A Cold Grave: A DCI Danny Flint Book

by Negus, Trevor

  Armed with the information from the vehicle checks, the two women made their way upstairs to the CID office to phone Danny Flint.

  The first door they passed on the upper floor led into the office used by the station superintendent. As they walked by the partially open door, a gruff voice said, ‘In here, ladies.’

  Tina opened the door wider.

  Up until that moment, the two detectives hadn’t met the station superintendent.

  Sitting in the office with Superintendent Stringer were Danny Flint and Rob Buxton.

  Tina said to Danny, ‘Hello, sir, we were just about to call you.’

  Danny answered, ‘As soon as I’d seen Tania Jenkins this morning, I thought I’d better come up to Retford to see how things were progressing for myself. I was just explaining to Superintendent Stringer that we may have a lead on the whereabouts of Jimmy Wade.’

  Rachel said, ‘It may be a bit too soon to say that, sir. I’ve just done PNC checks on two vehicles we saw at South Lodge. A Fiat Uno, which is registered to Stewart Ainsworth, and a Daihatsu van, which is registered to the owner of South Lodge, Melissa Braithwaite. We managed to get a glimpse of the driver of the Fiat Uno, and the driver fitted the description of Ainsworth. We could only see the driver from a distance, so we couldn’t be sure whether it was Ainsworth or not.’

  Stringer growled at Danny, ‘Doesn’t sound all that encouraging to me, Chief Inspector. Please feel free to use the CID office to firm up your information.’

  It was one of the most courteous dismissals Danny had ever heard. He was left in no doubt that the superintendent’s office should be vacated immediately.

  ‘No problem, sir. I’ll keep you informed of any further developments.’

  Superintendent Stringer didn’t look up from the report he was now busy reading.

  The four detectives left the office and made their way along the corridor to the CID office. The only person in the office was Angie Wilbraham, the local detective sergeant. She was also busily reading reports that had been left on her desk overnight. She looked up when she saw the door to the office open.

  Seeing Rachel, she said, ‘Hello, Rachel, what’s happening?’

  ‘Hi, Angie. This is my boss, Detective Chief Inspector Flint, and Detective Inspector Buxton. You already know Tina. We need to use the office for a while, sorry.’

  Angie turned to Danny and said, ‘No problem, sir, if you need any local knowledge on whatever it is you’re doing today, just give me a shout. I’ll be next door in the DI’s office. He’s not in today.’

  Danny nodded and said, ‘Thanks, sorry to interrupt your work.’

  Angie grabbed her paperwork and walked out of the office.

  Danny said, ‘Okay, ladies, give me a full debrief on your recce. I can have a section of the Special Operations Unit armed and travelling if we think there’s any possibility that Jimmy Wade is at this South Lodge address.’

  It was Rachel who spoke up. ‘There’s no way of knowing, boss. The only man we saw at the location didn’t look anything like Wade. He loosely fitted the description of our missing social worker, Stewart Ainsworth, and he was driving Ainsworth’s motor.’

  ‘Who was driving the Daihatsu?’

  ‘We couldn’t see. Whoever it was never got out of the vehicle.’

  ‘Okay, tell me about South Lodge.’

  Tina said, ‘It’s so far off the beaten track unless you actually knew it was there, you’d never find it in a month of Sundays. It’s a small stone cottage surrounded by acres of conifer woodlands owned by the Forestry Commission.’

  ‘And the cottage itself?’

  ‘Like I said, it’s very small, almost two-up two-down. Typical of the stone lodges you see on old country estates. The windows are tiny, and the front door is made of a heavy hardwood.’

  ‘What about the grounds?’

  ‘It’s in a small clearing that’s surrounded on three sides by a mature conifer plantation, and on one side by deciduous trees. Vehicular access is by a single track that leads to the cottage and comes to a dead end at the property. There’s only one way in and one way out. At the rear of the cottage, there’s a small stream just before the conifer plantation starts. There’s a small wooden bridge over the stream.’

  ‘Is that it?’

  ‘Yes, sir.’

  Rachel said, ‘Don’t forget the outbuildings at the back of the property.’

  Danny said, ‘Go on.’

