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‘What’s her name?’
‘Charlotte Danks.’
‘Tell her I’m on my way down.’
FIFTY-SEVEN
On Kim’s instruction, Jack had placed Charlotte in interview room one. For some reason, the woman wasn’t what she’d been expecting. Everything about her was average. Her hair was mid-brown and cut into a bob with a blunt fringe that rested above hazel eyes. Her features were attractive but not striking. In her mind, Birch had been attracted to Charlotte because of her stunning appearance, but as pretty as she was, she wouldn’t have stood out in a crowd.
Kim introduced herself as she sat.
‘Is it true?’ Charlotte asked, clenching her hands together on the table.
Kim needed no explanation of the question. ‘Yes, he’s dead.’
‘I want to see him,’ she said, pushing out her chin in readiness for the battle.
‘I can confirm without question that Terence Birch is dead. I met him on a previous case, and I attended the crime scene. It was him.’
‘Not good enough. I need to see it for myself.’
Kim reached for her phone. ‘I have photos of—’
‘No, I need to see him. There’s no other way.’
‘You’re not related or—’
‘I’m his victim, Inspector. I can assure you that no one has given that man more thought than I have.’
‘Ms Danks, I can’t—’
‘Yes, you can, Inspector,’ she said as her chin began to wobble with emotion. ‘You, as a police officer, can do what you all failed to do for ten years, which is to give me peace of mind.’
Kim briefly considered arguing the point that the force had done everything they could, but it would make no difference. Nothing they’d done had altered the way Charlotte had been forced to leave her life and her family behind for her own safety and sanity.
People often thought that once confronted by the law, individuals stopped their aberrant behaviour, but some criminals wouldn’t be deterred regardless of the consequences. TerenceBirch had been one of them.
Kim opened her mouth to argue again. This wasn’t normal practice.
‘If you’re going to offer anything other than a date and time, please save your breath. Even if I have to camp outside the closest entrance I can find to the morgue with a tent and camping stove, I’m going to do it. I have lost years of my life to that man,’ she said, whispering those last few words.
Kim finally got the reason for the woman’s attitude. It was bravado. Beneath the hostility and the aggression, she needed to know if she could live again.
No amount of assurances from anyone else would give her that peace.
‘Let me take your number and I’ll see what I can do.’
Charlotte quickly rattled off her number, and Kim put it into her phone.
‘If I can swing it, I’d rather you didn’t do it alone.’
‘I’ll be fine. I don’t want my family to know what I’m doing – they’ll just try and talk me out of it.’
And still the secrets couldn’t be left behind.
‘Leave it with me. I’ll be in touch,’ Kim said, standing and opening the door.
‘Thank you, Inspector. I really appreciate your help, and I’m sorry if I came off a bit…’
