Toxic Justice, page 5
part #18 of DI Lorne Simpkins Series
“Not for me, thank you. How has your morning been?”
“One word, harrowing. I’ve never had to deal with all the anguish involved with a child’s suicide before, and to be honest with you, I’m grateful that this situation doesn’t show up on our radar that often.”
He nodded his agreement. “I can understand that. Have you learnt anything?”
“Not really. Katy and I deposited the lad’s phone and computer to Forensics for them to analyse. I have an inkling we won’t be able to get the investigation underway properly until the results come through.”
Roberts nodded his understanding. “What about the school?”
“We visited the head. She started off being super defensive, which I suppose is natural in the circumstances. By the end of the conversation she was very amenable and says she’s willing to work with us if we decide to roll something out. I thought a couple of our uniformed officers could go into the schools and address the pupils about bullying. I hope that was all right to suggest doing that, sir?”
“I think it’s an excellent idea. I’ll make the arrangements if you’re snowed under.”
“Thank you. At the moment we’re ticking over with work. One thing the headmistress did confide was that there had been seven other pupils who had committed suicide in the past five years. I’ve asked her to send me their names. She was on her way out to a meeting, otherwise she would have given me the information there and then.”
“What’s your intention behind that? Will you visit the parents?”
“Not if I can help it. The last thing I want to do is rake up memories these parents would rather forget. The thing is, we might need to build a picture and see if there are any links between the eight families. We won’t know that until we start digging. I have to tell you, this is making me feel a tad uncomfortable. I’ve never felt this much out of my depth when dealing with a case.”
“I get that. Maybe that’s the human side of you showing. I don’t mean that disrespectfully before you snap my head off,” he said, raising a hand when she opened her mouth to object. “What I should have said was perhaps that’s the parent in you stepping forward.”
“Ah, that’s more like it. How did you get on with the CPS? Katy looked up the government site to get their take on bullying on our journey to the parents’ house because neither of us are up to date on that side of things. It’s not something we have to deal with on a daily basis, is it?”
“That’s true. I want you to know how much I appreciate you taking on the case. I think it’s a very important issue that desperately needs addressing, given the statistics we discussed. The CPS is in agreement, too. They told me that if we can find out who the culprits are, they’ll do their very best to make something stick. They’re as fed up with cases such as this cropping up as much as we are. Bullying is a volatile offence that children shouldn’t be subjected to during their time at school. Crikey, when I think back to my school years, I recall it was the best time of my life. We had a blast.”
Lorne sniggered. “I can’t believe you can remember that far back, Sean.”
He picked up a ball of paper on her desk and threw it at her, catching her on the forehead.
“Did you learn that at school?”
“Amongst other things.” He laughed. “Seriously, though, in my eyes, I did a little more digging into the statistics once you left my office. Schools are more like battlefields in today’s society.”
“I’m inclined to agree with you. Katy and I felt totally intimidated during our walk through the school hallway today with the number of pupils giving us the evil eye.”
“How dreadful. Do you think that sort of behaviour is indicative of all schools or just this one?”
Lorne shrugged. “How the heck should I know? You know me, Sean, I can come up against the hardest of criminals and not feel intimidated, but walking through that school today…well, I have to tell you, it gave me the heebie-jeebies. Katy will back me up on that one.” She shuddered as if emphasising her point.
“That’s scary. Can you imagine how the bullied kids feel?”
“Exactly. Don’t think that thought hasn’t crossed my mind. Katy and I are determined to do all we can to put an end to this, although I think the odds are stacked against us. Maybe that’s the problem. The staff at the schools are out of their depth and unable to bring order in certain situations.”
“Maybe you’re right. If that is the case, then perhaps they should bring back the cane or the slipper.”
“That’s an archaic thought, but it begs the question as to whether doing away with these disciplines in the first place has led to the rise in the bullying figures.”
“I totally agree. So what’s the answer?”
Lorne shrugged. “If I could answer that, I think I’d be a multi-millionaire overnight, Sean. There must be an answer out there somewhere. The question is, where the bloody hell do we find it?”
“I know I was always against smacking, Lord knows I felt the wrath of my father’s temper at times with a swipe around the head, but at least I knew where I stood with him. Taking that authority away from the parents in some cases has to be behind the rise in the bullying statistics. Did you ever come across any bullying in your time at school, if you can remember that far back?” he said, getting his own back on the remark she had thrown at him earlier.
