Fic: Blighted by Sin (1/5) (Inspector Lynley Mysteries)
Title: Blighted by Sin
Author: Lullabymoon
Fandom: The Inspector Lynley Mysteries
Pairing: Barbara Havers/Tommy Lynley
Word Count: 30, 400
Rating/Warnings: T. Contains violence, specifically against pregnant women, and foetal death (both offscreen)
Summary: When a young woman is found brutally beaten in a London park, Lynley and Havers must find the person responsible, as well as deal with the emotional fall out and navigate their own changing relationship.
Author's notes: Written for het_bigbang. This is set a year or two after the final episode, 'Know Thine Enemy'. A huge thanks to fringedweller for the awesome beta (any remaining mistakes are my own), and to my flist for all their cheerleading.
You can see the awesome artwork aj did to accompany this here
Parts: One Two Three Four Five
Present day - Paris
Barbara woke in the night. Sleep didn't immediately reclaim her and she shifted, the ring on her finger catching in the bed sheets. She stilled and looked at it, the newness of it feeling strange but a thrill still ran through her. Wide awake now, she stood, careful not to disturb the sheets too much and stood in front of the window. Leaning against the wall, she looked out at the view.
The Eiffel Tower peeked out over the tops of the buildings opposite and the sky was bright with reflected light. In that dim light she studied her ring again. She still felt at sense of disbelief that she, they, were here, that the ring was real and the proposal in front of the tower wasn't a dream. She twisted the ring, the small diamond catching in the light and she felt giddy.
She turned her head to see Tommy still asleep in bed and she couldn’t help the small affectionate smile that crossed her face. Still giddy, still more than unlikely to fall back asleep any time soon, she turned back to the unfamiliar skyline and let her thoughts wander.
It was perhaps inevitable that they turned to the beginning of their new relationship.
~~
Monday 12th August - London
The day was already proving to be like the day before: hot and sticky, and it was only ten past eight. Barbara grumbled at the weather as her car ground to a halt in the traffic and she tried to coax more cold air out of the air conditioning. She would have taken the tube this morning if the heat wouldn’t have been worse underground. At least her air conditioning was working a little and she didn't have to put up with the morning crush.
All of this predictably led to her walking in to the office in a grumpy mood. It was too hot for tea really but she made a cup and set it down on her desk anyway. She settled down to the remains of the paperwork from the day before, ignoring the buzz of the office around her until she was distracted by a shout.
"Havers!" She looked up and Anderson tossed a file on her desk. He looked mildly apologetic, a first that she had ever seen from him. "No one else has a light enough caseload." She nodded and Anderson wandered off through the office.
She opened the file and her heart sank as she read through the initial incident report. She could see why Anderson had looked apologetic.
She glanced around the office and felt relieved when she saw Lynley wasn’t in yet then closed the file and sat back in her chair. She seriously considered swapping the case with someone but she knew Anderson wasn’t enough of a bastard to give them the case if anyone else could take it.
It was moments like this she wished she hadn’t given up smoking. It would have given her an excuse to pop outside while she thought her next move through. In the end, she settled for the ladies, passing Lynley as he came in. If he thought anything odd about her popping into the ladies with a folder, he said nothing about it as he greeted her.
She felt faintly guilty when she didn’t mention the new case but simply answered paperwork to his enquiry of what he had missed.
She locked herself in a cubicle and opened the case again, hoping somewhat impossibly that the details had changed since the last time.
No such luck.
Young, unidentified woman found beaten in a park this morning. Currently in surgery to try and save her unborn baby.
Barbara felt bile start to rise, not just for Lynley but because she wanted to beat the bastard who did this. She closed her eyes and took a couple of deep breaths to try and calm herself.
Her stomach started to twist in guilt because as much as she felt the need to close this case creep up on her, the first and foremost thought in her mind wasn’t about the baby, or the mother, or the family, but in passing the case over to protect Lynley. It would bring all sorts of memories back and there was a growing terror in her that he wouldn’t come back from them this time, not when he had only really recently stopped twitching when someone asked if he was married or had children.
On the other hand, she knew what his reaction would be if she tried to fob the case off on someone else, knew herself well enough to know that the thoughts of the case would run around her head regardless.
With a sigh, she opened her eyes and forced herself to read through the rest of the details.
A small kid found the victim at about quarter past seven this morning, handbag strewn across the path from her, no purse or phone.
Her mind automatically started creating a list of things to do, just like in every other case and at that point she knew it was time to head back to her desk and fill Lynley in on the details. Despite this acceptance, she still paused at the door to his office, taking a deep breath to steel herself before she went ahead.
Lynley looked up at her when she knocked on his open door and waved her into the seat opposite him. She tossed the file down in front of him before she sat down, trying to act casual as she did so. She waited for what seemed like an eternity as he finished with the computer and then started reading the file.
Barbara could tell the instant he read the description of the crime for he tensed, fingers gripping the file tighter. His eyes flicked up to look at her and she cursed their ability to know each other so well because surely he could see how the casual attitude was all an act. He stared at her for a moment, his face blank but then he softened, flashed a somewhat wavering smile at her then put his eyes back down to the file.
She relaxed slightly, one reaction overcome but she would wait and see how he coped with the case before she would stop worrying altogether. She could tell when he stopped reading and she spoke before he could. "I’ll phone the hospital, see how they’re getting on, and you can get the warrant for her phone records started."
He looked faintly relived not to have to think just yet.
"Has the phone been found yet?"
"No but uniform are still searching the park and once she’s identified we’ll need the warrant."
Lynley nodded and she stood, gently pulled the file away from him and headed back out to her desk.
The call to the hospital yielded no results as they were still in surgery and although the nurse didn’t say it, things didn’t sound good. She blew out a breath in frustration and looked towards Lynley. He was off the phone now and heading towards her.
"Everything’s in place for when we identify her." He perched on the corner of her desk. "Come on, I’ll drive."
She nodded and grabbed her bag.
~~
The drive to the scene was quiet, the traffic slightly less congested than earlier but the heat was just as stifling, even with the fans running full blast, which, in his so called classic car wasn't that brilliant. He gave her the usual 'but it's a classic' look when she mentioned that though and the brief return to normality cheered her somewhat.
They managed to get parked relatively close to the scene and she groaned when she stepped out of the car and it was even hotter. He flashed a quick smile at her and she grumbled under her breath at how comfortable he managed to look in the heat.
They ducked under the tape barrier, walking over to the nearest uniform, who promptly directed them to the women standing with their prams, trying to comfort the crying children. A grimace crossed her face and Lynley looked faintly amused. "It could be worse you know." She looked askance at him and he smiled, which part of her rejoiced to see. "It could be raining."
She rolled her eyes.
"I wish. Wouldn't be on the verge of melting then."
Back to business, they interviewed the mums, a quick process given that they had already talked to uniform and the kids kept screaming. The area of park where the victim had been found was a little secluded from the bustle of the rest of the park, hidden from main view by a couple of large bushes and out of sight of the road by trees forming a hedge in front of the fence. A couple of branches were bent out of shape, a few crisp packets and a juice bottle littering the ground but other than that it was just a secluded patch of grass. She looked around aimlessly for a moment.
"Even if she was mugged, she must have been dragged back here so she wouldn't be found as quickly."
She saw Lynley's face tighten at this but carried on.
"If it was a mugging, whoever it was could have thought they killed her so they hid her."
He still didn’t say anything.
"Although uniform found her handbag and some of the stuff across the park so mugging looks less likely."
"It does seem a bit off for a mugging." Lynley finally responded.
