‘Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, until we leave the European Union, the articles of the European Court of Human Rights still apply. This inevitably leads us to an examination of the actions of New Hampshire Detention Services. It pains me to suggest this, but I believe this company has been more concerned about their corporate reputation and the possibility of further lucrative contracts from the government, than in caring about a young woman who was in their jurisdiction.’
The smiles had vanished from David Carlton and Lucy Bagnall. Anthony Scott threw the pencil he was holding onto the desk.
11.26.
‘Indeed, you may want to ask yourselves, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, whether two custody officers is the correct staffing to look after 34 vulnerable detainees? In addition, the constant malfunction of indispensable equipment, in this case CCTV cameras, and the almost slave-like adherence to “standard operating procedures” at the cost of detainee welfare and health, may force you to question whether New Hampshire Detention Services is a company that should be allowed to operate Immigrant Removal Centres in the first place.’
11.27.
‘I would like to say one more thing…’
As the coroner spoke, the doors to the court burst open. Claire Trent and Ridpath strode into the room, accompanied by three armed police officers, Heckler & Koch rifles at their shoulders as they fanned out through the court.
Claire Trent marched up to the front row with Ridpath by her side. She stood in front of one man and said, ‘Ronald Barnes, I am arresting you on suspicion of the murder of Wendy Chen, Liang Xiao Wen and Tony Osborne. You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence.’
Chapter 86
Barnes jumped up and with an agility belying his age and weight, grabbed hold of Stuart Collins around the neck, pressing a Taser to the man’s head.
Claire Trent stopped in her tracks.
The policemen continued to circle around the court, their rifles pointing directly at Barnes.
David Carlton and Lucy Bagnall scrambled away to the left, knocking over chairs in the rush to get away. The group of reporters panicked and fought to get out of the court, pushing and shoving each other out of the way. The barristers, Antony Scott and Archibald Sutton, ran to the door, fighting with the reporters over who would be first to escape.
Only Wendy Chen’s family remained seated with the interpreter by their side, the old man’s face as stoic as it had always been.
Mrs Challoner jumped up and shouted to Jenny Oldfield. ‘The jury room at the back, take them in and lock the door.’
The officer manager herded the jurors towards the rear of the court, glancing over her shoulder continually at the action behind her.
Ridpath stayed near Claire Trent, his eyes on Ron Barnes and the Taser next to Collins’ head.
‘You can’t get away, Ron,’ she said softly.
Barnes was backing towards the witness box, his eyes darting left and right. ‘Get out of my way. If you don’t, he gets it.’
He jabbed the Taser harder into Stuart Collin’s temple. The man yelped with pain.
Claire Trent walked forward slowly, her hands raised. ‘You know we can’t do that, Ron. Give up now, you’re not going to get away.’
The detective sergeant continued to edge backwards, holding on to his hostage, his body turning this way and that as he tried to put Collins between himself and the rifles of the police tactical unit. ‘You’re going to let me out of here in thirty seconds or he gets it.’
He jabbed the Taser deep into Collins ear. The man yelped in pain, shouting ‘Let him out, let him out.’
At the door, the reporters had all fought their way out with just two brave souls staying to film what happened.
Barnes continued to inch backwards. He didn’t see the raised edge of the podium of the witness stand until it was too late. His foot caught it and his body jackknifed forward, arms letting go of the hostage for a split second.
Stuart Collins seized his chance and twisted free of Barnes’ grasp. The Taser in the detective’s hand was jolted sideways to point directly at Claire Trent. She flinched, throwing her hands up to protect her face.
Two loud bangs on the left and the strong, pungent smell of nitroglycerine wafted through the court.
Ron Barnes fell to the floor and didn’t move, blood oozing from a wound to his chest and one to his temple.
‘I thought he was going to shoot. I thought he had a gun,’ shouted the policeman on the left, a thin vein of smoke still coming out of the end of the barrel of his rifle.
Ridpath kicked the Taser away from Barnes’ hand and knelt down beside the body, placing his hand on Barnes’ neck.
He was as dead as his victims.
Chapter 87
Three hours later and Ridpath, Claire Trent and the Mrs Challoner were sitting in the Coroner’s Office.
Outside, the baying shouts of countless journalists all demanding the latest information drifted in through the half-open window.
They had finished giving their witness statements to the Deputy Chief Constable, the forensics team had taken their fingerprints and the body of Ronald Barnes had been removed from the court to a crescendo of flashing lights and whirring television cameras.
‘We’ll have to go out eventually,’ said the coroner.
‘Let’s wait another ten minutes or so. I’ll arrange and escort for you and make sure somebody is posted outside your house tonight.’
