CHAPTER 69
She chatted to Tiff as well, and what else could I do but offer her a meal, after asking the other girls for their permission? I got the idea that Diane had very little in the way of a life outside her work, and while she showed some understandable reaction to the nastiness the girls had experienced, there was a real impression of grey bleakness behind her eyes. What had happened to her at sixteen had clearly wounded her soul in ways I suspected might never heal, but as she sat with us in the second dining room, over a tray lasagne prepared by Gemma, she started to open up. As Charlie and the rest poked fun, nicely, at Gemma’s taste in rugby players, I watched Diane slowly emerge from her shell.

I kept my silence on one subject, that of Joe Evans, because I was well aware of what had happened to him, courtesy of Marlene showing me the papers so long ago. The Sarah Powell beating, and as soon as I had heard the name of Diane’s old boss, I had worked out the link, and in particular why the lead copper had changed from a west Welsh lesbian to an Asian man with a broken nose. There were so many dark currents flowing I almost got swept away, but my girls were there, and needed me afloat.

Diane became quite a regular at the House, the girls really taking to her as she managed to avoid putting her foot in thins the way she had with me. Every so often, I would catch her vision go slightly out of focus, usually before she said something measured and carefully-phrased. So much about her was locked down tightly; it was a delight each time she let herself go, to relax just a bit with us all. I suspected that one of the reasons that my group accepted her was that idea of sisterhood, of another victim. Charlie and Tiff in particular swarmed her each tome she came, but I could see the same confused feelings in Nicky’s eyes in particular.

This was a strong woman, one with official clout and influence, and at the bottom of all that, she was simply another victim. The clincher, I felt, was that she was ‘just another victim’ who was fighting back, and doing it with steel and venom.

Definitely venom, and more than a little hard work at delivering it, which began to pay off. Whatever they had dug up on the five arrested men must have been huge, because four out of five of them went guilty, receiving healthy prison terms that Spring. A certain wonky-eyed Evans, though, ended up in a place for those whose contact with reality, as Patricia had acidly observed, lacked a certain level of consistency with the general population. There was another case, though…

I had been checking the news several times a day, as Diane dropped occasional hints, and then it came. BBC Wales evening news covered it, we recorded it to add to the other stuff, and the next time Diane came round, she got hugged almost to death by Charlie and Tiff. We all piled into one room, clustered around the television, as I started the recording. Diane-in-the-flesh was looking slightly embarrassed, as the screen showed the Asian man next to a BBC reporter, along with several other obvious police including Diane herself, looking smugly satisfied.

“We are outside Cardiff Crown Court following the sentencing of five men for a series of brutal attacks and rapes that caused a wave of fear throughout the gay community in South Wales. I am joined by Inspector Samir Patel of the Serious Crime Investigation Unit”

Charlie hit ‘pause’, and stared at Diane.

“Right, Di! Which one?”

“Er, that’s me, second from the left, in the blue jacket”

“No, you teasing cow!”

Stop it, Charlie; I made a little harumphing sound, and she calmed, just a little.

“Sorry, Di. Which one is HIM?”

“Who?”

“DIANE!”

“You mean Blake?”

She pointed at a tall and solid man standing two away from her, and I assumed that was for professional reasons.

“Tell you more later, yeah? Let’s see this bit; first time for me”

The Asian man with the nose was very, very guarded in what he said, but there was a predatory look in his eyes as he gave short and teasing answers.

“Inspector, are you satisfied with the sentences awarded today?”

“Well, Cheryl, that is a matter for the courts to decide, and they have done so. I am satisfied that we have taken five extremely violent and dangerous men out of the community they inspired so much fear in, and that they will remain safely away from decent people for a long time”

“Two of those sentenced today were police officers, is that correct?”

“No. Two of them were police officers some time ago, and had ceased to be such before these events”

“The local press has alleged that they were the subjects of disciplinary actions at least ten years ago, Inspector. Can you explain what that means in this case?”

That comment brought a much bigger change in his expression, and I saw him give the same sort of bared-teeth grimace Diane had shown me.

“Further investigations continue in this case, Cheryl. I cannot discuss them, for obvious reasons. We are, however, aware that there are other victims of their crimes who have not come forward, and we would urge them to do so. Justice has now been done in this particular case, and seen to be done. Adding a little more to the total would be very welcome. Thank you”

“Thank you, Inspector Patel. Cheryl Manning, BBC Wales, Cardiff Crown Court”

Once again, Charlie paused the video, and the girls, all of them this time, mobbed Diane, Charlie still gripping the remote control, until that girl sat back up and pointed it at the telly.

“Part two! Shush!”

This report was from the studio, rather than outside.

“The prominent local Councillor and builder Ashley Evans, who was arrested on Thursday by the Serious Crime Investigation Unit of South Wales Police, has been charged today with kidnap, rape and grievous bodily harm. A South Wales spokesman made the following announcement earlier today”

Very senior copper with loads of braid, outside a police station.

“Following a long and difficult investigation, Ashley Aaron Evans of Maescoch farm, St Lythans, has been charged with the rape of a woman aged sixteen. He has also been charged with her abduction and grievous bodily harm to her person. Associated enquiries continue”

I watched that blank expression pass across Di’s face for the first time in ages, and then she smiled, almost sadly, as she looked round the room.

“Yes, girls. I do know about the arrest, but I can’t say too much about it just now. You will understand why. We are just looking to get other people to step forward, and that is why Bevan Williams there made that announcement, and my boss Sammy did the other one. Will you talk to us, now, or pass the word around for anyone else they hurt to come and see us?”