One of the uniforms who had been searching the area around the park came jogging across.
"Found her purse, Sir."
"How do you know it's hers?" Lynley asked before Barbara could.
"I was one of the first ones on the scene, I recognised her face in the picture."
Lynley nodded and started walking across the park.
"Thanks, Jones," Barbara added before she started taking after Lynley.
"Not a very good mugger," she remarked as she looked at the spot where the purse was, credit card sitting snugly in it's pocket. "Could be a scared kid,"
"Or fairly desperate, whoever they were if they hurt her badly enough to put her in the hospital, then left a credit card behind."
She nodded her agreement of his words. "Should be enough to get a name though. I'll phone it in to the station, see if they can get a start on her personal details."
Lynley nodded at her and looked lost in thought.
When she got off the phone, he had clearly thought things through and he started speaking.
"We need to know the full extent of her injuries before we go any further. What was in the report seemed far too violent for a mugging."
"We'll stop by the hospital on the way back to the office."
Lynley bobbed his head in acknowledgement of her suggestion and they started off towards his car. She groaned at the heat that had built up in the car and switched the fans back on as soon as he started the engine. He smiled slightly. "At least the hospital's air conditioning will be on."
She resisted the urge to roll her eyes.
~~
The air conditioning was indeed working in the hospital and she basked for a minute in the doorway, him rolling his eyes this time and uttering a put upon "Come on," before he started towards the bank of lifts.
The light-heartedness disappeared and she could feel a sense of dread begin in her stomach as the lift rose to the floor they wanted and they found their way to the maternity ward.
Mother and baby were still in surgery when they arrived and Barbara's heart sank when she saw the look on the nurses faces. They showed their badges at the nearest nurse and Barbara braced herself for the worst.
"Unfortunately, they couldn't save the baby, too much trauma, but the mother has made it so far. She should be out of surgery shortly. If you want to wait around, talk to the doctor, it shouldn't be long."
Barbara glanced quickly at Lynley and seeing he didn't look too bad, nodded and the nurse, Emma her name tag said, carried on. "Any luck identifying her yet?"
"No yet. We'll let you know when we do."
On second thoughts, Lynley's tone was rather sharp. "We'll just nip down to the cafeteria, get out of your hair while we wait." Barbara smiled at Emma, and walked back the way they had came, Lynley having no choice but to follow.
He pressed the lift button rather aggressively.
"I don't need to be mothered, Barbara, I'm perfectly fine."
"Yeah, well that nurse didn't need to get her head bitten off but it didn't stop you." The lift arrived and Lynley sighed as they entered. "'sides, thought biting people's heads off was my job. Not stealing it are you?" She softened it with a smirk which widened into a grin when he harrumphed and let loose a tiny smile.
The tea was typical hospital cafeteria fare and the only thing it had going for it was that it was wet but it passed the time and the doctor was ready to talk to them when they got back to the ward.
"She's got massive internal bleeding, as well as a nasty head wound that knocked her out pretty decently. We've managed to stop the bleeding for now but her blood pressure is still pretty low and she is badly bruised over most of her body."
"Is she likely to wake up soon?" Barbara started the questions.
"Given the head wound, and the blood loss, I don't think so," the doctor replied. "The head wound alone would be enough to keep her out for a while."
"How badly bruised?" Lynley asked next.
"Well, her arms and legs are covered in bruises, her abdomen as well, and there is some bruising around her head wound but she'll need to be examined thoroughly to get a more accurate picture. From experience though, they were just starting to appear so I wouldn’t say the attack was too long ago."
Barbara nodded. "Well, someone from SOCO is on their way," she said and the doctor nodded.
"Anything else you can tell us?"
The doctor shook his head. "No, but if you leave your details we'll contact you if anything changes."
Barbara handed over a card and smiled briefly. They both thanked him before heading out again and it was Lynley who winced at the heat this time. Barbara couldn't help but snigger, even more so at the expression he gave her.
She dialled the station again, getting Jones who had managed to get the victim's details from the credit card. She cut the call off with a thanks and directed Lynley to take the next turning. She explained before he could ask any questions.
"Jones ID'd the vic as Jessica Reid and got her work address from tax records. She works at a hairdressers in Camden."
"Right, we'll see if anyone can tell us anything."
"We're not thinking this is a mugging gone wrong are we?"
Lynley shook his head. "The amount of violence suggests otherwise, although what it is is still up in the air. We'll need to keep a mugging in mind though until we can disprove it." He vented his frustration at the traffic they were now stuck in with a growl.
Barbara ignored that. "Once we've started the interviews we'll have a better idea if it was personal or not." She fiddled with the heating controls until he harrumphed at her again, and she brought out her note book instead. She began to jot down notes.
"Remember we'll need to ask for a phone number as well."
"Already got that on the list."
"What else?"
She rolled her eyes. "How long have I been doing this?"
He made a face that she guessed was an apology so she recited her list. "Baby's father, any problems they know of, best friend, close with family, any idea why she would be in the park at night."
Lynley nodded as he turned out of the traffic into a quieter side street.
"This isn't another one of your short cuts is it?" Barbara asked then laughed at the expression on his face. The rest of the ride passed in relative quiet though when they were parked she did demand they stop at one of the shops dotting the street the hairdressers was located in.
She came out carrying two bottles of water and she tossed one at him. "Wouldn’t want you getting cranky from the heat."
"Remind me again which one of us that is supposed to be the cranky one?"
She deliberately didn't answer him, instead took a drink then stuffed the bottle in her bag as they walked two shops down and into the hairdressers.
It turned out that all the staff knew Jessica. She was well liked and they regularly went out and hosted dinner parties. Until recently, that is, when Jessica hard started calming down once she found out she was pregnant.
"Although she stopped flirting as much on our nights out, once she had started dating Adam." one of them, Sarah, added.
"Adam?" Lynley asked.
"Her boyfriend, they were dating for a couple of months."
"Why'd they break up?" Barbara asked and they all shrugged.
"She never actually said, just came in one morning a couple of months ago in a horrible mood and said they had broken up. She never said anything else when we asked her about it."
"Did you know if he was the father?"
"Yes, she said she was going to tell him, but I don't know if she got around to it. It was kind of a bad break up but she wasn't going to deny her kid a father because of that she said."
"What about her family, was she close to them?"
Sarah nodded. "Especially her sister. We met Alison a couple of times when she was visiting and they were always on the phone. She'll probably know more about Adam," Sarah added as Barbara jotted down the information.
"Were you out last night?" The women all shock their heads. "Any idea of why she would be in the park? She cut through there going anywhere?"
Tash answered, "No," but Sarah looked thoughtful.
"Was she mugged, was that why?" Sarah broke of into a little sob, and bit her lip.
"We don't know yet, that's why were checking all angles. So no one you know would want to hurt her?"
Both women shook their heads.
Barbara carried on. "Any idea of how Adam would have reacted when she told him?"
Tash shook her head. "We didn't really know him that well. We met him on one of our nights out but never really saw him after that."
"Does he have a surname?" Sarah and Tash looked at each other.
"It was something like Williams or Willet but she only said once a while ago and like I said, we never really spoke to him that much."
Barbara nodded. "Do you have Jessica's phone number? We need to check her phone records."
Tash reached into her pocket and recited it off
"Okay, thanks for your help." Barbara shut her notebook, jammed it back in her bag and they exited as the two women started comforting each other again.
"You know, sometimes I feel superfluous." Lynley said wryly but with a small smile and she couldn't help but smile back. They reverted back to business though as he unlocked the car.
