“What happened afterward?”
“Nothing, really. I mean she didn’t kick up a fuss. But it soured the mood. She cried a bit, seemed down, you know, as if she felt betrayed, used. And I could tell she didn’t like it much, when it was happening.”
“But you didn’t stop?”
“No.”
“Did she scream or tell you to stop?”
“No. I mean, she was making noises but… well, she was a real screamer to start with. I was even worried about the people next door telling us to keep the noise down.”
“What happened next?”
“She went back to her own room. We had a few more drinks, then I passed out. I assume Terry did the same.”
Banks paused and made a jotting in his notebook. “I don’t know if you realize this, Geoff, but what you’ve just told me constitutes accessory to rape.”
“Nobody raped her! I told you. She was willing enough.”
“Doesn’t sound like it to me. Two men. Her by herself. What choice did she have? She made it clear that she didn’t want to do what Terence Payne was asking for, but he went ahead and did it anyway.”
“He brought her around to his way of thinking.”
“Bollocks, Geoff. He wore down her resistance and resolve. You said so yourself. And I’ll also bet she was worried what might happen if she didn’t go along with him.”
“Nobody threatened her with violence.”
“Maybe not in so many words.”
“Look, maybe things went just a little too far…”
“Got out of hand?”
“Maybe a little.”
Banks sighed. The number of times he’d heard that excuse for male violence against women. It was what Annie Cabbot’s assailants had claimed, too. He felt disgusted with Geoffrey Brighouse, but there wasn’t much he could do. The incident had taken place over a year ago, the woman hadn’t filed a complaint as far as he knew, and Terence Payne was fighting for his life in the infirmary anyway. Still, it was one worth noting down for future reference.
“I’m sorry,” said Brighouse. “But you must understand. She never told us to stop.”
“Didn’t seem as if she had much chance to do that, sandwiched between two strapping lads like you and Terry.”
“Well, she’d enjoyed everything else.”
Move on, Banks told himself, before you hit him. “Any other incidents like that?”
“No. It was the only time. Believe it or not, Superintendent, but after that night, I was a bit ashamed, even though I did nothing wrong, and I would’ve been uncomfortable getting into a situation like that with Terry again. He was too much for me. So I just avoided the possibility.”
“So Payne was faithful to his wife from then on?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“What do you mean?”
“Just that the two of us didn’t pick up any more girls together. Sometimes he told me, you know, about picking up prostitutes and all.”
“What did he do with them?”
“What do you think?”
“He didn’t go into detail?”
“No.”
“Did he ever talk about his wife in a sexual way?”
“No. Never. He was very possessive about her, and very guarded. He hardly mentioned her at all when we were together. It was as if she were part of a different life altogether. Terry’s got a remarkable ability to compartmentalize things.”
“So it would seem. Did he ever suggest abducting young girls?”
“Do you seriously believe that I’d have anything to do with that sort of thing?”
“I don’t know, Geoff. You tell me. He talked to you about tying them up and fucking their brains out, and he certainly raped that teacher in Blackpool, no matter how willing she might have been to have regular sex with the two of you earlier. I don’t know what to think of your part in all this, Geoff, to be quite honest.”
Brighouse had lost all his color now, and he was trembling. “But you can’t think that I…? I mean…”
“Why not? There’s no reason you couldn’t have been in it with him. More convenient if there were two of you. Easier to abduct your victims. Any chloroform in the lab?”
“Chloroform? Yes. Why?”
“Under lock and key, is it?”
“Of course.”
“Who has a key?”
“I do. Terry. Keith Miller, the department head, Mr. Knight. I don’t know who else. Probably the caretaker and the cleaners, for all I know.”
“Whose prints do you think we’d find on the bottle?”
“I don’t know. I certainly can’t remember the last time I used the stuff.”
“What did you do last weekend?”
“Not much. Stayed home. Marked some projects. Went shopping in town.”
“Got a girlfriend at the moment, Geoff?”
“No.”
“See anyone else over the weekend?”
“Just neighbors – you know, people from the other flats, in the hall, on the stairs. Oh, and I went to the pictures Saturday night.”
“On your own?”
“Yes.”
“What did you go to see?”
“New James Bond, in the city center. And then I dropped in at my local.”
“Anyone see you?”
“A few of the regulars, yes. We had a game of darts.”
“How late were you there?”
“Closing time.”
Banks scratched his cheek. “I don’t know, Geoff. When you get right down to it, it’s not much of an alibi, is it?”
“I wasn’t aware I’d be needing one.”
The lab door opened and two boys poked their heads in. Geoff Brighouse seemed relieved. He looked at his watch, then at Banks, and gave a weak smile. “Time for class, I’m afraid.”
Banks stood up. “That’s all right, Geoff. I wouldn’t want to interfere in the education of the young.”
Brighouse beckoned the boys in, and more followed, swarming around the stools at the benches. He walked with Banks over to the door.
“I’d like you to come down to Millgarth and make a statement,” Banks said before leaving.
“A statement? Me? But why?”
“Just a formality. Tell the detective exactly what you just told me. And we’ll also need to know exactly where you were and what you were doing at the times those five girls were abducted. Details, witnesses, the lot. We’ll also need a fingerprint scan and a sample of DNA. It won’t be painful, just like brushing your teeth. This evening after school will do fine. Say five o’clock? Go to the front desk and ask for DC Younis. He’ll be expecting you.” Banks gave him a card and wrote down the name of the bright, if rather judgmental, young DC he had that very second chosen for the task of taking Brighouse’s formal statement. DC Younis was active in his local Methodist Chapel and a bit conservative, morally. “Cheers,” said Banks, leaving a stunned and worried-looking Geoff Brighouse to teach his class the joys of unstable sodium.
9
Pat Mitchell took a break when Jenny turned up at the bank, and they walked to the café in the shopping center over the road, where they sipped rather weak milky tea as they talked. Pat was a vivacious brunette with damp brown eyes and a big engagement ring. All she could do at first was shake her head and repeat, “I still can’t believe this. I just can’t believe this is happening.”
Jenny was no stranger to denial, either as a psychologist or as a woman, so she made sympathetic noises and gave Pat the time to compose herself. Once in a while, someone from one of the other tables would give them a puzzled look, as if he or she recognized them but couldn’t quite place them, but for the most part the café was empty and they were able to talk undisturbed.
“How well do you know Lucy?” Jenny asked when Pat had stopped crying.
“We’re pretty close. I mean, I’ve known her for about four years, ever since she started here at the bank. She had a little flat then, just off Tong Road. We’re about the same age. How is she? Have you seen her?” All the time she talked, Pat’s big brown eyes continued to glisten on the brink of tears.
“I saw her this morning,” Jenny answered. “She’s doing well. Healing nicely.” Physically, anyway. “What was she like when you first met?”
Pat smiled at the memory. “She was fun, a laugh. She liked a lark.”