Chapter 6: Uncovering Cliffords Secret

Arriving at the police station just before seven Lewis was delighted to find Derek on duty and no one around. ‘Hi Lewis,’ he greeted him cheerily, ‘How can I help.’

‘I’ll tell you what I would like to do and why,’ Lewis said, ‘But I don’t want you to feel you have to agree.’ ‘That sounds interesting,’ Derek said, ‘And very Lewis like. Let’s hear it.’

‘I have someone who groped his niece in her sleep,’ Lewis told him. ‘I have evidence enough to have him arrested. But there are several factors that would mean by doing so I would punish everyone else connected to him far more than him. That includes the victim, who would prefer it to be dealt with quietly.’

‘I have checked that he hasn’t been in trouble before. It is my view that when I show him my evidence he will be absolutely terrified for ages until he decides I’ve kept my word and shown it to no one else. I will leave him in no doubt that if there was any repeat, I would send it to his wife and his employer, costing him his marriage and his job.’

‘What I’d like to do,’ Lewis said, ‘Is ring him and invite him to meet me here this evening. When he arrives, I appear out of the back and take him to an interview room where I have a chat with him. Half an hour should be long enough.’

‘That way, without actually saying so, he will assume you know all about what he’s done, which should frighten him even more.’ Derek burst out laughing. ‘I don’t know how you think it all up,’ he said. ‘Yes, it’s very quiet tonight, go ahead.’

‘Thanks Derek, I’ll give him a ring now. I’ll go outside then you’re not involved.’ Derek was still chuckling as Lewis walked out. Finding a deserted spot Lewis rang Desmond.

When Desmond answered, Lewis said, ‘Is that Mr Desmond Gordon?’ When he said, ‘Yes, who’s this?’ Lewis said, ‘My name is Lewis, I’m ringing from your local police station. I am part of an undercover crime unit. I want you to come in and discuss a crime which we believe involves you. If you arrive by half seven tonight, it will be a voluntary interview and you won’t need a solicitor. But if you don’t turn up, a uniformed policeman will come to your house and arrest you.’

‘Can you give me any more details?’ he asked sounding nervous. ‘I can’t divulge any more information until I see you in person,’ Lewis told him, ‘But, if during my interview you decide you needed a solicitor you would be free to call one. However, it is my opinion that it would be in your own best interest to keep it just between you and me. For now, at least.’

‘If you come to the enquiry desk and ask for Lewis, the desk sergeant will let me know you’ve arrived. I assume you will make it by seven thirty.’ Lewis asked. ‘Yes.’ he said. ‘I’ll see you then.’ Lewis replied and hung up.

He went back in and told Derek, ‘He’ll be here by seven thirty. His name is Desmond Gordon.’ Lewis told him the gist of what he had said making Derek have another fit of laughing. When he had calmed down, Lewis asked, ‘Can I go and set up in an interview room.’ Derek let him through. ‘Use interview room three,’ Derek said, ‘You’ll feel at home in there.’

Lewis took his bag with him and set things up. He had brought a spare phone, so he set that one up as a video camera and put it on the corner of the table on its stand all ready.’

He had downloaded a copy of the video from Kayes bedroom onto his usual phone. He set that up to link to the tv screen on the interview room wall. The box Kaye had brought him, he put on the table but left it closed for now.

Then deciding all was ready, he sat and waited. Ten minutes later the phone on the desk rang. He picked it up and said, ‘Lewis?’ ‘Mr Gordon has arrived sir,’ Derek said. ‘Thanks Derek, I’m on my way.’ Lewis told him. He set the phone video to record and returned to the front desk.

As he came out behind the desk, Derek called over to the man sitting on the public seat looking very worried. ‘Mr Gordon.’ When he came over Lewis said, ‘Good evening, Mr Gordon, I’m Lewis, please follow me.’

Derek let Clifford through, and he followed Lewis into the interview room. ‘Please sit down,’ Lewis said pointing to the chair he had positioned in the best place for the phone camera.

Lewis showed him his police card. ‘I am Lewis,’ he said. ‘As part of an undercover group surnames are not used.’ He took his card back. ‘I have to tell you that you are not at this point under arrest and are free to go at any time you wish to.’

‘Should it be necessary to arrest you, I will give you the opportunity to speak to a solicitor first. If that proves necessary, the charge will be the drugging of your niece and the subsequent sexual assault of her whilst unconscious.’

‘That’s a lie,’ he blustered, ‘I’ve never touched her.’ ‘Please be quiet,’ Lewis told him, ‘And watch the tv screen.’ He pressed play. Seconds later Clifford came in and was seen to put something in Kayes water bottle then leave. Lewis had edited out Kaye going to bed, so next it showed Clifford coming in, rolling her over in the bed and reaching up under the duvet from the foot of the bed, then from the side. As he left, he looked back giving a perfect full-face picture.

Clifford looked terrified. Lewis put a pair of gloves on and opened the box. ‘This is the bottle you put the tablet in,’ he said. ‘This is the top you unscrewed. Both have your fingerprints on. This is the glass Kaye drank from,’ he said as he held it up. ‘Both the glass and the bottle have a good trace of a sleeping pill which your wife’s doctor confirms is the one on her prescription.’

By now he had his head in his hands and was looking very sorry for himself. ‘I can tell you,’ Lewis said, ‘That with all that evidence, plus your niece’s statement, you would be daft not to plead guilty in court. If you didn’t the magistrate would find you guilty anyway.’

‘I’ve run the details past a magistrate, who tells me he would sentence you to twelve months in prison. I don’t know if you are aware or not, but convicts are usually very violent to people convicted of rape, especially of youngsters.’

‘It’s not unheard of for them to leave prison having been castrated. That of course would have been done without the benefit of any anaesthetic.’

‘Now before I tell you what is going to happen to you, I will tell you how it came to our attention. Although the sleeping tablet knocked your niece out it didn’t do it completely. She was partially aware of you touching her but not enough to be certain she wasn’t dreaming.’

‘After the second time, she was very worried and went to see a counsellor. He is a friend of mine and borrowed some equipment from me for her to put in her bedroom. You have seen the result of that.’

‘Now, your niece has no idea about what you have seen, all she knows is that it wasn’t a dream, and it was you who sexually assaulted her. After her initial horror, she said that you and your wife had given her a home when she needed it, and you deserved some consideration for that. She also told me what she was doing for your son and how concerned she was about how having his father locked up would affect him.’

‘The result was, she pleaded on your behalf. You really don’t deserve a niece like that. Now I have the power, being in a special group, to keep this out of court. But naturally my first concern was what if you were doing this to others on a regular basis. I checked our records and found that we have no record of you, so I am willing to take that chance. But first I need some safeguards.’

‘First of all, I want you to look at that phone,’ he pointed to the one in the corner of the table. ‘State your full name and address then say, ‘I admit I gave my niece a sleeping tablet on three occasions then sexually assaulted her in her bed whilst she was unconscious.’

When he had done that Lewis pretended to switch the phone off. ‘Now I want you to tell me what drove you to take such a risk?’

Clifford looked a broken man, he slumped in his seat and looked over Lewis’s head. ‘When my son was born fourteen years ago,’ he said, ‘My wife went off sex. I had been told it was a common thing and would soon pass.’