Blood Rush (Lilly Valentine) (12 page)

The girl sitting on the other side of the table, her left leg slung over the arm of her chair, so that her groin almost shouted at him from inside her jeans, looked as if the interview room at the police station was her second home. From the list of previous
convictions
detailed on the print-out, it more or less was.

Jack hadn’t come across Chika before, but he knew a hundred girls just like her. Angry. Resentful. Fearless.

She pulled a packet of Marlboro from her pocket and took out a cigarette.

‘Got a light?’ She held it between her teeth.

Jack pointed to the no smoking sign on the wall.

‘I thought there was an exception in jail,’ she said.

‘You’re not in jail.’

Chika removed the cigarette from her lips and rolled it between her thumb and forefinger.

‘What if I go mad without my nicotine?’ She smiled.

‘I think you’ll manage.’

Chika held his gaze, then leapt forward with a scream,
slamming
her hands down on to the table, crushing the cigarette in her palm. The door was flung open and a uniform jumped into the room.

‘Everything okay?’ His eyes darted around.

Jack nodded. ‘Just this one messing about.’

The uniform shook his head and left, while Chika settled back into her chair, chuckling.

Jack brushed the strands of tobacco on to the floor. ‘You finished?’

‘Just a little joke.’ Chika was still laughing. ‘To brighten things up.’

‘How about we leave the comedy to Michael McIntyre, and you and me get on with this,’ said Jack.

Chika wagged a finger at him. ‘You ain’t no fun.’

Jack watched Chika carefully. Everything about her was what he would have expected. The body language, the piss-taking. And yet.

‘Tell me where you were on Monday night,’ he said.

Chika shrugged.

‘It was the night Malaya Ebola was attacked in Hightown,’ he said.

Chika didn’t reply.

‘Malaya’s a friend of yours, isn’t she?’ asked Jack.

Again, Chika said nothing.

Jack sighed. Non-cooperation with the police was as natural to these kids as breathing. If Chika’s own mother had been beaten up, she wouldn’t have volunteered any information.

‘Listen,’ he said, ‘I’m not accusing you of anything.’

Chika tossed her head back. ‘So why you come to my house and bring me down here?’

‘Because I need to talk to you.’ Jack leaned forward. ‘Malaya told me you knew something.’

Chika’s eyes opened wide. ‘What she say?’

Jack put his hand on the table and splayed his fingers. He may as well be honest.

‘She didn’t say anything, just your name.’ He saw Chika’s shoulders relax. ‘All I want to know is if you know anything at all about it.’

Chika’s tongue poked out from between her lips, a startling pink against her smooth, dark skin and she blinked at him. He was wasting his time. She had no intention of telling him
anything
at all.

‘If you don’t help me, this assault on Malaya will go
unpunished
, and everything will just carry on as normal.’

Her tongue was still resting on her bottom lip, obscene and slippery. Jack gulped.

‘Until it all happens again,’ he said, ‘and maybe next time one of you will die.’

She didn’t react, her body still, her breathing even. She didn’t care. Life, death, it was all one and the same.

‘All I need is a name,’ he said. ‘I’ll do the rest.’

Almost imperceptibly something in the air between them changed. Chika’s mind changed gear. He could almost see it. Then, like a bubble, it burst.

‘A name.’ His voice was hoarse.

She stared at him for a long time, her tongue mocking him.

‘Tanisha McKenzie,’ she said.

The panini was hot and soft to the touch, dusted with flour and oozing with mozzarella. Lilly took a bite, basil-infused oil sticking to her lips. She had sworn off these calorie-laden little devils after Alice reached four months and the baby weight was showing no signs of leaving its home on Lilly’s hips and thighs. Today, though, she’d allowed herself a treat. It felt like life was going her way and she deserved it.

She took another huge bite when her mobile rang. She answered with her mouth full of food.

‘Lil, it’s Jack.’

She chewed frantically. Please God, he was calling to make peace and arrange to see Alice.

‘Hi.’ Her voice was muffled by the food.

‘Everything okay?’ he asked.

She forced the sandwich to the back of her mouth and
swallowed
. ‘Yeah. It’s good to hear from you.’

He didn’t respond. Knowing Jack, he was embarrassed. She wondered if she should offer to cook him some dinner as a peace offering.

