Dead To Me

41

THINGS MOVED QUICKLY after that. His phones were given to the telecoms officer for an analysis of all the data stored on them. Gill dispatched a team to search his house for the murder weapon, bloodstained clothing, any property belonging to the victim. And for seizure of his computer. A search was made of his car. Fingerprint analysis revealed Raleigh’s prints on the door jamb to Lisa’s bedroom and bathroom, though the partial print on Lisa’s gold cross did not match Raleigh.

The prepaid phone immediately yielded useful intelligence. Raleigh had the numbers of both Angela and Lisa Finn in his contacts list. His stored text messages showed several sent to both girls, among them one that made the hairs on the back of Janet’s neck prickle: Raleigh had sent a text to Lisa at half past twelve on the morning of her death. C u @ 2 babe x Babe! Oh, the bastard.

‘Janet,’ Gill said, ‘take someone and talk to Angela, will you? See what she can tell us.’

Janet scanned the office. They were all out, bar Andy. Who looked over and smiled.

Her heart sank. ‘Yes, boss.’

‘Ade – what did he…’ Andy asked as they drove to Cheetham Hill, the shops along the main drag awash with Christmas decorations, sledges and inflatable Santas.

‘Nothing. It’s fine. Kids’ stuff.’

‘Right.’ Then he turned to work: ‘What’s she like – Angela?’ He obviously wasn’t any more keen than she was to dwell on recent events.

‘Gobby,’ Janet said, ‘prickly, but she did talk to us, even if half of it was lies. And she’s holding down a job, so she has got something going on upstairs.’

‘We appeal to her intelligence?’ Andy said.

‘I’m not sure I’d go that far,’ Janet said drily.

She appreciated the fact that he was keeping things on a professional footing. But found it hard to act naturally in his presence, especially when they were alone like this. Her own voice sounded brittle in her ears, her smile false. God, did she regret what had happened. Too much drink coming on top of another miserable spell with Ade, which left her feeling unloved, middle-aged and in a rut. Not at work, but every other way. Andy seemed as anxious as she was to minimize the opportunity for any more lapses of judgement. That was good, wasn’t it? So why was there a part of her still fantasizing about the guy? Why did part of her wonder if she’d made the wrong choice way back, sticking with Ade, dependable Ade the boy next door, instead of upsetting the applecart when she’d met Andy at training. Taking the leap, choosing the unknown. But then she’d never have had Joshua, Elise, Taisie. Everything would have been different. Oh, God, why couldn’t she just get over it? Put it behind her, like she was pretending to do on the surface?

The rain had stopped, Janet thought, or maybe it was only suspended as grey mist. The dog-end of the year. Grim. All well and good if you were huddled round the fire toasting marshmallows, but there wasn’t much of that in the Scott household these days. Oh God. She’d have to pull herself together, make more of an effort, for the girls at least. It was a difficult age. Both of them yearning to be grown up, not wanting to do anything, have anything that smacked of being a little kid, though they were still kids all the same.

Finding them on her doorstep, Angela gave a groan and rolled her eyes at them. ‘This is harassment, innit.’ One hand on her hip. She flounced back into the house and they followed her into her room.

‘Sergeant Andy Roper’ – he showed his warrant card – ‘you already know DC Scott.’

‘We’ve arrested James Raleigh,’ Janet said.

The girl’s jaw dropped. ‘What? What the fuck are you talking about? What for?’

‘On suspicion of the murder of Lisa Finn.’

‘No,’ Angela said, her eyes filling, her hand going to her mouth.

‘Hey, come and sit down,’ Janet said. Before you fall.

For once Angela didn’t have a comeback, too shocked for that. She lowered herself on to the settee. Janet sat beside her, Andy fetched one of the kitchen chairs for himself. He flipped open his daybook, noted the time and looked over at Janet.

‘No way,’ Angela said quietly, her chin jutted out, but Janet could see the quiver around her mouth. She was struggling.

‘We know you’re having a relationship with James,’ Janet said.

