by Sally Rigby
She opened her drawer and pulled out two earpieces and mics. She handed one to George.
‘Terry? What about Matt?’
‘I think Terry deserves to be in on it. I know their investigation wasn’t up to scratch and they could’ve done better, but they’ve helped us. It’s no skin off my nose if they want to share the credit. The main thing is we’ve got the perp.’
‘How did Jamieson feel about that?’
‘You know him so well. I think he’d rather we had all the kudos. But he’ll sell it as a joint-force investigation. It could help with his promotion prospects if a job comes up at the RF.’
‘True.’
‘We can but hope.’
Chapter Thirty-Four
Sunday, 23 June
George, Terry, and Whitney walked down to the interview room to meet with Ben Thackeray.
‘Thanks for including me, guv,’ Terry said.
‘You’re welcome. You have background information on the other murders, and I don’t. Having that knowledge will help.’
‘Will Terry be allowed to ask questions?’ George asked, attempting to lighten the mood and stop her from thinking about seeing the man who’d just tried to kill her.
‘Maybe,’ Whitney replied, smirking.
Terry looked at the pair of them, a puzzled expression on his face.
‘Whitney likes to ask all the questions herself,’ George said.
‘That’s because I rely on you to keep an eye on the interviewee’s body language and anything else I might need to know. Terry doesn’t have that ability. So, if there’s a question you want to ask, please do so.’
Once they got there, George went into the side room so she could observe.
Her heart pounded in her chest when she first saw Ben Thackeray. But he didn’t seem as threatening as when he was towering over her on the train. If anything, he seemed like a rather ineffectual man. His hands were held loosely in his lap, and he looked down. His solicitor was sitting by his side, looking at his phone.
Whitney prepared the recording equipment.
‘Interview on the twenty-third of June. Present: DCI Walker.’
‘DI Gardner,’ Terry said.
‘Please state your name for the tape,’ Whitney said, looking at Thackeray, who had looked up.
‘Ben Thackeray.’
‘And Clive Lewis, solicitor for the accused.’
‘Mr Thackeray, I’d like to remind you that you’re still under caution. Do you understand?’ Whitney said.
He nodded.
‘Please state your answer for the tape.’
‘Yes.’
‘I’d like to start by asking about the three murders, and the attempted murder, you committed in Lenchester. Hugo Holmes-Reed, the fourteen-year-old boy on the train going from Newcastle to Lenchester. Please could you run through exactly what happened that day, and explain why you chose Hugo.’
‘No comment.’
‘What about Neil Thomas, the elderly man on the Coventry train? Tell me about his murder.’
‘No comment.’
‘You need to take a different approach,’ George said. ‘Try asking about his father.’
‘Mr Thackeray, we have your father in custody, and he’s going to be charged with being an accessory in the case of fifteen murders and one attempted murder.’
The prisoner lifted his head and stared directly at Whitney.
‘Keep going,’ George said.
‘What can you tell me about your father’s involvement?’
‘He has nothing to do with it.’
‘Our enquiries are telling us otherwise. Perhaps you could enlighten me?’
‘There’s nothing to say. He’s not involved, and he didn’t know anything about it.’
‘That’s not enough for us to believe you. Your father’s credit card was used to purchase train tickets from Birmingham on the days of each of the murders. To be more precise, that’s sixteen times his credit card was used.’
‘He didn’t know I was using it.’
‘This was over a period of two years. How could he not know? He would have received statements for his card and paid it off.’
‘I have the credit card and I pay it,’ Thackeray said.
‘Why don’t you use your own credit card?’
‘I don’t have one. I have a bad credit rating. My dad got one for me. He had no idea what I was using it for.’
‘He confessed to the murders.’
Thackeray’s eyes widened. ‘He can’t have.’
‘Well, he did. He’s admitted to all the murders and said you had nothing to do with them. I suggest you were working together, and he took the blame to protect you.’
‘He was just guessing. He didn’t know it was definitely me.’
‘So, you’re admitting guilt.’
He shrugged. ‘You caught me in the act.’
‘Are you prepared to talk about it?’
‘Only if you drop all the charges against my dad.’
‘I can’t promise anything. It will be up to the CPS, but obviously the more help you give, the more it will go in your favour.’
‘It’s not my favour I’m interested in. It’s my dad I want to keep out of this.’ Thackeray folded him arms and stared at Whitney.
‘You’ve got him,’ George said. ‘I think he’ll start cooperating. He’s obviously very close to his father.’
‘Let’s just hear the truth, and I’ll see what I can do,’ Whitney said.
‘What do you want to know?’ Thackeray said.
‘Why? Tell me why you murdered all those innocent people,’ Terry demanded.
