Dark Spaces Read online

  ‘Are you okay?’ he asks, his voice still far away.

  I nod and smile. How can I even begin to explain?

  As we get to the right door, Jack checks up and down the corridor. The PC who found the knife is talking to the shrink. I don’t like that one at all. The way he looked at Lilly was transparent. Dirty old man.

  Jack stands with his feet apart and his fists balled. That’s how I know he’s shouting.

  ‘Can someone tell me whose room this is?’

  The shrink comes over and answers Jack, then he leaves to check the room.

  Lilly was at the exit when she heard someone calling her. She stopped, hand still outstretched for the handle. Would she ever manage to leave this bloody place?

  She turned and saw that this time it was Harry hurrying towards her.

  ‘Shall I bring a sleeping bag next time?’

  ‘Sorry?’ Harry asked.

  ‘Maybe a change of knickers and a toothbrush?’

  She waited for him to get the joke but his eyes remained serious. Clearly her gallows humour was out of place.

  ‘What’s up, Harry?’ she asked.

  He scratched his scalp with both hands and exhaled. This was the first time she’d seen even a crack in his ice-smooth carapace.

  ‘The police have found a knife,’ he said.

  ‘I know,’ Lilly replied. ‘They’ll send it to forensics and hopefully they’ll get a match.’

  ‘I don’t think they need forensics,’ he said.

  ‘No?’

  He closed his eyes, fingers no longer clawing but remaining in his hair. ‘I should have seen this coming. I should have known where this was leading.’

  ‘What should you have seen coming?’

  His eyes were still closed. ‘The signs were there. You noticed them.’

  A heaviness descended on Lilly, like a cloak weighted with stones. ‘Harry.’ She enunciated each word clearly. ‘What did I notice?’

  When he opened his eyes, they were bright with tears and regret and the cloak dragged her down with slow inevitability. She didn’t need him to say the words, did she? She knew.

  ‘Chloe Church,’ said Harry. ‘They found the knife in Chloe Church’s room.’

  Lilly didn’t reply. Instead she chased an image around her brain. A hugely overweight girl, thrusting a soggy note into her hand. The note Lilly had discarded together with her concerns. Could it really be a coincidence that the words of that note had been the same ones carved into Lydia’s cold white flesh?

  ‘If I’d just listened to you,’ said Harry.

  Lilly’s mouth went dry. Everything about that note had screamed of something being very wrong. Why had she done nothing about it?

  ‘You can’t blame yourself, Harry,’ she said.

  He sighed and gave the weakest of smiles. ‘You’re a good woman.’

  Right now Lilly didn’t feel remotely good.

  ‘What’s going to happen?’ Harry asked.

  ‘I can’t say for sure,’ Lilly told him. ‘I’d imagine Chloe will be arrested and taken down to the station for questioning.’

  ‘Absolutely not.’ Harry’s regret and uncertainty vanished. ‘That cannot happen.’

  ‘You can’t stop it, Harry. Unless you’re saying she’s unfit.’

  ‘I will most definitely say that.’ Harry held his head high. ‘Chloe is very ill.’

  Lilly couldn’t disagree with that. If Chloe had really killed Lydia and then cut a message into her dead body, that alone seemed conclusive proof.

  ‘Jack won’t be happy about it,’ she said.

  Harry shrugged. ‘That’s hardly our concern, is it?’

  Lilly winced at the word ‘our’.

  ‘The important issue is that we protect Chloe,’ Harry continued. ‘Don’t you agree?’

  Lilly ran her top teeth over her bottom lip, worrying a piece of dry skin. ‘I’m afraid I can’t get involved, Harry. I worked for Lydia, not Chloe.’

  Harry put his hand on Lilly’s arm. ‘I don’t want to state the obvious but Lydia doesn’t need you any longer.’

  ‘There’s still the potential for conflict,’ said Lilly.

  Potential! That was the understatement of the year. Or the decade. Chloe’s note was a big fat screaming reality. When Jack found out about it he’d think all his Christmases had come at once.

  ‘There would only be a conflict of interest if you took on Chloe’s case,’ said Harry. ‘All you need to do right now is talk to the poor girl, explain what’s happening. Then we can go and set out our position to Jack. If he arrests her, I dread to think what might happen to her.’

