Acid Row (27 page)

“Do you deny phoning Edward Townsend in Majorca?”

"I am certainly denying that I am in any way connected with my daughter's disappearance."

Tyler took note of the politician's answer. "Don't play games with me Mr. Rogerson,“ he said sharply. ”This is a child's life we're talking about your child's life. Have you spoken to Townsend in the last twenty-four hours, either in person or on the telephone?"

The man paused before he answered. “I have tried to contact him,” he said. “His mobile is either switched off or out of power.” He read the other man's expression correctly. "I had -and have no reason to believe that Amy is with him,“ he said firmly. ”I wished to speak to him in relation to business."

Tyler found his expression less easy to read. Was this another evasive answer when a simple “No' would have sufficed? ”Which one?"

"As far as I'm aware, there is only one. Etstone, his building company."

"We believe he may have Internet businesses. Do you know anything about them?"

Rogerson frowned. “No.”

“Were you aware that he returned to England yesterday morning?”

“No.”

“When were you expecting him back?”

A small hesitation. “I don't believe he mentioned a date to me.”

That was a lie, thought Tyler. "Our information is that he booked a return flight for next Saturday."

The man looked away. “I wasn't aware of that.”

Tyler switched tack abruptly. "Amy made a reverse-charges call two weeks ago to someone she referred to as “Em”. Was that you, Mr.

Rogerson?"

“No.”

“Do you know who it might have been?”

"I've no idea. As I've said several times, I haven't seen or heard from the child in months."

“Your wife suggested she was saying ”Ed" because she swallows her Ds.

Was that something you heard Amy doing when she was living with you?"

“No.”

“Meaning you didn't notice it or she didn't do it?” he asked.

"Both. The demands of my work meant she was usually in bed by the time I came home, but if I'd heard her doing it I would have corrected her."

“Were you close to your daughter, Mr. Rogerson?”

“Not particularly. She was always her mother's child.”

Tyler nodded, as if the statement were reasonable. "Then why threaten to take her away?“ he asked. ”Why frighten Laura with a custody battle?"

Rogerson breathed deeply through his nose. "I've answered that question twice .. . once last night and again before the press conference."

“Answer it once more, please.”

He flicked another glance at his watch, containing his irritation with difficulty. "The agreement Laura and I reached was that the quid pro quo for my not putting obstacles in the way of her taking Amy last September was a promise that if her circumstances changed, the issue of custody would be settled in court .. . with Amy's wishes being paramount. I felt it both reasonable and responsible that the child be given the choice."

“And you were happy to have her back if she chose you?”

“Of course. She's my daughter.”

“Then why didn't she know that?”

The man frowned. “I don't understand the question.”

"If she knew you loved her, why didn't she call you and ask to come home when Laura left Townsend?"

“Presumably because she wasn't allowed to.” Perhaps, like his wife, he feared traps, because his voice took on a persuasive note. "Let me put the question another way, Inspector. Why wasn't Laura prepared to test the issue in court? Wouldn't you say that's pretty good evidence she knew Amy would choose me?"

“Not really,” said Tyler bluntly. "I prefer my evidence simple and straightforward. If Amy had wanted to be with you, she'd have rung you. There's a telephone in the Logans' house. It was freely available for her to make private calls after Laura and Gregory left for work each morning. This was a child in torment. Insecure .. .

lonely .. . being bullied by her babysitters .. . lying to her mother so that Laura could keep on working to find a way out of the mess they were in. You're her father. You were the obvious person to come to her rescue. So why didn't she turn to you for help?"

"Perhaps she tried and I wasn't in. Perhaps she didn't want to upset her mother. Children have complicated reasons for the things they do.

Perhaps it was me she didn't want to upset."

Tyler agreed with the last remark, which was almost certainly true although he would have substituted 'rouse' for 'upset'. It was the nature of this man's arousal that remained obscure. "I have two takes on this so-called “agreement”, Mr. Rogerson,“ he said frankly. ”One is that the only use you've ever had for your daughter was as a stick to beat your wife. Edward Towns-end came at you out of the blue you had no idea Laura had been having an affair with him or was planning to leave you -so you bought some time to conceal your assets. As long as the threat to take Amy away hangs over her head, Laura's too frightened to go near a solicitor because she knows from past experience that the cards are stacked against her."

