Double Noose

by Jay Sharman

  John replied nervously, ‘I was going to the shower room at that time, when I saw Everton running outside the shower room. I stopped there to ask Everton what was happening.’

  Jackson seemed to be puzzled and gave up asking more questions. More than two dozen prison officers had also rushed to the gym to take control of the situation.

  Jackson shouted, ‘Come on everybody, move to the gym area. Everybody will be strip searched and further questions may be asked either by me or the police.’

  Jackson noticed that Tony was avoiding direct glance at him, so Jackson walked towards him and held him by his neck and asked with a grin on his face, ‘Where were you Tony when this incident happened?’

  Tony stopped abruptly and said, ‘Gov, what do you mean by where I was? Of course, I was here in the gym and was planning to go to the shower room when I heard Everton running back to us.’

  Jackson then stopped Julian, ‘Julian, I heard that you gave some help to revive David so you must be the last person to touch him. I also know that you are a doctor, so tell me if David was still alive when you examined him?’

  Julian expected some kind of enquiries, so he was prepared. He took a deep breath and said, ‘Mr Jackson, I think that David was already dead by the time I examined him but, I still tried to resuscitate him just in case he responded to my efforts.’

  ‘You did not notice anything suspicious or notice anybody running away from the shower room.’

  Julian looked at a group of prisoners and whispered, ‘No Mr Jackson, I did not see anybody. I was busy with the gym machine at that time.’

  Jackson asked, ‘Do you think David took his own life or somebody strangled him?’

  Julian looked around at other prisoners trying to get some clues and whispered, ‘Although I am a doctor outside but without the help of any forensic facilities, I can't comment on that.’

  Jackson shook hand with Julian and said, ‘Ok, that is all I need to ask you for the time being. You have been very helpful and thanks for trying to save David’s life.’

  Jackson then supervised a strip search for every inmate, where they had to take off their clothes and checked by prison officers before they were allowed to go back to their rooms, but nothing significant was found.

  Chapter 23

  After gathering all the necessary information from both the prisoners and the prison officers, Mike Jackson went back to his office to prepare a report about the incident. An hour later, he was joined by DC Lewis in his office, who came to conduct his own enquiries. Jackson asked Lewis curiously, ‘Have you got any clues about the cause of David’s death?’

  Lewis sipped tea from a cup and replied without looking at Jackson, ‘No, not at this stage. I am sure you will have more clues than myself. This is the third death in the prison in the last few weeks. Two of the Greens members have died. Definitely somebody is taking revenge against them. Do you suspect somebody here in prison, Mr Jackson?’

  Jackson took a deep breath and muttered, ‘No, Mr Lewis, nobody liked the Greens, as they bullied everybody and used both power and terror to extract money from other inmates. They all were frightened by the Greens. Two of the prisoners, John and Tony could be one of the suspects, as they were seen near the crime scene either before or after the incident. Everton is another possibility as he was the first to see David’s body.’

  Lewis intervened, after putting his cup of tea on the table, ‘Mr Jackson, these are pure speculations, but we have no evidence against them. Anybody else?’

  Jackson moved forward to take his cup of tea in his hand, and said, ‘There is a possibility that some Islamic groups may have got together to take revenge of Hussain’s death.’

  DC Lewis asked, ‘Were there any Muslim inmates present in the gym today?’

  ‘Yes, four of them. Two of them are very strong and tall, but nobody saw them going near David around the time of his death.’

  ‘The main worry is that there are no distinct marks on David’s neck. Do you think that he could have died of some other cause?’ asked Jackson.

  Lewis moved his chair forward and whispered, ‘Maybe somebody could have put some poison or chemical in David ‘s bottle and that could have stopped his heart beats without showing any other signs of changes in his body.’

  Jackson’s eyes flickered with excitement. ‘Yes, it is a possibility and after David had lots of sweating, he could have felt very hot in his body, and that could had prompted him to take a shower. We just have to wait for a forensic report that could be very interesting.’

