Chapter Forty-Two

 

For once, there was a palpable sense of energy in the CID office. Kev Slater was at the front, taking charge. Alongside the main CID team, a stocky man in uniform was with them. He was introduced as the tactical lead that would be in charge of both securing entry and ensuring the overall safety of the team.

'Right, so we have a number one suspect, Jeremy Bradley, and I understand that we have two known addresses for him?'

'Yes, that's right,' Nick Dent said. 'He has a business address and a home address.'

'I've been and knocked on some neighbours' doors around the home address,' Brian said. 'It seems that at most he visits the house about once a week. He's likely to be living elsewhere.'

'And I went to check out the business address,' Emma added. 'My sources say that it was the mother's house until she died about three years ago.'

'Uniform have had a quiet drive by this morning,' Kev said, picking up a report. 'We've already got the DVLA records so we know that his car is parked outside the house. With luck when we turn up he'll be there and we can close this out. What else do we know about this address?'

'I have contacts in the area. Apparently there is a lot of workshop space over there. All built since he moved in.'

'Workshops?' the tactical leader asked with a frown.

'Yeah, sounds quite makeshift. Workshops and sheds, all interconnected.' Emma couldn't help but think about the body that had been frozen, the explosives that had been primed and the mechanics of turning a body into a puppet. She wondered what exactly they would find there. How many other horrors had Jeremy managed to dream up?

'What do we think the overall threat level will be? How dangerous is this suspect?'

'He hasn't used firearms at all,' Kev said. 'He prefers a taser to incapacitate and then improvised weapons to finish his victims.'

The tactical leader nodded as he considered this. 'Stab vests will stop that. And we'll be mob handed so even if one of you gets tasered, we'll have batons out and take him down before he can reload.'

Everyone around the table looked uncomfortable at the thought of being tasered. But they could also see the logic. Over the course of three killings they'd built up a picture of someone who was ruthless and remorseless. But the level of planning involved suggested someone who thought things through, made plans. Not someone who'd rush out of their house brandishing a gun.

Curiously, during the meeting, Emma found herself thinking of the barrel that had carried the remains to be dropped onto the cars below. Jeremy Bradley had taken the time and effort to attach a stay to the bottom of the barrel. That had prevented any following cars from being hit by the falling barrel. Hopefully, that meant that he was trying to avoid casualties who weren't any part of his twisted revenge plan.

However, it was a slender hope to base any planning on. And she wasn't going to be the one to mention it in case they went in all complacent and ended up getting hurt.

She had other matters on her mind as well. She needed to do the right thing by Rob Haines. She waited until the meeting was breaking up and then caught the eye of Suse. She in turn laid a hand on Brian's arm. They were going to back her up.

'Boss,' Emma said, 'there's one more thing.'

'What is it, Emma? We've got to get on with the raid.'

'This information came from Rob Haines.' Under pressure from Kev, she'd just blurted it out.

Kev's eyes flicked from Emma to Suse and Brian. The two sergeants weren't exactly standing square behind her but they were still in the room. 'What are you two skulking there for? Did you know about this?'

They both nodded. Brian added, 'Yes, boss.'

'How safe is this? Is it proof enough for the CPS?'

'Of course, boss.' Suse managed to sound slightly offended that her professionalism was brought into question. 'Emma brought it to me and we worked it without any prejudice at all. Every single interview was carried out with two officers and notes taken. All the information is out there for anyone to find. No part of this case rests solely on information from Haines.'

'Well, that's fine then,' Kev said, sounding annoyed. 'Why did you have to bring it up at all then? We can go off and nick Jeremy Bradley and know that we'll make it stick.'

Brian took up the baton. 'He should be there, as an observer.'

Kev didn't reply, just glared at the three officers.

'It's the way it should be,' Brian explained. 'He could've just walked away from the whole job. He's off on medical, no one would be surprised if he just went to the beach with an ice cream and didn't think about the police from one day to the next. Now, I don't like the man, but I do respect that he didn't let the case drop. And without him, we'd still be pissing in the dark.'

'And you all feel this way?' Kev asked.

'More or less,' Suse said.

Emma said, 'This will be a real boost to his mental health. And his final hearing is this afternoon. They'll decide on his future so it'll look good if he's seen to be helping us.'

'Fuck's sake,' Kev muttered under his breath. He was much more a desk policeman, not used to the loyalty between active officers. 'Go on then. I'm not calling him, though. And any part of this goes tits up and I'm going straight round to his tribunal and letting him have both barrels.'

'Thanks, boss,' Emma said.

She wanted to tell Rob herself but didn't want to do it in the office so she went down to the canteen and made the call.

* * *

Rob was back on his couch, watching a James Bond film. He wasn't really watching it as his thoughts were running around the same track – the three girls, Jeremy Bradley and how they might be connected.

His mobile rang – it was Emma. He was glad that they were talking again – he'd been really low when they weren't talking. But he'd never tell her that.

He pressed the button. First of all, Emma brought him up to date on everything that they had learned about Jeremy Bradley. Rob agreed that while they didn't know his motives, he was a very strong suspect. He had all the skills and opportunity to carry out the crimes.

Rob felt a huge wave of relief. He wasn't totally washed-up. He could still do the most important part of his job – solve crimes. He had the combination of tenacity, connections and dumb luck to put the pieces together.

'Even better news, both Brian Chisholm and Suse backed me up and Slater had to agree that you could come to the raid as an observer.'

'Brian Chisholm on my side? Never thought I'd live to see the day.'

'Well, not on your side but I think he respects you. And this is the right decision – this is your break and you should see the end of it. You've earned it.'

Rob thought about going to the station. Back to the workplace he'd been at for over twenty years. More importantly, he couldn't go back and meet the people he'd worked with for twenty years. Everything he'd done relied on knowing everyone from the desk sergeant to the chief constable. The thought of going back filled him with dread.

'Rob? You still there?' Emma sounded concerned.

'Yeah, yeah. Just trying to work out if I could do that.' He thought as fast as he could but couldn't see an escape route.

'What, got a busy schedule have you?' she asked. There was a really awkward pause. 'I'm sorry, Rob, that was thoughtless of me. What do you need?'

'What do you mean? What do I need?' He didn't know how to feel about this, how to deal with it. He'd gone from the high of knowing that he could do the work back down to the low of knowing that he couldn't ever go back to the office.

'Well, how do you recognise people? What can you do? Hair, height, build?'

'Um, well, yes. I guess all of those would help, yes.' Rob could see where she was going now. Maybe he could do this. 'Slater was the one I upset at the crime scene in the woods?'

'Yeah, right. DI Kev Slater. He's taller than me, obviously, but not really tall, probably around five nine if he's lucky. He's so average – brown hair, side parted, little reading glasses that he takes on and off, neither fat nor thin. Oh, and he'll be wearing a shirt and tie, even on a raid, that I can guarantee.'

'Right, yes.' Rob might have had a bang on the head and all the consequences, but at the end of the day he was police. He was used to dealing with descriptions of suspects. He could just treat it as if he had some dodgy CCTV without faces and still needed to identify people.

He went quiet as Emma worked her way through the new shape of CID. Brian Chisholm – big guy, run to seed, curly hair going grey. Suse Berman was at least three inches taller than Emma and probably twice as wide. Nick Dent was the smallest bloke and looked like a blond sixth former. He already knew Andy Stonor, he just had to focus on his mannerisms and voice and he'd have him down.

When she was done, he made his excuses and hung up. He restarted the film but soon he put his head back and closed his eyes. He'd seen it before and let the soundtrack wash over him.