by James Raven
‘I’m trying to trace Cole Renner,’ Temple said. ‘I know he phoned you after he went AWOL and that you were concerned enough to alert the Military Police.’
‘That was the first time he called,’ Addison said. ‘He’s phoned me a few times since then and we even met up for a drink.’
Temple felt his pulse quicken. ‘Why the hell didn’t you inform the RMP?’
‘Cole asked me not to,’ Addison said defensively.
‘So when did you meet him?’
Addison licked his lips and narrowed his eyes a little. ‘About two weeks ago, I think. He was desperate to borrow money. I had a couple of hundred put by so I gave him some.’
‘Where did this meeting take place?’
‘The Fortress pub in Southampton.’
‘Was it just you and him?’
Addison nodded. ‘Yeah, but look, if you’re after nicking me because I didn’t turn him in….’
‘No, you’re not in trouble,’ Temple said. ‘But Renner might be. So I need you to tell me where I can find him.’
Addison hunched his shoulders. ‘I’ve got no idea. Honest. I don’t even have his phone number. He calls me when he wants to chat and it’s usually from a public phone.’
‘So he hasn’t told you where he’s living?’
‘No. And I haven’t asked him.’
‘When was the last time he called?’
Addison sucked his lips in thought. ‘Last Wednesday I think. He rang when I was in the jobcentre so I couldn’t speak to him for long.’
‘What did he want?’
‘Nothing really. Just a chat – and to tell me he’s hoping to pay me back soon. I don’t think he has anyone else to talk to. And he’s paranoid, thinks all his friends are under surveillance.’
‘What did you talk about when you met?’
‘He told me he was lodging in Southampton, but needed money to pay the rent. He said he was hoping to do some off-the-cards work. He was really down and sounded desperate.’
‘In the earlier call he said he was pissed off with the world and wanted to take it out on someone. Is that right?’
‘Yeah, he was pretty angry then. And he was still pissed off the last time we spoke.’
‘So do you think he’s having some kind of mental breakdown?’
Addison sucked on his bottom lip. ‘I’m not sure about that. But I do think he needs help.’
‘What do you mean?’
The tea and coffee arrived so Addison waited for the woman to retreat before answering.
‘Cole spent too much time on the front line,’ he said. ‘He killed a lot of people and saw a lot of his friends die. It got to him like it gets to most of us. He couldn’t face the prospect of another tour so he deserted. But now he can’t hack it on civvy street. He’s like a lost soul. It doesn’t help that he gets no support from his family, especially his dad who’s a violent bully.’
‘So what’s Renner like?’ Temple said.
Addison blew on his tea and thought about it.
‘He can be moody and he has a temper,’ he said, ‘but he’s a good mate. When I was made redundant I was given a derisory pay-off. I felt this crippling sense of abandonment and betrayal. The army didn’t give a fuck and the only person who stayed in contact was Cole. Before he went AWOL he even asked me if I needed money. That’s why I was prepared to help him. And it’s why I got worried when he phoned me in a state. I thought that if the RMP could find him they might be able to help.’
‘What was Renner like as a soldier?’
Addison drank some tea before replying. ‘He was in his element during the first two tours. He was one of the regiment’s best snipers and killing seemed to come naturally to him. But during the third tour he became disillusioned, as did most of us. The whole thing began to seem pointless and then to make things worse the government announced mass redundancies. Can you imagine what that did to morale?’
‘Why wasn’t Renner made redundant?’
‘Because he was a trained sniper and the MOD decided they wanted to keep people like him on board at least for a bit longer.’
Temple sipped at his coffee and reflected briefly on just how badly the government had treated all the soldiers who fought bravely in Afghanistan. Thousands had lost their jobs on their return and were now struggling to make ends meet. He couldn’t help feeling sorry for men like Addison and he could well understand why they felt aggrieved.
‘Do you know if Renner is in possession of any weapons?’ Temple asked.
Addison lifted his head. ‘Why do you ask?’
