DI Jack Frost 02 - A Touch of Frost

frantically tried to push past Frost to get to the lift and the ward. He gently restrained her.
    ‘It couldn’t possibly be Karen, Mrs Dawson. The victim is at least thirty - maybe even older . . .’
    Dawson froze, staring at the detective in open-mouthed incredulity. ‘Am I hearing you correctly? You thought this woman, this thirty-year-old woman, was my daughter? My wife and I have been worried sick because you told us our daughter had been raped and beaten, and all the time . . . all the time it was a thirty-year-old woman!’
    All Frost could do was shuffle his feet, mumble how sorry he was, and wish that Dawson would push off home so he could face his own humiliation in private.
    With a sudden lunge, Dawson grabbed Frost by the lapels of his coat. ‘Sorry? Is that all you can say?’ Then, with a look of contempt, he pushed him away and wiped his hands down the front of his coat. ‘You stupid, bloody incompetent fool, I’m not going to soil my hands on you.’ He took his wife’s arm and led her out. At the main doors he paused. ‘Find my daughter, you bastard,’ he said, and then they stepped out into the dark.
    Frost flopped down on the bench, which was still warm from Mrs Dawson, and fumbled for his cigarettes. Opposite, on the wall, a large red-and-white sign frowned its disapproval: No Smoking . . . Please! His hand returned from his pocket, empty. ‘As you’ve said please,’ he said aloud.
    He heard someone clearing his throat. He looked up and there was Webster. ‘Did you hear all that, son?’
    Webster nodded.
    ‘A stupid, incompetent fool!’ Frost repeated. ‘And he’s right . . . that’s just what I am.’
    From his inside pocket he again took out the photograph and studied it. He would have to start thinking of Karen as a schoolgirl again, far too young for boys, too young to keep contraceptives in her handbag. So who was the anonymous victim, and why the fancy dress?
    He pushed himself up from the bench. ‘Come on, son, let’s nip up to ward C3 and see what we can find out.’
    ‘It isn’t our case,’ protested Webster.
    ‘I know, son. My trouble is I’m such a nosey bastard.’

    Sue Harvey was waiting for them by the door of C3, a small side ward with only four beds. ‘The doctors are with her now,’ she whispered, pointing to the end bed, which was screened off by curtains.
    After a few minutes the curtains jerked open and a small Asian doctor in a white coat emerged, followed by the night nurse. Behind them, on the bed, a white huddle, absolutely motionless. The night sister whispered something to the doctor and pointed to the two detectives. He examined them with tired eyes, then walked over.
    ‘How is she, Doc?’ asked Frost.
    ‘Still unconscious. She has been punched, kicked, and badly beaten. There are two fractured ribs, a broken nose, fracture of the jaw, and hairline skull damage. In addition, she has severe bruisings, and contusions all over her body. There are external marks on the throat, which is badly swollen, indicative of manual strangulation; also, of course, internal bruising. I imagine she was rendered unconscious, then repeatedly kicked and punched while she was lying on the ground.’
    ‘Would the beating have been before or after she was sexually assaulted?’
    The doctor frowned and looked puzzled. ‘Sexually assaulted? Who said she was sexually assaulted?’ He turned to the night sister and spread his hands in appeal. ‘Did I say she was sexually assaulted?’
    It was Frost’s turn to frown and look puzzled. ‘Are you saying she wasn’t raped?’
    ‘Raped? If my patient had been raped, do you think I am such a damn fool I would not have mentioned it?’
    Frost shook his head, then wiped his face with his hands. He just couldn’t believe this! ‘You’re quite sure, Doc? You wouldn’t like to nip over and take another look?’
    Indignantly, the little man pulled himself up to his full height. ‘Are you questioning my competence, Inspector? I have examined her. There are definitely no signs of recent sexual congress, nor of any attempt of forced sexual congress. You obviously cannot take in what I am saying, so you will please excuse me. I have other patients to attend to.’ He pushed past them, bustling out of the ward, his white coat flapping behind him.
    Frost scratched his head and tried to make sense of this unexpected development. ‘Not raped? He stripped her off but didn’t rape her. It’s like unwrapping your Mars bar then