  Tina continued, ‘Sorry, boss. There are also two stone outbuildings directly behind the property, about fifteen yards from the back of the cottage.’

  Danny turned to Rachel and asked, ‘Rachel, do you think the property could be easily contained by the Special Operations Unit?’

  ‘Very easily. The woodland surrounding it is very thick; it’s mature conifer planting on three sides. I’m sure the Unit would be able to get in quite close without being seen by the occupants.’

  Danny was deep in thought.

  He said, ‘Tina, Rachel, can you give me and Rob a minute or two, please. There’s something I want to discuss with him before I run it by you two.’

  Both women nodded, stood up and walked towards the door.

  At the door, Tina turned and said, ‘We’ll be downstairs in the control room, sir.’

  ‘Thanks, Tina, this won’t take long.’

  Danny waited for the door to close properly, then turned to Rob and said, ‘I’ve got an idea, but I don’t know if it’s fair to put Rachel in such a position.’

  ‘Let’s hear it.’

  ‘I’m thinking if Wade’s in that cottage, we’re going to need something to make him show himself.’

  ‘Something or someone?’

  ‘Yes, someone. Who’s the one police officer that Wade would risk showing out for?’

  Rob looked aghast. ‘You want to use Rachel as bait?’

  Danny nodded.

  Rob scowled. ‘I don’t like this idea one bit. After what happened last time, I think it’s totally unfair to even ask her to act as a decoy for that monster.’

  ‘Hear me out, Rob. I propose having the Special Operations Unit surrounding the cottage as armed backup for Rachel.’

  ‘Why not just send the SOU in and raid the cottage?’

  ‘What if we’re wrong, and Wade isn’t there? We haven’t got enough to justify a full armed raid on a cottage that could just be occupied by two young lovers having fun. If Rachel goes in and discovers something else, then the armed team would be able to respond immediately.’

  ‘Would “immediately” be fast enough, though?’

  ‘I don’t know. What do you think?’

  ‘I don’t know either. I do know I hate the idea. Couldn’t we send a different officer to check out the property? Does it have to be Rachel?’

  ‘We’ve already sent two other officers to the property. DC Baxter and DC Harper never saw hide nor hair of Wade when they visited. My biggest fear is that if he’s in there, he could just disappear again. I want Rachel to make a telephone call to Melissa Braithwaite and tell her that she needs to come and see her about Stewart Ainsworth. I want her to ask when it would be convenient for her to come and see her at South Lodge. My guess is, if Wade’s in there, he’ll tell Braithwaite to play for a little time. That would give him the time to set a trap for Rachel. If it’s Ainsworth who’s there, I think she’ll say come over straight away.’

  ‘I don’t like it, but it could work. I think you need to ask Rachel what her thoughts on it are. I don’t think you can order her to do something like that.’

  ‘I would never dream of ordering her to do it, Rob. If she’s not happy about any part of it, we’ll find a different way. Call the control room and get them both back up here.’

  A couple of minutes later, Rachel and Tina walked back into the CID office.

  Danny outlined his plan to Rachel and asked what she thought.

  Rachel thought for a moment and said, ‘And the Special Ops lads, surrounding the cottage, would be arm
ed?’

  ‘Yes. I could get authority for an armed containment, no problem.’

  ‘What about comms?’

  ‘We could utilise the covert radios used by the Special Ops lads, so everyone would be on the same channel. At any given moment, if you were unhappy about the situation, we could have an armed response into the lodge within seconds.’

  Rachel thought for a moment, then said quietly, ‘I’ll do it.’

  83

  2 July 1986

  Manchester Airport Arrivals, Manchester

  ‘Okay, gents, this is how we’ll do this. I’ll intercept your man at Passport Control. We’ve already put a flag on his passport, so as soon as he presents it, the officer will know and signal me. I’ll then escort Dr Baxter and his wife along this corridor and into this private room. That way, you can arrest him nice and quietly, away from the public, and without any fuss.’

  The voice belonged to Detective Sergeant Chris Penn of the Special Branch. He was in his early fifties, very overweight, and panted for breath as he spoke. Sweating heavily and red in the face, he looked as though he had spent most of his service behind a desk. The suit he wore was both ill-fitting and in need of a trip to the dry cleaners.

