The Blackness (The Mac Maguire detective mysteries Book 4)

by Patrick C Walsh

  He handed Mac several sheets of paper.

  Mac scanned the sheets avidly. The first sheet was the covering email. Mac skipped this and looked at the other sheets. It had columns full of dates and locations. Mac picked out the ones for Barnet and Hitchin. There was a column for companies. Everyone saw Mac’s face fall when he noticed that it was a totally different company that had done the Barnet works to the one currently doing the Hitchin works.

  ‘What is it?’ Tommy asked.

  ‘Different companies,’ Mac said. ‘I thought it must have been the same company who worked on both the Barnet and Hitchin works but it isn’t.’

  He’d been so sure.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Without looking up Martin said, ‘Different companies, same people though.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ Mac asked, a small light dawning in his head.

  ‘The employees, they were TUPE’d. It’s all in the email,’ Martin replied.

  Mac’s relief was evident to everyone.

  ‘I’d forgotten all about that. Thanks Martin, you really saved me there. How do you know about TUPE?’

  ‘You’d be surprised at what I know,’ Martin said with a little smile.

  ‘What’s TUPE?’ asked a mystified Tommy.

  ‘I’m not sure exactly what it stands for but it’s a law that allows for whole workforces to be transferred over when a new contract is agreed. I’d guess that a lot of the jobs in a big rail project are quite specialised so you wouldn’t be able to go out and get a load of new employees even if you wanted to.’

  Mac quickly read the email.

  ‘Yes it says here that there have been three different companies running the contract in the last twenty five years but it’s probable that most of the same employees would have worked on all the projects.’

  ‘So what now?’ Dan asked.

  ‘Girls will have gone missing during the period of the works and we need to know who they were. We need photos too, I’ve got a feeling that our man is going for a particular type, young, dark haired and striking,’ Mac replied.

  ‘Well that’s the theory anyway,’ Dan reminded him.

  Mac glanced up at Dan and nodded. He realised that Dan might be right and he was running away with himself a bit.

  Dan continued, ‘I wouldn’t bet against you Mac, not with your track record, but we need more evidence before we start putting any resources into it. Okay then, Martin what’s the best way of getting photos and information about missing girls?’

  ‘In theory I suppose they should all be on the national databases somewhere,’ Martin said with some hesitation.

  ‘And?’ Dan asked.

  ‘Well I should be able to just look it all up right now and show you but, as a lot of these cases are quite old, it would be my bet that the information on the databases is going to be patchy at best. Some of the databases are text only anyway which also doesn’t help. If there was proof of a serious crime we might be a bit better off but as they’ve just gone missing…’ Martin stopped and shrugged his shoulders.

  ‘So what do you suggest?’ Dan asked.

  ‘To get the best results you might be better off contacting each of the police forces who cover the areas that the girls were abducted from and get them to send us the data from their local systems. Going that far back there’s a good chance that a lot of the information will be on paper anyway. It will take a little longer but you’ll probably get better results.’

  Dan gave this some thought. It was obvious from his expression that he would have liked all the data right that second. However he could see that Martin had a point.

  ‘Okay we’ll do it your way.’

  ‘No problem,’ Martin replied as he started compiling the first email.

  ‘I’m also going to ring someone in every force just in case they don’t read their emails that frequently,’ Dan said. ‘A bit of belt and braces won’t hurt.’

  ‘Mind if I lend a hand? I know a few of the Detective Chief Superintendents personally,’ Mac suggested.

  ‘Absolutely, I could do with all the help I can get. Adil can you start putting all the dates and locations on the whiteboard. Leave some columns for the names and photos.’

  ‘Sure thing,’ Adil replied, looking relieved to be doing something.

  ‘What shall I do?’ Tommy asked.

  Dan gave it some thought.

  ‘How many coffees?’ Dan asked loudly.

  All their hands went up except for Tommy’s.

  ‘Okay I’ll get the coffees,’ Tommy said looking a bit miffed.

  ‘I could do with a hand when you get back. If you want to that is?’ Mac asked.

  Tommy smiled.

