A Passion for Poison
Page 25
That same afternoon, Detective Constable Michael Grinsted, the divisional scenes-of-crime officer based at Hemel Hempstead, was dispatched to Hadlands, where he removed a number of items from the stores. These included packing material, sweets, an empty tobacco tin and a sample of water from the mains supply. DCI Kirkpatrick, meanwhile, was annoyed with Scotland Yard’s response to the list of names he had given them from Hadlands employee list; told they had drawn a blank on everyone, including Graham Young, he insisted they ran another check on the storeman. Together with Detective Chief Superintendent Harvey, he then spoke to John Hadland and Geoffrey Foster at county police headquarters. Shortly after their meeting, Kirkpatrick took a call from Scotland Yard, who had very different news to impart: namely, that the suspect had been released from Broadmoor six months earlier after spending nine years there for poisoning his father, sister and a schoolfriend. Kirkpatrick telexed Kent police and told them to arrest Graham on suspicion of murder.
A uniformed officer knocked on the purple door of 29 Maynard Road in late afternoon of Saturday 20 November. Mrs Saddiq was surprised to see him there and could only tell him that Graham had gone away for the weekend, but she didn’t have an address for him. A short distance away, Detective Sergeant Kenneth Rees and his colleague Detective Sergeant Marsh, both of Kent constabulary, asked the same question of Winifred, who had been writing her Christmas cards when she heard a knock at the door. Her heart raced at the sight of the two officers and she was in such a state that she unintentionally gave them the wrong address in Sheerness, where she said her brother was staying for the weekend. In response to her question, the two men said obliquely that they needed to ask Graham a few questions about ‘a disturbance’ at Hadlands. Winifred closed the door and stood with her back to it, mind reeling as she grasped the implications of the detectives’ search for her brother.
‘Graham arrived at my home at 5pm,’ Win Jouvenat recalled. ‘We had had our tea, I cooked him his tea. While I was cooking, he was speaking to me. He said, “We have had another tragedy at work. Another fellow has died,” and I said, “What did this one die with?” He said, “Another obscure virus.” I said, “That’s strange, that’s exactly what you told me about the other one.” He said, “Yes, something similar.” That’s all he said about it.’577 After their meal, Graham left for the Mechanics Arms pub on the High Street and Win herself went out at 6:45pm for a few hours. Unbeknown to them, detectives called at the neighbouring house looking for Graham and left without establishing that he was in fact staying next door.
In Hemel Hempstead, Detective Sergeant Robert Livingstone followed Mrs Saddiq upstairs to Graham’s room at 29 Maynard Road, where he would spend the evening in case its usual occupant made an unexpected return. Over the course of two hours, he examined every inch of the small, fairly squalid bedroom and had plenty to impart when Detective Inspector John Ratcliff and Detective Constable Grinsted squeezed themselves into the room just before 11pm. While Livingstone headed back to the station, DI Ratcliff took three photographs of the room, which was as Livingstone had found it, and then sketched out a rough plan of its dimensions and furnishings: the single bed with its striped coverlet under the window, the narrow wardrobe, small table and chair, overflowing ashtray stand and two suitcases. He then started a systematic search, cataloguing every item while DC Grinsted packaged it all securely.
DI Ratcliff’s inventory was incorporated into his witness statement and later presented in evidence. It reveals how Graham lived during the six months of what should have been a return to normality after Broadmoor, but which had warped into an unhappy, solitary and ultimately murderous existence with poison at its vortex:
Immediately behind the door was a table upon which was found an:
Avon perfume talc tin
Tincture of Aconite (Flemings) bottle
A poison bottle containing blue liquid, full
A poison bottle containing blue liquid 2/3 full
A poison bottle containing blue liquid almost empty
A bottle containing white crystals labelled poison ‘oxalic acid’
A Woolworth’s bottle top
A blue stained pipette
A corkscrew
A John Hadland biro
Ashtray with cigarette ends and hair, etc.
Underneath the table we found two empty pie cases.
In the pockets of a jacket hanging behind the door were found:
Young’s driving licence
A piece of paper with I.R.A. Levin, etc., thereon
Letter from Sheerness.
In carrier bag no 1 I found:
1 empty bottle of ether, 500ml
1 empty bottle of ether, small size
Address St Albans and times on piece of paper
2 pay slips
2 empty chemist paper bags.
In carrier bag no 2 also near chair I found:
1 pair of cord jeans
1 empty ether bottle
Match box containing bottle cap and dead wasp
1 chemist bag.
