Chapter 54

CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR

‘ H arper,' said Tom, walking from his office.

Beth looked up, a half smile playing on her lips. The memory of the fair night was so fresh in her mind that she could still smell his body's musky scent. Now, here he was, calling her Harper as if nothing had changed between them.

‘We're visiting Elaine Lees' school. See if we can find anything more about her and who she'd been mixing with. Luke, organise a police presence outside the flats where Frankie Reece and the other sex workers live.'

Luke gaped at him. ‘I didn't think we were taking that seriously.'

Tom stared into Luke's eyes until Luke found it so uncomfortable that he dropped his gaze.

‘We are. We don't want another attack on our hands when we could have prevented it.'

‘Right, sir,' said Luke.

Tom saw Luke glance over at Ana, anger shining in his eyes. Ana Rawlins was clearly pissing Luke off.

‘Harper?' questioned Beth once they were in the car.

Tom smiled. ‘I knew you'd complain.' He briefly rested his hand on her knee before returning it to the gear stick. ‘I quite like calling you Harper.'

Beth laughed. ‘It always was Harper this, Harper that.' She pulled a chocolate bar from her pocket.

‘It never stops,' he said, pulling into the car park.

‘That's because you never give me time to eat.'

They arrived just as the students were leaving. Beth recognised Skinner, who looked downcast. He saw them approaching, and his shoulders tensed.

‘We're here to talk to the headmistress,' she assured him.

‘I hope you get that fucking vigilante. He's mad. God knows who he'll go after next. He attacked Needles on the coach coming home from football. Scraped his neck with a machete.'

Tom stopped. ‘Needles?' he asked.

‘Colin Lees,' said Skinner. ‘Laine's brother. Everyone calls him Needles on account of his tattoos.'

Skinner couldn't care less anymore. Needles was in a right state. He wouldn't leave Jim's house. He said he couldn't stand the sound of his mother's crying. Skinner was devastated about Laine. The more he told them, the better chance they had of getting that mad bastard.

‘So you were also on the coach that Saturday with Lees, who smashed the radio and blacked out the security cameras,' said Beth.

Skinner looked like he was going to burst into tears. ‘We were wasted, you know. It was just a bit of fun. But he had this machete. We shouldn't have done it, but he didn't have to kill Laine. Why would he do that?' Tears spurted from his eyes and Beth rummaged in her bag for a tissue.

‘Come to the station later and make a statement,' said Tom, walking ahead of her into the school.

‘Thanks,' said Skinner, taking the tissue.

‘All heart,' she said, catching up with Tom.

‘Too soft,' he replied.

Before she could answer, the headmistress was greeting them. It turned out that Laine had barely attended her lessons. Her behaviour had been so antisocial that they had referred her to a social worker. The social worker, Rufus Jones, said he found her difficult during their sessions. The headmistress had planned to follow up after the fair.

‘But…' She stopped, trying to control her emotions. ‘I never got to do that.'

When they arrived at his office, Rufus Jones was in the middle of a session, so Beth and Tom accepted the administrator's offer of a coffee.

‘We have some doughnuts if you'd like one. You know what offices are like. You can never stay on a diet here.'

‘Sounds lovely,' said Beth.

Tom rolled his eyes. ‘I'm surprised you're not the size of Buckingham Palace,' he commented.

Twenty minutes later, a tall young man came out of one of the therapy rooms and invited them in. Throughout the interview, he seemed edgy to Beth and stroked his chin nervously between his thumb and finger until the skin became angry and red.

‘She was referred to me because of her continual absences from school and for abusing the teachers,' he explained. ‘There was no parental support, although I did invite them to the sessions.'

‘How did you find her?' asked Beth. ‘Was she responsive?'

‘She didn't communicate with me. She was resentful at being here,' he said. ‘She'd fidget or look out of the window.'

‘Did you form any kind of relationship with her?' asked Tom, observing him closely.

‘What do you mean relationship?' Rufus asked anxiously.

‘We're not accusing you of anything,' said Beth reassuringly. ‘We need to know if she shared anything with you that might help us find her killer.'

‘Did you have a rapport with her?' asked Tom.

Rufus sighed heavily. ‘Look, I'm a social worker. I saw her for three visits. One time, she didn't even turn up.' He lowered his eyes. ‘She could be quite provocative, and I wasn't comfortable with that.'

‘In what way?' asked Tom, still watching him closely.

‘She would lie and then admit she was lying.' He licked his lips nervously.

‘Lie about what?'

Rufus rolled his neck to release the tension in it. ‘She'd talk about all the boys she'd slept with and what they'd done, and then laugh and say "Got you." She said she could easily make accusations against me because we were alone in the room.'

‘I see,' said Tom.

Rufus looked up, his face flushed. ‘That's always a worry, you know. We don't have cameras in here because of patient confidentiality. Look, I did nothing to that girl. I did the professional thing and asked for her to be referred to someone more qualified.'

Beth pulled out her notepad. ‘Who was that?'

‘Dr Raymond Grace.'

Beth stopped writing. So Ray had known the social worker for the Ludbrook Grove school. Why hadn't he said that? She glanced at Tom and saw him roll his eyes. He'd asked Ray at dinner about the patient confidentially. She inwardly groaned. Beth had known Ray wouldn't divulge much. He was very hot on confidentiality.

‘Thanks for your help,' said Tom, standing up. ‘We might need to question you again.'

Rufus looked panic-stricken. ‘Why?'

‘Nothing to worry about.' Beth smiled, following Tom.

‘You intimidated the poor guy,' she said once they were outside.

‘Why the hell hasn't your brother-in-law come forward to say he treated her?' Tom asked, starting the car and angrily struggling with the gears.

Beth winced as he crunched into first gear. She struggled to find an answer, at least an answer that would make sense. ‘Maybe he never got to see her,' she suggested. ‘We don't know. Perhaps she skipped those appointments too.'

‘Bloody patient confidentiality,' he said between gritted teeth. ‘Well, we'll soon find out.'

Beth sighed. ‘I can't interview him. You know that. I don't think you should either. Let Rawlins and Matt do it.'

‘Bloody vicars and…' He took a deep breath before agreeing with her. This whole thing of being able to withhold evidence had been simmering within him for years. The number of murders he'd known that could have been prevented if one of these so-called professionals had opened their mouth in time.