"We need to find out this Adam, see if she told him about the baby."
"We'll get his name off the phone records now we have her number. We need to determine if it wasn't a mugging after all."
Lynley looked askance at her as they sat in the car and did their belts. She shrugged her shoulders. "There's every chance it could be, could have been someone on something, desperate enough to be that brutal or out of it enough not to realise."
She saw him clench his fingers around the steering wheel.
"Look, I agree it's far too violent for a normal mugging, but we need to rule it out before we go searching for suspects, especially since we've got CCTV footage to wade through."
He relaxed his grip and nodded as he pulled out into the traffic. "Did we get the footage sent over?"
"Not yet, but I've managed to borrow Winston for a bit. He's going over to the centre, see if anyone remembers anything, trying to find her on the footage."
Lynley snorted. "That could take hours."
"Yeah, which is why we need to narrow things down a bit."
"All right, you've made your point."
They ground to a halt in the traffic again just as her phone rang again.
Barbara answered it, jotting down the information someone whose name she didn't quite catch gave her and she shut the phone down. "Oxford Police have notified her family."
"How'd they take it?"
"Distraught, as you might have guessed." She adjusted the fans again. "Her dad's a retired inspector from near Oxford, so we've been warned to tread carefully. He and her sister are going to the hospital, which will save me going out to Oxford to interview them."
"Did they say much else?"
"Not really, once Oxford found out they were coming here they thought they'd better leave it to us."
Lynley snorted. "All right, you do that while I go through the CCTV with Winston and wait for the phone records to come through. We'll head back to the station." The traffic started moving again and the rest of the ride passed in silence.
~~
Barbara left Lynley and Winston faffing about looking for the handset for the TV, rolling her eyes at them as she organised her notes before heading back to the car.
Her fans were just as ineffective as before and she pulled her top away from her, wafting a little in the privacy of her car to try and cool down a little.
It didn't work.
She made her way back up to the maternity wing, the nurses nodding at her in recognition and directed her towards the small room Jessica was in. She winced slightly when she stopped in the doorway and saw the bruising on her exposed arms. She tried not to stare, especially when the young woman sitting beside the bed rose.
"Sergeant Havers, I'd just like to ask a few questions," Barbara introduced herself and the other woman did the same.
"Alison Reid, Jess' sister." Alison turned to the gentleman beside her. "This is our Dad." Alison faced him. "Dad, we'll head down to the cafe, you stay beside her right?" The man frowned but nodded when he saw the look on her face.
They left the room and as they headed towards the lift, the same route she and Lynley had taken earlier, Alison spoke. "Sorry about that. You probably know he was in the Police so he'd spend all the time making sure you were up to the job rather than giving you any answer." Alison smiled wanly in what Barbara thought was an apology of this but she could see the red rimmed eyes and the marks on her hands from gripping them so tightly that meant she wasn't sure what it said.
"It's fine." Barbara said anyway.
The walk was a little tense but they got a cup of watery tea and grabbed a table, the cafe mainly empty at this time in the shift and visiting hours not for another hour and a half.
"I just want to ask a few questions about Jessica, I heard you were quite close."
"Well, we're always texting or on the phone, someone to share the gossip with." Alison cradled her teacup tightly.
Barbara nodded. "Did she tell you who her boyfriend was?"
"Just his first name. Adam. She said she wasn't ready for him to meet Dad yet and get the inquisition."
Barbara smiled weakly, "And did she say if he was the father?"
Alison nodded. "She only found out after they broke up."
"Was there any specific reason why they broke up?"
Alison nodded again. "She phoned me in tears one night because she found out he was married."
Barbara winced in sympathy. "That had to hurt."
"She was crying right over the phone, I've never heard her like that. I was going to come and see her because she was so upset but she didn't want me to, said I would be better coming when we had planned."
"And when was that?"
"About a week after that. She was going to introduce him to me." Alison looked down at her hands. "We ended up watching a film together over the phone."
Barbara kept jotting this down in her notebook. "Do you know if they kept in contact?"
Alison shook her head. "She said he kept trying to phone her, especially just after they broke up but she didn’t answer any of the calls."
"So she hadn't told him about the baby?"
"Not yet but she said she was going to when she phoned yesterday. She got him on the phone and he was going to come around."
"So that was the last time you heard from her?"
Alison nodded. "I tried phoning her last night to see how it had went."
"What time was this?"
"The back of ten but there was no answer so I left her a message." Alison gripped her tea cup so tightly her knuckles started going white and Barbara thought she was going to cry again. "I just thought that they were still talking, I mean he wasn't coming around till 8."
Barbara let her collect her thoughts for a minute before she carried on. "Just in case, did she mention any problems with anyone, anything unusual in the last couple of days?"
Alison shook her head. "The only thing on her mind was the baby. She was joking about some of her customers but everything was fine. Nothing at all." She took a sip and a deep breath. "Dad says that you'll be looking at someone close to her for this."
Barbara paused.
"He says it's too violent for a mugging."
Barbara put her pen down. "We are looking into everything at the moment."
Alison nodded. "Well, you'll have to won't you."
Barbara didn't answer and she let the silence carry on for a moment. "Thank you for your time, I'll let you get back to your family." She stood. "Do you have a contact number I can reach you on?"
Alison nodded. "You ready?" She recited her phone number off and Barbara caught it, nodded her thanks and left Alison as she got in the lift back up to the maternity wing.
~~
Her stomach rumbled as she got in her car and she glanced at the clock on the dash. That would explain it. She pulled over at a sandwich shop near the station, managing to get a space to park just round the corner from it and texted Lynley.
U or W had lunch?
The reply was quick, she had only got to the shop door when her phone beeped.
W has, I've not. :(
She sniggered to herself at his use of an emoticon and set about ordering lunch for the both of them.
~~
She found them both still in his office, the remains of Winston's lunch on Lynley's desk and she rolled her eyes at the over enthusiastic response she got when she handed Lynley his sandwich and cake.
"Thanks, the smell of Winston's was being to get to me."
"You could've went for it yourself you know," she smiled, amused.
He didn't reply, just started eating.
Winston brought her up to date with what they had so far as she sat down and started her lunch. "Phone records should be here in an hour or so and we haven't spotted her on the footage of the park yet but we are only at 11pm."
She brushed some of the crumbs away. "Sister said she tried to phone her last night at around ten but it went to her voice mail. Jessica was going to tell Adam about the baby last night though so she never thought too much about it."
Lynley nodded. "Well then it shouldn't be too much longer before we catch her on CCTV." He looked directly at her. "Could she have been coming back from Adam's?"
Barbara shook her head. "Alison said she was having him round to her place to tell him."
"If it didn't go well then maybe she went out for a walk to clear her head? The park isn't that far from her flat and if she was upset then she might not have been thinking clearly." Winston spoke up.
"It's possible," Lynley looked thoughtful, "I didn’t get the impression from her friends that she would have though."
Barbara agreed. "I think she would have phoned Alison instead, she seemed to phone her, tell her nearly everything."
"Apart from Adam's last name." Lynley tossed his empty wrapper in the bin with more force than was strictly necessary.
She tried not to look too concerned about the sign of frustration.
"Alison did say that Jessica managed to convince him to come round so when we get the records, any number that pops up recently after about a three month break is likely to be his."
Lynley nodded and they watched some more of the footage, nothing much happening. Barbara got up when a uniform knocked on the door to let them know the phone records arrived.
"That was quick." Lynley commented.
Winston grinned. "A little charm goes a long way."