A wastepaper bin was found behind the chair near the door in which was a part-written formula and fish and chip papers. A pair of grey trousers were on the chair, in the pockets of which were found a door and locker key and two paper tissues. A brown cord jacket was hanging over the back of the chair, in the top pocket was found a yellow phial containing a white powder, in the same pocket was found a rolled cigarette and a workman’s club visitor’s ticket. In the left side pocket was an ignition key, goods inward receipt, key ring, Yale key and small mortice, telephone number of F. Biggs on piece of paper. In the right pocket was a metal nail pusher. Also on the chair was a pair of black trousers. On the chair we also found a number of American and English newspapers among which was a drawing of a graveyard and poison, etc. There were three empty wine bottles on the floor in front of the wardrobe. Carrier bag no 3 also in front of the wardrobe contained only dirty washing. Another empty bottle of ether was found under the wardrobe. In a box under the wardrobe was found 6 biros, 2 keys, 1 fir cone, correspondence, chemist bag with script on, a plastic spoon stained with white powder and a skull signet ring also stained. A fly spray on the floor was not taken. A tube of TCP ointment was found under the wardrobe together with an empty bottle stained red, some more drawings on newspaper and an empty chemist bag.
In the bottom drawer of the wardrobe was found a large number of bottles and containers as follows:
Tin of nicotine dust
Bottle half full of formaldehyde solution
Plastic container, potassium ferrocyanide
Acetic acid in bottle
Carbon TC in bottle
Bottle of concentrated hydrochloric acid
Plastic container with lead acetate
Bottle of strong ammonia solution
Unmarked bottle containing liquid
Bottle of concentrate of sulphuric acid
Bottle of strong concentrate of sulphuric acid
Bottle with stopper with liquid
Plastic container with dark crystals
Plastic container with lead acetate
Empty phial with white top
Empty phial with A.H on top
Plastic lid containing white crystals
Book (Malleus Maleficarum)
Bottle with white powder with poison antimony.
Together with a quantity of dirty washing which was not taken. We then examined case 1 which was beside the table behind the door in which was found three books together with correspondence and clothing. In case 2 which was beside the head of the bed we found:
a Memorial Book in the name of Gwendoline Molly Young,
Golders Green crematorium
a formula on blue note paper
empty talc tin
pair of hooked tweezers
miscellaneous paper and correspondence
paper Jiffy bag full of white powder
envelope containing pink tablets
Collis Brown compound wrapper.
On the ashtray stand beside the bed we found:
A bottle 2/3 full of eucalyptus oil
A bottle of vitamin C tablets
Empty phial with white powder on sides
Plastic phial containing soaked cotton wool
Small battery.
In a cardboard box beside the bed we found an empty bottle, hair cream and toiletry waste matter.
There was a battery and a piece of wire in a paper bag beside the bed, miscellaneous papers and an empty ether bottle colour blue.
Under the head of the bed was found another ether bottle together with seven books among which were:
Aid to Forensic Medicine
1914
When Evil Awakes
The Black Baroness.
Under the foot of the bed was found a loose-leaf pad, A Student and Officer’s Case Book, which contained writing relative to this case.
From a jacket pocket hanging inside the wardrobe we found a letter, an empty container marked potassium bromide, and in the wardrobe with two empty ether bottles, and six empty wine bottle, one collected which had a corroded cap.
On the windowsill of the room was found the following:
A glass which had blue liquid and a spoon in
A small bottle containing blue liquid
A small bottle containing green liquid and a piece of plastic
A bottle half full with nitric acid
A small bottle with glycerine BP
A poison bottle with no label containing yellowish liquid
A small bottle labelled ether containing small amount of liquid with sediment
A small plastic phial with white powder
A goblet type of glass
7 batteries, 3 razor blades
2 polysterene [sic] containers
Wasp with pins in (placed in match box)
Empty aspirin tube
Colourless liquid from pewter pot.
All exhibits listed were removed to Hemel Hempstead police station. Detective Constable Grinsted collected the clothing later.578
A separate inventory listed all the books found in Graham’s room with brief descriptions of each title. It makes for interesting reading in itself and again reveals where Graham’s obsessions lay:
The Accursed by Claude Seignolle – two ‘diabolical’ takes of French folk involving she-wolves, etc.
The Black Baroness by Dennis Wheatley – story of fictional secret agent in Second World War set in the time of Hitler’s invasion of Norway.
1914 by James Cameron – story of a year in the life of Britain and Europe – considered the end of an era.
When Evil Wakes by August Derleth – an anthology of the Macabre.
The Leader by Gillian Freeman – horrifying reconstruction of how a new Hitler might arise.
The Last Leap and Other Stories of the Super-Mind by Daniel F Galouye – science fiction stories of going beyond the barriers of conscious thought.
The German Language Today by W E Collinson – patterns and historical background of the German language.
A Dictionary of Treatment by Sir William Whitla – treatments in medical and surgical practice.
Malleus Maleficarum with an Introduction by Dennis Wheatley – a book written by Dominican monks in 1486 dealing with the powers and practices of witches, the use of torture and methods of Pu.
Funny Ho Ho and Funny Fantastic by Denys Parsons – a book of his prints, oddities and absurdities from newspapers.
