The Male Debutantes' Pageant

by Annabel Naismith

 

Chapter Twenty Two

 

Wednesday of the half term holidays was a quiet day.

Danni cycled to Kirsty's house and they spent the day together watching television and films. Sally entertained both Alison and Abigail. They came round to her house in mid morning and stayed for lunch. After lunch they sat in the garden sunbathing.

Amy went to Mandy's house to make sure she had everything she needed as she continued to recover from the assault.

It was not until the evening that anything unusual happened at the Jacobs' household.

Jane took Karen out to give her some driving practice, leaving Amy with Mandy while Deirdre cleared up after dinner.

There was a knock on the front door. Amy answered the door and met a large man in his early forties and a younger woman of medium build.

"Good evening," said the woman. "I am Detective Sergeant Evans and this is Detective Constable Porter. We are calling in connection with the assault on Andrew Jacobs. May we come in?"

"Yes, of course," replied Amy, showing them into the living room. "Have a seat."

The two officers sat down, clearly not realizing that Mandy was the person they had come to interview.

"Mandy these two police officers want to talk to you," began Amy.

"You are Andrew Jacobs?" enquired Sergeant Evans, giving her colleague a meaningful look.

"That's right," confirmed Mandy.

"I see. Do you have a parent present?"

"Yes, my dad's in the kitchen."

"Would you get him please. It would be better if he was present when I ask you some questions."

Amy hurried to the kitchen and returned a few moments later, accompanied by Deirdre. Deirdre was wearing a black calf-length skirt and white blouse, and her ensemble was completed with a chestnut pageboy style wig, black tights and black patent flat shoes. Her make-up was light brown eye-shadow, lipstick and the merest hint of blusher.

"Good evening," said Deirdre and an unmistakably masculine voice.

"Mr Jacobs?" For the second time in less than a minute Detective Sergeant Evans was surprised to be speaking to a male in the clothes of a female. Again she looked at her colleague. She got little assistance.

Detective Constable Porter was no Sherlock Holmes. His promotion to detective constable had come fifteen years earlier and, despite repeated attempts, he had been unable to pass the examinations necessary to be promoted to sergeant. He was now resigned to spending the remainder of his career in the police as the side-kick of pushy young detective sergeants. It did not stop him enjoying the occasional amusing incidents and this scenario had all the makings of being a good one.

"Hallo," greeted Deirdre, proffering a hand to be shaken. "And you are?"

"Detective Sergeant Evans, and this is Detective Constable Porter."

"Delighted to meet you." Deirdre was in her element. Business meetings were something she was entirely at home with, even though this was the first formal meeting she had attended en femme.

"We'd like to ask Andrew some questions," began Sergeant Evans. "We would like it if you would stay please, Mr Jacobs."

"Of course. And please call me Deirdre."

Constable Porter bit his top lip and choked quietly. Sergeant Evans glared at him.

"Would you like a cup of tea?" asked Amy brightly. She was feeling surplus to requirements.

"Yes please." Constable Porter was renowned for never refusing offers of tea, or something a little stronger when the situation allowed.

Amy went briskly to the kitchen to put the kettle on.

"Now Andrew, do you mind if I call you Andrew?" began Sergeant Evans.

"Actually, everyone calls me Mandy."

"Like father, like son," observed Constable Porter quietly and got another glare.

"Could you tell me what happened last Friday evening, please Mandy."

"I was round at Amy's and I popped home to get some different shoes."

"What time was this?"

"I don't know, about seven thirty, I should think, maybe a few minutes later."

"What happened then?"

"Jess, Gemma and Lucy approached me from behind."

"Could you give me their full names, please."

"Yes, Jessica Collins, Gemma Lloyd and Lucy Hansen."

"And these girls all go to the same school as you?"

"That's right."

"Thank you. What happened then?"

"Gemma and Lucy held me and Jess hit me. But Gemma and Lucy didn't know that Jess had a knife."

"How do you know that?"

"From their reaction. Gemma was absolutely horrified and pushed Jess off."

"When you say Gemma and Lucy were holding you, why didn't you run away?"

"I couldn't."

"Why not?"

