Crossing the Line (Kerry Wilkinson) (32 page)

brown in the sun. Humphrey was still persisting with his pink blazer, which looked marginally less

stupid with the sun out.

‘Had a good day?’ Georgia asked.

‘Better than I thought,’ Jessica replied with a weary grin. It was nice not to spend a day sat in a car

or behind a desk.

‘We’ve been in the folk tent most of the afternoon. It’s the only music Humphrey knows.’ Georgia

dug him in the ribs with her elbow and they both grinned, like a long-married couple. ‘Do you want to

meet back at the house, or are we leaving together?’

Adam shrugged Jessica off his shoulder so they could see each other. Jessica said she didn’t mind,

so they arranged to make their own way home. With twenty thousand people pouring onto trams and

buses, it was probably easier anyway.

Humphrey peered down at Jessica and Adam, a knowing half-grin on his face. ‘You look good

together.’

It might have come from a man who looked like an oversized marshmallow but it felt nice

nonetheless. It was the type of thing people used to say. ‘Thanks,’ Jessica said. ‘You should have seen

the state of him when we first met – like a reject from a failed rock band. All long hair, black T-shirts and tight trousers.’

‘What’s changed?’ Georgia asked.

‘His hair’s a bit shorter and his trousers aren’t as tight.’ Jessica squeezed Adam’s upper arm. ‘He’s

finally putting a bit of weight on too. I reckon he’s around eight per cent less runtish.’

Adam’s fingers slipped underneath Jessica’s top and began tickling a little above her waist, making

her shriek so loudly that a couple walking nearby spun around, probably wondering if someone was

being attacked.

Georgia had finished her ice cream and retaken Humphrey’s arm with a grin. ‘It’s nice to see you

both happy.’

They said their goodbyes and, as they walked away slowly arm-in-arm, Jessica wondered if she

had misjudged Humphrey. She was naturally suspicious of pretty much everyone but although he had

his quirks, he didn’t seem like a bad person. Georgia was happy with him too, which was surely the

important thing. Her life had changed dramatically since she and Adam had found each other. They’d

gone from being only children to having someone else who understood the other’s upbringing.

Georgia had moved from the other end of the country, starting a new job, making new friends.

Jessica leant her head back on Adam’s shoulder, listening to the music drifting across the field. The

crowd in front of the main stage had their hands and inflatables in the air, singing along to the

choruses. She twisted so she could see Georgia and Humphrey walking towards the food area. The

crowds had thinned where they were at the back, with everyone massing towards the front now it was

nearly time for the headliners. The mix of the lack of sleep, being on her feet all day, food, and human contact left Jessica with a wonderful feeling of tiredness. She wrapped her arm around Adam’s waist

and snuggled onto his shoulder. He responded, pulling her tighter as she closed her eyes and let her

mind wander. It wasn’t Toxic Tony, egg-headed Scott Dewhurst, their unknown hoody or any of his

victims that she thought of. It wasn’t even Niall Hambleton, the Stretford Slasher, his son, or the

kidnapper, William Overton. For once, she let her mind drift, thinking only of herself and Adam. She

really did love him, didn’t she? This proved it. On the days when she got time away from work,

where she didn’t have to stay late or start early, where she wasn’t drowning in paperwork or sitting in

traffic jams, this was what it felt like to be normal.

At first she thought the scream was something in her subconscious battling to get out; a leftover

demon from everything she had seen and heard over the past few years. Then Adam’s shoulder jolted

upwards and there was a second scream.

Jessica’s eyes opened into a flash of colour. The bright pink figure of Humphrey was on his back,

legs flailing in the mud fifty or sixty metres away. Georgia’s vivid blue bag was on its side on the

ground, contents spilling out, her flash of blonde hair practically glowing in the sunlight. She was

screaming but unmoving as a figure in a dark hoody and anarchy mask leant over Humphrey, spraying

something into his face.

