By midday the Rigg Approach office was filled with another fifteen detectives from the Tower Bridge Flying Squad, who had been called in to assist the arrest operation. Most of them were carrying revolvers in side holsters and everyone in the room was tense, waiting for Murphy to address them.
Jane had already spoken to Murphy about the Ripleys, and explained why she thought they were responsible for the Security Express robbery. He agreed there were parts of her analysis that pointed to them being responsible, but he felt her theory was based on conjecture and worried that she was making the suspects fit the crime. He told her that, although he had decided to arrest the Ripleys, Smith and O’Reilly, the only way they could prove the Ripleys themselves were responsible for both robberies was to find some actual physical evidence, at their homes or work premises, connecting them to the robberies.
Jane realised she was the only female in the room and overheard one of the Tower Bridge officers say he hoped he wasn’t with the ‘plonk’ when they made the arrests. It made her hope she would be the one to arrest George Ripley or Tony Nichols.
Murphy came out of his office with the Tower Bridge DCI and DI Kingston. The room went quiet.
‘Firstly, I’d like to thank the Tower Bridge officers for coming out to assist us with the arrests.’
‘Don’t worry, Guv, we’ll happily show your lads how it’s done,’ a Tower Bridge officer called out and his colleagues laughed.
‘Yeah – and pigs might fly,’ the Colonel retorted.
Murphy waited for the laughter to subside.
‘I know, as dedicated Flying Squad officers, you would have wanted this to be an operation where we carried out an armed ambush on the suspects while they were committing the crime. However, circumstances beyond our control have dictated that we arrest them today in a co-ordinated hit that will take place at two p.m. precisely. I have split you into teams and armed officers from my squad will lead each team and make the arrests, supported by officers from Tower Bridge. Me and DI Kingston will arrest George Ripley at his home address, DS Stanley, Graham Smith at his home address and DC Baxter, Tony Nichols at his home address.’
‘Yes, Guv,’ they replied almost in unison.
‘Our SOCO is presently working undercover in the Bruce Grove Snooker Hall and called me just before the briefing. Tommy Ripley, Aidan O’Reilly and Maria Fernadez are all there, apparently looking like they’ve got almighty hangovers from the wedding. The Colonel and Cam, with extra backup, will arrest them.’
‘What if any of them leave before we get there?’ the Colonel asked.
‘Dabs is going to come out of the hall at five minutes to two and meet you outside the sorting office in Moorfield Road with an update. I want two teams from Tower Bridge to hit their home addresses at the same time. I’ve arranged for uniform officers to go to the garage at two p.m. and secure it, then we can search it later.’
Jane and Teflon looked at each other, wondering what they would be doing.
‘WDS Tennison and DC Johnson will arrest Carl Winter. He, like Maria Fernandez, may or may not be involved in the planning or commission of the robberies, but they could be a useful source of information – especially Winter.’
Teflon could see that Jane was about to say something.
He gave her a discreet dig with his elbow and whispered, ‘Don’t say a word or he’ll crucify you in front of everyone.’
‘I want all the suspects taken to Leytonstone Police Station for interrogation, and continual updates given to me over the radio throughout the operation. Any questions?’
There were none.
Murphy went to his office with the Tower Bridge DCI and Kingston to have a quick glass of whisky before the armed operation.
Teflon took Jane to Dabs’s office to speak to her.
‘Not letting us be involved in any of the main suspects’ arrests is Murphy’s way of punishing us for what happened with Abby Jones.’
‘Carl is not in any way, shape or form a criminal,’ Jane said angrily. ‘I should be the last person to have to arrest him and Murphy knows that.’
‘Stop feeling sorry for yourself. Murphy’s arresting Carl for the right reasons, not to spite you. Even if it was someone else on the team making the arrest, it’s inevitable during questioning Carl will find out you’re a police officer. If you feel so bad, then this is your opportunity to make him realise you meant him no harm and were just doing your job.’
*
Dabs met the Colonel outside the sorting office just before 2 p.m. and told him that O’Reilly was in Tommy’s office and Fernandez was still behind the bar. The Colonel radioed Murphy.
‘Gold from KG, receiving . . . over?’
‘Go ahead . . . over,’ Murphy replied.
‘All three targets still in hall.’
‘All units from Gold, are you in position?’
He waited until the last unit responded.
‘Attack, attack, attack!’ Murphy shouted.
*
A traffic police Land Rover pulled up outside the gates of George Ripley’s house. The passenger jumped out and quickly connected a cable to the gates.
‘Go, go, go!’ he shouted.
The Land Rover drove off at speed, ripping the gates from the brick pillars.
George was in his study and heard the noise. Looking out of the window he saw Murphy and his team coming down the driveway, sirens blaring. George grabbed the phone to call Tommy.