"Because of what I was wearing." Mandy's heart sank as she realized that she would have to describe the outfit she was wearing at the time of the assault.

"And that was?"

"A pencil skirt and high heels."

"You were dressed as a girl?"

"Erm, yes."

"Do you often dress as a girl?"

"Well, yes. I do seem to at the moment."

"Why do you say 'at the moment'?"

"I've dressing regularly as a girl because our youth club is going to have a beauty pageant with all the contestants being boys, and the girls are helping the boys get ready. I suppose it's been a couple of weeks now."

"Is this why Jessica picked on you?"

"Yes, I think so. There was an incident at school. Gemma and Lucy are in my science class and they held me after the lesson and Jess hit me."

"So this wasn't the first time Jess assaulted you. Has she assaulted anyone else to your knowledge?"

"She tried to pierce my friend Dan's ears."

"Tell me about that incident, please Mandy."

"She tied him to a chair and stabbed his ears with a needle, then she tried to push dangly earrings through the holes, but she couldn't get the earrings through the holes and just used clip-on earrings."

"We may need to have a chat with Dan as well. Is he going in for this pageant as well?"

Mandy nodded in response.

"What is his full name and address?"

"Daniel Smith. He lives at 35 Rectory Lane, Nutstead."

"Is there anything else you can tell me about that incident?"

"Jess was going to help Kirsty, she's Dan's girlfriend, to get Dan ready for the pageant. I went shopping with Amy and some other girls in Crawley. We found Jess and Dan in a shop. Jess had dressed Dan in a dreadful outfit. He looked like a boy with make-up and earrings and wearing girl's clothes. She had taken some photographs of Dan in a dress when she and Kirsty had been trying some clothes on him and she was blackmailing him."

"Blackmail is a very serious offence, Mandy. What happened to make you say Jess was blackmailing Dan?"

"A couple of evenings earlier, Kirsty and Jess were dressing Dan as a girl and Jess got a very pretty little girl's dress and made Dan wear it. Then she took lots of photographs, even some of Dan in frilly girl's underwear, and she said she would e-mail the pictures to everyone at school if he didn't do what she asked."

"Did you actually see any of this yourself?"

"Yes, Amy and me went round to Kirsty's house and found Jess had made Dan wear the little girl's dress. She took some photographs of me as well."

"You were dressed as a girl at the time?"

"Yes, but I looked like a girl and completely different from how I look normally."

"OK Mandy, going back to last Friday, could you tell me what happened after Gemma pushed Jess off you."

"I don't remember very clearly. All I remember is that Gemma gave me first aid and dressed the stab wound in my, er you know." Mandy gestured towards the site of the injury. She was not sure if using the word penis to a female police officer was a crime. "The consultant at the hospital said she did a really good job. I really don't want Gemma to get into trouble. She might have saved my life."

"It may not be up to you, Mandy. But I will bear in mind what you say. When the case goes to court, you may have to give evidence against Jess, Gemma and Lucy. How would you feel about that?"

"Nervous. But I'll give evidence against Jess. She's a menace. I don't want to give evidence against Gemma and Lucy. They were so sorry I got hurt. They came round to say sorry and gave me those flowers when I got out of hospital."

Mandy indicated the two vases of flowers on the coffee table.

"OK Mandy. I really don't think there is any evidence against Gemma and Lucy for wounding you. The statements made by Jess, Gemma and Lucy all corroborate what you have said. Jess was found in possession of a knife with your blood on it shortly after you were stabbed. She admitted stabbing you and did not incriminate either Gemma or Lucy in the stabbing. In fact, Jess said categorically that she did not mention carrying a knife to the others. She said that if she had mentioned it to the others, they would have not gone with her when she went to assault you. If you are not prepared to give evidence against them, they really don't have a case to answer. Not for the wounding, anyway. They could be charged with common assault, but if we tried to prosecute for every incident of assault, or playground fight, that takes place in schools, we would have a full time job just doing that. How would you feel if we just cautioned them? It would be on their police record, but it would not be a recorded crime."