“I can only recall a few incidents taking place throughout my entire childhood. I wonder how many kids these days can say that. Not many, I bet.”
“I agree. Heartbreaking. What a brutal society we have become over the years. I know you’ve always been one to fight to have armed police on the streets, but where is it all going to end, Lorne? Look at the statistics from knife crimes in London alone this year. It’s bloody out of control.”
“I could see the amount of violent crimes rising years ago. However, no one high up ever took me seriously. I agree to a certain extent, Sean. None of us know where this will all end, especially if our resources keep getting cut and there are less bobbies on the street. Which brings me back to another point about the bullies: how much of their bullying takes place in public places, away from the schools? That’s another area we should be looking into.”
“Now that we can deal with legally, right?”
“Yep, you’re not wrong there. If any of the guys out on patrol witness it, that is. If not, then our hands are tied again. I’m going to get the team to flick through the CCTV footage from any cameras between the school and Jonathon’s home, see what we can find and if we can point the finger or possibly name any of these bullies. That’s going to take a few days to gather the details. I’ve got Graham and Patrick searching through the footage now.”
“Glad you’re not sitting on your backside doing nothing,” Sean teased.
Lorne picked up the ball of paper sitting beside her and aimed it at him. “Was there anything else you wanted, now the insults have run out?”
He grinned broadly and hoisted himself out of his chair. “I’m all dried up on that front right now. Keep me informed frequently on this one, Lorne. I’ll go downstairs and have a word with the desk sergeant about visiting the schools. Let’s get the ball rolling on that one while this incident is fresh in the minds of these kids, at least.”
“Before you go, there’s one thing that has just run through my mind.”
He leant his head against the open door and frowned. “What’s that?”
“When we visited the school today, I’ve just realised something was missing.”
“Go on, don’t keep me hanging.”
“Bunches of flowers.”
His frown deepened. “I’m not with you.”
“There were no bunches of flowers anywhere, not from what I could see. You know, usually when a kid has an accident or something along those lines there’s a certain area they set aside where the other pupils can lay flowers or wreaths as a mark of respect. For Jonathon, nothing like that existed.”
Sean stepped away from the door and shook his head. “That’s a disgrace. You might want to ask the headmistress about that when she contacts you later.”
“I think I will. I’ll let you know what she says, although she did tell me that the other pupils cast Jonathon out because he was superior to them in his ability to learn. Maybe his parents are guilty of not withdrawing him from the school. Harsh but true, right?”
“Not every parent has the funds to school their children in accordance with their abilities. Which is another topic I researched today; how many parents have taken up home schooling because of the bullying issue?”
“I take it the figure is high?”
“High enough. Not something I would ever consider, although who knows farther down the line and what instances occur to force a parent to give up their job for the sake of their child’s future?”
“The thought of home-schooling Charlie when she was younger would have driven me insane.”
“May I remind you that you had a husband who preferred to stay at home all day? Maybe he could have been more useful in that respect.”
“That’s a bit harsh, Sean. Tom found it hard to find a job when we were together. If he hadn’t been there at home for when Charlie finished school, there’s no way I could have made such a success of my career. For that, I’ll be eternally grateful to him. Not that we’re in contact much now. Charlie mentioned this morning that he’s going through yet another divorce. Good luck to him, as long as he doesn’t start making a nuisance coming around to see me.”
“Any chance of that happening?”
“I doubt it with Tony around. Might have been a different story if I were single.”
“Let’s hope that’s the case. Give me a shout if you need support on that front, not that you’d need it, of course.”
“Thanks. I appreciate the thought. It’s always difficult dealing with your ex when there’s a child involved. Charlie loves her dad and feels sorry for him.”
“Even more difficult when Charlie is still living at home. She can’t exactly ask him round for dinner, can she? Or does she?”
Lorne placed a hand across her chest. “No, thank goodness. To be honest with you, I can’t even bloody remember the last time I saw him, it must be years. Charlie barely talks about him to Tony or me, which suits me. Anyway, I better get on with this blasted paperwork.”
“I’ll leave you to it. Ring me or stop by my office when you have any news re the forensic side of things.”
“Will do. Thanks for the chat, Sean.”
“My door is always open, Inspector.”
