Spanish Inquisition (15 page)

‘And she was still so shocked when I interviewed her on Sunday she couldn't remember the rehearsed script and made up a wild story to support her allegation.'

Max nodded. ‘By the following day she realized the enormity of what was happening and ran.' He drank some coffee, then pulled a face. ‘Should have drunk this before I began, when it was hot.'

Tom was still looking thoughtful. ‘I agree the theory fits the timing and the facts we have, but it leaves loose ends. The main one is why?'

‘I've no idea,' Max confessed. ‘I suggest we put it to Piercey and the rest of the team. It might connect with something way back when Phil tangled with Chummy.'

‘Why wait so long for revenge?'

‘Oh, you know how it happens. Resentment builds and grows out of proportion as it festers. Then a perfect opportunity comes along. Phil makes a public idiot of himself over Norton, and bingo! A charge of attempted rape is a serious enough crime to ruin a career and earn a prison sentence.'

‘Mmm, Norton's reputed power over men would have been reversed if we believe that scenario.'

Max smiled. ‘Even our womanizer Piercey succumbed eventually, became putty in a woman's hands. Norton must have fallen really hard for someone who could persuade her to do whatever he asked.'

‘The father of her baby?'

‘Who knows, but she's frightened enough of him now to run away.'

‘Or she's frightened of what he's led her into. Connie mentioned Sharmayne Parker who still defended her abusive lover when we arrested him. Women do that quite frequently. Norton could well have been trying to contact her lover from that eaterie. Bugger,
I'm
calling it that now,' Tom said tetchily.

‘If only we could get Deutsche Telecom to give us the number she contacted three times. Presumably she was trying to speak to whoever should have been waiting for her in the Imperial Hotel.'

At that point they realized the team had assembled and coffee was being made. Armed with refills Max let Tom outline what they had been discussing, and ask for input firstly from Piercey.

True to character the Cornish sergeant asked, ‘So I'm no longer regarded as guilty?'

Tom said coldly, ‘I haven't heard anyone say that, have you?'

Piercey never knew when to stop. ‘But you're saying I was deliberately set up by Norton and her lover?'

Max intervened hastily. ‘It's one possible theory, that's all. You've been accused of assault. It's been officially recorded and will stand until we have indisputable proof of your innocence. We don't yet have that. Now answer Mr Black's question. Can you offer any insight on possible encounters past or present which could cause someone to plan this kind of revenge?'

‘Christ, I don't know how squaddies' mind's work,' he said explosively. ‘They all hate our guts. It'd only take a few beers and several brainless mates to set one of them up for something like that.'

‘We're not talking about squaddies,' snapped Tom. ‘They'd corner you in a dark alley and beat you senseless. What we're considering here is a clever plan with careful timing designed to get you a serious police record. Chummy wanted more than a punch-up, he wanted to damage your entire future.'

Reminded of this threat, Piercey dropped his aggressive stance. ‘I can't think of any incident that would account for that depth of revenge, sir. For four days and nights I've racked my brains for a reason why that woman has done this to me, and I still can't understand it.'

‘But if this new theory is near enough right it's Chummy who's punishing you, isn't it?' reasoned Beeny. ‘Norton was just a pawn in his game.'

Heather Johnson said somewhat tartly, ‘What about the women you've been around with, if you can possibly remember them all? One of them may well now know Chummy as well as she once knew you and saw a means of getting even with you.'

‘For
what
?' cried Piercey. ‘I'm sick and tired of your snide comments on my private life. Every relationship I've had has been fully consensual. There's nothing for any woman to
get even
for.'

Tom was furious. ‘You're supposed to be detectives reviewing a serious and complicated case, not cats fighting on a rooftop. If that's the best you can come up with, Sergeant Johnson, you'd better keep quiet.'

Not to be outdone, she said, ‘The case concerns someone conspiring against Phil. We've been acting on the belief that Norton was the prime mover, so why couldn't it have been another woman who instigated it? If we're now considering Chummy to have some need to discredit Phil, surely it's feasible that an ex-girlfriend presently deeply involved with him could be using him as
her
pawn.'

