The kitchen door opened and Patricia came in.
“Oh, Isobel, are you all right? Sorry – I didn’t mean to upset you?”
Isobel shook her head. “It wasn’t you.”
“What was it then? Why are you crying?”
Isobel shrugged. “I was just talking to Thomas Banks Senior. He has a video of Thomas and Matt at graduation, hopefully walking up to get their certificates – which should help the forensic gait analyst, whoever he is.” She made a face. “Even if it rules out Matt Cooper, I’ll be happier that we explored everything.”
Patricia nodded. “Yeah, me too. It is a plausible theory, but it would be good to have definitive proof.”
“I just need to ring Adam and tell him. Maybe he can get the recording tonight.”
“That would be good.”
“How did things go with you and Peter?”
Patricia blushed. “Peter just panicked. He thought if I was leaving the firm that he wouldn’t see me again. He admitted that the last two weeks have changed things between us.”
Isobel frowned. “And?”
Patricia grabbed Isobel’s arm and jumped up and down, singing in a whisper, “He wants us to see more of each other!”
Isobel started jumping too, her face beaming with happiness. “Fantastic!” She gave Patricia a huge hug.
Isobel laughed, “Probably not working together will help the dating.”
“I know, I can hardly believe it. We’re getting on so well. I’m so happy.” Then she remembered herself and said, “You better ring Adam before it gets too late.”
“Right.”
Patricia went back to the sitting room.
Within a few seconds Adam was on the line. “You missed me,” he joked.
Isobel ignored that. “I had an idea.”
“Me too. I was just about to ring you.”
“Oh.”
“Ladies first.”
“Thomas Banks Senior has a recording of Thomas and Matt at their graduation. Let’s hope they had to walk across a decent-sized stage.”
“Great. I spoke to Simon and to Dermot, the gait man. He says he could probably do it from the modern footage but, if there are any major injuries in between, that can screw it up. So, this could really help.”
“You can collect it tonight. Thomas Senior says he’ll be awake. I told him you might be calling. Just let him know if you’re sending someone else.”
“No, I’ll get it tonight and send it on to this guy Dermot. It’s the least I can do.”
“Great. Now tell me your idea.”
“I read back over the case file in detail after I left you.”
“And?”
“And, we checked Thomas’s phone at the time for anything unusual or suspicious. There wasn’t anything that raised a red flag at the time. But, in light of what we saw today on the road near the pub and the time and distance involved, I was trying to see how Matt could have done it. He needed to know that Thomas had left the pub.”
“Yes.”
“And Thomas did make a call before he left the pub.”
“Oh my God!” Isobel could feel her heart thundering in her chest and realized that she was biting one of the knuckles of her hand. “Was it to Matt?”
“No, no, it wasn’t. It was to a burner phone.”
“Oh.”
“It was for less than a minute. The same phone had called Thomas earlier, again for less than a minute. It’s virtually impossible to trace those burner phones and at the time it was put down to an initial wrong number and an accidental redial.”
“And now?”
“Well, now I have to confess I’m wondering if Matt called Thomas and set it all up. I timed myself making a call. In fact, I borrowed another officer’s phone and tried it on a friend of mine. All I’m saying is that it’s possible but don’t get your hopes up. It is a bit far-fetched and at the end of the day the two calls could be, as we originally thought, a wrong number and an accidental redial.”
“OK, but it’s definitely worth hearing what the gait analyst has to say.”
“Definitely.”
“Adam, thanks for going to all of this trouble.”
“Not at all . . . listen, why don’t we get together for coffee before the meeting in Scotland Yard tomorrow? I can fill you in then?”
“Sounds good. Name the place and we’ll be there.”
Adam mentioned a café and they arranged to meet at eleven o’clock.
“Any word from the dump search yet?”
“Yes, Simon said that they’ve found the boots and a shirt.”
“Great!”
