Lost Innocence (34 page)

Lisa only looked at her.

‘He shouldn’t,’ Annabelle insisted.

‘Of course not, and he won’t if we can prove he’s guilty.’

Annabelle seemed to consider that for a moment, then appearing satisfied she sniffed as she tossed back her hair. ‘Anyway, like I said,’ she went on, ‘I was following him, and he was pretending not to know, but then he stopped
by Lovers’ Dip and waited for me to catch up. I pulled him down the bank, but then he walked off again. I started to tease him about still being a virgin, and I offered to teach him. Then I told him about my mum and his dad and he suddenly went mental. He got hold of me and said I was lying and tried to make me take it back. He started crying and called me a bitch and other things…He was really mad. I tried to get away, but I tripped up and then he threw himself down on top of me and put his hands round my neck.’

‘Were you on your front or your back when he threw himself on top of you?’

‘My front. I was choking and trying to scream, but he wouldn’t let go. I kept trying to push him off, but he was too heavy. Then he pulled up my skirt and started to push his thing inside me.’

‘His penis?’

‘Yes. He was doing it really hard. I was shouting for him to stop, but he wouldn’t.’

‘Did anyone try to come to your rescue?’

‘No. The music was really loud, so I don’t think anyone could hear.’

‘Is there a chance Nathan might have thought he was doing what you wanted?’

‘No way! He knew he was hurting me, but then he suddenly stopped and got up. He called me a slut and said he didn’t do sluts, and started to walk away. I ran after him and tried to punch him, but he caught my hand and punched me here, by my eye.’

‘How many times did he hit you?’

‘Two or three, I think. He knocked me over and I screamed at him that I was going to tell everyone he’d raped me.’

‘What did he say?’

‘Nothing, he just turned around and ran away.’

‘What did you do then?’

‘I went back to find my friends. I was really shaky and crying, and because of the drink and stuff my head felt all weirded out, but I knew what had happened. I wasn’t out of it that much.’

‘What happened when you found your friends?’

‘They were really shocked and thought it was terrible. Then Georgie took me home to her house.’

‘Why not yours?’

‘I was supposed to be at Georgie’s for the weekend anyway, and I didn’t want my mum to know I’d been at the rave, or that I was high.’

‘But you’d been raped. Surely she’d consider that far more serious?’

Annabelle swallowed hard. ‘I suppose so, but you never know with my mum, so I decided to stay at Georgie’s until I’d sobered up.’

‘Which was until this morning?’

‘That’s right. Georgie’s parents were coming back from their weekend in Ireland, so I knew her mum would get straight on the phone to mine as soon as she saw me. And anyway, I thought that was enough time for everything to be gone from my system, in case you took any blood.’

‘Do you understand now that whatever illegal substances – and in your case alcohol falls into that category – whatever you took is only relevant in so far as how it might have impaired your memory, or sense of what was happening?’

‘Yes, but I remember everything. It happened exactly like I just told you.’

Lisa nodded and sat forward. ‘I’m going to have a word with DS Bevan now,’ she said, ‘to find out if there are any specific questions he’d like me to ask. While I’m gone, have a think about everything you’ve told me and see if there’s anything you’d like to change, or add.’

Annabelle’s eyes were wide with uncertainty as she watched Lisa stand up. ‘You do believe me, don’t you?’ she said shakily.

Lisa smiled and patted her arm. ‘Of course,’ she said, and after announcing the time into a mic she left the room.

Bevan waited until the door to the tech room had closed behind her before saying, ‘You believe her because the law requires it for someone underage, or because you think she’s telling the truth?’

‘Actually, more the latter than the former,’ Lisa replied.
‘She’s not trying to paint an innocent picture of herself. She’s admitted she put herself on offer, and we can see her injuries.’

‘Is the genital area bruised?’

‘Yes.’

‘Much internal tearing?’

‘Some. So, what’s your take on what you’ve heard so far?’

‘I don’t get the impression she’s making it up, but I’d like to know more about what happened when she went off into the woods with the other two. If she had sex with them, it could account for the vaginal trauma.’

‘But not the facial injuries.’

‘Maybe not, but she could have got them another way. The time she spent with her friend, before she went home to her mother, bothers me,’ he said. ‘Girls that age can be a bloody nuisance with the mischief they cook up when the mood takes them.’