‘We’ve reason to believe that he might have stolen a rifle from the Bulford Camp the last time he was there. If so then he poses a major threat to the public. We need to find him and we need to know for certain whether he’s armed with a rifle.’
The muscles in Addison’s neck visibly tightened and his eyes grew wide.
‘I think I know where you’re going with this,’ he blurted. ‘The motorway sniper! You think it might be Cole.’
Temple cast his eyes around the café to see if any of the other customers had overheard, but it didn’t appear so.
‘It’s true, isn’t it?’ Addison said. ‘That’s what this is all about.’
‘We’re anxious to rule out everyone who’s had sniper training,’ Temple said. ‘And Renner is of particular interest because he’s disappeared – and because of what he said to you.’
‘But on the news they’re blaming a terrorist. They’re even showing some bloke’s picture.’
‘That man is one of a number of suspects,’ Temple said. ‘As is Renner.’
Addison broke off eye contact with Temple for a few moments and stared off into the middle distance. Then he shook his head.
‘Look, I don’t know if Cole has a rifle,’ he said. ‘He’s never mentioned it to me. But I can tell you that it’s fairly easy to swipe weapons from army bases. Believe it or not it happens all the time.’
‘So I’ve heard,’ Temple said.
Addison bit down on his bottom lip and his face stiffened.
‘I’ve just thought of something he mentioned to me,’ he said. ‘It might be helpful.’
‘What is it?’
‘Well, when he told me about not being able to pay his rent he said that he was being hounded for it by his landlady and that she was pregnant. And he said he thought he was paying over the odds for a tiny flat in a not very nice house in Southampton.’
‘Did he say anything else about this woman?’
Addison thought about it for a moment and shook his head.
‘I’m afraid not.’
Temple noted this down. There can’t be that many pregnant landladies in Southampton, he thought.
‘Can you remember anything else about the conversation?’ he asked.
Addison shook his head. ‘I’m sorry, no.’
‘Well, contact me if anything comes to mind,’ Temple said. ‘The sooner we can track down Lance Corporal Renner the sooner we can rule him out of our inquiries.’
‘Or arrest him for mass murder,’ Addison said.
Temple said nothing, just shifted his shoulders in a slow shrug.
CHAPTER 32
SOMETHING ADDISON HAD said played on Temple’s mind as he drove back along the M27 towards Southampton.
‘He was one of the regiment’s best snipers and killing seemed to come naturally to him.’
Did that mean Renner was a natural-born killer? Was he just as capable of committing cold-bloodied murder outside the theatre of war? These were questions that could probably only be answered with the benefit of hindsight. Right now the only thing that seemed certain was that Lance Corporal Cole Renner had some serious mental problems; Greg Savage, Ryan Addison and even Renner’s own mother had described him as a deeply disturbed man – a ‘lost soul’ filled with anger and resentment, and perhaps consumed by a warped sense of injustice.
Temple realized these were probably the same motivating factors that had turned Y
ousef Hussain into a terrorist.
Another obvious comparison between the two men was their education: Hussain had travelled to a terrorist training camp in Pakistan to learn how to commit mass murder and Renner had, for several years, been used as a killing machine by the British army. Temple could visualize both men on a motorway embankment aiming a rifle at the traffic.
He called the incident room on his hands-free and spoke to DS Vaughan. He told him about his conversation with Addison.
‘See if you can track down a pregnant landlady,’ he said. ‘It’s a long shot, but it might pay off. She’s apparently renting out a flat to Renner in Southampton.’
‘Will do, guv. Are you on your way back?’
‘I’m about to phone Renner’s father. If he’s around I’ll head over to Romsey.’
‘Well, for your information the Chief Super was here a few minutes ago asking for you. There’s a task-force meeting in London at 4 p.m. this afternoon and he wants you to go.’
‘I’ve been expecting to be summoned at some point,’ Temple said. ‘Do you know where it’s taking place?’