  Detective Sergeant Wills said, ‘How secure is this room, Chris? I can’t see any locks on the door.’

  ‘There isn’t a lock, but it’s far safer to make your arrest here than it would be to do it anywhere else.’

  ‘I was hoping to arrest him while he was still on board the aircraft.’

  Chris Penn smiled. ‘I think you’ve been watching too many movies. We never do that. It’s way too much of a risk to arrest anybody airside. No, you’ll have to detain your man here, in this room.’

  ‘Okay, no problem. How long until the flight from Ibrahim Nasir International lands?’

  ‘I checked just before I came down to meet you. The flight from the Maldives is on time and should land at Gate 30 within the next fifteen minutes. It normally takes between another twenty to thirty minutes before passengers start arriving at passport control from that particular gate.’

  ‘Brilliant. Okay if we just wait here, then?’

  ‘That’s fine. I’ll pop in again to let you know when the passengers are approaching passport control.’

  Detective Sergeant Penn then left the two MCIU detectives alone.

  DC Jeff Williams turned to Andy Wills and said, ‘What do you think, Sarge?’

  Andy shook his head. ‘If I’m being honest, I’m not too happy with this location. Thirty yards further down that corridor, and you’re into the main baggage halls.’

  Jeff Williams said in a confident, breezy tone, ‘Don’t worry about it, Sarge. If DS Penn stands behind Baxter after he brings them through, there’s no way the doctor will get around him to escape.’

  Ignoring his colleague’s light-hearted banter, Andy said, ‘Just stay on your toes. Don’t forget Baxter’s one of the main organisers, along with Grenville Slater, of this paedophile ring. The last thing we need is him getting away. We don’t know anything about him; for all we know he could be a boxer or a karate expert. Let’s not take any silly chances when we’re arresting him.’

  Jeff nodded and sat down on the desk inside the room.

  Three-quarters of an hour later, a breathless Detective Sergeant Penn opened the door to the small private room. He said, ‘The first passengers on the Maldives flight are forming a queue at passport control. I’ll go and intercept Dr Baxter and his wife when they come through. I’ll instruct them to follow me, as I want to do a routine search of their hand luggage. Once they’re in the room, I’ll follow them inside and close the door behind me. It will be down to you to make the arrest then. Okay?’

  Andy Wills replied, ‘Okay, thanks. We’ll be ready.’

  As soon as the door closed, Andy turned to Jeff and said, ‘You can make the arrest, Jeff. Get your handcuffs ready.’

  Jeff took the handcuffs from his suit jacket pocket and held them ready in his hand.

  Five minutes passed before Andy could hear raised voices in the corridor outside the room. He heard DS Penn say, ‘It’s just routine, Dr Baxter. Follow me, please.’

  Andy then heard a very aggressive, irate voice. ‘This is preposterous, an outrage! Neither of us have anything in our hand luggage that warrants a search. You’ve no right to detain my wife and me like this.’

  Andy knew Dr William Baxter was forty years of age. Right now, he sounded like a very fit and aggressive forty-year-old.

  Before anything else was said outside in the corridor, the door to the room opened and a red-faced DS Penn stood half in the doorway. He motioned with his right hand and said, ‘In here, please, Dr Baxter.’

  A heavyset, dark-haired woman stepped inside the room, followed immediately by a very tanned and very slim William Baxter.

  DS Penn remained half blocking the entrance, but did not close the door.

  Baxter saw the two MCIU detectives and said angrily, ‘Who the hell are you? What the fuck’s going on here?’

  Jeff Williams, still holding his handcuffs, took a step towards Baxter and said, ‘Dr William Baxter, I’m arresting you on suspicion of murder.’

  As the detective went to take hold of his arm, Baxter took a step back before turning sharply and pushing his unsuspecting wife into DS Penn.

  DS Penn and Mrs Baxter fell backwards out into the corridor, falling in a sprawling heap of arms and legs onto the floor. Dr Baxter seized his chance and made a bolt for the now wide-open door. He leapt over the now prostrate detective sergeant and his wife, closely followed by Andy Wills and Jeff Williams.