“I appreciate that.” Lorne smiled and watched him leave. The smile remained in place until she remembered the kiss they had shared during a recent investigation. It had caused ill-feeling between them for a few days until she had broached the subject and laid it on the line how happy she was with Tony and that she had no intention of doing anything to break his trust in her. Sean had apologised profusely and blamed his lapse in morals on the situation they were all involved in—the fact that his goddaughter had been abducted and was in the hands of a madman.
Lorne was glad that now things were a little less fraught between her and Sean and that everything had turned out okay for Emma in the end.
She completed her paperwork in record time. Nearing the end of her laborious chore, she received an email from Mrs Lowe, containing the names of the other seven pupils who had committed suicide while attending Trinity school. She left the office to join the rest of the team who were all hard at it. She walked across the room and jotted down the seven names on the whiteboard: Cassandra Pittman, 14; David Knox, 15; Phil Windsor, 14; Jessica Floss, 15; Martin Edgar, 15; Damon Knight, 14 and Sandra Walcott, 15. Lorne found it impossible to prevent her eyes misting up as she wrote down each of the children’s names. That’s what they were after all, just children. Not one of them legally old enough to work full-time, just kids.
She stood back, crossed her arms and stared at the names until she felt someone behind her. She jumped when Katy placed a hand on her forearm.
“Are you all right, Lorne?” she whispered.
“I will be. Look at their ages, Katy. It’s deplorable. It saddens me to think that someone that age can be driven to such devastating actions. I need to ring their parents, find out what these kids were going through just before they took their own lives.”
“Tread carefully. How long ago was the first suicide?”
Lorne picked up the sheet of paper she’d printed off in her office to double check. “I haven’t been given that information.”
Katy took the sheet from her hand and crossed the room to Karen’s desk. “Karen, look up the dates of these deaths for me, would you?”
Karen took the sheet of paper and nodded. “I’ll get back to you soon,” she replied, her fingers already dancing across the keyboard.
Katy returned to stand next to Lorne. “It’ll probably take Karen a little while to find out the information. What do you want to do next?”
“We need to see what Graham and Pat have discovered on the CCTV, if anything, and go from there.”
Lorne moved towards Graham’s desk. His head rose as she approached. “I was about to come and see you, boss.” He angled the monitor in her direction.
Lorne leant one hand on his desk, and Katy squeezed in beside her. “A gang of youths?”
“Six of them, near to the precinct, close to Jonathon’s home. Here he is, crossing the road to avoid the youths, but it would appear they’d already spotted him and upped their pace to get to him. What I don’t understand is why he didn’t run.”
“Maybe he thought if he ran the bullying would go up a notch. Do they hurt him? Lay their hands on him?” Lorne asked, her gaze glued to the screen.
Graham fast-forwarded the footage until the gang caught up with Jonathon. The six youths surrounded him as he continued to walk. The gang wore hoodies; therefore, it was nigh on impossible to see any of their faces. “They circle him like a pack of wild dogs would surround their prey.”
Lorne’s heart pounded harder. She felt sorry for the lad being put in such a vile situation. No one should have to contend with that sort of behaviour, no one. Neither a fragile teenager nor an adult at work. Lorne detested any form of bullying. She watched Jonathon’s reaction. Although he seemed scared, he also shrugged a few times as if resigned to what was about to happen to him. Her heart broke in two when one of the thugs stepped forward and pushed Jonathon in the chest, hard. He stumbled backwards, almost losing his footing when he tripped over the kerb behind him, but somehow he managed to stay upright. Which only appeared to anger the thug more. He pushed Jonathon again. This time the shove was much harder and had the desired effect. Jonathon ended up on his backside, staring up at the lad. The leader swooped and grabbed Jonathon’s school bag. He dropped it on the ground amid the other boys who pounced on it and kicked it between them as if it were a football. The zip came undone, and the contents of the bag spilled all over the pavement. The kids then started stomping up and down on all the books while the leader leant into Jonathon’s face, goading him.
Lorne tutted. “This is sickening. No wonder Katy and I felt intimidated as we walked through the school hallway. What gives them the bloody right to treat a fellow pupil this way? I wish we could make out their faces. I’d storm over to the school right now, yank them out by their ears and drag them back here for questioning.”
“They’re cowards, hiding behind their hoods,” Graham said, sounding equally annoyed.