‘The Yard.’
‘Then tell Beresford I’ll be there.’
Temple hung up and rang the number Mrs Renner had given him for her husband. It rang six times before it was answered.
‘Hello.’
‘Is that Mr Martin Renner?’ Temple asked.
‘Yeah. Who’s this?’
‘I’m Detective Chief Inspector Temple of Hampshire police.’
‘I got your card. I was going to get in touch later today.’
‘Well, I’d like to talk to you about your son, Mr Renner.’
‘I figured as much. I saw you on the telly last night at that press conference.’
‘Then you know that because Cole is a trained sniper he’s on the list of people we need to interview.’
‘I told the Red Caps weeks ago that I don’t know where he is. I still don’t.’
‘Nevertheless anything you can tell us about him might be of assistance. You see we believe that your son may have obtained a firearm illegally and we’re therefore treating him as a serious suspect in the shootings.’
There was a long pause during which Temple could hear the other man breathing into the phone.
‘If you have information about Cole then I need you to give it to me,’ Temple said. ‘People are being murdered at an alarming rate and if your son is responsible then he has to be stopped.’
After a moment, Renner cleared his throat and said, ‘I don’t believe for a minute that he is the person who’s doing this, Inspector, but I do know he stole a rifle from the army base in Wiltshire a while ago.’
‘How do you know?’
‘Because he told me.’
Temple felt his muscles go rigid.
‘Are you at home, Mr Renner?’
‘I am.’
‘Then stay put. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.’
CHAPTER 33
MARTIN RENNER’S FLAT was small and shabby – the furniture was old and the carpets worn. Damp patches stainedthe walls.
The man himself was overweight and anaemic. His eyes were glazed and rheumy and there was a map of blood vessels in his cheeks.
Temple followed him into his tiny living room where Renner lit a cigarette. They sat opposite each other on armchairs. Temple noticed an open copy of the Mail on the coffee table. On the front page was a large picture of the carnage on the M27 and a smaller picture of the hooded man in the security video from the industrial unit. The image was blurred and no identifying features were visible.
Renner sucked so hard on his cigarette it made his cheekbones bulge. Then he coughed, rattling phlegm in his throat.
‘I gave up for a time,’ he said, as though he felt the need to explain himself. ‘But when I get stressed I light up. It’s hard not to.’
‘I know the feeling,’ Temple said. ‘I was a smoker for years. I still struggle at times to lay off them.’
‘But at least you’ve got a job. You don’t have to sit around all day with nothing to do but feel sorry for yourself. That’s when the nicotine beckons.’
‘I can imagine it does,’ Temple said.
Renner sat back in his chair and sucked in a tight breath. Temple noticed a fanged snakehead tattoo on his neck. It’s mouth seemed to open and close as Renner moved his head.
‘So, let’s get this over with, Inspector,’ he said. ‘Cole and I don’t get on, but he is my son and I’m not comfortable with grassing him up. And if this wasn’t such a serious business I wouldn’t.’
Temple fished out his notebook and rested it on his knee. He jotted down the date and time at the top of the page and then said, ‘The RMP told me that a rifle had gone missing from the army base. They suspected that your son might have stolen it. What do you know about this?’
Renner pressed his lips into a tight line that barely moved when he spoke.
‘I told Cole he was out of his mind to steal a rifle like that,’ he said. ‘I told him to get rid of it. But he ignored me.’
‘Did he show you the gun?’ Temple asked.
Renner shook his head. ‘He said he’d stashed it in a safe place.’
‘So why did he tell you about it?’
‘Because he thought I might know someone who’d buy it. A few years ago I got involved in that stuff. I sold a few stolen weapons. It’s not something I’m proud of, but I wasn’t the only one doing it. Nowadays it’s common practice.’
‘So what did you tell Cole when he mentioned it to you?’
Renner shrugged. ‘That I wasn’t into that anymore. I’d lost contact with the dealers and I didn’t want to get involved.’
