The Cop Killer

by Harry Nankin

  “The cases were all investigated locally, nothing of a criminal nature was discovered, and all the deaths were confirmed as natural causes after medical examination by pathologists.”

  “In spite of this, as all the officers were young in service and apparently before their deaths were all fit and healthy, this caused me to wonder and I may add nothing more than that, I did however wonder if there was anything more in the cases?”

  “With the approval of the Home Secretary I approached and sought the experience and services of the country’s most experienced detective Mr Jack Richards, an ex Superintendent of New Scotland Yard, now retired.”

  “There may be some who will recall a variety of his more famous cases and I might say as he is not in the room, you may well know him by his trade name, “Jack the Hat”. I see he has arrived, I will call him to speak to us without delay when hopefully we will hear the results, if any, of his investigations.”

  With that, he looked up waved at Sidney who showed no signs of any emotion then brought in the star speaker.

  Jack was dressed slightly different, he was wearing his trilby but due to pressures at home, he had in fact put on a dark suit last worn at the funeral of his mother, 25 years ago.

  He took off his trilby hat looked around but finding no stand to throw it onto; he placed it on the table.

  Invited to have a drink, he said with a smile, “Thank you, Sid a glass of water, please, from the glass on the table if you don’t mind”, this caused Sidney to look up, “Sid indeed your time will come” thought Jack, but said nothing.

  Jack saw the staring eyes and eager faces around the room, all eyes being beamed upon him.

  “Home Secretary and other distinguished guests there comes a time in every investigation when the man who has been charged with investigating these tragic events has to report his findings.”

  “In view of the tragic circumstances of these matters may I first of all ask you all to stand with heads bowed and remain silent for one minute as a mark of respect for the fallen officers?”

  There was a shuffling of seats and feet, then silence.

  After half a minute there was, a terrific crash and loud voice called “blast the bloody thing”.

  It was Sid who had dropped and broken a full jug of water it appears he intended to bring it into the room.

  Jack looked realised Sid’s motive for the disturbance but failed to react in voice or expression but thought, only moments left for you my son.

  “I will get straight on not wishing to take up more of your valued drinking time than is necessary”. Jack said.

  There were low-key laughs and Woodcock immediately thought disaster had struck, Jack the hat the famous detective had found nothing.

  He could literally feel the egg yolk running down his face even before the guest speaker had hardly spoken.

  Jack continued, “I confess these deaths of such young officers are not only very unusual but sad cases in fact devastating, such young loss of life and trauma for the loved ones of those who died.”

  There were calls of, “here, here”, around the room.

  “I have been ably assisted during my enquires, by Inspector Scott-Ling who you will more than likely meet later.”

  “In addition my thanks goes out to Chief Superintendent Denton-Smyth the boss here in Chester for permitting the officer to assist me and for providing us with a fine office and surroundings.”

  “The atmosphere in the building has gone a long way to providing the correct climate in which to operate. I do in fact work in the museum adjacent to the main police station; my office is from the Victorian era, the days when crimes were investigated thoroughly as a matter of course”.

  There were no reactions to this it being a veiled suggestion such was not the case these days under the modern leadership.

  “I have visited each of the forces and spoken with each individual Chief-Constables where the deceased officers were serving. I report they have all been very helpful in all aspects; I thank them for this cooperation”.

  “I visited the next of kin of the deceased officers. None could recall or suggest any reason for the deaths of their loved ones save from natural causes.”

  “No suggestions were made of any criminal holding a grudge or that their loved ones had been involved in anything suspicious”.

  “The only strange item was that of a mysterious lady whose description appeared shall I say to be of none Caucasian appearance.”

  “She visited all the officers and had a private conversation with each officer outside their homes.”

  On completion of the conversations, no officer would relate anything of the woman’s visit. Each lady of the house commented that each officer was left with a grimace expression but they assumed it was some form of ex marital affair, possibly a pregnancy. I made enquiries but events I will describe later totally discount this theory”.

  He continued, “I have visited each of the scenes of the deaths on two occasions and in the second instance I was accompanied by Professor Bolister the world renowned Forensic Scientist from the Home Office Establishment at Gooch Street in Birmingham”.

  “I will give a narrative of the results of the visits when in company with the expert, though in no particular order”.

  “At Chorlton Lake in Manchester our enquiries revealed the area had recently been reconstructed from what was a waste tip. Samples were obtained at the scene where the deceased was last known to have been prior to his body being recovered from the water.”

  “These were later analysed and traces of a horticultural chemical called Aldrin, now banned were discovered”.

  “When I visited Wrexham parish church speaking with the resident vicar, I discovered there had been some discord at the time Constable Ifor Evans was found dead, seated in a pew which had recently been treated.” In fear damage may have been caused to the newly treated wood his action caused some lasting discord.”

  “A second visit was made in company with Professor Bolister. A close examination was made of the pew concerned and as a result certain unusual fibres were discovered and again retained for further examination”

  “The results would be prudent later in my investigations”.