“They’re at the lab being analysed as we speak. I think he’s requested an all-nighter from the lab people. He feels we’re getting close.”
“Wait till I tell Patricia this. I’ll see you tomorrow. Goodnight.”
Isobel reboiled the kettle and wet the tea. She then carried the tray back into the sitting room.
Peter and Patricia were sitting side by side on the couch, holding hands and smiling.
Now that the personal stuff was sorted Isobel brought the discussion back to the case.
“Patricia, I’ve just been talking to Adam and he had some news.” She relayed what she and Adam had discussed about the hit-and-run.
“So Matt may have run Thomas down!” said Patricia. “Hopefully, the gait man can say one way or the other.”
“And there’s more – they found some of the clothes – the boots and a shirt! No results yet from the lab but hopefully tomorrow.” Turning to Peter, Isobel said, “I think it’s likely that they may interview Thomas tomorrow and, depending on what the lab finds, they may be charging him with murder or even a number of murders. Can you sort something out for Tommy? Have you spoken to Claire? He could be without both his parents by tomorrow evening.”
Peter frowned. “Yes, I’ve spoken to Claire. She’s more than happy to have Tommy. However, she’s worried that Thomas may oppose her caring for her nephew because they don’t get on. I think our best bet is to get Thomas Banks’ divorce solicitor to persuade Thomas to agree to Claire having Tommy. If not, we’ll have to apply to the court. She is his closest living relative, after all. If Thomas is charged with murder a judge should be able to sanction it. Basically, we should be able to sort everything. Claire wants to be Tommy’s guardian.”
Isobel breathed a sigh of relief.
“I’ll ring her in the morning and let her know that,” Peter said.
There was nothing more that Isobel needed to discuss.
“I assume you’re coming to the meeting at midday tomorrow, Patricia?” Isobel faltered, knowing that in a way her job was at the law firm.
Patricia smiled. “Definitely – that was part of my decision to think about a new career. There’s no way that I want to miss out on that and well . . .”
Peter smiled at her and took up the slack. “So, Patricia is going to take some holidays which she is owed and I’m going to get a temp and then, when the Banks case is over, Patricia can sort things out.”
Patricia added, “I need to find out when I can do my course, so we think this is the best thing to do for now.”
Isobel laughed. “And all of that got sorted while I was making tea – you are two fast movers!”
Patricia blushed but said no more.
Peter laughed. “Slow starters but then we’re sprinters.”
It was a relief to get to bed later. Isobel felt tired and her body was aching from all of the running around. It had been a long two weeks. However, even in sleep Isobel was not finished dealing with Thomas Banks. He chased her on foot. She ran and managed to elude him. Then he was in a car chasing her and trying to run her over. She bobbed and weaved and tried to avoid him. Finally he chased her on foot again and this time he caught her, his hands closing around her throat. In the background a child cried out for his mother and a woman called out, “Help me, help me!”
Chapter 41
Friday 1st June
Isobel woke at nine o’clock. Her bedding was all wound up, bearing testament to her scary dreams. She felt tense, keyed-up. Today, in the dynamic of moves and countermoves that she felt she was playing with Thomas Banks, it would be checkmate or Thomas Banks would escape. Only this wasn’t a game, the stakes were too high. People had already lost their lives and the cost of losing would be more lost lives because she knew he would do this again.
She had a leisurely bath and then went for a walk in the local park before she and Patricia caught the Tube over to meet Adam.
She’d been surprised that Adam had suggested this early meeting but assumed it was to discuss the hit-and-run information before presenting it to the main investigation at midday. They were a few minutes late and Adam was already there. They collected coffee and bagels and joined him in the booth.
“Hi, any news from the ‘gait man’?” Isobel asked.
Adam laughed. “His name is Dermot and he sent me a text his morning. The video of the graduation helped, in so far as it legally gives his statements more weight, but he says he could already tell that it was definitely Matt Cooper walking back to Thomas Banks’ body.”
