The part that I hate most about this job is that everyone in this place hates my guts.
To put this in some sort of context, I am here, as a Major Crimes detective, in this small community to conduct an investigation into a particularly heinous crime, the systematic rape of a young girl.
As an outsider from the city I have been treated as a leper, someone that the locals would prefer not to speak with, and to not answer any of my questions. I got the impression that, while everyone either knew who the perpetrators were, or had worked it out for themselves, they were reluctant to give them up to the police.
"Don't know what you're talking about." Was the most common response to my questions, closely followed by "You're wasting your time talking to us." Not even the threat of court orders forcing them to speak helped. I would somehow have to break down the barriers, and knowing small towns, this was not going to be easy.
The girl in question was not speaking, in fact, hadn't spoken about the incident at all. It was her mother who went to the police, claiming that the members of the local under 20 football team had all participated in this.
"I didn't ask for your help." Not very encouraging opening words from Sergeant Radcliffe, the local law enforcement in this town.
"I realise that, but the girl's mother complained to her local Member of Parliament so it got tossed to us to investigate. She didn't feel that it would be investigated properly by you, given your relationship in this community."
"Her," There was disdain in his voice, what was to come would not be helpful to my investigation. "She has not fitted in with this community, never tried."
"What can you tell me about her?"
"Not much to tell. Six years ago Ted Smithson lost his wife in an accident. He moped around town for a year or so. The local ladies tried their best to cheer him up but he wasn't having it. He blamed them for the accident that killed her."
"What happened?"
"It was after one of their regular get-togethers and they apparently did some serious drinking. Maddie was a passenger in a car that skidded off the road and hit a tree. The impact was on the passenger side front door, and although she was wearing her seat belt, she suffered massive head injuries and died before getting to hospital. The other three only had minor injuries. Ted couldn't handle this and lost the plot for some time. Four years ago he signed up to one of those matrimonial web sites and they fitted him up with Simone. Things went downhill from there. The ladies were upset at him for seeking love outside the town, and Simone had a young daughter, Felicity, who was thirteen at the time. She tried to fit in with the kids at school, but the door was slammed in her face. This caused tensions in the marriage and Ted started drinking heavily. He was walking home from the pub and was hit by a car. Simone claimed that it wasn't an accident. There was no evidence to support her claim."
"So you believe that this accusation to be more of the same?"
"I have investigated, but there is no evidence to support her claim this time either."
"From experience, you won't get anyone to dob in the lads that are alleged to have been involved. The best that I expect to get from them would be that the girl in question was up for it and was consensual, end of story. But, and this is a big but, the Minister believes the mother and won't settle for anything less than a full and transparent investigation into the allegations. Given that there is an election coming up, he is willing to sacrifice his popularity in this town for the greater good of this electorate. So, like it or not, I do not have any option other than to investigate fully, and the sooner the good folks of this town realise that saying nothing will only prolong the agony, the better."
"I'll have a word in important ears and see what eventuates."
"You do that." I left him to have his word in important ears and walked back to my hotel where, to be honest, I was not well received.
"Sergeant Rogers, there's a message for you." According to her name badge, her name was Rita, and this was the first time that she had voluntarily spoken to me. Up until now, I had to drag words from her, two at a time.
I looked at the message slip that she handed me, it was from my Inspector. I couldn't understand why he hadn't called my mobile. I borrowed the phone at the reception desk and rang him. "Are you making any progress?"
"It will take time, the locals are not being cooperative."
"The Minister expects results, the right results."
"If I push too hard his standing in this town will drop into negative territory."
"He's aware of that, but, and these were his words, to lose a couple of hundred votes is not going to make a huge difference at the next election, but to not get a result will. So apply as much pressure as necessary."
While I didn't have the phone on speaker, Rita was close enough to hear his words, and these would be spread around town in a matter of minutes. I realised that this was exactly why he hadn't called my mobile.
I went to my room and rang Simone. "Would you be available for a chat in, say, fifteen minutes?"
"Yes."
"Good, I'll see you then."
I knocked on the door. "It's open, come in." The voice came from the rear of the house. I walked through and noticed several packing cases stacked against a wall. "You'll have to excuse the mess, we're packing and getting out of this place as soon as we can."
"I would encourage you to stay for a while yet. If you leave we will not get anywhere with our investigations."
"Have you made progress? From what I have heard, no-one's talking to you."
"True, it hasn't been easy getting the locals to open up, but I wouldn't be surprised if we don't begin to make progress. If you leave, they will believe that they have won and the investigation will be shut down. I do not want that to happen."
"If it was just me, I'd stay until the last of them are punished, but I have to think of Felicity, she has withdrawn into herself and I can't get through to her."
"Maybe if I was to have a word with her. . ." I left the comment unfinished, the choice was hers.
"You can try . . ." Simone left hers unfinished.
I followed her down the hallway to the door of Felicity's room. Simone knocked. "Go Away!"
"Darling, Sergeant Rogers would like to speak to you."
"I have nothing to say to him that will make any difference."
"Felicity," I said as softly as I could, I didn't want to scare her by sounding official. "I know exactly what you are going through, this situation is not new to me. I want to help you, I know that I can help you, but I need for you to at least talk to me. If I have to rely on what I've been told by the good folks here, we will get nowhere. I need to get as much information as you can give me so that I can wrap this up as quickly as possible. Then you will have a better chance to get on with the rest of your life."
"I have no rest of life to get on with."
