Chapter 39

Chapter 39

Twenty minutes later, Jennie hurries through the open-plan space towards DCI Campbell’s office. She keeps her gaze fixed straight ahead – she feels less sick that way – and ignores the shocked and concerned expressions on Zuri’s, Naomi’s and Steve’s faces.

Zuri calls after her, but Jennie keeps walking. She has to tell her boss what’s happened. She raises her good arm in a rather pathetic attempt at a wave. ‘I’m okay.’

She walks into Campbell’s office without knocking and collapses into the visitor’s chair opposite him.

The DCI looks up, initially surprised to see her, then hostile. Then his expression becomes increasingly horrified as he takes in the damage to her face and body. ‘Jennie, bloody hell. Shouldn’t you be at the hospital?’

For a moment she can’t speak as she swallows down another wave of nausea. Instead, she takes her phone from her pocket and opens the helmet camera app. Setting the phone down in front of the DCI she taps play on the footage. ‘You need to see this.’

As Campbell watches the video he becomes increasingly grim-faced. The action plays out. DS Martin Wright’s car hitting her bike. Jennie smacking down onto the tarmac. Martin’s distinctive Doc Marten shoes with the claret and blue laces approaching her as she lies prone on the road. His voice is clearly audible as he spits the word ‘bitch’ before kicking her twice in the stomach and ribs.

‘Bloody hell.’ The DCI grimaces as he watches the footage. ‘That sick bastard.’

Jennie’s gaze flits back to the open plan, checking to see if Martin has appeared, but there’s no sign of him. The more she’s here, the more on edge she’s feeling. Emotions ricochet inside her, anger and fear in equal measure, but she doesn’t let that deter her. ‘He tried to kill me, and it wasn’t the first time. There was an incident a few days ago when I was riding home when I realised a car was kerb-crawling behind me, and then a couple of days ago I saw someone in the shadows in my front garden, watching the house. I think both times were Martin too.’

Campbell looks appalled. ‘Can you forward this video to me? I’m going to put a call into Professional Standards and instigate criminal proceedings right away. I’ll see to it that Martin Wright never works another day in law enforcement.’

‘Thank you, sir,’ says Jennie, relief flooding through her. She glances towards the open-plan again. ‘Is he here?’

‘No, not now. After you briefed me on his conduct this morning, I pulled him in and suspended him pending a disciplinary investigation. Let’s just say it didn’t go well. He was ranting and raving about injustice, and I had to get him escorted out. He hasn’t been seen since.’ The DCI shakes his head. ‘I’m sorry I didn’t see how infatuated he was with you. We only searched his desk after he’d left. If I’d done it while he was still here, I’d like to think we could have averted this.’ His gestures towards the helmet cam footage freeze-framed on Jennie’s phone.

Jennie frowns. ‘I don’t understand?’

‘We think DS Wright had been fixated on you for some time. When we searched his desk, we found stuff belonging to you.’ Campbell reaches down and picks up a cardboard archive box from the floor. Putting it on the desk, he slides it across to Jennie.

Lifting the lid, Jennie sees her silver pen, the oversized Friends coffee mug, a green scarf that went missing a couple of months ago, her pink stapler and her spare pair of cycling sunglasses. She stares at her lost belongings. Feels suddenly cold.

What the hell?

‘I never realised he’d taken my stuff,’ says Jennie, her voice shaky. ‘I thought with the stress of mum dying and trying to clear the house, I’d got more forgetful or something. But it was him?’

‘None of us realised,’ says the DCI, the regret clear in his tone. ‘DS Wright managed to keep his obsession under the radar for months.’

Jennie nods, trying to hold back the emotion threatening to burst out. She’s trying to stay professional, appear fit to work the case, but it’s a struggle. Her own DS, a man she’s worked with day in, day out for months, is her stalker. He tried to kill her.

‘I know we haven’t always seen eye-to-eye,’ says the DCI, solemnly. ‘But if I’d realised what Martin was doing, what he was thinking, I would’ve taken immediate action. We can’t have someone like that here. We can’t have people doing what he did. You’re a valued member of my team and I’m sorry this happened, I really am.’

Jennie meets his gaze. Given the fights they’ve had over Hannah’s case, she’s still wary. But he looks genuine, the concern and empathy clear in his expression. ‘Thanks, sir.’

He frowns as if sensing her reticence. ‘You’re a good detective, Jennie, and your instincts are spot on.’

Jennie exhales, suddenly exhausted. She thinks of Zuri. ‘I wish all the team agreed.’

‘Well, you certainly have the respect of DS Otueome,’ says the DCI. ‘She overheard DS Wright ranting about the injustice of his suspension as he was being escorted from the office and came to speak with me. It appears not only had Wright sexually harassed several female colleagues, including her, he was also the instigator of a WhatsApp group in which several male officers share compromising images and disgusting views on women. It appears DC Williams had been added to the group without his permission, but had left it immediately. He told DS Otueome he’d been disturbed by what he’d seen.’

Why didn’t Zuri and Steve tell me?

‘Why didn’t they report it at the time?’ asks Jennie.

‘It seems they felt they’d become targets if they did. I believe several of the men in the WhatsApp group are higher-ranking officers. It’s all in the hands of HR now though. There’s no place for people, and views, like that here.’

‘I’m so sorry they had to go through that,’ Jennie says, sadly. She feels battle-weary and as if she’s let her team down. ‘I wish I could have done something to help them.’

‘DS Otueome spoke very highly of you,’ says the DCI.

Zuri had my back. A good colleague. A proper friend.

As the realisation hits home, Jennie fights the urge to cry. ‘She’s an impressive detective. She’ll have your job one day.’

The DCI smiles. ‘I don’t doubt that, but not just yet.’