  All three men began to sprint along the corridor towards the baggage hall. The corridor that had been empty when they arrived was now full of passengers making their way towards the baggage hall. Andy cursed inwardly as he weaved in and out of the irate holidaymakers, who were clearly all wondering what the hell was going on.

  Luckily for the detectives, Baxter was wearing khaki shorts and a mustard-coloured T-shirt. The bright-coloured shirt made the tall, thin doctor easy to spot in the crowds. He maintained a distance of ten yards between himself and the detectives before all three of them burst into the main baggage hall. The crowds were thinner here, and Andy knew he was gaining on Baxter.

  Suddenly, Baxter veered off to the right, heading straight for one of the carousels that was rotating slowly, full of suitcases. Andy knew he couldn’t afford to let Baxter get through the rubber flaps at the back of the carousel. If he got through there, he would be back onto the air side of the airport buildings and could easily make his escape.

  With one last lung-busting effort, Andy closed the gap and dived into the back of Baxter, knocking him headfirst onto the carousel. Andy immediately jumped on top of him, knocking suitcases and bags flying.

  Still desperate to escape, Baxter began swinging punches at Andy. The detective ducked one wild blow before aiming a punch at the face of Baxter. The blow landed just below Baxter’s right eye, and the force of it sent him spinning backwards off the baggage carousel.

  As Baxter struggled to get to his feet, and Andy desperately clambered off the carousel, Jeff Williams grabbed the doctor’s right arm and roughly turned him onto his stomach. Andy finally escaped from the surrounding suitcases and assisted Jeff to secure the handcuffs on Baxter’s wrists.

  Seeing Baxter was finally secured, a wave of relief rushed over Andy. It was in stark contrast to the rush of adrenalin he had felt as he chased the doctor through the baggage hall.

  He hauled Baxter to his feet and said, ‘Remind him why he’s under arrest, DC Williams.’

  Jeff Williams gripped Baxter’s arm a little tighter and growled, ‘As I said, you’re under arrest on suspicion of the murder of Evan Jenkins.’

  Baxter scowled at the young detective and, with a bruise starting to swell below his right eye, snarled, ‘Fuck you!’

  The two detectives walked the now-handcuffed Baxter back through the baggage hall to the private room,
where they found DS Penn trying to pacify a very irate Mrs Baxter.

  Staring incredulously at her husband, she screamed, ‘What the fuck have you done? What’s this all about, Bill?’

  Baxter snarled at his wife, ‘It’s a pity you weren’t a little more interested in me before. Maybe I wouldn’t have needed to look elsewhere.’

  She spluttered and said angrily, ‘I don’t understand. What do you mean, look elsewhere?’

  Baxter ignored his wife, looked away, and said under his breath, ‘Do me a favour, Detective; get her away from me.’

  Detective Sergeant Penn began to lead Mrs Baxter out of the room.

  Andy scowled at him and said sarcastically, ‘Don’t worry about it. We managed to get him. Nice and quiet, out of sight of everyone. Thanks.’

  84

  2 July 1986

  South Lodge, Retford

  The four two-man sniper teams from the Special Operations Unit were the first officers to be deployed into the woodland that now made up the old Retford Hall Estate.

  Their immediate role would be to set up an armed containment on the property. Each of the two-man teams would set up an observation post on their designated side of the property.

  As soon as Danny Flint had made the telephone call that morning, to check the availability of the Special Operations Unit, Chief Inspector Chambers had been making contingency plans.

  That first call had been received just after eight thirty that morning. By the time the second phone call was received just before midday, Chambers had already briefed C Section and the three added sniper teams that would be required for the operation. Each SOU section had a two-man sniper team. So Chambers had also deployed the three other teams from A, B and D sections.

  The equipment required for such a woodland operation had been quickly loaded into the two white Transit vans. As soon as the necessary authorisation for a containment operation had been given by the deputy chief constable, weapons were drawn from the armoury.

  By one o’clock, the sixteen men were travelling to the north of the county, with an estimated time of arrival at Retford Police Station of one thirty.