Danny could not believe her eyes, but incredulous though the image was, she reacted instantaneously. She threw herself across the room screaming, ‘Get off her, you bastard!’ Her arms flailed as she launched herself over the last few feet.
The man fended her off with the pillow, held like a shield before him, taking all the blows Danny rained down on him.
But he was big and mean and the concept of striking a woman, particularly in this predicament, did not play on his conscience at all. Using the pillow he forced Danny away from him, pushing her roughly. She staggered back.
He dropped the pillow, bunched the fingers of his right hand into a large, hairy fist and drove it towards Danny’s face. It caught her hard, sent her spinning back against Grace’s bed, over the prone figure of the dead girl. Danny knew she did not have the strength or the fighting skill to win here, but she had one thing going for her — long fingernails.
Though dizzy from his punch, she spun round like a panther and lurched towards him again, willing herself to get her claws into his cheeks and dig them in as deeply as humanly possible.
She succeeded. Dramatically so.
Eight fingernails gouged down both his cheeks, drawing rivulets of blood and flesh with them and a howl of pain from the attacker, who reacted by whipping up both his forearms, flicking her hands away and leaving her very open for his next onslaught.
He pummelled her down to the floor and would have gone on, probably to kill her, if Miss Steele hadn’t appeared at the door and shrieked something incomprehensible.
He leapt over Danny, punched Miss Steele out of the way and hurled himself down the corridor towards the open fire escape, which had been his means of entry, and was gone.
Blood dripping from her nose, Danny dragged herself up by the edge of the bed. She looked at Grace’s pale face and placed the tips of her first and second fingers onto her warm neck, checking for the beating of a pulse which she knew she would not find.
Danny then inspected her own fingernails and hoped she had got enough of the man underneath them to identify him through DNA.
Chapter Twenty
In comparison to the previous evening, Saturday morning found Maurice Stanway in his element. He stood before the three magistrates on the Bench in the specially convened court and carefully stacked the files on the table in front of him, adjusted his spectacles and cleared his throat. He squinted contemptuously at the CPS solicitor sitting a few feet away from him; Stanway believed he could run rings round the bugger. He smiled benignly at the magistrate’s clerk and the Bench beyond.
‘ If it may please Your Worships,’ he said with a mouth full of syrup, ‘I represent the defendants in this case, Messrs Gilbert and Spencer…’
In the dock, sitting mutely side by side behind the high brass bars, were the two named persons. Four cops hovered behind them. Neither prisoner was handcuffed.
‘ You have heard my learned friend,’ and there was a slight sneer as Stanway emphasised the word ‘friend’, ‘and I have several submissions to make on behalf of my clients this morning. Firstly, as you know, both are charged with murder, a serious allegation. My first submission is in respect of this charge. It is within my knowledge that the police do not have any evidence to substantiate this charge whatsoever. As you are aware, a dreadful, dreadful incident occurred last night which resulted in the death of the only police witness to this case. It was an incident, I hasten to add, purely coincidental and unrelated to my clients being in custody…’
‘ My arse!’ hissed Danny Furness through clenched teeth. She, Henry and FB were seated at the rear of the court. Henry quickly laid a hand on her arm. He sensed she was about to stand up and heckle some very unprofessional points of view. She was convinced, as was Henry, that Grace’s death was no coincidence.
‘ Shush,’ Henry admonished her.
‘ The prosecution evidence, as I understand, relied one hundred per cent on this unfortunate girl’s evidence.’ Stanway sounded sad. No one could have guessed he was the one responsible for sending her killer round. ‘There is no supporting evidence — nothing. And, to put it simply, the prosecution no longer has a case. To proceed on the evidence of one dead witness would be ludicrous and a criminal waste of public money. On those grounds, I submit to the court that the charge is withdrawn and the case dismissed.’
He paused for effect, then went on: ‘The prosecution have also stated their desire to interview my client about other matters. What are these other matters?’ Stanway took a breath. ‘Let me tell you: in relation to Mr Gilbert, one of Blackpool’s most respected businessmen, a man who supports many local children’s charities, these are matters concerning certain documents found in his house. Yes, Your Worships, documents. I ask you! Does that require a further seventy-two hours in custody? No, I submit it does not. Mr Gilbert will gladly make an appointment to come to the police station and be interviewed at any time suitable to the police, not himself. It is imperative that Mr Gilbert is given his liberty today. He has many businesses to run, many people to employ who depend on him…’
‘ God give me strength,’ Danny blurted, unable to contain herself.
Stanway stopped talking, swivelled slowly and glared at Danny, as did everyone else in court. He pulled his spectacles down his nose and looked over the frames at her. Danny stared defiantly back. Fuck them, she thought.
‘ Please keep quiet, Officer,’ the clerk of the court warned, ‘or I shall have to consider you to be in contempt of court.’
Danny breathed impatiently down her nose.
Stanway resumed his address, but Danny did not hear another word of it. Her mind suddenly felt as if an express train was roaring through it, whilst reliving last night’s horror at the children’s home. Henry kept one eye on her, fully responsive to her tension, knowing she was close to explosion.
When Stanway had finished his submissions, the CPS solicitor asked for a short adjournment.
‘ We are not going to let those bastards back out on the streets!’ Danny smashed a fist onto the table in the police room at the court. ‘No fucking way.’
‘ Danny, Danny. Calm down,’ Henry tried to cool it. ‘We’ve no intention of doing so, but we’ve got to get the submission to the court correct. If we shout at them, they’ll just let them go.’
She took a deep drag on her cigarette, defying the No Smoking signs.
FB addressed the CPS solicitor. ‘That murder charge stands. We are not going to withdraw it. Understand?’
The man nodded.
‘ And,’ FB went on, ‘we don’t want him to have bail, even with conditions. There’s lots more than just documents to talk to him about, such as that other death in East Lancashire and the controlled drugs found in his home. You’ve really got to lay it on thick.’
‘ Right, right.’ The man scribbled on a pad.
‘ Henry — brief this guy up properly, but don’t forget, we don’t want to give away too much in court.’
The court reconvened.
The CPS solicitor stood up nervously. This was his biggest case so far and he wanted to do well.
‘ Your Worships,’ he began when the three men had settled, ‘the charge of murder will not be withdrawn and neither will the application to keep the defendants in custody for further questioning.’ After he’d said those opening words he relaxed into solicitor mode and delivered the half-truths, half-lies Henry had fed him. ‘In relation to the charge of murder, whilst it cannot be denied that the dead girl was a vital witness, we believe it is only right and proper that these two defendants face and answer the allegations in a court of law. Whilst the witness may be dead, her evidence remains valid. Also, as I speak, scientists are still working on the forensic side of things and fully expect to have evidence which supports and complements the evidence of the dead girl.’ That was — almost — a lie. ‘Secondly, not only do the police wish to interview Gilbert about documents found in his house, but also about many other items which point towards other serious offences, and also the police need to question him about another suspicious death, the details of which I do not wish to divulge in open court as they would prejudice the police investigation. If Gilbert did get bail, there is a real possibility of him absconding. He spends a great deal of his time abroad and we believe he would immediately leave the country, together with his co-accused, Spencer, about whom I have the following, submissions to make…’