Isobel’s mouth fell open and she just sat there.
Adam prompted, “So it is murder.”
The starkness of this statement shocked Isobel into sound. “He’s sure?”
“One hundred per cent.”
“Jesus. How am I going to tell his father?”
Adam grimaced.
Isobel ran her hands through her hair. “I promised him I would tell him whatever I found out, so I will.”
Adam lowered his head and spoke very quietly. “I feel so bad. I should have found this out at the time.”
It took a moment for what Adam said to fully register with her. Now she understood the reason for the meeting. “You feel guilty.”
“I should have looked at the video more closely,” Adam said, his head down.
Isobel looked at Patricia. “The only reason that we’ve found any of this out is because we were already suspicious of Thomas Banks, so we’ve gone looking for evidence of murder because we know he’s capable of it. Number one: there was no reason to even look at him at the time. He’d covered his tracks too well. And number two: doing things this way is the complete opposite of what you do as a police officer – innocent until proven guilty, remember – not let me make sure you’re guilty.” Isobel took a deep breath. “And, we may not be able to prove Thomas did it. A judge may not accept the gait analysis and that’s the only thing we have.”
“Yes,” said Adam. “And even if they do accept the gait analysis, it could still be ruled accident or manslaughter.”
Isobel straightened up. “Mr Banks Senior wants to know what happened to his son and we can tell him that. We can give him the truth – but justice, in this case, I’m not sure. Hopefully we will get Thomas Banks on the other murders. He nearly got away with everything because he managed to make it look like no murder had taken place – that’s been his modus operandi. Only for Peter Wright none of these murders would have come to light.”
Adam was listening but his face had not relaxed or shown any sign that what she was saying was helping.
“Adam, so many people feel guilty in this situation. Julia, the woman from the shelter that she couldn’t get Anne away in time, Claire her sister who suspected Thomas of spousal abuse and couldn’t do anything, Grace her neighbour who was concerned that there were problems but had nothing more to go on and only denials from Anne, Thomas’s old schoolteacher who suspected Matt was violent but couldn’t prove it. Me because maybe something I did tipped Thomas off and he dumped the body in the river and maybe I messed up some of the evidence tying him to the crime. Adam, when we wanted to relook at the case you facilitated it. You’ve worked with two members of the public in a collegial way. All of us are doing our best. But yes, it is too little too late for Anne and Tommy, but the answer isn’t self-flagellation. The answer is a better support service for people in abusive situations, more understanding from the police, more cooperation, more awareness, more action against joyriders and traffic-slowing devices in known speedways before tragedy strikes. I don’t know all the things that we need to do differently but there are people who do. And definitely we all have to listen more to what people say and also don’t say, in the case of domestic violence.”
“Isobel is right,” Patricia said.
Isobel smiled at her. “Only because you helped me see straight again.”
Adam had straightened his shoulders and was looking at her, contrite now.
Isobel said, “I’m sorry, this case has really upset me. I don’t mean to preach.” Changing tack, she went on, “What scares me most is that he made people disappear without anyone realising.” She shivered then quoted from Nietzsche, “‘Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you.’Thomas Banks has really frightened me. He’s got under my skin. I even dreamt about him last night. I just hope that today we have the evidence to catch him.”
Adam had listened attentively to her words and now he said, “Isobel, I would like to go with you to tell Thomas Banks Senior the news.”
Isobel looked at him. She saw strength and courage in his face now and a willingness to deal with the failure. She knew something about that feeling of failure, but truthfully she didn’t know if she’d yet found the courage to face it herself head on. But that was for when she went home. What she did know was that she was going to support someone else facing theirs.
So she said, “Thank you, that would be great.”
Silence fell between them, not uncomfortably but rather contemplatively, as they all thought about what had been said. Isobel glanced at her watch and with no words they rose together and made their way to the conference room to hear the progress of the investigation.