‘No doubt you’ll be questioning the friend?’

‘Of course. I just wonder if they really understand how serious this allegation is. Does she realise the boy could be facing up to ten years in prison if he’s found guilty?’

‘I haven’t asked her, but if he did it, let the punishment fit the crime. Anyway, we still don’t know yet what he’s got to say for himself. He might admit it.’

‘If he does, then whether it was forced or not, he could be up on a charge, thanks to her age.’

‘If he knows she’s only fifteen.’

‘They’re cousins, more or less, so he has to have some idea, and ignorance isn’t a viable defence, as you well know. Anyway, we’ll get to it. For the moment, I want to know more about what happened with the other two boys, and if she remembers seeing anyone nearby during the time the Carlyle lad was apparently raping her.’

When she returned to the video room Lisa put the second question to Annabelle first.

Annabelle shook her head slowly as she tried to think. ‘I can’t remember seeing anyone,’ she answered. ‘I mean, there were loads of people around, but I think we were the only ones in the dip. It was dark, and he was on top of me, so it was hard to tell.’

‘What about when you went after him and told him you were going to report him for rape? Do you recall seeing anyone then?’

‘Not really. I was pretty worked up, so I wasn’t really taking much notice.’

Lisa smiled. ‘Of course not,’ she said. ‘Now, going back to the other two boys you went into the woods with, Theo and Neil? You say you didn’t have sex with them?’

Annabelle’s cheeks started to burn again. ‘No,’ she answered earnestly. ‘We just made out, you know, like you do.’

‘Explain it to me.’

‘Well, with Theo, we snogged and he felt me up, and I felt him too.’

‘Did you have oral sex?’

‘No.’

‘What about Neil? What happened with him?’

‘Same sort of thing really, but we did have some oral sex. Oh yes, and like I said before, he put his fingers in me.’

‘If we talk to these boys, they’ll confirm what you’ve just told me?’

Annabelle’s redness deepened. ‘I don’t know. I mean, they should, but they were really high, so they might not remember as clearly as I do.’

‘Do you have their addresses?’

‘I know Theo’s, but I only met Neil that night.’ Her face started to crumple. ‘Now you think I’m a slut, don’t you?’ she wailed.

‘Of course not,’ Lisa lied, but being promiscuous did not make the girl immune to rape, which was all that concerned her.

Back in the tech room a few minutes later Lisa waited for Bevan to finish his call to Morley Croft before saying, ‘I take it from that the boy’s now in custody?’

‘At Southmead,’ he confirmed. ‘So, do you believe that she didn’t have sex with the other two?’

‘Does it matter if she’s not accusing them of rape?’

‘It matters,’ he said, getting to his feet. ‘I’ve heard enough for now. Time to go and find out what young Nathan Carlyle has to say for himself.’

* * *

More than an hour had passed since Nat had been brought into the custody area of Southmead police station, where he’d been read his rights, before his fingerprints were taken along with a mugshot and samples of DNA. He was then made to remove every item of clothing, which was bagged and taken away, leaving him with a pale blue paper overall to cover himself up with, and a pair of cardboard slippers.

Now he was locked in a cell with a single window at the top of the back wall that was too high to see out of, even if it hadn’t been made of opaque glass bricks. There was a concrete bunk barely inches off the floor covered by a thin plastic mattress, and a stainless steel toilet with no seat, some squares of hard toilet paper next to it, and a spyhole in the wall to allow the custody officers to see in while the occupant was engaged in his private business.

The hatch in the cell door was firmly closed, and he was deliberately not looking at it, because every time he did feelings of claustrophobia and panic started to engulf him. He was perched on the edge of the bunk which was so low that his knees were almost at the same height as his shoulders.

‘It’s the only one available,’ the custody sergeant had told him. ‘It’s normally used for drunks, so they don’t have so far to fall.’

Nat didn’t really want to think about the previous occupants of this cell, but it was better than tormenting himself with the nightmare he was facing. Except that was all he could think about. He was so afraid now that it was virtually impossible to stop himself crying. He wouldn’t, though, because tears wouldn’t make this go away, any more than they’d bring back his dad. They were useless, childish, and weak.

