Chapter Thirty-Eight

McFarland rang Terry from his car on his way to Terry’s house.

‘Mate,’ he began, ‘there’s been another!’

‘Fuck, fuck, fuck!’ Terry replied. ‘Where this time?’

‘Lavender Gardens, Kensington.’

‘Yeah, I know where that is.’

‘I’m just pulling up outside your house now.’

‘OK I’m on my way. Two minutes…’

Terry grabbed his jacket and house keys before closing the front door behind him. He jogged to McFarland’s car, trying to save a little more time.

‘Tell me what you know,’ he ordered closing the car door.

‘They have a man in custody. OK, the police were called to the property by a worried neighbour. The neighbour had heard screaming coming from the next door flat and, after a while, looked out of a window to see if there was anything going on outside. She noticed a black shape, that seemed to have come from the building, quickly disappear into Kensington Gardens. When our boys arrived, there were two dead bodies, one male and the other female, and another male standing over the female’s corpse. All in the bedroom, the dead male was lying on the bed. It seems that the woman was the wife of the only man alive and the dead guy was her lover. He says that our man in the black suit was there.’

‘It was obvious that he would strike again. How did the two die?’ Terry was already thinking ahead.

‘The guy was electrocuted and the woman had her head smashed in.’

‘Murder weapons?’

‘A taser gun and a bedside lamp!’

‘Where is the prisoner being held?’

‘Kensington High Street nick.’

‘Name?’

‘Brent Hope.’

‘Let’s go to the scene first, hey?’

‘Good idea, we can talk to him later.’

Once at the scene of the crime, both detectives started to look for inspiration. Terry started outside the building whilst McFarland went inside. Terry looked over at the park known as Kensington Gardens; he loved the way we named things according to their location.

***

‘Has a statement been taken from the neighbour?’ McFarland asked one of the other detectives.

‘Yes, sir, though it’s basically what we already know. The man in custody is being very helpful,’ the rotund man replied.

‘OK, thanks,’ McFarland half-heartedly replied.

McFarland’s attention was drawn to the amount of water on the mattress, just enough to do the job he thought, a novice would have soaked it. As he leant forward, he took a whiff of that smell they had not been able to place at the first scene. It filled his nostrils.

‘What’s that smell?’

‘That’s pepper spray, sir,’ the rotund detective replied.

‘Can we get a sample of that for analysing?’

‘Yes, sir, I’ll get the forensic boys on it.’

‘It’s all over this pillow,’ he pointed out, so the detective could pass on the information.

***

Terry had walked all the way across Kensington Gardens. He knew that was where the getaway vehicle had been parked. No CCTV though. There were already officers combing the park looking for clues. Terry knew they would not find anything and decided to have a look inside the building. As he entered the flat, he looked at the door frame and noted that the lock did not seemed to have been forced. He could not understand how The Ultimate had got in. After talking to McFarland, the two detectives decided that it was time to talk to the man in custody – Brent Hope.

***

‘He’s in interview room four, sir,’ announced the desk sergeant.

‘Just through here?’ McFarland asked.

‘Yes, sir, on your left,’ the uniformed WPC replied, pressing an electronic button that released the heavy security door.

As they entered the room, Brent was sitting next to a man in a very expensive suit.

‘Hello, I’m Detective Inspector James McFarland, and this is Detective Inspector In Charge Terry Bane of New Scotland Yard,’ he said, with pride.

‘Hello Detectives, I’m Mr Dominic Fortroy-Holmes, Mr Hope’s lawyer.’

‘We would like to talk to Mr Hope with regards to the two recent murders at 5a Lavender Gardens and what his role was. What actually happened? Are you happy for us to do that?’ McFarland enquired.

Brent nodded his acceptance.

‘Mr Hope, we are going to need your full co-operation if we are to get to the bottom of this,’ Terry interrupted.

‘I have nothing to hide and I am willing to answer any of your questions – if I can,’ Brent confirmed.

‘Tell us what exactly happened,’ Terry instructed.

‘I was at home reading a book and sipping on a fine cognac, when I received a phone call. A man informed me that my wife was in a flat with another man having… sexual intercourse. He told me to come to the flat alone.’

‘Who was the man who phoned you?’ Terry interrupted.

‘It later transpired that it was the man whom is now known as “The Ultimate”, detective.’

‘OK, please continue,’ Terry nodded.

‘He told me where to go and I heard my wife’s voice in the background…’ Brent began to sob, ‘when I arrived I was shown into the bedroom. My wife was on the bed, and so was a man. The man’s hands and feet were tied together. He then told me that my wife and this man had been having an affair for some time and that my wife was only with me for my money.’

‘Were they dressed or naked at this point?’ Terry asked.

‘Naked. He said that when he walked in they were having sex!’

‘Did you believe him?’

‘Yes, I did.’

