Cath Staincliffe: Dead Wrong

‘Not as such. You’d have to come in and make a statement in person.’

I felt exasperated. ‘I can’t do that today,’ I said, ‘but I’d like to make it official as soon as I can.’

He assured me he would keep my call on record.

Rebecca Henderson was delighted that I’d got the low down on Debbie’s stalker. I gave her all Gary Crowther’s details.

‘Well done, Sal,’ she said. ‘It’s taken a bit longer than we hoped but I can move on this straight away now. Send me your bill.’

‘I will, and I’ve the letters here – I’ll forward those as well and the photos I’ve done.’

‘Good. I’ll be in touch. We’re snowed under – should be plenty more work coming your way.’

‘Great.’ I needed more work. After all, both my cases were over now, bar the paperwork. I was relieved at her promise of more jobs, though I hoped I wouldn’t have to deal with too many Debbie Gosforths. I checked the number for the house where Debbie was staying. Her friend answered the phone and I gave my name and asked to speak to Debbie.

‘Debbie, I’ve got some good news. We’ve got the name and address of the man who has been harassing you. I’ve passed it on to Rebecca Henderson and she’ll be able to get the court to issue an injunction to stop him bothering you.’ I didn’t get into what might happen if Crowther ignored the injunction and went his own sweet way. It was common for stalkers to persist; there were calls for a change to the law to protect people from vicious and persistent harassment.

‘Who is he?’ she asked simply.

‘He’s called Crowther, Gary Crowther. Ring any bells?’

‘No.’

‘He’s living in Ayres Road, off Upper Chorlton Road, d’you know it?’

‘Near Alphabet Zoo?’

‘That’s right. He lives there next door to a charity shop. You ever been there?’

‘No.’

Still no lead to what linked Crowther to Debbie or how he’d come to pick on her.

‘It’s best if you stay with your friend until you hear from Mrs Henderson that Crowther has been served with the papers.’

‘Right,’ she said. Plenty of monosyllables. Was she numb from her medication or stunned by my news?

I wondered how to end the conversation.

‘If you’ve any questions about the injunction or you need any more information, you can talk to Mrs Henderson, you’ve got her number.’

‘Yes.’

‘Goodbye then.’

‘Bye.’

Well, we’d never been bosom pals, had we? It’d been a strange case. I’d never known what to make of Debbie Gosforth, though her situation had my every sympathy. And now I was getting my own taste of being hunted.

Maddie was engrossed in her video. I collected dirty clothes from the children’s room and added them to the load in the wash basket. I put the lot in the washing machine and switched it on. While I was clearing up the kitchen I tried to think calmly through the situation I was in but fury – mixed with fear – kept bubbling up at Siddiq’s bald threat.

What did Rashid want me to do? Clam up on what Joey had told me? It was too late for that, but I deduced that Siddiq didn’t know about the tape or my meeting with Pitt. They’d been keeping a watch on me but they wouldn’t expect me to be out and about on the job before school. Hah! I felt a little flame of victory at their mistake.

I rang and spoke to Mr Pitt’s secretary, told her I’d been threatened and that I’d spoken to the police. I asked her to make sure Mr Pitt was informed, and for him to contact me immediately there was any news about the Luke Wallace case. My standing in her eyes had obviously shifted, due mainly I think to Pitt’s reassessment when I’d threatened to cry negligence to Luke. Now we seemed to be on the same side.

Maddie had fallen asleep again, her face waxy and her eyelids translucent. She lay arms flung wide, leg hanging off the sofa. I stopped the tape and went to make myself more tea. I sat in the lounge and watched her while I drank it. I could just hear her breath, regular and shallow. I shook my head to drive away the fears that perched on my shoulders. I wanted to savour this peace. I was continually surprised at how this child enchanted me, and the endless breathtaking love she drew from me. For all our strife, and we certainly had our moments, she had transformed my world and my memories of life before I shared it with her were faded, shot in the half-light.

She stirred as I gazed at her and opened her eyes. ‘Mummy?’ She frowned, raised herself on her elbows. I knew what was coming from her expression but there was no time to act. She pitched forward over the edge of the sofa and threw up exhaustively all over the carpet.

Buckets and cloths, bicarb and disinfectant. A shower and shampoo for Maddie, clean clothes. I still had to finish my phone calls. Denise came round to say she could collect Tom when she went for Jade. Great. I thanked her and got back to work.

I tried Mrs Deason, but there was still no reply.

I started with Victor Wallace.

‘Mr Pitt has all the information now,’ I said. ‘I met with Joey Deason yesterday. He gave me a clear account of what happened. He was an eye-witness.’

‘Go on.’

‘Two men attacked Ahktar; they started to rough him up and Joey protested. He pulled his knife and one of the men, who fits the description of Rashid Siddiq, took it from him. Ahktar lashed out, kicked Siddiq in the face. Siddiq promptly retaliated by stabbing Ahktar. Joey was threatened; they broke his fingers as a memento.’

‘And Luke?’ His voice was thick with emotion.

‘Nowhere near. I still don’t know how he got to Ahktar, and no one’s got a clue why they set upon Ahktar in the first place. It was some sort of warning apparently but Luke wasn’t there.’

‘Thank God. Oh, thank God.’ He sniffed loudly.

‘Mr Pitt says he’ll make an application for bail and in the course of that he’ll reveal the new evidence. But it’s not clear whether they’ll drop the charges against Luke and discontinue the case, or take it to trial and argue it all out there.’

‘But surely they need to go after Siddiq, for God’s sake!’ he shouted. ‘Luke’s innocent – this proves it.’

‘Yes, I agree. But it’s up to the CPS.’

‘Yes, sorry,’ he apologised for his outburst. ‘Thank you,’ he managed.

‘I’ll send you a final report with my invoice. You need to speak to Mr Pitt now about procedures and so on.’

‘When will he…how soon?’

‘I don’t know, I got the impression it would be days not weeks.’

‘Thank you,’ he said huskily, ‘for all you’ve done.’ Naw! Now I was starting to fill up.

‘Give Luke my best wishes,’ I said. ‘I hope they do discontinue. They’d be mad to press ahead, they really would.’

We said our goodbyes.

I imagined him looking out at that lovely garden, the boulder by the pond, the phone in his hand, tears on his cheeks. His faith in his son vindicated. The end in sight after all the months of fighting. Though he would still need to be strong for Luke, who, no matter how soon he was released, would need much love and support to get back to the business of living.

I kept checking outside. The van hadn’t come back but I felt stretched with tension. Would they leave it now – wait and see if I paid attention to their intimidation?

Tom was dropped off and I made some baked potatoes with a cheese and broccoli sauce. Maddie was still sleeping; I let her be. There was plenty of food left and Sheila was back in time to share it.

‘Are you sure?’

‘There’s loads, get a plate.’

Ray was talking about his course to Sheila; the need to upgrade his computer here at home. Tom was enjoying the novelty of being the only child at the tea table, chipping into the conversation. I found it hard to concentrate. My mind kept creeping back to the white transit and Siddiq’s quiet voice with its ugly message.