  DC Lewis was keener to complete the statement himself by giving his own views, he said, ‘In the shower room, somebody had planned to put a rope around his neck and make it look like a suicide.’

  Jackson responded. ‘The forensic team would know better whether David died of asphyxia or drug overdose.’

  Lewis looked at the ceiling and said, ‘The rope could have been used to strangle as well as to confuse the forensic team to find the cause of his death.’

  ‘We will have to wait and see; the other possibility is that the Greens are killing themselves by committing suicides. They all have long sentences and probably find no way out of prison. They attempted to escape from the prison last week by trying to smuggle a gun into the prison, but James was blamed for that.’

  Jackson relaxed by moving back in his chair. ‘We all know that James was made scapegoat, as the real culprits are probably different people. James notified the authority about the gun. If he had to use the gun, then why would he tell us about it’

  DC Lewis got up from his chair and extended his hand to Jackson and said, ‘Anyway Mr Jackson, I must make a move now, we will wait for the forensic team after they have finished the examination of the crime scene.’

  Chapter 24

  Robin and Greg both were in tears when they heard of David’s death. Robin tried to console Greg. ‘Mate, we can't bring David back, but we have to be alert about ourselves. It is no coincidence that two Greens have died in such a short period of time. Somebody is definitely after us. I know that we have many enemies in the prison but nobody can dare to touch the Greens.’

  Greg cleared his tears and sat down on the bed, he said ‘I suspect that some outside agency is responsible for these deaths. Maybe, some prison officers have got together to kill us and have planned in such a way that the deaths look more like a suicide than a homicide.’

  Robin pushed his fingers through his ruffled hair and said, ‘Mate, there is fucking talk about Hussain’s death and how some Islamic groups might have funded and trained some inmates to carry out these executions.’

  Greg got up to look into the mirror to see a small cut on his face and said, ‘I do not believe that is fucking possible and whatever the fucking reason, we may be the next in line. This is only a speculation, but we must stay together as much as possible.’ He wiped drops of perspiration from his forehead.

  Robin laughed as he said, ‘Mate, we should even take shower together as both the deaths have taken place in the shower rooms. Also, we also need to sleep together, my lovely, ha, ha’

  Greg put his hand on Robin’s shoulder and said, ‘No mate, we can't be looking that cowardly otherwise, everybody will laugh at us. Let us be fucking strong and fight back. We are Greens, after all.’

  Robin shook Greg’s hands and said, ‘yes Mattie, we need to be strong as we are Greens. People are still afraid of us, even if only two of us are left.’

  Julian came back to his cell after going through a complete search in the gym area following David’s death, and he looked very tired and depressed with his eyes focussed to the floor. He sat down on the chair without saying a single word to Nicki.

  Nicki asked him, ‘What is the matter with you today? Why are you looking so low?’

  Julian took a deep breath, covered his face with both his hands and muttered, ‘One of the inmates died today in the gym and I tried to resuscitate him without any success. I did not realise that many prisoners here are so depressed t
hat they want to take their own lives. I need to do something to help them. At least my medical profession can be used for some good use.’

  Nicki said sympathetically, ‘I am so sorry to hear that we have lost another prisoner. Who was he, do I know him.’

  Julian took his shoes off to put them to one side and said,’ yes, you must have heard of the Greens, one of them called David was found hanged in the shower room of the gym. It is sad.’

  ‘I think that I have heard about him. Another of Greens died only few days ago. Something very suspicious here, Julian’

  Nicki got out of her bed to put the kettle on.

  Julian said, ‘You stay in your bed, I will make tea for you. I wish that I could help other prisoners here,’

  Nicki washed two mugs in the sink and said, ‘I have seen an advertisement for a new course to become a listener in the prison. You could help them that way. Why don't you apply for that job?’

  ‘Yes, that is a good idea. Somebody else mentioned that to me as well. I will speak to the person in charge of listeners today, but that death was very shocking. one minute he was alive giving us stretching instructions and next minute he was gone.’