Renner blew a plume of smoke to the right. The smell of burning tobacco made Temple yearn for a cigarette.
‘When was the last time you talked to your son?’ Temple asked.
Renner clenched the cigarette between his teeth, eyes screwed up against the smoke.
‘Not since we had a bust-up and he stormed out,’ he said. ‘After that things got bad at home and the missus told me to go. That’s why I’m in this dump, but you probably already know that.’
‘I saw your wife yesterday,’ Temple said. ‘She told me that Cole has psychiatric issues.’
Renner nodded. ‘Post-traumatic stress for sure. He’s badly fucked up. Like a lot of guys who’ve been through that shit. Me included.’
‘So would you say he’s capable of murdering people at random? After all, killing from a distance is what he spent his time doing in Afghanistan.’
‘That was different,’ Renner said. ‘It was war. Soldiers who kill in combat don’t always become addicted to it.’
Temple gestured towards the newspaper on the coffee table.
‘You must have seen the footage of the suspect caught on a CCTV camera,’ he said. ‘Could that guy be your son?’
Renner picked up the paper and stared at the picture for several seconds.
‘It’s impossible to tell,’ he said. ‘I’ve seen the video a couple of times, but it’s blurred and the guy doesn’t turn towards the camera at any point. But I do know that Cole was never in the habit of wearing a hood.’
‘Does this man have the same height and build?’
Renner squinted at the picture. ‘I suppose so. Cole’s five eight and fairly slim.’
‘Did you ever see him with a rucksack like that?’
‘He did have a rucksack when he was living at home,’ Renner said. ‘But I’ve no idea if it’s the same type. It’s not at all clear.’
‘I spoke earlier to one of Cole’s old army pals,’ Temple said. ‘Guy named Addison.’
Renner nodded. ‘Ryan Addison. I met him once. He’d just lost his job and was miserable as sin.’
‘Well, Mr Addison has been talking to Cole on the phone. They even met for a drink.’
Renner shrugged. ‘Doesn’t surprise me. Cole doesn’t like his own company much. And he probably didn’t think there was much r
isk of being spotted by the police.’
‘Cole told Mr Addison that he’s renting a room in Southampton and that his landlady is pregnant. Does that ring any bells?’
Renner pursed his lips and shook his head. ‘I don’t know any landladies and I don’t know anyone who’s pregnant.’
Temple looked at his watch and realized that he was pressed for time. It was almost noon. There was a train from the city centre station to Victoria at two and he had to be on it if he was to make the task-force meeting.
‘I’m afraid I have to go, Mr Renner,’ he said. ‘But please call me if you think of anything else that could be useful or if your son does contact you.’
As Temple got to his feet, Renner said, ‘I know my son better than anyone, Inspector. And I’m convinced he’s not the motorway sniper. There’s no way he would kill anyone outside a combat situation.’
Temple hurried back to police headquarters in Southampton. The incident room was buzzing. He quickly brought the team up to date on what he’d learned during the morning.
‘We now have confirmation that Cole Renner acquired a high-velocity rifle,’ he said. ‘This lends significant weight to the theory that he – and not Yousef Hussain – is the motorway sniper. So, this afternoon at the task-force meeting in London, I’ll urge DCS Vickery to reassess his approach to the investigation.’
He instructed the detectives to focus their efforts on finding Renner.
‘It seems likely he’s still in the Southampton area. According to his friend Addison, Renner is renting a room in a house and his landlady is pregnant. I want a trawl of all privately rented accommodation and estate agents. Make sure that every uniform patrol has a photo of him. And try to track down all his known associates just in case he’s staying with one of them.’
He listened briefly to what else had happened during the morning. All the other army snipers on the list from the RMP had been ruled out as possible suspects. The M3 had finally reopened to traffic, but a two-mile section of the M25 remained closed, causing traffic chaos.
Finally, in the last hour, it had been announced that the reward pot for information leading to the sniper’s arrest had reached £1 million.
