by Wonny Lea
None of this had come to light at the time of the killings in Cardiff and as soon as Vincent had been arrested the then DCI Austin had quickly closed down any other possible leads. The second week in the re-opened enquiry had taken Martin and some of the team to Bristol’s Cambridge Road prison.
Mike Waverley was still the acting governor, and remembered Martin from a previous visit when he and Matt had been there to see the father of a gay man who had been butchered in Cardiff. The two men had spent a few minutes reminiscing on the results of that case before turning their attention to Jeff Norris, the man Martin had come to interview.
Martin learned that Norris had confessed to cutting the throats of two women in Bristol and boasted that he was better at cleaning up the filth on the streets than the politicians. They only talked about it, but he did it. At the time of his arrest he had bragged about having done many more before the Bristol two and indicated that Cardiff, Swindon, and Reading had been part of his mission to get the whores out of the city centres.
His claims to crimes in other places had been checked out, but the only area where there had been similar killings in that time frame was Cardiff, and the perpetrator of those deeds had already been tried and convicted. Nothing more had been done at the time, but when Martin spoke to Norris the man was able to give details of the Cardiff murders that only the killer could know. All the details of the Norris investigation were transferred to the team in Goleudy and the comparisons between the cases that Norris and Bowen were convicted of left no doubt that all women were killed by the same hand.
The timing of the Bristol murders gave Vincent Bowen a cast-iron alibi, as he was already in prison and in any event Norris was more than willing to confess to what he considered to be a service to decent people.
For Martin the worst part of the last few weeks had been meeting up again with his old boss, Norman Austin. An armed response team had been used to capture him and during the operation Austin had received a bullet wound that had almost been fatal. Thanks to the initial response of an excellent medical team and the subsequent work of surgeons Austin had survived to face the consequences of his deranged murderous intentions.
He had looked like a pathetic old man when Martin had visited him at the hospital, and just nodded his head when he had been asked if he understood his rights and the charges that were being made.
Although his wound had been life threatening, it was only a few days after surgery when he was back on his feet and the team were able to question him about his bizarre killing spree. He had shown no contrition or remorse and as his health improved and he returned to his normal self he became ludicrously proud of his crimes.
A week ago Martin had interviewed Austin regarding his actions around the time that Vincent Bowen had been arrested. Discharged from hospital, Austin was on remand and would remain so until after his trial. Now he looked and sounded more like the boss that Martin remembered. Gone was the frail look of a man who had just recovered from near-death, and back was the arrogant bully and obsessive controller.
It had taken several attempts to get Austin to realise that Martin was not there to talk about his own killings but to go over the events surrounding the arrest of Vincent Bowen. Eventually he laughed in Martin’s face and not only admitted had he arranged for the knife to be planted in Bowen’s flat but also implicated the other officers who had helped with getting it coated with blood from the second murdered woman.
He had gone on to tell Martin how he had rubbished Sgt Evans when the sergeant had taken his concerns to the newly appointed Superintendent Bryant. As if on a roll Austin had continued to boast about his success in solving crimes and admitted to using any methods he could lay his hands on to get the results he wanted. Names of fellow officers and their part in sorting out appropriate evidence poured out of his mouth and into the memory of the tape recorder.
Martin could not remember a more demoralising moment in his career and felt physically sick with the knowledge that at least three other possibly innocent people had been convicted as a result of Austin’s methods. It was also possible that if dubious evidence had been used to convict even the guilty, then their lawyers could now get them released. Two of the officers named by Austin were still serving and would now have to be suspended and investigated. Walking away from that interview Martin had reflected on the bloody mess that one man had made and the hit that the police force would take in terms of public respect and confidence. He was a firm believer in the old adage that ‘behaviour breeds behaviour’ and could see how the practices encouraged by Austin would have influenced some of his fellow officers and subordinates.
Martin had spent the past two hours giving a report to Chief Superintendent Colin Atkinson and the Chief’s positive response had been reassuring. Everything would be done to respond to the mistakes of the past and he had told Martin about some anti-corruption plans that were going to be implemented.
He turned his attention from the detail of his office ceiling that seemed to focus his memories and looked through the window. Matt had a day’s leave booked but they would catch up tomorrow – and yes, it was good to be back.
Chapter Three
Money no object
‘We’ve been looking for coming up to an hour now,’ whispered Claire Masters to Clive Kane. ‘I still think he must be hiding somewhere, but considering the number of people who’ve now got involved with the search it seems incredible that we haven’t found him.’
Claire spoke quietly because Tina Barnes had freaked out the last time anyone mentioned how long her son had been missing.
Clive shook his head. ‘You’re forgetting the size of this place. The museum itself has lots of different exhibitions and then there’s the restaurant, the café, the shop, and the park. Away from the central area we have the stand-alone sites and in all there are more than forty original buildings.’
‘Then there’s the Iron Age Celtic Village and St Fagans Castle with the gardens and fish ponds – they would attract me if I was a small boy who had managed to break loose from my mother.’
