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ST HUGH'S - 9:40 AM
Dave hadn't had much sleep the previous night. He'd drifted off briefly after everyone left, but was soon awakened by Polly's terrified scream, as she came out of a nightmare. They'd talked for the next hour or so. He was relieved that everything had been laid out on the table. Polly seemed to be coping a lot better than he thought, he knew that she could detach herself personally from what happened.
After heading to a bathroom to freshen up, Dave returned to find Polly slowly munching on a piece of toast.
Watching her quietly from the doorway, he was surprised about the feeling of total devotion that came over him. He was just content to stand there and watch her, until she caught him.
"Sorry Poll, couldn't resist." He smiled warmly as he returned to the seat beside her bed.
"Just preparing you for when we go back to work," Polly flashed a cheeky grin.
Dave sighed. He was worried about how Poll would cope with that. She seemed almost too eager to put all this behind her.
"Polly, you know, there's no rush for you to go back." He brought up the subject gently.
"Well, no sense putting it off. I'd better make the most of the time I've got left." She started on her second piece of toast.
"Give it a few months though, yeah?" Dave responded.
"We'll see. Look, you must be exhausted. I'm fine here. Why don't you go home and get some rest, eh?" Polly suggested.
"No point. I will just go grab a coffee, and maybe a bite to eat though." He squeezed her hand softly, before making his way out.
Polly watched him go, and returned to studying the toast she was eating. She was surprised at how she was handling this. She'd read so many articles on how women had gone into deep trances, jumped if anyone came within a foot of them, but she felt nothing like that. She thought about Dave, and smiled to herself. Why had they waited? She could have experienced all this years ago. As the staff took away her breakfast tray, Polly lay back in the bed, gazing at the little dots on the ceiling.
Hearing a knock at the door, she smiled as Deb cautiously entered. Motioning for her to take a seat, she wondered who would be the first to speak.
"How's it all going?" Debbie asked nervously.
"Okay, I guess," Polly replied.
"How's Dave?' Debbie continued.
"He seems to be coping all right. He's been wonderful all night," Polly sighed contentedly.
"In much pain?" Deb asked she observed the plaster and dressings on Polly's face.
"Just general discomfort, ya know," Polly murmured.
"How do you feel about the baby?" Deb was dying to know what they'd decided on that, she just couldn't wait.
Polly smiled to herself, trying to get the whole pregnancy idea firmly implanted in her head. "We're going to keep it. It's so strange, Deb, it doesn't feel like I thought it would." Polly didn't know why she was asking Deb, she'd have no idea.
"Don't ask me. I'm still trying to find a man." Deb returned the smile, pleased that Polly was happy about it.
"How's Luke?" Polly wasn't sure how he'd be coping with all this.
"He's confused. I'm not sure he's over the shock yet," Deb informed her.
"Yeah, poor kid. He's got his Mum though," Polly continued.
"Is there anything you need here?" Deb asked.
"No, I think I've got everything I need," Poll smiled.
"Sure, well, no doubt you'll have plenty of visitors today. I'd better leave ya to it." Deb smiled warmly as she stood up, and left.
SUN HILL POLICE STATION - 10:15 AM
Mr and Mrs George entered the station, Lisa holding onto her mother's hand.
Approaching Reg on the front desk, Mr George instigated the conversation.
"A D.C. Rawton wanted to interview our daughter Lisa." He spoke as the child stared up at Reg, her big blue eyes taking in everything around her.
"Just a minute," he smiled and called Liz down.
Taking a seat, it wasn't long until Liz appeared through the double doors.
"Mr and Mrs George, thank you for coming down." Liz smiled as she shook their hands.
"We just want to stop this guy," Mr George spoke as Liz led them towards the soft interview room.
"Which one of you wishes to stay with your daughter for this?" Liz asked.
"I will," Mrs George muttered nervously, as Liz invited them to sit down, and showed Mr George to the seats outside.