Angela moved as if to deny it, but Janet’s expression stopped her. She saw they knew. ‘He can’t have done it,’ she said. ‘He was with me, innit.’

Oh God. ‘When?’ Janet said.

‘Monday.’

‘What time?’

Angela hesitated. ‘All day.’ Tears in her voice.

Janet said, ‘We have proof that isn’t the case, Angela. And it would be extremely foolish of you to perjure yourself out of some sense of loyalty.’

Silent tears rolled from Angela’s eyes, she wiped them away.

‘Let’s start again,’ Janet said. ‘You and James have a sexual relationship.’

‘Yes,’ she said.

‘How long for?’

‘Year and a half.’

‘How did you meet?’

‘At Ryelands.’

‘And Rosie Vaughan. Did James go out with her?’

‘He broke it off,’ she said, ‘when we got together.’

‘You told me earlier that you’d only seen Rosie twice after leaving Ryelands. Is that why? Because of James?’

‘He liked me and she could never have coped with it, him being my boyfriend instead of hers. She was bothering him, anyway. Obsessive, innit. Wouldn’t leave him alone, threatening to get him into trouble if he left her. Best to have a clean break all round.’

The threats were of interest. Was that what had led to the beating and the rape? Rosie, cut off from Angela, suspecting he was shagging around and trying to pull weight? ‘And Lisa Finn – was she another of his girlfriends?’

‘No way,’ Angela insisted. ‘Never. There was just me.’ Janet absorbed that. ‘He wouldn’t do that to me. Go with some dirty junkie. He was a social worker, he had to see Lisa for his job, that’s all.’ Trying to convince herself. ‘He loves me. He wouldn’t do that.’

Janet felt a wash of guilt, she loved Ade and look at what she’d done.

‘When did you last see James?’

Angela wavered. Still wanting to protect him, to protect some shred of the fantasy she’d been living. But, Janet guessed, not knowing what answer might best help him. ‘Thursday,’ she finally said.

‘This last Thursday? What time?’

‘About six.’

‘When did he leave?’

‘Seven-ish,’ she said, defensively.

‘That evening?’

Angela gave a nod. Wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am. Janet bet he never stayed the night, never took her anywhere. Using her like a prostitute, not even having to pay. ‘Did James say anything about Lisa’s murder?’

‘Said they’d got Sean for it. It had been on the news.’

‘Anything else?’ Janet said.

‘No. Only that it was an awful thing, one of his clients, innit.’

‘Did you know before – that Lisa was one of his clients?’

‘No. Confidential all that,’ she reeled off.

‘And how did James seem when he told you her boyfriend had been arrested?’

‘I don’t know… pleased, like they’d got someone for it. Just normal.’

‘Did he ever speak to you at all about the assault on Rosie Vaughan?’

‘No, I was the one told him, ’cos the police had been round. He didn’t even know it had happened.’ Her voice shook. ‘He hadn’t seen her for ages, see, ’cos he was going with me.’ Another tear tracked down her face.

She wasn’t stupid, Janet thought. The sheer effort, the energy it must have taken to build and sustain the wall of ignorance she’d built. To keep him unsullied in her mind. To shout down the whispers of suspicion about Rosie, about Lisa, about all the other girls that he popped in to see when the whim took him. To believe she was the only one, special, different.

‘I’d like to take your phone,’ Janet said. ‘We are having to examine all communications made to and from James as part of our investigation.’

‘He’s innocent, he didn’t do nothing,’ Angela said again.

Janet got out an evidence bag and held it open. ‘Can you please place your phone in the bag?’ She wrote out a receipt and passed it back to Angela. ‘Has James ever been violent to you?’

‘No,’ she said.

‘Has he ever raped you?’

‘No, fuck off, he’d never do anything like that!’ She was angry, her face darkening.

‘Has he ever threatened you with a knife?’

‘No. He’s not like that,’ she said. ‘You’ll see. He wouldn’t hurt a fly.’