‘I’m not forgetting the size of the place,’ replied Claire. ‘It’s just thinking of the countless possibilities for hiding a small boy that worries me the most. What I don’t understand is why nobody has seen him since his mother left him and she says she was only gone for a few minutes. I certainly believe her on that score, as the weird thing is that since she came into money her circle of friends has dwindled to virtually nothing and Jason is the centre of her life.’
Claire’s phone rang and she recognised the number of her headmaster. ‘Any news, Claire?’ asked Paul Prosser. ‘I’ve just come back from a meeting in Cardiff and Miss Holden has said you’ve been trying to reach me. These things are usually a storm in a teacup so I guess the little monkey has come out of hiding.’
‘You guess wrong this time, Paul,’ responded Claire. ‘The world and his wife have been looking for Jason for nearly an hour, and I think it’s time we handed the search over to the police, but I wanted to check with you before I did anything like that.’
‘Bloody hell, what do you think has happened to him?’
Claire listened in disbelief to her head’s question and wanted to say that if she had the foggiest idea she would be acting on it and not wasting time talking to him. Instead she raised her concerns about the possibility of the boy being injured.
‘It’s the only thing that makes any sense. Jason has got quite a short attention span and if he had been hiding he would have been bored by now – and even in the process of finding a hiding place it’s likely that someone would have seen him. I certainly don’t see him leaving St Fagans, he’s not that brave as he knows his teachers and his mother would be furious with him.’
Paul Prosser interrupted. ‘The decision regarding the involvement of the police is down to Jason’s mother as she is with you, but the school could do without any negative publicity.’
This time Claire didn’t hold back with what she was thinki
ng. ‘Sod the negative publicity, all I’m concerned about is finding Jason, and I think you should take the responsibility of phoning the police now so that at least we will be seen as taking the issue seriously even if it turns out to be your storm in a teacup.’
‘OK, Claire, calm down. I wasn’t suggesting bad publicity was more important than Jason’s safety, and I can hear from your tone that you’re really worried so I’ll get on to the police immediately and let you know what they suggest.’
Jason’s mother had heard the part of the conversation where Claire had suggested sending for the police immediately and became uncontrollably hysterical. They had returned to the spot where she had last seen Jason and Tina threw herself onto the ground and sobbed into the grass.
Claire knelt down beside her and tried to console her, even suggesting a cigarette would calm the nerves. She asked Clive to go to the entrance to the grounds and wait for the police and they would follow when Tina was a bit more stable.
Tina looked at her through eyes that were red and puffy and that reflected the terror she was feeling. ‘I’m not going nowhere, Miss,’ she spoke with a voice that wobbled and shoulders that shuddered. ‘I’m staying put ’til my Jase gets back.’
She suddenly sat up and ran her fingers violently through her hair. ‘I’ll kill the little bugger when I get hold of him,’ she said, and immediately regretting her words stared anxiously at Claire.
‘I heard you telling Mr Prosser that my Jason could have had an accident, but if he has, why haven’t we found him? That man Clive knows this place and says how big it is but he doesn’t know my Jase. He’s not keen on walking and that’s the truth, and he was hungry so he wouldn’t have gone far. I think something terrible has happened to him.’ She had barely finished the words before a new deluge of tears arrived and she had once again buried her face in the ground.
As Claire bent to comfort Tina she was pushed aside by Pam Woodland, who no longer cared about her differences with her former friend but shared an understanding of what the loss of a child could bring to any woman. Her own three boys watched in total confusion as their mother cradled the woman who less than an hour ago had been on the receiving end of her cruel tongue.
‘We’ll find him, don’t you worry, we’ll find him. I’ve phoned my brother and he’s sorting out some of the rugby boys to help us look. They’ll find your Jason.’ Pam sounded confident and her words appeared to be calming Tina.
Claire decided to enlist the help of Mrs Woodland further and asked her if she would remain with Tina whilst she went to see what was happening with the police. Pam nodded and then shouted at her boys to behave themselves as they were rummaging through her rucksack looking for sweets. ‘Make yourselves bloody useful and look around for Jason, but for God’s sake stick together,’ she told them.
One of the boys had discovered a packet of Haribo Supermix, and pocketing his find called to his brothers to help him find Jason and inevitably eat their way through the large packet of sweets.
Before Claire left the two women Tina was already sitting up and drawing heavily on a cigarette. If anyone could bring a touch of normality back to this tense situation it would be someone like Pam Woodland, thought Claire as she walked quickly back towards the car park. Although her stomach was now churning and she was deeply worried about Jason she knew that having no children of her own she would never be able to truly empathise with Jason’s mother. She may have her own family sometime in the future but for now she could barely imagine what it would be like to give birth to a child, share his ups and downs, and then have him cruelly taken away. With some effort she controlled her over-fertile imagination and tried to reassure herself that in a little while this nightmare would be over and Jason would have bounced back.
