smile fell away. ‘But I lied, didn’t I? Because everything is not going to be all right.’

  Lilly held her breath. Every mother’s nightmare had just crept into the room like a thief.

  ‘Last night Velvet was raped,’ said Julia.

  Lilly exhaled, moved towards Julia and held her. There were no words.

  ‘My little girl,’ said Julia. ‘My beautiful little girl.’

  [#]

  The empty ink cartridge was stuck in the printer.

  Jack yanked at it furiously. There was the unmistakable sound of plastic cracking.

  ‘Can someone sort this fecking thing out?’ he yelled across the incident room.

  A young WPC scuttled over, flicked a button and released the cartridge. She held it out to Jack like a birthday present.

  ‘Do I look like a bin?’ Jack asked her.

  She blushed and ran away with it. Jack felt a stab of guilt, but it didn’t pierce the bubble of fury surrounding his heart. He was beyond pissed off. The Chief Super had acted like a prize dickhead, then Lilly had bloody well hung up on him.

  He thumped his desk, sending a polystyrene cup of coffee flying. Everyone in the room looked up, then looked away again sharpish. He was making a show of himself.

  Fresh air and a walk might not help, but at least he could fume without the entire nick watching. He dived out of the room and headed for the exit. Once outside, he wished he’d put on his coat, but there was no way he could sidle back inside for it without making an even bigger tit of himself.

  His phone rang. It was Lilly.

  ‘Are you sure you can spare me a nanosecond from your busy schedule?’ he asked.

  ‘What?’ She sounded puzzled.

  ‘You hung up on me,’ he said.

  ‘Did I?’ Christ, the woman didn’t even remember. ‘It’s been one of those mornings,’ she said.

  ‘Tell me about it. The Chief Super won’t let me make the arrest.’

  ‘You’re joking?’

  ‘Nope. The car is owned by a teacher at a local school,’ he said.

  ‘A teacher?’

  ‘Exactly. But his lordship is too worried about community relations to notice the relevance.’

  ‘I suppose it’s going to get tricky,’ said Lilly.

  ‘Of course it is! But that can’t stop us from arresting this guy,’ said Jack. ‘The Chief says I need more evidence to link him with Gem.’

  ‘And you’re wondering if he ever taught her.’

  Lilly always was quick on the uptake. Jack wondered what she must have been like at school. He pictured her with her hand permanently in the air, her homework always handed in early. Hermione Granger without the wand.

  ‘After Gem came out of the Grove, she had to go to a pupil referral unit,’ said Lilly. ‘I don’t know where she went before that.’

  ‘Shit.’

  ‘I can find out, though. I’m at social services and they must have it on record.’

  ‘Will they tell you?’

  ‘Don’t see why not,’ she said. ‘In the meantime, do me a favour.’

  ‘Name it.’

  ‘Give the rape suite a heads-up that I’m coming in with a fourteen-year-old girl.’

  ‘Fourteen!’ Jack was horrified. ‘That’s not good.’

  ‘I know. Sometimes I wonder if these evil bastards know what havoc they wreak.’

  ‘Oh they know all right,’ said Jack. ‘They just don’t care.’

  He headed back into the incident room, a spring in his step. Someone had cleared away the spilled coffee.

  ‘Okay, you lot,’ he shouted. ‘I’ve been a prick this morning.’ There were a few nervous laughs around the room. ‘But now we need to crack on.’ He clicked on to the Field High School website. ‘This is Khalid Hussain, our number one suspect, and I want to know as much about him as you can dig up.’ The team moved as one to Jack’s desk. ‘I want you combing Facebook, Twitter and anything else you can think of.’ He turned to the WPC he had humiliated earlier. ‘I need you to get CCTV footage of Tye Cross.’

  ‘For when?’ she asked.

  ‘Starting last night and working back to w
hen we last know Gem was alive,’ said Jack. ‘If Hussain has been there, I want to know when.’

  As everyone walked back to their desks full of purpose, Jack had to admit that the Chief Super was right about one thing: good old-fashioned police work still mattered.

  [#]

  The Blythe household was a run-down semi off the A5. The front garden was tarmacked over. Lilly was surprised. Given Julia’s polished appearance and accent, she’d expected something grander.

  She pulled on to the tarmac and rang the buzzer. It let out a plaintive bleep that didn’t stop even when Julia opened the door. She thumped the buzzer with her fist, silencing it.