The unmarked police cars slid through the gravel as they came to a halt. An officer jumped out with a battering ram and smashed it against the Yale lock on the door, which splintered and flew open.
Murphy, Kingston and two other armed officers raced in, shouting, ‘Armed police! Stay where you are!’
Tommy didn’t answer. George put the phone down, calmly picked up the News of the World and started reading it as Murphy and Kingston rushed in, pointing their guns at him.
‘Don’t fucking move, George,’ Murphy said.
He smiled and slowly put the paper down.
‘If you’d rung the doorbell, I’d have let you in. Who should I send the repair bill to?’
Kingston holstered his gun and got his handcuffs out. George put his arms out and held his wrists together ready to be cuffed.
‘Is the lovely Jane not with you?’
Murphy and Kingston ignored him.
‘Is she a good fuck?’ George smirked.
Kingston punched him hard in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him.
‘George Ripley, I am arresting you on suspicion of armed robbery. You are not obliged to say anything unless you wish to do so, but what you say may be put into writing and given in evidence.’
‘You ain’t got fuck all on me,’ he gasped, then spat on the ground at Kingston’s feet and got another hard punch to the stomach for his disrespect.
As they led him towards the front door, the normally truculent Maureen stood quietly in the hallway. She’d known the day would come when George would be arrested again. This time she hoped they had enough evidence to lock him up and throw away the key.
‘Maureen, phone Tony Nichols and tell him I’ve been nicked,’ George told her.
She nodded.
‘Save yourself the bother, luv – Tony Nichols will be in the cell next to him,’ Murphy said with a satisfied smile.
*
Tony Nichols was returning to his house with his wife after a pub lunch. She was driving her BMW and he was in the passenger seat. As they approached their house, he suddenly pulled the lever to drop the seat back so he couldn’t be seen.
‘Keep going, don’t park at the house,’ he snapped, having spotted the unmarked police cars nearby.
‘Why? What’s wrong?’
‘Just do as I say – keep going.’
When they were well away from the house, he told her to stop.
‘Go back on foot. If the CID come calling, tell them you’ve been out for a walk and you don’t know where I am.’
She looked scared. ‘What have you done now, Tony?’
‘Just give me the bloody keys and do as I say. I’ll call you later.’
*
The Colonel and his team walked casually into the busy snooker hall, their guns held by their sides. Dabs pointed to Tommy’s office at the end of the room while Cam arrested Maria Fernandez. Two armed officers followed the Colonel. When they were just a few feet from Tommy’s office door it was opened by Aidan O’Reilly. He quickly tried to shut the door, but the Colonel put his shoulder to it and they barged in.
‘Armed police! Stay where you are!’
The Colonel pointed his revolver at Tommy Ripley, who was sitting at his desk with his hands in the air. The Colonel looked around for Aidan. A door behind Ripley was open, leading to a fire escape stairwell. He ran across the room and could see him halfway down the escape. He shouted for him to stop and sprinted after him, but by the time the Colonel was halfway down O’Reilly was nearly at the bottom.
‘Bollocks!’ the Colonel said to himself, climbing over the railing. ‘Why didn’t we know there was a bloody fire escape?’
Holding his gun in one hand, and with the other gripping the railing, he launched himself off just as O’Reilly stepped onto the tarmac and managed to knock him to the ground. As the Colonel tried to stand up, his ankle gave way and he collapsed in a heap. O’Reilly was back on his feet and reaching into his jacket pocket.
‘Don’t do it!’ the Colonel shouted.
‘Fuck you!’
O’Reilly pulled out a Luger handgun.
The Colonel lifted himself up into a half sit-up position, then fired three rounds into O’Reilly’s chest before the Irishman could get off a shot of his own. O’Reilly was dead before he hit the ground.
*
Jane trudged up the threadbare stairs behind Teflon and knocked on the door of Carl Winter’s flat, but there was no answer. Teflon called Murphy, who told them to wait in the car for Winter to return.
Half an hour passed before they saw a forlorn-looking Carl shuffling up the road towards his flat, carrying a suitcase. As he got closer Jane could see his nose was swollen and he had a cut beside his left eye. Teflon said what Jane was thinking.
‘Looks like George took his anger out on Carl.’
‘And it’s my fault,’ she added.
‘Give him a minute to go up to his flat.’
*
Jane knocked on the door and Carl opened it. She held up her warrant card.
‘We need to speak to you, Carl.’
He looked at her in amazement. He seemed close to tears.
‘I’m sorry, Carl, I never meant to hurt you. Did George hit you because he found out I was a police officer?’
Carl didn’t say anything. He just kept looking at Jane.
‘We’ve arrested him,’ Teflon said.
‘Good. I hope he goes to prison for ever.’
Teflon went to search the bedroom and let Jane be alone with Carl.
