by Lee Wood
Chris nods.
“For the sake of the tape, can you please say you understand?”
“Yes, I understand.”
“Thank you.”
Eden opens one of the folders in front of him and pulls out two photos. “Now, Chris, is it okay if I call you Chris?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, Chris. Here are two photographs taken of you inside the old car workshop on Tennis Court Road.”
Eden pushes the photos across the desk.
Chris seems surprised to see them.
“That is you, isn’t it?”
“No comment.”
“Okay, let’s move on.” This morning, officers attended your address at forty-five Ross Street. During the search we found two suitcases stuffed with cash. The total is £498,200. Can you tell me where this money came from?”
“No comment.”
Eden pushes across another photograph. “I’m showing the suspect a photograph of four suitcases. It was taken by Albert Mitten on Monday the twentieth of May 2019. It shows the four suitcases that contained the one-million-pound ransom he was forced to pay for the safe release of his two granddaughters. You will see that one of the suitcases match the ones found at your address. Can you explain how these came to be in your possession?”
“No comment.”
“I’m showing the suspect a photograph of a 9mm semi-automatic gun that was found at your address. We believe this is the same weapon that was used to kill Kronid Nicolescu, who was found dead at the old car workshop on Tennis Court Road. Forensics are ongoing but we believe they will prove it is the same weapon.”
Eden pauses as if he expects a different reply.
“No comment.”
Eden pulls out another photo. Chris looks at it and flinches.
“I’m showing the suspect a photo of a man called Daniel Zugravescu. The photograph shows the horrific injuries he suffered when he was tortured by two men at his bedsit. The landlord of the property identified you as one of the two men who were there when these injuries occurred. These injuries proved to be fatal. Daniel Zugravescu died in hospital. So can you tell us about this?”
“No comment.”
“This is what we’ve found so far, Chris. Imagine how much more we will find now we have you in custody. We have means, motive and opportunity. I doubt there is a jury in the land that won’t convict you. Kidnapping and murder. You might never see daylight again. So how about you start co-operating with us. We know there was someone else involved. Help us to help you.”
“No comment.”
“Okay, Chris, have it your way. We’ve got you and we’ve got your money. Virtually every penny. So even if you do come out of prison at some point in the long-distant future you won’t have a penny of this. I think this interview has gone as far as it can. You will be remanded in custody while we make further enquiries. Are you sure you don’t have anything to tell us?”
Chris looked up directly at Eden for the first time.
“No comment.”
“You can reply with no comment as much as you want, Chris. That’s your choice but a jury will take that into account. I think you need to discuss this with your solicitor. She will give you legal advice, based on what we have presented so far. Once we find more evidence than we’ve got, I can promise you will be serving an extremely long prison sentence.”
Chapter Sixty-Eight
Two days after being admitted to hospital, Daniel Zugravescu passed away from the horrific injuries he had endured in an attempt to get him to reveal the location of where he was holding Erica and Leona Mitten.
He had been beaten, stabbed fourteen times and tortured. They cut off two of his fingers and stabbed him in one ear with a screwdriver.
The police interviewed his boss and work colleagues at the security company who confirmed Daniel had come to the UK seeking a better future after the deaths of his parents, and as an only child, had no relatives still living.
Slowly, with the help of the journal he left behind at the old phone exchange, the police have managed to build up a picture of Daniel’s life since he moved to Trentbridge.
Detective Inspector Eden Gold and Detective Sergeant Tracy Archer visited Erica and Leona after they had been re-united with their family, before the girls left for London.
The girls were eager to know about Daniel and sat down as the two detectives laid out what they knew.
They told the twins about their stalker and how it seems he became obsessed with them. The detectives told them about his journal discovered in the place where he watched over the kidnapper’s hideout.
“I know Daniel Zugravescu was a stalker. However, from everything we have seen, he was harmless. He was simply infatuated by you both. He had no intentions of harming you. In fact quite the opposite.
“I think on this occasion I would go as far as to say you can thank your lucky stars he was watching over you. There is no doubt he saved your lives and lost his own in the process. That’s not down to you, in any way. He kept a journal with daily updates. It reveals he was following you home and he even planted an electronic listening device here at your parents’ home to find out what you were up to and gain more information about you. Such things are not unusual in cases of stalking. At the old phone exchange, the place Daniel used to keep an eye on you, we discovered a box containing a range of covert listening devices and spy equipment. It seems Daniel purchased each item off the Internet.
“The journal goes on to reveal how he went to the airport to watch you returning from holiday and how he hoped to talk to you but instead stumbled across the kidnap and managed to attach a GPS tracking device to one of the vehicles and follow the kidnappers to the hideout, and then how he had watched over you both almost day and night to make sure you were safe. Then he bought a gun. We’re not entirely sure why.
“It describes the instant he saw you were in trouble from the kidnapper trying to sexually assault one of you, he went in and killed the man and took you to the basement flat behind the old furniture shop at Mitcham’s Corner. Unfortunately, the two kidnappers traced him to his bedsit and set about torturing him.
“The coroner has said in his report the injuries on Daniel’s body were horrific. Probably the worst he has ever seen. He said the pain must have been unbearable and he really doesn’t know how anyone could endure all of that and not give out any information. But in doing so he saved you from being killed.
“It was an act of extraordinary strength and courage. I think it was because he loved you, and no amount of pain he had to endure was too much. It seems no matter what they did to him, he was never going to tell them where you were.”
Three weeks later the funeral of Daniel Zugravescu took place at Trentbridge Crematorium.
