by Jack Steele
His smartphone sounded an alert. He fished it out of his jacket pocket and unlocked it with his imaginative password 12345. He read out the headline.
‘The National Tactical Response Group has been ordered into Broadmoor on hearing another nurse has been brutally murdered.’
It was such a tragedy. Those nurses were only trying to help patients manage their mental health issues and hopefully give them a better life. Unfortunately the more devious patients had manipulated and abused this treasured work and were now showing their true state of mind.
If we were to find our two fugitives we had to see where they lived and those that knew them intimately. Geb Blood’s home we had already visited but as far as contacts, family and friends, here we drew a blank. He dropped off the radar when leaving school so apart from the information from Broadmoor and Stella’s profile that’s all we had on him.
It was a different scenario with Jez Cross because there were people out there who could give us something to work on. I was praying that we would learn more about his life and where he was raised. I somehow needed to get into his head to try and foresee where he would strike next. If I had that then I was confident we could track him down and that’s where we were headed next.
Chapter 47
Donna Wolcott was painfully thin. I had seen photos on social media of her on a family holiday and had noticed her arms were like sticks. She was pretty in face with dark brown eyes but her greasy hair and protruding cheek bones were a sign that she wasn’t well and struggling with her demons.
‘Thankfully Jez and I haven’t spoken since we split up back in December 2013.’ her husky voice was possibly due to the chain smoking habit developed during their time together. The amber coloured ash tray was overflowing with butts and her nicotine stained fingers held another cigarette as she told of the ups and downs of a dysfunctional relationship.
‘We met in the pub playing pool for different teams. He was soft spoken and very attentive. In the beginning we had a wonderful time together. Jez invited me over to his home for meals as he loved to cook and he was great at DIY with his engineering background. He would come over to mine and repair my broken boiler and leaking taps. On our first holiday abroad he proposed to me. It was an amazing holiday in Rome although there were the warning signs of his jealousy whenever Italian men would pay me compliments. He would get angry and make things up that weren’t true. I used to say that he was imagining things.
As the months went by I moved in with him and we had lots of holidays and a great social life. He had a gym in his garage and took up cycling to keep himself fit and occupied. Then he got an injury at work and he couldn’t train which made him pile on the weight and he got snappy. The real problems started when he was laid off and then things turned nasty. He became more volatile. He kept taunting me about trust and how I was quick to flirt on holiday. He would blow up over the slightest of things and he became a changed man. I remember one time I burnt the toast accidentally for breakfast and he shouted at me with venom and threw the toast at me.’
Donna took a long hard drag of her cigarette. The signs weren’t good as her left leg was bouncing up and down with nervous tension.
‘I thought we were both happy until I found out otherwise.’ She took a piece of cigarette paper from her tongue and wiped her fingers on her long skirt. ‘It was such a shock but I should have known when we started to argue that he wasn’t happy. I would cry myself to sleep because it felt like the bottom had fallen out of my world.’
She began to sob and I wasn’t sure that interviewing her was such a great idea. It was obvious that this was opening up unhealed wounds and was proving difficult for her. I passed her a clean tissue from the box that sat on her chest of drawers. She thanked me as she wiped her nose and then dabbed her eyes. I asked Carl to put on the kettle and he made his way into the kitchen passing Jasper who was scrolling through his phone.
Donna appeared to calm down and bravely continued with her story.
‘He tried to control me but I have always been an independent woman. When I thought about it I realised that it had always been his pub we drank in or watched a movie that he wanted. Sure, I was just happy to be in his company as the good times were great but the bad times were really bad. He started to come home late and would shout at me if I questioned his whereabouts. He never hit me but he could shout really loudly which I was sure the neighbours could hear. It was embarrassing when they caught me going to work and gave me those looks. The way to stop that was to walk around on egg shells but all the time I was planning to leave him. Once he came home early when I had packed my bag. There was no shouting this time but he opened the bedroom window and he just threw my bag out of it. He said if you want to leave then just leave! I should have gone but I decided to stay.’
Carl brought in her tea and placed it on the small table beside her. I prompted her to carry on hoping that she could reveal his secrets or elaborate on where he would go when they were apart.
‘He would say ‘Now why did you make me do that?’ as if it was my fault. I would offer to take him to the pub because he used to say if he had a drink then he would calm down. Apparently the alcohol would take the edge off his attitude and make him more responsible. So we always ended up in the Eagle.’
‘Do you mean The Spread Eagle?’ I interrupted.
‘Yes it’s just down the road!’ She replied while gesturing with her hand that it was to the right of her home. ‘It’s changed a bit since we drank in there but I never go in anymore.’
I steered her back to the story.
‘All your memories help us to build a picture of his thoughts, actions and where we could meet him for ourselves Donna. So this background you are supplying is invaluable to our investigation. Please continue.’
She took a sip of her tea and asked Carl to put in a spoonful of sugar while she carried on with her story, which he duly obliged.
