'Bad move,' said Joe. 'Especially with the little girl. All they'll do is start questioning you and get the Social in to take care of Feelie. No, Dorrie needs a lawyer.'
'You're joking! That's how all her trouble started in the first place!'
This time we'll try a woman,' said Joe.
He was lucky. Butcher had decided to close at midday because it was New Year's Eve, which meant that she was just about finished halfway through the afternoon. Her first response was No wayl but when she heard the details she said, 'Oh hell. Poor Lucy. OK, I'll come.'
He met her outside the police station to fill her in on detail he hadn't wanted to bring up in front of Molly.
She said, The bastard. I always knew he thought with his dick but I let Lucy persuade me he was beginning to give his brain a chance.'
This did happen before he got involved with Lucy,' Joe pointed out. 'And at least he didn't walk away from the girl when she had his kid.'
'And that makes it OK? Joe, look at the facts. He takes care of Dorrie and the child, uses his influence to make sure she stays in work, sets them up in a nice flat, probably picks up a lot of the tabs. So why's she ringing him up and going round to his house and trying to see him in hospital that was her tried to get in, I bet why's she doing all this, Joe?'
'Yeah, I got there too,' said Joe. 'He's still banging her and feeding her the one-of-these-days-we'll-be- together line.'
'That's right. Whether he's serious or not, either way he's a lying conniving bastard, and after all Lucy's been through, losing the baby, the operation, everything, what is this going to do to her when she finds out, think about that!'
'I've thought about that,' said Joe. 'Wouldn't surprise me if she doesn't know already.'
'Sorry?'
He told her about the woman in the park watching Molly and her granddaughter.
'Not much of a description, but it fits Lucy Naysmith,' he said.
'Come on, Joe, it fits Maggie Thatcher too, and Princess Di,' said Butcher. 'You're really reaching. I know Lucy. She's not the type to go stalking her husband's mistress through the park.'
The mistress isn't there,' Joe pointed out. 'Maybe that's significant too. It's the baby she wants to see, her husband's baby. Maybe seeing her without seeing Dorrie, she can imagine it's her baby too, the one she lost.'
'Jesus, Joe, have you been reading those women's mags at the dentist's again?' mocked Butcher. But there was no real force in her scorn.
They went inside. The desk sergeant, who knew Butcher, didn't hang about but got on to the custody sergeant straightaway, who, equally alert to the consequences of messing with the fiery little brief, sent word up to CID. A minute later Willie Woodbine himself appeared.
'Joe, how're you doing? And Ms Butcher. What can I do for you both?'
'I believe you're holding Doreen McShane,' said Butcher. 'I'd like to see her, please.'
'Would you indeed? Well, as you know, the important question is, would she like to see you?'
'Her mother has instructed me to act as her solicitor,' said Butcher.
Woodbine was on to the second her in a flash.
'Her mother isn't in custody, Ms Butcher,' he said, smiling.
'And Ms McShane being past her majority is entitled to nominate her own lawyer.'
'And has she done so?' asked Butcher.
'In a manner of speaking. The trouble is, every time the subject comes up, she says she wants Mr. Felix Naysmith, which gives us a problem, as technically speaking he is in fact the complainant here.'
'Don't think so,' said Joe.
'Sorry, Joe?'
'If you ask him I don't think he'll be making a complaint about trespass,' said Joe.
Woodbine's smile grew a little tenser and he said, Thank you for that, Joe, but as you know, the grounds on which we are holding Ms McShane are potentially rather more serious than trespass.'
'Superintendent, are you going to tell Ms McShane that I'm here or not?' demanded Butcher.
Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to bring her along, thought Joe. She was great when she had a legal toehold, but at the moment she had no standing at all. All it needed was Woodbine to go and tell Dorrie that her loving mam had sent a brief along to take care of her fractious child, and that fractious child would probably say, tell her to get knotted! and that was Butcher scuppered.
Joe said, 'Quick word, Willie?'
He could see Butcher didn't like it but for once she was going to have to lump it.
He and Woodbine moved out of earshot though not of sight.
Joe said, 'Look, you must have sussed it by now, Dorrie McShane and Naysmith had a thing going, still have from the look of it, and she's got herself in a twist 'cos she read that he'd been hurt, and she wanted to see him, that's what this is all about.'
'Oh yes, we know all about that because she's been telling us all about it for the last hour,' said Woodbine.