"Lisa, I'm Liz. Are you comfortable there?" Liz asked, as the child awkwardly sat on the sofa.
"Yes. Are you a police officer too?" she asked curiously.
"Yes, I am Lisa." Liz smiled as Rod boldly entered the room.
Lisa swallowed and snuggled closer to her mother.
"What's the matter, Lisa?" Liz asked, upon seeing the child tense up.
"Him," she whispered with a small voice.
"Lisa, its okay. I'm a police officer like Liz is." Rod slowly sat down next to Liz.
She nodded slowly, still not letting go of her mother's arm.
Liz started the tape, and opened a notepad in front of her.
"Lisa, is it okay if we ask you a few questions?" Liz began, trying to calm the frightened girl down. Lisa nodded, and Liz continued.
"Can you tell me your full name?" She thought it best to start with basic questions.
"Lisa George." The girl spoke, looking from her to Rod warily.
"How old are you, Lisa?' Liz went on.
"Six," the child answered straight away.
"Can you tell me what happened yesterday, when you went to the park?" Liz wasn't sure how much the child would remember, but anything was better than nothing.
"Rebecca was pushing me on the swing. Then the man came up to me and said Rebecca could go home, so she did. He waited until she left, and then he walked me over to the shop and bought me a hamburger," she spoke clearly.
"Then what, Lisa?" Liz was impressed at the girl's ability to stay on track.
"He said we were going to play a game, but he was lying," Lisa continued.
"What game, Lisa?" Liz asked, not knowing what the girl was talking about.
"He said we were going to play a pretend game. That I had to go up to someone and say there was a sick puppy in the alley, and get them to come look," she informed Liz.
"What then?" Liz was grateful that he'd at least chosen such an intelligent little girl.
"There were lots of people I wanted to ask, but he said no. Then we saw Polly walking up the street. He told me to get her to play, so I went up to her. She followed me down to the alley, but that's when he lied." Lisa had started whimpering again, and her mother had become quite distressed.
"Mrs George, we need to talk about this, for your daughter's sake at least," Liz spoke as the woman asked them to stop. Lisa looked up at Liz and continued.
"There were all these men. They grabbed her arm, and he hit her. Polly fell down and didn't move. Then he picked me up and we ran through another street. He had a car there. They put us in the back seat, and drove off. It was after we past my day-care that he became nice again. He was saying how good I'd been, and that we were going to go to a secret place. The car stopped and he took me out. We walked up to the door and went inside. He then put the blindfold over my eyes, and carried me to the bed. I must have fallen asleep, because then Polly was next to me. He lied to me, it wasn't a game!" Lisa started squirming.
Liz wanted to know what this little girl had seen and heard, but wasn't sure if her mother would be able to deal with it. Nevertheless, she had to continue.
"Lisa, what happened when you woke up?"
"Polly was next to me. Then he came back in and took me out. I got the blindfold off, and looked back into the bedroom. There were all these men around." Lisa knew the men were bad, but she didn't want to talk about it.
Liz sighed, trying to decided how to continue.
"Lisa, where were the men?"
"In the bedroom," she answered simply, playing with one of the buttons on her dress.
"What were they doing?" Liz didn't know what this child had seen, but knew it was important for her to talk about it.
"They were yelling at her. They stood around her, while he took her clothes off," Lisa naively spoke of what she saw.
"Who is he?" Liz knew it was important that they be clear on these things.
"The man who took me from the park." Lisa continued fidgeting.
"What happened next?" Liz spoke, ignoring the mother's worried expression.
"Polly was screaming. The men held her arms and legs down. The man then took his trousers off. They were all yelling at her." Lisa looked up at Liz fearfully.
"What's the matter, Lisa?" She noticed the look of confusion on the child's face.
"Why did they all take their clothes off like that?" Lisa didn't know what was going on, what was the big deal?