Barbara and Lynley both snorted and she grabbed the records and started going through them.
They worked in mostly silence, Winston getting up to make them tea, 'the joys of being the junior officer' he moaned, and the occasional bit of chat.
She had narrowed the numbers down to two possibilities when Lynley and Winston both sat up straighter.
"Play that back."
Barbara looked up at the screen.
"Is that her?"
They all peered closer, "looks like it," Winston said as he paused the playback and they stared at the image of Jessica being carried into the park. "Can't tell who's with her but that’s definitely the outfit she was found in."
"Get a copy off to the lab, see if we can get it enhanced."
Winston took the disc out, "Will do," and he disappeared off to the lab.
Lynley leaned back in his chair. "Not a mugging then."
She nodded. "Definitely not. The question is was it personal?"
Lynley looked through her notes. "How much did she tell her sister?"
"Very nearly everything, and given she told her about Adam being married as soon as she found out, I suspect,"
"Adam's married?" Lynley looked shocked as he interrupted her.
"Sorry," she pointed to her notes, "Alison told me that's why Jessica broke it off."
Lynley looked closely at her notes and she let him have a minute before she carried on, "Anyway I think she would have told Alison, or her friends at work if there was a problem."
Lynley mulled that over for a minute before sitting up straight. "All right, we'll check out her flat, see if she left anything unusual or if any of her neighbours saw anything."
"Yeah, I'll get Winston to phone the phone company back. Maybe he can get them to release the names for these numbers sometime this century."
Lynley chuckled and waited for her as she left a note on Winston's desk.
~~
They met the landlord at the outside door and Barbara tried not to roll her eyes as he started asking far too many questions about their investigation. She nearly dismissed him as vulture but once they were inside and had managed to get rid of him she jotted his name down in her notebook, just to make sure there wasn't another reason he was so interested.
She put her notebook away and Lynley tossed her a pair of gloves before she could dig hers out of her bag.
"SOCO sending memos round again?"
Lynley nodded. "Apparently some officers are forgetting."
"Let me guess, Anderson?"
Lynley smiled. "No culprits were named."
They started in the living room. It was fairly neat, with a few magazines lying on the coffee table, an empty cup beside a chair and cushions scattered about. There were pictures on the bookcase in the corner, one of her and her sister, a family photo that must have been at least ten years old with a woman who Barbara thought must be Jessica's mum. The bookcase itself contained mainly hairdressing books, a couple of the latest chart books, mainly crime fiction and a pile of pregnancy books that on closer inspection were library books, the due date stamped as next week.
The kitchen was directly off the living room and Barbara wandered through while Lynley looked around the rest of the living room. It was small and tidy and there was nothing much of interest, just the usual tins, and a fair bit of fresh fruit and veg. There was a calendar stuck to the fridge though, the date of her scan pencilled in, a note of Alison coming to visit and a midwife's appointment scheduled for the beginning of next month. There was another note stuck to the door, a reminder to take her vitamins, eat properly and arrange maternity cover. Nothing struck Barbara as out of the ordinary, nothing indicating she had any problems and she turned to look for Lynley only to discover her had joined her in the kitchen. There was barely enough room for the both of them in the kitchen and she ended up brushing past him as she went back into the living room.
"Anything?" he asked.
"Nothing so far, but she might have kept something in her bedroom if she didn't want company seeing it."
He nodded.
"Nothing out of the ordinary here, although there has been a spill cleaned up on the floor beside the coffee table."
They moved across the lounge and Barbara spotted the patch on the floor.
The bedroom was done in a soft pink and purple, slightly messier than the rest of the flat but nothing five minutes of tidying wouldn't clear up.
The bed was made though and Lynley walked over to her bedside cabinet. On top, in a simple wooden frame, an ultrasound picture was displayed and loopy writing underneath indicated it was taken at 15 weeks.
Barbara stopped from heading towards the wardrobe and watched him for a minute as he looked at the picture. She felt her stomach drop as she realised the thoughts that must be going through his head and she dithered for a moment then veered down the side of the bed towards him. He was deeper in his thoughts than she realised for he never noticed her move and he nearly jumped when she laid a hand on his sleeve. He smiled at her, somewhat forced and he shook his head to forestall any questions. He took a deep breath.
"Well it looks like she was looking forward to the baby anyway." He placed the frame back down. "Did she keep a diary?"
Barbara moved over to the table in the corner of the room. "Nothing in sight but," she pulled open the top drawer under the table and pulled out a netbook. "Maybe she did it on her computer. I'll see if anything pops up in her internet history or folders."
Lynley nodded and started looking at the pictures on the bedroom wall as she plugged the computer in. Fortunately it wasn't password protected but once it loaded up, she found that most of the files were of pictures.
Lynley joined her and commented that the pictures on the walls were combinations of the woman they had interviewed this morning or her sister. She glanced at him for a second but nothing was showing in his expression so she carried on.
He leaned over her chair, arm brushing her shoulder as she flicked through the files. "Bingo." She clicked on a folder named Adam. There were about twenty pictures, mostly just the two of them, obviously taken themselves, in various poses, in the kitchen, on her couch, in a park, though the one dated first had the rest of her friends in it.
"Well at least we know what Adam looks like now. We just need a surname. Anything else?" Lynley asked.
"Family pictures, a budget sheet, and a few ebooks. Just about to check her history." She clicked onto the browser. "Mainly baby and hairdressing sites. Facebook as well." She clicked on one and it turned out Jessica was still logged in. She managed to navigate her way to the recent posts link.
Lynley had hunkered down at this point, head behind her shoulder, so close she could hear him breathe. She turned her head to look at him and nearly bumped into him. He smiled sheepishly and backed away ever so slightly. She looked back at the screen. "Looks like its mainly styling tips or," she clicked again, "best things to satisfy cravings. If she was having problems it's not obvious."
Lynley stood up as she switched the computer off. "All right, all the same, bring it in, we'll get someone to analyse it properly, there may be something hidden."
She nodded and gathered the power cable for the netbook, then filled in a receipt for it and left it on the table.
Lynley was already out the door, knocking on the neighbour's door when she caught up with him. There was no answer and they looked around on the landing, checking on the flat above Jessica's.
No answer either.
They headed back to the car, and Barbara put the computer in the back seat. She turned round to catch Lynley staring into space.
He collected himself before she said anything and he gave her an apologetic smile as he went to start the car.
"Are you really all right?" She couldn't take anymore of the light footing around she was doing and he stopped, hand still on the key. He sighed, not looking at her as he answered.
"I'm fine, Barbara,"
She couldn’t help but let out a small snort of disbelief and he smiled slightly at her, looking back out the windscreen when he spoke again. "I am fine, it's just," he paused, "well a case like this is horrible at the best of times."
They sat in silence for a moment
"I'm sorry."
He looked properly at her. "You've nothing to be sorry for."
She opened her mouth to speak but he beat her to it. "I know what you mean, Barbara." He started the car. "To be honest, it's hurting less and less and some days it doesn't hurt at all."
"Which of course you worry about."
He looked at her,
"Just saying," she held her hands up in front of her as if for protection.
He sighed. "You're right." He pulled out into the road and changed the subject. "Will I drop you off at the station or your place? I think it's marginally closer."
"The station. There is no way I'm getting the tube in tomorrow." She tried to cover exactly how worried she still was.
"All right. I want to meet up at eight though, see if we can't lean on the phone company to get the details a bit earlier."
"Okay."
He put the radio on, some sort of easy listening station that blended into the background and they fell into silence again, though that didn’t stop her glancing across at him occasionally to check how he was.
