Nightshade

37

A Sky TV crew had arrived outside the house just as the paramedics were pushing Bella out on the trolley. They wanted to film her being taken to the ambulance, but by the time they had the camera out she was already inside. As the ambulance sped off, the reporter hurried over to Wilkinson with her crew in tow. Wilkinson knew her, she’d been covering the Bella Harper abduction from Day One. Her name was Carol Khan and she was one of the more professional reporters he’d dealt with, so he decided to give her a statement.

‘Superintendent Wilkinson, can you tell us what’s happened?’ she asked, holding the microphone under his chin. The lanky cameraman had the lens aimed at Wilkinson’s face and he automatically raised his chin, knowing from experience that with his head down he had several rolls of fat around his neck.

‘I can tell you that Bella Harper is alive and well and will shortly be reunited with her parents,’ he said. ‘Two people are in custody and that’s all I can say at the moment.’

‘Can you tell us if she has been sexually assaulted?’ asked the reporter.

‘Bella is on her way to hospital and she’ll be examined there,’ said the superintendent.

‘The people in custody, what can you tell us about them?’

‘At the moment nothing, other than that we are not looking for anyone else in connection with this incident and that I am happy that Bella is safe. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the public and the media for all their help. It was their assistance that helped us bring this investigation to a positive conclusion.’

‘Where are they now?’ asked the reporter, but the superintendent shook his head.

‘That’s all for now,’ he said. ‘There will be a fuller statement later today.’

The cameraman lowered his camera and the reporter flashed Wilkinson her most winning smile. ‘What about off the record, Rory? What’s happening?’

‘Off the record, the guy’s name is Eric Lucas and that’s his house. We’ll be bringing him out in a bit. He was in the process of drowning Bella when two of our officers gained access to the house. Lucas seems to have been helped by his girlfriend, a woman called Candice Matthews. Nothing known on either of them. If you want to hang around we’ll open up the garage door fully. The van they used is inside.’

‘We can film them when you bring them out?’

‘Yeah, but we’ll be covering their faces, you know that.’

‘Don’t suppose I could persuade you not to,’ she said, and laughed.

‘I’ve got to go,’ said Wilkinson. ‘I’m sure the DCC will have a full press conference at the Training HQ at Netley later today.’ The Netley HQ building was where Hampshire police’s media team was based and it had a large auditorium that was tailor-made for major press conferences.

A second ambulance had arrived and two more paramedics were attending to Lucas and his girlfriend in the house. Wilkinson was still waiting for confirmation that they were fit to be taken straight to the station.

He ducked under the police tape and took out his mobile phone as he walked around to the rear of the house. He called the deputy chief constable’s number and his secretary put him straight through. ‘Bella Harper’s alive, sir,’ he said.

‘She’s what?’

‘The call we got that she was dead turns out to have been a false alarm,’ said Wilkinson. ‘She’s in an ambulance on her way to hospital as we speak. But she’s fine. She’s talking to the paramedics, all her vital signs are okay, they say she’s in shock but other than that …’

‘We were told she was dead. The press office is just about to put out a statement offering our condolences.’

‘Well, there’s definitely no need for that, sir. Like I said, she’s fine.’

‘How did that happen? How could they get it so wrong?’

‘The men who went into the house found Bella being drowned in the bath. They got her out and did CPR but thought that she’d stopped breathing. When the paramedics arrived, they checked and she was okay.’

‘That makes no sense to me, but I’m not about to start looking gift horses in the mouth,’ said the DCC. ‘What about the media?’

‘Sky TV are here. That’s it so far.’

‘And the suspects?’

‘They’re both a bit banged up but they should be okay to take straight to the station.’

‘And they’re bang to rights?’

‘Inspector Hopkins found Lucas with his hands around Bella’s throat,’ he said.

‘But no warrant, that’s correct?’

‘They heard her scream, sir. The lack of a warrant won’t be an issue.’

‘You’ll be handling the interrogation?’

‘Yes, sir.’

‘Then I don’t need to tell you to do it by the book, superintendent. No slip-ups.’

‘Understood, sir,’ said Wilkinson. He ended the call. He would be handling the interrogation but he was sure that the DCC would be leading the press conference, all smiles now that Bella was alive.