EIGHTY-FIVE

2.15 P.M.

The house was a mid-terrace set back from the road, just six feet away from the sign announcing your arrival in Stourport-on-Severn.

Kim checked her watch before getting out of the car. Only forty-five minutes until the next deadline. Not for the first time she found herself praying that the rest of her team were going to come up with something soon. In the meantime, this was a lead she couldn’t afford to ignore.

The door was answered by a man in his mid-thirties wearing jeans and a tee shirt with the logo of an electrical company on it.

‘Mr Keene?’ Kim asked. It was the middle of the afternoon, but the man was at home.

He nodded.

‘Can we speak to Mrs Keene?’

‘About what?’ he asked, looking them over.

They produced their identifications. He took a good look.

‘You’re West Midlands, so I ask again, what is this about?’ he said, not budging an inch from the doorway. His tone wasn’t hostile, but it was definite and assured.

‘It’s about the sexual assault on your wife.’

‘Have you got him?’

She shook her head.

‘Then what’s the point in upsetting her?’

‘We think it might be connected to a case we’re working.’

He began to shake his head.

‘Mr Keene, we’d really like the chance to catch this bastard.’

He stood aside. ‘It’s up to her if she wants to talk to you or not.’

‘Fair enough,’ Kim said, stepping past him.

The man then held a hand up in front of Bryant. ‘Not you. Not a man she doesn’t know.’

‘Of course. I understand. I’ll wait in the car.’

Six months wasn’t a long time to find any sense of normality after such a traumatic event, but Kim wondered if any progress had been made at all.

That question was answered once she stepped into the room. On the wall right behind where Melissa sat was a photo of the three of them, clearly before the attack. Melissa, her husband and their daughter all looked happy and healthy. Kim understood that the child had been seven at the time of the attack so the photo hadn’t been taken that long ago.

Melissa turned haunted eyes towards her husband. ‘Dave?’

‘Police officer, love. Here to talk about the attack.’

Desperate hope lit up her eyes. ‘Have you found him?’

Kim shook her head as she took a seat directly opposite the woman and her photo. The two-dimensional image on the wall held far more life and vitality than the flesh-and-bone version before her. And that’s exactly what she was: flesh and bone and a whole lot less of it than there had been before the attack. The contrast between the two was striking.

The hope died in Melissa’s eyes, and her gaze shifted to the floor. In her mind, it clearly didn’t matter what she was here for. If it wasn’t to say they’d caught her attacker, then it wasn’t important.

‘May I call you Melissa?’ Kim asked.

She nodded without looking up.

‘Melissa, we suspect your attacker might be linked to a case we’re working. I hate having to ask, but could you talk to me about what happened?’

Melissa shook her head.

‘Okay, no problem,’ Kim said. She had sworn to herself before stepping into the house that she wouldn’t push the woman into doing anything.

‘Hang on, love. What if it could help them catch him?’ Dave said.

‘Could it?’ Melissa asked with fresh hope.

‘I can’t promise,’ Kim said honestly. ‘But I’ll certainly give it my best shot.’

‘Where do you want me to start?’ Melissa asked.

‘I know that you were following a trail from the Little Trekkers website, so if you can start there…’

‘I’ll just put the kettle on. Inspector?’

He didn’t want to make a drink, and she didn’t want one, but he obviously also didn’t want to be in the room while Melissa retold her experience.

‘Coffee, black no sugar,’ she said.

Melissa breathed a sigh of relief that he’d left the room. ‘Crazy, isn’t it? I actually want to apologise that the thought of it makes him uncomfortable.’

‘He cares about you,’ Kim offered.

‘I know. That’s why he’s home from work. I have a dentist appointment later this afternoon. I can’t go on my own. I don’t go anywhere on my own.’

Kim nodded her understanding.

‘It’s because he’s still out there. He could be anyone. He could be anywhere. He could be watching me or waiting to get me again, and I wouldn’t know it.’

And that was the problem for cases that went unsolved. There was no full stop. No new paragraph or chapter. No point at which you could start a new sentence.

‘I really appreciate you talking to me, Melissa. Would it be easier for me to ask questions or…?’

‘I’ll tell you what I remember in the order I remember it.’ She took a breath. ‘We’d found the first clue, and Charlotte was full of beans. She was excited to find the next because she thought there might be treasure in it. We were walking across a field to a small wooded area. We’ve been there before. It’s only about fifty metres square and then you’re back on the road. We were maybe a few metres in when I heard a sound behind me. Before I had a chance to turn, a bag had been put over my head. One of those hessian shopping bags with handles that tie.’

She took another few breaths before continuing.

