‘But what about the welt marks from the belt on Stephen’s buttocks? Surely that was physical evidence the priest had gone too far.’

‘The archbishop said the priest and nuns had had justifiable grounds to chastise Stephen on a number of occasions as he was so unruly. The Met solicitors said without Stephen as a witness it was impossible to say who was actually responsible for inflicting the injuries, and therefore there wasn’t enough evidence to charge anyone. The archbishop said the priest had been given some advice on his future behaviour and moved to another post.’

‘Where did they send him?’

‘I don’t know. They wouldn’t tell me. As far as I’m concerned the whole thing was a big cover-up by the Catholic Church to protect its reputation.’

‘Did Stephen have any family?

‘No, both his parents had died in a car crash when he was six. One minute he was alone in the world and the next he was in a living hell.’

‘Where was he buried?’

‘The coroner helped me arrange an Anglican burial for him. No one from the Catholic Church even bothered to attend. It was a really sad day, but the whole of the CID office attended, and uniform formed a white-gloved guard of honour outside the church. I visit his grave a few times a year and lay some fresh flowers in his memory.’

Jane was deeply moved by Barnes’s shocking revelations. It was clear he would never forget Stephen Phillips, and was still deeply frustrated and angry at not being able to charge and convict the priest for the assaults he’d no doubt inflicted on numerous children. His distrust of the Catholic Church now made perfect sense. But she also worried that in the current investigation, it might cloud his judgement of decent, caring priests like Father Chris.

Chapter Ten

CHAPTER TEN

As she drove back to the station, Jane felt relieved her meeting with DCS Barnes had gone so well. He certainly hadn’t come across as the kind of authoritarian stickler for the rules Stanley had described.

But although she was pleased that Barnes wanted her to continue the investigation, Jane was also worried she might come to regret not being honest about telling Father Chris the nun had been murdered. It had also put her in an awkward position with Father Chris, as he understandably didn’t feel comfortable lying about a nun’s death to Bishop Meade. She just hoped Barnes would quickly form a full murder squad once the dead nun had been identified, and this would allow her to tell the bishop the cause of death.

After parking her car in the station yard, Jane walked the short distance to the office of Thomas Durham and Son in Widmore Road. She pressed the intercom and explained she was the detective dealing with the unearthed coffin on the building site and had come to speak with Nick Durham.