The Kill Call

you say you’ve moved on and you don’t want to testify,’ added Blake. ‘But there are things we can do. A victim can agree to interview without any commitment to give evidence.’
    ‘Don’t keep calling me the victim.’
    ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Look, you might not be sure about this until you re-read your own statement. That’s often what we find. A woman has tried to forget the incident, put the trauma behind her – of course. But then she goes back and reads the statement she made at the time, and she changes her mind. She agrees to go ahead and give evidence in court.’
    Blake was starting to look a bit flustered at her lack of reaction. He glanced at Superintendent Branagh, as if appealing for support. But Branagh’s face was impassive. For once, she wasn’t weighing in to put pressure on Fry.
    And there must be a reason for that. Fry knew that everything Branagh did had a reason. There might be even more going on in this room than it seemed.
    Fry wiped her palms on the edge of her jacket, then tried to disguise the gesture. Too much of a giveaway.
    ‘In court, you can have a screen, if you want,’ said Blake, leaning forward earnestly. ‘So that the accused can’t see you and you can’t see him. We often take victims into court to show them where they’ll give evidence from, and where everyone sits. We might not need to do that for you, obviously. But you understand what I’m saying? We bend over backwards to make it easier.’
    ‘Easier?’
    ‘Less difficult, then.’
    Rachel Murchison would be from a sexual assault referral centre. Fry knew the police would already have examined the stored exhibits for blood, saliva or semen traces, with the help of the Forensic Science Service. They might have found the tiniest speck of sperm on a tape lift from her clothing. Without statements from independent eye witnesses, the police were reliant on forensic science.
    But in rape cases, juries were the problem. They were notoriously sceptical of a rape victim’s behaviour if she didn’t put up a struggle, didn’t make her refusal absolutely clear, didn’t rush straight to the police, didn’t tell the full story straight away.
    The research said that rape trauma syndrome could make a victim seem unmoved by the experience as she gave evidence in the witness box. But the general public had never read the research. They had expectations of a rape victim – that she should resist physically, make non-consent very plain, that she should rush off to the police station, give a full and consistent account of everything that happened. Without expert witnesses, juries sometimes weren’t deciding cases on the facts, but on preconceived notions.
    ‘In every case I’ve dealt with since joining the unit,’ said Blake, ‘victims have been delighted to be approached. They say that a conviction brings closure, often after many years of torment.’
    ‘But you do need consent to go ahead.’
    He hesitated. ‘In almost one hundred per cent of cases.’
    Fry nodded. DNA techniques had advanced significantly over the last twenty years in terms of sensitivity, reliability, and speed of results. They had become really important in revisiting old cases, reviewing the evidence recovered at the time. Preservation must have been good in Birmingham, because DNA deteriorated over time if it wasn’t kept cold and dry.
    ‘We had the element of luck,’ said Blake. ‘Our suspect had a DNA sample taken when he was arrested for robbery and possession of a firearm. Criminals don’t just commit sexual offences, but other offences too.
    ‘We firmly believe that murderers and rapists who think they’ve got away with it should no longer sleep easily, but should be looking over their shoulder.’
    Out of the corner of her eye, Fry could see that Superintendent Branagh was nodding. It was a sentiment that no one with any sense could disagree with.
    ‘How was he arrested?’ asked Fry. It hardly mattered, but she felt a need to know every little detail, to make the picture come together in her mind. Perhaps it was just that the more detail she asked for, the longer it put off the moment when she would have to make a decision.

    ‘We had intelligence,’ said Blake.
    ‘Intelligence?’
    ‘Information from a member of the public.’
    ‘You mean one of the gang?’
    ‘No.’
    Fry stared at him. She couldn’t imagine what other member of the public he could mean. There had been no witnesses to the assault, at least