Blood Rush (Lilly Valentine) (36 page)

‘I knew you’d want all the unused material, so there it is.’ She nodded at a pile of papers on the end of the table.

Lilly opened her briefcase with her teeth and slid the papers into it with her wrist.

‘As always, Kerry, it’s been a pleasure.’

Outside, she tried to take out a handful to read, but they slipped from her outsized paw and scattered across the floor. Swearing, she knelt to collect them back in.

‘Jesus woman, you’re an accident waiting to happen.’ Jack knelt beside her and scooped them up.

He helped her into a chair. ‘Now, which do you want to read first?’

‘Are you allowed to fraternize with the enemy?’

‘If the chief super walks in, I’ll tell him you used your voodoo powers on me,’ he said. ‘So what’s it to be?’

‘Forensics.’

He shuffled through the papers and placed a sheet on her lap, which Lilly skimread.

‘There was another set of DNA on the knife?’ she asked.

‘Yeah, Annabelle’s, I think,’ he replied. ‘Which is what you’d expect, given it was her knife.’

‘You think it was Annabelle’s or you know?’

‘Cheney was doing the tests, then we all got a bit sidetracked.’

Lilly smiled. Who could blame Jack for not chasing this up? And no doubt it
was
Annabelle’s DNA. But Lilly just wouldn’t be Lilly if she didn’t look under every rock and stone.

‘Grab my phone, would you?’ She held her jacket open.

Jack reached into her inside pocket and pulled out her mobile.

‘Cheney’s on speed dial,’ she told him.

Jack raised an eyebrow.

‘For God’s sake Jack, he’s the senior FI round here.’ She shook her head in despair.

He hit the call button and held it to Lilly’s ear.

‘Cheney.’

‘Hi Phil, it’s Lilly Valentine.’

‘Ha, I knew it was only a matter of time.’

‘Before what?’

‘Before you realized that Jack McNally is a no hoper with a small penis.’ He let out a growl. ‘Time to play with the big boys now.’

Lilly laughed. ‘Sorry mate, my mum won’t let me out today.’

‘Shame.’

‘Now about the knife in the McKenzie case.’ She tapped the page on her knee. ‘It says here there was a second set of DNA. Any match?’

‘We couldn’t find a sausage on the database.’

‘Have the prosecution asked you to check Annabelle O’Leary?’

‘Don’t need to,’ he said. ‘Annabelle’s on the database, she gave a sample when she became a foster-carer.’

Lilly felt a flutter in her stomach. ‘So it’s not Annabelle?’

‘Give the lady a gold star.’

This was good news. Tanisha said she had not killed Chika Mboko, that someone must have stolen the knife. Now there was proof that someone else had indeed used the knife.

‘Like I say, there was no match with anything stored on the database, but then we got lucky,’ said Cheney.

Lilly sat very still. ‘Are you telling me there is a match?’

‘Yup. That old tart McNally brought it in himself. Some girl called Demi Ebola.’

Inside the court room, Lilly lowered herself gently into her chair. Every muscle in her body ached.

When Mr Manchester came scuttling in, it was all she could do to stand.

‘Here we are again.’ He read the charge sheet.

Kerry remained on her feet. ‘Indeed, sir, only this time Miss McKenzie is charged with an even more serious offence than before.’

Lilly glanced at Tanisha in the dock. She smiled at Lilly, resigned to her fate.

‘Then let’s get this case transferred to the Crown Court.’ Mr Manchester gave Lilly a pointed look. ‘Preferably without the three act drama.’

‘If you mean a bail application, sir, then I’m afraid I can’t oblige.’

He glared at her. ‘Are you serious?’

‘Deadly serious.’

He narrowed his eyes and dropped his voice. ‘I will not have my time wasted, Miss Valentine.’

Lilly straightened her back. The scabs across her shoulders prickled and tore.

‘Proceed.’ He waved his hand at her.

Lilly cleared her throat. This was going to be a tough one.

‘The police say, sir, that Tanisha killed Chika Mboko with a knife, yet they have no evidence apart from her fingerprints.’

‘Isn’t that enough?’ scoffed Kerry.

‘Hardly,’ Lilly replied. ‘Tanisha was not found at the scene of the crime. In fact she was found in her room some ten miles away.’

‘She could easily have made her way back,’ Kerry sighed.

‘Perhaps she could, but one would expect her to take some of the scene with her. Forensic examination has found not one micro spot of the victim’s blood on Tanisha.’

