Chapter 87

Chapter 87

‘There's your evidence. There's your smoking gun.'

Helen pointed angrily at Tara Bridges' statement, forcing Rebecca Holmes to look at it.

‘That's the true face of your "experienced, well-respected beat officer".'

‘All right, Helen, you've made your point,' the Chief Superintendent replied testily.

‘He's a predator. He's a rapist. What's more, he's been protected and shielded from justice by members of this police force.'

‘Look, Helen, I understand why you're angry,' Holmes replied, looking shaken by the force of her colleague's attack. ‘But that is simply not true. Nobody covered up for him.'

‘Rubbish. People must have known, must have had their suspicions,' Helen scorned. ‘But they weren't brave enough to stick their neck out, weren't brave enough to ask the difficult questions.'

‘Well, I concede that mayb—'

‘There was a culture of silence at this station. And this is what it breeds.'

She gestured at Tara's statement once more.

‘Suffering.'

Holmes stared at Helen, but said nothing. Helen knew that in normal circumstances she'd have been hauled over the coals for speaking so aggressively, so disrespectfully to her superior, but there was no pushback today. Holmes was bang to rights and she knew it.

‘So what do you want to do, Helen?' Holmes asked, fighting hard to conceal her discomfort.

‘I want Reynolds formally suspended from the Force, pending the completion of our investigations. We've clear evidence now, first-hand testimony, that he's committed serious crimes against women whilst on the beat, so it's vital he never sets foot on the streets in uniform again.'

‘OK, I can agree to that. Are you going to bring Reynolds in? Question him about the attack on Tara?'

‘In time. But I want to keep him under surveillance for now, see what his next move is. However, in the interim, I want us to reach out to Tara Bridges, see if she wants any protection, whilst we construct our case against Reynolds.'

‘Again, not a problem.'

‘And finally, I want to be left alone to do my job.'

Her last request was terser, more pointed.

‘We should have moved quicker to rein this guy in. We might have done so too had I not met with resistance and suspicion. Well, that stops now. I'm to be given your full backing and all the resources I require to nail this bastard. Yes?'

What else could she do? Holmes was beaten and she knew it. Maintaining eye contact, determined not to appear diminished, her superior nevertheless conceded immediately.

‘Of course, Helen. You can have whatever you need to bring this case to close.'

Striding back to the incident room, Helen tried to get a grip on her swirling emotions. She was resolved and excited, relieved that they finally had concrete testimony of both Reynolds' former crimes and his prevailing modus operandi, targeting the most vulnerable sections of society for his own depraved ends. The details in Tara Bridges' account tallied perfectly with those of Naomi's abduction, dispelling any doubt in Helen's mind that David Reynolds was responsible for the teenager's disappearance. But underlying Helen's sense of purpose, of personal vindication, was a growing fury that Reynolds had been allowed to offend for so long. Too many people had turned a blind eye, allowing the decorated officer to offend in plain sight. What's more, his actions would shatter trust between Southampton Central and the people they were duty-bound to protect for years to come. What young girl, what woman would trust the police now, given Reynolds' monstrous crimes and the impunity with which he committed them? It would be a long, long road back from here.

Pushing angrily back into the incident room, Helen marched towards her office, but as she did so, Charlie intercepted her, hurrying over. Pausing, Helen gathered herself, clamping down her fury and turning to her deputy.

‘Might have a lead on Graham Armstrong,' Charlie offered, excited.

‘Go on.'

‘Well, DC Malik was running the rule over his family members, associates, et cetera. Most people dumped Armstrong after he was arrested, but prison records show that his mother never did so, visiting him constantly throughout his sentence.'

‘So where is she now?'

‘Well, she's been pretty hard to find. She reverted to her maiden name after her son was convicted, and has moved three times since then.'

‘I see …'

‘But we've now found a current address for her. A two-up, two-down terraced number in Shirley.'

‘Then what you waiting for?'

Helen was already gesturing DC Malik and DC McAndrew to join them.

‘Let's bring him in.'