‘Lil,’ he said at last, ‘I’m afraid there’s a bit of a problem.’

‘What’s that then?’

Jack coughed. He always did that when he was thinking what to say next. Lilly imagined he would be smoothing down his tie too, if he was wearing one.

‘Your client, Tanisha McKenzie,’ he said, ‘we need to speak to her again about the attack on Malaya Ebola.’

Lilly’s heart sank.

‘We’ve evidence now, that she was involved,’ he said.

‘What evidence?’

Jack coughed again. ‘I’ll fill you in when you get down here.’

‘Get down where?’

‘The station,’ he said. ‘Uniform are bringing McKenzie in now.’

Jesus. This was serious
.

‘I thought I’d just …’ He paused. ‘I thought I’d just give you a heads-up, so you can arrange things.’

‘Right.’

Lilly prodded her panini. It had gone cold, the cheese like white plastic. She pushed it away, her appetite gone. At least it was good for her diet.

‘What on earth’s going on?’

Annabelle leapt out of her chair as soon as Lilly entered the interview room. ‘We’d barely got back home from your office when the police came to the house and arrested Tanisha. They insisted on bringing her here in a squad car and I had to follow behind.’

Lilly led Annabelle back to her chair and smiled at Tanisha who was sitting quietly in the corner.

‘We’ve been stuck in here for over half an hour and no one will tell us anything.’ Annabelle’s cheeks were crimson. ‘It’s a
barbaric
way to treat a child.’

Lilly nodded. There was no point explaining to Annabelle that the police had every right to place Tanisha in a cell and make Annabelle wait outside.

‘They say there’s evidence that Tanisha attacked that girl, but they won’t say what,’ Annabelle gabbled. ‘I tried to explain that this was all a terrible mistake but they just don’t want to listen.’

Lilly held up her hand to calm the situation.

‘I’ve spoken to the officer in the case and he tells me that a witness has placed Tanisha at the scene.’

As soon as Lilly had arrived at the station, she’d tracked Jack down for details. All he’d been able to tell her was that another girl had stated that Tanisha
had
been at the rec on the night of the crime.

‘Is that it?’ Lilly had been astonished.

Jack had coughed. As well he bloody might.

‘That’s hardly firm evidence,’ she told him.

‘A girl nearly died,’ he said. ‘Would you expect me to just ignore it?’

Of course she didn’t expect that, any more than he expected Lilly to be happy about it.

‘This witness is apparently very clear that, on the night of the attack, Tanisha was present,’ Lilly informed them.

Tanisha and Annabelle both looked at Lilly in surprise.

‘That’s not possible,’ said Annabelle. ‘There must be some mistake.’

Tanisha narrowed her eyes. ‘Who made the statement?’

Lilly checked her scribbled notes. She could barely read her own writing.

‘Chika something,’ she said.

With a roar, Tanisha got to her feet and punched the wall.

‘That fucking bitch,’ she screamed.

She pulled back her arm to punch for a second time but Annabelle crossed the gap between them and caught hold of the girl’s fist. The force pushed Annabelle’s own hand into the plaster. The knuckle crunched but Annabelle didn’t flinch.

‘No, darling, stop that,’ she whispered.

Tanisha’s eyes were bright with tears and she snorted hard through her nose. Annabelle, her hand still wrapped around Tanisha’s balled fist, led her away from the wall, back to the chairs.

‘We can explain all this to Miss Valentine,’ she said.

‘Explain what?’ Lilly asked.

Annabelle turned to her, but didn’t let go of Tanisha. ‘The girl in question is called Chika Mboko. She and Tanisha were in care together. They have a history.’

Lilly raised an eyebrow.

‘She’s a liar,’ Tanisha shouted. ‘She’d do anything to get me.’

Annabelle gently placed Tanisha’s hand in her lap. Her own knuckle was bleeding.

‘There was an argument between the girls,’ she said. ‘Chika harbours a lot of ill will against Tanisha.’

‘Enough to lie to the police?’ asked Lilly.

‘I’m afraid so,’ Annabelle nodded. ‘Chika isn’t an honest person. She’s been in trouble many, many times.’

‘To be fair, so has Tanisha,’ said Lilly.

