Читать книгу No Way Out - David Kessler - Страница 11

The room was a cold, clinical white. It was supposed to be relaxing as well as hygienic but stepping into it felt like entering something out of science fiction.

‘Okay, now just hold still,’ said Doctor Weiner, holding the third swab between Bethel’s legs.

Bethel held still and forced herself not to think about what was happening or what had happened. But the harder she fought to avoid it, the more painful the memories that flooded back.

‘I don’t understand,’ said Bethel, fighting back the tears. ‘How many swabs do you need?’

‘We try to take several,’ said Bridget, the twenty-something-year-old detective who was standing a few feet away.

‘But why?’

Bridget could hear in Bethel’s voice the inner strength that the girl was trying to draw on.

‘Because sometimes the whole sample gets used up in the test and we may need to do back-up tests or give a sample to the defense in case they want to run their own independent tests.’

Bethel Newton had already been photographed from all angles, examined by a female doctor and had vaginal swabs and nail clippings taken. They had intended to take combings from her pubic hair, but she was shaven. They had also taken buccal swabs to use as reference samples. Bethel’s body was now – in police investigative terminology – a crime scene. And the vaginal swabs and nail clippings constituted crime scene samples.

‘I don’t see what good this’ll do,’ said Bethel.

‘We can distinguish between different contributors. That’s what your reference sample is for. In fact, we now have powerful techniques for isolating DNA from sperm.’

‘But he used a condom.’ She remembered how deftly he had held her down with the weight of his body while putting it on, before he penetrated her. It was like he knew exactly what he was doing – like he had done it before. Some men are experts with bra straps. This man was an expert at rape – and an expert at minimizing the trail of evidence that he left behind.

‘We don’t expect to find any identifiable sperm in the vaginal swab,’ explained Bridget. ‘But we have to check anyway.’

Bethel shuddered, but kept her mouth shut. She hadn’t expected it to be like this.

‘You scratched him too, don’t forget,’ Bridget added. ‘That could give us a skin sample or even a blood sample and that in turn will give us his DNA. Also we might find traces of the condom itself. He might have thrown it away nearby.’

‘So what?’ said Bethel, bitterly. ‘How does that help you catch him in the first place?’

Bridget took a deep breath and spoke gently. ‘Okay, well let’s say we find an empty condom packet by the road near where it happened, if it has fingerprints on it, and if he has a criminal record, we’ll be able to identify him and issue a warrant. And let’s say we find some exchangeable traces from the condom in the swabs we took from you – that means substances like lubricants and spermicides and anti-stick powders – we can compare them for chemical similarities to any condoms we find in the suspect’s possession or for that matter any chemical traces in any condom that he discarded nearby. Or if he discarded the whole packet, we can analyze the exchangeable traces in them and compare them to your evidence sample.’

‘So what’ll that prove?’ Bethel spat out contemptuously. ‘That he has the same type of condoms?’

Bridget put a comforting hand on Bethel’s shoulder. ‘Evidence is like a jigsaw puzzle, Bethel. If we can put enough pieces together we can nail him. And if we can match his DNA to the DNA from any other crimes then before you know it he’s going down on multiple counts of rape. And you’d be the one who can claim the credit for stopping him.’

Bethel knew that the flattery was part of a well-meaning game. Still, she warmed to the compliment and nodded, pretending to accept Bridget’s logic.

In fact, a bond was beginning to form between them. But this was only natural. From the moment Bethel had staggered into the police station, Detective Bridget Riley had accompanied her.

Bethel had been reluctant to go through the whole rape examination procedure. Several times she had almost backed out of it. But Bridget had convinced her to continue, pointing out that the bruises and internal injuries showed that the rapist had used considerable force.

‘There’s virtually no danger he’ll be able to argue consent,’ Bridget assured her. ‘They sometimes get away with that in date rape cases, but this wasn’t a date. Unless we goof up badly, there’s no way he can use it here. And once we ID the man, if we’ve got a good sample from any of the swabs or nail clippings, the DNA’ll get him.’

‘But first you’ve got to catch him,’ said Beth tentatively.

‘We’ll check his DNA against the National DNA Index System as well as the California DNA Index which may have some more detail.’

Bethel smiled nervously. But then she said something that struck Bridget as rather strange. ‘What if his lawyers dig up stuff that they can throw at me?’