‘Revenge. Pure and simple. I wanted to make Transwide suffer. The only way to do it was to hit them where it hurt. In the pocket. I wanted them to lose money when people stopped taking the train. They don’t deserve to be in operation. They have to be stopped from causing further damage.’
‘What sort of damage?’ Whitney asked.
‘Destroying families, that’s what. They made my father redundant, and he couldn’t get another job. It destroyed my mother. She couldn’t cope and felt ashamed because she had to go to the food bank some weeks just to get the essentials.’
‘I’m sorry to hear that,’ Whitney said.
‘How can you be sorry? You didn’t even know her?’ he said.
‘That doesn’t mean I can’t be sympathetic to what happened,’ Whitney said.
‘She committed suicide thanks to those bastards. I wanted revenge. Dad didn’t know what I was doing. I’m not saying he didn’t suspect, but he had nothing to do with it.’
‘How did you know which trains to target?’
‘From when I was a young boy, I was obsessed with trains. I learned everything from Dad. When I was planning my revenge, it wasn’t hard to get the information I needed out of him. We’d talk about trains all the time.’
‘Where did you get the knife from?’
‘I’ve had it for years, from when I was in the army.’
‘A piece of the knife broke off into the last victim. What had you planned to use this time?’
‘I bought a new hunting knife. Similar blade length and handle to the one I’d used before.’
‘And the way you actually killed with the knife. Was that planned?’
‘I knew the most efficient way to kill using a knife from when I was deployed overseas. I’d done it before.’
‘Why didn’t you just kill your victims with chloroform? Why did you choose to use the knife?’ Whitney asked.
‘My mum used a knife to kill herself. I thought it was fitting to do the same.’
‘You took items belonging to your victims. Why?’
‘So I didn’t forget what I’d done. I don’t keep a diary, because I’m no good at writing. It was a reminder.’
‘Do you feel any guilt for taking the lives of innocent people?’ Terry asked.
‘I did what I had to do. I’m sorry if it caused any suffering.’
‘And you
think that’s an excuse, do you?’ Terry snapped.
‘I’m not making excuses. I’m stating facts.’
Terry thumped the table and stood up. He leaned forward. ‘Try telling that to the families of your victims,’ he shouted.
Whitney placed her hand on the detective’s arm and pulled him back. ‘Enough,’ she said quietly.
Terry sat with his arms folded tightly across his chest.
‘Back to your collection of mementoes. Where are they?’ she asked.
‘At the room I’m renting.’
‘Where is that? We don’t have a record of where you’re living.’
‘I live a couple of miles from Dad. I pay by cash, so no one knows.’
‘Does your father know where you live?’
‘I’ve told you. He doesn’t know anything. Stop trying to get him involved.’
‘Please give me your address so we can retrieve them.’
‘18 Wickes Street, Birmingham.’
‘I want to ask you about today. How did you get on the train and into the last carriage?’
‘I thought you were onto me, especially after you’d been questioning my father.’
‘How did you know we had?’ Whitney asked.
‘He used his one phone call to leave me a message on my mobile. So I changed things slightly. I bought three tickets from Birmingham using the credit card. But I also paid cash for another ticket. The one I actually used. ’
Nausea flooded through George. He’d been on the train the whole time, and they hadn’t realised.
‘How did you get into the end carriage? It was empty when we were in there,’ Whitney said.
‘At the end of the rear carriage there’s a locked door leading to a room which the conductors use sometimes. I assumed with the police on-board they wouldn’t go in, so I hid there.’
‘How did you get in if the door was locked?’
‘I got a master key from my dad. I’ve had it a long time. Your officers were so useless they didn’t notice me walking on when the doors were first opened. Then it was just a matter of peering out occasionally. Once we left the station, I could see there were only two people in the carriage. I recognised you from being on the telly at the press conference. I didn’t recognise the other person. I waited for you to leave, and that’s when I made my move.’
George dragged in a long breath. She’d been a target for the whole journey, and she hadn’t even known. It could have ended up so differently. She pushed the thought away. She’d always known working with the police wouldn’t be a walk in the park.
‘Bloody hell,’ was all she allowed herself to say.
‘Going for someone who was with the police was a risk. Didn’t you think about that?’
‘No. All I was concerned with was the easiest way for me not to get caught. The plan was to kill the person with you and then go back to my hiding place as quickly as possible.’
‘But the train would’ve been on lockdown as soon as we’d found the body.’
‘I’d have managed to get off through the exit door at the end of the carriage in front of the conductor’s room. But that doesn’t matter now. You’ve got me.’
‘Have you finished with your questioning?’ the solicitor asked. ‘I don’t think there’s any more that needs to be covered.’ He closed the folder on the table and pushed his chair back as if getting ready to stand.
