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‘It’s about Terence Birch.’
‘Well, I’d worked that much out. Only dealings my sister had with the police were because of that bastard, but whatever it is, he is not getting near her now.’
‘Ella, I have no intention of placing her in harm’s way. I just need to talk to her.’
‘It’s never gonna happen. I am the only person in touch with her and you’re not getting past me.’
‘Maybe her mum…’
‘Doesn’t know and hasn’t seen Charlotte for over a year, after the bastard managed to trick the last address out of her. Speak to my mum and I’ll come for ya.’
‘You’re threatening a police officer?’ Stacey asked.
‘You contacted me, so if we’re all done, I’ll—’
‘Wait,’ Stacey said, wondering how it had got so hostile so quickly. Normally she would have reacted to the woman’s rudeness and threats, but Stacey understood that she was just trying to protect her sister. And she wanted something from Ella that she wasn’t obliged to give. She had to bring this aggression under control.
‘Look, Ella, I’m sorry to bring this all back. I can’t even imagine what Charlotte went through, or the rest of you. I don’t mean to cause anyone any pain.’
A sigh.
‘It’s okay. I’m a bit overprotective. I don’t want him anywhere near her again. Mum lives daily with the guilt of getting tricked. I really can’t let you talk to Charlotte. She’s finally recovering from her breakdown and any mention of that man will send her backwards. But I’ll help if I can.’
Given what she’d said, Stacey wasn’t prepared to push her any further and she’d take whatever she could get.
‘Can you tell me about what happened?’
‘I’m sure you can see the records.’
‘Tell me what really happened.’
‘The bastard became obsessed. Charlotte never spoke to him. I think she smiled at him once while putting her wheelie bin out. That night she caught him just standing outside her house, staring up at her bedroom window. It didn’t matter what she did, he wouldn’t stop. He took no notice of the police or the courts or the physical threats my boyfriend made. Even spending time in prison did nothing. He turned her into a nervous wreck. She couldn’t eat or sleep for fear of what he was going to do next. She lived behind closed curtains and jumped out of her skin at any unexpected noise. She saw him everywhere she went. He changed her life and her personality completely.’
‘Did he ever actually touch her, hurt her?’ Stacey asked.
‘Do you think that makes a difference? It’s not enough that he tortured her mentally for almost ten years? You’d have preferred him to physically—’
‘No, that’s not what I’m saying,’ Stacey corrected quickly.
She remembered a time when she was about thirteen and the school bully, Kayla, had said she was going to beat her up. Stacey had been terrified and she’d waited for the beating every day. It turned into something she couldn’t stop thinking about day and night, waiting, almost praying, that Kayla would get it over and done with so she could stop fearing it.
Eventually Stacey had walked home from school and timed it to be in Kayla’s path as she and her cronies had passed the park; perfect opportunity. Just get it over with, her mind had screamed. Let me have some peace.
Kayla had walked past her without a second glance, and Stacey had realised it had been an empty threat that meant much less to Kayla than it had to her. It wasn’t on the same level but she got it.
‘Ella, I’m not minimising Birch’s actions or the effect they had on Charlotte, but there’s a reason I need to know for sure.’
‘He’s done it again, hasn’t he? Only this time he’s gone and hurt someone, just like she said he would.’
‘Did he ever touch her?’
‘No, but Charlotte felt it was only a matter of time.’
‘She was really convinced he was going to hurt her?’ Stacey asked.
‘She’d just watched a documentary on Shana Grice who’d been murdered by Michael Lane in 2015.’
Stacey remembered the case. Lane had put a tracker on Grice’s car which notified him every time it moved. One time he’d snatched her phone and grabbed her hair. Eventually he’d entered her home, slit her throat and set fire to her bedroom. She had been nineteen years old.