  ‘Sure thing, Mac.’

  A little over an hour later the incident room was silent and they were all looking at each other.

  ‘This is the bit I hate,’ Dan said grumpily, ‘the bloody waiting.’

  ‘Me too,’ Mac replied. ‘By the way what’s happening with the Hamilton case?’

  ‘Oh yes I was nearly forgetting about that. I had a chat with someone from the CPS and they say that the testimony of the girls make a case for prosecuting Joy Ackley for at least making a false statement and wasting police time. However, they would have liked something a bit harder too if possible.’

  Mac gave this some thought. He looked at his watch, it had just gone eleven thirty. He was surprised as he’d thought it would be much later.

  ‘So there’s no case against Tony Hamilton then?’ Mac asked.

  ‘No, we haven’t found a single shred of evidence that supported Joy Ackley’s allegations,’ Dan said. ‘Guess she was just trying to settle old scores, in quite a vicious, nasty way too.’

  ‘I think the money had something to do with it too.’

  ‘Money, what money?’

  ‘She read somewhere that some of the victims of historic child abuse came in for some compensation. I could see her eyes light up at the thought.’

  ‘Christ, she just makes it that little bit harder for the next genuine victim to come forward, as if it isn’t hard enough for the poor sods. I can see you want to do something, what is it?’ Dan asked.

  ‘I thought I might as well go and give Tony Hamilton the good news, tell him that he won’t be charged.’

  ‘That’s a good idea. Take Tommy with you,’ Dan said turning away. He turned back. ‘Ask him again if he knows anything he hasn’t told us. Even a tiny bit more evidence would help.’

  ‘Will do.’

  Mac breathed deeply as he walked out onto the pavement. He’d had a moment of fear in the incident room as the thought occurred to him that his little theory might just be a house of cards. The information coming in might confirm it or it might blow it all down. He’d knew he’d sooner be doing something than hanging around waiting to see which one it turned out to be.

  He rang Tony Hamilton who said that he’d meet Mac at Letchworth Police Station.

  ‘That’s strange,’ Mac said as they drove towards Letchworth.

  ‘What’s strange?’ Tommy asked.

  ‘I said that I could meet him at his house but he said he’d sooner come to the station.’

  ‘Perhaps he just doesn’t like the neighbours seeing the police call around so frequently,’ Tommy suggested.

  ‘Perhaps.’

  Mac wasn’t convinced though and he wondered if something had happened.

  They were waiting for them in an interview room when they got there. Mr. Hamilton sat still and stony faced, looking straight at the wall in front of him. He’d aged since the last time they’d met. Mac sat down.

  ‘I’ve some good news for once,’ Mac announced brightly.

  Neither of the Hamiltons responded. They just looked at Mac with a blank expression.

  ‘We’re not going to charge you with anything,’ Mac said. ‘In fact it’s Miss Ackley who’s going to end up being charged.’

  ‘Oh,’ they both said with no excitement whatsoever.

  ‘I thought
you’d be glad,’ Mac said, surprised at their reaction.

  ‘Glad? Glad about what?’ Mr. Hamilton said with some bitterness. ‘Charge me, don’t charge me, it really doesn’t matter all that much now, does it?’

  ‘What doesn’t matter?’

  Mr. Hamilton gave Mac a bleak look.

  ‘What’s happened?’ Mac asked.

  ‘This, haven’t you seen it yet?’ Mrs. Hamilton said as she handed him a newspaper.

  It was one of the better known tabloids. Better known for being at the scummier end of the market that is. A picture of Tony Hamilton in his front garden dominated the page. The headline, printed in red ink, read ‘Did Pervert Teacher Kill Natasha?’ In the corner was a photo of Joy Ackley looking sad. It was a good photo Mac thought, she almost looked human.

  Mac felt his heart go into his boots.

  ‘This isn’t right!’ he said with some anger.

  ‘Right or not it’s done now isn’t it? When I was walking to get the paper this morning an old friend of mine crossed the street when he saw me. I’d known him for twenty years. He was a real friend, or so I’d thought. It happened again with someone else on the way back. Half an hour later and there they were camped outside our house. Bloody press, some of them even followed us here.’ He gave Mac a bleak look. ‘I used to love living in Letchworth but I can’t now. We’ll be selling up as soon as we can.’

