Broken Silence (36 page)

‘What exactly is this, DI Brady?’ demanded Travers as he quickly took in the stark photographs.

Taken aback, he turned and looked at his client whose face had turned white.

‘Don’t say a word. Understand?’ Travers quickly instructed.

Simmons stared at the photos incredulously, not believing what was in front of him.

‘But … it was—’

‘Encrypted?’ finished off Brady. ‘Message from our computer forensic officer – if you are going to encrypt something, don’t use anything based on dictionary words.’

Simmons stared at Brady numbly.

‘It took a while but our forensic officer’s password cracker got it in the end,’ added Brady. ‘One thing I can say about Jed is, he doesn’t give up easily.’

Brady smiled as he looked at Simmons.

‘Suddenly you’ve gone very quiet, sir. Maybe you’ve decided that suing us for wrongful arrest isn’t such a lucrative prospect any more?’

‘I … I can’t see what you’re getting at here, DI Brady?’ interrupted Travers uncomfortably.

‘Take another look then,’ suggested Brady.

‘What I mean is there is no proof that the man in these photographs is my client,’ replied Travers stiffly.

‘Admittedly, it’s easy to see that the girl, dating from as young as eleven up to fifteen, is Sophie Washington, Mr Simmons’ step-daughter,’ agreed Brady. ‘This latest photograph here even shows the victim’s distinctive tattoo.’

‘I… I can’t dispute that. But as to the man in the
photographs with her, well … it’s inconclusive as to whether it’s my client or not,’ pointed out Travers.

‘So it seems,’ replied Brady. He then looked straight at Simmons. ‘But you’re not as clever as you think you are, sir.’

Brady pulled out a handful of disks from the file in front of him.

‘These are films that you made over the period of the four years you were in Sophie Washington’s life. Unlike the photographs here where you’ve selected the image to exclude your face, these films do contain images of your face. Images that we were able to digitally enhance to prove 100 per cent that you are the male actively engaged in these extremely pornographic images involving your step-daughter.’

Brady watched as Simmons now stared straight ahead, refusing to look at the photos on the table.

‘I … I would like to see the evidence that proves that the man in these photographs is my client,’ demanded Travers.

‘Of course,’ obliged Brady as he pulled out more photographs.

He laid them on top of the other photographs.

‘There’s no denying that the man in these film images is Paul Simmons,’ Brady flatly stated.

Travers cleared his throat as he looked at them.

‘Not very tasteful are they?’ said Brady, noticing Travers’ bronzed face flush an unhealthy colour. ‘Some of the acts of sexual abuse committed on the victim by your client in these shots are the worst
acts of child sexual abuse I’ve ever seen. So extreme that the majority of them fall into the category of Level 5,’ Brady pointed out. ‘Add to that the knowledge that some of these extreme acts of child sexual
abuse were filmed live on the internet on virtually a daily basis for other like-minded men.’

Not that Brady had needed to add that. He could see from Travers’ taut, sickened expression that he had got the message.

‘Given the severity of the child pornography that we’re dealing with here, the Serious and Organised Crime Agency will be taking over this investigation. And, as you can see from the photographs before you, which is only a fraction of Mr Simmons’ disturbing collection of his step-daughter, they have enough evidence to put your client away for an indefinite period of time.’

Satisfied, Brady watched as Travers, lost for words, tried to regain some composure.

‘Yes … well, I think I need some time to confer with my client…’ Travers replied, as he turned to Simmons.

‘Take as long as you want,’ suggested Brady. ‘He’s going nowhere.’

He looked at Conrad and nodded. They were finished with Simmons.

‘Interview terminated at 10.27 am,’ he stated as he shoved his chair back and stood up.

Brady gave Simmons one last cursory glance.

‘I only wish that it hadn’t taken Sophie’s murder for your sick abuse of her to be exposed. Whatever happens to you will never make up for the horrific sexual acts you did to that eleven-year-old girl,’ Brady said as he picked up one of the photos. He shoved it in front of Simmons’ face. ‘See? See that? That ripped the victim’s eleven-year-old body
apart. The damage was so brutal that the scars and trauma were still painfully evident in her autopsy.’

Simmons turned away.

‘Look at what you did to her, you sick son of a bitch!’ demanded Brady as he pushed the photograph into Simmons’ face. ‘I should make you choke on it, you bastard!’

