Dark Spaces

  Helen Black grew up in Pontefract, West Yorkshire. At eighteen she went to Hull University and left three years later with a tattoo on her shoulder and a law degree. She became a lawyer in Peckham and soon had a loyal following of teenagers needing legal advice and bus fares. She ended up working in Luton, working predominantly for children going through the care system. Helen is married to a long-suffering lawyer and is the mother of young twins.

  Also by Helen Black

  Damaged Goods

  A Place of Safety

  Dishonour

  Blood Rush

  Twenty Twelve

  DARK

  SPACES

  HELEN BLACK

  Constable & Robinson Ltd

  55–56 Russell Square

  London WC1B 4HP

  www.constablerobinson.com

  First published in the UK by C&R Crime,

  an imprint of Constable & Robinson Ltd., 2013

  Copyright © Helen Black, 2013

  The right of Helen Black to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs & Patents Act 1988

  All rights reserved. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, or to actual events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  A copy of the British Library Cataloguing in

  Publication data is available from the British Library

  ISBN: 978-1-84901-474-8 (paperback)

  ISBN: 978-1-47210-460-1 (ebook)

  Printed and bound in the EU

  1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2

  Cover by JoeRoberts.co.uk

  BBC News. Tuesday 11 June 2004. 18.45 GMT ‘Cruel and Despicable’

  A man and two women have been convicted of abusing and assaulting seven children in their care.

  George Talbot, 47, his wife Sinead Talbot, 35, and her sister Mary-Ann Yates, 34, were guilty of acts so cruel and despicable they would stay with him forever, said Judge Patrick Wilkes at Luton Crown Court this morning.

  Members of the jury wept openly as all three defendants were found guilty of abuse towards the children aged between eight months and sixteen years.

  George Talbot, the court heard, had routinely starved all the victims, often forcing them to beg or fight one another for morsels of food. One child told the police that the defendant would invite other adults to come to the house and watch. Sometimes the children would be filmed.

  The victims were almost never allowed to leave the house and the youngest three had never been outside, even into the garden.

  Doctors confirmed that all the children had been physically and sexually assaulted.

  A senior detective described the house in Luton as ‘the most evil place’ he had ever encountered.

  In court, Judge Wilkes said, ‘These offences are some of the worst to have come before me.’

  The three defendants were between them convicted of cruelty, administering noxious substances, unlawful wounding, sexual assault and grievous bodily harm.

  His Honour Judge Wilkes said there would be no option but to sentence them to substantial prison sentences and ordered reports to be prepared.

  In the meantime the victims have been placed into the care of the Local Authority.

  ‘My only hope,’ said the judge, ‘is that these children can now find the families they truly deserve.’

  Chapter One

  ‘How is your health, Miss Valentine?’

  Dr Kendrick leaned on his desk and gave a small smile that didn’t reveal his teeth.

  ‘Me? Fit as a fiddle,’ Lilly replied. ‘I mean the veins on the back of my legs look like a relief map of Africa and if I sneeze twice in a row I need a clean pair of knickers, but you know, not bad for my age.’

  Dr Kendrick laughed politely. ‘And your mental health? Any issues there?’

  ‘Depends who you ask,’ Lilly said. ‘I think my ex-husband might say I was away with the fairies.’

  Kendrick nodded and made a slow deliberate note on his A4 pad. ‘What about Alice’s father? Health-wise I mean.’

  ‘Oh my ex-husband isn’t Alice’s father,’ said Lilly. ‘That’s the ex-boyfriend.’

  Kendrick continued making notes.

  ‘Which makes it sound much worse than it is.’ Lilly gulped. ‘Much more exciting than real life.’

  ‘It’s not my business, Miss Valentine.’

  ‘All the same, I wouldn’t want you to think I had a new man every night of the week.’ She was gabbling now. ‘Chance would be a fine thing, but a wild night chez nous consists of a DVD of Downtown Abbey and a family bag of Maltesers—’

  Kendrick interrupted with a soft cough. ‘And the health of Alice’s father?’

  ‘Fine,’ Lilly squeaked.

