“But you could.”
She nodded. “I’d had enough by that stage. I was looking for an excuse to kick the bastard out, so next time he went drinking I had all the locks changed. He was so angry when he got back, I had to call the police.” She smirked. “He spent the night in a jail cell. Served him right.”
No love lost there.
“I’m sorry you had to go through that,” said Evan.
“I divorced him.” Her voice cracked. The tough talk vanished and she shrivelled up. “I blamed him for Angie’s disappearance. If he hadn’t been so rough with her, she might still be alive.”
41
“Both Chrissy and Angie may have had abusive fathers,” said Rob.
It was a new day, much like the others, except it was raining. Puddles formed on the pavements and rivers ran down the gutters. He and Jo had shared an umbrella on the way to work.
The whole taskforce was in residence, except Celeste who’d gone to the mortuary.
“Angie Nolan saw a social worker. Let’s find out who it was and bring them in. I want to hear his or her thoughts.”
“Yes, guv.” Will’s hands flew across his keyboard.
“Also, do we have a statement from Chrissy Macdonald’s friend, Daisy?”
Jenny passed it to him. He scanned the page. Daisy had got on the 33 bus, while Chrissy had walked home. According to Daisy, her friend appeared normal, hadn’t mentioned that anything was bothering her. He noted the address. Dorking.
Last night, after he and Jo had taken Trigger for a walk, Jenny had called to say Rosie Hutton had broken her arm falling off a climbing frame at the park. Hospital records, however, told a different story. She’d presented in A and E with multiple bruises that weren’t synonymous with a fall.
A big question mark there.
“Sir, the social worker is here for questioning,” said Mike.
“Which one?” Rob asked.
“Alan Simpson. The one questioned in relation to Anna Dewbury’s disappearance. The girl from Hemel Hempstead.”
“What was his relationship to the victim?”
“Apparently he’d been assessing her after a report was made by her maths teacher.”
“Do we have a copy of the report?” Rob felt his pulse tick up a notch.
“Yeah, here.” Mike handed it over.
He scanned it. She’d been quiet and withdrawn at school. Her grades were dropping. She’d always been an excellent student, but it seemed like she’d lost interest in learning. Her teachers were concerned.”
“Why did he fall under suspicion?”
“He saw her several times in the week before she disappeared, but when questioned, he provided an alibi for the day of her disappearance. He was visiting another client across town. They vouched for him.”
“Okay, you interview him, Mike. We need to know if Anna confided in him. Do you think you can handle that?”
“Yes, guv.” The Londoner puffed out his already impressive chest. “Thank you, guv.”
“Okay, get to it.”
Mallory updated the whiteboard. Rosie Hutton, Chrissy Macdonald, Angie Nolan and Anna Dewbury could have been victims of physical abuse, possibly more. Without proof it was hard to say. Angie had seen a social worker, as had the Hemel Hempstead girl. Unless they talked, it would be impossible to prove.
“What was Angie’s social worker’s name?” he asked.
“A man called Paul Daley.” Jenny retrieved a battered document from a pile on the table.
“It’s not the same person Mike’s interviewing, is it?”
“No, sir.” More rustling. “Anna Dewbury’s social worker was Alan Simpson.”
Different men. Different counties.
He turned to Jo. “If you were a young girl with problems, who would you turn to?”
She glanced up. “A friend? I don’t know. Maybe a priest if my family was religious, or a social worker, if one was appointed. I might have called Childline or something similar.”
Rob knew a priest. And his church was close to the burial ground at Bisley Common. Within walking distance.
“Only Arina Parvin lived in Bisley,” Mallory said, reading his mind.
“Still, it might be worth talking to him again.”
Mallory nodded. “I’ll give him a call.”
“The social worker suspected that Anna Dewbury was being sexually abused by her stepfather.” Mike burst into the room.
Rob stopped what he was doing.
“Sexually abused? Did he actually say that?”
“Yes, although there wasn’t any proof. Whenever he spoke to Anna, she clammed up. It was more her reaction to her stepfather that convinced him. He recommended moving her to a place of safety, but it never happened. The mother insisted there was nothing going on and that Anna was just upset because they wouldn't buy her a mobile phone. This was eight years ago, remember. Every kid has one now.”
“What did the post-mortem say?”
Mike sat down and opened his laptop. “Give me a moment.”
He browsed through several documents. “Here it is.”
“She was sexually active,” he said, glancing up.
“At fourteen? She’s a minor. Why wasn’t that flagged?”
“I don’t know, guv.”
Rob frowned. “Was the stepfather ever a suspect?”
“No, it doesn’t look like it. He was away on a business trip when Anna disappeared, and didn’t get back until late the next day. It couldn’t have been him.”
Very convenient.
“He was guilty of having sex with a minor, though,” hissed Jo. “He should be prosecuted for that.”
“Now that she’s dead, there’s no evidence against him,” Rob pointed out. “She can’t testify and if there was no DNA taken at the time of the abuse, it’ll be very hard to prove he’s guilty.”
“It’s not right.”
“No,” he agreed. “It isn’t.”
“Tessa Parvin’s out on bail, awaiting trial,” Rob told Mallory. “Let’s talk to her about Arina. If the other girls were victims of abuse, she might have been too.”
Tessa opened the door in a tracksuit. Her face appeared ghostly white against the dark interior of her house.
“I’m sorry to bother you,” Rob began. “But I need to ask you some questions about Arina. We’re still trying to find the person who killed her.”
She nodded. No fight left. “Come in.”
They followed her into her dingy living room with piles of books and the armchair by the window. She switched on the overhead light, but it didn’t do much to illuminate the room.