‘That’s true,’ Annabelle’s eyes widened with sincerity, ‘but with a baby on the way, she is trying to change her life. Chika, on the other hand, has no interest in anything but drugs and violence.’

‘She’s poison,’ Tanisha said.

Lilly pressed her lips together, weighing the options.

‘This is what we’re going to do. I’ll explain that you weren’t present, but you say nothing.’ She fixed her eyes on Tanisha. ‘You answer no questions whatsoever.’

Annabelle was shaking her head, her hair waving around like wild grass.

‘But shouldn’t she explain why Chika would make all this up?’

‘I’ll do that.’ Lilly jabbed herself with her thumb. ‘I don’t want Tanisha saying anything that will make matters worse.’

She let the proposal remain in the air for a second, then nodded.

‘Anything the officer says, you answer
no comment
.’

Tanisha shrugged. ‘Suits me.’

‘Okay, then,’ said Lilly. ‘Let’s put this nonsense to bed once and for all.’

Jack angled the camera at Tanisha and read out the caution. She kept her head down, her eyes in her lap. The vicious striplight above bounced off her scalp, exposed by a parting so straight it could have been drawn on with a ruler.

‘Do you understand, what I’ve told you, Tanisha?’ he asked.

She tilted her head towards Lilly, her nose ring glinting.

‘Tanisha?’ he repeated.

Lilly placed a notepad on the table in front of her and cleared her throat. It didn’t bode well.

‘For the sake of the tape, I’m going to read out a short
statement
on behalf of my client,’ she said. ‘But I need to make it clear that I have advised her not to answer any of your questions.’

Jack sighed. ‘Fine.’

‘My client wishes to make it clear that she was not present at the rec in Hightown where we understand this crime was committed. You say that you have a witness who has stated
otherwise
, but the defence has not been afforded a copy of their statement.’

‘There hasn’t been time …’ Jack tried to interrupt, but Lilly put up her hand.

‘And in any event,’ she continued, ‘it is our contention that
any
evidence provided by this particular witness is unreliable.’

‘On what basis?’ Jack asked.

‘She has been convicted of many criminal offences, including matters of dishonesty, as you well know.’

Jack felt scarlet heat begin to travel around the base of his neck. Tanisha’s record was far from squeaky clean, but if he wanted this interview to have any chance of standing up in court, he had to avoid mentioning it, otherwise Lilly would have it excluded as prejudicial.

‘More importantly,’ Lilly went on, ‘this witness and my client have a history of animosity, so I think we have to ask ourselves whether anything she says against my client is motivated by
something
other than social conscience.’

Jack didn’t speak. He knew from experience that Lilly was far from finished.

‘Frankly, I’m surprised the police didn’t bother to check these facts before bringing my client back in for questioning,’ she said.

‘What makes you sure that we didn’t?’ Jack pushed his finger under his collar.

Lilly gave a small smile. ‘Because that would mean you knew all this but decided to ignore it, and I have too much respect for the police to believe that.’

Jack almost laughed. Lilly was a consummate performer.

‘What do you have to say, Tanisha?’ he asked.

‘I’ve already explained that my client will not be answering your questions,’ said Lilly.

Jack ignored her. ‘Come on, Tanisha, are you really telling me you don’t want to set the record straight?’

‘I’ve already explained …’

This time it was Jack who put up his hand. ‘Whilst I have as much respect for you as you do for the police, Miss Valentine, you know full well that I am entitled to put a few things to Tanisha.’

Lilly narrowed her eyes but nodded.

‘Are you seriously expecting me to believe that Chika just made it all up?’ he asked.

‘Are you seriously saying that Chika isn’t a born liar?’ said Lilly.

Jack felt the warmth seep across his cheeks. ‘The question was to Tanisha.’

Tanisha kept her head down. ‘No comment.’

‘Sure, you might have had a little falling out, but would that be enough for her to try to get you locked up?’

‘No comment.’

‘Because that’s what could happen, you know?’ said Jack. ‘You could be locked up for a very long time.’

‘No comment.’

He paused. It wouldn’t matter how long he carried on, Tanisha wouldn’t crack. Lilly was a great lawyer and would have advised Tanisha on all the tricks of the trade. It was time to end the interview.

‘So as I understand it, you’re saying you were definitely not at the rec in Hightown on the night of the attack upon Malaya Ebola,’ he said.