  Nicki asked, 'Do you think that he killed himself or somebody else tried to kill him.’

  Julian picked up an application from top of the cupboard and said, ‘They don't know yet, they are still waiting for a forensic report. Let me give my application for the listener post now, before I forget.’

  Nicki could hear the kettle boiling, ‘Come back soon, I will make the tea in the meantime.’

  Julian went to Stuart, who was Number one Listener in the prison and asked him. ‘I do want to become a listener. What is the procedure for that? And what are the minimal qualifications required?’

  Stuart replied, ‘We have already had one hundred and twenty applications for them and there are only ten posts to fill up. You can still apply as you seem like a well behaved, articulate and educated person.’

  Julian did not want to tell him that he was a doctor. He just wanted the job based on his merit, he took the form out of pocket, filled it with his details and wrote his reasons as to why he wanted to become a listener.

  Chapter 25

  The next day all national papers reported David’s death. The main heading was, “Another hanging” “A murder among murderers” was another heading.

  Few had criticised the laxity of the security systems, others put blame on the inmates, some newspapers called it a racial killing by some Islamic groups and others blamed inter gangs rivalry in prison for David’s death. Jackson had launched several enquiries as he knew that his job was in jeopardy.

  Everton was a member of the newspaper group in the prison called ‘Voice’, which was run by the prisoners for the prisoners. The paper had been running for the past six months with publications on a fortnightly basis. The editorial team had regular meetings twice weekly to approve various articles in advance.

  Everton was the chief editor of the newspaper, assisted by two other sub- editors. The whole team worked under the supervision of two English teachers to ensure that proper standard of the English language was maintained. They received their materials from different prisoners, who wanted to express their views independently. In addition, the Voice had its own pool of regular writers, who contributed more than anybody else. They tried to highlight the current problems in the prison faced by the inmates, related to food, healthcare, hygiene, visits arrangements etc.

  Many inmates wanted solutions to their problems and felt that the Governor was not doing enough. Others were of the opinion that the writers were just trying to appease the prison authorities to secure their early release. Everton had tried to be fair to everyone and tried to ensure at the same time that he avoided controversies, both political and religious to maintain harmony among the prisoners.

  All the written articles were normally sent to the Education Governor for his approval. The second hanging had caused a big furore in the prison and everybody wanted to solve the mystery.

  The Voice decided not to cover that news as the editorial board felt that any wrong statement could provoke more emotions and controversies among prisoners, leading to more conflicts among them.

  Julian was also invited to write for the newspaper, mainly to cover medical topics. Julian was pleased that his knowledge was useful for the rest of the prisoners.

  His first article ‘How to spot heart attack and how to prevent it’ proved very popular among both staff and prisoners.

  Julian’s respect and popularity was growing in the prison for his useful contribution on medical topics. The prisoners would normally stop him and ask him medical questions about their health problems.

  Julian was happy that he was selected for the course of a listener and that was his first day of training along with ten other prisoners. They were assisted by five other trained listeners and ten members of the Samaritan groups from the community came to give the training and also to ensure that a proper standard was maintained in the selection procedure of the listeners.

  The main theme for the listener was to stay quiet during any sessions with the prisoners, while allowing the prisoners to talk as much as possible about their problems. At no point, the listeners would offer any advice to them. All the conversation were confidential and even the prison officers would not be informed of any suicidal risks if the prisoner wanted to keep it confidential.

  Julian felt frustrated by his inability to give advice, because as a doctor that is what he did most of the time. Julian asked many questions to the trainers, who were impressed by his knowledge. At the end of the course on that day, Julian got the badge of a listener which made him a proud owner of it.

  Julian realised that many inmates wanted to become listeners, so that they could stay in that prison for at least six months, otherwise they would be moved out of London to other parts of the country as that made it difficult for their friends and families to visit them. Also, after becoming a listener, increased their security band, and that meant extra facilities for them and also free movements within the prison.