Max intervened again, relieving Tom of the obligation of following up on that. ‘It's an outside possibility, but it would cloud the issue further if, at this stage, we seriously investigated it. The case is complicated enough. Let's stick with the original scenario for now.'

Into the silence caused by no further input being offered, Olly Simpson said in his unflappable manner, ‘There's another way of looking at this. It seems pretty certain the theory of conspiracy between Norton and a male friend is correct. She's besotted enough to do anything he asks and possibly sees this campaign against Phil as an expression of her lover's jealousy, which she finds exciting. Norton does exactly as directed, phones to say Phil has left the theatre, then goes to meet Chummy at the agreed rendezvous where he attacks her as brutally as he has planned to do.'

He leaned back and folded his arms behind his head. ‘His revenge was against Norton.
Phil
was the pawn.'

They all looked at Simpson, struck by this twist to the concept. Then Piercey said eagerly, ‘She could have been told to play that game with any one of us she'd been coming-on to over those two months of rehearsals.'

Simpson nodded. ‘Unfortunately, you drew the short straw. Maybe she mentioned your name more than the others.'

‘Or because of who you are,' put in Beeny. ‘An opportunity to get one in against the law and order lads. Just for fun!'

Tom glanced at Max, then said, ‘That's a working possibility which leaves us with two options. Chummy is the father of Norton's baby and stages this whole thing to cover the hiding he means to give her for refusing the abortion.
Or
she's told him she's pregnant by another man and he gives her a violent farewell knowing she's not likely to shop him because she'd have to confess to conspiring to set up an innocent man as a rapist. That's why she ran. However, none of these theories gives us a clue to Chummy's identity.'

‘How about Staff Andrews?' suggested Connie, who had been quietly assessing all this speculation. ‘His hot affair, which nobody seems to have been aware of, was terminated by Norton when she began rehearsing for
Carmen
two months ago. She's two months pregnant. He arranges to be at the Recreation Centre on rehearsal nights, maybe sees Phil hanging around her too much and starts to smoulder.'

Beeny challenged that. ‘Why would Norton conspire with a man she'd discarded?'

‘If the affair had been hot enough he could have reignited it when she revealed she was carrying his baby. Andrews is known to adore his four children who're now in Ireland with his wife's family who've all poisoned their minds against him, he reckons. The thought of another child of his own would drive him to ensure they got back together. Norton is known to relish men's adoration. He could play on that to the hilt, and she'd most probably fall for it.

‘He attended the opera performance on Saturday. He lives in the Sergeants' Mess and returns there to wait for Norton's call saying Phil is on his way. He watches his quarry enter in a foul mood, waits ten minutes, then drives the Audi to Norton's accommodation block to pick her up.' She frowned in concentration. ‘Why would he assault her, though?'

‘She has last minute reservations. Doesn't want to go through with it; retracts all she's told him about Phil's frequent attempts to get her into bed, which she has exaggerated to make Andrews jealous,' said Heather. ‘He loses it. Gives her a going over and dumps her near the RMP Post.'

Connie nodded. ‘Then he returns Phil's car, plants her mobile in it, and sets out for town where his mates finally track him down in the early hours, completely legless. They put up for the night, then follow their plan to walk the track to Kitzdorf and back along the valley. They're returning to base on Monday evening when they get caught in that pile-up on the autobahn. As of now he's unaware that Norton's gone into hiding.'

‘And also unaware that she's accused Phil, as they had arranged. Once he regains full consciousness he'll start to worry,' mused Heather. ‘Worry whether she's landed him in it after all.'

Tom regarded the grouped members of the team, asking, ‘Any more variations on an original theme?' Silence. ‘You're due to visit Staff Andrews again, Connie. Question him bearing in mind what you've just outlined. With one or two question marks I think it's quite sound.' He turned to Max. ‘Anything to add, sir?'

