I Let You Go

Olivia Rippon wants Ray to bring the Op Falcon briefing forward, so they can launch a “tough on drugs” stance. Ray says he can’t, he has a meeting at the school, but Olivia says she’ll have someone else lead—and get credit for—the meeting if he’s not there. He calls home to explain that he will miss the meeting.

The launch of Operation Falcon is successful. Once Ray is done, he calls Kate for an update. She asks to meet in the cafeteria, where she shows him a card like the one Jenna Gray had. It was in one of the houses raided during the operation, from a woman named Dominica Letts (she is first mentioned in Chapter 13, as a girlfriend of a drug dealer and victim of abuse). He puts it in a plastic bag in his pocket.

At home, Mags is crying. She tells him that things with Tom have been going on for a year, but the school never had evidence before. She says she spent an hour and a half yelling at their son, and Ray is confused. It turns out Tom is a bully, the ringleader of a gang, beating up students in the special education program and skipping school. The stuff under the bed was stolen by others for him. Mags says they have to apologize to those Tom has hurt, return the stolen items, and find out why he’s doing what he’s doing. Ray blames himself for not spending enough time at home. He says he just needs to become a superintendent so that things will level out, but Mags wonders why if he loves his DI job. She tells him she wants to go back to work, which surprises him because he never realized. They talk.

The next morning, Mags tells Tom it is fine if he wants to go to Jenna’s sentencing. He realizes it’s been a long time since he prioritized his family over work: “He had to change that. Had to start putting Mags and the kids first” (374). He can’t believe he was so blind to her needs, and blushes to remember how he tried to address the dullness in his life.

Mags picks up his suit jacket and sees the card in the plastic bag. She understands the logo immediately—a person with arms around someone else. Ray realizes he’s gotten everything wrong, both at home and with Jenna’s case. 

Jenna arrives at Bristol Crown Court. There are protesters and a photographer taking her picture, plus the Post reporter wanting a word. One woman stands in front of Jenna. It is Anya, who tells Jenna that Jacob was a good baby. Anya explains that Jacob’s father didn’t want her to keep him, but Jacob was all she had. The bereaved mother hands Jenna a picture of Jacob in his school uniform, aged three or four. Jenna apologizes, says she does not have children. Anya tells her, “You must remember that he was a boy. That he had a mother. And that her heart is breaking” (380).

Ruth Jefferson, Jenna’s barrister, tells her it is a simple process, but that Judge King is likely to be hard on her. This attorney, too, is disappointed that no mental illness is involved. Ruth asks about medical conditions and allergies. She tells Jenna she wants to present the event as an unfortunate accident. When Ruth mentions that Anya released the boy’s hand as they approached the road, Jenna says it wasn’t Anya’s fault, and informs the barrister that there were no extenuating circumstances. 

Ray asks Kate about the card. When she tells him it’s from Dominica Letts, he replies that the house on Grantham Street is a women’s refuge for victims of domestic violence. He tells her that Dominica was a known victim of abuse, which jeopardized Operation Falcon, and he made the connection by driving past the address on the card she had. He believes that Jenna Gray, too, is a victim of abuse.

At that moment, he gets a visitor. It is a man named Patrick Mathews. Ray is busy, but Patrick is insistent. He says he wants to talk about Jenna Gray. Ray and Kate meet with Patrick, who says he has a feeling Jenna is not guilty. He admits that he went through the box under her bed. He found her passport, under the name Jennifer Petersen. Ray realizes she is married. He calls the court to find that the case has been delayed, and they have a half hour. Kate mentions the missing persons report from the other day. When Patrick sees the photo pieces, he asks permission and puts them together. Seeing the photo put together, they realize that Jenna Gray is the sister Eve Mannings is worried about.

Ray and Kate go to see a woman named Nat the Domestic Abuse Unit. Nat has located a man named Ian Francis Peterson, who has a restraining order out on him—by Marie Walker, Ian’s previous partner. The women’s refuge had supported Marie to leave him after six years of abuse. She pressed charges but he got off. He had also assaulted his mother. They have a file on Jennifer and Ian Peterson, and Nat says it is not pleasant. 

Ian’s flashback: He finds Jenna’s exhibitions tedious. She is especially difficult before her November exhibition. She tells him he does not have to come, saying “we” can manage. There is another man involved—Philip, the curator. Ian believes she must be having sex with him. By then, he is no longer attracted to her.

On the day of the exhibition, he offers to put a necklace on her, telling her not to humiliate herself that day. He also makes her drive the Fiesta, since she won’t be drinking. At the opening, she introduces him to Philip, and he becomes more convinced they are having an affair. He watches her the whole time; by the end of the evening his rage is explosive. Outside, he accuses her of making a fool of him and twists her arm behind her. He forces her into the car to drive. Jenna tries to tell Ian that Philip is gay, but he says he can see she’s thinking about him. “As soon as we got home I would stop you thinking at all” (395).