‘I had a job to do, Carl. But it turned out I enjoyed your company. You’re a nice guy.’
In the bedroom Teflon saw an empty suitcase on the bed and next to it Carl’s clothes, neatly folded and laid out ready to be packed. He noticed a brown A4 envelope by the pillow and looked inside.
‘Jane, have you got a second?’ he called out.
He held up two large wads of cash and whispered, ‘There’s two grand here, and he was about to pack his case.’
Jane felt her head spin, wondering if Carl was not the straightforward man he appeared to be.
‘I think he’s had you fooled. We need to arrest him,’ Teflon said.
‘No, there has to be an explanation. Let me talk to him first.’
She took the money from him.
‘Have it your way, but when I’ve finished searching this room, I’m nicking him.’
As Jane left the room, Teflon opened the door in the corner of the bedroom and saw that it led to a small bathroom, with a shower, basin and toilet. He closed the door and unzipped his pants.
‘Where did you get this money, Carl?’ she asked, showing it to him.
‘George gave it to me. He told me to get out of his flat and never come back.’
‘Is that the truth?’
She put the money on the table.
‘Look what he did to me,’ he said, taking off his shirt.
She gasped when she saw the red and blue welts all over his torso. He had been lashed so hard the belt and buckle had cut into his skin, leaving imprints of their shape.
Jane was so transfixed she wasn’t aware Tony Nichols had crept into the flat and was listening to the conversation from the kitchen. She put her hand to her mouth.
‘Oh my God, Carl. What have I done?’
‘It wasn’t your fault.’
‘Of course it was. Tony Nichols told him who I am and he took it out on you.’
Carl sniffed. ‘I know where George and Smudge hide things.’
‘What things?’
‘Stuff they steal.’
Nichols quietly picked up a large carving knife from the kitchen counter, then crept up behind Carl and plunged it hard into his back before Jane even knew what was happening. Carl fell to the floor, groaning and gasping for air as blood pooled around him. Jane instinctively moved forward to help him but Nichols pointed the knife at her, making her back off. She stopped herself from glancing towards the bedroom, hoping Nichols didn’t know Teflon was with her. Nichols picked the money up and put it in his coat pocket.
‘I couldn’t let him tell you where the money is – and I’m afraid I can’t let you tell anyone what I’ve done,’ he said menacingly, as he moved slowly towards her.
‘Don’t hurt her,’ Carl moaned, making a feeble attempt to get up, but he’d already lost too much blood.
Jane wondered why Teflon hadn’t come to her aid and then she heard the toilet flush. Nichols realised she wasn’t alone and raised the knife. She screamed for help as she kicked the small coffee table towards him, making him stumble. She lunged forward and grabbed his right hand with both of hers. She tried to pull him forward and down to the ground, but he was stronger than her and managed to regain his balance.
Teflon was just washing his hands when he heard Jane scream. He grabbed a large bottle of Brut aftershave off the bathroom shelf and ran into the lounge. Nichols had broken free of Jane’s grasp, and was about to stab her with the knife when Teflon smashed the bottle over his head, knocking him to the ground. He punched Nichols repeatedly in the face until he was totally subdued. Jane rushed to Carl’s aid as Teflon turned Nichols over and cuffed his hands behind his back.
‘Get an ambulance!’ she shouted.
Teflon ran to the car to use the radio. Jane knelt over Carl, who was still lying on his back, his face pale.
‘I’m going to try and stop the bleeding, so I’ll need to turn you over.’
There was a look of fear in his eyes.
‘Jane,’ he whispered, and she leant closer to him. ‘It’s in the pit.’
His breathing was shallow and erratic, and he started to cough up blood.
‘All that doesn’t matter now. You need to stop talking and concentrate on your breathing.’
She rolled him over, grabbed a towel from the kitchen and applied pressure to the stab wound on his back. Teflon came back into the room.
‘An ambulance and uniform officers are on their way. How is he?’
‘Not good,’ Jane said. ‘His breathing’s getting shallower and he’s cold to the touch. Take over doing this, please.’
Jane moved around so she could see Carl’s face and try and keep him awake by talking to him. She got on her knees and leant forward.
‘You’re going to be OK, Carl. You can use the money to buy a van and start your own business now.’
But there was no movement to suggest he could hear her. Teflon felt for a pulse, but it was weak. Jane could hardly hear him breathing and his eyes were fluttering. She held his hand.
‘We could go for another meal, Carl . . . maybe Italian this time. Do you like Italian?’
His eyes closed and his body went limp. Teflon felt for a pulse.
‘I’m sorry, Jane . . . he’s dead.’
Jane started to rock back and forth on her knees as the tears ran down her face.
‘No, no, no . . . What have I done?’
Teflon helped her up and held her as she wept on his shoulder.