“Jonathon knew who they were. You can see it in his eyes. He was terrified to walk on the same side of the road as the bastards. Ugh… This is sodding making my blood boil. What I wouldn’t give to get my hands on that mob. I’ve never wanted to strike a kid as much as I want to right now. Tell me I’m not alone in that?” Lorne asked her colleagues.
Katy nodded. “You’re not alone. I’d willingly go to prison for teaching these brats a lesson, not that it would do poor Jonathon any good.”
“You’re right. However, it would make us feel a whole lot better.”
They watched on in silence as the group continued to intimidate Jonathon further. The poor lad just sat on the ground, staring up at the gang members, not daring to move until finally the group of youths walked away.
The pitiful thing was that Jonathon, instead of frantically gathering his things together and rushing home to safety, chose to sit there for a whole five minutes. “Damn, it’s as if he’s contemplating what to do next. Was that when he’d decided he couldn’t take it any more? To end his life? I presumed it was after he’d received those dreadful texts.”
Katy sighed. “Perhaps it was a combination of the two. He does seem to be at his lowest ebb. What I find appalling is that there are adults milling around that area and not one of them spoke out. What an abysmal world we live in. Christ, if I was in that area, you’d need half a dozen burly officers to hold me back from wiping the smiles off the gang members’ faces.”
“Hey, I’m with you on that one, Katy. More and more people are choosing not to get involved these days. Maybe that’s down to all the knife crimes we’re hearing about lately. It doesn’t take much for one of these bastards to have a concealed weapon in their pocket. If someone was to intervene, they could get slashed within a second. Oh, I don’t know, pure conjecture on my part. Maybe we’re a different breed. Perhaps we’ve got the confidence to approach a gang of youths like that because of our training. Who knows?”
“I think we need a coffee.” Katy headed for the vending machine.
Lorne patted Graham and Patrick on the shoulder. “Well done both of you. Will you do me a favour and follow the gang on the cameras? Maybe one of them will slip up and remove their hood. It would be great if we could get an ID on someone.”
“We’ll continue the search, boss.”
Katy returned with a couple of cups of coffee and handed one to Lorne.
“Thanks, Katy. Let’s see what Karen has found out.”
Karen glanced up and saw them approaching. She scribbled down some notes and sat back in her chair with her notebook in front of her. Lorne and Katy perched on the desk next to Karen’s.
“One word, harrowing. I’ve never had to deal with all the anguish involved with a child’s suicide before, and to be honest with you, I’m grateful that this situation doesn’t show up on our radar that often.”
He nodded his agreement. “I can understand that. Have you learnt anything?”
“Not really. Katy and I deposited the lad’s phone and computer to Forensics for them to analyse. I have an inkling we won’t be able to get the investigation underway properly until the results come through.”
Roberts nodded his understanding. “What about the school?”
“We visited the head. She started off being super defensive, which I suppose is natural in the circumstances. By the end of the conversation she was very amenable and says she’s willing to work with us if we decide to roll something out. I thought a couple of our uniformed officers could go into the schools and address the pupils about bullying. I hope that was all right to suggest doing that, sir?”
“I think it’s an excellent idea. I’ll make the arrangements if you’re snowed under.”
“Thank you. At the moment we’re ticking over with work. One thing the headmistress did confide was that there had been seven other pupils who had committed suicide in the past five years. I’ve asked her to send me their names. She was on her way out to a meeting, otherwise she would have given me the information there and then.”
“What’s your intention behind that? Will you visit the parents?”
“Not if I can help it. The last thing I want to do is rake up memories these parents would rather forget. The thing is, we might need to build a picture and see if there are any links between the eight families. We won’t know that until we start digging. I have to tell you, this is making me feel a tad uncomfortable. I’ve never felt this much out of my depth when dealing with a case.”
“I get that. Maybe that’s the human side of you showing. I don’t mean that disrespectfully before you snap my head off,” he said, raising a hand when she opened her mouth to object. “What I should have said was perhaps that’s the parent in you stepping forward.”
“Ah, that’s more like it. How did you get on with the CPS? Katy looked up the government site to get their take on bullying on our journey to the parents’ house because neither of us are up to date on that side of things. It’s not something we have to deal with on a daily basis, is it?”