Whitney stared at him open-mouthed, anger coursing through her. How dare the jumped-up pathetic excuse of a solicitor think he could downplay the horrendous nature of this crime?
‘That’s your opinion. Not mine. We have fifteen murders to go through, and he’s just tried to kill one of our own. So, this interview will continue until I say we’re done. Got it?’
Chapter Thirty-Five
Monday, 24 June
Whitney pushed open the door and was hit by the sound of voices. This was the pub her colleagues used, as it was close to the station. It was always busy and full of people she knew. She walked through looking for her team. They were in the corner, standing around tall circular tables. Matt, Frank, Ellie, Doug, Sue, several others, and Terry and Vic. Pride coursed through her.
George was already there, too. She knew the psychologist wouldn’t be happy, as she hated the pub for many reasons. For a start, they didn’t sell real ale, but also George believed it was cold, plastic, and lacked atmosphere. The fact she was there at all meant a lot.
‘Here she comes. Three cheers for the guv,’ Frank called out when she was close.
Everybody whooped and shouted.
‘I don’t know why you’re cheering me. It was a team effort,’ she said.
‘We couldn’t have done it without you, guv,’ Terry said. ‘This is a fantastic day for all of us.’
‘Especially as the drinks are on you,’ Frank said.
‘They are indeed. So, who’s going to get them?’ She reached into her bag, pulled out her purse, and took out two twenty-pound notes. ‘This should cover it.’
‘I’ll go,’ Doug said, taking the money from her.
‘I’ll help,’ Ellie said.
Whitney went to stand with Terry, Vic, and George.
‘I thought you would have gone back by now,’ she said to Terry.
‘We’re going tomorrow. I didn’t want to miss the celebration. I can’t believe it’s finally over.’
‘Have you let Dickhead Douglas know yet?’ she asked.
‘Yes, we told him.’
‘And let me guess, he wants you to take all the credit.’ She shook her head.
‘It was a bit late for that because your Super had done the press conference before we told him.’
‘What did Douglas say about that?’
‘He was annoyed. He said he should’ve been told first.’
‘He can take that up with Jamieson.’
‘You do realise we now have a new nickname for our notorious Detective Superintendent,’ Terry said.
‘Well, don’t say it came from me,’ she said, laughing.
Ellie and Doug came back with the drinks and handed them around.
‘Shall we go and sit over there?’ she said to George, pointing to an empty booth.
‘Wouldn’t you rather stay here with the rest of the team?’ George said.
‘They won’t notice if I’m not here for a while. They’re too busy congratulating themselves for a job well done.’
They headed over to the booth and sat down.
‘You must be thrilled with the outcome,’ George said.
‘I am. But I’m more concerned with knowing how you’re doing,’ she said.
‘I’m fine. Really.’
‘Have you talked to Ross about it?’
‘It only happened yesterday.’
‘You haven’t answered my question.’
‘Yes, we spoke about it last night.’
‘And did it help?’
‘What’s with the twenty questions?’
‘Nothing. I’m just trying to find out exactly how serious this relationship is.’
‘Stop pushing it, Whitney.’
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’ She grinned at George.
‘Yes, you do.’
‘I’m glad you’re in a serious relationship.’
‘It’s not serious.’
‘Of course it isn’t. That’s why you’re taking him to your brother’s wedding and were with him last night after your ordeal.’
‘I’m not discussing it further. Tell me what’s happening with you. Is Rob okay now?’
‘We’re getting there. Today I spent some time with him and Mum, and it went well.’
‘Excellent. Let’s hope we don’t have anything else causing us problems for a while.’
‘Now you’ve jinxed it,’ Whitney said.
‘There’s no such thing as jinxing.’
‘Well—’
‘Guv, you’re needed at the station,’ Sue said as she came rushing over.
‘Why?’
‘Detective Superintendent Jamieson wants you. Something about a meeting he wants you to attend.’
Whitney stared at George and rolled her eyes. ‘Jinxing’s not a thing. Yeah, right.’
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Read more about Cavendish & Walker
DEADLY GAMES - Cavendish & Walker Book 1
A killer is playing cat and mouse……. and winning.
DCI Whitney Walker wants to save her career. Forensic psychologist, Dr Georgina Cavendish, wants to avenge the death of her student.
Sparks fly when real world policing meets academic theory, and it’s not a pretty sight.
When two more bodies are discovered, Walker and Cavendish form an uneasy alliance. But are they in time to save the next victim?
Deadly Games is the first book in the Cavendish and Walker crime fiction series. If you like serial killer thrillers and psychological intrigue, then you’ll love Sally Rigby’s page-turning book.
