by Hylton Smith
“Ben I don’t want to talk about what happened that night.”
“No, no I mean I can’t remember much at all.” Renton’s upbeat feeling began to recede. They chatted for a while until the doctor advised that Adams should rest. Renton complied and when outside the room asked if he had suffered permanent damage to his brain, particularly his memory. The doctor consoled him by saying there was no discernable long term damage to worry about, but that recovery was expected to be slow.
“What about his left arm?”
“That is puzzling us at present. He claims to have no feeling and in fact does not seem to be able to move his fingers except in reflex response to external stimuli. We are going to do more tests concurrent with gentle physiotherapy. It’s not unknown for the brain to temporarily ‘forget’ how to communicate localised instruction, and that can take time for re-education therapy to work. We’re pretty confident that we’ll get him back to normal.” Renton left to get changed and find out what movie he had let himself in for.
*
Bradstock was now totally preoccupied with Baumann, not least of all because if his briefcase rather than that of Banks, contained the intellectual property, as Vivienne had told the police, the shit would not just hit the fan, it would probably short circuit it. He would have liked to believe that it was in Banks’ as yet unopened case. His concerns were manifold. The major worry was over any prejudice to Halliwell-Jones’ covert operation of the Mosque. He had not been given detail of the elaborate plot, merely the need to preserve the status quo until the big swoop was required. He assumed it was purely an extradition issue. He had accepted this as assisting the greater good, and its requirement to avoid anything, including the Banks case to spill over into the delicately balanced arena of the Mosque. He also accepted that Intelligence could not be seen to communicate with the Colony. He had the apparatus of non-police informants and go-betweens who were tolerated by both sides, and they were allowed to pass back and forward through the membrane dividing the police from the Colony. It was an unwritten rule that such activity was kept at a low frequency. This was an occasion which justified getting out the Semaphores. He made a delicately worded request for information about the Colony man apprehended after returning from Cologne to Manchester. It was a stone cast into the pond, connected but not overly specific. He would have to be patient.
*
Uniform had been working hard on the CCTV footage and had narrowed it a little further. They had five subjects who could not be accounted for. They believed they would make no further progress until those on holiday in the sun had returned and contacted them. It was frustrating to them, but more so to C.I.D. This would be exacerbated if a second note arrived, unless the same person delivered it.
*
Following the Prime Minister’s assurance on TV that the Directory would be recovered soon, Lawrence Morton had envisaged nothing but his resignation. When Chen informed him of a breakthrough he flushed with cautious relief. He was insistent that Chen demonstrate this to him immediately and came to the office. It didn’t matter that he still did not really comprehend what he was hearing - it just sounded and looked like good news.
“You see Sir that these seven fragments have been recovered and begun searching for partners. Two have already succeeded and we may now see a real acceleration of the process. It has actually reached a stage where my visual evaluation and search criteria alterations will become redundant. As the hits increase, so will the orientation of the search and I expect a message pretty soon which tells me I can leave the programme to finish the job. I can’t tell you that it will be complete in the next few days, but I can tell you it will not be more than a couple of weeks.”
The image of a great burden having been shed was quite graphic and Morton was tempted to tell the P.M. as soon as possible. His thinking was that if Carlyle was ready to ask for his resignation, the process would become a one way street. Despite this risk he decided to wait until Monday. He could check on Chen’s progress, and break the news with unhurried confidence, denoting that he always knew he could deliver.
*
Jack Renton had made a solemn promise to Jane and Daniel and he was not going to break it, but this was a stiff test of his resolve. Having showered, and dressed in smart casual attire, he put out the lights and set the alarm. Approaching his car, the security light was activated and he noticed a white paper stuck under the passenger side wiper. A cold shiver went through him as he turned it over. It was addressed to him and the first thing which came into his mind was ‘another note.’ He opened the car and retrieved a plastic bag from the glove compartment. His thoughts raced in all directions. He phoned Eva Roberts.
“Where are you?”
“I’m still looking through statements at your office, why?”
“Ok, I’ll explain when I get there. It’ll only take fifteen minutes.”
When he arrived he explained what had happened.
“I have something really important to do in the next few hours. I haven’t opened it yet, and if this is another note, I’d rather not know what is in there right now unless I have to. I thought it might be the right thing to do to let you see it first and interpret the content before I start running off at the mouth or worse. I think Forster should know what you think at the same time. Can you take a look, and let me know if it’s something I can’t leave for three hours? And even if that is the case but you change your mind you can always call me.”
She thought about the irregularity of this request. Renton was obviously itching to know what was in there, but trusted her judgement and accepted the possible consequences if it was wrong.
“It must be extremely important for you to ask me this, and I must be a fool for agreeing to do it.” She opened it and read it slowly. He watched her face agonisingly. She looked up, and he only really heard the first few words.
“It is very important.” She scanned it again. “But there is quite a bit for me to decipher, maybe it will take a couple of hours.” He thanked her at least four times as he backed out of the office.
