Girls Of The Dark by Katherine Pathak Read Free Book Online Page B

wrong, am I? You suspect that someone else was involved in what happened to poor Janet and her boy. It makes everything that occurred on that evening take on a new significance.’
                  ‘We aren’t making any assertions here, madam,’ the DS stressed. ‘There’s no new evidence.’
                  ‘No,’ she replied matter-of-factly. ‘But you’ve got a feeling, haven’t you - that the Kerrs may have been murdered? Well, I’ll tell you something; so have I.’
     

Chapter 11
     
     
    T he Sunday papers lay strewn across the kitchen table of Dani’s flat. James had the colour supplement open to an impressive, glossy centre page spread.
                  ‘I can’t believe they got the story out so quickly.’ He sipped his cup of espresso, unable to take his eyes off the photograph.
                  ‘The reporters must have done the interview weeks ago. They were obviously just waiting for Suter’s parole to come through before going to print.’ Dani leant over James’ shoulder. The double page shot was of Calvin Suter seated at a desk in his cell. A laptop was positioned before him and bookshelves lined with literary classics provided the backdrop.
                  The journalist had even inserted a thumbnail picture of Calvin’s book at the end of the text. Readers were informed that they could purchase a copy of it at a reduced price from the paper’s online bookshop.
                  ‘Is that really a prison?’ James’s voice was dripping with incredulity. ‘It looks like a study in a country house.’
                  ‘Garwood Park isn’t your typical prison. The inmates there are serving very lengthy sentences. Many of them committed crimes before we were even born.’ Dani slipped onto the seat next to him. ‘I’ve been there once, to interview someone. There are extensive gardens surrounding the main building. The prisoners tend to the allotments. Many grow the vegetables that are served in the canteen. I’m surprised this particular paper is having any truck with the place. Their front pages are usually full of headlines claiming that a stint in a British prison is like going to a holiday camp.’
                  ‘Hypocrisy is nothing new to Informing Scotland . If the story sells papers, it will go into one of their rags.’
                  ‘Does your dad get mentioned?’ Dani reached out to touch his hand.
                  ‘Oh yes. There is a whole paragraph on Sir Anthony Alderton and James Sinclair Irving. The tenor of the entire piece is that Calvin was the victim of the incompetent and institutionally racist criminal justice system of the 1970s.’
                  ‘There was absolutely no question of racial bias in Suter’s trial. That wasn’t the issue at all.’
                  ‘No, but either Calvin or the journalist interviewing him now thinks there was. Dad’s being smeared as an incompetent and the police inspector, DCI Harry Paton, as a crypto racist. The upshot of the article is that Calvin’s imprisonment was a miscarriage of justice. The man is a sensitive intellectual who was stitched up by a flawed system.’
                  Dani lifted her cup, cradling it in her palms. ‘I bet Suter’s planning to sue for compensation.’
                  ‘Well, I know a little about the process. In order to gain damages from Her Majesty’s Government, Calvin Suter will either have to prove his innocence to another jury or claim that his case was handled so incompetently by the defence team that they are at fault for the guilty verdict.’
                  Dani sighed. ‘Let’s hope he opts for the former rather than the latter.’
                  James closed the paper decisively. ‘I think that rather depends upon whether our Mr Suter actually killed those girls or