Once Upon a Lie by Lisa Ballantyne

Author:Lisa Ballantyne
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
Published: 2020-11-12T00:00:00+00:00

19

DETECTIVE INSPECTOR PAMELA BROOKES

August 2019

Brookes was on hold. She nudged the receiver into the space between her neck and her shoulder to allow her to reach over and tease a biscuit from a packet on a colleague’s desk. It was late afternoon and she hadn’t eaten since breakfast. She was waiting to speak to the specialist lip-reader who had viewed the CCTV footage of Clare and Lorraine outside the gallery. In her inbox, and open on her desktop, was the new forensics report on DNA samples retrieved from Theo’s clothing. Brookes crunched as she flicked through the paper copy on her desk, and the open documents on screen.

Brookes had read the report last night, in bed, Mike asleep at her side. It had been nearly one o’ clock when she turned out the light and only realised on her way to the bathroom that Jack was still on his computer. She had chased him off to bed.

The principal forensic scientist had returned a number of positive results based on techniques that weren’t available at the time of the 2008 trial. Previously invisible cellular material had been found on Theo’s sleepsuit. Degraded deposits that had returned only a weak DNA profile in 2008, had now been reworked with improved results.

These results had identified Clare’s DNA on specific, targeted areas of the sleepsuit – the underside of his panda hood and the tie of the drawstring cord on the neck of the panda suit.

Brookes was preparing to submit her new evidence to the procurator fiscal, in the hope of gaining a retrial.

‘Detective Brookes … It’s Joanna Curran here. Are you still there?’

Brookes swilled down a gulp of lukewarm coffee. She had drunk far too much coffee today.

‘I’m still here,’ she said, again shouldering the phone so that she could type. She had been waiting on the line for so long that she had been automatically logged off her computer. She logged in again and brought up the lip-reader’s transcript of the CCTV footage of Clare and Lorraine meeting at the Newhaven Gallery. Brookes had received the transcript only a few hours before.

‘I’m so sorry to keep you waiting. I was on another line. I understand you wanted to chat through some of the things in the transcript?’

Joanna Curran’s accent was English, clear and crisp.

‘Yes, thank you. I’ve only had a chance to quickly read it, but it was more than I’d hoped for.’

‘Yes, it was very successful. The picture quality was excellent. There were only one or two places where I’ve indicated that sentences were indecipherable because the target was turning away, or touching the mouth area. Overall, I was able to get the transcription, which you have there.’

‘I think what I wanted to understand was … how reliable is the transcription?’

‘Unless I have added a note, then what I have transcribed is what was said.’

Brookes felt emboldened. ‘There is a section of the video, towards the end, around the five-minute mark, where the subjects appear to be arguing. There is a quick exchange of words.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.