  Lilly wavered. Her gut instinct was to walk away from this case as fast as she could. But Harry was right, Chloe did need help.

  ‘I can see you’re uncomfortable with this,’ said Harry. ‘In different circumstances I’d let you run straight out of that door and call someone else, but by the time I do that and another lawyer battles through the snow, it will be too late for Chloe.’

  ‘You can tell Jack that Chloe’s not fit for interview,’ she said.

  Harry snorted. ‘I’m not convinced he’ll take my word for it.’

  ‘What makes you think he’ll listen to me?’

  ‘Oh come on, Lilly,’ said Harry.

  Lilly blushed. Did Harry know that she and Jack had been an item?

  ‘Don’t be embarrassed,’ said Harry. ‘Sheba told me you were the best in the business. I’m certain you can make Jack see reason.’

  Lilly gave a weak smile. He didn’t know about Jack and made everything sound so straightforward. And yet the tap, tap, tap of doubt was like a teaspoon against a hard-boiled egg.

  ‘Whatever the rights and wrongs of this mess,’ said Harry, ‘Chloe needs our help.’

  Lilly shuddered at the word ‘help’. Hadn’t Chloe already begged for that? And hadn’t Lilly ignored her? Could she really do that a second time?

  ‘Fine,’ she said. ‘Let’s do it.’

  Harry beamed. ‘I knew you wouldn’t let her down.’

  He had no idea how spectacularly she had already done just that.

  They scooted back up the corridor, Lilly chasing Harry as he led her through a myriad of security doors. If ever she needed to find her way out in a hurry, she’d be toast. As they passed a room with the door flung wide, Harry peered inside. Lilly followed his eye line and saw Jack and the WPC deep in conversation with a uniformed officer. Jack looked up and they exchanged a glance.

  ‘We need to be quick,’ Lilly hissed at Harry. ‘Jack will want to know exactly where and how the knife was found, but that isn’t going to take much longer.’

  Harry led her back to his office. ‘I told Elaine to put her in here.’

  He opened the door and the nurse looked up. She was in the chair where Mr Morton-Daley had sat. Next to her, in Lilly’s seat, was Chloe. Hunched over, her head in her chest, arms over her head. A sweat-soaked T-shirt had ridden up, revealing a ring of wet fat. Like lard in a hot frying pan.

  Harry nodded to the nurse. ‘Thank you, Elaine.’

  It was clearly a signal for the nurse to leave, but she didn’t seem keen to do so. Instead, she hovered in front of the door.

  ‘We need to talk about this,’ she said.

  ‘We will, Elaine,’ said Harry. ‘We will.’

  The nurse shot Lilly a look that she couldn’t figure out. Frankly, there wasn’t time.

  ‘I really need to speak to Chloe,’ she said. ‘In private.’

  The nurse gave a tight nod and left. Gingerly, Lilly took the empty place and placed a hand on Chloe’s back. Instantly, she regretted it. She could feel hot damp flesh through the fabric of the T-shirt.

  ‘Chloe,’ she said, praying that the girl would sit up and she could remove her palm. ‘I need to speak to you.’

  The girl didn’t budge and Lilly watched her hand rise and fall with Chloe’s laboured breathing. She looked to Harry for help and he squeezed himself between his desk and Chloe, crouching at
her bare feet, which still bore the deep red marks of whatever shoes she had previously been wearing.

  ‘Chloe.’ Harry’s voice was gentle yet firm. ‘We don’t have much time.’

  When she still didn’t budge, he removed her arms one at a time, allowing them to flop towards the ground, and reached under Chloe’s chin, pushing it up.

  ‘This is Lilly Valentine.’ He looked intently into Chloe’s face. ‘She’s here to help you.’ He cupped Chloe’s chin and forced her head to the left. ‘Do you remember Lilly?’

  Lilly smiled in encouragement but Chloe’s face was blank, eyes unfocused, mouth gaping, tongue lolling.

  ‘We met in the common room,’ Lilly told her, but there was no sign of recognition, only the wheezy breaths that puffed out the smell of onions into Lilly’s face.

  ‘She came to help Lydia,’ said Harry and something skittered across Chloe’s face. ‘Now she’s going to help you.’