Part Two
Author: Lullabymoon
Fandom: The Inspector Lynley Mysteries
Pairing: Barbara Havers/Tommy Lynley
Word Count: 30, 400
Rating/Warnings: T. Contains violence, specifically against pregnant women, and foetal death (both offscreen)
Summary: When a young woman is found brutally beaten in a London park, Lynley and Havers must find the person responsible, as well as deal with the emotional fall out and navigate their own changing relationship.
Author's notes: Written for het_bigbang. This is set a year or two after the final episode, 'Know Thine Enemy'. A huge thanks to fringedweller for the awesome beta (any remaining mistakes are my own), and to my flist for all their cheerleading.
You can see the awesome artwork aj did to accompany this here
Parts: One Two Three Four Five
Present day - Paris
Barbara woke in the night. Sleep didn't immediately reclaim her and she shifted, the ring on her finger catching in the bed sheets. She stilled and looked at it, the newness of it feeling strange but a thrill still ran through her. Wide awake now, she stood, careful not to disturb the sheets too much and stood in front of the window. Leaning against the wall, she looked out at the view.
The Eiffel Tower peeked out over the tops of the buildings opposite and the sky was bright with reflected light. In that dim light she studied her ring again. She still felt at sense of disbelief that she, they, were here, that the ring was real and the proposal in front of the tower wasn't a dream. She twisted the ring, the small diamond catching in the light and she felt giddy.
She turned her head to see Tommy still asleep in bed and she couldn’t help the small affectionate smile that crossed her face. Still giddy, still more than unlikely to fall back asleep any time soon, she turned back to the unfamiliar skyline and let her thoughts wander.
It was perhaps inevitable that they turned to the beginning of their new relationship.
~~
Monday 12th August - London
The day was already proving to be like the day before: hot and sticky, and it was only ten past eight. Barbara grumbled at the weather as her car ground to a halt in the traffic and she tried to coax more cold air out of the air conditioning. She would have taken the tube this morning if the heat wouldn’t have been worse underground. At least her air conditioning was working a little and she didn't have to put up with the morning crush.
All of this predictably led to her walking in to the office in a grumpy mood. It was too hot for tea really but she made a cup and set it down on her desk anyway. She settled down to the remains of the paperwork from the day before, ignoring the buzz of the office around her until she was distracted by a shout.
"Havers!" She looked up and Anderson tossed a file on her desk. He looked mildly apologetic, a first that she had ever seen from him. "No one else has a light enough caseload." She nodded and Anderson wandered off through the office.
She opened the file and her heart sank as she read through the initial incident report. She could see why Anderson had looked apologetic.
She glanced around the office and felt relieved when she saw Lynley wasn’t in yet then closed the file and sat back in her chair. She seriously considered swapping the case with someone but she knew Anderson wasn’t enough of a bastard to give them the case if anyone else could take it.
It was moments like this she wished she hadn’t given up smoking. It would have given her an excuse to pop outside while she thought her next move through. In the end, she settled for the ladies, passing Lynley as he came in. If he thought anything odd about her popping into the ladies with a folder, he said nothing about it as he greeted her.
She felt faintly guilty when she didn’t mention the new case but simply answered paperwork to his enquiry of what he had missed.
She locked herself in a cubicle and opened the case again, hoping somewhat impossibly that the details had changed since the last time.
No such luck.
Young, unidentified woman found beaten in a park this morning. Currently in surgery to try and save her unborn baby.
Barbara felt bile start to rise, not just for Lynley but because she wanted to beat the bastard who did this. She closed her eyes and took a couple of deep breaths to try and calm herself.
Her stomach started to twist in guilt because as much as she felt the need to close this case creep up on her, the first and foremost thought in her mind wasn’t about the baby, or the mother, or the family, but in passing the case over to protect Lynley. It would bring all sorts of memories back and there was a growing terror in her that he wouldn’t come back from them this time, not when he had only really recently stopped twitching when someone asked if he was married or had children.
On the other hand, she knew what his reaction would be if she tried to fob the case off on someone else, knew herself well enough to know that the thoughts of the case would run around her head regardless.
With a sigh, she opened her eyes and forced herself to read through the rest of the details.
A small kid found the victim at about quarter past seven this morning, handbag strewn across the path from her, no purse or phone.
Her mind automatically started creating a list of things to do, just like in every other case and at that point she knew it was time to head back to her desk and fill Lynley in on the details. Despite this acceptance, she still paused at the door to his office, taking a deep breath to steel herself before she went ahead.
Lynley looked up at her when she knocked on his open door and waved her into the seat opposite him. She tossed the file down in front of him before she sat down, trying to act casual as she did so. She waited for what seemed like an eternity as he finished with the computer and then started reading the file.
Barbara could tell the instant he read the description of the crime for he tensed, fingers gripping the file tighter. His eyes flicked up to look at her and she cursed their ability to know each other so well because surely he could see how the casual attitude was all an act. He stared at her for a moment, his face blank but then he softened, flashed a somewhat wavering smile at her then put his eyes back down to the file.
She relaxed slightly, one reaction overcome but she would wait and see how he coped with the case before she would stop worrying altogether. She could tell when he stopped reading and she spoke before he could. "I’ll phone the hospital, see how they’re getting on, and you can get the warrant for her phone records started."
He looked faintly relived not to have to think just yet.
"Has the phone been found yet?"
"No but uniform are still searching the park and once she’s identified we’ll need the warrant."
Lynley nodded and she stood, gently pulled the file away from him and headed back out to her desk.
The call to the hospital yielded no results as they were still in surgery and although the nurse didn’t say it, things didn’t sound good. She blew out a breath in frustration and looked towards Lynley. He was off the phone now and heading towards her.
"Everything’s in place for when we identify her." He perched on the corner of her desk. "Come on, I’ll drive."
She nodded and grabbed her bag.
~~
The drive to the scene was quiet, the traffic slightly less congested than earlier but the heat was just as stifling, even with the fans running full blast, which, in his so called classic car wasn't that brilliant. He gave her the usual 'but it's a classic' look when she mentioned that though and the brief return to normality cheered her somewhat.
They managed to get parked relatively close to the scene and she groaned when she stepped out of the car and it was even hotter. He flashed a quick smile at her and she grumbled under her breath at how comfortable he managed to look in the heat.
They ducked under the tape barrier, walking over to the nearest uniform, who promptly directed them to the women standing with their prams, trying to comfort the crying children. A grimace crossed her face and Lynley looked faintly amused. "It could be worse you know." She looked askance at him and he smiled, which part of her rejoiced to see. "It could be raining."
She rolled her eyes.
"I wish. Wouldn't be on the verge of melting then."
Back to business, they interviewed the mums, a quick process given that they had already talked to uniform and the kids kept screaming. The area of park where the victim had been found was a little secluded from the bustle of the rest of the park, hidden from main view by a couple of large bushes and out of sight of the road by trees forming a hedge in front of the fence. A couple of branches were bent out of shape, a few crisp packets and a juice bottle littering the ground but other than that it was just a secluded patch of grass. She looked around aimlessly for a moment.
"Even if she was mugged, she must have been dragged back here so she wouldn't be found as quickly."
She saw Lynley's face tighten at this but carried on.
"If it was a mugging, whoever it was could have thought they killed her so they hid her."
He still didn’t say anything.
"Although uniform found her handbag and some of the stuff across the park so mugging looks less likely."
"It does seem a bit off for a mugging." Lynley finally responded.