  While Kendrick went back to his pad, Lilly puffed out her cheeks and scanned the artwork behind him. There was a black and white photograph of a clown, a thick smile painted around a thin frown.

  ‘Why are you asking me all this, Doctor?’ she said. ‘I came to discuss Alice.’

  She gestured to the car seat at her feet, and the baby in it, sucking a pink fist.

  Kendrick put down his pen. ‘With babies as young as Alice it’s very difficult to make a diagnosis.’

  ‘Maybe there’s nothing to diagnose,’ said Lilly.

  ‘Indeed,’ said Kendrick. ‘Her hearing and sight tests came back perfectly fine.’

  ‘There you go then.’

  Dr Kendrick managed another smile, but again there was no sign of his teeth. ‘And yet your health visitor and GP both confirmed that she failed to meet any of her six-month milestones.’

  Lilly shrugged. Tick-box culture pissed her off. Some kids developed later than others. It had always been that way. If Elsa, Lilly’s mother, were here now she’d regale this form-filling moron with tales of Candy Cooper from number seven who didn’t say a word until she was four.

  ‘And from that moment on they couldn’t bloody shut her up. Drove her father to drink.’

  Then there was Christopher Quigley who everyone said was backward, but it didn’t stop him making a fortune selling knickers on the market did it?

  ‘Listen, Doc,’ said Lilly. ‘I know you have to do this. A referral’s been made and you’ve got your job to do. I’m a solicitor, so I know how all this works, but I really don’t think there’s anything wrong with my little girl.’

  She scooped Alice out of her car seat and kissed the top of her head. As she ran her chin through the messy curls she could smell sugar and flowers and sky.

  ‘You’re probably right,’ said Kendrick. ‘A mother’s instinct usually is, but as you correctly pointed out, I must do my job.’ He scribbled something on a second pad and tore off the page. ‘Let’s meet again in one month and in the meantime, blood tests.’

  ‘Blood tests?’

  Kendrick waved his hand. ‘A pinprick, nothing more.’

  Lilly threw back her head, opened her mouth wide and let out a bark of laughter.

  ‘This’ll be interesting.’

  Alice’s screams rang through the hospital and she batted away the nurse brandishing a needle. In different circumstances Lilly would have been impressed by her daughter’s force of will. In her working life she’d met every kind of nutter wailing for their freedom, and every kind of junkie begging for a fix, but no one could scream as loud as Alice.

 
; ‘I blame the parents.’

  Lilly spun on her heels, a retort at the ready for the interfering cow behind her. She was sick to the back teeth of strangers tutting at her in supermarket checkout queues. If they thought they could do better with Alice, they could be Lilly’s bloody guest.

  When she saw who had spoken, the sharpness fell from her tongue. ‘Sheba!’

  Lilly’s friend gave a deep curtsey. Or as deep as a woman who looked like she was about to give birth any second could manage. Sheba and Lilly both opened their mouths to speak but another one of Alice’s determined screeches pierced the air.

  ‘What’s wrong with the ankle biter?’ asked Sheba. ‘I think we can safely assume it’s not her lungs.’

  ‘She failed her six-month check-up. Didn’t meet her milestones.’ Lilly made quotation marks with her fingers around the last word.

  Alice screamed again with the melodrama any B-movie actress would be proud of.

  ‘Hey you.’ Sheba held up a finger at Alice. ‘Shush.’

  The baby seemed entranced by the perfectly rounded scarlet nail and her jaw slackened. Peace fell.

  ‘Thank you,’ said Sheba and turned to Lilly. ‘So she failed to reach her milestones? Which ones?’

  ‘I’m not sure,’ said Lilly.

  ‘Supporting herself? Motor skills?’

  ‘Like I said, I’m not sure.’ Sheba was lovely but doctors were all the same. Even those who specialized in matters of the mind. ‘What about you? What are you here for?’

  Sheba ran a hand over her bump. ‘I am now officially overdue and whilst I agree that it’s never fashionable to be early, keeping people waiting is simply poor manners.’