Rogerson shook his head. "Why can't you just accept that I take my responsibilities as a father seriously? It wasn't my choice that Laura had an affair. Nor was it Amy's. While they were with Edward Townsend and despite Laura's ridiculous insistence on returning my maintenance cheques I was satisfied that my daughter was being properly cared for.

I knew the man, knew the standard of living he enjoyed. There was no such guarantee in a second relationship ... as has been amply demonstrated. I question whether Amy would be missing today had my wife not broken the conditions of our agreement."

Tyler made no reaction at all to this remarkable statement.

“My second take,” he went on, as if the man hadn't spoken, 'is that you were prepared to lend Amy to Townsend for a period of time probably to keep his business. To that end you allowed him to seduce your wife a woman you no longer had any interest in with the sole intention of exploiting your daughter. The only proviso was that Amy should be returned to you when Townsend's infatuation had run its course .. .

either to abuse her yourself or to offer her to other clients.

Whichever the case," he went on firmly, overriding Rogerson's indrawn breath, 'you actively connived in handing guardianship of a ten-year-old child to a man you knew to be a paedophile."

Rogerson's eyes glittered with suppressed anger. "You're on very dangerous ground,“ he warned. ”What basis do you have for an allegation like that?"

"You were Townsend's solicitor at the time of his first divorce. You helped suppress the evidence of his paedophilia."

“I deny that absolutely.”

"Do you deny that tapes of his naked nine-year-old stepdaughter existed and that no mention of them was made during the divorce?"

"All I will say is that certain issues were dropped on the instruction of the wife, who did not want pieces of compromising material concerning her, made public. I had no reason to believe from this material that Edward Townsend was a paedophile. I did and do believe that he is only interested in women."

Tyler stared him down. "Why did Amy cry when you took her to see your parents?"

The sudden switch ratcheted up the other man's irritation. "What's that got to do with anything?" he snapped.

"It was an occasion when Amy was alone with you .. . without her mother."

His face closed immediately. “What are you implying?”

"I'm just wondering why Amy was so unhappy that day that your parents asked you not to bring her again."

"The child cried. Is that so unusual? The occasion was too much for her."

“Why?”

“How the hell!” He broke off to take another calming breath. "Because my parents live in a nursing home, and a fair proportion of the patients have Alzheimer's,“ he said in a more even tone. ”That's frightening to a little girl."

“I thought it was a retirement home.”

"Nursing home .. . retirement home .. . they're much of a much ness “Retirement homes don't cater for Alzheimer's patients.”

There was a short silence. "Then it's my daughter's nature to be shy.

What do you want from me? A detailed analysis of a single day in a child's life?"

Tyler eased back his chair and stretched his legs. "No one else describes her as shy, Mr. Rogerson. All-singing, all-dancing is the description that seems to fit her best. I'm told she likes to make people smile."

This time the silence was a long one.

“I don't see the point you're making,” said Rogerson finally.

"The only other people who say she cried all the time are Kimberley and Barry Logan .. . and they were bullying her mercilessly. They also say she was forever locking herself in the toilet because her stomach was hurting. Your parents said the same thing: "... kept going to the loo with stomach ache but wouldn't be helped“.”

“I don't remember.” Tyler watched the man's eyes drop to his watch again, as if the only thing that worried him was his meeting in Southampton.

"It's a common symptom of abuse, Mr. Rogerson, particularly in girls.

Endless trips to the toilet... a refusal to let anyone help because they don't want the evidence of their abuse to be seen. On a physical level, the pain in the stomach may be due to infection of the urinary tract or genitals. On a psychological level, it's a probable indication of stress .. . possibly anorexic or bulimic-based, where secretive vomiting is commonplace. Your daughter's very thin. She's also obsession ally anxious to please."

Rogerson stared him straight in the eye. "Are you accusing me of child abuse?"