‘DI Brady, I wish to remind you that this threatening behaviour is completely unacceptable,’ complained Travers.

‘Yeah?’ snarled Brady, refusing to take his eyes off Simmons. ‘So sue me!’

‘And you, you sick son of a bitch. I swear you’ll live to regret every act of sexual abuse you committed on her so help me God!’ threatened Brady as he scrunched up the photograph in his hand and threw it at Simmons’ rigid face.

‘Come on, Conrad, the air in here is turning my stomach!’ Brady said as he turned and left.

Brady was on his third coffee as he sat in the depressing basement canteen. He couldn’t digest anything after his interview with Simmons. The Serious and Organised Crime Agency were on their way which meant that Brady would have no further dealings with him. Not that he was bothered. He just wanted the assurance that the bastard would get everything he deserved.

He looked up at the barred windows and wondered what was going through Matthews’ head right now. Brady couldn’t figure him out; this wasn’t Matthews. Sure he may have had a hard job keeping his dick in his trousers, but shagging a fifteen-year-old girl and then murdering her? That wasn’t the Matthews Brady had known for sixteen years. Brady watched the miserable drizzle steadily trickle down the barred windows, blurring the outside world. He didn’t know why he was sat there. He just knew he needed somewhere familiar to get his head around what had happened in the past twelve hours.

He couldn’t help going over the events that had led to Matthews’ arrest. He wished he’d stayed with the others in The Fat Ox instead of tracking down Madley. Brady accepted that he had been looking for trouble and that’s
what he’d got. But he had never expected it to turn out this way. He couldn’t shake the feeling that he had set Matthews up; that Matthews had walked into Brady’s trap. But it wasn’t like that. Not that Matthews would believe him. Brady had had no idea that he would end up finding incriminating evidence against Matthews when he searched his house. Let alone that Conrad would call Gates while he was in there. But then again, if Conrad hadn’t then maybe Brady wouldn’t be sat in the miserable police canteen on his third coffee. He’d be dead and Matthews would be long gone.

Brady stared at the grey dusty shafts of light stabbing through the barred windows. Matthews was scared to talk; scared shitless of the consequences. Brady tried to ignore the thought that kept going through his mind. It was too horrific to even contemplate.

He took a sip of burnt, bitter tasting coffee.

His phone rang. He picked it up off the table and answered it.

‘What?’ he muttered thickly.

‘I heard about Jimmy,’ she explained.

‘Yeah?’ said Brady, not in the mood for talking.

‘Conrad told me,’ she added.

‘So?’

‘You look like you need someone to talk to, that’s all.’

Brady suddenly realised that she was standing a few tables away from him.

‘I’m not in the mood for small talk,’ he warned.

‘Good, that makes two of us,’ Jenkins concluded as she walked over to him.

She pulled out a chair and joined him.

They sat in silence for a few minutes while Brady mulled over everything that had happened.

‘I need to get him to talk,’ Brady eventually stated. ‘But he thinks I set him up.’

‘And did you?’ Jenkins asked.

‘What do you think?’ replied Brady edgily.

He wearily sighed as he ran his hand over his stubble. He hadn’t had time to shower this morning. Not that it mattered.

‘Shit, Amelia! Matthews thinks I was behind his arrest. That I had it planned and had arranged for an armed response team to be there, along with Gates. How the hell was I to know he was going to be at the house? He’d gone to ground for the past few days not answering my calls. And then he turns up when I least expect.’

‘You’re being too hard on yourself,’ Jenkins reasoned.

‘Am I?’ he questioned.

Jenkins nodded.

‘I know it wasn’t Jimmy,’ Brady eventually said.

She looked at him questioningly.

‘And … I reckon I know who did it … but …’ Brady’s voice trailed off.

He shook his head, not wanting to believe it.

‘I hope to God that I’m wrong. Because if I’m not … Fuck!’ Brady hoarsely said as he stared at Jenkins. He kept going over in his head what she had said about the significance of the attack on the deceased victim’s face. And he didn’t like the answer that kept coming to mind.

‘I know,’ Brady conceded reluctantly.

Matthews ignored him.

‘I know who you’re protecting.’

‘Keep your fucking mouth shut,’ hissed Matthews.