Funny Amusing and Funny Amazing by Denys Parsons – as above.
Only with a Bargepole by Joyce Porter – hilarious adventures of the world’s most bungling spy.
Aids to Forensic Science
Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush by Hunter Davies – a picture of the agonies and joys of the struggle of a provincial youth from boyhood to manhood.
I Am Legend by Richard Matheson – a story of vampires.
Lukan War by Michael Collins – fictional story of war on planets.
The Quiller Memorandum by Adam Hall – record of man’s mission against a resurgence of Nazi organisation.
The Trojan Horse by Hammond Innes – story of an Austrian refugee from a Nazi concentration camp who brings with him the secret of a new diesel engine.
The Narrow Margin by Derek Wood – a definitive story of the Battle of Britain.
The Troubadour by Louis Vaczek – story of a French scoundrel.
Paths of Glory by Humphrey Cobb – a shocking story of an incident in World War One.
Both officers were laden with bags when they left Maynard’s Road. Each item would be thoroughly forensically examined, but it was obvious to Ratcliff and Grinsted that in addition to the multiple toxic substances found, the notepad recovered from underneath the bed would be indispensable in establishing Graham’s character, motivations – and guilt. His personality was present in virtually everything that they collected, from the ‘voodoo’ wasp stuck through with pins to the subject matter of the books, and there were elements among it all that stood out to anyone with knowledge of his past, including the letters from Broadmoor, his macabre doodles, the memorial book for his stepmother Molly – his first victim – and the scribbled telephone number of Fred Biggs, his last.
Detectives Rees and Marsh returned to Winifred’s home late that evening to inform her that Graham was not at the address she had provided. Winifred panicked, realising that she had told them her father lived at number 92 Alma Road when in fact it was 93. The two officers sent a message to that effect to Harvey, who instructed Kent police to try the correct property. The house was in darkness, however.
Eventually, the family returned home, with Graham the last to arrive from the pub, at 11:15pm. Fifteen minutes later, Rees and Marsh turned up. Win was in the kitchen, talking to her nephew: ‘He said, “I’ve been chatting up two old ladies at the Mechanics Arms.” The bell rang. My brother went to the door. I heard a voice say, “Is Graham Young here? We are police officers.” Two men came in.’579
The family’s world was about to collapse – again.
Fred Young recalled: ‘When Graham got the job at Hadlands, and we heard later that some of the people there were being struck down by a “mystery bug” it didn’t click at first with me. Even when Mr Egle the storeman died and Graham took over his job, and then when Mr Biggs died, I tried not to face the ugly thought growing in my mind . . . ’580 But as soon as he opened the door that evening and saw two police officers standing there, reality hit. ‘I stood aside,’ Fred remembered, ‘and pointed to the kitchen where Graham was making egg sandwiches for himself. I would not touch anything he had prepared. One of the policemen immediately strode through and clapped a pair of handcuffs on Graham, while the other officer began to read out some kind of charge. I couldn’t take it all in. I felt numb, crushed.’581
Detective Sergeant Kenneth Rees introduced himself and his colleague to Graham. They gazed curiously at the young man who calmly placed the butter knife next to the sandwiches he had just made. His clothing was smart: shirt and tie worn with dark trousers, while his hair was neatly swept back too, from the narrow face with its watchful, darting eyes.
Standing in the brightly lit kitchen, while Graham’s frightened aunt, uncle and father looked on, Rees asked, ‘Are you Graham Young, at present living at Hemel Hempstead?’582
Graham returned the detective’s steady gaze: ‘Yes.’
‘Do you work for a photography firm there?’
‘Yes.’
Rees declared, ‘I’m arresting you on suspicion of murder. I’ll be taking you to Sheerness police station where you will be detained until the arrival of police officers from Hemel Hempstead.’ Rees then recited the caution and waited for Graham’s response. He gave an almost imperceptible shrug, ‘All right.’
Marsh stepped forward with handcuffs. Graham held out his wrists. His aunt Win, shaking with distress, shouted, ‘What have you done this time?’583
‘I don’t know what they’re on about,’ Graham sai
d calmly.584
Win burst into tears and turned to her husband. Fred Young followed his son and the two officers out into the cold, dimly lit street where Detective Constable John Bibby of Sittingbourne police waited by the police car. Bibby opened the rear door. Graham ducked inside and slid along the back seat, where he was joined by Bibby.
Rees and Marsh returned to the house. Graham waited for his father to follow them, then turned to DC Bibby: ‘What’s this all about?’585
‘I’m sorry, I can’t tell you.’
Graham nodded towards the house, ‘The detective sergeant said I’m being arrested on suspicion of murder.’
‘Did he tell you that you weren’t obliged to say anything and that whatever you say may be given in evidence?’
‘Yes.’
‘Well, that still applies, you know.’