Common Murder. V. McDermid L.
brave when the Yanks drop their bombs on your doorstep?’
‘Why aren’t the cops breaking it up?’ Lindsay asked Gavin.
‘I told you, they don’t seem to know what to do. I think they’re waiting for the superintendent to get here. He was apparently off duty tonight and they’ve been having a bit of bother getting hold of him. I imagine he’ll be able to sort it out.’
Even as he spoke, a tall, uniformed police officer with a face like a Medici portrait emerged from the station. He picked his way between the peace women, who jeered at him. ‘That him?’ Lindsay demanded.
‘Yeah. Jack Rigano. He’s the boss here. Good bloke.’
One of the junior officers handed Rigano a bullhorn. He put it to his lips and spoke. Through the distortion, Lindsay made out, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, you’ve had your fun. You have five minutes to disperse. If you fail to do so, my officers have orders to arrest everyone. Please don’t think about causing any more trouble tonight. We have already called for reinforcements and I warn you that everyone will be treated with equal severity unless you disperse at once. Thank you and goodnight.’
Lindsay couldn’t help grinning at his words. At once the RABD protesters, unused to the mechanics of organised dissent, began to move away, talking discontentedly among themselves. The more experienced peace women sat tight, singing defiantly. Lindsay turned to Gavin and said, ‘Go after the RABD lot and see if you can get a couple of quotes. I’ll speak to the cops and the peace women. Meet me by that phone box on the corner in ten minutes. We’ll have to get some copy over quickly.’
She quickly walked over to the superintendent and dug her union Press Card out of her pocket. ‘Lindsay Gordon. Daily Clarion,’ she said. ‘Can I have a comment on this incident?’
Rigano looked down at her and smiled grimly. ‘You can say that the police have had everything under control and both sets of demonstrators were dispersed peacefully.’
‘And the assault?’
‘The alleged assault, don’t you mean?’
It was Lindsay’s turn for the grim smile. ‘Alleged assault,’ she said.
‘A woman is in custody in connection with an alleged assault earlier this evening at Brownlow Common. We expect to charge her shortly. She will appear before Fordham magistrates tomorrow morning. That’s it.’ He turned away from her abruptly as his men began carrying the peace women down the steps. As soon as one woman was carried into the street and the police returned for the next, the first would outflank them and get back on to the steps. Lindsay knew the process of old. It would go on until police reinforcements arrived and outnumbered the protesters. It was a ritual dance that both sides had perfected.
When she saw a face she recognised being dumped on the pavement, Lindsay quickly went over and grabbed the woman’s arm before she could return to the steps. ‘Jackie,’ Lindsay said urgently. ‘It’s me, Lindsay, I’m doing a story about the protest, can you give me a quick quote.’
The young black woman grinned. She said, ‘Sure. You can put in your paper that innocent women are being victimised by the police because we want a nuclear-free world to bring up our children in. Peace women don’t go around beating up men. One of our friends has been framed, so we’re making a peaceful protest. Okay? Now I’ve got to get back. See you, Lindsay.ʼn
There was no time for Lindsay to stay and watch what happened. She ran back to the phone box, passing a police van loaded with uniformed officers on the corner of the marketplace. Gavin was standing by the phone box, looking worried.
Lindsay dived into the box and dialled the office copytakers’ number. She got through immediately and started dictating her story. When she had finished, she turned to Gavin and said, I’ll put you on to give your quotes in a sec, okay? Listen, what’s the name of this woman who’s accused of the assault? The lawyer will kill it, but I’d better put it in for reference for tomorrow.ʼn
‘She comes from Yorkshire, I think,’ he said. ‘Her name’s Deborah Patterson.’
Lindsay’s jaw dropped. ‘Did you say … Deborah Patterson?’
He nodded. Lindsay was filled with a strange sense of unreality. Deborah Patterson. It was the last name she expected to hear. Once upon a time it had been the name she scribbled idly on her notepad while she waited for strangers to answer their telephones, conjuring up the mental image of the woman she spent her nights with. But that had been a long time ago. Now her ghost had come back to haunt her. That strong, funny woman who had once made her feel secure against the world was here in Fordham.
2
Lindsay stroked the four-year-old’s hair mechanically as she rocked her back and forth in her arms. ‘It’s okay, Cara,’ she murmured at frequent intervals. The sobs soon subsided, and eventually the child’s regular breathing provided evidence that she had fallen asleep, worn out by the storm of emotions she’d suffered. ‘She’s dropped off at last,’ Lindsay observed to Dr Jane Thomas, who had taken charge of Cara after her mother’s dramatic arrest.
‘I’ll put her in her bunk,’ Jane replied. ‘Pass her over.’ Lindsay awkwardly transferred the sleeping child to Jane, who carried her up the short ladder to the berth above the cab of the camper van that was Deborah’s home at the peace camp. She settled the child and tucked her in then returned to sit opposite Lindsay at the table. ‘What are your plans?’ she asked.
‘I thought I’d stay the night here. My shift finishes at midnight, and the boss seems quite happy for me to stop here tonight. Since it looks as if Debs won’t be using her bed, I thought I’d take advantage of it and keep an eye on Cara at the same time if that sounds all right to you. I’ll have to go and phone Cordelia soon, though, or she’ll wonder where I’ve got to. Can you stay with Cara while I do that?’
‘No sweat,’ said Jane. ‘I was going to kip down here if you’d had to go back to London, but stay if you like. Cara’s known you all her life, after all. She knows she can trust you.’
Before Lindsay could reply, there was a quiet knock at the van’s rear door. Jane opened it to reveal a redheaded woman in her early thirties wearing the standard Sloane Ranger outfit of green wellies, needlecord jeans, designer sweater and the inevitable Barbour jacket.
‘Judith!’ Jane exclaimed, ‘Am I glad to see you! Now we can find out exactly what’s going on. Lindsay, this is Judith Rowe, Deborah’s solicitor. She does all our legal work. Judith, this is Lindsay Gordon, who’s a reporter with the Daily Clarion, but more importantly, she’s an old friend of Deborah’s.’
Judith sat down beside Lindsay. ‘So it was you who left the note for Deborah at the police station?’ she asked briskly.
‘That’s right. As soon as I found out she’d been arrested, I thought I’d better let her know I was around in case she needed any help,’ Lindsay said.
‘I’m glad you did,’ said Judith. ‘She was in a bit of a state about Cara until she got your message. She seemed calmer afterwards. Now, tomorrow, she’s appearing before the local magistrates. She’s been charged with breach of the peace and assault resulting in actual bodily harm on Rupert Crabtree. She’s going to put her hand up to the breach charge, but she wants to opt for jury trial on the ABH charge. She asked me to tell you what happened before you make any decisions about what I have to ask you. Okay?’
Lindsay nodded. Judith went on. ‘Crabtree was walking his dog up the road, near the phone box at Brownlow Cottages. Deborah had been making a call and when she left the box, Crabtree stood in her path and was really rather insulting, both to her and about the peace women in general. She tried to get past him, but his dog started growling and snapping at her and a scuffle developed. Crabtree tripped over the dog’s lead and crashed face first into the back of the phone box, breaking his nose. He claims to the police that Deborah grabbed his hair and smashed his face into the box. No witnesses. In her favour is the fact that she phoned an ambulance