harm, just having fun. And Angie had gone out that night, with their foster parents making only a token attempt to find out where she was going. Angie had already been big trouble for them by then, and was getting out of hand.
Looking back, Fry knew she had been unable to believe anything bad of Angie then. Every time they’d been moved from one foster home to another, it had been their foster parents’ fault, not Angie’s. And when Angie had finally disappeared from her life, the young Diane had been left clutching an idealized image of her, like a final, faded photograph. The memory still brought the same feelings of anger and unresolved pain. Feelings that revolved around Angie.
‘Of course, she was already using heroin by then.’
Fry wasn’t sure whether she’d said that out loud. But she could see from Murchison’s expression that she’d heard it. And again, it seemed to be the right reply, although it had slipped out without any thought this time. The room began to feel like a confessional, the place to get any of those psychological hangups off her chest.
She supposed that was the theory, anyway. So along as she could talk about it, she must be all right. If only it was that simple.
‘And what of your parents?’ asked Murchison.
‘My real parents?’ said Fry. ‘I remember almost nothing of them.’
‘Nothing?’
‘Almost nothing.’
‘But your mother…?’
‘She died, they told me. My father is just a blank. He’s not even on my birth certificate.’
Murchison nodded. ‘And how do you feel about your family now?’
‘It’s all history,’ said Fry.
‘You’re saying you’ve moved on, Diane?’
‘Absolutely.’
‘I’m glad to hear that. It’s possible to get eaten up by guilt over things that are no fault of yours. There’s no point in feeling guilty all the time. It has a very negative effect.’
‘Why would I feel guilty? There’s no reason for me to feel guilty about anything.’
‘It’s common to have irrational feelings that we can’t explain the reasons for.’
‘We?’
Murchison took no notice.
‘During this process, we’ll be trying to uncover any hidden memories that you may have, Diane.’
‘Hidden memories? Something else I’m not aware of?’
‘Those hidden memories are vital, both for their evidential value and for your own closure.’
Fry watched Murchison tidy away her folder. She wondered if the counsellor felt as though she’d got inside the victim’s head, and satisfied herself that she was psychologically fit for the ordeal to come. Did Rachel Murchison now think that she understood Diane Fry?
Looking at the clock, Fry stood up first and shook hands. A lot of what had just been said sounded like bullshit. But Murchison had been right about one thing. She did need to be in control.
Like all the best detectives, DI Gareth Blake had a sidekick. He was an Asian detective sergeant, very smart, very bright, named Gorpal Sandhu. Though he said very little, Fry observed in him the same watchfulness. Perhaps, after all, it was characteristic of everyone in West Midlands Police. If so, she had forgotten it, had never noticed it when she served in Birmingham herself.
‘So have you kept in touch with any of your old colleagues in the West Midlands, Diane?’ asked Blake after the introductions.
‘No, not with anyone.’
‘Really? Not even DC Kewley?’
‘No one.’
‘That’s a bit unusual.’
‘Perhaps. I don’t know.’
Fry thought it ought to be obvious that she’d wanted to put that part of her life behind her. Yes, it was true that her previous service with West Midlands Police was a memory she almost cherished sometimes, whenever she looked out at the primitive rural wasteland she’d condemned herself to in Derbyshire.
But that was an idealized image she’d created for herself, a long way from the reality. In fact, she had left Birmingham without a farewell to any of her colleagues. No leaving party, no parting gifts, no cards wishing her all the best in the future. She might as well have said: ‘I’m going out now. I may be some time.’
Blake and Sandhu were watching her, politely waiting until they had her attention again.
‘I’m sorry if I’m teaching my grandmother to suck eggs, Diane,’ said Blake. ‘But we do have to go through the processes.’
‘I know.’
‘At the evidential stage, the CPS have to be satisfied first of all that there’s enough evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction. That means that a jury is more likely than not to convict. Normally, if a case doesn’t pass the evidential stage, it won’t go ahead.’
‘Yes.’
‘If the case does pass the evidential stage, the CPS has to decide whether a prosecution is in the public interest. If the evidential test is passed, rape is believed to be so serious that a prosecution is almost certainly required in the public interest. Okay so far?’
‘Absolutely.’
‘Now. When considering the public interest stage, one of the factors that Crown Prosecutors will take into account is the consequences for the victim of the decision whether or not to prosecute, and any views expressed by the victim or the victim’s family.’
‘Paragraph 5.12 of the Crown Prosecutors’ Code. Striking a balance between the interests of the victim and the public interest.’
‘Exactly. As I’m sure you know, the definition of rape was substantially changed by the Sexual Offences Act 2003. Offences committed before 1st May 2004 are still prosecuted under the Sexual Offences Act 1956.’
‘And under the 1956 Act, it’s a defence if the defendant believed the victim was consenting, even if the belief was unreasonable.’
‘I’m afraid reasonableness is a matter of fact for the jury. Not for us.’
‘You said the case was re-opened on the basis of intelligence,’ said Fry.
‘Yes.’
‘And now you have a suspect.’
‘Two suspects, in fact,’ said Blake. ‘Their names are Marcus Shepherd and Darren Joseph Barnes. We had an element of luck, actually. Our primary suspect had a DNA sample taken when he was arrested for robbery and possession of a firearm. Criminals don’t just commit sexual offences, but other offences too.’
‘Are they in custody?’
‘Arrested and bailed.’
‘What? They’re out on the street?’
‘Diane, you know we have to get all the evidence together that we need for an airtight case. Evidential value is crucial. But forensic techniques have improved. We’re very hopeful.’
‘We had information, credible enough to arrest two suspects,’ put in Sandhu. ‘We took fingerprints and buccal swabs as per procedure, and we got a hit on the database.’
‘From both?’
‘Just the one,’ he said. ‘But we believe they were together. The lab might be able to get a new DNA profile from the exhibits in storage. New techniques are available. Low copy number.’
‘Yes.’
DNA techniques had advanced significantly over the last twenty years in terms of sensitivity, reliability, and speed of results. They had become really important in revisiting old cases, reviewing the evidence recovered at the time. Preservation must have been good in Birmingham, because DNA deteriorated after a while. DNA evidence had to be looked at in terms of preservation. If it was kept cold and dry, it lasted an awful lot longer. It was theoretically possible to obtain DNA profiles from samples over a hundred years old, provided it was known how they’d been