34

Jessica tried to leap to her feet but the ground was wet and skiddy and she only succeeded in

collapsing sideways onto Adam, her elbow landing in a rather sensitive area. As he gulped in pain,

Jessica finally managed to get a footing. Ahead, a few people stood confused as the hooded figure

dashed towards the main stage. Humphrey was rolling on the ground, hands clawing at his eyes as

Georgia continued to scream. Jessica had little time to choose, so headed after the hoody, slipping

and slaloming her way around people swaying in time to the music.

The crowd was thickening the deeper Jessica got into the park and the figure disappeared through a

slim gap between two people still wearing coats. They turned in surprise but he was already past

them, thinner than Jessica remembered from the photographs they had of the daylight attacker. He

wasn’t particularly quick, but was more than nimble enough to slide through gaps she would never

have got through without wiping out bystanders. As she almost barrelled into a small child clutching a

hotdog, Jessica stopped, peering towards the space where she’d seen the man enter the tighter mass of

people. Jessica edged closer, trying to get a better view, but most of the revellers were wearing dark

clothes. Almost everyone seemed to have their arms in the air and it was like the inflatables were

breeding: dolphins, mallets, more bananas – even that bloody giraffe was being waved in the air by

someone in the middle.

Jessica pushed herself into the same gap the hoody had gone through, getting an ‘oi’ for her efforts.

She tried to peer over the heads but everyone was packed so tightly, she could barely move, let alone

see over the hands.

She backed out, treading on someone’s toe and getting a swearier rebuke this time, and then began

pacing along the back of the crowd. A handful of individuals were breaking away, heading towards

the rear of the field where it was less compacted. The hoody had gone straight for the crowd, not for

the gates. Whoever it was had thought it through – if he’d tried to exit, the security staff would have

been ready, but by hiding in plain sight, he’d already disappeared. If he ditched or hid the mask, he’d

blend in with no problems. There was no way the police or security would be able to stop everyone

wearing dark clothing on their way out of the arena. With the headline act next on, the main crowd

was at the biggest it had been all day. All he had to do was bide his time and then leave when

everyone else did.

Jessica made one more attempt to stand on tiptoes and peer towards the area in which the hoody

had gone but even from the one spot, there were at least a dozen people with dark hoods up. Their one

might have even put his down, or ditched the outfit entirely.

As she made her way back to Humphrey, Jessica could see a small crowd had gathered around him

– almost everyone on their phones. Jessica was less worried about shoving people aside this time,

telling them she was police and that if they didn’t put their phones away then she’d confiscate them

for evidence purposes. Faced with that prospect, people began drifting away.

Humphrey was sitting up, Georgia on her knees behind him supporting his back. He was still

rubbing his eyes but they were already red and puffy. Adam was looking a little queasy from having

been elbowed but he was standing behind Georgia, trying to calm her down. Jessica threw him her

mobile phone, telling him to call Esther. She took a bottle of water that had rolled out of Georgia’s

bag and crouched in front of them.

‘Humphrey, this is Jessica, can you hear me all right?’

He mumbled a yes.

‘You’ve got to stop rubbing your eyes, okay? I’m pretty sure it’s some sort of pepper spray and the

more you touch them, the worse it’s going to get.’

His reply was more of a grunt than anything else. ‘It’s burning.’

‘It’s going to burn worse if you keep rubbing. You’ve got to put your hands down.’

Slowly he did what he was told but the damage was already done. Police guidelines said they were

supposed to be at least a metre away from anyone they used the spray on but the hooded figure had

sprayed it into Humphrey’s eyes from only a few centimetres away. The entire top half of his face had

swelled and turned a mix of red and purple, making him look like a misshapen beetroot.

Jessica put on her best bad-news voice. ‘Okay, Humphrey, listen to me. Water is not going to do

your eyes any good. I’m going to use a very small amount to try to clear the area at the top of your

cheeks and around your eyebrows. After that, all you can do is give it time to clear. When you blink,

your eyes will produce tears and that will help somewhat but there’s no instant cure for what’s

happened.’