"I'm interested in the timing of your visit to your parents, which falls within the period when Laura and Townsend were having their affair."

"Then I suggest you take it up with Laura. As you've very successfully established in the last ten minutes, my contact with my daughter has been negligible since she was born." He put his palms on the table preparatory to standing up.

Tyler stabbed a finger on to the table. “Stay where you are,” he ordered curtly, “I haven't finished with you yet.”

Rogerson ignored him. “You certainly have,” he said, pushing himself to his feet, 'unless you can produce some evidence of what you've been saying." He started to turn away.

Tyler stood up. "Stop there, please, Mr. Rogerson. I am arresting you for conspiracy and incitement to commit indecency with children.

You do not have to say anything but it may harm your defence if-'

The lawyer swung back to him, his face ugly. "It's you who should stop,“ he commanded, using his finger like a club again. ”I insist these charges be properly explained before you deliver a caution."

' you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence." He stared the other man down. "As a result of your arrest, the police will exercise their right to search any property you occupy or have control over .. . including your personal computer files and hard disk. Do you understand what I've just told you?"

The man's face was devoid of expression, except for a tic that made his left eyelid flicker uncontrollably. He chose to remain silent.

Tyler smiled slightly as he held out his hand. "Your telephone please, Mr. Rogerson."

9 Humbert Street Jimmy listened with increasing dismay to what Harry Bonfield was urging him to do. In effect, to enter number 23 through the back door and negotiate Sophie's release. Either by his own efforts or by taking over Sophie's mobile to start a dialogue between the Hollises, Harry Bonfield and the police.

“Are you still there?” Harry asked when Jimmy didn't reply.

“Yeah, yeah, I'm thinking.” Another pause. "OK, this is how I see it.

You've got a psycho and a nonce shitting themselves because half the estate's camped outside their door, and the only thing that might stop them being ripped to pieces is this doctor they've taken prisoner. They haven't done the sensible thing, which is to use her as a mouthpiece therefore they're planning to stick her in front of them and hold a knife to her throat if anyone bursts in. Plus, they may have raped her already either because they're so deviant they can't help themselves or on the basis that the more frightened she is, the less likely she'll be to try and save herself when the stand-off happens. How's that for a summary?"

“Spot on, I'd say.”

"Right, so what's gonna be different when I burst in? I don't see it makes much difference whether it's one guy or a thousand guys. These Hollises are still gonna be twitched as hell, and the lady's still gonna have a knife to her throat. I don't know nothing about this kind of shit, Doc. If I do it wrong, your friend could be dead. Are you sure it wouldn't be better to wait for the rozzers?"

There was some background conversation again. "Ken Hewitt says the riot police have been ordered to hold back from storming the barricades to avoid the houses along the entrance routes being set on fire. There are two squads circling the fields behind the perimeter wall at the back of the estate, but they estimate another hour before they can assemble a large enough number to make an effective attack. You're our best shot, Jimmy.“ Harry paused. ”You're our only shot. I don't want to put any more pressure on you than I already have, but the word from the helicopter is that some youths in Humbert Street have started petrol-bombing the Hollises' house. They've been stopped for the moment by a small line of people who are trying to protect it, but it doesn't look as if it's going to hold very long."

“Who's in the line?”

“Mostly women.” Harry broke off to listen to Ken Hewitt. "It's being led by a tall, blonde, pregnant girl."

“Shit!”

“Is that your Melanie?”

“Sounds like it.”

“Then you should go to her assistance,” Harry said immediately. "Sophie would expect it ... so would I."

Jimmy didn't answer.

“I think he's gone,” said Harry's voice at the other end.

"Jesus, Doc, give me a break, OK! I'm thinking. Is that allowedr He didn't expect an answer, so he didn't wait for one. "Right, this is what's gonna happen. Forget negotiations. Instead I'm gonna make these two bastards an offer they can't refuse. Do you reckon Sophie's got the balls to come with me if I offer to protect them and get them off the estate? See, it strikes me, the trouble'll die down quicker if the crowd can go inside the house and find it empty. All they'll do is trash the place."