  ‘Bloody thing,’ she said. ‘It’s been playing up for months.’ She led Lilly inside. ‘Can I take your coat?’

  It was barely warmer inside than out.

  ‘I’m fine,’ said Lilly.

  Julia nodded as if she understood Lilly’s dilemma and didn’t mind either way.

  ‘She’s through here,’ she said and pointed to a seventies-style door with frosted glass panels. ‘Go in.’

  Lilly’s hand trembled slightly on the handle. She’d met plenty of kids who’d had a lot of shit in their lives, and it never got any easier.

  Inside, the gas fire was on and a girl lay on the sofa under a sleeping bag. She was pretty and pale like her mother and was staring out of the window in a state of almost catatonic calm.

  ‘Velvet.’ Lilly kept her voice low. ‘I’m Lilly.’

  ‘I’ll make tea,’ said Julia and bustled out of the room.

  Velvet didn’t look over and Lilly followed her gaze out of the window, where car after car streamed past in a whir of engine noise.

  ‘How are you?’ Lilly asked.

  The girl didn’t answer or even react. The only sound was the incessant traffic. Lilly took a seat in an armchair. The arm had been patched with a piece of material that didn’t quite match.

  ‘Are you hurt?’ she asked.

  Velvet kept up her vigil, but she did at last speak. ‘Are you police?’

  ‘No,’ Lilly replied. ‘I’m your mum’s solicitor.’

  Velvet frowned. ‘Mum’s got a solicitor?’

  ‘She came to see me a few days ago,’ said Lilly. ‘She’s worried about you.’

  ‘Yeah.’

  They sat in silence for a few moments. Lilly wondered how best to broach the subject of going to the police station.

  ‘Do you want me to tell you what happened?’ Velvet asked.

  ‘I think you should tell the police,’ Lilly replied. ‘They have people trained especially for things like this. Women, of course.’

  ‘I’d rather tell you.’ Velvet’s voice sounded faraway. ‘If that’s okay.’

  ‘That’s fine for now,’ said Lilly. ‘But afterwards, you really should tell the police. We don’t want whoever did this to you to get away with it, do we?’

  ‘No,’ said Velvet, though it sounded as if she couldn’t care less.

  Silence descended again until Julia came in with the tea. She handed a chipped cup to Lilly and placed another on the floor beside the sofa for her daughter. There was an untouched cup already there. Julia sighed and took it away.

  ‘I was at a party with my boyfriend,’ said Velvet.

  ‘What’s his name?’ Lilly asked.

  ‘I’d rather not say.’ Velvet frowned. ‘It wasn’t him, if that’s what you’re thinking. He wouldn’t do that to me.’

  Lilly wanted to ask what this boyfriend had been doing taking Velvet to the party in the first place. Why hadn’t he stopped the man who had hurt her? Where was he now? But she knew she had to tread carefully here.

  ‘Where was this party?’ she asked.

  ‘I don’t know exactly. He drove and I didn’t pay attention.’ Velvet shrugged as if it didn’t matter. ‘We had a lot to drink, and some pills.’

  ‘You were drunk?’

  Velvet nodded. ‘Then I went upstairs with a friend of his.’

  ‘A man?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘How old was he?’ Lilly asked.

  ‘I don’t know,’ said Velvet. ‘I didn’t ask or anything.’

  ‘Older than you?’

  Velvet nodded. ‘They’re all older than me, my friends. I don’t hang about with kids.’

  Lilly watched her, this frail child tucked up under a sleeping bag.

  ‘Anyway, I went upstairs even though I didn’t really want to.’ Velvet sounded world-weary beyond her years. ‘And I collapsed on to the bed.’ She paused, her face immobile. ‘Then he did it.’

  ‘He raped you?’

  Velvet let out a sigh. ‘I felt it.’ At long last she turned to look at Lilly. ‘I didn’t stop him though, so it can’t be rape, can it?’

  ‘How drunk were you?’

  ‘Completely pissed,’ she said. ‘I mean, I couldn’t move really.’

  ‘Then it’s rape,’ said Lilly. ‘If you didn’t want to have sex with this man and you didn’t consent to have sex with this man, then it’s rape.’

  ‘Rape,’ Velvet murmured.

  ‘Have you had a bath or a shower since it happened?’

  ‘No,’ Velvet replied. ‘I suppose I should. I’m just so tired and everything.’

  Lilly held up her hand. ‘No, it’s much better that you haven’t; that way the police can find evidence. Do you have the clothes you were wearing?’