‘I can’t let you go down for something you didn’t do.’

‘Shut the fuck up! You don’t know what you’re saying. I did it! Me! Nobody else! You get that? I murdered her!’

‘You drove her back home, but what you didn’t realise was that Ellison had already rung Sophie at 12.02 am, arranging to meet her on the abandoned farm behind her house.’

‘Don’t do this, Jack. For fuck’s sake, don’t do this to me!’ pleaded Matthews.

Brady did his best to ignore him but it was the hardest thing he’d ever had to do. Every word coming out of his mouth tasted bitter.

‘She had sex with him, followed by an argument. We have a witness who overheard that part. When Ellison had gone, she realised she couldn’t find her keys. So she rang Evie, believing she’d left them there.’

‘No!’

‘We’ve got a record of the call, Jimmy,’ Brady said quietly.

‘Evie brought the keys. She knew what Simmons was like
and didn’t want her best friend hurt. So she sneaked out of the house and ran down to the farmland. She knew exactly where to find Sophie,’ Brady carefully explained.

‘Jack … no don’t … don’t …’

Brady ignored him. He had to, otherwise he wouldn’t be able to finish.

‘You see, Jimmy, the witness said that she overheard two girls arguing. I didn’t think much of it at the time but now I realise that it was Evie and Sophie. She even heard the victim shout out your name. I had presumed that was because Sophie had been ringing you in a desperate attempt to stop Ellison from hurting her. But I couldn’t have been further from the truth. Instead, Sophie was drunkenly taunting Evie with the fact that she had been at Madley’s nightclub with you and that you had driven her home. She might have been Evie’s best friend but it didn’t mean that they weren’t jealous of one another. Maybe that was the trigger, because Evie believed she was telling the truth,’ Brady said, shaking his head. ‘They’d both had too much to drink, too much to see sense.’

‘I mean it, Jack. I’ll fucking kill you if you don’t stop!’ Matthews sobbed.

Brady paused for a moment, caught off guard by Matthews. He breathed in and forced himself to continue, ignoring the tears of desperation in Matthews’ eyes.

‘You were back before Evie left to find Sophie. Your car was parked in the driveway. Evie couldn’t find the keys in her bedroom so she did what Sophie had suggested when she called. She searched your car. Evie found them, but she also found the condom wrapper and put two and two together.’

Matthews suddenly lunged for Brady.

Conrad scrambled to his feet just in time to pull Matthews back.

‘Come on, Jimmy. Calm down!’ Conrad advised through gritted teeth as he did his best to restrain him.

‘You don’t know what you’re talking about!’ Matthews grunted.

‘The condom wrapper has Evie’s prints all over it. As has Sophie’s phone. Initially it would be easy to rationalise her fingerprints on the victim’s phone, as she was her best friend. You see, that’s what we did when we found Evie’s DNA at the crime scene and on the victim’s body. We eliminated her because she was the victim’s best friend and they shared clothes as teenage girls do. But that wasn’t what happened, was it?’

Matthews struggled in vain to get to him.

‘Evie knew you were seeing someone, Jimmy. She didn’t know it was this Tania woman, she presumed it was Sophie. And why wouldn’t she after the evidence she found in your car? And Sophie was more than happy to mislead her, to pretend she was having an affair with you. She was viciously drunk and Ellison walking off had left her furious. So she took her vindictiveness out on Evie. And what better way of hurting Evie than by destroying the image she had of her father? The man Evie idealised? Sophie wanted what Evie had – a “normal” family life and if she couldn’t get it, she would make Evie equally miserable.’

‘No … you don’t know what you’re talking about,’ Matthews said shaking his head in desperation.

‘You weren’t there, Jimmy, not until it was too late,’ replied Brady.

Matthews turned his sickened face away.

Brady inwardly winced as he realised that his hunch had
been right. Matthews had just shown as much. Up until that moment he had been hoping against the odds that Matthews would somehow prove to him that Evie had nothing to do with Sophie’s murder.

Brady swallowed hard before continuing.

‘The witness heard Evie and Sophie’s argument over Ellison. We just assumed it was Ellison, not Evie. You see Ellison and Sophie argued about him ending their relationship. He left and Sophie then rang Evie. We know that Evie left her home to meet Sophie.’