Noelle Holten - Dead Wrong

Nathan spotted her from the end of the corridor and walked over. ‘You ready?’ He squeezed her shoulder. ‘You’re as white as a ghost. Don’t let nerves get to you – the COMMS Officer and I will be doing most of the talking.’

‘Perfect. DI Rutherford has thrown me under the bus.’ Maggie knew she was paying the price for revisiting The Chopper Investigation without permission. If she wasn’t more careful, Maggie could be pulled off the case for good.

She accompanied Nathan down to the lower-level conference room. It was already filling with people and Maggie could feel their eyes on her as she followed Nathan to the front. Maggie sat down and crossed her legs. Despite the size of the room, it felt claustrophobic. She was hyperaware of her surroundings. The air hung heavy with the salty smell of sweat mixed with overpowering perfume. She loosened the collar of her blouse and tried to keep her breathing at a normal pace.

Nathan called the conference to order. ‘Thank you all for coming. My name is DS Nathan Wright and to my left is my colleague, DC Maggie Jamieson and our Communications Officer. We all have busy lives, so shall we just begin? I’d like to read a brief statement and then I’ll open up questions to the floor.’ He waited while the last-minute stragglers sat, and a silence fell over the room.

Maggie heard the click click click of cameras and blinked as their lights flashed. She looked around the room and her head began to spin. Taking a big gulp of water and a few deep breaths, she waited for Nathan to begin.

‘You’ll all be aware that the partial remains recently found on the Blackwood Housing Estate belong to Ms Lorraine Rugman. Previously, we had reason to believe that Ms Rugman was murdered by Bill Raven. Mr Raven had confessed to the crime in late 2016. The pathologist’s report now confirms …’ He paused and looked around the room. ‘That Mr Raven couldn’t have physically been involved in this crime, as the pathologist estimates that the victim had been killed within at least a two-week time frame of the discovery of her remains.’

The journalists let out a collective gasp and glanced at each other in anticipation. Before Nathan could continue, a young journalist jumped in with a question.

‘DS Wright, can you tell us if you are working with Mr Raven’s solicitor to support his appeal and explain what you mean by, he was not physically involved ? Do you believe that he has some involvement in the recent murder?’ He looked from Maggie to Nathan with a smirk.

‘I’m afraid I am not at liberty to discuss Mr Raven’s appeal or answer anything relating to Mr Raven specifically.’ Nathan glanced around the room and pointed at a black-haired female journalist who seemed as if she was about ready to jump out of her chair.

‘Can you tell us whether you have any suspects at this time?’ Her eyes were wide with excitement. Maggie guessed she must be new to the job.

‘We have a few people who we are keen to speak to. We’d actually like to appeal to members of the public to come forward and think back, not only over the last few months, but to 2016. Anyone with information, please contact us, even if you think it’s unimportant.’ The same journalist had an evil glint in her eye as she lined up another question.

‘One more from you before we move on and give someone else an opportunity.’ Nathan frowned.

‘This question is for DC Jamieson.’ The room turned to face Maggie. ‘How does it feel to put an innocent man behind bars?’

Maggie opened her mouth to answer, she had been prepared for this, but she couldn’t get the words out. Nathan reached across, touched her arm and interrupted.

‘Which part of we’re not discussing Bill Raven’s case did you not understand? I’m sure our COMMS Officer will be more than happy to shut down this press conference now. Is that what you want?’ Nathan nodded at the COMMS Officer.

The female reporter was not satisfied. ‘DC Jamieson, do you think you should keep your job if you let the real killer walk free while—’

‘That’s it. Enough.’ Nathan stood as the COMMS Officer terminated the conference. ‘You can all thank your colleague over there for the abrupt end to this press conference. Thank you to those who respectfully followed my instructions. Any other questions can be answered through our Communications Team.’

Maggie got up and waited for Nathan to go ahead. She maintained eye contact with the journalist who seemed hellbent on showing her up in front of everyone. The woman eventually looked away, and Maggie left the room with her head held high. As soon as they reached the stairway, out of the sight of the journalists, Maggie leant against the wall and bent over, ashen faced.

‘Are you OK? Do you want some water?’ Nathan sounded concerned.

‘Sorry. I just feel a bit faint. That reporter really had it in for me, didn’t she? Fuck sake …’

‘Don’t let her get to you. We both knew that you would be used as the fall guy … or gal.’ He winked. ‘Well, I wasn’t about to let that happen. You do know that this isn’t your fault, right?’

She took a deep breath. ‘I know. But it doesn’t make it any easier.’

Especially since I am not sure it’s true. Did I put an innocent man behind bars?

Maggie collected her thoughts before she had to re-interview some of Lorraine Rugman’s associates. All three of the women had been interviewed in 2016 following Raven’s confession and subsequent conviction, but the team agreed it was worth going over old ground to ensure nothing was missed the first time around.

The first two women had little to offer. Both had admitted to knowing Lorraine but hadn’t seen her for a few years, even before Raven’s confession. One had become stroppy during the interview saying she was ‘sick of repeating’ herself and ‘shouldn’t the police stop hassling women and start looking for the arsehole who is killing them’. She had a point.

The only new bit of information they added was the fact that Lorraine had been using just prior to her going missing, as both women often bumped into her when they were scoring heroin. She was also seen a few times on the corner of Green Avenue and Clacton Road, a known area for prostitution in Stafford. Neither could give a specific time frame, but believed it was before Raven had been convicted.

Maggie wanted to speak to the last woman on the list. Sasha Thompson had been questioned in the original Chopper Investigation and provided Adrian Harrison, Bill Raven’s associate, with his alibi. After refilling the jug of water in the interview room and making sure there were enough plastic cups, Maggie called Sasha through.

Sasha was in her early thirties. She had short, brown hair in a messy style, wasn’t very tall in stature, but had a noticeable bruise on her face, something Maggie had seen on many of the victims of domestic violence she had come across. The vacant look in her eyes, sweat and sallow skin indicated that she may be clucking due to heroin withdrawal. Maggie had come across this a few times where users dabbled for long periods, not realizing the drug had sunk its claws in. She wore baggy clothes, probably in an attempt to hide a skeletal frame.

‘I’m DC Maggie Jamieson. Do you know why we asked you to come in today, Miss Thompson?’

The woman sat, open legged, across from Maggie. ‘Yep. Something about Lorraine Rugman and my previous statement? Nasty business what happened to her, wasn’t it? What kind of psycho chops up a woman?’ Sasha’s shoulders shook and a look of disgust crossed her face.

‘Yes. Nasty indeed. Thanks for coming in. We’re trying to gather as much information as we can about Lorraine’s last known movements. I see you were interviewed just after Bill Raven confessed, back in 2016.’ Maggie looked up from her notebook. ‘Can you tell me a little bit about yourself? We don’t seem to have much from your original interview.’