Liz looked from Rod to Lisa, to Mrs George, not knowing what to say.
"Does Lisa really have to give all this to you in detail?" Mrs George was worried about the psychological effects that this was having on her child.
"I suppose we don't need to go into any more detail at this stage, we've got other evidence. I just need to be clear on what Lisa is thinking though," Liz spoke as she turned back to the girl.
"Lisa, tell me in your own words, what you saw them do," she spoke carefully.
"They all got between her legs, and hugged her, and stuff. But it was mean. Not like a nice hug. Polly didn't like it!" The little girl had worked herself into a state, and ran across the other side of the room, where she began tearing posters angrily off the wall. She was crying desperately and kicking her feet against the wall.
Her mother quickly ran over and gathered her into her arms, carrying the crying child in her lap as she sat down.
"Mrs George, it is normal that your daughter goes through this. She's angry for several reasons. Primarily that she couldn't do anything to help either of them. Also, because she doesn't understand what was going on. I'm not going to push this anymore for now, but I recommend you get your daughter some counseling soon. She has to work through all this before it becomes a greater impact on her life." Liz decided to conclude the interview, and speak to the girl off the record.
"Lisa, look at me for a minute." Liz got the child to calm down. "What is it you feel inside, Lisa?" She took the child's hand gently, and spoke.
"Sad. I miss Polly." She looked Liz straight in the eye and sniffled miserably. Liz nodded and looked at Rod for support.
He came to the same conclusion she had.
"Mrs George, I would recommend letting your daughter visit P.C. Page in hospital. It is important that she knows everything all right now, and that they're both safe." Rod waited for a response.
"I didn't think the officer would feel comfortable with it. I'm telling you, I wish I'd taken her back sooner, it was all she said last night," Mrs George informed them.
"I'll quickly check with P.C. Page, but I'm sure it'll be okay," Liz spoke as she quickly left the room to find a phone.
ST HUGH'S - 10:35 AM
Polly had been talking with Dave when the phone beside her bed rang. Getting Dave to pass it to her, she answered.
"Hello?"
"Hi Poll, it's Liz. How's everything?" Liz asked kindly.
"Not too bad actually," Polly answered, Dave looking questioningly at her.
"I'm glad. I've got a little problem here though. Lisa. She's a mess, Poll. Her parents can't get through to her. She wants to see you." Liz spoke, trying not to put too much pressure on Polly, but being concerned for the girl's welfare.
"That's fine, Liz. So she's not really coping?" Polly didn't hesitate. She'd built up quite a relationship with this child.
"We just interviewed her. She lost it, her mother said she's been upset all night," Liz informed Polly.
"I don't blame her, poor kid," Polly finished.
"I just wanted to make sure that it wouldn't bother you, seeing her again," Liz spoke carefully.
"It's okay, Liz. It's important she gets over this," Polly responded.
"How are you coping with it all?" Liz asked delicately.
"I know I haven't gone through it all yet. I'm treating it too professionally, but I've got my hands full at the moment," Polly answered.
"Yeah, heard about that one. How's Dave?" Liz continued.
"I'm not sure inside. Fine on the surface." Polly didn't really want Dave to know they were talking about him.
"Okay, well I'll get Lisa's parents to take her down now. The sooner the better. That okay with you?" Liz asked.
"Sure, thanks Liz." Polly returned the phone to Dave, who hung it up.
"What's that all about, Poll?" he asked curiously.
"Lisa. She wants to come see me. I can't see the harm. Liz said she's really cut up about this," Polly informed him.
"You ready to deal with this?" he asked over-protectively, but softly.
"I suppose so. I care about this girl Dave. If it wasn't for her ..." Polly trailed off,suddenly realising where she was going with that thought.
There were several thoughts running through her head. If it hadn't been for her, would Polly have got through it emotionally? It was only through having to protect Lisa that she felt any hope or purpose in her actions. Also, Lisa had been there to support her, even if she was only a child.