One of the uniforms who had been searching the area around the park came jogging across.
"Found her purse, Sir."
"How do you know it's hers?" Lynley asked before Barbara could.
"I was one of the first ones on the scene, I recognised her face in the picture."
Lynley nodded and started walking across the park.
"Thanks, Jones," Barbara added before she started taking after Lynley.
"Not a very good mugger," she remarked as she looked at the spot where the purse was, credit card sitting snugly in it's pocket. "Could be a scared kid,"
"Or fairly desperate, whoever they were if they hurt her badly enough to put her in the hospital, then left a credit card behind."
She nodded her agreement of his words. "Should be enough to get a name though. I'll phone it in to the station, see if they can get a start on her personal details."
Lynley nodded at her and looked lost in thought.
When she got off the phone, he had clearly thought things through and he started speaking.
"We need to know the full extent of her injuries before we go any further. What was in the report seemed far too violent for a mugging."
"We'll stop by the hospital on the way back to the office."
Lynley bobbed his head in acknowledgement of her suggestion and they started off towards his car. She groaned at the heat that had built up in the car and switched the fans back on as soon as he started the engine. He smiled slightly. "At least the hospital's air conditioning will be on."
She resisted the urge to roll her eyes.
~~
The air conditioning was indeed working in the hospital and she basked for a minute in the doorway, him rolling his eyes this time and uttering a put upon "Come on," before he started towards the bank of lifts.
The light-heartedness disappeared and she could feel a sense of dread begin in her stomach as the lift rose to the floor they wanted and they found their way to the maternity ward.
Mother and baby were still in surgery when they arrived and Barbara's heart sank when she saw the look on the nurses faces. They showed their badges at the nearest nurse and Barbara braced herself for the worst.
"Unfortunately, they couldn't save the baby, too much trauma, but the mother has made it so far. She should be out of surgery shortly. If you want to wait around, talk to the doctor, it shouldn't be long."
Barbara glanced quickly at Lynley and seeing he didn't look too bad, nodded and the nurse, Emma her name tag said, carried on. "Any luck identifying her yet?"
"No yet. We'll let you know when we do."
On second thoughts, Lynley's tone was rather sharp. "We'll just nip down to the cafeteria, get out of your hair while we wait." Barbara smiled at Emma, and walked back the way they had came, Lynley having no choice but to follow.
He pressed the lift button rather aggressively.
"I don't need to be mothered, Barbara, I'm perfectly fine."
"Yeah, well that nurse didn't need to get her head bitten off but it didn't stop you." The lift arrived and Lynley sighed as they entered. "'sides, thought biting people's heads off was my job. Not stealing it are you?" She softened it with a smirk which widened into a grin when he harrumphed and let loose a tiny smile.
The tea was typical hospital cafeteria fare and the only thing it had going for it was that it was wet but it passed the time and the doctor was ready to talk to them when they got back to the ward.
"She's got massive internal bleeding, as well as a nasty head wound that knocked her out pretty decently. We've managed to stop the bleeding for now but her blood pressure is still pretty low and she is badly bruised over most of her body."
"Is she likely to wake up soon?" Barbara started the questions.
"Given the head wound, and the blood loss, I don't think so," the doctor replied. "The head wound alone would be enough to keep her out for a while."
"How badly bruised?" Lynley asked next.
"Well, her arms and legs are covered in bruises, her abdomen as well, and there is some bruising around her head wound but she'll need to be examined thoroughly to get a more accurate picture. From experience though, they were just starting to appear so I wouldn’t say the attack was too long ago."
Barbara nodded. "Well, someone from SOCO is on their way," she said and the doctor nodded.
"Anything else you can tell us?"
The doctor shook his head. "No, but if you leave your details we'll contact you if anything changes."
Barbara handed over a card and smiled briefly. They both thanked him before heading out again and it was Lynley who winced at the heat this time. Barbara couldn't help but snigger, even more so at the expression he gave her.
She dialled the station again, getting Jones who had managed to get the victim's details from the credit card. She cut the call off with a thanks and directed Lynley to take the next turning. She explained before he could ask any questions.
"Jones ID'd the vic as Jessica Reid and got her work address from tax records. She works at a hairdressers in Camden."
"Right, we'll see if anyone can tell us anything."
"We're not thinking this is a mugging gone wrong are we?"
Lynley shook his head. "The amount of violence suggests otherwise, although what it is is still up in the air. We'll need to keep a mugging in mind though until we can disprove it." He vented his frustration at the traffic they were now stuck in with a growl.
Barbara ignored that. "Once we've started the interviews we'll have a better idea if it was personal or not." She fiddled with the heating controls until he harrumphed at her again, and she brought out her note book instead. She began to jot down notes.
"Remember we'll need to ask for a phone number as well."
"Already got that on the list."
"What else?"
She rolled her eyes. "How long have I been doing this?"
He made a face that she guessed was an apology so she recited her list. "Baby's father, any problems they know of, best friend, close with family, any idea why she would be in the park at night."
Lynley nodded as he turned out of the traffic into a quieter side street.
"This isn't another one of your short cuts is it?" Barbara asked then laughed at the expression on his face. The rest of the ride passed in relative quiet though when they were parked she did demand they stop at one of the shops dotting the street the hairdressers was located in.
She came out carrying two bottles of water and she tossed one at him. "Wouldn’t want you getting cranky from the heat."
"Remind me again which one of us that is supposed to be the cranky one?"
She deliberately didn't answer him, instead took a drink then stuffed the bottle in her bag as they walked two shops down and into the hairdressers.
It turned out that all the staff knew Jessica. She was well liked and they regularly went out and hosted dinner parties. Until recently, that is, when Jessica hard started calming down once she found out she was pregnant.
"Although she stopped flirting as much on our nights out, once she had started dating Adam." one of them, Sarah, added.
"Adam?" Lynley asked.
"Her boyfriend, they were dating for a couple of months."
"Why'd they break up?" Barbara asked and they all shrugged.
"She never actually said, just came in one morning a couple of months ago in a horrible mood and said they had broken up. She never said anything else when we asked her about it."
"Did you know if he was the father?"
"Yes, she said she was going to tell him, but I don't know if she got around to it. It was kind of a bad break up but she wasn't going to deny her kid a father because of that she said."
"What about her family, was she close to them?"
Sarah nodded. "Especially her sister. We met Alison a couple of times when she was visiting and they were always on the phone. She'll probably know more about Adam," Sarah added as Barbara jotted down the information.
"Were you out last night?" The women all shock their heads. "Any idea of why she would be in the park? She cut through there going anywhere?"
Tash answered, "No," but Sarah looked thoughtful.
"Was she mugged, was that why?" Sarah broke of into a little sob, and bit her lip.
"We don't know yet, that's why were checking all angles. So no one you know would want to hurt her?"
Both women shook their heads.
Barbara carried on. "Any idea of how Adam would have reacted when she told him?"
Tash shook her head. "We didn't really know him that well. We met him on one of our nights out but never really saw him after that."
"Does he have a surname?" Sarah and Tash looked at each other.
"It was something like Williams or Willet but she only said once a while ago and like I said, we never really spoke to him that much."
Barbara nodded. "Do you have Jessica's phone number? We need to check her phone records."
Tash reached into her pocket and recited it off
"Okay, thanks for your help." Barbara shut her notebook, jammed it back in her bag and they exited as the two women started comforting each other again.
"You know, sometimes I feel superfluous." Lynley said wryly but with a small smile and she couldn't help but smile back. They reverted back to business though as he unlocked the car.
