Jack felt frustrated at not being present during the search of the bunker, but it made sense to leave it to the professional teams. He began to sift through the paperwork relating to Middleton’s two recent arrests, feeling that they did not quite make sense. Middleton had not attempted a robbery or asked for money in either case. The shopkeepers knew him, as he was a regular customer, and he had not hidden the fact that he was carrying a weapon – a stiletto knife on the first occasion and a carving knife on the second. And in both cases, there were other customers in the shop, all of whom gave similar statements. They described how Middleton had suddenly become very aggressive for no reason and had just lunged at the shop owner, shouting. The first victim was Indian and the second was Greek.
Jack matched the assault dates to around the time he estimated two of the missing girls were at Middleton’s flat, first Jamail, and then possibly Trudie.
Jack was standing by the crime board looking at the photographs of the missing girls when Leon joined him with a sheet of typed paper.
‘I think I just traced your Sandra Raynor. I could be wrong, but I’ve spent hours cross-referencing and going through all the records, you know births and marriages, etc.’
Jack nodded impatiently.
‘I found literally hundreds of them, aged between thirty and sixty, but they came up blank as they didn’t fit the description, and in some cases had remarried or emigrated. That’s when Sara suggested going through the deceased. I had already done some checks, but I went back to earlier dates.’
‘For Christ’s sake, Leon, get to the point.’
‘OK, I’ve got a Sandra Raynor, aged six years, buried in Brighton in 1961. Both parents deceased in 1975. The grave isn’t tended to and is very overgrown. I checked on the parents, a Norma and William Raynor, who both died of natural causes. If someone wanted to use a false name, the child is a perfect example as no relative is going to come forward and no passport was ever issued in the little girl’s name or to either parent.’
Jack frowned. It was possible, but at the same time it didn’t really help him discover who she really was. Leon hovered.
‘Is she a missing person to do with the Middleton investigation?’ Leon asked.
‘No, I thought she might be, but too old. Forget it, but thanks anyway; we’ll need everyone on this case, so ignore the Sandra Raynor request as it’s a bit of a time-waster.’ He took the sheet of typed notes, folded it and put it into his pocket.
Jack went over to Sara’s desk and asked her to see if she could check the exact dates Jamail and Trudie had been reported missing. He returned to his desk and took out the single sheet Leon had given him. The little girl was buried in Brighton and Preston Cemetery. Perhaps it might be a lead after all. Maybe the dead woman came from that area, and perhaps she had been seen in or around the cemetery. Jack would do some more checking at home as the search team at the basement flat were calling in, and he wanted to go and see for himself whatever they had uncovered. He also wanted to drop by the corner shop where Middleton had assaulted the owner.
The shop was only two streets away from the basement flat. It sold everything you could think of and also did newspaper delivery. The shelves were crammed with toilet paper, tins, bread, soft drinks and cleaning products, and behind a grille was alcohol and tobacco. A large freezer was filled with frozen meals, and there were racks of confectionery and crisps at the counter. An attractive girl, who looked about fifteen, was serving. She had dark eyes and thick, dark silky hair.
Jack went up to the counter. ‘Hi. I wondered if I could talk to the owner, Mr Andrios? I’m from the Met Police. It’s nothing of concern, I just need to have a quick chat with him.’
‘Dad, someone for you,’ she shouted, then turned back to Jack. ‘He’s at the back, stacking the baked goods.’
Jack squeezed through the packed shelves to the back of the shop. Andrios was reaching up on a step to stack sliced bread on a shelf. Jack showed him his ID and waited for him to step down from the small stool.
‘You want to see me?’
‘Yes, I just need to ask you a couple of questions. You were assaulted by a young man named Rodney Middleton.’
Andrios nodded and took out a handkerchief. ‘Yes. I tell you, it was a shock. He came at me with this big knife, sliced my arm quite badly. It scared the life out of me. I saw him. Look behind you.’
Jack turned to see a curved mirror reflecting the counter. He looked back at Andrios.
‘Was he stealing something?’
‘No. He was regular, so I knew him. He often bought cigarettes, and I saw him in the mirror.’
‘What made him attack you?’
‘I saw him looking at my daughter. She was behind the counter. I had seen the way he looked at her before. I didn’t want to make a big thing of it, so I just said to him that I wouldn’t serve him in here again. Then he came at me with a knife. My daughter called the police after he’d run off.’
Jack asked Andrios if he had mentioned this to the arresting officers and he shrugged, saying that at the time he was more concerned that Middleton might return and kill him.
*
When Jack arrived at the basement flat, he had to park some distance away due to all the police vehicles blocking the road. The steps down to the basement were piled with large forensic bags and SOCO were going up and down, carrying items to their vans. The small basement courtyard was filled with officers taking a break, some sitting on the steps with takeaway coffees and sandwiches.
Jack showed his ID as he passed by everyone to gain access to the bunker. Stepping inside he was amazed at the size of it, the whole space illuminated by large forensic lamps. Anik was there, wearing a paper suit and examining a large plastic container. He turned as Jack walked in and gestured to the papers and documents that were neatly stacked in the container.
‘I think this is where he kept all his photographs and data, but I’ve not had time to sift through it all. I think it’ll be best to get it straight to the incident room. There’s a mound of stuff.’
Jack remained standing at the open door, still stunned by the size of the bunker. The walls had been whitewashed, so the glare from the high-powered lamps was even stronger. Anik explained that a large selection of tools, including saws, drills and a work bench, had been removed. They had also found two vats of chemicals with the lids tightly closed. The contents hadn’t been examined yet. Their intention was to clear the entire area in order to examine the stone floor and walls using spray luminol to detect any blood splattering.