  ‘They say raspberry leaf tea brings on labour,’ said Lilly.

  ‘I’ve tried it.’ Sheba wrinkled her nose. ‘Tastes like shit.’

  ‘And sex,’ said Lilly. ‘That can get things moving.’

  Sheba gave a gritty chuckle. If giving up vodka tonic, espresso and Marlboro lights had been good for her unborn baby, it had had no effect on her vocal cords. Even at nine months pregnant she was like the naughtiest girl in the dorm. Lilly sighed. When she’d been carrying Alice her feet had swollen to three times their size and she’d spent most of her days chugging on a bottle of Gaviscon. Sheba, as stylish and saucy as ever, looked as though she might just throw on some black lace undies and enjoy the challenge. Her partner, whoever he was, probably considered himself the luckiest man alive.

  ‘Actually, I’ve been meaning to call you,’ said Sheba. ‘I need a favour.’

  ‘Don’t tell me,’ said Lilly. ‘You want to borrow the Alexander McQueen ball gown again.’

  Sheba rolled her eyes. ‘I need help. Professional help.’

  ‘Go on.’

  ‘I have a patient. A fifteen-year-old girl and she’s been charged with stealing a car and driving under the influence,’ said Sheba. ‘The family instructed their solicitor, but he’s from a big commercial practice in London and I don’t get the sense he knows his way around the criminal courts.’

  Lilly clicked a tongue. Too many lawyers thought crime was an easy ticket. But it was specialized and could be tricky, particularly where children were concerned. You had to know what you were doing.

  ‘Let me grab a pen.’ She held out Alice to Sheba, who looked shocked and appalled in equal measure.

  ‘I don’t really do babies,’ she said.

  Lilly nodded at Sheba’s belly, hard as a basketball. ‘I’d say it was time to start.’

  Sheba sniffed and took the little girl, a hand under each armpit. She held her out in front of her, Alice’s legs dangling in mid-air. Alice blew a spit bubble.

  ‘Charming,’ said Sheba.

  Lilly grabbed a biro loitering in the bottom of her bag and flicked a piece of orange plasticine from the nib. It pirouetted through the air and landed on the sleeve of Sheba’s elegant jacket.

  ‘I can see where you get your impeccable personal hygiene,’ she told Alice.

  Lilly stuck out her tongue. ‘Fire away.’

  ‘Lydia Morton-Daley. Like I say, she’s fifteen. Came to us about two weeks ago after the police caught her driving home from a party. Apparently she came this close to wrapping the car round a tree.’ Sheba tried to demonstrate a tiny distance between her fingers, but with Alice still held at arm’s length like a smelly nappy, she could do little more than jiggle her wrists. ‘Can’t I put her in the car seat?’

  ‘If you’re prepared to shout above the din, go for it,’ answered Lilly.

  Sheba pouted, but kept Alice in her grip. ‘When the cops breathalysed Lydia she was three times over the limit.’

  Lilly whistled, which made Alice laugh and pedal her feet.

  ‘If you don’t want me to drop you onto the hard floor, I suggest you keep still,’ Sheba told her. ‘When the parents brought her to the Grove, I thought they might be trying to pull a fast one. Another middle-class brat avoiding her punishment by blaming it all on depression.’

  Lilly might have called her a sceptic but experience told her that Lydia’s parents wouldn’t be the first to use their power and money to escape justice.

  ‘And now?’ she asked.

  Sheba frowned. ‘Now I’m not sure. Whatever the reason for Lydia’s admission, she does seem to be exhibiting symptoms of mental illness. One thing I do know is that I need her in hospital for assessment, not in custody, which is where she might end up if Mr Pinstriped Suit puts his size tens where they’re not needed.’

  Lilly finished writing down the details, slung the paper and pen back into her bag and appraised Sheba, who was now trying to rock Alice from side to side in what was probably meant to be a soothing manner. Alice swung like a flag in the wind, snorting and drooling.

  ‘Will you help me, Lilly?’

  It wasn’t clear if Sheba’s request was for help with the case or the removal of Alice.

  Lilly held out her arms. ‘’Course I will.’