"I would really like it if nothing was put on their record. It might affect them when they go and get jobs. If anything, Gemma was a hero and could have saved my life by pushing Jess away when she could have stabbed me again. I don't remember it very clearly, but I think Lucy came and stood next to Gemma and between me and Jess, so she's a hero as well. From what the consultant in the hospital said, Gemma would be a brilliant nurse and it would be a shame if she couldn't do it because of this."

"Mandy, that's really nice of you, after what you've been through."

Amy had entered with the tea and was serving cups to everyone. Detective Constable Porter helped himself to three spoons of sugar and several cookies which Amy had found in the kitchen. The others just had cups of tea, but no cookies.

"What's going to happen now?" enquired Deirdre.

"I'll submit a transcript of this conversation. A decision will then be made about the prosecution, the specific charges and so on. We will be releasing Jess from police custody, but she will not be allowed out of her home. She will face arrest if she comes anywhere near your home and we will include Dan's home in that order as well. If she breaches that order, she will be imprisoned until her trial. That could be several weeks away." Detective Sergeant Evans paused as a thought occurred to her. "There isn't anyone else she has assaulted that you have not already told us about is there?"

"No, just me and Dan."

"And was anyone with her, to your knowledge, when she attacked Dan?"

"No, she was on her own. She was able to tie him up because she's much bigger and she was threatening to blackmail him."

"There is one thing about that incident, though," put in Deirdre. "Jess did tell Dan's father that Dan had asked Jess to pierce his ears. That would mean it wasn't assault, wouldn't it?"

"Yes that's right. It wouldn't be assault if Dan really did ask Jess to pierce his ears. Whether or not there is sufficient other evidence to prosecute, I doubt. It's very difficult to get a guilty verdict where there is only the victim's word against the assailant. But we'll include it in the report. Then Jess and her lawyer can discuss whether she wants that to be taken into consideration when she is sentenced. The benefit for Jess would be that she could not be tried for the attack on Dan subsequently. However, it seems unlikely that a successful prosecution would ever be made anyway, so the benefit would be small. But, as I say, we'll include it in the report and let them decide."

"Can I just confirm that you won't be pressing charges against Gemma and Lucy?" asked Mandy earnestly.

"I think we can safely say that." Sergeant Evans looked at her colleague for a nod of approval. She need not have bothered; his mind was elsewhere, concentrating fully on dunking cookies in his tea.

"Oh, thank you." Mandy was visibly pleased. "They'll be so relieved. Can we ring them now and let them know?"

"Yes. Go on then."

Amy bounced to her feet happily. Mandy would have bounced as well, but bouncing was still painful, so she just looked happy. Amy produced her mobile phone and hurried into the front garden, dialling Gemma's number as she went.

"Hi, is Gemma there please?"

"She can't come to the phone. Who wants her?"

"It's Amy. I've got some really good news. When is she back?"

"She's here, but she can't come to the phone. She's grounded."

"If I were to tell you that the police have just spoken to Mandy and they have confirmed there is no evidence to prosecute Gemma, would that make any difference?"

"Yes, if it's true. I'll call her." Amy clearly heard the phone being covered and a conversation taking place between Gemma and her mother. The result was that Gemma would be allowed to talk for two minutes.

"Hi Amy, it's Gemma. What happened?"

"The police have just spoken to Mandy. They say there is no evidence against you or Lucy, so they definitely won't prosecute you. Isn't that wonderful? Mandy said you were a hero and saved her life by pushing Jess away, even though she had a knife. And Mandy specifically asked that they don't even caution you, because even that would go on your police record and it might stop you getting some jobs, you know, working with children or nursing or something."

There was silence from the other end of the phone.

"Are you still there Gemma?"

Gemma sniffed. "Yeah, I'm here Amy. I was just a bit, you know, overcome with it all. It's been such a worry after what that bloody bitch Jess led us into. If I'd known she had a knife, I never would have gone anywhere with her. Thanks for letting me know. When did you find out?"

"Just now. There's a police sergeant with Mandy and Deirdre now."

"Who's Deirdre?"

"Mandy's dad."

"That's an unusual name for a bloke."

"His real name's Richard, but he's dressing as a woman, to give Mandy some confidence."

"I'd have thought it would scar him for life."