"We need to find out this Adam, see if she told him about the baby."
"We'll get his name off the phone records now we have her number. We need to determine if it wasn't a mugging after all."
Lynley looked askance at her as they sat in the car and did their belts. She shrugged her shoulders. "There's every chance it could be, could have been someone on something, desperate enough to be that brutal or out of it enough not to realise."
She saw him clench his fingers around the steering wheel.
"Look, I agree it's far too violent for a normal mugging, but we need to rule it out before we go searching for suspects, especially since we've got CCTV footage to wade through."
He relaxed his grip and nodded as he pulled out into the traffic. "Did we get the footage sent over?"
"Not yet, but I've managed to borrow Winston for a bit. He's going over to the centre, see if anyone remembers anything, trying to find her on the footage."
Lynley snorted. "That could take hours."
"Yeah, which is why we need to narrow things down a bit."
"All right, you've made your point."
They ground to a halt in the traffic again just as her phone rang again.
Barbara answered it, jotting down the information someone whose name she didn't quite catch gave her and she shut the phone down. "Oxford Police have notified her family."
"How'd they take it?"
"Distraught, as you might have guessed." She adjusted the fans again. "Her dad's a retired inspector from near Oxford, so we've been warned to tread carefully. He and her sister are going to the hospital, which will save me going out to Oxford to interview them."
"Did they say much else?"
"Not really, once Oxford found out they were coming here they thought they'd better leave it to us."
Lynley snorted. "All right, you do that while I go through the CCTV with Winston and wait for the phone records to come through. We'll head back to the station." The traffic started moving again and the rest of the ride passed in silence.
~~
Barbara left Lynley and Winston faffing about looking for the handset for the TV, rolling her eyes at them as she organised her notes before heading back to the car.
Her fans were just as ineffective as before and she pulled her top away from her, wafting a little in the privacy of her car to try and cool down a little.
It didn't work.
She made her way back up to the maternity wing, the nurses nodding at her in recognition and directed her towards the small room Jessica was in. She winced slightly when she stopped in the doorway and saw the bruising on her exposed arms. She tried not to stare, especially when the young woman sitting beside the bed rose.
"Sergeant Havers, I'd just like to ask a few questions," Barbara introduced herself and the other woman did the same.
"Alison Reid, Jess' sister." Alison turned to the gentleman beside her. "This is our Dad." Alison faced him. "Dad, we'll head down to the cafe, you stay beside her right?" The man frowned but nodded when he saw the look on her face.
They left the room and as they headed towards the lift, the same route she and Lynley had taken earlier, Alison spoke. "Sorry about that. You probably know he was in the Police so he'd spend all the time making sure you were up to the job rather than giving you any answer." Alison smiled wanly in what Barbara thought was an apology of this but she could see the red rimmed eyes and the marks on her hands from gripping them so tightly that meant she wasn't sure what it said.
"It's fine." Barbara said anyway.
The walk was a little tense but they got a cup of watery tea and grabbed a table, the cafe mainly empty at this time in the shift and visiting hours not for another hour and a half.
"I just want to ask a few questions about Jessica, I heard you were quite close."
"Well, we're always texting or on the phone, someone to share the gossip with." Alison cradled her teacup tightly.
Barbara nodded. "Did she tell you who her boyfriend was?"
"Just his first name. Adam. She said she wasn't ready for him to meet Dad yet and get the inquisition."
Barbara smiled weakly, "And did she say if he was the father?"
Alison nodded. "She only found out after they broke up."
"Was there any specific reason why they broke up?"
Alison nodded again. "She phoned me in tears one night because she found out he was married."
Barbara winced in sympathy. "That had to hurt."
"She was crying right over the phone, I've never heard her like that. I was going to come and see her because she was so upset but she didn't want me to, said I would be better coming when we had planned."
"And when was that?"
"About a week after that. She was going to introduce him to me." Alison looked down at her hands. "We ended up watching a film together over the phone."
Barbara kept jotting this down in her notebook. "Do you know if they kept in contact?"
Alison shook her head. "She said he kept trying to phone her, especially just after they broke up but she didn’t answer any of the calls."
"So she hadn't told him about the baby?"
"Not yet but she said she was going to when she phoned yesterday. She got him on the phone and he was going to come around."
"So that was the last time you heard from her?"
Alison nodded. "I tried phoning her last night to see how it had went."
"What time was this?"
"The back of ten but there was no answer so I left her a message." Alison gripped her tea cup so tightly her knuckles started going white and Barbara thought she was going to cry again. "I just thought that they were still talking, I mean he wasn't coming around till 8."
Barbara let her collect her thoughts for a minute before she carried on. "Just in case, did she mention any problems with anyone, anything unusual in the last couple of days?"
Alison shook her head. "The only thing on her mind was the baby. She was joking about some of her customers but everything was fine. Nothing at all." She took a sip and a deep breath. "Dad says that you'll be looking at someone close to her for this."
Barbara paused.
"He says it's too violent for a mugging."
Barbara put her pen down. "We are looking into everything at the moment."
Alison nodded. "Well, you'll have to won't you."
Barbara didn't answer and she let the silence carry on for a moment. "Thank you for your time, I'll let you get back to your family." She stood. "Do you have a contact number I can reach you on?"
Alison nodded. "You ready?" She recited her phone number off and Barbara caught it, nodded her thanks and left Alison as she got in the lift back up to the maternity wing.
~~
Her stomach rumbled as she got in her car and she glanced at the clock on the dash. That would explain it. She pulled over at a sandwich shop near the station, managing to get a space to park just round the corner from it and texted Lynley.
U or W had lunch?
The reply was quick, she had only got to the shop door when her phone beeped.
W has, I've not. :(
She sniggered to herself at his use of an emoticon and set about ordering lunch for the both of them.
~~
She found them both still in his office, the remains of Winston's lunch on Lynley's desk and she rolled her eyes at the over enthusiastic response she got when she handed Lynley his sandwich and cake.
"Thanks, the smell of Winston's was being to get to me."
"You could've went for it yourself you know," she smiled, amused.
He didn't reply, just started eating.
Winston brought her up to date with what they had so far as she sat down and started her lunch. "Phone records should be here in an hour or so and we haven't spotted her on the footage of the park yet but we are only at 11pm."
She brushed some of the crumbs away. "Sister said she tried to phone her last night at around ten but it went to her voice mail. Jessica was going to tell Adam about the baby last night though so she never thought too much about it."
Lynley nodded. "Well then it shouldn't be too much longer before we catch her on CCTV." He looked directly at her. "Could she have been coming back from Adam's?"
Barbara shook her head. "Alison said she was having him round to her place to tell him."
"If it didn't go well then maybe she went out for a walk to clear her head? The park isn't that far from her flat and if she was upset then she might not have been thinking clearly." Winston spoke up.
"It's possible," Lynley looked thoughtful, "I didn’t get the impression from her friends that she would have though."
Barbara agreed. "I think she would have phoned Alison instead, she seemed to phone her, tell her nearly everything."
"Apart from Adam's last name." Lynley tossed his empty wrapper in the bin with more force than was strictly necessary.
She tried not to look too concerned about the sign of frustration.
"Alison did say that Jessica managed to convince him to come round so when we get the records, any number that pops up recently after about a three month break is likely to be his."
Lynley nodded and they watched some more of the footage, nothing much happening. Barbara got up when a uniform knocked on the door to let them know the phone records arrived.
"That was quick." Lynley commented.
Winston grinned. "A little charm goes a long way."
Barbara and Lynley both snorted and she grabbed the records and started going through them.