  Mac couldn’t think of anything to say that might help. Tony Hamilton was right, there are some things that just can’t be put back together.

  ‘I’m sorry, I really am,’ Mac said, feeling absolutely helpless.

  He looked again at the photo of Joy Ackley. He knew she must have been behind this in some way. Well there was one thing he could do.

  ‘As I said we’ll be charging Joy Ackley but, before you go, I just want to ask if there’s anything else you can tell us that might help us to prosecute her?’

  The husband and wife looked at each other. Mr. Hamilton shook his head.

  Mac was surprised to see Mrs. Hamilton stand up and shout, ‘I’ve had enough! You and your bloody pride, you and your ‘I’m only half a man’ bleating. For Christ’s sake tell them. TELL THEM!’

  Mr. Hamilton gave him wife a sheepish look and slowly nodded his head. She sat down again.

  ‘It was the war,’ he said. ‘The Gulf War that is. I’d served nine years in the Army and I’d already started teacher training when I got called up. I was a reservist. I’d been there a couple of months when it happened. We were destroying munition dumps when one lot went off by itself. We lost three men and at first I thought I’d got off unscathed. Then someone saw the blood seeping out of my trousers. I’d been hit by a piece of shrapnel in the groin. I nearly died. There’ve been lots of times since when I wish I had.’

  His wife held his hand with both of hers.

  ‘It cut a load of nerves and damaged the blood supply, you know down there. I had a couple of operations but they couldn’t do anything, so that was that. No more sex for me.’ He glanced at his wife. ‘You know I wish I hadn’t been away so much, I wish we’d had more time together…’

  She gripped his hand more tightly.

  ‘I know love, I know,’ she said, tears filling her eyes.

  Mac didn’t say anything for a moment.

  ‘Why didn’t you tell this to your headmistress or the policeman who did the investigation?’

  ‘Shame I suppose,’ he replied. ‘I just didn’t want anyone to know about it. Carol said that I should have told them but when the girls said what they did, about Joy telling them before she made the accusations, I thought I didn’t need to. So I said nothing. That decision’s come back to bloody haunt me now though, hasn’t it?’

  ‘You’ve got nothing to be ashamed of Mr. Hamilton but I do understand why you didn’t want to say anything. I’d appreciate it if you could let me have your doctor’s name. We’ll need to confirm what you say.’

  ‘Of course. I’ll give you the name of the army doctor who treated me. I still see him once a year.’

  He wrote it down. Mac was surprised that the hospital was in Birmingham and it was one that he knew well. Then he remembered that it had a military section where they treated soldiers coming back from overseas.

  ‘Thank you both,’ Mac said as he stood up to go. He glanced again at the newspaper. ‘You should sue them, you know.’

  ‘Will that give us our lives back?’ Mr. Hamilton replied.

  ‘No but it will hurt the paper, only a bit perhaps, but it would be something.’

  Mr. Hamilton shrugged.

  ‘Perhaps,’ he said with no interest whatsoever.

  As they were getting into the car Tommy said, ‘I really felt sorry for them, Mac.’

  ‘Yes me too. There’s not much we can do now but let’s do the little we can. Can you phone Luton police and get them to arrest Joy Ackley. Tell them to take her to Letchworth station and leave her there in an interview room. I think we’ll take our time charging her. I’ll ring Martin and ask him to get the ball rolling with regard to Mr. Hamilton’s medical records.’

  Once they’d finished their calls Tommy asked, ‘Where to now? Back to the incident room?’

  ‘Mind if we go by the Hamiltons’ house on the way back?’

  ‘No of course not. Why, did you forget to ask them something?’

  ‘It’s not them I want to see.’

  A small crowd were hanging around outside the bungalow. Unbelievably there was also a camera crew from an American news station.