Anik replaced the lid on the plastic container. ‘The original coal chute is at the far end – there’s just a few bits of coal left – but apart from that the place has been cleaned and painted with numerous coats of whitewash. I think the consensus is that this is where any dismemberment would have occurred. It stinks of mildew and the damp is making it hard to work for long periods. There are some rat traps, with a few dead ones at the far end, and two canisters of rat poison. The canisters look old and that make is no longer sold.’
Jack looked around and asked if there had been any movement inside the basement flat. Anik replied that no one had been in or out, but there had been two food deliveries – one from a Chinese restaurant and one from McDonald’s. Amanda had come to the door on both occasions, and no one had seen Rodney Middleton.
Jack made his way back to street level. A forensic van pulled away, taking the items they had removed to the labs. He knew from experience how long it would take for everything to be itemised and examined. The only item he was interested in looking at closely was the plastic container of personal items, but he would have to wait until it was returned to the incident room.
Jack decided that it might be helpful to interview the first man who had been attacked by Middleton. He called the incident room to check his address and Leon answered, keeping Jack on hold for several minutes. He eventually located the address in the case file.
Sara came on the line to say she was collating the information from mispers, but was finding it difficult to ascertain how long the girls had actually been missing before an official police report had been recorded.
‘The girls were all from troubled backgrounds,’ she explained. ‘We know that Amanda was the first, and then the timeline seems to be Trudie Hudson then Jamail Brown, then possibly Nadine O’Reilly – she’s the girl Amanda was uncertain of.’
Jack interrupted to say that he really needed more specifics and especially exact dates. In addition, the parents needed to be contacted to check their DNA, in case they uncovered any evidence from the coal hole. Leon then came back on the line with the address for the corner shop. It was not as close to the basement flat as the first shop, located just off the main road next to an Indian restaurant. The owner was Mr Devi Kumar.
The shop was almost as packed to the roof as Andrios’ shop with the same huge quantities of toilet paper, but outside were crates of fresh fruit and veg. The smell of curry inside was quite intense as they also had a counter with takeaway curry meals. Jack asked a young Indian woman if it was possible to speak with Mr Kumar and she said that he was in their restaurant next door.
The restaurant was closed, but Jack knocked on the door and waited. Eventually a small, rather dapper Indian man came to the door. He moved the blind aside and eased open the door saying that they were still only doing takeaways. Jack explained who he was, showing his ID. When he was let into the restaurant it was clear that it was being refurbished, with the tables stacked on top of each other, alongside piles of gilt chairs.
Mr Kumar was very gentlemanly and exceedingly polite. He took down a gilt chair for Jack, and one for himself, as he explained they were re-carpeting and building a new kitchen. He said that he recalled the assault very clearly, even though it was four years ago. At the time he had been very busy as he was working in the shop whilst his brother managed the restaurant. His brother needed him to close the shop as they had customers waiting and were short-staffed, and he was just shutting the till when Middleton had suddenly appeared from behind one of the shelving units. Mr Kumar had explained that he could not serve him as he was closing the shop.
‘He came towards me. I said that if he had selected some goods already, I would let him pay for them, but if not then he had to leave. I didn’t see anything in his hands, so I became very nervous as the till was still open. I thought he was going to rob me. I told him that he had better leave as I didn’t want any trouble. He came closer and took out this flick knife and started jabbing it at me. He slashed my arm, so I cried out for help, and he ran out.’
‘That must have been very shocking,’ Jack said.
‘Yes, very . . . and I recognised him. He had been in many times, I had even delivered to his flat, so I knew his address. I gave it to the police and he was arrested.’
‘When you told him to leave, how did he react?’
‘He stood still, then moved closer. That’s what frightened me. He was so quiet. It was shocking when he pulled out this knife and clicked it open, then started waving it around.’
‘What was his expression like? I mean, did he look threatening?’
‘No, he was calm – very calm – and that’s all I can remember. I know he was charged with assault with a deadly weapon, but to be honest the way he acted was very confusing, like he didn’t know what he had done, like he was mentally ill.’
Jack thanked Mr Kumar and left to drive back to the basement flat. It was now very dark but there was still a lot of movement in and around the basement. Anik had left, but the surveillance team were still there. The white and blue-suited forensic team were examining the interior of the coal hole and Jack stopped one of the team to ask if there had been any developments. He was given a brief rundown of the items that had been removed for testing, but the huge wheelie bins were still waiting to be taken in as they needed replacements to be delivered before they could remove them. Behind his hooded protective suit, the scientist looked tired, his eyes red-rimmed.
‘The chemicals in that place are giving us all headaches; we’re going to have to call it quits for today and return in the morning.’
‘Have you found any blood traces?’ Jack asked.
‘Not to my knowledge, but tomorrow we’ll be spraying the entire area. In my opinion that place has been chemically cleaned, and the walls have clearly been whitewashed numerous times. There’s also a heavy-duty spray washer and two drums of what could be acid. We had to get the specials in to remove them because in that confined space we didn’t want to prise them open. If there’s been any dismemberment in there the luminol will show it up. No matter how hard criminals try to hide blood stains, there is always something they miss. We might have to dig up the concrete floor as well.’
On his way back to the car Jack called in to the station to say that he was leaving for home unless there was anything urgent. He was put through to DCI Clarke, who was also just heading home. He instructed Jack to be in first thing in the morning to go through the personal items taken from the coal hole. ‘I hope to God we got some evidence today. But we just have to wait for the scientists to do their stuff.’
When Jack got home, he was unsure exactly how he felt. It seemed as though he had been moved aside and that DCI Clarke had taken over the running of the show. But the reality was that whenever an investigation team suddenly expanded, it always felt as if things were being taken over. The thing that was beginning to really bother him, however, was that despite all the items they had removed, they still had no evidence of any murders. Without something new, and most importantly bodies, they had nothing.