Noelle Holten - Dead Wrong

‘Never mind. I’ll catch him another time. Thank you for trying.’ Maggie did her best to contain her anger. She’d never had a problem speaking to the prosecutor before; he always made time to see her. What the hell was going on?

The woman responded with her fake smile again. ‘OK, thanks for coming by. Have a nice day.’

Maggie clenched her fists as she left the office. She wondered if DI Rutherford had warned him not to speak with her.

The ten-minute walk around to Stafford Police Station served to make a slight dent in her anger. She needed to keep it in check. Although she respected her boss, there was an air of condescension about her that ruffled more than just Maggie’s feathers.

Maggie climbed the stairs to the second floor and chucked her jacket over her chair. Just as her computer booted up, DI Rutherford called her over to her office.

‘Yes, ma’am. Coming.’ Maggie let out a sigh and slouched over, opened the door and took a seat in front of Rutherford’s desk.

‘Maggie. Did you have a good morning?’

‘I did. I had a few hours before my shift started and went across to Markston.’

‘Yes … I heard. Did you stop by anywhere else? And Maggie, think about your answer.’ The DI glared as she tapped her desk. Maggie sat up in the chair and noticed the dark lines of exhaustion on Rutherford’s face.

So, she had spoken to the prosecutor. ‘Yes, ma’am. I stopped by the courts. I wanted to speak to the CPS, to see if they had anything useful for the current investigation.’

‘Ah. Just for the current investigation then? You know, if I find out you’re doing anything to jeopardize this case – like going on a wild goose chase against Raven, for instance – I’ll have your head on a plate.’

‘Yes.’

‘We have a briefing in an hour and I expect you to be there, focused, having left your views on Raven outside the room. Do you understand?’ DI Rutherford gave her a look that was more than a warning – it was a threat.

‘I do. May I go now? I’ve a lot to do before the briefing.’

‘Of course. And Maggie …’

‘Yes?’

‘Someone from the CCRC wants to speak with you today at 4 p.m. Don’t be late.’ The DI sighed as she looked towards the ceiling.

Maggie responded through gritted teeth. ‘I won’t, ma’am. Thank you.’

She turned abruptly on her heels and left the room. Touching the base of her neck, Maggie squeezed and felt the tension release. At her desk, Maggie took her keys out of her pocket and opened the cabinet that was tucked underneath. Fingering through the files, she went to the very back and pulled out the one labelled ‘THE CHOPPER’.

DI Rutherford had said to leave her thoughts out of the room – she didn’t specify which room.

After going through her private file on the original Chopper case, Maggie sat back to gaze out of the window. DI Rutherford had a bite that would scare off even the most hardened criminal, but she was also the loudest to cheer and give praise to those who deserved it. Maggie had heard rumours that she was in the midst of a second divorce after she found her husband cheating on her. Apparently, he couldn’t cope with the long hours she put in at the office which left little time to think about starting a family. It was no wonder her boss looked tired. With everything that was going on in her personal life and now the CCRC scrutinizing the original case file … Maggie’s shoulders tightened. The MOCD’s reputation – her own reputation – could be on the line.

‘Penny for your thoughts.’ She looked up and saw DS Nathan Wright.

‘Sorry Nathan, I was miles away. Just thinking about the review commission and what they might find.’ Maggie cleared her throat.

‘Don’t worry. You worked hard on that case and you’re meticulous. There’s no way you screwed this up, trust me.’ He gave her shoulder a squeeze.

‘I wish I had your faith. I worked some ridiculously long hours at the time. What if I missed something?’ Maggie swallowed.

‘The CPS agreed that the evidence pointed at Raven. You didn’t prosecute the case, the CPS did, so if there are any doubts, it should be them that needs to worry. If they had any questions about the evidence, it was down to them to get the answers.’

‘When did you become so wise?’ Maggie smiled.

He shrugged and gave Maggie’s shoulder another reassuring squeeze, then walked back to his desk.

Maggie pulled up the details of her interview with Bill Raven on her computer and went through it thoroughly. One of Raven’s points of appeal related to insisting he was pressured into answering. Maggie noted numerous breaks in the interviews where she had asked how he was doing and neither he nor his solicitor had made an objection. Maggie also came across a point where she had commented on his state of mind. Again, no objection or concern from his solicitor.

‘Is that a smile I see on your face?’ Nathan called out from his office.

‘I’ve just read the statements and there’s no way I was at fault here.’ She bit her lip.

‘Exactly. See what I mean, you’re shit hot on details. Wish I could say the same about me!’

Maggie laughed. Nathan was a ‘by the book’ officer, but his notes could do with some work. She frequently felt he was her moral compass. Whenever she was unsure of something, she often thought to herself what would Nathan do? Though she would never tell him that.

Maggie headed upstairs to meet with Donald Stanford from the CCRC. She wiped her hands on her trousers before knocking on the door. Her nerves were on the verge of exploding.

‘Come in.’ The deep bellowing voice did nothing to set her mind at ease.

‘Hello, sir. DC Maggie Jamieson.’ She held out her hand, waiting for him to shake it.

The man stood and extended his arm. ‘Pleased to meet you. Can I call you Maggie? And please, call me Don. Make yourself comfortable.’

‘Thank you.’ She took a seat across from him.

‘I take it you know why you’re here? Your DI should have explained the process, that way we can just get on with things and I won’t have to keep you from work.’

Maggie nodded.

‘Good. I’ve read all the statements taken from the moment Bill Raven was arrested and subsequently charged. I have to say, you seem to be very detailed, Maggie.’ He smiled smugly.

‘Thank you. I try to ensure that all bases are covered.’ Maggie forced herself to smile back.

‘Yes, you do.’

‘Is there a problem?’ She was a bit surprised by the frown on his face.

‘Err, well …’ He leaned forward. ‘I wouldn’t say a problem, but I did come across something of interest.’ He cleared his throat. ‘Mr Raven was questioned a few times, for long but manageable periods. You seem to take great care about his well-being, making sure he was comfortable.’

‘Yes …’ Maggie felt a bead of sweat run down her spine.

‘During the second interview,’ he turned his laptop towards Maggie. Pointed to a paragraph. ‘Could you read that section for me?’

Maggie leaned forward and scanned over the text, then nodded when she’d finished. Damn!

She’d wait to hear what he had to say before responding.

He spun the laptop towards himself. ‘Mr Raven tells you that he stole a pig, killed it, collected its blood and brought it back to his flat. Did you investigate that claim further?’

Maggie swallowed. ‘I’d have to check my notes, but as far as I can remember, we didn’t. When Bill Raven was arrested, the duty GP was concerned that he may have been suffering from drug-induced psychosis. His behaviour was erratic. One moment he was lucid, the next he was rambling about nonsense. The GP gave him meds and said we could interview him. When he fed us that story about stealing a pig, we believed it was a psychotic episode. If you look at the transcript, he starts talking about blood dripping from the ceiling, the way it looked under the glare of the lights, what it felt like to walk barefooted through pools of blood. Then he gets increasingly distressed and starts making strange noises, shouting, grunting and squealing like a pig.’ Maggie took a sip of water and tried not to think about those initial interviews and the long hours she spent with him, listening to his every word. ‘I’m sure you’ve noted I stopped to ask him if he was OK. Our reason for not wasting time on pursuing that point was the fact that no one reported a missing or stolen pig. As you can see from the interview, Mr Raven mentioned the pig and then moved on to something else entirely.’