When the court rises, I watch the detective carefully. I slip out as quickly as I can, and try to head in his direction. For a moment, I can’t find him, and I worry he has left already. But then I see him retreating down the corridor, his footfalls echoing against the high ceilings.
‘DCI Carter?’
He stops, turns round slowly, looks me up and down.
‘Katie Wheeler, I presume,’ he says.
‘That’s me.’ I smile, pleased.
‘I had a feeling it was you, eyeballing me from the press bench.’ His tone is stern, but he looks as if he might be suppressing a smile. ‘You do realise stalking is actually a crime, don’t you?’
‘Sorry. Like I said in my message –’
‘Messages.’
‘Oh, right. Yes. Messages … um, I was hoping we could have a chat. About the background.’
He opens his mouth to speak, but stops when another reporter brushes past, shooting me a suspicious glance.
‘Look,’ he says, lowering his voice, ‘you have to go through the press office like everyone else, Katie. You know that.’
I do know that. In theory. But I have done my homework – well, I’ve asked Chris, the crime correspondent – and so I know that DCI Mark Carter is a bit old school, and therefore not averse to chatting to reporters, sometimes. And that he’s done his thirty years with the Cambridgeshire Constabulary, and is expected to retire not long after this case.
‘Please?’ I say, in a way I desperately hope is charming. ‘Just a couple of tiny questions? All embargoed until the end of the trial, obviously. And definitely, definitely off the record.’
He says nothing, but he doesn’t say no. He glances over my shoulder, at the door that says REST AREA.
‘The coffee in there is horrible,’ I add.
He laughs, rolls his eyes. ‘Fine, you win,’ he mutters. ‘Costa, round the back. Downstairs table. Fifteen minutes. Max.’
In the end, he doesn’t give away much, but it is enough to fill in some gaps. As I suspected, the police and prosecutors are incredibly nervous about this trial. The victim has already been vilified on social media, something DCI Carter believes has been led by friends of the defendants. He also thinks the boys and their wealthy families have been tacitly supporting this vile campaign against her – though it sounds like he doesn’t have proof. There are even rumours of the boys’ fathers offering substantial sums in return for any evidence against the victim.
Meanwhile, the girl has already had to have two new identities as a result of being named on the internet. She has been moved away, for her own protection, to an area where she has no family support. Something he says makes me wonder if she has made an attempt on her own life.
‘I’m trusting you to tread carefully here,’ he says firmly, jabbing a stirring stick into the remains of his coffee and swirling it around. ‘This is all for the end, and nothing came from me.’ He glances down at my notebook. ‘No quotes.’
‘I could just put “a source close to the –”’
‘No.’
He is staring down into his coffee cup. I pause, wondering if I should push my luck. After a few moments, I slide him a sealed envelope, a letter I wrote last night.
‘Is there any chance you could pass this to the victim?’
DCI Carter looks up, sees the envelope. He almost laughs.
‘Katie, I really wouldn’t hold your breath.’
‘I know. But if there is any possibility. We would love to talk to her. You know, so she can tell us her side.’
He sighs. I can tell he’s heard it all before. All the same, he takes my letter, puts it in his jacket pocket. Then he wipes his mouth.
‘Anyway. I need to get off.’
I stand up. ‘Thanks so much. Can I have your card? Your … mobile number maybe? Just in case there’s, um, anything else?’
He rolls his eyes, reaches inside his jacket, flicks out a card between two fingers. ‘Just for you.’ He fixes two pale blue eyes on me, taps the card against the table. ‘Not everyone in the bloody office. Got that?’
‘Absolutely.’ I grin. ‘Thanks.’
‘And don’t talk to me at court. I don’t want the whole world on my case.’
‘Got it.’
I feel the thickness of his card in my hands. He pulls his coat off the back of his chair, swings it over his broad shoulders.
‘Thanks for talking to me,’ I hear myself babbling. ‘Really. I’m so grateful. And, you know, good luck.’