They worked in mostly silence, Winston getting up to make them tea, 'the joys of being the junior officer' he moaned, and the occasional bit of chat.
She had narrowed the numbers down to two possibilities when Lynley and Winston both sat up straighter.
"Play that back."
Barbara looked up at the screen.
"Is that her?"
They all peered closer, "looks like it," Winston said as he paused the playback and they stared at the image of Jessica being carried into the park. "Can't tell who's with her but that’s definitely the outfit she was found in."
"Get a copy off to the lab, see if we can get it enhanced."
Winston took the disc out, "Will do," and he disappeared off to the lab.
Lynley leaned back in his chair. "Not a mugging then."
She nodded. "Definitely not. The question is was it personal?"
Lynley looked through her notes. "How much did she tell her sister?"
"Very nearly everything, and given she told her about Adam being married as soon as she found out, I suspect,"
"Adam's married?" Lynley looked shocked as he interrupted her.
"Sorry," she pointed to her notes, "Alison told me that's why Jessica broke it off."
Lynley looked closely at her notes and she let him have a minute before she carried on, "Anyway I think she would have told Alison, or her friends at work if there was a problem."
Lynley mulled that over for a minute before sitting up straight. "All right, we'll check out her flat, see if she left anything unusual or if any of her neighbours saw anything."
"Yeah, I'll get Winston to phone the phone company back. Maybe he can get them to release the names for these numbers sometime this century."
Lynley chuckled and waited for her as she left a note on Winston's desk.
~~
They met the landlord at the outside door and Barbara tried not to roll her eyes as he started asking far too many questions about their investigation. She nearly dismissed him as vulture but once they were inside and had managed to get rid of him she jotted his name down in her notebook, just to make sure there wasn't another reason he was so interested.
She put her notebook away and Lynley tossed her a pair of gloves before she could dig hers out of her bag.
"SOCO sending memos round again?"
Lynley nodded. "Apparently some officers are forgetting."
"Let me guess, Anderson?"
Lynley smiled. "No culprits were named."
They started in the living room. It was fairly neat, with a few magazines lying on the coffee table, an empty cup beside a chair and cushions scattered about. There were pictures on the bookcase in the corner, one of her and her sister, a family photo that must have been at least ten years old with a woman who Barbara thought must be Jessica's mum. The bookcase itself contained mainly hairdressing books, a couple of the latest chart books, mainly crime fiction and a pile of pregnancy books that on closer inspection were library books, the due date stamped as next week.
The kitchen was directly off the living room and Barbara wandered through while Lynley looked around the rest of the living room. It was small and tidy and there was nothing much of interest, just the usual tins, and a fair bit of fresh fruit and veg. There was a calendar stuck to the fridge though, the date of her scan pencilled in, a note of Alison coming to visit and a midwife's appointment scheduled for the beginning of next month. There was another note stuck to the door, a reminder to take her vitamins, eat properly and arrange maternity cover. Nothing struck Barbara as out of the ordinary, nothing indicating she had any problems and she turned to look for Lynley only to discover her had joined her in the kitchen. There was barely enough room for the both of them in the kitchen and she ended up brushing past him as she went back into the living room.
"Anything?" he asked.
"Nothing so far, but she might have kept something in her bedroom if she didn't want company seeing it."
He nodded.
"Nothing out of the ordinary here, although there has been a spill cleaned up on the floor beside the coffee table."
They moved across the lounge and Barbara spotted the patch on the floor.
The bedroom was done in a soft pink and purple, slightly messier than the rest of the flat but nothing five minutes of tidying wouldn't clear up.
The bed was made though and Lynley walked over to her bedside cabinet. On top, in a simple wooden frame, an ultrasound picture was displayed and loopy writing underneath indicated it was taken at 15 weeks.
Barbara stopped from heading towards the wardrobe and watched him for a minute as he looked at the picture. She felt her stomach drop as she realised the thoughts that must be going through his head and she dithered for a moment then veered down the side of the bed towards him. He was deeper in his thoughts than she realised for he never noticed her move and he nearly jumped when she laid a hand on his sleeve. He smiled at her, somewhat forced and he shook his head to forestall any questions. He took a deep breath.
"Well it looks like she was looking forward to the baby anyway." He placed the frame back down. "Did she keep a diary?"
Barbara moved over to the table in the corner of the room. "Nothing in sight but," she pulled open the top drawer under the table and pulled out a netbook. "Maybe she did it on her computer. I'll see if anything pops up in her internet history or folders."
Lynley nodded and started looking at the pictures on the bedroom wall as she plugged the computer in. Fortunately it wasn't password protected but once it loaded up, she found that most of the files were of pictures.
Lynley joined her and commented that the pictures on the walls were combinations of the woman they had interviewed this morning or her sister. She glanced at him for a second but nothing was showing in his expression so she carried on.
He leaned over her chair, arm brushing her shoulder as she flicked through the files. "Bingo." She clicked on a folder named Adam. There were about twenty pictures, mostly just the two of them, obviously taken themselves, in various poses, in the kitchen, on her couch, in a park, though the one dated first had the rest of her friends in it.
"Well at least we know what Adam looks like now. We just need a surname. Anything else?" Lynley asked.
"Family pictures, a budget sheet, and a few ebooks. Just about to check her history." She clicked onto the browser. "Mainly baby and hairdressing sites. Facebook as well." She clicked on one and it turned out Jessica was still logged in. She managed to navigate her way to the recent posts link.
Lynley had hunkered down at this point, head behind her shoulder, so close she could hear him breathe. She turned her head to look at him and nearly bumped into him. He smiled sheepishly and backed away ever so slightly. She looked back at the screen. "Looks like its mainly styling tips or," she clicked again, "best things to satisfy cravings. If she was having problems it's not obvious."
Lynley stood up as she switched the computer off. "All right, all the same, bring it in, we'll get someone to analyse it properly, there may be something hidden."
She nodded and gathered the power cable for the netbook, then filled in a receipt for it and left it on the table.
Lynley was already out the door, knocking on the neighbour's door when she caught up with him. There was no answer and they looked around on the landing, checking on the flat above Jessica's.
No answer either.
They headed back to the car, and Barbara put the computer in the back seat. She turned round to catch Lynley staring into space.
He collected himself before she said anything and he gave her an apologetic smile as he went to start the car.
"Are you really all right?" She couldn't take anymore of the light footing around she was doing and he stopped, hand still on the key. He sighed, not looking at her as he answered.
"I'm fine, Barbara,"
She couldn’t help but let out a small snort of disbelief and he smiled slightly at her, looking back out the windscreen when he spoke again. "I am fine, it's just," he paused, "well a case like this is horrible at the best of times."
They sat in silence for a moment
"I'm sorry."
He looked properly at her. "You've nothing to be sorry for."
She opened her mouth to speak but he beat her to it. "I know what you mean, Barbara." He started the car. "To be honest, it's hurting less and less and some days it doesn't hurt at all."
"Which of course you worry about."
He looked at her,
"Just saying," she held her hands up in front of her as if for protection.
He sighed. "You're right." He pulled out into the road and changed the subject. "Will I drop you off at the station or your place? I think it's marginally closer."
"The station. There is no way I'm getting the tube in tomorrow." She tried to cover exactly how worried she still was.
"All right. I want to meet up at eight though, see if we can't lean on the phone company to get the details a bit earlier."
"Okay."
He put the radio on, some sort of easy listening station that blended into the background and they fell into silence again, though that didn’t stop her glancing across at him occasionally to check how he was.
Part Two