  Julian was also put on a rota for being on call as a listener, which was every fifteen days.

  When Julian came back to his cell, Nicki was in a sullen mood, and did not even bother saying hello to Julian who asked her, ‘What is the matter with you today?’

  Nicki replied after jerking her neck to one side, ‘You were out all day long and I am stuck in my room. I can't even make friends with anybody else.’

  Julian laughed and said ‘Why not? There are some nice prisoners around. Try to talk to Chinese prisoners, some of them can't speak English either, so you can use sign language with them. Also, they are small in stature so unlikely to harm you.’

  Nicki sat down on the bed and whispered with a wry smile, ‘You forget that I am supposed to be a dumb. The moment I open my mouth, our game will be over.’

  ‘Nicki, you can use sign language, that way people would not suspect you.’ Julian said, while putting his folder on the table.

  ‘Julian, cannot you understand that I am finding it difficult to stay here anymore. Maybe, I should tell them that I am a woman and they should take me to a female prison.’

  Julian held Nicki in his arms, and muttered, ‘By posing as a male prisoner, you can easily get away from here. The police will have no case against you. Also, you can escape from prison any time you like. Remember that arts teacher Mike, you can use him to arrange your escape.’

  ‘How can Mike help me?’ asked Nicki as she removed Julian’s arms around her neck.

  ‘Well, you have to dress up as a female teacher and leave the prison with him, pretending to be a supply teacher for a day, nobody will check you at the gates.’

  Nicki moved fingers through her open hair and said, ‘This idea is only a fantasy and works only in films. In reality, there is no scope or chance for that.’

  Julian sat down on a chair and said, ‘If you can come inside the prison, posing
as a male prisoner, then you can also go out the same way, you are a good actress.’

  ‘They have my finger prints to match my identity. Besides they will check my arrival time inside prison and there will be none for me at the gate.’

  Nicki looked at her hands by stretching them in front of her.

  ‘I thought that you can use some chemicals to distort your fingerprints.’

  Nicki giggled, ‘Yes, I used that in South Africa but this is a new invention and I have no idea how successful this would be now, only time will tell.’

  ‘Yes hopefully, you do not have to go through this, Nicki.’

  Nicki looked at the ceiling to whisper, ‘Sometimes, I hear voices in my head which says, you are here in prison for a mission. You can't go outside until you achieve your goal.’

  Julian seemed a bit shocked, as he frowned his forehead ‘You did not tell me that before that you hear voices in your head.’

  Nicki’s eyes started to roll side to side, neck moved up and down and the tone of her voice became deeper as she said, ‘Julian if I had told you about that, then you might have thought that I am suffering from schizophrenia.’

  Julian laughed, ‘Maybe you are suffering from that. But I have seen no signs of any mental illness in you. What else do the voices tell you?’

  Nicki moved nearer to Julian and whispered, ‘No, nothing else, I do not suffer from any mental illness, just leave me alone now. Tomorrow is a Sunday. I want to go to the church here to offer my prayers.’

  ‘Yes, that will be a good idea. I had put our names for the Church services two weeks ago, maybe, God can give some answers to some of your questions.’

  Chapter 26

  Jackson was sitting in his office looking at the various reports that the forensic team had prepared. Asphyxia was considered the more likely cause of David’s death and the only other abnormal finding was that of high level of potassium salt in the body. The report said higher doses of Potassium can cause death sometimes by stopping the heart suddenly. The summary of the report said that the cause of his death is inconclusive as we can't confirm or deny that potassium is the main cause of David’s death. Jackson felt like throwing the report in the dustbin and asked himself, why these reports are inconclusive? If the forensic team can't decide, then who else can? Jackson knew that Julian was a doctor and thought that he should speak to him about the possible effects of potassium on the heart. Another officer was sitting there, so Jackson asked him, ‘Do you think that somebody had put some potassium in David’s water bottle in the gym?’