Eva Roberts wanted to make a copy before getting the note to forensics, so she took a photo with her phone and transferred it to her laptop. It read:
‘You must be concerned. Increased manpower from all over the region, well that is good to hear. There is no need to panic; there is a different plan now. All of the poor people who have suffered so far have only really been guilty of apathy. Their punishment is not for what they did, but what they did not do. For what they were and not who they were. Enough is enough; we must now punish those for what they have done. It is unfortunately the way the world operates. Innocent people have to die before there is something done to right the wrongs of human failings. Unless it is worthy of headline news it gets buried in the morass of meaningless celebrity culture. Monday will have such a distraction. Sentinel.’
She made notes for when Renton returned. They were not in any particular order of importance.
1. Renton is considered to be one of the good guys.
2. There is regret or even a bond with those killed so far?
3. There is a complex agenda involved.
4. Attention is not sought for the killer, but for an issue of some kind.
5. Monday will bring another victim. The clue is deliberately obscure to avoid intervention.
6. The note had a very different and more personal delivery method.
She was not sure how to view this, but it did mean that Renton was being stalked, at least for some of the time. She informed Forster and told him that Renton was coming in again to discuss the content now that she had analysed it. Eva Roberts did not disclose the fact that Renton had not seen the content yet, so she asked Forster to come in a little later than Renton had planned, if he wanted to come in at all. She had sketched in some of the detail for him and he said he would try to call by. He asked if Bradstock had been informed yet. She said that he had not, and that it would be better if they could agree any
proposed action to be taken rather than let either Bradstock or Cousins go off half-cocked. He was, like Renton, becoming more comfortable with this profiler – an unusual experience.
She then returned to who had already been murdered, namely Alistair Banks. The timeline of his death still had many unanswered questions. The time interval, during which he met the unknown person, and the arrival of Vic Jackson to make the rearranged collection, was crucial. She felt that it might be worth having Hepworth, Price, and Parrish in again in an attempt to narrow it further. Also any additional recollections of the driver who transported them to the bistro would be valuable, especially if he took even temporary charge of Banks’ briefcase. It could easily have waited until Monday if the note had not arrived. She decided to ask Renton and Forster if they might be persuaded to give up an hour on their family Sunday. She also found Jackson’s testimony intriguing, especially his fear of being released, after he put Grimes in the frame by disclosing his order to deliver Banks’ corpse to Newcastle. This had only been his stance once he was charged with Banks’ murder himself. She wondered as to why he perceived a difference between being sentenced to life imprisonment, for one particular murder compared to another. She would speak with him again, as he was still incarcerated pending the final forensics results.
The few minutes Renton had to read the note before Forster’s arrival, and then Eva Roberts’ jottings made him curious about her assertion that the killer was seeking to draw attention to a cause, rather than to produce a focus on his or her own persona.
“Do you think this issue is still related to Banks?”
“It could be, because of the declaration that the existing victims were all guilty of apathy. I must admit that I’m not sure about this, and there is emphasis on some issue involved which suggests a highly complex motivation. We must proceed quickly but carefully.”
When Forster had read both the note and comments he disagreed that the killer thought Renton was considered as some kind of kindred pillar of virtue.
“I would have thought that Jack is merely seen as a facilitating character in the sordid little game.” Eva did not challenge this head-on, preferring to adjust her comment to him being perceived as a referee. They agreed to differ, but this did not affect the willingness of all three of them to meet again in the morning.
Chapter 27
Sunday November 18th 2018
Renton was feeling good despite the inane comedy movie that he and Jane had endured. They didn’t actually understand why Daniel had frequently been gripped in bouts of convulsive laughter. He put it down to growing old. All three of them were back to normal over breakfast, and Renton was quite looking forward to meeting Eva Roberts and Forster.
*
It was Renton who contacted Banks’ former friends. Hepworth was cooperative without being enthusiastic. Parrish said he would be there after dropping his girlfriend at the Metro Centre shopping mall. Price was by far the most reluctant. “Mr Price, we only want to account for Banks’ movements more accurately after he left the three of you. The others have agreed, but I know it’s a Sunday, so how about tomorrow?”
Price seemed to hesitate and asked Renton to confirm that he wanted to interview them together. When the answer was in the affirmative he finally agreed to come in.
While they were waiting for the trio to arrive, they were surprised to see Clive Donoghue’s car drive into the car park. Renton opened the window and asked him to call into his office, as he had a request from Eva Roberts for him to consider.
“This is getting to be a habit for all of us Clive, what brings you in on a beautiful Sunday morning?”
“I had a restless night and I don’t want another one tonight. I took some files home on Friday as usual, as I never get time to read them at work, with everything else that is going on. Anyway, yesterday I picked up a sheaf of papers which surprised me a little, as my assistant had not marked them as urgent or anything. It turned out to be separate sheets, one for each victim we have. On reading them in order, I noted that every single one except the last, Andrew Todd, had the same black and grey fibres on their clothing as the ones which we found on Banks.”