"I know. I just don't want you putting everyone else's needs ahead of your own. I'm probably biased though." He smiled warmly at her.
SUN HILL POLICE STATION: SOFT INTERVIEW ROOM - 10:40 AM
Liz returned to the interview room where Lisa was sitting on the sofa, not doing anything.
"Lisa, do you want to see Polly?" Liz asked, getting the girl's immediate attention.
She looked up and nodded miserably, standing up and hurriedly making her way over to Liz.
"It's okay with P.C. Page, Mrs George. I thought I should tell you, though, she had some facial surgery last night, so I'm not sure what she'll look like," Liz informed the woman.
"I just want Lisa to get over this, and she wants to see Polly." Mrs George said, as she followed her daughter and Liz out the room, collecting her husband along the way.
"She's in St Hugh's," Liz told the woman as they walked back to the front office.
"Thanks for all your help." Mrs George smiled gratefully as her eager daughter dragged her towards the front door.
ST HUGH'S - 10:55 AM
Polly had been lying quietly in bed, when she heard the little footsteps running up the corridor. Sitting herself up in the bed, she waited for the girl to enter the room. Pushing the door open eagerly, Lisa squealed out her name delightedly and came running towards the bed. She stopped the second she laid eyes on Dave, and looked up at him terrified.
"Lisa? It's okay, come here," Polly encouraged the girl, who deliberately took the longer route around the other side of the bed, her eyes not leaving Dave.
Polly realised the girl's hesitance and asked Dave to leave them. He reluctantly left the room, and Lisa awkwardly climbed onto the bed and wrapped her arms around Polly.
"I missed you. They wouldn't let me see you," she whimpered as Polly stroked her back lovingly.
"I know. It's okay now, Lisa," Polly tried to reassure the girl, who looked up at her sadly.
"You're safe?" she whispered, to which Polly nodded honestly.
"Who's he then?' Lisa motioned to the door where Dave had just left.
"He's a policeman too, Lisa. I work with him." She watched the little girl take in everything she'd said.
"Is the bad man in jail?" Lisa began bringing this all back into Polly's conscience mind, and it came as a shock for her to suddenly have to deal with it.
"Yes Lisa, he is." Polly felt the tears well up in her eyes again.
"Why did they take us, Polly?" Lisa asked, wanting to work through all this in her mind.
Polly lost control and hugged her letting the tears fall.
"Because they were bad people, Lisa." Polly found she couldn't stop crying, just being with the girl brought all the pain and humiliation back.
"Are you sad, Polly?' Lisa whispered.
"No, I'm just happy that we're safe again." Polly told a white lie.
By that time Lisa's parents had nervously entered the room. Polly looked up at them as Lisa let go of her, and looked back at her mother. It was a strange feeling that followed. Polly didn't feel like she had to say anything to them. Lisa continued clutching to her, but didn't speak.
"How do you feel, Lisa?" Polly asked slowly.
"Better. Everything is okay now, right?" The girl wanted to be sure.
"I promise, Lisa. Everything is fine." Polly rubbed the girl's back again, and waited for the next question.
"Not all men are bad, right?" she asked innocently.
"No Lisa. Most men are good." Polly realised she was being thrown into parenting here, and it scared her a little.
"I'm sorry, Polly," Lisa spoke quietly.
"Why, Lisa?" Polly asked confused.
"It was my fault. He told me to pick you for the game." She started crying again, and Polly sighed to herself.
"Lisa, it is not your fault. He was bad to make you play the game," she spoke sternly.
"Okay," the girl whispered as she wiped her eyes.
Polly thought it would be an idea to change the subject for a bit.
"Are these your parents, Lisa?" Polly asked interested.
"Yes." Lisa pointed and identified her mother and father. Polly smiled, as if she wouldn't have been able to figure that out. Lisa's mother slowly approached them, struggling to hold it together emotionally.
