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They gave him the call out because it was a joke; broken windows at the university digs on Hallowe’en. He knew they sent him because it was going to turn out to be a waste of time - nothing more than a creation of paperwork - and he was the new boy. He wonders if they would have sent anyone at all that night if he hadn’t been there, it was coming to the end of the shift and they could have handed it over to uniform in the morning. They could have sent a couple of stern-faced coppers to ask some cursory questions and lecture the students on wasting police time, but they didn’t. It was something that the press made a lot of later, when it all came out. The inexperienced DC – ink on his detective exams still wet to hear them tell it – missing the signs. The PR department did what they could to improve his image, but the dismissal didn’t matter to him – he didn’t want the press looking any closer. Steven Miller could write a book on all the aspects of both his own experience and the case that the press missed but he kept his silence, made his simple statement in court without emotion and waits for the day when they move him on from this place. His time in court complete, he looks across at the boxes piled in the corner of his flat, still unpacked after all this time, and now unlikely to ever be.


* * * *

“Here you go, Miller, here’s one for you. Someone’s broken some windows over at the university – probably just a bunch of students mucking about, but you’d better go, the girl sounded a bit scared on the phone.”

DC Miller wrote down the details before picking up his radio and his car keys.

“Take a uniform with you in case you need any help nicking the ghosts.”

“OK boss,” he said mildly before deciding to risk a joke, “If you could get the ducking stool ready in case I have to interrogate any witches, that would be great.” He left to the sound of laughter and the DI muttering “cheeky sod” and knew it had been the right thing to do. Fitting in here was all about getting deference and defiance in the right balance. He went downstairs to ask the desk sergeant who was free to help him on the call out.

“Bloody Hallowe’en, all the nutters come out. Most of them are out closing down drunken parties, and most of the bloody lads have got dragged nto a fight outside The Crown.

“Julie, fancy some ghost busting down the university tonight with DC Handsome here?”

PC Julie Galloway called out that she’d meet him in the car and he went outside to wait for her. He didn’t like Julie; didn’t know her either, but that didn’t stop the feeling of unease he had around her. It wasn’t just that she was so pretty, it was that he couldn’t work out what she was doing there. From what he knew, she’d been at the station three years as a PC and shown no ambition to progress. He knew that a beautiful and ruthlessly ambitious female detective was probably a cliche best left in fiction, but a beautiful one who was happy to blend in seemed worse. When she got in the car he could smell her perfume and the lipgloss she wore looked freshly applied. He told her what he knew about the incident while they drove out to the university campus.

“So, it’s probably just a prank but the girl on the phone was a bit freaked out apparently. They were having some sort of movie night, watching old horror films so I think we’re looking at teenage stupidity combined with hysteria but the boss wanted it checked out just in case.”

“I went to that University you know,” said Julie, “I slept in the same Halls. There were always stories about ghosts and stuff, but it was all a load of bollocks. Lads would tell ghost stories to get the girls to move in closer to them.” She spoke about the lads and the girls as if she hadn’t been one of them, Steven thought, but maybe it was just a way of keeping things at a distance. Steven never said much about his life outside work either, not that there was much to tell these days. He liked it that way.

“Was there ever much trouble up here when you were a student?” he asked as they pulled into the long drive which would take them to the student halls.

“Not really. Lots of drinking, a few people on drugs, no more than any other university. I think there might have been some rumours about some guy in the Maths department losing it, but it was probably just another one of those stories the lads told.”

“Any big place, there’s always gossip and rumour,” Steven said mildly. He was hoping to find out what was being said about him; being the new guy from a different patch always brought with it some speculation.

“Tell me about it. The station is the worst place in the world for gossip – you’ll find out soon enough. If you’re not married they’ll have you sleeping with everyone in the station. Are you, by the way? Married?”

“Nope, not married,” he said as he pulled up in front of the halls. “Right, room 4c, let’s try to find out what’s what.”

Julie trailed behind him as he walked through the entrance, and after her brief animation in the car, seemed disinterested by her current surroundings.

“Excuse me, I think you might be looking for me. I’m Joanne – Joanne Downham. I called you.”

“I’m DC Miller, Ms Downham, and this is PC Galloway. Can you take us to the room where the incident took place?”

“Well, I feel a bit silly now. It’s probably nothing, I probably just scared myself – Hallowe’en you know. I waited here to apologise, really. I hope I haven’t wasted your time.”

Galloway looked around at the cheap decorations around the halls and gave her a look of scorn. This was why he didn’t like her, he thought. She had no interest in people, and no patience. Perhaps that’s what kept her as a PC, but it didn’t really explain why she joined the force in the first place.

“That’s OK Ms Galloway –“

“Oh, Joanne – or Jo – is fine.”

“OK Jo, well there really is nothing to apologise for. You can’t be too careful, and this is exactly what we’re here for. Perhaps there’s a place where we can go for a chat first, so you can explain what happened?”

She lead them towards an office along the corridor, and Steven saw her force a weak smile as she turned back to them.

“Tea, coffee?” she offered with a weak smile, and it was clear that behind her good manners, there was real fear in her eyes. Whatever had happened here, it wasn’t nothing to her.

“Tea would be lovely thanks – Milk, no sugar.”

“Actually PC Galloway, perhaps you could make us all some tea while I talk to Jo here and find out more about what’s happened. Make it sweet tea, I know it’s a cliche but it’s always good for a shock.”

He saw Jo move to protest, and then instead sank into an uncomfortable-looking armchair in a corner of the office and pull a tattered blanket that had been resting on the top of it around her.

“Well, there was a fright night thing on in the common room – you know, horror films, spooky cocktails, all that stuff. I don’t know why I went really, I hate those kind of films but it’s difficult sometimes and when I was invited I didn’t really know how to say no.”

“Do you often get invited to student events?”

“Oh, I am a student. A mature one obviously, I’ve got nearly ten years on most of the kids here. I’ve got the keys to this office because I do some admin work for a bit of extra money, but I live in halls like the rest of them. I know, must be mad!” The line sounded rehearsed, like she was trying to craft it into a joke before anyone else did. Steven didn’t interupt, but took his tea from Julie and nodded for her to take a seat and looked at Jo until she started talking again.

“So anyway, yes, I live here and it’s not always easy being so much older than everyone else around here, and so when I was invited to this fright night thing, I thought I should go. I can’t believe I got so wound up by it – the kids in there were laughing most of the time, but it really freaked me out. We were watching Carrie, and they’s gone a bit quieter during that, I don’t think so many of them had seen it. It wasn’t the – what do they call it? Torture porn? – it wasn’t what they were used to. Anyway, then there was this crash from the kitchen, and of course we all jumped out of our skin. I turned all the lights on and went to call you. I thought it was vandalism or someone trying to break in or something but –“

She went silent, and looked as if she was weighing her words. Steven sat back to let her think, but Julie jumped in, irritated.

“But?”

“Well, the kids said that there was nothing there. I mean, broken glass all over the place but there was nothing there that could have broken it – no brick or anything. That’s when I came down to reception to wait for you, but then I started thinking it was probably a joke. I didn’t see it, and I think perhaps the films and the dark and everything...”

She shrugged, her long dark hair fell across her face and made her look even more apologetic.

“Are you OK to come with us while we go and take a look?” Julie was already on her feet and at the door of the office, but Steven waited until she’d taken the blanket from her shoulders, shivered, and raised herself with a sigh. Then he smiled and walked with her down the corridor to the common room.