Eva Roberts declared that this was the kind of information she had hoped to find by trawling through every piece of evidence all over again.
“Once you have a link like this, you often see others which eluded you first time around. I therefore reinforce my request to go through Mr Donoghue’s catalogue of results as a team. There’s added significance for me because I now have no reservations in stating my opinion that we have a serial killer.”
Renton and Forster agreed and felt that this would endorse Bradstock’s insistence to operate a shift system. It was one which was commonly referred to as a ‘continental’ derivation. It relied upon having four separate shift teams. The officers involved were still coming to terms with the pattern, which was a cycle of 12 hour shifts whereby each team had alternating time on and off work, alternating day and night shifts, and in a given month they would all have 50% of the time off and only one night shift weekend. It all sounded feasible on paper, but both Forster and Renton failed to see what the night shifts would do other than update evidence boards and when peak activity arose in the daytime they would be short of personnel. Added to this, was the absence of either forensics or medical staff at night, and the consequent fragmented communication they would have with the officers running the case. Eva Roberts agreed but said the system would self-destruct fairly quickly if there was significant breakthrough which needed servicing in a ‘blitzkrieg’ manner.
“I have lots of experience of how this doesn’t work. If you recall, I worked in Holland. It will be more efficient to allow Bradstock to conclude for himself that this is wrong - because we currently have manpower from all Three Rivers areas. Let’s not concede that too quickly.” It made a kind of convoluted sense.
*
Bradstock was himself anxiously waiting for some response to his opening Semaphore gambit. He had decided on a generalised approach, and the first attempt had not yet borne fruit. The second ‘wireless transmission’ had enquired about a missing briefcase, and concern that it could fall into the wrong hands. He phrased it in such a way that he was looking for help. He mentioned that it was protected by a lockout mechanism and opening it should not be attempted. He knew how it could be achieved. The pressure for an early result was mounting because of the complexity of the Halliwell-Jones’ operation hanging over him. That in its own right required enormous resource and a total lack of other distractions. Nigel Bradstock felt his hour of judgement was near. The frustration of ‘fishing for contact’ was riddled with potential snags. Getting someone to sniff the bait was important, but getting the wrong person to bite was usually counter-productive. It was an abstract vigil.
*
The gathering in the interview room did not include Eva Roberts, as she preferred to observe and route her questions through Renton’s earpiece.
“Ok fellas, thanks for taking time out to help us. We have a time chart here for you to look at as a starting point. If there’s anything which is not correct, please tell us. If there’s something which has occurred to you since we last spoke, shout up.” He handed each of them a copy of the current timeline:
‘The party of five disembarks from the aircraft together and enters the concourse.
Only Banks has a briefcase, the others have disposable bags.
While each of you are texting, browsing newspapers, buying lozenges, Banks exits.
He says it was to find the driver to take you to the bistro.
He does not have the briefcase when he returns.
The driver drops you at the bistro but does not hand Banks his briefcase.
After your lunch, the driver returns to take you to the stadium.
Banks does not retrieve his briefcase.
On leaving the stadium he informs you of a change of plan.
He phones the pilot to confirm this, and he disappears with
Bowman at 5.30.
He says they have a meeting, and has to retrieve his briefcase.
The three of you go off to find presents for your respective ladies.
You each go to different locations. Martin goes to Covent Garden and arrives 6.10.
Jackson arrives to collect the package at 6.30.
Banks watch stops at 6.53.
Donald is already at the airport when Martin arrives at 7.50.
Julian arrives a few minutes later.
Gregory Watson declares Banks died at circa 7.00.
The pilot flies the three of you back to Newcastle.’
They all studied the document for a few minutes, and seemed to be in general agreement. Renton asked which specific locations Hepworth and Price had headed off to. Hepworth confirmed Parrish’s guess that he ended up in the King’s Road. Price however, had detoured from his original intention to visit the jewellers in Knightsbridge in favour of looking at the latest electronics gadgets on Tottenham Court Road. At this stage none of them remarked about the incredibly short period of one and a half hours Banks had to get himself murdered. Instead Hepworth queried the mystery driver’s role.
“It shouts from the page. Why would Alistair allow his briefcase to pass into the care of a complete stranger? I’m afraid I don’t buy it. He was paranoid about it. He either knew the man, or the briefcase went somewhere else.” Price agreed and Parrish shrugged his shoulders and nodded.
Renton reminded Parrish that he had recalled the logo on the driver’s car. The others agreed that it was a black limo with darkened windows, but could not recall the logo. When they were asked to individually describe the driver on their respective sheets of paper, subtle differences emerged. Hepworth said he was perhaps 5ft. 10ins. The other two said he was more like 6ft. Price stated that he had lots of acne scars. Parrish remembered an expensive watch. Hepworth said he had a lapel badge, possibly denoting something like a rotary club membership. The individual observations accelerated. Parrish was supported when he mentioned an accent.
“It sounded vaguely East European.” Then Price asked if the others saw the outline of a tattoo above and at the rear of his high-necked white shirt.