  Before they left the car Mac had Tommy confirm that Luton police had picked up Joy Ackley. She was already on her way to Letchworth. He looked at the by-line of the newspaper story. It was by a ‘Clemency Burrows’. It had a little photo by her name.

  The sharp faced young blonde with the camera that he’d seen outside the Aldis’ house was there again. Mac pulled her to one side.

  ‘Ah the famous Mac Maguire,’ she said with a big smile. ‘I read up on you, you’re quite a star. Have you got an exclusive for me?’

  ‘Yes sort of. Let’s go over there,’ he said, pointing to a nearby entryway between the houses.

  ‘Don’t want to be seen with me. That’s wise,’ she said.

  Safely out of the gaze of the other pressmen Mac showed her the paper.

  ‘I take it that this is your work?’

  She smiled as she looked at it.

  ‘Yes, it turned out really well. The red really makes it work, don’t you think?’

  ‘Well it will have turned out better than your career then,’ Mac said looking directly into her eyes.

  The smile left her face.

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘I get it alright, you’re a young, thrusting journalist, making a name for herself in a male dominated world. Sometime you have to shove a bit, cut corners a bit, don’t you?’

  ‘Yes, so what? They all do it. What are you getting at?’

  ‘Well if I was you I’d make sure that I was at the next press conference we hold, you might be in for a few surprises. By the way is Bob Holderby still your editor?’

  ‘Well yes, I’ve never actually met him though.’

  ‘No, you’re too far down the food chain I suppose. Well after what’s going to come out you’ll be even further down, in fact I doubt you’ll have a job at all.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  For the first time she looked concerned.

  ‘You’ll see. I’ll be giving Bob a ring later too. Have a good day.’

  ‘Tell me what you mean!’ she shouted but Mac was already halfway to the car.

  Tommy started the car up and pulled away.

  ‘Well you told her alright. Do you really know this editor?’ Tommy asked.

  ‘I do, we’ve had quite a few dealings over the years. I’ll be warning him that not only will Mr. Hamilton be suing but I’ll be testifying on his behalf.’

  ‘So what do you think will happen?’

  ‘Oh, it’ll all be settl
ed out of court as the paper hasn’t got a legal leg to stand on. They won’t care anyway as the story will have sold umpteen more copies of their rag and that will have more than covered their court costs. Then Miss Burrows will hopefully get the sack and the Hamiltons will get a shed load of money and an apology tucked away on page ten. It’s not much I know but it’s all we can do. Come on, let’s check in on the incident room first before we visit Miss Ackley. She can stew for a while.’

  The whole thing had left Mac with a bitter taste in his mouth. As they drove back towards the incident room he said a little prayer that things were going better there.

  Chapter Fifteen

  As soon as he entered the incident room Mac glanced over at the white board. His heart skipped a beat when he saw two photos on the board until he realised that they were of Natasha and Jessica.

  ‘Nothing yet?’ Mac asked.

  ‘No, I suppose it will take them some time to go through the records,’ Dan replied.

  He looked as anxious as Max felt.

  Mac went over to the white board. The dates and locations were all there.

  1996 Southampton

  1998 Glasgow

  2000 York

  2002 Barnet – Jessica Watson 19 - Disappeared

  2003 Birmingham International

  2005 Peterborough

  2006 Cardiff

  2008 Crewe

  2011 Carlisle

  2013 Bristol

  2016 Hitchin – Natasha Barker 18 - Disappeared

  From one end of the country to the other, Mac thought. It was no wonder that we never noticed any connection.

  ‘Anyone want a coffee?’ Tommy asked.

  They all put their hand up.

  ‘Get a tray of doughnuts too Tommy. I’m starving,’ Dan said.

  ‘Come on I’ll give you a hand,’ Amanda offered.

  ‘Dan,’ Martin said with some urgency. ‘Printing off.’

  Dan ran over to the printer and begrudged it the time it took to print the page out. He looked at the sheet of paper.

  ‘Yes!’ he said with a tone of triumph. He gave the sheet to Mac.

  It was information on a young girl called Jackie Oldfield who had disappeared from the Peterborough area in 2005. One look at the photo was all Mac really needed.