Taking a tissue from Georgia’s bag, Jessica gently dabbed it around the areas she’d mentioned and

then took her phone from Adam. Before using it, she turned to Georgia. ‘Don’t let him touch his face.

Sit on his hands if you have to.’

Jessica could see two security guards in their black uniforms making their way across the field – it

had only taken them five minutes to realise something had happened – but Jessica told Esther exactly

where they were, gave her a description of the attacker, and told her to send one of the standby

ambulances across.

With that done, Jessica shooed a few more phone-wielders away before turning back to Georgia.

‘What happened?’

Adam’s sister was in shock, stumbling over her reply. ‘I’m not sure, he came out of nowhere.’

‘Did you get a look at anything other than the mask?’

‘No.’

‘What did he do?’

‘Someone tapped Humphrey on the shoulder. He’s been getting attention all day because of the

jacket and I assumed it was someone saying hello or whatever. It all happened in an instant –

Humphrey turned and then the guy just sprayed this stuff in his face.’

There were a few red blotches on Georgia’s neck from where the spray had narrowly – and luckily

– missed her face. The biggest problem with pepper spray was that it went everywhere. Officers only

used it as a last resort because they were as likely to have it bounce back into their own faces as they were to hit the target. Ask a paramedic how many police officers’ eyes they had cleaned out and it

would almost certainly outnumber the amount of criminals’. The anarchy mask was not only

something to hide behind, it stopped the assailant from harming himself.

‘It was definitely a guy?’

Georgia bit her bottom lip, thinking. ‘I suppose.’

‘How do you know?’

‘He spoke.’

‘What did he say?’

‘It didn’t make any sense.’

‘Perhaps not to you but it could do to us.’

Georgia was shaking, both hands grasping onto Humphrey’s wrist as he tried to reach for his face.

The two security guards were now standing over them, listening to the conversation and being no use

at all.

‘Georgia.’

‘Huh?’

‘One of you has to tell me what he said before he ran off. It could be important.’

Humphrey was groaning and still battling to touch his face. Adam had taken hold of one arm, with

Georgia clasping the other. Her gaze was blank, so Jessica reached out and twisted the woman’s face

gently until they were staring at each other.

‘Georgia.’

‘What?’

‘What did he say?’

‘He said, “Be nice to your wife”, and then he started spraying. I don’t really remember anything

after that.’

‘Did he have a local accent?’

‘I’m not sure.’

‘What about the voice – was it deep? High-pitched?’

‘I don’t know – it was just normal.’

Jessica glanced up to see the flashing blue lights of the ambulance. Even though its siren wasn’t

blaring, it was attracting attention and she could sense the crowd building behind her again.

‘Right, and when he said, “Be nice to your wife”, did he look at you?’

‘How do you mean?’

Jessica squatted slightly so she was at the same height as Georgia. ‘Did he look at you, point at you

or in any way indicate that it was you he was talking about?’

‘I . . . I don’t know.’

‘You’ve been around the field all day today. Was there a time where you were playing around and

it could have looked like you were fighting? Like Adam and I do sometimes if I give him a shove or

he nudges me – something like that?’

‘No.’

‘Have you argued at all today?’

Georgia shook her head. ‘No, it’s been really nice up until now.’

The ambulance had come to a halt next to them, attracting even more of a crowd.

Jessica had time for one more question. ‘Is there anything else about his voice you’d remember?’

Humphrey replied this time. ‘He sounded croaky, like he had a cold or something.’

With that, Jessica got back to her feet, allowing the paramedics to take over. Esther had got out of

the back of the ambulance and Jessica waved her to the side.

‘How is he?’ Esther asked.

‘He’ll be fine – it was pepper spray but from very close range. Same guy as before, I think –

hoody, anarchy mask, similar build.’

Esther nodded to where someone else was walking by in one of the masks. ‘They’re everywhere.