  Chloe’s pupils fought to pinpoint Lilly as if she were a figure on the distant horizon.

  ‘The police want to speak to you, Chloe,’ Lilly said. ‘But I’m wondering if you feel well enough for that.’

  A string of saliva dripped from Chloe’s tongue, stretching and stretching until it snapped and came to rest on the front of her T-shirt. Lilly glanced at Harry. There could be little doubt that this girl was unfit to be interviewed.

  ‘To be honest, Chloe, I think I agree with Lilly that you’re probably not well enough to speak to anyone right now.’ Harry rubbed the girl’s knee, making it shake visibly beneath her trousers. ‘I think it might be better if you got some rest. Somewhere nice and quiet and dark.’

  Without warning Chloe’s head snapped back and she let out a terrified scream.

  ‘It’s okay,’ said Harry, jumping to his feet. ‘We’re here for you, Chloe.’

  Chloe screamed again, and reared away from Harry, tipping the chair back until it collapsed, spilling Chloe onto the floor.

  ‘What’s happening?’ Lilly shouted as Chloe began to writhe, her eyes rolling back in her head, her arms and legs flailing. All the while screaming, like a pig being led into the abattoir.

  ‘She’s fitting,’ said Harry, trying to reach over her mass to her face, but being batted away by Chloe’s meaty fists. One caught him squarely in the eye and he reeled backwards with a cry.

  ‘What shall I do?’ Lilly yelled.

  ‘Hold her down,’ Harry replied.

  Lilly leaned over Chloe who was now convulsing with such violence her head crashed against the floor, the skull making a sickening crack. An arm flung out at Lilly’s chest, winding her.

  ‘Hold her.’ Harry had crawled up the right side of Chloe’s body and pressed down onto her upper torso.

  Lilly struggled to catch a breath and threw herself onto Chloe’s left shoulder, trapping her arm beneath her. The girl heaved furiously, her arms pinned outwards as if she were crucified. She bucked with such force Lilly knew she couldn’t hold her for much longer.

  ‘Now what?’ she shouted.

  Then the door burst open and Jack’s face went white as he took in the scene. ‘What the hell’s going on?’ he asked.

  ‘Get a nurse,’ Harry told him. ‘We need emergency sedative.’

  Jack was so shocked he didn’t move.

  ‘Now,’ Harry ordered and Jack retreated.

  Lilly held on with all the strength she could muster until the medical team arrived and plunged a syringe into Chloe’s thigh.

  Chapter Five

  Mr George Talbot

  HMP Belmarsh

  Prisoner number 50321/V

  3 September 2004

  Dear Mr Talbot,

  Expiry of Public Funding Certificate

  Further to your recent telephone calls to this office, it is with regret that I must inform you that Miss April Cash will not be able to make any further visits with you at HMP Belmarsh.

  As has been explained to you, both by your barrister, Mr Wade, and our Miss Cash, your conviction at Luton Crown Court on 11 June is unappealable. An appeal against conviction can only be pursued where there was an error made during the trial or where new evidence has been brought to light. Neither of which applies to your case.

  Similarly, you have been advised that there is no possibility of an appeal against the sentence passed down by the court on 26 July. Given the serious nature of the offences involved, a term of twelve years is highly reasonable, particularly given the ages of the victims and the fact that you did not plead guilty which, as Judge Wilkes pointed out at some length, meant the witnesses were all put through an ‘almost unbearable’ ordeal. He stated that your actions have impacted upon everyone who had to read or hear about these crimes, including the jurors and legal teams.

  I know that both Mr Wade and Miss Cash have advised you that you were fortunate to escape a life sentence and I completely agree.

  Whilst I understand that you find yourself in a position you would not wish to be in, I recommend that you attempt to come to terms with the situation and the first step is to accept that your court case is now over. Indeed, the public funding certificate which covered the costs of your legal help has now expired. Therefore, I must make it plain that this firm is no longer representing you. I have instructed Miss Cash to make no further visits and to refuse all telephone calls from you. If you write to Miss Cash again, the letters will be returned to you unopened.

  I trust that the position of this firm is clear to you.