Before Max could answer, his mobile rang showing the call was from Clare. Connecting, he said quietly, ‘I'll call you asap.'

‘I think you'll want to hear this, Captain Rydal.'

So it was business, not pleasure. ‘Go ahead.'

‘We've just received a call from the hospital. Corporal Maria Norton has been admitted as an emergency. Haemorrhaging from an unprofessional abortion.'

Lieutenant Su Carfax was in her office when Max called in at 5 Signals Headquarters. She glanced up as he entered and Max was again struck by her arresting, exotic beauty. He could not help thinking she ought to be a couturier's model, an actress, a tycoon's PA rather than a soldier dressed in combats and heavy boots.

‘You have news of Corporal Norton?' she asked swiftly.

He nodded. ‘We're on our way to the hospital to question her.'

She got to her feet in alarm. ‘How bad is it?'

‘We won't know exactly until we speak to the doctors, but Captain Goodey didn't consider there'd be any risk to her life now she's receiving medical attention.'

The subaltern came around her desk, black eyes full of concern. ‘Was she attacked again?'

‘That's what we have to discover. The MO was told she was haemorrhaging from a bungled abortion when a local woman came across her in the toilets at Gunters, and informed the staff. They called an ambulance right away. I suppose you could say she had been attacked – by some kind of rusty, blunt instrument, I imagine.'

His companion shuddered with horror and looked very upset. ‘Why didn't she come to me before it all went wrong? I've always made it clear I'm available to talk over any problems, help in any way open to me. Other girls have benefited that way.'

Preparing to rejoin Connie who was waiting in his car, Max said, ‘Everyone we've questioned so far has said Maria Norton is very self-assured, has very definite ideas on how to run her life, which suggests that that changed on Saturday night when someone violently assaulted her. It's important to discover whether she tried to terminate her pregnancy under duress or of her own free will. It's
essential
that we learn the identity of the potential father. She refused to name him when Mr Black questioned her after the assault. We can move forward swiftly once we know his identity.'

They were now both walking along the corridor, the woman beside him still looking deeply disturbed, when Max said, ‘If you can throw any light here you
must
tell us.'

She angled her face so that she looked away through the row of windows. ‘I've already said she didn't take advantage of my offer of help.'

He stepped forward and turned to block her advance, obliging her to halt. ‘You know very well what I mean, Miss Carfax. Norton was privy to a highly confidential and, I suspect, damaging transmission at noon on Saturday. Twelve hours later she was brutally beaten. It doesn't take abnormal intelligence to work out that someone might have been trying to make her reveal that info. Or ensure that she never passed it on.'

Carfax attempted to avoid the issue with a light laugh. ‘You sound like a character in a cheap espionage thriller.'

‘I'll sound even more like one by saying there's a chance that you could become the next victim of violence if that transmission
is
at the core of this case.'

He could not miss the significance of the obstinate pursing of that petal mouth, and the fire in her eyes which indicated her refusal to cooperate.

‘You were worried enough to come to us yesterday and put probing questions about what we might have learned from Norton. If that transmission was sensitive enough to have you all running around like headless chickens because of what happened to the woman who authenticated it, we need to know.'

She shook her head vigorously. ‘It doesn't work like that.'

‘OK, after we've seen Norton, if I think it's relevant I'll speak to your Squadron Commander, Major Evans.' At the head of the flight leading down to where his car stood, he added, ‘Just watch your step and keep clear of dark, lonely places meanwhile.'

He had passed through the main gate, driven the length of the feeder road and was several miles along the autobahn before Connie attempted to break the silence.

‘How likely d'you think some damning communication could be at the root of this curious affair, sir?'

Almost at the crossroads where he must turn right, Max sighed. ‘I hope to God it isn't, because it would have to be evidence of villainy involving a group of disparate people, one of whom is Phil Piercey. An hour or so ago we worked out three possible scenarious woven around a small nucleus of evidence. I'd be happy to prove any one of them to be fact, but start dabbling in classified, need-to-know info and things become very sticky indeed.'