‘Now where was I? Oh yes, well one time when we were in the pub I had brought the first round and he always insisted that he would get in the next one. Despite his anger issues he really was a gentleman. Unfortunately he hadn’t any cash so he went to the local store’s hole in the wall. It is still there and you can talk to Mr Patel. He is a nice man and has a beautiful daughter.’
‘Thanks, we will go and see him but please tell me more about this particular night in the pub.’
‘Well I had been waiting for him to come back for so long that I thought he had forgotten about me! So naturally I went outside only to see two police cars with their blue lights dazzling me. My legs turned all wobbly when I reached the shop. There was blood all around the smashed in cash machine. I found out later that the bank had refused his card. So he had walked into the shop, picked up a pack of large batteries and then proceeded to hammer the screen with them. I don’t know what he hoped to achieve by doing that because he received a hefty fine and compensation for the shop keeper which we could ill afford at the time. That was after one drink which blew his theory out of the water. My Dad paid the fine and you would have thought Jez would be happy about that but he wasn’t. He was rarely happy in those days despite a good job in engineering which even gave him light work due to his broken fingers! The relationship became too toxic and I turned to the booze to numb the pain.’
The tumbler on the table was empty so she had already started before we had arrived.
Carl and I were comfortable when it came to silence in these interviews. We had learnt the hard way that filling the pauses in conversation with something random would often provoke a misreading of our intentions. Now we all sat quietly waiting for our host to reveal something useful.
‘Another time in the Eagle he told me how he beat up one of the hardest men in the borough. I saw that scary look of evil etched in his eyes. It still gives me the shakes even now. I felt trapped and wondered if I would ever escape that monster.’
I was about to wind this meeting up when she remembered another incident.
‘We were shopping once and were walking back to the car when we witnessed an elderly gentleman driving out of the parking space next to our car. My heart sunk when he clipped our car. Jez dropped the two bags he was carrying and banged loudly on the bonnet. He dented it with each thud and he had completely lost it. The old gentleman got out of his car and began to shout at Jez. It was such a mistake. The next thing he is being strangled by Jez and I watched in horror as he punched him in the stomach. The man could hardly breathe.’
It was the same story repeated over and over. Cross was someone with a violent temper and once the red mist descended he would become deranged.
‘The final straw came when I was driving home from work. He didn’t know that I was following two cars behind him or probably didn’t care if I saw what he was going to do. There was a guy behind him leaning on the horn for some reason. I think he wanted to overtake Jez but he wasn’t going to get past as there were roadworks ahead and stationary traffic. Apparently Jez had ignored the guy at first but while waiting at the lights he decided to gesture into his rear view mirror a few uncomplimentary hand signals. So this guy gets out of his sports convertible and threatens Jez. You can imagine what happened next. Jez gets out and decks him with a single punch. So this guy is on the floor and the traffic has now moved off in front of his car. Jez gets back in and then reverses over this guy before driving off! I was horrified. We all went to this man’s aid and that’s what made my mind up to leave him for good and I drove straight to my parents. We took out a restraining order and thankfully a police car was around the corner when he showed up to confront me. They arrested him and charged him with the assault on that driver who unfortunately died of his injuries. I will never forget that day until I die.’
Jasper then deemed to prize his head away from his phone to remind her that we will be moving her to a safe house when she was ready. It provided her reassurance to eventually open up with more recollections regarding his lack of anger management.
‘Do you know where he is likely to be hiding Donna?’ I asked but she just shrugged her shoulders,
We thanked Donna for the information and for being so brave in coming forward. We now had enough of a profile on Jez Cross both physically and geographically. Carl and I would visit his old local and the area later.
Jasper decided he was going to stay and work out her transfer to the safe house. Carl and I were headed over to King George Hospital to check on Andy Webster before the imminent return to headquarters of our commander.
Chapter 48
Spontaneous applause broke out in the reception area of headquarters heralding the arrival of Commander James Stern. The office staff began to crowd around him showering him with their condolences and warm wishes. A bouquet of flowers had been delivered earlier and Sheila patiently waited to hand them to him. He held his arms out wide and she gladly accepted an embrace. A box of tissues did the rounds - emotions were high as the women wiped away their tears. He looked frail and was using a stick to assist his mobility but he engaged with everyone he passed.
Eventually he made his way towards the briefing room where Carl, Graham and I waited to update him with our progress or lack of it regarding the capture of the fugitives. There were no hugs or shaking of hands instead he gestured that we had to move inside the briefing room where we could all be alone. I apologised on behalf of Jasper for his non-appearance and for some reason I ended up making up the excuse that the importance of his undercover work was the reason why he hadn’t attended.
As expected Stern accepted this excuse and mentioned that Jasper had contacted him prior to his arrival. That wasn’t a complete surprise but I felt let down by Jasper in not informing us as well. The commander stood in front of the two large whiteboards studying the many photos, addresses and last seen locations of the two fugitives. I decided to add more detail.