Two people in particular who attended went over to his coffin to pay their respects.
“Goodbye, Daniel. It’s such a shame we never got to know you. Thank you for looking after us. We will be eternally grateful. And I think I speak for my sister as well as myself when I say had circumstances been different, either one of us would have been proud to become your girlfriend and, who knows, even your wife. We love you, Daniel.”
Erica Mitten stepped back and her sister moved forward.
“Yes, thank you for watching over us and making sure we were safe. I wish we had been given the chance to meet you. Farewell, Daniel.”
The Roman Catholic priest gave his sermon to the nine people in attendance. All seven members of the Mitten family attended, plus Eden and Tracy.
Although he had no family, the coffin was the finest model the undertakers offered.
The twins had insisted on paying for everything, with no expense spared.
He may have come into the world as a poor boy from Romania but the twins made sure Daniel Zugravescu left it in style.
Chapter Sixty-Nine
It was a beautiful July day.
Two months since the kidnapping of the twins and in the Mitten household things had returned
to normal.
Diane was in the kitchen. Earlier, she had been down to the fruit garden and picked some strawberries. She had just finished baking a flan and was in the middle of cutting it into sections.
As she wiped a small amount of excess plain flour from the worktop using the front of her kitchen apron, she heard the doorbell ring.
Wondering who it might be, she walked through to the hallway and opened the door. Standing close was a man in his mid-thirties. He had a short beard, dark hair, almost black and deep-set eyes and looked vaguely familiar but with a detail she couldn’t quite place.
“Hello, Mrs Mitten. I’ve come to deliver a message to you.”
“A message. What sort of message?”
“Take heed of my words, Mrs Mitten. It’s not over. You didn’t think I would simply disappear, did you? I’ll be coming for them when you least expect it. You may have got them back this time but heed my words, next ti–”
Suddenly the man’s face looked like he was in shock. His eyes started to bulge and his mouth fully opened. Almost in slow motion and in disbelief, he looked down to see the kitchen knife Mrs Mitten had pulled out of the pocket in her apron sticking out from his stomach.
Blood poured out as he fell to his knees and then face forward onto the ground with the top half of his body across the door threshold.
“Nobody threatens my family and gets away with it.”
“I, I, I’m yo–” was his last utterance before he fell silent.
Diane was trembling as she stepped back into the hall and still looking at the body, picked up the phone and dialled 999.
She waited for the police and ambulance while sitting on a chair looking at the body as if she couldn’t quite believe the man was dead.
As she waited, she replayed his voice in her mind. There was no doubt. She would never forget it. The same tone she had heard those eight weeks ago. The same voice who had threatened to send one of her twin daughters home safely and the other home in a coffin.
She could hear the sirens. It wouldn’t be long. They would take him away. Please God, they would take him away.
It had been three months since the stabbing. The police and the Crown Prosecution Service had certainly taken their time debating about what would happen to Diane.
The family had been kept waiting and wondering if the police would confirm this was the mastermind behind the kidnapping. They just wanted it to be over.
The family solicitor had put forward a case for self-defence, even though it had turned out the man was unarmed.
Finally, the two detectives involved in the case were back in the house to tell Mr and Mrs Mitten what was going to happen.
Diane and Francis were sitting in the living room side by side and clasping hands.
Detective Inspector Eden Gold and Detective Sergeant Tracy Archer sat opposite.
“So, Mr and Mrs Mitten. We have heard from the CPS and they have decided given the circumstances, your actions were in self-defence. That you thought, as your solicitor has put forward, this man was here to harm you in your own home. Therefore they feel it is not in anyone’s interests to pursue the matter any further unless new evidence to the contrary emerges in the future. I’m sure this decision is a relief to you both.”
Francis Mitten spoke. “Thank you, detective. Thank you, both. We know the amount of effort you put into everything and we are extremely grateful for all you have done. But can you tell us. Who was this man and why did he target us?”
“Over the past few days, we’ve been able to piece a lot together, thanks to Chris Linwood finally opening up. It seems his partner had told him half of his share of the ransom would be waiting for him when he was released. But now his partner is dead and the money recovered, Chris has become co-operative in the hope of doing a deal.
“They worked in the motor trade and became close friends. They were both fanatic Liverpool supporters and went to football matches together. One day on a car journey to an away match, Chris told him the story of how he had worked for you. He revealed how you and your father had offered him a share of the business but then changed your minds.
“So Chris became involved in the kidnapping for the money he felt was owed to him. However, his partner’s motive was different. The real mastermind was someone who had never been in trouble with the police. Things were made more difficult because in the video footage taken by Daniel, the man always wore a wig, dark glasses and a fake beard. Now, from everything Chris has told us, the sole reason behind his partner’s part in the kidnapping was revenge.”
Diane looked puzzled and leaned forward towards the detectives. “Revenge? Why would he target us? What did we ever do to him?” Before he turned up here I’d never seen him.”
Eden looked uncomfortable as he answered. “There is one piece of information that has come to light about this man. I think it will come as a shock. His parents were not nice people. He suffered extreme abuse. They poured boiling hot water over his back and legs when they thought he had been naughty. What he went through in his childhood was horrific, so he decided to track down the person he felt was to blame for his situation. He was born on the eighteenth of May 1984 but his mother gave him up for adoption five days later.”
Tracy saw the instant realisation and terror fill Diane’s eyes.
Eden continued.
“His adopted name was Gary Bone. His birth name was David Hammond. I’m very sorry to break the news to you, Mrs Mitten, but the man you killed was your son.”
THE END