"I'm so sorry, Ms Page. Thank you for looking after my baby." She wept as Polly embraced her and the girl awkwardly.
"That's all right, Mrs George. You daughter was extremely helpful. You heard about her radioing back and all?" Polly asked.
"Yes, I did." Mrs George spoke as she released from the hug.
"You sure you're okay now, Lisa?" Polly asked, taking the girl's hands.
"Yes," she murmured and hugged Polly again.
"I'll see you again, won't I?" Lisa continued.
"Sure." Polly smiled as the girl walked over to her mother, and they all whispered their thank yous and goodbyes, and left the room.
W.P.C's LOCKER ROOM - 1:55 PM
"So, what's the latest?" Vicky asked Debbie as they changed into their uniforms.
"They've got Davidson in custody, as well as three other guys," Deb informed her.
"How's Poll?" Vicky continued, nodding as Jamila entered the room.
"I dunno, Vick. She seems a little too fine for my liking. God knows what she's really going through," Debbie sighed as she pulled her jumper over her head.
"Tell me about it. I threw up just listening to those radio calls yesterday." Vicky had been out with George when everything started.
"Dave said she's really eager to get back to work too," Deb continued.
"You're kidding? What with the baby and all? She's mad!" Vicky exclaimed in disbelief.
"That's probably the point," Jamila chimed in.
"Deb, you're the closest. What has she said to you?" Vicky spoke carefully.
"Not much really. At least not about the attack. I was there when the counsellors took the statement, that was pretty horrific." Deb clipped her utility belt on and shut her locker. The three of them continued their conversation as they made their way to the briefing room.
"Was it just Davidson who attacked her?" Vicky asked worriedly.
"No. All five of them." Debbie sighed as Jamila opened the door, shaking her head miserably.
"And she's going to keep the baby?" Vicky continued, not realising that the entire briefing room was in silence, and had heard the question.
She blushed awkwardly, and sat down, Sergeant Ackland deciding that something should be done about this.
"That's it, you lot. I've overheard every last detail of yesterday's events through these corridors today, and while I appreciate that you're all personally affected by what has happened, I'm disappointed that you couldn't discuss it a little more privately." She sighed angrily and picked up the clipboard on the table while everyone settled down.
Just as the room came back to order, Tony rushed in, only to be greeted by Eddie.
"And here's the Godfather!" he meant it jokingly, but Tony wasn't in the mood.
"Put a sock in it," he mumbled grouchily, and apologised for being late.
After reading out the postings, June was just glad to get out of there, summoning Tony for a quick word.
"Sarge?" he asked, obviously exhausted from lack of sleep.
"You sure you're all right to be here?' she asked out of concern.
"Yeah. Just didn't get much sleep last night, you know,' he sighed.
"How's Dave coping?" June asked.
"Under the circumstances, he's doing remarkably. Still in shock, I reckon. And then the baby was the final straw. He did say though, that Poll's quite anxious to get back into uniform," Tony informed June.
"Not if I have anything to do with it. She's got a hell of a lot to work through, and I'm not going to pressure Dave back either," she replied strongly.
"I can't figure that one out either, Sarge. Denial?" he suggested.
"Wouldn't surprise me one bit, Tone. Thanks for the chat though." She smiled as Tony stumbled out to meet George.
SUN HILL CUSTODY SUITE - 3:15 PM
Sergeant Boyden wasn't surprised with the number of visits he'd received today. Luckily, everything had gone smoothly enough. Davidson had put his hands up, as had the other two gang members, but as of yet, they hadn't been able to locate the last two. Liz and Rod came out of yet another interview, looking more disgusted and tired with each one.
Shoving Travis Paul into his cell, Matt returned to the desk.
"At least they're co-operating. It could be worse. We could be having to dig through DNA evidence and statements to drag confessions out of them." Liz informed Matt as he logged the latest interview.
"They probably just realised they'd have no way out of it," he replied.