Jeff said, “We’re going over the clothes with a finetooth comb to see if any fluid from the body dropped on them but, to be honest, looking closely at the video and how he manoeuvred the body, it doesn’t look hopeful.”
“Thanks, Jeff,” Simon said. “To add weight, we hope, to our case we have a forensic gait analyst here to help us. Everyone, this is Dermot Farrell.”
Isobel craned to see. Dermot Farrell had red hair and was a very tall, pale man. He stood in front of everyone, slouched over. Despite this when he spoke his voice was clear and carried through the room. He seemed someone who was confident about what he did but not so confident in dealing with people. Everyone was very attentive, this new forensic approach being of interest to them. Isobel could see how complex building a case was and how methodical and meticulous Simon and his fellow officers had to be to prove things legally. Once again Isobel was aware of their differing perspectives. While she wanted to find the truth, Simon had to prove it. Both tasks were difficult but she acknowledged that finding the truth of Thomas’s guilt if he managed to evade justice would really upset her. No wonder people plotted revenge and took matters into their own hands. If you knew someone was guilty and couldn’t prove it, and they were living happily while the person you cared about wasn’t, it must eat away at you. And probably it bothered the police involved just as much. No wonder Simon was so careful about the steps he took. She sent up a silent prayer.
Dermot used the visual aid as everyone had, flashing up the images of the different men walking as he explained. “I’ve analysed Thomas Banks walking into the shopping centre in his suit and compared it with this man in work-clothes walking out. From my analysis this man is the same person. This is Thomas Banks in different clothes.” He flashed up another image of a man in working clothes. “This is Charlie Ellis walking away from the white van into the shopping centre. This man has a completely different gait to the man coming out to move the van.”
He split the screen and put both images up simultaneously: on one side Charlie Ellis and beside it Thomas Banks, both dressed in work clothes. Dermott pointed, indicating the knee area on the man with older boots on. “You can see here this slightly rolling action on this side.” When he highlighted it, it was actually clearly visible. “I’ve been in touch with Charlie Ellis and, with his permission, his doctor. This gait is consistent with someone who has had surgery on their knee. Charlie Ellis had knee surgery as a young man, for a football injury. You can clearly see that this other man does not have the same distinctive movement.”
Simon said, “Yes, now that you point it out, I can see that.”
Everyone was looking at the screen and there was a stunned silence.
Dermott waited a moment and then said, “I did notice something else. Thomas Banks is left-handed. Charlie Ellis is not. Charlie locks the van with his right hand and leaves the key. The man who opens the car door does so with his left hand as does Thomas Banks when he’s in his suit.”
There was a cheer.
Simon looked as shocked and pleased as anyone. He went over to Dermot and slapped him on the back. Everyone was talking to those beside them and it was a full minute before Simon curtailed them.
“Thank you, Dermot,” he said and Dermot got another cheer.
He grinned shyly. While the officers didn’t know him and his work they were going to welcome him and his insights with open arms.
Simon said, “Just a few more areas to cover. Frank, you first.”
Frank stood up and began. “The German police have been on the lookout for our blonde turned brunette and they found her. I’ve spoken to their officers and they’ve questioned her. She has made a statement. Basically she met Thomas Banks in a hotel in Manchester. He was there on business and he actually told her that she looked like his wife. She’s an actress. She heard from him again three months ago. He met her in Manchester and explained that his wife had run off, that she was an alcoholic and dabbling in prostitution. He was worried about his son and he wanted this woman to sign divorce papers so that he could protect his son, if his wife came back. She thought he was a lovely man. She knew it was fraud but she thought she was helping. He paid her twenty thousand pounds. She’s prepared to come home and testify about what happened.”
Simon asked, “Why did she leave so abruptly? What happened?”
“Thomas Banks rang her and told her to leave. They’d agreed on that, in case his wife came back. She thought that was what had happened.”
“Do we have her phone to prove that call?”
Frank again had a ready answer. “Thomas used a burner phone to ring her. He had given her a burner too. He told her it was for her own safety. When he called her on it she rang him to establish the story then ditched the phone and SIM card.”
“Where did she throw it?” Simon asked.
“I’ll find out.”
“Do. Keep me informed about that. Now, we have one last piece of information that has only just come to light. Adam, will you do the honours?”
Adam made his way to the front of the room.
Speaking clearly, he said, “Thomas Banks was killed in a hit-and-run accident over ten years ago and at the time I put it down to a joyrider. The car was later found burned out. New evidence has been found, however. Firstly, the woman who owned the car worked for the company that Matt and Thomas worked for. She knew Matt Cooper. He knew where she lived and she’d loaned him her car one weekend, so he could have copied the key.”
Adam played the video including the piece where the driver walked back to the body. There were murmurs but Adam raised his voice and talked on.
“Last night I obtained a video of Thomas and Matt graduating from college, which shows them being announced and then walking across the stage to receive their certificates. I gave that to Dermot to analyse.” Adam indicated to Dermot that he should take the floor once more.
Dermot stood up and looked much more comfortable this time. “I looked at the two sets of footage and the man who knocked down Thomas and who walked back to the body is Matt Cooper.”
More shouts.