  “In addition a fingerprint was discovered. Samples were taken and the fingerprint lifted for further examination”.

  “In Shropshire the scene was a very rural area at a beauty spot called The Long Mynd mountain range.”

  “The police vehicle had been parked at the top and for some reason possibly the driver had fallen either asleep or unconscious.”

  “The vehicle being in neutral gear, the hand brake off, it had rolled over the edge and down the slope.”

  “A close examination of the scene revealed there were as one might expect not only sheep droppings but also more unusually, droppings of the game bird Grouse, not found in any other location for many miles around. Samples were taken by Professor Bolister for examination”.

  “The scene of the first crime in Cheshire was visited but nothing useful was discovered.”

  “A more successful outcome however was achieved when we visited the garage to which the police vehicle the officers had been using at the time of their deaths had been disposed”.

  “Seemingly officers had refused to drive the vehicle and the Chief-Constable; Mr Ridwell decided to dispose of the vehicle”.

  “In company with Professor Bolister I visited Sefton garage in Cheshire.”

  “Fortunately due to the pressure of work the police vehicle had not been touched and was still wrapped in its protective covering. A close inspection was made of the rear seats of the vehicle and once again, a very unusual set of fibres were discovered, so were floor samples. These were preserved and later examined at Gooch Street Forensic science Laboratory

  “Fate now played a part in the investigation for I was obliged to take some time off in order to visit my son in the state of Daram where my son is the private tutor to one of the sons of the Sultan there.
”

  “The occasion was that of a wedding and so there were other guests. I had occasion to meet an old adversary a man named Al I long suspected of serious revenge crimes. My efforts to get my man were eventually thwarted when his identity as that of a Special Forces officer were revealed and he was recalled to the colours on active duty”.

  “He was in company in Daram with an old friend of his General Western now stationed at the War Office in London, together they were able to give valuable knowledge to me as to the possibility of a variant of the cause of death of the police officers other than natural causes”.

  “When I returned to the United Kingdom I visited a judge of High Court, in chambers and laid details of these cases before him”.

  “You will be aware he is an honourable guest here this evening”.

  “As a result his lordship issued to me a High Court Order for the exhumation of all the deceased officers.

  “For the obvious reasons of not causing distress to the families and not to alert the media with its unhelpful attentions, the operations were carried out at night. The second post mortems were undertaken by Professor Idris Webster the world famous pathologist who I am sure you will all recall.”

  “The second examination of the bodies required samples to be taken and using the information gained in Daram these revealed certain very useful information in every case”.

  “As a result of information received I made the decision to exhume another body the post mortem on this sixth body revealed similar results as those in the cases of the officers. I will later reveal the connection”.

  Suddenly there was a disturbance and all looked towards the door, as the headwaiter Sidney arrived with a knife in his hand shouting

  “I will kill you, you fucking Dink”.

  He lunged at Inspector Doris but in a flash, she moved to the left, as she did so Sidney traversed forward in momentum, her knee was brought up and he instantly keeled over.

  Inspector Doris had the handcuffs on him when Sergeant Striker and other officers arrived obviously called but had arrived too late.

  “I came as soon as I received your message Ling”, said Striker.

  “Is this the bastard responsible for causing so much heart ache?”

  “You are nicked and I hope you never see daylight again".

  In a moment the villain was gone, Striker with him.

  Inspector Doris adjusted her clothing and called, “We have him Sir, you were correct that he would be active tonight, he won’t cause any more heart ache for Mrs Ifor Evans”.

  “Well gentlemen it seems we have the villain of the piece, now I will” said Jack.

  He was interrupted as a new visitor arrived to loud applause.

  “Mr Richards I wonder if you might just wait” said Woodcock.

  Jack nodded and sat down, his end of speech interrupted.

  “Home Secretary, ladies and gentlemen please be upstanding to greet the hero of the day, Craig Denton-Smyth” called Woodcock

  “I will first of all call upon Miles Ridwell to say a word of greeting, Miles”.

  Ridwell stood and said, “I am pleased to announce that I am now officially retired, and further I am pleased to hand over the reins to a young and a most efficient officer”

  There was more applause and cheers, when Christian Woodcock stood with raised hands for silence, then he announced.

  “Please, Home Secretary, My Lord, ladies and gentlemen, I am proud to announce my once assistant Craig has today been to Buckingham Palace today where Her Majesty the Queen has presented him with the Queens Police Medal”.

  More loud applause when Woodcock further announced, “I have taken the liberty of inviting Mr Charles Rowland the new Police Commissioner to say a few words.

  Miss Scott-Ling in the absence of Sidney brought in the visitor, who spoke next.

  “I am the new Police Commissioner and am pleased to announce on the recommendation of the Home Secretary, and Mr Ridwell the outgoing Chief Constable that I have appointed Craig Denton-Smyth as his replacement, welcome Craig, the youngest and most brilliant Chief Constable serving today”.

  They cheered and clapped to which Craig smiled in acknowledge, the room became seated and silent.