Charlie took it on herself to speak for the others, which pleased me, showing how much strength she had regained.

“Sorry, Diane, but we had a chat, all of us. None of us, not one, we can’t risk that pig getting off, so we HAVE to wait. Let him get locked up, we’ll talk. Otherwise, not safe, is it? Not being funny, but, well, this is probably the only place any of us has been safe. Ever. Not that we don’t trust you---we do, otherwise you wouldn’t be sat here with us now. We just need to know it’s safe to go after him”

Suddenly, Charlie was grinning.

“So who nicked him?”

“Can’t say. But I might know him…”

Cheering all around, but Charlie kept pushing, delight in her eyes..

“Were you there when they knocked on his door?”

I found myself laughing now, as Di put on a ludicrously solemn expression.

“Couldn’t be, could I? I’m too involved as the victim. Anyway, they didn’t pick him up at his home”

My mouth worked before my brain.

“Fuck, not at work?”

The girls threw some paper tissues at me, crumbs going everywhere.

“Sorry! Sorry, girls, but Diane: please, please tell me you nicked him at work!”

“Not me, but yes”

“In front of all his staff?”

“Yup!”

The noise was unbelievable, and as it slowly calmed down, I saw that same nasty grin Diane and her boss had shown, this time from Charlie, whose tone was flat and chilly.

“Once he’s done for Diane, we go after the fucker together. Right, girls?”

She shook herself, then turned back to Diane, the teenage girl now back in her face.

“And that other thing, Diane. A certain young man we have now seen”

“And lusted after!” shouted Maisie.

“Na, Di’s got that job! So, DC Owens, we put it to you that you have to bloody well tell us how things are going”

Di sat and thought it through for a few seconds, this time without going blank, then smiled at Charlie.

“Well, you know full well it’s down to you lot I have found my courage, don’t you?”

Charlie, of course, shouted out “Bollocks” before Tiff shushed her.

“No, Charlie, Di’s story, and I get what she means. Let her tell it her way”

Di nodded her thanks to tiff, then stared off into the past.

“It was the day of the match. So we had a family dinner, me, my Mam and Dad, and Blake. He’s sort of best mates with my Dad, anyway. We’ve had the meal, and my parents are making all sorts of assumptions, leaving us two the settee while they take the chairs. He’s giving us a sort-of-cleaned-up story of the Ashley Evans arrest, nothing that breaks confidentiality rules and stuff, and he’s explaining why he can’t tell more, and asks if we get it, and… And so I say ‘course I do, love’ and they all shut up and stare, so I do the ‘yes I said it, no biggy’ thing, and we sit and watch the game”

Tiff was smiling now.

“You left a bit out, Diane”

I didn’t know where to look, as Diane simply started to cry. Tiff went round, climbing onto her lap to hug her.

“What did Blake say, Di?”

“Well… Thanks, Tiff. He… he just did what I did, slipped that word into his conversation, and of course I noticed, and my parents, and he stops, and he says, ‘About that word. I assume you—no. I KNOW you meant it, Diane Owens, and I meant it too. Now let’s shut up and enjoy the game’. And so we do, and that’s it, and I had a thought, and it’s something I know you’ll understand, because I was talking to Deb, and she nailed it.

“All of us here, yeah? All of us. All victims, all had shitty lives, and now seeing them getting better. Just need a push, sometimes, just need our eyes opening. You girls did that for me. And the thought I had, it was about how things sometimes need time to get better, and after talking to you, I can see not just that there’s a better future possible, but that I have got a future. So, thank you all. And thank Gemma for the treats. Would it be wrong to ask where she works, so I could get some of her cakes to take in to the team?”

Her control was coming back, and I really felt for her, as her damage mirrored so much of mine, and the request for Frank’s address simply made it worse. I think that was the moment when I really appreciated the comment I had first made to Charlie, about her and Diane being sisters. The woman rose to her feet, eyes a little red.

“I still have rounds to do. There are other people out there with wounds from those bastards, so if I can manage it I shall take a future along for them as well”

A short while later, Ashley fucking Evans went on trial for kidnap, rape and grievous bodily harm, just as the Revenue froze all of his assets. Nita rang the House that same evening.

“Can I run something past you, Deb?”

“Of course”

“Simple one, really. I have been digging, and there is a rape trial underway right now that I believe involves one or more of your girls. You don’t need to confirm that, just pass them a message from me”

“Neither confirm nor deny, that sort of bollocks, okay? But go on”

“There have been two trials, and I think your girls are linked to both, but are frightened”

“Go on”

She drew a long breath of the sort I knew meant she was working on her own self-control.

“Debbie, I know how well you understand what attacks like that do to someone’s soul; you more than anyone know far too much of the consequences. What you don’t know is what it is like to be in court about them. If your girls decide to go ahead, I can offer them some coaching in how to deal with the pressure a witness gets. I am not involved in the case, not even a police officer any more, so I am safe to do so”

I laughed at that one, because it was such a lovely offer.

“Bit better than the usual ‘thoughts and prayers’ stuff, Nita!”

Her voice dropped in volume.

“Debbie, my love, I have been praying for you since I first met you, and I continue to do so. It might sound silly, because I know you don’t hold with my religion, but in this case, well, I really think He has been listening to me. Let the girls know what I offer, and I will do all I can to help them find justice”