‘So she had a wash,’ said Kerry.

Lilly nodded. ‘And at the same time washed her bedding, all her clothes and the walls and carpets of her bedroom, because not one hair or skin cell was found there either. Not bad in an hour.’

Kerry let out a snort that made the hair in her nostrils vibrate.

‘And while we’re considering the issue of DNA, sir, you might also be interested to know that not one drop of Tanisha’s blood, not one hair or skin cell found its way on to the victim.’ She shrugged at the magistrate. ‘It’s almost as if these two girls were never in the same place.’

Mr Manchester leaned forward, his chin in the palm of his hand.

‘Of course the really fascinating thing about all this isn’t the fact that Tanisha’s DNA is not present, it’s the identity of the person whose DNA is.’

Lilly paused. She looked longingly at the water jug, then at her bandaged hands.

‘Go on,’ Mr Manchester urged.

Lilly swallowed the lump in her throat. ‘Tests have confirmed that blood and skin cells from another girl were found on the weapon.’

Every eye in the courtroom opened wide.

‘The girl was called Demi Ebola, the younger sister of Malaya Ebola. I understand that she was found near to the scene of the crime.’

Kerry leant into Jack who nodded and whispered that this was in fact the case.

‘Unfortunately, she died in the terrible accident on the Clayhill Estate, but it’s my belief that she killed Chika.’

Silence fell on the courtroom as they waited for the magistrate to react.

When he spoke, it was slowly. ‘What exactly are you asking for today?’

‘A two week adjournment, sir, for the police to make further investigations. I understand that a vast quantity of evidence was collected at the scene and I’m sure they will want to test every last piece for Demi Ebola’s DNA.’

Kerry groaned. The job would be enormous. Lilly contained a smile.

‘In the meantime, sir, I should like my client to be allowed back to her foster placement.’

The magistrate scratched his head and looked over at Tanisha.

‘I think in the circumstances that would be the only fair course of action.’

Outside court, Jack watched Lilly say goodbye to Tanisha. He had no doubt that she was right.

Demi had known that Chika had stood by while her sister was beaten to a pulp. It went against everything a gang stood for. The ultimate betrayal.

When Tanisha left, he slid over to Lilly and put a hand on her back. She flinched.

‘Sorry.’

‘It’s not you,’ she said. ‘I’m just very, very sore.’

He looked at her. Even now, bandaged and broken, she was bloody gorgeous.

‘Fancy a drink?’

She smiled at him, put a padded hand on his arm. ‘I think I’ll pass, head home for a bath.’

He watched her limp away, knowing now what he should have known an age ago. It was over between them.

‘Did someone mention a drink?’

Carla Chapman appeared next to him.

‘What are you doing here?’ he asked.

‘I’ve been chasing you around all week for my phone,’ she laughed. ‘And I distinctly remember you saying you owed me a drink.’

Jack glanced back at Lilly as she disappeared through the door.

‘So I did,’ he said. ‘So I did.’

Back at the cottage, Lilly fumbled for her key before it dropped on to the step with a ping. She groaned and tried to scoop it up.

When a car pulled up and Karol hopped out, she couldn’t have been more pleased to see him. He looked absurdly handsome in a black Puffa jacket.

‘You’re a sight for sore eyes,’ she smiled.

He gave a dazzling smile.

‘I came over to bring you these.’ He placed a box of papers at her feet and picked up her key. ‘Personal things that have no
business
being in your office.’

‘You’re a godsend,’ she said. ‘Come in for a coffee.’

Karol glanced back at the car and Lilly noticed the driver.

‘That is Patrick,’ he whispered. ‘We are on our way to lunch.’

‘Right,’ said Lilly.

Karol leaned into her. ‘He is a doctor.’

With that he opened the door, slid the box into the hall among the recycling and skipped back to his date.

How had Lilly missed it?

She stepped inside, closed the door behind her and sank to the floor.

Then she laughed until she thought her ribs might crack.

Damaged Goods
A Place of Safety
Dishonour

Helen Black
grew up in Pontefract, West Yorkshire. At eighteen she went to Hull University and left three years later with a tattoo on her shoulder and a law degree. She became a lawyer in Peckham and soon had a loyal following of teenagers needing legal advice and bus fares. She ended up working in Luton, working predominantly for children going through the care system. Helen is married to a long-suffering lawyer and is the mother of young twins.