"Oh Gemma, that's just not true. Deirdre's really sweet. Both Mandy's parents really care about Mandy. It's a long story, but Andy has wanted to be Mandy ever since he was little and his dad being Deirdre was their way of letting him know it was OK to be Mandy if he wanted.

"It still sounds odd to me. Never mind. Give Mandy the most enormous thank you hug from me. It sounds like he could have really made things hard for me and Lucy but he's been really nice. I really appreciate that. I've got to go Amy. Thanks for letting me know and call Lucy."

"Will do. Bye Gemma."

Amy pressed the button to end the call and dialled Lucy's number.

---

A mile away Gemma broke down and sobbed her heart out. Her mother gave her a hug.

"I hope you've learned your lesson, Gemma."

"Yes mum. That Mandy is really weird. He could have really gone for revenge and got me and Lucy into such deep shit that you wouldn't believe. Instead of that, he's making me out to be a hero, so I can still do nursing if I want. He's such a nice person and I always thought Andy was a little sissy chicken."

"What did Mandy say to the police?"

"He told them I was a hero. And he asked them not even to caution me, because it would show on my police record. If I ever applied for a job as a nurse, they search the police records and they'd never give me a job if I had that attack showing on my police record. I don't know what else he said, but I'll find out."

"Why did he say you were a hero?"

"Because I pushed Jess away from him. Jess looked kind of stunned after she stabbed him and I don't think she would have stabbed him again anyway."

"But you stood in her way and made sure she didn't. I think that does make you a hero, Gemma. So you're not grounded any more. But you must be more careful who you pick as friends in future."

"Yes mum. Thanks mum. I think I have really some good friends waiting for me to be friends with them."

"You mean Mandy and her friends?"

Gemma nodded and broke down in tears again. Her mother put a consoling arm round her broad shoulders.

---

Back at the Jacobs' house, Amy spoke to Lucy's mother. Lucy was not being allowed to use the phone. Lucy's mother wanted a letter from the police saying that they were not going to prosecute Lucy before she would accept that Lucy was not still in trouble.

Amy went back to the living room to join the others.

Mandy, Deirdre and Sergeant Evans were discussing crimes while Constable Porter was working his way through the plate of cookies.

"Can I ask you something, please Sergeant Evans?"

"Yes, what is it?"

"Lucy's mum still says that Lucy is grounded until she gets a letter from the police saying she won't be prosecuted. Can you send the letter soon, please?"

"I'll make sure a letter goes out tomorrow. Even if Constable Porter has to work through his lunch hour to do it."

"I'd hate to think he'd have to miss lunch just for that," said Mandy.

"Having to do paper-work never stops me eating," said Constable Porter cheerfully, showering the front of his jacket with cookie crumbs at the same time.

"I think we'd better be making a move," said Sergeant Evans. "If we don't go soon, he'll eat all the food in the house."

"Very nice cookies. Thank you very much."

"It was a pleasure," said Deirdre, standing up and escorting the two police officers to the front door.

"In a few weeks, you'll get a letter telling Mandy if he'll be needed as a witness at Jess's trial or not."

"Right ho."

"It's nothing to worry about. They just try to establish the facts and they're very gentle with victims facing their attackers, although Mandy seems to have a lot of confidence and I'm sure he'd do very well. Good-bye Deirdre."

"Good-bye."

Deirdre watched as the two officers walked down the drive just as Karen drove slowly and carefully into the drive. The car came to an abrupt halt as the rookie driver Karen braked from walking speed with excessive force when she saw the two unexpected pedestrians on the drive in front of the car. The two officers walked past the car. Karen and Jane got out of the car and came into the house.

"Hallo dear. Who were those two?" asked Jane.

"They were police detectives, coming to ask Mandy some questions about the attack. Young Jess seems to be for it, but the other two won't face any charges. I think it is fair enough, because they had nothing to do with the stabbing. If anything Gemma seems to have been a hero, from what I can gather."

Deirdre and Jane continued their conversation while Amy helped Mandy upstairs to her room. They wanted to let their friends know about the evening's developments and it would be so much easier without parents listening.

 

To be continued

  

  

  

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