“That’s true. I want you to know how much I appreciate you taking on the case. I think it’s a very important issue that desperately needs addressing, given the statistics we discussed. The CPS is in agreement, too. They told me that if we can find out who the culprits are, they’ll do their very best to make something stick. They’re as fed up with cases such as this cropping up as much as we are. Bullying is a volatile offence that children shouldn’t be subjected to during their time at school. Crikey, when I think back to my school years, I recall it was the best time of my life. We had a blast.”
Lorne sniggered. “I can’t believe you can remember that far back, Sean.”
He picked up a ball of paper on her desk and threw it at her, catching her on the forehead.
“Did you learn that at school?”
“Amongst other things.” He laughed. “Seriously, though, in my eyes, I did a little more digging into the statistics once you left my office. Schools are more like battlefields in today’s society.”
“I’m inclined to agree with you. Katy and I felt totally intimidated during our walk through the school hallway today with the number of pupils giving us the evil eye.”
“How dreadful. Do you think that sort of behaviour is indicative of all schools or just this one?”
Lorne shrugged. “How the heck should I know? You know me, Sean, I can come up against the hardest of criminals and not feel intimidated, but walking through that school today…well, I have to tell you, it gave me the heebie-jeebies. Katy will back me up on that one.” She shuddered as if emphasising her point.
“That’s scary. Can you imagine how the bullied kids feel?”
“Exactly. Don’t think that thought hasn’t crossed my mind. Katy and I are determined to do all we can to put an end to this, although I think the odds are stacked against us. Maybe that’s the problem. The staff at the schools are out of their depth and unable to bring order in certain situations.”
“Maybe you’re right. If that is the case, then perhaps they should bring back the cane or the slipper.”
“That’s an archaic thought, but it begs the question as to whether doing away with these disciplines in the first place has led to the rise in the bullying figures.”
“I totally agree. So what’s the answer?”
Lorne shrugged. “If I could answer that, I think I’d be a multi-millionaire overnight, Sean. There must be an answer out there somewhere. The question is, where the bloody hell do we find it?”
“I know I was always against smacking, Lord knows I felt the wrath of my father’s temper at times with a swipe around the head, but at least I knew where I stood with him. Taking that authority away from the parents in some cases has to be behind the rise in the bullying statistics. Did you ever come across any bullying in your time at school, if you can remember that far back?” he said, getting his own back on the remark she had thrown at him earlier.
“I can only recall a few incidents taking place throughout my entire childhood. I wonder how many kids these days can say that. Not many, I bet.”
“I agree. Heartbreaking. What a brutal society we have become over the years. I know you’ve always been one to fight to have armed police on the streets, but where is it all going to end, Lorne? Look at the statistics from knife crimes in London alone this year. It’s bloody out of control.”
“I could see the amount of violent crimes rising years ago. However, no one high up ever took me seriously. I agree to a certain extent, Sean. None of us know where this will all end, especially if our resources keep getting cut and there are less bobbies on the street. Which brings me back to another point about the bullies: how much of their bullying takes place in public places, away from the schools? That’s another area we should be looking into.”
“Now that we can deal with legally, right?”
“Yep, you’re not wrong there. If any of the guys out on patrol witness it, that is. If not, then our hands are tied again. I’m going to get the team to flick through the CCTV footage from any cameras between the school and Jonathon’s home, see what we can find and if we can point the finger or possibly name any of these bullies. That’s going to take a few days to gather the details. I’ve got Graham and Patrick searching through the footage now.”
“Glad you’re not sitting on your backside doing nothing,” Sean teased.
Lorne picked up the ball of paper sitting beside her and aimed it at him. “Was there anything else you wanted, now the insults have run out?”
He grinned broadly and hoisted himself out of his chair. “I’m all dried up on that front right now. Keep me informed frequently on this one, Lorne. I’ll go downstairs and have a word with the desk sergeant about visiting the schools. Let’s get the ball rolling on that one while this incident is fresh in the minds of these kids, at least.”
“Before you go, there’s one thing that has just run through my mind.”
He leant his head against the open door and frowned. “What’s that?”
“When we visited the school today, I’ve just realised something was missing.”
“Go on, don’t keep me hanging.”
“Bunches of flowers.”
His frown deepened. “I’m not with you.”
“There were no bunches of flowers anywhere, not from what I could see. You know, usually when a kid has an accident or something along those lines there’s a certain area they set aside where the other pupils can lay flowers or wreaths as a mark of respect. For Jonathon, nothing like that existed.”
Sean stepped away from the door and shook his head. “That’s a disgrace. You might want to ask the headmistress about that when she contacts you later.”
