Lane held open the lab door, indicating for her to go ahead. ‘Amy is still missing, I’m sorry to say.’
She turned to look at the trestle table.
‘But I don’t understand. I mean, whose are all the other things – are they Amy’s? Is this to do with Marcus?’
Lane escorted her out from the lab and Wey watched the doors swing closed. As he wandered along the table, Wey realized that it wasn’t funny any more – in fact it was a seedy display.
‘Any more women to do a viewing?’ Bracken asked Wey.
‘Yes. When I worked on vice a lot of men got a kick out of keeping women’s underwear and some even liked wearing them. What I mean is, could Marcus Fulford’s semen have got on the underwear because he wore them?’
‘Well we’re not a hundred per cent sure it’s his yet, but from the amount on some of the underwear he certainly spews it out – maybe he’s one of those guys that jerks off into them, or withdraws before ejaculation as there was so much on the bed sheets.’
‘Jesus Christ,’ Wey muttered, checking his watch and wondering who was coming in next.
At that moment DS Lane entered and asked if they were ready for Gail Summers, who was in the waiting room. Suddenly they heard raised voices from the corridor and Wey opened the lab door to look, but there was no one there, though the voices were very loud and a woman was screaming. He headed towards the waiting room, and now the row was at full throttle, and when he looked through the glass panel he saw Lena Fulford attacking her husband and DC Burrows trying to step between them, but to no avail.
‘You bastard, you are disgusting, and now it’s bloody obvious to me just how you knew so much about my business! How could you? You know I depended on her!’
Reid, returning from the toilet, wondered what on earth was going on. Wey explained that DS Lane had put Gail Summers in the waiting room and for some reason it had all kicked off.
Reid knew why and regretted not thinking to make sure Gail and the Fulfords were kept apart. He stormed into the room and shouted ‘Enough!’ at the top of his voice. Gail Summers was sobbing, while Marcus was standing in front of Lena, trying to calm her down, as she was obviously spoiling for a fight. Her fists were clenched and she was trying to move her husband out of the way to get to Gail Summers. Reid shouted again and there was silence.
‘This is neither the time nor the place to have this kind of argument. Mr and Mrs Fulford, sit down and be quiet, and Miss Summers, please go with Detective Wey.’
A tearful Gail Summers was led out, as Lena sat perched on the edge of her chair. She glared at her husband.
‘You really sicken me. How could you? Well let me tell you, she’s lost her job – I will have her out of my office in the morning.’
Marcus just sat there not saying a word, but Lena was not about to let go and turned to Reid as if he needed an explanation.
‘His nasty toad of a divorce lawyer knew everything about my business, even down to projected future earnings. I couldn’t believe it and I even wondered if it could have been Amy, because it had to have been someone close to me. Now seeing that stupid bitch here it’s obvious who he got the information from and she’s here to see if she left her underwear at his flat. Can you for one second think how it makes me feel? He was screwing my personal assistant. I’ll make you pay for this, Marcus; believe me, you will pay for doing this to me.’
Marcus glanced at Reid and then, looking away, spoke quietly but firmly. ‘Well, Detective Reid, you’ve now had a ringside seat to see for yourself how my wife behaves; not very pleasant, is it?’
She was up and out of her seat fast, and she had Marcus by his hair and punched him. She would have got him down on the floor if Reid had not grabbed her by her shoulders and pulled her off her husband.
‘Lena, stop it, STOP RIGHT NOW,’ Marcus said and she caved in, putting her head in her hands and weeping. Reid instructed DC Burrows to sit between them and told them both he would not tolerate any more outbursts and they should be thinking about Amy right now and not fighting. Finally Detective Wey ventured into the room to let them know that Andrew Bracken was getting impatient and needed to leave soon.
Lena was by now somewhat calmer but there was an uneasy tone to her voice as she glared towards her husband and demanded, ‘What have you done? She was our daughter, for God’s sake. What have you done to her? WHERE IS AMY?’
‘I’m going to take you through to the lab now, Mrs Fulford,’ Reid said, taking hold of her hand to usher her out of the room.
She was pale and shaking and her hand was icy cold as she gripped his tightly. He gave a nod to DC Burrows to remain with Marcus. As they entered the lab Reid asked her to look to see what she recognized as her daughter’s, and she stared dumbfounded at the array of underwear.
‘Oh my God,’ she whispered but moved closer, releasing his hand. She walked along the trestle table and stopped. ‘These are part of her school uniform – they are my daughter’s and under the tab you will see her initials as all the girls wear the same.’ She had stopped shaking as she viewed the numerous panties before she paused again.
‘These are mine – the silk and lace are part of a set – I hadn’t even noticed they were missing; did you find them in her bedroom at the house?’
‘No, these were taken from your husband’s flat.’
‘You mean Amy took them from my bedroom? I don’t understand – why would she have done that?’
Reid made no reply but wondered if Amy had taken them to wear. He asked if Lena would have a mouth swab for her DNA to be tested for elimination purposes and she agreed.
Again he took her hand to lead a by now very subdued Lena back to the waiting room. DC Burrows was standing outside the closed door, ready with Lena’s handbag and coat. Reid helped her into her coat and asked Burrows to see her to the car and accompany her home.
Lena gave a weak smile to Reid and asked him to tell her husband not return to her house. Nodding in agreement, he remained standing in the corridor until Burrows had taken her safely out to the reception area. He then opened the door to the waiting room and gestured for Marcus Fulford to now accompany him. Slowly he got to his feet, seeming worn out as he walked down the corridor to the lab.
The fact was that as Marcus had already given his DNA they would soon know if the semen stains on the underwear were his, but nevertheless it was important for Reid to gauge his reaction to the array of stained underwear.
Marcus was embarrassed. ‘You may find it distasteful, or even repugnant, that I am sexually permissive, but I like sex and always have, and my private life is nothing whatsoever to do with you, my wife or my daughter,’ he insisted defensively. ‘I have been separated for two years, I am divorcing Lena and have been under immense strain, so although it may disgust you, it was gratifying for me to prove I was not, as she so often insinuated, a total loser. I admit to sometimes wearing the panties, even masturbating when wearing them, but they were always left in a drawer in my bedroom and none ever belonged to my daughter. I have no idea how they came to be in Amy’s bedroom – either Amy took them from my room or someone else put them there. I swear to God they were only like schoolboy trophies to me… a reminder that women found me attractive and I could screw who I liked.’
Reid gave no indication of how much he disliked Marcus Fulford, nor that he thought the man’s excuse for his sexual fetishes repugnant and feeble. He had an ever-growing suspicion that Marcus had abused his daughter, and furthermore he had to consider the possibility, abhorrent as the thought was, that he might also have murdered her.
Detective Wey and Reid drove back to the station. En route, Reid asked the constable to make it a priority to double-check Marcus Fulford’s alibi.