  Yours sincerely

  Christopher Walters

  Senior Partner at Walters, Radison and Daley

  Lilly hurried through the dark to the Range Rover. The windows were steamed up but Lilly could make out David leaning back in his seat, eyes closed, hands behind his head, his lips moving as he sang along to whatever he was listening to. Lilly would bet Janis Joplin.

  She tapped on the glass and he opened his eyes, smiled at her and bent forward to release the central locking. Lilly jumped in out of the cold. She’d been right about Janis.

  ‘Thanks for waiting.’ She held her hands over the heater.

  ‘No worries.’ He tapped the clock on the dashboard. ‘We’d better shoot over to the nursery to collect Alice.’

  Lilly checked the time. Five to six. Even if David barrelled it, she’d be late. Again.

  ‘Don’t worry,’ he said. ‘The weather will catch out lots of the parents.’

  She wasn’t sure he was right, but was grateful all the same.

  ‘Everything okay?’ he asked and indicated to pull out into the empty road.

  Lilly fingered the place on her chest where Chloe’s fist had caught her. She’d have a hell of a bruise tomorrow.

  ‘The police found a knife in a patient’s room. A girl called Chloe.’

  ‘Bloody hell. How on earth did she get hold of a knife in somewhere like that?’

  Lilly shrugged. ‘Lord only knows. Jack thinks she killed Lydia.’

  ‘Jack?’

  ‘He was at the meeting with Lydia’s parents,’ she said. ‘I expect this will become his case now.’

  David turned his head towards her. ‘Tell me you’re not involved.’

  ‘I’m not.’ He narrowed his eyes at her. ‘I’m not,’ she told him. ‘I just happened to be there when they found the knife. Jesus Christ, David, I didn’t plan this.’

  He went back to watching the road. ‘Did Jack arrest her?’

  ‘No,’ said Lilly. ‘She had some sort of fit.’

  ‘Very convenient.’

  Lilly shook her head. ‘No way. This was for real, believe me, like something out of The Exorcist. She had to be sedated.’

  ‘So what happens next?’

  ‘Harry will sort out a new solicitor in the morning.’

  ‘Harry?’

  ‘The girl’s shrink. He runs the unit.’

  ‘That’s an end to it then.’ David sounded pleased but there was a jumpy feeling in Lilly’s stomach.

  She looked out of the side window, watchi
ng the rooftops all blanketed in snow, imagining the families inside, cosy and content. Tomorrow they might build snowmen or take their kids sledging. Lilly on the other hand would have to deal with the letter. Which meant that this wasn’t the end. It meant this was only the beginning.

  Gem thinks she’s doing a good job. All the beds and bins are clean and she’s done all the washing-up in the kitchen sink.

  ‘It always go quiet now,’ Feyza says. ‘It pick up again after seven.’

  ‘Even in the snow?’ Gem asks.

  Feyza laughs. ‘It take more than bad weather to keep punters away.’

  Gem imagines them trudging their way through the snowdrifts, just so they can get their end away. And pay for it.

  ‘Shall I make the girls a cuppa?’ she asks.

  ‘Sure,’ Feyza says, a funny look on her face.

  Gem opens the cupboard and pulls out five mugs. One each for Amber, Loretta, Sapphire and Misty. And one for Feyza. Gem don’t much like tea. She prefers Coke and Fanta and that.

  Feyza must have told them ’cos they soon come out of their rooms for their tea, leaning against the counter in their dressing gowns.

  ‘Where’s Misty?’ Gem asks.

  Amber makes a sound like ‘pffft’ and stretches her legs out. There’s a tattoo of a snake all the way from her ankle to her knee, winding round and round her calf. Its forked tongue points upwards like an arrow leading the way for the punters.

  ‘She’s in a mood, innit,’ says Amber. ‘Again.’

  ‘Why?’ Gem asks.

  ‘Who knows, baby.’ Amber winks. ‘Maybe she’s got PMT.’

  The other girls laugh.

  ‘Shall I take it to her?’ Gem picks up the mug of tea. ‘It’s getting cold.’

  ‘Why not?’ Feyza says. ‘Maybe she cheer up.’

  Gem wanders off to Misty’s room and taps on the door gently.

  ‘What?’ Misty shouts from inside.

  Gem opens the door, the drink held out in front of her like a peace offering.