  Velvet nodded. ‘Upstairs.’

  ‘Good girl,’ said Lilly. ‘We’ll give those to the police as well.’

  ‘I’ll get them back, won’t I? It’s my favourite top.’

  Lilly smiled. ‘Don’t worry, you’ll get them back in a while.’ A worried look crossed Velvet’s face. ‘I bet your mum would buy you another one anyway.’

  ‘She might do,’ said Velvet. ‘But she never really liked it in the first place.’

  ‘Ah well, perhaps you can choose something different. Something you both like.’

  ‘Perhaps.’

  Chapter 6

  You can’t go through with it.

  You know you should, but you can’t.

  Everybody’s been so nice, telling you not to worry. Especially the solicitor. She’s really nice. Even the policewoman gave you a can of Coke and said you should have a drink before she interviewed you.

  It’s weird, because before all this happened, nobody was very nice to you at all. Before all this it was shouting and grounding and threatening. Now everybody’s smiling. Weird.

  You don’t want to piss everyone off and you don’t want everything to go back to how it was, but you can’t go through with it.

  Not after the texts.

  You shouldn’t have turned your phone on. You nearly didn’t even bring it with you. But when she gave you that drink, you thought you’d just have a quick glance. And there they were. Loads of them. You looked at the first one.

  Hey baby girl? How r u? xxx

  Then the next.

  Bet ur feelin rough u drunk so much lol xxx

  It made you really confused that he was acting like nothing was wrong. He knew what had happened, didn’t he? It had been his idea for you to dance with that dirty paedo, even though he must have known what Cal was like. No matter how close a friend he was, Raz shouldn’t have let him do what he did.

  Why r u ignoring me?

  Did he really need to ask? If Raz was even a half-decent boyfriend he’d be on his knees begging forgiveness, not sending texts as if it had never happened.

  Seriously! U don’t wanna ignore me.

  Or what? you want to scream. What will he do? Threaten to finish with you, like last night? Dump you every time you don’t do exactly what he says? Well let him. You don’t care. You don’t even want him as your boyfriend any more.

  I think u need to call me or the next text goes on FB!!! No joke!!!!

  The next text was a photograph and when you saw it, you wanted to puke. It was you, on that horrible mattress, wearing no knickers and your legs wide open. The next was the same o
nly there was a man in the picture. You couldn’t see his face, but you could see the worst part of him, sticking out of his trousers, inches from your open mouth.

  In a panic you sent a text back.

  Just woken up. Will call u as soon as Mum out of the way xxx

  Now what?

  You can’t let Raz put that stuff on Facebook. Everyone will see it and laugh at you. You won’t be able to go back to school ever again. And what if Mum sees the pictures? Oh my God, that would be the most awful thing that could ever happen. You’d have to kill yourself. And you know you’d never have the courage to do that. A girl in your class once took a packet of aspirins and had to go to hospital to have her stomach pumped. Gross.

  You have to get out of here.

  You have to stop him.

  [#]

  ‘Is that him?’ Lilly pointed to a photograph pinned to the clearboard in the incident room.

  ‘Yep.’ Jack scribbled his name underneath in wipe-clean white marker. ‘Khalid Hussain.’

  Lilly studied the image. Hussain was around thirty, smartly dressed in a suit and crisp white shirt, smiling into the camera.

  ‘Do you recognize him?’ Jack asked.

  ‘No, but inside the club, they had their backs to me,’ said Lilly. ‘And outside, I wasn’t close enough to get a good look.’

  She didn’t mention the man in the navy coat who had spoken to her so unnervingly. Jack would hit the roof. And anyway, he definitely wasn’t the man in the photo.

  ‘How many of them were there?’ Jack asked.

  ‘Three, but it was dark, you know?’

  ‘No worries,’ said Jack. ‘You got us the car and we already have the DNA. Any update yet on where Gem went to school?’

  Lilly checked her phone. ‘Nothing yet. I’ll let you know as soon as I hear from Stone.’

  She was about to suggest a cup of tea in the canteen when the WPC from the rape suite opened the door.

  ‘Have you seen Velvet?’ she asked.

  ‘I left her outside the suite with her mum,’ said Lilly. ‘She was drinking the Coke you gave her. She seemed okay.’

  The police officer shook her head, making her high ponytail dance. ‘The mother says she’s bolted.’

  Lilly turned to Jack. ‘She couldn’t just have left the station, could she?’

  ‘Well she’s not under arrest,’ he replied.