Page 55 of Deadly Cry

‘Of course,’ Kim said, noting that her hair was now flattened against her head.

She watched Ella walk away and tried to quiet the uneasy feeling in her stomach. On the face of it, she was a woman doing her civic duty and offering a helping hand. But the fact she was related to the first victim added an unusual flavour to the selfless gesture.

Kim was still watching as the woman got into her car and drove away.

Kim took out her phone. Stacey answered almost immediately.

‘Those background checks on family members, Stace.’

‘Yeah, boss,’

‘Move Ella Nock to the top of your list.’

Forty-Four

Stacey turned to the page that held the list of the names of family members and put an asterisk next to the name of Ella Nock.

She turned back to her most recent page of notes and the phone number she’d just scribbled down.

She would get on to Ella Nock as a priority, but she just had one phone call to make first.

After poring through the court documents of Sean Fellows’s trial, she was no more settled in her mind than she’d been before.

From the court transcripts, Stacey was sure that Gemma Hornley had been a compelling victim and after speaking to the woman herself she could see why.

Sean Fellows, on the other hand, had been aggressive and hostile and had been warned twice by the judge to mind his language and calm down.

The court record had revealed nothing that she didn’t already know. There was no additional evidence, no sudden and dramatic courtroom admission, which left Stacey with one single burning question that she hoped to have answered if she dialled the number on her pad.

Getting hold of the juror’s information wasn’t a difficult task. Thelma Bird had chosen to speak to the press the day after the verdict. Not allowed to speak about jury deliberations, she had instead chatted about Sean Fellows’s conduct in the courtroom. The woman had been noted in the article as being from the Willenhall area, so a number had not been too difficult to track down.

The phone was answered with a simple and friendly ‘Hello.’

‘Is that Thelma Bird?’ Stacey clarified.

‘Speaking,’ she answered brightly.

Stacey introduced herself and added, ‘I’m looking into the case of Sean Fellows, who was convicted of rape—’

‘Oh, I know who he is, my dear,’ she answered. ‘Wait a minute.’

Stacey waited, hearing sounds of movement in the background.

‘Just closed the door to the lounge. Hubby’s taking a nap. How can I help?’

Stacey had thought about the many different ways to phrase this, but there wasn’t really any way to dress it up.

‘I’d really like to know why you convicted him.’

‘I’m sorry?’

‘Please, don’t misunderstand me,’ Stacey said, not wishing to cause the woman offence. ‘I’m not saying you were wrong, but I’d just like to know what the deciding factor was. Was it the testimony of the victim?’

‘Partly; she was very credible and convincing. But no, it wasn’t completely that.’

‘Was it because of his anger, or the fact he was seen leaving in the same direction as the victim?’

‘Not really. We all understood that was circumstantial.’