He wondered, angrily, if his father was up there somewhere watching this horror unfold. He’d wanted Nat to see what happened at the sharp end, what an accused person had to go through before a barrister took charge. Well, he was certainly getting his wish now. Had he seen what had happened on Saturday night? What might he have to say about that? Did he want to deny he’d had an affair with that bitch Sabrina? Nat’s fists clenched with fury. How could
his father have done that to his mother? He was a liar and a hypocrite, and he was glad he was dead.

Swallowing another onrush of emotion, he pressed his knuckles to his forehead and dug in hard. He couldn’t bear to think of his mother being hurt, least of all by his father. It destroyed everything Nat believed about him, turning his integrity into a sham, and making a mockery of the honour he’d set so much store by. There was no point to grieving for him now, he wasn’t worth it, and yet his mother, for all she must have suffered, still missed him and longed for him with all her heart. It made Nat hate him all the more, because he didn’t deserve to be loved by someone who was as good and decent as the wife he’d betrayed. How could he have done it? And why wasn’t he here to answer for his crimes? He’d taken the coward’s way out, abandoning them all to the heartache and sorrow he’d caused, his a legacy to them nothing but lies and deceit.

Hearing the sound of footsteps outside, Nat lifted his head, and as the hatch suddenly clanged open his insides turned to liquid.

A shiny face with bulging eyes peered in. ‘Your brief’s here,’ the custody sergeant told him.

Nat’s heart rose to his mouth as he forced himself up. He watched the door swing open, and his knees almost buckled when he saw Jolyon’s strong, familiar face. For one bewildering instant he thought it was his father.

‘Nat, my boy,’ Jolyon said, coming to embrace him. ‘Don’t worry, son, everything’s going to be all right. We’ll have you out of here in no time.’

‘You can use the interview room at the end,’ the sergeant informed them.

A few minutes later Nat and Jolyon were sitting either side of a scratched Formica table in a soundproof room that was no bigger than the cell Nat had just left, and had no windows at all.

‘Sorry it’s taken me a while to get here,’ Jolyon said. ‘I came as soon as I could. Are you OK? Do you need anything?’

Nat shook his head. ‘Only for this to be over.’ His eyes burned with emotion. ‘I didn’t rape her,’ he said fiercely.

‘Of course you didn’t,’ Jolyon assured him, seeming to think it went without saying. ‘Now, I’ve had a chat with the custody sergeant and DC Croft, so they’ve brought me up to speed with everything so far. I’m told Detective Sergeant Bevan’s handling the case. He’s on his way, and should be here in the next ten minutes or so, but you don’t need to worry about that. We can take as long as we like to go over this, and then we’re going to prepare a statement to hand him. This means you won’t have to answer any questions if you don’t want to. Do you understand that?’

Nat nodded. ‘Do you know him?’ he asked. ‘What’s he like?’

‘I’d say he’s tough, but he listens and I’ve generally found him to be fair.’ Reaching into his briefcase, he took out a legal pad and a pen. ‘Right,’ he said in a businesslike fashion, ‘let’s get straight to it, tell me what happened, starting from the beginning.’

Nat sat forward, clenching his hands on the table, and rocking back and forth as he psyched himself up to begin. After a few false starts he managed to tell Jolyon what time he’d arrived at the rave, who he’d gone with and how much he’d had to drink by the time he saw Annabelle. He then went on to describe how she’d come up to him and dragged another girl away.

‘She was totally out of it,’ he said, watching Jolyon’s hand moving across the page.

‘Do you know what she’d taken?’

‘There was loads of E around, and cannabis.’

‘Did you actually see her taking anything?’

Nat shook his head. ‘OK, go on.’

‘I could tell by the way she was looking at me that she was going to start coming on to me, so I turned around and walked away. I didn’t really want to be there anyway, so I thought I’d just go home.’

‘Has she ever come on to you before?’

‘Kind of, yes.’

Jolyon nodded and made a note in the margin. ‘We’ll come back to that,’ he said. ‘What happened after you walked away?’

‘She followed me, but I didn’t know that until I stopped at the top of this bank. She came up behind me, grabbed my hand and dragged me down into the dip. At the bottom I snatched my hand away and tried to walk on, but she kept coming after me. She was saying, “Come on, you know you want to do it.” I told her to leave me alone, but she wouldn’t. She started going on about me being a virgin and did I want her to show me how to do it. I was getting pretty mad by then, because she wouldn’t take no for an answer. She just kept on and on, saying stupid things… All this rubbish was coming out of her and in the end…’