Ridpath’s phone rang. It was Emily Parkinson. He covered his ear and moved to the far corner to take the call.
‘How would they know my address?’
‘It won’t be difficult to find. For a case like this, “Policeman shot dead in courtroom”, you may even have the foreign press and television there too.’
‘Oh, God, no.’
‘I wouldn’t answer the phone tonight either. My bet is they’ll be ringing you with offers of exclusives as soon as they discover your number.’
Ridpath switched off the phone and came back to rejoin the coroner and Claire Trent. ‘That was Emily Parkinson. Since Lam Tai Kong heard about the death of Barnes, he’s been singing like the proverbial canary. Apparently, Barnes was part of the Syndicate, taking a cut of every person smuggled into Manchester.’
‘No wonder he could afford the place in Bramall,’ said Claire Trent.
‘His job was to let the Albanians and Lam Tai Kong know about police investigations into their activities and tip them off if any operation was planned against them. The Syndicate seem to have their fingers in a lot of the pies of organised crime. This bust has barely scratched the surface. I wonder how many other police they have corrupted?’
‘Luckily, that’s not our job, Ridpath.’
‘I have a feeling it might be in the future, boss.’
‘But how did Barnes get involved?’ asked the coroner.
‘The end of a career? Greed? Perhaps he was always corrupt…’
‘No, I meant why did he get involved with these murders?’
‘He was Wendy Chen’s boyfriend…’
‘So why did she go to him to report on their activities?’
Ridpath shrugged his shoulders. ‘We can only guess she didn’t know he was involved with the Syndicate who had smuggled her into the country. They are searching his house as we speak. They’ve found multiple passports, foreign currency and two other Tasers, each with ten wire pods ready to be fired.’
‘He killed Wendy Chen?’ asked Mrs Challoner.
‘Probably, although now he’s dead, we’ll never know for certain. All we have is that he was seen talking to Tony Osborne the night before that man’s death. With a bit of luck, the search of his house will uncover more evidence.’
‘So that means…’ the coroner tugged at the skin around her jaw, ‘…if he hadn’t panicked in the court and seized Stuart Collins, he would still be alive and
denying everything.’
‘True,’ answered Claire Trent.
‘I still want to release Wendy Chen’s body to her parents tomorrow.’
‘I won’t stand in your way,’ answered Claire Trent.
‘Thank you. It just leaves one outstanding matter. Have you decided yet, Ridpath?’
‘Decided what, Coroner?’
‘Whether you are staying with this court or moving back to work with Claire in MIT.’
Ridpath stared at his boss. ‘You told her?’
‘Four days ago, as soon as I made you the offer. It wouldn’t have been right to keep it from Mrs Challoner.’
Ridpath’s phone rang again. He checked the number displayed on the screen. It was Dr Morris from the hospital. What did he want? And then he remembered: the results from his blood test. The doctor was going to tell him today whether his myeloma had returned.
‘Well, have you decided?’ asked Claire Trent.
Ridpath ignored the question and answered the call.
‘Hello, is that Detective Inspector Ridpath?’
‘Speaking.’
‘It’s Dr Morris of Christie’s. Regarding your blood test…’
Ridpath held his breath and crossed his fingers.
‘…it’s good news, your white blood cell count is normal. It’s right in the middle of the standard range. The previous test must have been a rogue result.’
‘Thank you, it’s taken a load off my mind.’
‘Good, I’ll see you on… October 20th for your next blood test. Please make an appointment.’
‘Thank you.’
He switched the phone off, looking across the table at the two women.
Claire Trent asked again., ‘Well, Ridpath?’
‘I am, actually. Very well. The truth is I haven’t decided yet. I’m going to take the weekend off and take my family to the Lakes. I’ll discuss it with Polly and give you both an answer when I get back.’
Ridpath smiled at both of them.
For the first time in a long while, he felt in total control of his life.
Epilogue
The body of Yang May Feng was found three weeks later when the Hong Kong businessman returned to his flat.
He noticed a strange smell as soon as he entered the apartment, finding Ms Yang still lying on the bed, her mouth gagged and her arms handcuffed to the headboard.
At the subsequent post-mortem, the pathologist, not Dr Schofield, found she had died from the collapse of her internal organs, caused by the combined effects of dehydration and starvation.
She was eventually declared the fourth victim of Detective Sergeant Ronald Barnes.
As no next of kin could be found, she was buried in an unmarked grave in Southern Cemetery.
Only one person went to the funeral.
Detective Inspector Thomas Ridpath.
First published in the United Kingdom in 2020 by Canelo
Canelo Digital Publishing Limited
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Copyright © M J Lee, 2020
The moral right of M J Lee to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 9781788637442
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places and events are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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Where the Innocent Die Page 26