‘Why?’

‘Because the man still had a condom on his penis and my wife didn’t even try to deny it. She told me after… about the affair.’ He paused, taking a sip from the cup containing hot tea that his lawyer had bought him before the interview. ‘Val told me that she loved Conrad and that she didn’t love me anymore… as far as she was concerned, our marriage was over.’ Brent became more upset, reliving it all.

‘The man, “The Ultimate”, have you ever met him before?’

‘Come on… What kind of a question is that? I have no idea what this man looks like, let alone anything else about him,’ Brent grimaced.

‘What about Mr Michaels, had you ever met him before?’

‘No, never!’

‘OK, tell us what happened next,’ Terry wanted Brent to continue.

‘The Ultimate left the room and returned with a bowl of water. He then threw the water over Conrad and went on about choices saying that everything begins with choice and handed me that taser gun…’

‘Did he tell you that you had to use the taser gun? Did he tell you to shoot Conrad with it?’ McFarland interrupted.

‘No, he didn’t, he didn’t say anything, he just gave it to me. I knew what he wanted me to do. I told Val to get off the bed because I didn’t want to kill her. She got off and I shot him with the gun and when Conrad stopped moving, I looked and he was gone…’ He placed his head in to his hands.

‘Do you mean The Ultimate was gone?’

‘Yes, who else would I mean?’

‘I’m just trying to get the facts here, Mr Hope,’ Terry said reassuringly.

‘If he didn’t tell you what to do, how did you know that was what he wanted you to do?’ McFarland seemed confused.

‘Think about it, he threw water over Conrad and then gave me the gun… what do you think?’ Brent snapped.

‘How much cognac had you had to drink, Mr Hope?’

‘What? Are you going to arrest me for drink driving too?’

‘Please answer the question. I’m just trying to understand what your state of mind may have been like.’

‘Put it this way, I was over the limit to drive but I wasn’t drunk.’

‘Sometimes, when people are under the influence of alcohol, things can seem a bit blurry if you catch my drift.’

‘I do. But I’m recalling the events as they happened, with crystal clarity, detective.’

‘OK please continue…’ Terry gave McFarland a gentle nudge.

‘Val then told me to call the police…’

‘Did you?’

‘No, we got in to an argument. We always argued. She told me that she was going to divorce me when I was in prison. She said that she was going to take half my money and start a new life. I lost it!’ He stopped and looked at the man sitting opposite him. McFarland’s eyes widened. ‘That’s the first time in my life that I have ever lost control. I am a placid person, which was why she treated me so terribly. I always loved her, worshipped her, you know? I’ll never stop loving her. She walked all over me and it was my overflowing love for her that allowed her to do it,’ he said with a sincere look on his face.

‘Can you tell us about your wife’s murder?’ Terry was genuinely sorry for Brent, but he had a job to do.

‘Yes, sorry… I didn’t want… I suppose if I couldn’t have her I wasn’t going to allow any other man to. When I saw her there with Conrad, I felt sick to my stomach, so when I heard that she was going to start a new life without me, I walked over to her and picked up the lamp and hit her with it.’

‘Where did you hit her?’

‘She had tried to hide behind a pillow. The pillow was over her face. I hit the pillow with the lamp and her head hit the wall behind her.’

‘How many times did you hit her, or should I say, hit the pillow with the lamp?’

‘I don’t know… once maybe twice, but no more… No hold on, it was only once. I suppose I’ve blacked that out of my memory. I can remember picking the lamp up, then the rest is a little fuzzy. The next thing I remember is being told to move away from Val by a policeman pointing a gun at me.’

‘Who killed Conrad Michaels?’ Terry did not want Brent to diversify.

‘I guess I did!’

‘And who killed Valerie Brent?’

‘I did!’

‘Did anyone force you, either mentally or forcefully, to kill the two victims? Did The Ultimate force you in to the actions that you took?’

‘No,’ was his one word answer.

‘That said,’ Brent’s lawyer decided to break his silence, ‘The Ultimate lured my client to Mr Michaels’ flat, premeditating the outcome. If The Ultimate had not contacted my client, then none of this would ever have happened.’

‘That The Ultimate orchestrated this, Mr Fortroy-Holmes, is a fact, but The Ultimate did not kill either Mr Michaels or Mrs Hope – your client did and your client has confessed as much.’

‘What’s going to happen to me now?’

‘Let’s not think about that now Mr Hope, what we need to concentrate on is how we are going catch this person, The Ultimate, the orchestrator. We know that you committed these terrible crimes, but we know that you did not do them as in a premeditated sense. We are going to recommend that you be charged with manslaughter because these murders were not premeditated. Do you understand what I have just told you?’

‘Yes… You must stop this man.’ Brent reached out to Terry, as if he was pleading for him to save others from feeling the self-punishment that he was now going through.