Page 23 of #MeToo
Billie held up the palm of her hand as if to silence Aiden. ‘Why am I feeling nervous right now? Please don’t ask me to go snooping about! I’m a mess. My nerves won’t take it and anyway, I’d be rubbish at it, I was a rubbish bobby.’ Billie had already broken out in a sweat and felt slightly panicky.
Aiden simply shook his head and carried on. ‘I don’t think you’re a mess at all, far from it, and I knew as soon as you’d finished explaining about what happened on your little paradise island that you were what we needed. Look Billie, you’re a fighter and a survivor, you got through a tough time and see’ – Aiden swept his hand towards Billie – ‘you are back here in Manchester, ready to defend the honour of the man you love. Our very own warrior princess.’ Then he smiled, giving Billie time to protest.
‘No, no way. I’m not any of those things you described, you’ve got me wrong.’
‘I doubt it. I’m a good judge of character but hear me out… then make up your mind.’
Billie swallowed down nerves and told herself it would do no harm to listen. ‘Okay, go on, but I’m still not saying yes, I’m just being polite.’
Aiden had definitely gone all serious on her now and hadn’t cracked a smile. ‘This is what I propose. I need someone to get close to Kelly, befriend her, really find out what makes her tick. If there’s the faintest hope, it lies with you, Billie, because we’re running out of time. Unless we can get another angle, prove she’s lied or discredit her in any way, we won’t have a chance. It will take time for me to recruit another female team member. But you’re here, a trained copper, and it’s a no- brainer.’ Aiden’s gaze was locked onto Billie’s.
‘Bloody hell, Aiden, no pressure there then… what exactly will I have to do?’ Billie was now trapped in his headlights and as much as she wanted to run, knew she had to stay and face her fate.
‘I’ll explain all that over the next few days. Tom is making a few more enquiries and putting stuff together but I’ll need you back in the office on Monday so we can go through everything with you. For now, trust me and know that you won’t be in any danger whatsoever. I’ll guide you through it all, I promise. So, it’s in your court. Is that a yes?’
Billie sucked in air and then held her breath for a moment. She threw the ball back to Aiden. ‘One more question.’
‘Okay, fire away.’
‘I asked you earlier why you hadn’t given up on Stan, but I sense there’s more to it than “just a hunch”, so come on, tell me honestly, why are you going the extra mile?’
Aiden didn’t miss a beat. ‘Right from the start, when I was a beat bobby, I loved that feeling of catching the bad guy, or woman, knowing I’d done something good, got them off the street and away from decent members of society. There were some, jeez, they were bad, especially when I made detective. I saw the lowest of the low, the blokes who beat their partners senseless, abused kids, stole from pensioners, even beat them up, murderers and rapists, you name it, I met them. But when I went home at night, I was fulfilled, for want of a better word. Yes, some days were shite: too much paperwork and not enough hours, putting up with verbal abuse, taking the odd fall or punch in the line of duty, but I thrived on it, it was all I knew. Justice, that’s what I cared about, right and wrong, protecting the weak, making my bit of Manchester safer. I met people like Kelly every day of the week, the wrong ‘uns, those you just know are bad, shifty, compulsive liars who couldn’t lie straight in bed at night or the blamers, those who reckon their deeds and situation are the fault of others.
‘There’s just something about Kelly, call it intuition, that tells me she falls into one of those categories and the thought that she might have put an innocent man away doesn’t sit right with me. Stan’s not the first and won’t be the last bloke who’s behind bars because a woman has accused him, like there’s women out there right now who are living with the horror of being raped, but too scared, for too many reasons, to report it. If I’m right about Kelly, and Stan’s version of events is true, I want to prove it.
‘Women like Kelly do rape victims no good whatsoever and they make the job of the police even harder. The resources that go into just one victim, the man-hours, the support network etcetera are vitally important but stretched. When a woman or man asks for help, reports a crime, they should be believed but so many don’t take the first step for fear of what happens next. The impact on their lives apart from the initial attack is immense. It makes my blood boil that while someone could be going through hell, others use the system for their own ends, maybe petty revenge, I don’t know. It has to stop though, and then the real victims can be helped and the real abusers will get what they deserve.
‘So, in answer to your question, the reason I haven’t given up is because on the outside, I’m not a copper anymore, but on the inside I always will be and if I never solve another case again, I will do everything I can to solve this one.’
Aiden picked up his glass and drained it while Billie, wide-eyed and awash with admiration more than anything, could only think of two words to say in response. Reaching over and placing her hand on his she simply said, ‘I’m in.’
19
Stan waited as patiently as he could for his solicitor to stop fannying around with his files and get on with it. The small windowless room that they’d been allocated only added to Stan’s growing number of neuroses, claustrophobia being the latest to join the queue. He was just about managing to cope with the conditions in his cell, owing to a glimpse of the outside world that the small barred window afforded him. But being trapped in an air-conditioned box seated opposite a nervous, perspiring solicitor was making Stan even more anxious and fidgety.
Finally, Mr Hargreaves appeared to have reorganised his life and looked up, pausing a moment before he began. ‘This isn’t the news I’d hoped to be giving you but after reading the report from the private detective you hired and meeting with your barrister, my advice is that we should withdraw your appeal application.’
Silence descended on the room and even the prison officer standing guard seemed to be holding his breath.
‘This better be a sick joke… I don’t understand, why?’ Stan’s foot was tapping and his hands had started to shake.
‘It’s a damage limitation call and the fact that we have to abide by certain protocols of law, and work within the respected areas of argument.’
‘For Christ’s sake, speak English will you! What protocols and arguments? Stop dicking about. And for the record, as far as I’m concerned respect is a dirty word, nobody bothered to give me any. Instead they treated me like muck from the minute I was arrested. Still do.’ Stan had had his fill of listening to the bollocks they spouted in court and being looked down on by everyone, especially greedy solicitors. He wanted plain speaking and answers.
Hargreaves sighed and looked decidedly unnerved by Stan’s impatience and aggressive attitude. ‘Right, plain speaking it is. There are three argumentative appeals: logical, ethical and emotional and the strongest case has a balance of all three. All that we have, at the moment, is evidence of bad character. And we still need to secure witness statements to support it, and that might not be as easy as you imagine. There’s no other substantial evidence and I’ve already explained why going ahead could be risky for you if we fail. That’s even if they agree to hear the appeal in court.’
Hargreaves swallowed, clearly not enjoying being the bearer of bad news.
Stan put his head in his hands and puffed out his cheeks, exhaling, trying to stay calm. ‘You have to have something… for fuck’s sake I’m paying Aiden a fortune, and you. Surely the stuff he found out about that bitch proves she’s a nutjob, not to mention a petty thief and a born liar.’
Hargreaves fiddled with his pen as she spoke. ‘Yes, I agree it casts Ms Langton in a bad light and I do regret that we didn’t have knowledge of the previous allegations against her to hand at your trial. But that’s to be expected: they were private matters and not reported to the police. That said, we may not have been allowed to use it. The whole process of disclosing and having evidence agreed by both sets of counsel is a tricky business.’
‘No kidding! It’s a load of fucking bollocks as far as I’m concerned, but I’m not lying down and being walked over. I mean it, I want to fight on.’
‘But–’
‘No buts, I’m paying you and half of Manchester to get me out of here and I say we go ahead. So while you’re on the meter, you can explain to me how it works, this bullshit you call the law. What exactly is evidence of bad character?’ Stan was raging inside and had to clench his fists together to stop his hands from pummelling the table.