‘It happened so fast. Suddenly, I was on the ground and the breath had been forced from my body. I don’t know if he hit me in the chest or if he had his knee on top of me, but all I can remember is Charlotte screaming and me shushing her. I was frightened that if she didn’t shut up, he would kill her.

‘He got my trousers down and was inside me. All I could think was to stay as quiet as I could. I didn’t cry and I didn’t scream. Not with my daughter there. She was terrified enough.’

Kim’s heart ached for the bravery of this woman.

Even then she’d been trying to ensure her child wasn’t scarred forever.

‘It’s strange how your priorities change,’ she continued. ‘Don’t hurt me. Okay, hurt me but don’t rape me. Okay, rape me but don’t kill me. Do anything you want but just don’t hurt my child.’

‘You did everything you could to protect her.’

‘I’m not sure it made a difference. Little sweetheart won’t leave my side when she gets home from school. I think she’s trying to protect me.’

‘Or heal you,’ Kim offered.

A devastated expression flitted over Melissa’s features. As though she knew the effect her failure to engage was having on her family.

Kim could see that Melissa was drifting away from the memory and that it might be better to ask questions.

‘Did he speak at all?’

‘Not one word,’ Melissa said, shaking her head.

‘Not even once he’d finished?’

‘No. He just got up and ran away. I heard his footsteps on the twigs. I ripped the bag off my head, but he was gone. I grabbed Charlotte and soothed her, and then as soon as I could speak, I called Dave. He contacted the police, and they all arrived at around the same time.’

‘Did you feel his skin at all?’

‘It was smooth,’ Melissa said with a look of surprise. As though she hadn’t realised that before. ‘No one asked me that, but his hands were definitely smooth.’

‘Any idea of weight, build?’

‘I couldn’t say for certain. In my mind, for some reason he’s tall and slim, but I don’t have any idea of age. The only thing is that smell.’

‘Smell?’

‘I told the other officers that I didn’t think it was a young man. I know the aftershave he was wearing. My uncle used to love Old Spice. I bought him a bottle every Christmas. I know that smell,’ she said, shuddering.

‘Would Charlotte be able to describe him?’ Kim asked. Nothing had been mentioned about officers speaking to the child.

Panic filled her eyes. ‘No, no, no, no, no, that’s not happening. I won’t allow… no… you can’t…’

‘Okay,’ Kim said, reaching over to touch her arm reassuringly. She could feel the tension emanating from her.

‘I’d go through it a hundred times to stop her having to remember it once. Did you know that when you remember a traumatic event, your body relives it so you get the same emotions all over again? You think I’d do that to her? Never.’

Kim nodded her understanding. This woman would do anything to save her daughter any further pain, and she had to respect that.

She decided to change direction.

‘Is there anything you can tell me about the trail that you followed?’

Realising the danger of involving Charlotte had passed, Melissa visibly relaxed. ‘Like what?’

‘Was there anything different about the post on the website?’

‘Sorry if I’m being dense, but I really don’t get your meaning.’

‘Was the clue cryptic? Did you recognise the person who posted the puzzle? Did it stand out for any reason?’

‘Officer, I was just looking for something fun to do on a Saturday morning while Dave was working overtime. I can’t remember the clue, the wording or the person that posted it.’

‘Had you used that particular site before?’

‘Many times. It was free, and Charlotte loved the adventure part of…’

Her words trailed away as the inevitable happened. The joy that had lit up her face while talking of something her daughter enjoyed was replaced with fear as she travelled right back to the attack.

Kim felt the ball of sadness in her stomach clench. She was gaining very little for the pain she was causing, but she had to give it one last try.

‘Is there anything else at all you can remember?’

‘I don’t think so.’ She paused. ‘Inspector, tell me honestly, do you think he’ll ever be caught?’

Kim owed her nothing but honesty. ‘I really don’t know, but we have his DNA, so if he comes anywhere near the system, we’ll have him.’ She sighed. ‘I hope we do. You deserve to start your life again.’

‘I do try. We went out, about a month ago. Just me and Dave. And then I smelled it. That damn aftershave. Full on panic attack. Ambulance and everything. I haven’t left the house since.’

Kim took a card from her inside pocket. ‘If you think of anything else, or if I can help with anything at all, call me, okay?’

‘Thank you. I appreciate you being honest with me.’

‘I’ll let myself out,’ Kim said, nodding towards the door to the kitchen and Dave, who had never reappeared with the coffee she hadn’t wanted.

She got in the car and rubbed at her forehead.

‘Rough in there?’ Bryant asked.

‘More for her than me. She’s not living. She’s existing, and that’s unlikely to change until the bastard who raped her is found.’

‘Do you think it could be our guy?’

‘Still don’t know but I bloody well hope so. And if it is, remind me to kick him in the balls. Twice.’