  Woodcock rose and spoke, “Ah yes I had forgotten about Mr Jack Richards, well the villain it appears has been arrested for the deaths of the officers who would have guessed whatever the reason or the method, Sidney just a hotel waiter and hospital worker was the villain, one never knows”.

  As he was, speaking Jack called over Doris and whispered, “Did you do that job I gave you to do this evening?”

  “Yes” she said, “I have it”.

  “I don’t think we need to carry on further with Richards here. Sergeant Striker called to me as I arrived that he has a man in custody,” replied Denton-Smyth, “I would like to address you all”.

  There was moment of indecisive silence when Judge Royston Stevens stood and said

  “Home Secretary, honourable guests I have known Jack Richards for many years”.

  “I beg you to show him the respect he deserves and to permit him to continue with his narrative”

  There was now silence as the judge sat down putting his flat arm and hand out to indicate for Jack to continue

  Jack spoke “Home Secretary, Commissioner, officers of all ranks a message perhaps from the more experienced, me, to the more senior in rank, newly appointed Chief Constable Denton-Smyth, the message being one always has to keep focused”.

  “Focused, what do you mean focussed?”

  “What the hell are you talking about Richards?”

  “Your whole involvement is a load of rubbish, enquiry indeed, into some natural deaths to entertain a group of old boys”.

  Denton-Smyth in his eagerness to speak had forgotten how Jack had just instigated the arrest of Wrexham Sid.

  There was now complete silence and amazement at the exchange.

  Woodcock was thinking, “what the hell have I done inviting this old dinosaur here?”

  “ He has seemingly solved the crime with Sidney the head waiter but now he has botched it all up by rattling the cage of this newly promoted Chief Officer, do I stop this or what?”

  He was about to rise when Jack the hat spoke again and said

  “Focus, please focus Mr Denton-Smyth on your Inspector Scott-Ling, Dopey Doris I think you refer to her”

  Jack smiled and indicated for Doris to stand by him and whispered to her.

  “Now stand here and recall all those comments and stick you have had from Striker and others, today is the anniversary by date of the battle of Waterloo.”

  “The British army seemed beaten, the Duke of Wellington ordered a dummy retreat but concealed his men over the hill, the French came on only seeing victory, the British were on the run”.

  “At the critical moment the Duke called to General Maitland. “Now Maitland, this is your time”, today Inspector, this is your time”.

  Before another word could be spoken, Doris said

  “Chief Constable Craig Denton-Smyth I am arresting you for the murders of Police Constables Ifor Evans, Rick Masterton. Robert Friday, Sidney Upton, Gerald Cheshire and one Ramona Shah.”

  “You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence, if you fail to mention, when questioned, something which you may later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence”.

  “Do you understand?”

  “What the hell you mean?”, shouted Denton-Smyth, he stood went to push her away, but she caught his wrist bent him over in a hold, then put handcuffs on him.

  “What the hell is going on?” called Woodcock and Ridwell in unison, the remainder all turning to each other in close tittle-tattle, the Home Secretary looking for a hole in the ground to drop into. What had he done he could see his career floating down the famous river Dee.

  “Gentlemen if you would remain calm”, called Jack.

  “You instructed me to investigate these matters.
I have done so.”

  “You would be well advised to now permit me to finish my narrative which I may add I was so rudely interrupted”.

  “I assume you still feel you are gentlemen and ladies of course so I ask your tolerance all will be revealed shortly”.

  Denton-Smyth was sniggering and called “this is all rubbish, outrageous rubbish, Richards you will pay for this and Ling your police career is finished.”

  Jack ignored him and was about to continue when Ridwell asked. “Are these handcuffs really necessary on such a gentleman, a fellow officer on only seemingly flimsy evidence, very humiliating”

  “Don’t worry Craig” came a call, “let him finish the old has been, he will be sorry for this”.

  Doris removed the handcuffs but kept a hand on the shoulder of Denton-Smyth

  “Jack remained passive then continued.

  “Whilst in Daram I was informed by sources that a plant growing there provided a rare chemical named Rancinite”.

  “This drug has been used by natives for many years. If given in the correct dose it has the effect of slowing the heart rate giving the appearance of death.”

  “Regrettably if given as an overdose it simply stops the heart beating, death is instant.”

  “The drug has, it is alleged been used by military sources, administered by injection to enable them to abduct wanted persons quietly.”

  “After death for some time the drug displays no traces or signs hence when the first post mortems were done on the officers nothing was found.”

  “It would appear however after some time there are traceable signs for instance a pink tinge on the skin where the needle entered the body”.

  “With regards to the second post mortems upon all the officers and the lady Ramona”.

  The examinations found clears signs of the pink tinge and a small needle mark. There was such a mark on each neck at the back of the head in the officers found dead in the police car, indicating they had been injected from behind simultaneously”.

  “The officer in Church Stretton had a mark on the left side of his neck indicating he was administered the injection from the van passenger seat.”