Even before she reached the car park Claire could see the flashing blue lights of two police vehicles. When she had been taking a shower at seven o’clock that morning she had smiled at her mind imagining what pranks would be played during today’s school outing. She wasn’t smiling now. This was every teacher’s worst nightmare and she was pleased to see that her colleague Emma Locke was already speaking to four officers.
Mrs Locke had years of experience under her belt and was dealing with the situation calmly and she waved to Claire. ‘I take it Jason hasn’t been found?’ she questioned, but Claire shook her head. ‘I’ve been telling the officers how he went missing and the efforts that have been made to find him, and we were just deciding what needs to be done next.’
Clive Kane indicated that there was a room set aside from which the officers could work and following formal introductions the group made their way through the main entrance. The lead officer was PC Alan Lewis and he asked his colleague PC Tucker to go straight to where the boy had last been seen and interview the mother. She indicated that she knew the exact spot that had been described and went off in that direction. Claire discovered that all the officers were local and that they were familiar with the layout of the grounds and buildings and had conducted a couple of successful searches in the past.
PC Lewis suggested a plan for thoroughly combing the area within a ten-minute walk in all directions from where Jason had disappeared. Clive explained that they had already completed a similar exercise but agreed that with additional manpower the search would be more rigorous. No one wanted to sit around and as they all started to walk in the direction PC Tucker had taken Clive came up with an idea.
‘Ms Barnes, that’s the boy’s mother, took a photograph of her son this morning and it’s on her phone. If you get her to email that to this address I’ll get some copies printed and pass them around.’
As he spoke he wrote down the email address and handed it to PC Lewis. ‘The staff here will help in any way they can – just let us know what you need.’
Walking away a sudden thought occurred to PC Lewis and he spoke to Claire. ‘Miss Masters, has anyone checked the bus you came on? On one occasion a child we were looking for had returned to the bus and was found fast asleep on the back seat.’
‘I’m pretty certain our coaches weren’t hanging around. We’re less than half an hour from the school and so they’re able to fit other commitments into their day. They’ll be coming back for us at two thirty as scheduled. Nevertheless I’ll check the coaches and then catch up with you.’
Claire could see most of the coaches from where they had all been standing, but there were now quite a lot of them and she carefully looked for the blue and gold colours of County Coaches. She hadn’t expected to see them and within a few minutes she was satisfied that they were not there and guessed that they would have been long gone before Jason went missing.
She decided that guessing was not the order of the day and so she used the emergency number she had for the company and asked if there had been any problems when the coaches had returned to the depot. The manager told her that all the coaches had gone back out as they were ferrying women to some sort of special WI lunch at the Rhondda Heritage Park. ‘I think they’re pushing it somewhat to get back to pick you up by two thirty but the drivers seem to think it’s doable. The only problem we had when the guys came back from you was a smell of sick in the second coach but a few blasts of the air conditioning soon sorted that. Why are you asking about problems?’
Claire explained the situation and the manager expressed his concern. ‘I can assure you that there was no small stowaway when our drivers got back and I hope you find the young man soon. I’ve got three boys of my own and most of the time I feel like banging their heads together to stop the constant bickering, but if anything happened to any one of them I’d go to pieces. Look, I hope you find little Jason soon, and if we can do anything just let us know.’
As she ended the call Claire reflected on the love-hate relationship between children and their parents and wondered if she would ever be strong enough to survive the roller-coaster ride that seemed to be an inevitable part of bringing up a child. She hurried to where she had left Jason’s mother and prayed wi
th every step that she would find Jason sitting with her.
Her prayers were not answered, although at first it was difficult for her to know as Tina Barnes was surrounded by a mass of people including the four uniformed officers. Their very presence seemed to up the ante from being a worrying situation to a potentially horrendous nightmare. As she approached PC Lewis pulled her to one side.
‘I’ve done as Mr Kane suggested and emailed him the photograph of Jason that was taken this morning. The picture was taken at their home and without wishing to sound too prejudiced I was surprised to see the background and I asked Ms Barnes about her circumstances.’
Claire interrupted him. ‘It’s no secret, Constable Lewis, that Tina had a big win on the lottery and although I couldn’t tell you how much she got I know it was several million.’
PC Lewis nodded. ‘I haven’t said anything to Ms Barnes yet, but from my point of view her vast wealth puts a different perspective on her son’s disappearance and we have to consider that he has been deliberately taken and may be held to ransom.’
In spite of herself Claire laughed spontaneously but quickly controlled herself as she had received some scathing looks from some of the parents.
‘What?’ she questioned keeping her voice to the level of a whisper. ‘Are you seriously suggesting that Jason has been kidnapped?’
‘Under the circumstances we have to consider the possibility and now that I’ve entertained that thought I have a responsibility to inform my superior officers get the CID involved. With any situations involving children we would rather do too much than too little even if it proves to have been overkill.’