Chapter 42
As Isobel followed Adam into the conference room she heard someone shout her name. She looked up and before she could speak a word of welcome she was engulfed in an embrace. It was like being hugged by a bear.
When she stepped back, she said with a grin, “Hi, Jeff.” Then noticing his dishevelled hair and bloodshot eyes, she asked, “Are you all right?” Simultaneously she noticed many of the police officers in the room listening in on this exchange.
Jeff took her two hands and shaking them warmly said, “We’ve got him, Isobel, you clever girl!”
Before she had time to reply, Simon swept into the room. Isobel gave Jeff’s hands a squeeze and she and Patricia went to the back of the room.
Simon called the briefing to order.
“Good afternoon, everyone, especially all of you dump-divers.”
There were groans and laughter with people holding their noses.
“Our intrepid searchers, marshalled by Stella and myself, did a sterling job and uncovered,” he paused and turned away from them towards a screen behind him onto which flashed the image of a baseball cap. Enjoying the moment and acting like a conjurer, he said, “A hat!”
Then there was a succession of screen changes on the monitor and with each change Simon’s voice announced: “A top . . . a pair of trousers . . . boots . . . and a pair of gloves!”
In her mind Isobel was adding a drum roll to each unveiling. She had never seen Simon so relaxed and she knew that, whatever she would hear now, in his mind he had facts and proof. She turned to Patricia and saw that she was delighted. They grinned at each other.
Simon continued, “Obviously there was lots of rubbish, including clothes, but no other items of clothing found matched the outfit of the man who drove the body in the van. Jeff and his team have worked all night and now I’m going to turn things over to him.”
Immediately the room fell silent and was reminiscent of a primary classroom and Isobel realized that Jeff was immensely respected by all of these officers. No wonder they were so interested when he had greeted her with such familiarit
y. Jeff moved to the front of the room and flicked back through the photographs of the clothing.
“Of the items of clothing the easiest ones to get DNA from are the headband of a hat, where there is a certain amount of friction and also sweat and under the arms of a top where again there is sweat and friction from movement. Obviously this guy dug up a body and moved it, all of which would have taken a fair bit of pulling and dragging so we were able to collect very good samples for analysis. We’ve compared the DNA we got with that of Charlie Ellis and it’s not a match. Our main suspect is Thomas Banks. We don’t have his DNA at present but we have the body identified as Mrs Cooper. Using a technique that is faster, called the integrated microfluidic system, and staying up all night my team and I have compared the DNA from the clothing with the DNA from Mrs Cooper’s body and there is a familial match. The man who wore these clothes was her son.”
Everyone was talking now.
“Well done, Jeff!”
“We’ve got him now!”
“Wish we could always get results that fast.”
Simon left a few moments go by and then called them to order. “OK, folks! Jeff, anything else?”
Jeff said, “We analysed the fluid from the floor of the van and that’s a match to the body taken from the river. The DNA from the body,” he paused for effect here, “has been compared with a sample we had on file of the DNA of Claire Graham, Anne Banks’ sister. The body taken from the river is definitely Anne Banks.”
There was an outbreak of chatter which lasted a minute and then Simon began to speak and immediately silence fell.
“The autopsy results are back and there is no fractured hyoid on Anne Banks’ body. There is no other obvious cause of death, no gunshot, no knife wounds, no blunt force trauma, so we cannot say one hundred per cent if she was strangled, although it seems likely.” He paused. “We have Anne Banks’ body turning up in her garden. She’s been dead for three months. We have a man digging up this body and transporting it to the Thames and throwing it in. We have Anne Banks’ DNA in the van. We have clothes that seem to be what he was wearing found in the shopping centre where Thomas Banks’ car was parked. Those same clothes have his DNA on them. The weakest point is tying the clothes to the body, to prove that Thomas Banks actually was the one to move the body which implies knowledge and concealment of death.”
What Lies Hidden Page 29