“I think I will. I’ll let you know what she says, although she did tell me that the other pupils cast Jonathon out because he was superior to them in his ability to learn. Maybe his parents are guilty of not withdrawing him from the school. Harsh but true, right?”
“Not every parent has the funds to school their children in accordance with their abilities. Which is another topic I researched today; how many parents have taken up home schooling because of the bullying issue?”
“I take it the figure is high?”
“High enough. Not something I would ever consider, although who knows farther down the line and what instances occur to force a parent to give up their job for the sake of their child’s future?”
“The thought of home-schooling Charlie when she was younger would have driven me insane.”
“May I remind you that you had a husband who preferred to stay at home all day? Maybe he could have been more useful in that respect.”
“That’s a bit harsh, Sean. Tom found it hard to find a job when we were together. If he hadn’t been there at home for when Charlie finished school, there’s no way I could have made such a success of my career. For that, I’ll be eternally grateful to him. Not that we’re in contact much now. Charlie mentioned this morning that he’s going through yet another divorce. Good luck to him, as long as he doesn’t start making a nuisance coming around to see me.”
“Any chance of that happening?”
“I doubt it with Tony around. Might have been a different story if I were single.”
“Let’s hope that’s the case. Give me a shout if you need support on that front, not that you’d need it, of course.”
“Thanks. I appreciate the thought. It’s always difficult dealing with your ex when there’s a child involved. Charlie loves her dad and feels sorry for him.”
“Even more difficult when Charlie is still living at home. She can’t exactly ask him round for dinner, can she? Or does she?”
Lorne placed a hand across her chest. “No, thank goodness. To be honest with you, I can’t even bloody remember the last time I saw him, it must be years. Charlie barely talks about him to Tony or me, which suits me. Anyway, I better get on with this blasted paperwork.”
“I’ll leave you to it. Ring me or stop by my office when you have any news re the forensic side of things.”
“Will do. Thanks for the chat, Sean.”
“My door is always open, Inspector.”
“I appreciate that.” Lorne smiled and watched him leave. The smile remained in place until she remembered the kiss they had shared during a recent investigation. It had caused ill-feeling between them for a few days until she had broached the subject and laid it on the line how happy she was with Tony and that she had no intention of doing anything to break his trust in her. Sean had apologised profusely and blamed his lapse in morals on the situation they were all involved in—the fact that his goddaughter had been abducted and was in the hands of a madman.
Lorne was glad that now things were a little less fraught between her and Sean and that everything had turned out okay for Emma in the end.
She completed her paperwork in record time. Nearing the end of her laborious chore, she received an email from Mrs Lowe, containing the names of the other seven pupils who had committed suicide while attending Trinity school. She left the office to join the rest of the team who were all hard at it. She walked across the room and jotted down the seven names on the whiteboard: Cassandra Pittman, 14; David Knox, 15; Phil Windsor, 14; Jessica Floss, 15; Martin Edgar, 15; Damon Knight, 14 and Sandra Walcott, 15. Lorne found it impossible to prevent her eyes misting up as she wrote down each of the children’s names. That’s what they were after all, just children. Not one of them legally old enough to work full-time, just kids.
She stood back, crossed her arms and stared at the names until she felt someone behind her. She jumped when Katy placed a hand on her forearm.
“Are you all right, Lorne?” she whispered.
“I will be. Look at their ages, Katy. It’s deplorable. It saddens me to think that someone that age can be driven to such devastating actions. I need to ring their parents, find out what these kids were going through just before they took their own lives.”
“Tread carefully. How long ago was the first suicide?”
Lorne picked up the sheet of paper she’d printed off in her office to double check. “I haven’t been given that information.”
Katy took the sheet from her hand and crossed the room to Karen’s desk. “Karen, look up the dates of these deaths for me, would you?”
Karen took the sheet of paper and nodded. “I’ll get back to you soon,” she replied, her fingers already dancing across the keyboard.
Katy returned to stand next to Lorne. “It’ll probably take Karen a little while to find out the information. What do you want to do next?”
“We need to see what Graham and Pat have discovered on the CCTV, if anything, and go from there.”
Lorne moved towards Graham’s desk. His head rose as she approached. “I was about to come and see you, boss.” He angled the monitor in her direction.
Lorne leant one hand on his desk, and Katy squeezed in beside her. “A gang of youths?”