‘We have built up a strong profile of the two fugitives by talking to staff at Broadmoor and a former partner. We will conduct a stakeout tonight in the Camden area where we believe Jez Cross will make an appearance.’
‘Have we managed to backtrack from Miranda’s abduction to their hideout yet?’
Graham chipped in explaining that he had assigned his colleague Scott to solely concentrate on this part of the investigation. Stern did a double-take when he saw his tech leader’s clean shaven face but decided against asking why he had done that. Instead he listened to Graham who continued to bring us up to date with a huge development in the investigation.
Chapter 49
‘Scott has studied the footage of the white van leaving Miranda’s. The number plate was covered over with paper but along the route part of the paper dislodged and revealed the letters G05. It’s a Suzuki Carry Van and we now know that a similar van was parked near Broadmoor moments before the breakout.’
‘Good work Graham,’ Stern replied, ‘but the commissioner has told me he gave you more manpower on this so get them working and find the van now!’
Graham became unsure whether that meant he should leave the room immediately but Stern answered that question when he barked, ‘NOW!’
This made me realise that the urgency our commander brought to these meetings had been missed. I began to question my own leadership skills. Could we have been further forward with the investigation if he was in charge? Was I too laid back in my approach to achieving our objectives? Something I would discuss with Carl later. So now it was just the three of us in the room and Stern didn’t let up.
‘Why haven’t there been witnesses to these two abductions? One abduction could be vaguely acceptable but two from the same location? I’ve seen the Homewatch plaque on the lamppost outside Miranda’s property so where is the evidence of that? Have you led the house to house enquiries down there?’
‘No sir we have left it to the Met while we…..’
‘Yes well that’s not good enough is it! I want you and Carl to get down there now and bang on all those doors again until you have something worth reporting back to me!’
It was clear he was in an assertive frame of mind and there was nothing Carl or I could say to pacify him. I knew he was extremely upset with what had happened in our previous investigation but that was more of a personal vendetta against him. That is why his wife is now in a critical condition in hospital and he was lucky to escape with his life.
Carl and I left him in the room under a cloud and literally bumped into Sheila who looked extremely worried.
‘Be careful in there Sheila he is being totally unreasonable.’ Carl offered, but Sheila shook her head and was almost in tears as she entered the briefing room. We looked at each other and wondered what was going on when Sheila and Stern rushed out of the briefing room and into an awaiting car.
Chapter 50
As demanded by Stern, Carl and I revisited Miranda’s house. We spent an hour knocking on doors on either side of the road, but we gained no further information. At least we could confirm to him that we had visited and that Miranda’s premises were locked and secure.
We soon reached Camden but the rush hour traffic was extremely busy and it took us a long time to travel down Parkway. Carl cussed with the slow movement as around us impatient horns sounded at a single-decker bus taking up all the room as passengers alighted. Cars were parked either side of the road making overtaking impossible.
The streets were still busy with shoppers and those preferring to stop and browse in the shop windows. There were plenty of restaurants and coffee houses which I would mention to Carl once we were in the pub or on the stakeout later.
My eye caught a young couple in one of the many estate agents premises. The boards outside displaying what was available but I couldn’t see the prices and types of property that easily. So instead I pulled out my smartphone and punched in a few details to check all kinds of properties here.
‘So how much would you pay per week ….now let me see…to rent a one bedroom studio.’
Carl smiled at the thought of playing this game. We usu
ally concoct something to pass away the boredom of a stakeout so he was well used to this.
‘I don’t know the area so can you give me more of a description?’ He replied with the intention of getting as accurate an answer as possible.
‘The property in question is on Albert Street. It is apparently located on one of Camden Town’s most desirable streets and just a brisk walk from Regent’s Park and where we are now.’
Carl smirked, ‘If I could park this car right now the idea of a brisk walk sounds much more enjoyable.’
I flicked through the photos of other properties; waiting for Carl’s estimated price. Eventually he said a figure that annoyingly was spot on.
We reached the Albert Street turning which had The Spread Eagle and The Earl of Camden pubs on each corner. I spotted a side entrance to our pub on each side of the building, potentially making a stakeout where we could cover both entrances difficult. We found a space a short way up Albert Street and Carl placed a sign with the words S.I.U. on the dashboard. It had his number to contact should we need to move it for any reason.
‘Ok later I will test you on a three bed property and a rental opportunity of a five bedroom house and the pictures look amazing to go alongside the incredible price tag.’
The light was fading fast as we made our way down to the pub on the left hand side of the road. We passed well maintained Victorian residences along the beautiful tree-lined street. I wondered if this could be somewhere Gemma and I could settle down? then as quickly as that thought entered my head I pushed it way back to be replaced with locating Jez Cross.
We approached The Spread Eagle on our left with hanging baskets still displaying bright colours from geraniums, begonias and trailing fuchsias. The recent cold weather hadn’t damaged these plants. Tables and chairs were taken by hardy patrons who were suitably dressed in thick coats braving the elements to enjoy a smoke outside.