  * * *

  The ground was hard under Jack’s trainers, each ridge of earth frozen solid, as he pounded up the hill. Even at midday the sun couldn’t summon enough strength to melt the January frosts.

  ‘Mary, Mother of God.’ He wiped the sweat that was running down his face with his sleeve. ‘This is a tough one.’

  Kate didn’t break her stride and laughed at him. Christ, the woman wasn’t even panting.

  ‘You’re getting old, McNally,’ she told him and upped her pace so that she was a few feet ahead, her pert arse-cheeks waving at him through skintight Lycra. ‘Ready for the knacker’s yard.’

  He shook his head, found a spurt of energy and propelled himself upwards, slapping her backside as he passed her. There was life in the old dog yet.

  At the summit the view was spectacular, the valley below sparkling and white, as if the fields were covered in glass beads. Jack slowed to a stop. He loved it up here on the Downs, where it was always deserted.

  ‘Lightweight,’ said Kate and took her place by his side. Unlike Jack she kept moving, swaying from side to side.

  ‘I need to make a call,’ said Jack.

  ‘You need a breather more like.’

  Jack pulled out his mobile. He did need to make a call, but in truth he did need a second’s rest before he keeled over. He ran regularly and considered himself pretty fit but Kate was something else. She extended her right leg in front of her and bent forward from the waist to pull up the toe of her trainer and stretch out her hamstrings. She looked up at him, her face flushed pink, her lips slightly apart.

  ‘Who’re you calling?’ she asked.

  Jack went into his contacts. ‘Lilly.’

  ‘Right.’ Kate stood upright.

  ‘She took Alice to the hospital and I want to know how they got on,’ he said.

  Kate nodded and took a couple of steps away, cupping her hand over her eyes to look out at the scenery while Jack waited for Lilly to pick up.

  ‘Hey, Jack,’ said Lilly.

  ‘How did you get on?�
� he asked.

  ‘Fine. The doctor agreed that there’s very unlikely to be anything wrong with Alice. All they did was take a bit of blood.’

  ‘Blood!’

  ‘A pinprick, Jack, they didn’t drain pints of the stuff from her.’

  Jack felt anxiety wash through him. ‘I should have come with you.’

  ‘We talked about it, Jack,’ she said. ‘There was no point us both having time off work.’

  He was about to point out that Lilly stating something as fact and them talking it through were not one and the same thing, but Kate tapped her watch with her finger. They needed to get back to the nick.

  ‘Can I come and see her tonight?’ he asked.

  ‘There’s no need Jack, she’s fine,’ said Lilly.

  ‘It’s not about need.’

  ‘You’re coming over tomorrow morning to collect her,’ said Lilly. ‘You’ll see for yourself that she’s on top form.’

  Jack hung up and took a deep breath. He hated having to make an appointment to see his daughter. It wasn’t how it was supposed to be.

  ‘Okay?’ Kate put a hand on Jack’s arm.

  He shrugged. It wasn’t okay was it? But what was the point in going over it? When he and Lilly had been together they had spent fecking hours chewing stuff over and where had it got them? Barely speaking and Jack only allowed to spend time with his flesh and blood if it was on Lilly’s pre-agreed schedule.

  ‘Let’s go,’ said Kate and set off.

  * * *

  Lilly held Alice in the crook of one arm and wiped the brass nameplate fixed to the wall outside her office with a spit-moistened tissue. A bird had shit from on high, obliterating the ‘& co’ after ‘Valentine’. Frankly, the sparrow had known what he was doing. There was no ‘& co’. Lilly had had a brief spell of assistance from a young Muslim woman called Taslima who had brought with her a steely calm that was much appreciated. Unfortunately, she had ended up embroiled in one of Lilly’s cases, getting kidnapped and having to leap from a burning building. It had not been a great shock when she had decided to retrain as a barrister. Then there’d been Karol: a refugee, who had a knack for fixing technology, was a dab hand at filing and sported a six-pack Justin Timberlake would be proud of. But he’d left to open a bar in Brighton called Dorothy’s with his boyfriend.