“Six of them, near to the precinct, close to Jonathon’s home. Here he is, crossing the road to avoid the youths, but it would appear they’d already spotted him and upped their pace to get to him. What I don’t understand is why he didn’t run.”
“Maybe he thought if he ran the bullying would go up a notch. Do they hurt him? Lay their hands on him?” Lorne asked, her gaze glued to the screen.
Graham fast-forwarded the footage until the gang caught up with Jonathon. The six youths surrounded him as he continued to walk. The gang wore hoodies; therefore, it was nigh on impossible to see any of their faces. “They circle him like a pack of wild dogs would surround their prey.”
Lorne’s heart pounded harder. She felt sorry for the lad being put in such a vile situation. No one should have to contend with that sort of behaviour, no one. Neither a fragile teenager nor an adult at work. Lorne detested any form of bullying. She watched Jonathon’s reaction. Although he seemed scared, he also shrugged a few times as if resigned to what was about to happen to him. Her heart broke in two when one of the thugs stepped forward and pushed Jonathon in the chest, hard. He stumbled backwards, almost losing his footing when he tripped over the kerb behind him, but somehow he managed to stay upright. Which only appeared to anger the thug more. He pushed Jonathon again. This time the shove was much harder and had the desired effect. Jonathon ended up on his backside, staring up at the lad. The leader swooped and grabbed Jonathon’s school bag. He dropped it on the ground amid the other boys who pounced on it and kicked it between them as if it were a football. The zip came undone, and the contents of the bag spilled all over the pavement. The kids then started stomping up and down on all the books while the leader leant into Jonathon’s face, goading him.
Lorne tutted. “This is sickening. No wonder Katy and I felt intimidated as we walked through the school hallway. What gives them the bloody right to treat a fellow pupil this way? I wish we could make out their faces. I’d storm over to the school right now, yank them out by their ears and drag them back here for questioning.”
“They’re cowards, hiding behind their hoods,” Graham said, sounding equally annoyed.
“Jonathon knew who they were. You can see it in his eyes. He was terrified to walk on the same side of the road as the bastards. Ugh… This is sodding making my blood boil. What I wouldn’t give to get my hands on that mob. I’ve never wanted to strike a kid as much as I want to right now. Tell me I’m not alone in that?” Lorne asked her colleagues.
Katy nodded. “You’re not alone. I’d willingly go to prison for teaching these brats a lesson, not that it would do poor Jonathon any good.”
“You’re right. However, it would make us feel a whole lot better.”
They watched on in silence as the group continued to intimidate Jonathon further. The poor lad just sat on the ground, staring up at the gang members, not daring to move until finally the group of youths walked away.
The pitiful thing was that Jonathon, instead of frantically gathering his things together and rushing home to safety, chose to sit there for a whole five minutes. “Damn, it’s as if he’s contemplating what to do next. Was that when he’d decided he couldn’t take it any more? To end his life? I presumed it was after he’d received those dreadful texts.”
Katy sighed. “Perhaps it was a combination of the two. He does seem to be at his lowest ebb. What I find appalling is that there are adults milling around that area and not one of them spoke out. What an abysmal world we live in. Christ, if I was in that area, you’d need half a dozen burly officers to hold me back from wiping the smiles off the gang members’ faces.”
“Hey, I’m with you on that one, Katy. More and more people are choosing not to get involved these days. Maybe that’s down to all the knife crimes we’re hearing about lately. It doesn’t take much for one of these bastards to have a concealed weapon in their pocket. If someone was to intervene, they could get slashed within a second. Oh, I don’t know, pure conjecture on my part. Maybe we’re a different breed. Perhaps we’ve got the confidence to approach a gang of youths like that because of our training. Who knows?”
“I think we need a coffee.” Katy headed for the vending machine.
Lorne patted Graham and Patrick on the shoulder. “Well done both of you. Will you do me a favour and follow the gang on the cameras? Maybe one of them will slip up and remove their hood. It would be great if we could get an ID on someone.”
“We’ll continue the search, boss.”
Katy returned with a couple of cups of coffee and handed one to Lorne.
“Thanks, Katy. Let’s see what Karen has found out.”
Karen glanced up and saw them approaching. She scribbled down some notes and sat back in her chair with her notebook in front of her. Lorne and Katy perched on the desk next to Karen’s.
