Chapter 37

Chapter 37

‘Absolutely not.'

Chief Superintendent Rebecca Holmes was defiant, staring at Helen with incredulity, but Helen was too enraged, too shell-shocked, to back down.

‘Look at his file, look at those complaints,' Helen insisted, jabbing her finger angrily at the files now spread open on her superior's desk. ‘Three different victims, three different occasions, but what do they all have in common? They're all teenage girls, one of them only fifteen years of age. The man is clearly a danger to women.'

‘That's your considered opinion is it, DI Grace? Having sifted all the evidence, having spoken to the complainants?'

‘It's too much of a coincidence,' Helen retorted, ignoring Holmes' jibe. ‘Especially when taken in conjunction with his connection to the Naomi Watson case.'

‘A connection which is unproven and, to my mind, unfounded. As seemingly were these allegations, otherwise he would have been charged.'

‘Oh come off it, you don't really believe that, do you? The complainants all withdrew their allegations. What does that tell you? That they were pressured into doing so or didn't feel they'd be given sufficient support to proceed with a case against a serving police officer.'

‘Once again, DI Grace, this is all conjecture and supposition. And so I can only repeat myself. I'm not going to suspend a popular and well-regarded police constable on your say-so. These are historical issues that were dealt with at the time. I see no value in dredging them up again now. Unless of course you have some kind of personal animus against PC Reynolds?'

‘Of course not.'

‘Then may I respectfully suggest that you are letting yourself be influenced by outside pressures, by the media agenda, by those who wish to slander and denigrate this police force and others like it up and down the country.'

‘Don't be ridiculous,' Helen shot back. ‘This isn't some confected story, some media witch hunt. This is about a pattern of behaviour, a very worrying pattern of behaviour, that to my mind warrants instant suspension. It beggars belief that you could put your trust in a man when there's such a huge question mark over his credibility, his trustworthiness.'

‘Yet no crime has been committed.'

‘No crime has been proven .'

‘And you know as well as I do that the policing union would have us for breakfast if we even hinted at any kind of suspension when his record shows he's done nothing wrong.'

‘That's not my problem, nor should it be your first concern. Put these crimes in context. This is a man who spoke to Naomi Watson on the night she disappeared, then lied to my face when I challenged him about it.'

‘He would tell a very different story, I'm sure, and I expect his union rep would take a dim view of a senior CID officer invading the male changing rooms to interrogate and accuse a serving police officer when he was readying himself for duty.'

‘The circumstances are immaterial—' Helen countered, but was quickly cut off by her superior.

‘On the contrary, the circumstances are everything . If I was ever to sanction suspending a police officer under my command, I would expect the accused to be interviewed in the proper manner, with the standard safeguards in place, and I would expect the charges to be proven beyond reasonable doubt.'

‘Jesus Christ, do you want him boxed and gift-wrapped too?'

Holmes' reaction was instant and surprising, the station chief rising and marching round her desk to confront Helen directly.

‘I would strongly advise you to moderate your tone, DI Grace,' she rasped, her anger clear, despite her measured words. ‘To get a hold of yourself. Be clear on this – I have no interest in PC Reynolds, or any reason to spare him from justified scrutiny. What I do have an interest in is sparing this force from the sort of public evisceration the Met endured after Wayne Couzens and David Carrick. Those officers, those criminals, set that force back decades in terms of relations with the community, with women, with the media. I will not invite that kind of opprobrium down on this organization, I will not subject the hundreds of hard-working officers under my command to that ordeal, unless there is clear evidence of wrong-doing . And that is not the case in regards to PC Reynolds. All you have is a scattering of unsubstantiated allegations against an officer of many years' good service who by all accounts is the beating heart of Southampton Central.'

‘Being a good bloke gets you a free pass now, does it?'

For a minute, Helen thought Holmes was going to explode, but at the last minute the station chief reined in her fury.

‘I know that your … your zeal comes from a good place, Helen,' Holmes said carefully, measuring every word. ‘So I'm going to overlook your conduct today. But I will not condone or support an unjustified vendetta against an innocent man. A man with an unblemished record, whose spent his life helping those less fortunate than himself. Forget Reynolds. Focus on the main prize, on Marwood. Keep an eye on him, whilst remembering to attend to your other duties. I have seen nothing in the way of progress on the Freemantle shooting, despite clear instructions that you were to make that investigation a priority. So, please, return to your duties, do your job, be the officer we all know you can be. Is that clear?'

Helen would gladly have slapped her superior, Holmes' patronizing tone unbearable, her self-interest so palpable. Clearly her main concern was to avoid a major scandal early in her tenure, to ensure her reputation did not suffer. It was monstrous, wilfully blind, and Helen was tempted to tell her so, but instead she nodded curtly, as she knew she had to.

‘Absolutely, ma'am.'

‘Good. I'm glad we understand each other.'

Helen turned and made fast for the door, only for Holmes' voice to ring out once more.

‘Oh, and DI Grace …?'

Helen turned back to her boss.

‘When I ask to see you urgently, I expect you in my office immediately. I will not be ignored, not by you or anyone else in this building.'

Her eyes locked onto Helen's challenging, piercing gaze, as she added:

‘Respect the chain of command.'