Unlikely Graves (Detective Inspector Paul Amos Mystery series) by Rodney Hobson Page A
Authors: Rodney Hobson
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his wife had been married before and he’d never had young girls even after she died.
‘Sarah was spooked out by all this but she was still fascinated. Finally she agreed and we got her up to the bedroom. Randall was naked on the bed when she changed her mind again. Me and Pat were getting really cheesed off by now. Pat demanded to know if she wanted to do it or not. Sarah said yes, no, she wasn’t sure. So Pat grabbed her by the arms and I whipped her clothes off. She struggled at first and tried to cling onto her top as I pulled it down her arms but two of us were too strong for her. Randall was urging us on. Sarah was blubbing. Then we got her onto the bed. Pat kneeled at the bedhead and pinned down her arms. I sat at the bottom and held her legs apart. Sarah just froze. Then he broke her in. She never uttered a sound. When it was over we let her go and she got dressed without saying a word. We told her not to breathe a word of this to a living soul and as far as I know she never did. She was too ashamed.’
‘You do realize you committed rape,’ Amos exclaimed. ‘Just because it was Randall having sex with her doesn’t get you off the hook. Helping him counts as rape on your part.’
‘Get a bloody life,’ Evans fired back. ‘She wanted it, OK? She really wanted to do it but she hadn’t the guts. She was always wanting to join in things then dropping out. Hockey, Friday night boozing, discos and then Randall. Wanting to join in then running off home to mummy half way through. She enjoyed it, really. What a bloody drama queen. Anyway, what sort of case do you think you can put together against me and Pat? Randall’s dead, Sarah daren’t tell you anything and me and Pat aren’t going to give you signed confessions.’
Amos subsided. This was a pretty sharp young woman. How on earth could Swift take it all so calmly, he wondered. It was like juries on sexual assault cases. It was the men who were more likely to convict male defendants while the women let down the victims. Did they really swallow this ‘she must have asked for it’ line or were they punishing the female for letting the side down and leaving herself vulnerable in the first place? Amos could never work it out, yet he knew from experience that women were more likely to acquit sex offenders than men were. He had seen it in court too often. Coldly, Amos said: ‘Sarah Daley didn’t enjoy it, really. She starved herself to death.’
Now it was the turn of Christine Evans to look shocked.
Chapter 21
Amos was relieved to leave the intensity of the sitting room in which he and Swift had been bombarded with so much heavily laden information. The inspector almost gasped for air as he emerged first onto the pavement, like a casual swimmer who has stayed underwater for too long. He did not look back as he walked towards the car, checking himself after a couple of hasty strides that betrayed his discomfort.
Swift, calm and matter of fact, went through the formalities of thanking a smirking Christine for her cooperation and information, adding routinely that ‘we may need to talk to you again’.
Christine was only too eager to assure Swift that she was not going anywhere soon and would be only too delighted to furnish ‘any more details I can remember’.
Swift made no attempt to catch Amos up, walking in unison but a couple of steps behind in the style of a dutiful wife of a past generation. Amos turned on reaching the car, his composure recovered, and nonchalantly tossed her the keys.
‘Do you mind driving?’ he asked unnecessarily. ‘You can think and drive at the same time better than I can.’
Swift caught the keys, though not cleanly. She had expected Amos to lean against the car and ponder for a few moments.
‘Sure,’ she said non-committedly. The car was parked on the wrong side of the road, so she opened the door and slipped in while Amos walked round the front to the passenger side, his face not visible to her.
‘Sarah was spooked out by all this but she was still fascinated. Finally she agreed and we got her up to the bedroom. Randall was naked on the bed when she changed her mind again. Me and Pat were getting really cheesed off by now. Pat demanded to know if she wanted to do it or not. Sarah said yes, no, she wasn’t sure. So Pat grabbed her by the arms and I whipped her clothes off. She struggled at first and tried to cling onto her top as I pulled it down her arms but two of us were too strong for her. Randall was urging us on. Sarah was blubbing. Then we got her onto the bed. Pat kneeled at the bedhead and pinned down her arms. I sat at the bottom and held her legs apart. Sarah just froze. Then he broke her in. She never uttered a sound. When it was over we let her go and she got dressed without saying a word. We told her not to breathe a word of this to a living soul and as far as I know she never did. She was too ashamed.’
‘You do realize you committed rape,’ Amos exclaimed. ‘Just because it was Randall having sex with her doesn’t get you off the hook. Helping him counts as rape on your part.’
‘Get a bloody life,’ Evans fired back. ‘She wanted it, OK? She really wanted to do it but she hadn’t the guts. She was always wanting to join in things then dropping out. Hockey, Friday night boozing, discos and then Randall. Wanting to join in then running off home to mummy half way through. She enjoyed it, really. What a bloody drama queen. Anyway, what sort of case do you think you can put together against me and Pat? Randall’s dead, Sarah daren’t tell you anything and me and Pat aren’t going to give you signed confessions.’
Amos subsided. This was a pretty sharp young woman. How on earth could Swift take it all so calmly, he wondered. It was like juries on sexual assault cases. It was the men who were more likely to convict male defendants while the women let down the victims. Did they really swallow this ‘she must have asked for it’ line or were they punishing the female for letting the side down and leaving herself vulnerable in the first place? Amos could never work it out, yet he knew from experience that women were more likely to acquit sex offenders than men were. He had seen it in court too often. Coldly, Amos said: ‘Sarah Daley didn’t enjoy it, really. She starved herself to death.’
Now it was the turn of Christine Evans to look shocked.
Chapter 21
Amos was relieved to leave the intensity of the sitting room in which he and Swift had been bombarded with so much heavily laden information. The inspector almost gasped for air as he emerged first onto the pavement, like a casual swimmer who has stayed underwater for too long. He did not look back as he walked towards the car, checking himself after a couple of hasty strides that betrayed his discomfort.
Swift, calm and matter of fact, went through the formalities of thanking a smirking Christine for her cooperation and information, adding routinely that ‘we may need to talk to you again’.
Christine was only too eager to assure Swift that she was not going anywhere soon and would be only too delighted to furnish ‘any more details I can remember’.
Swift made no attempt to catch Amos up, walking in unison but a couple of steps behind in the style of a dutiful wife of a past generation. Amos turned on reaching the car, his composure recovered, and nonchalantly tossed her the keys.
‘Do you mind driving?’ he asked unnecessarily. ‘You can think and drive at the same time better than I can.’
Swift caught the keys, though not cleanly. She had expected Amos to lean against the car and ponder for a few moments.
‘Sure,’ she said non-committedly. The car was parked on the wrong side of the road, so she opened the door and slipped in while Amos walked round the front to the passenger side, his face not visible to her.
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