Simon stepped forward. “So, three murders, his friend to get his new job, his mother to get the proceeds from the house and his wife because she was going to leave him.”
There was a babble of talk and a lot of shushing as some shushed others.
He continued. “Since the aborted episode at the solicitor’s which some of you were in on, I’ve had officers watching Thomas Banks. He seems to be going about his daily life secure in the knowledge that he’s got away with everything. I’m going to bring him in today.”
There was a cheer.
“When we interview him we’re going to see if we can get him to incriminate himself. None of you are to attempt to see him when I bring him in. Knowing what you know, it’s going to be hard to hide that but I want him lulled into a false sense of security. Do you understand?”
There was a general calling out of yes, sure and OK.
“Some uniform have been primed and are going to escort him here. Right, that’s a wrap. Thank you, everyone.”
As people stood up to filter out, Jeff headed down towards Isobel and Patricia.
“Well done,” he said. “Both of you and Peter have uncovered a shocking tale of murder.” He shook hands with each of them and left.
Adam moved back to stand near them.
For a moment they stood in silence.
Then Isobel mused, “So we still don’t know. What tipped him off? Who warned him? Which thing did we do or say? Who did we speak to? What happened? What made Thomas realise there was a problem and call off the signing and move the body? Then he rings his imposter wife and tells her to run. He also calls Charlie Ellis to set him up. Neither of those calls show up on his phone because he used a burner.” Isobel scrunched up her forehead. She knew there was something important here that was eluding her at the moment. She looked at Patricia, “There’s something we’re missing here. What is it?”
Patricia and Isobel looked at each other, both going over things in their minds.
Patricia asked, “What did he do that morning?”
Isobel shook her head from side to side as if she was shaking free an idea. “He took his son to school and then he went to the shopping centre?”
Patricia’s face relaxed as realisation dawned. “He spoke to someone at the school who raised his suspicions.”
Isobel followed her train of thought.
Patricia continued, her voice and confidence growing. “Probably Mrs Winter. Maybe she said something to him.”
Isobel nodded. “That’s certainly possible. But would that have been enough?”
Patricia continued their impromptu brainstorming. “Who else could or would have alerted him?”
“Anne’s mum?”
“Could she have rung him?”
“I told her I was an old friend and wanted to surprise them but she might have. We could find out.”
Patricia, now on a roll, asked, “What other risky things did we do?”
Isobel counted off on her fingers. “Aaron wouldn’t have said anything, neither would Sharon, Claire wouldn’t, nor Brian. I hardly think he checked the rehab place. What else?”
“What about when Peter met Anne on Saturday and got her DNA? What if that set something off? Not at the time obviously because he didn’t do anything immediately but maybe after he saw Mrs Winter he started getting suspicious and putting two and two together and things started to add up.”
“We need to find out if Mrs Winter spoke to Thomas that day.”
Adam intervened. “Let’s make sure Thomas is in custody before we contact anyone who might alert him. Let’s talk to Simon.”
They made their way over to Simon.
“Simon, can we have a word?” Adam said. “We want to track what alerted Thomas to the fact that we were on to him. Before we do that we want to be sure he’s in custody.”
Simon looked annoyed. “Is that really important? I have this vital interview ahead and, really, does this matter?”
Isobel bit her lip.
“All I’m asking is whether Thomas is in custody yet?” Adam asked.
Simon nodded impatiently then stepped away and used his phone. Within two minutes he was back to them, “I sent three units to pick this guy up. That was one of the back-up units. They have him in a squad car on his way here. He was shocked and is already asking for a solicitor.”
Everyone heaved a sigh of relief.
Simon sighed wearily, “I can’t see how any of that is relevant but go ahead if you want to.” He heaved a sigh. “This guy is so slippery, and I don’t want him to get off. This interview is going to be really long and really difficult.”
Isobel said, “Simon, you’re going to get him. He’s so cocky that he’s bound to slip up. He’s probably going to get too clever.”
Simon grimaced. “I certainly hope so.” He walked off.
Isobel bit her lip. “His good humour seems to have evaporated very suddenly,” she said.
“Don’t worry about him,” Adam said. “He’s under ferocious pressure to have everything watertight.”
Patricia said, “Of course.”
Adam said, “Let’s make some calls.”
Chapter 43
They adjourned to Simon’s office so they could use his speaker phone.
Isobel looked at Adam. “Would Mrs Graham know about us finding Anne’s body yet? We can’t really talk to her unless she’s been informed.”
“The police would have sent a local officer to deliver the news.”
Isobel dialled Claire’s number.
“Claire, this is Isobel. I’m so sorry about Anne.”
“I know.” Claire sobbed for a few minutes then recovered herself. “Thank God everything is coming to light now. Mum is here with me. We’re devastated but we hope that you’ll make sure that Thomas goes to prison for this.”
“The police are doing everything they can to ensure that. In fact, I’m here with one of their officers, Adam, and we wondered if we could just ask Donna a few questions about when she last spoke to Thomas. Would that be all right? Patricia is here as well.”
Claire acquiesced and they could hear the murmur of her speaking to someone else, then, on the line, a tentative, “Hello?”
“Hello, Donna, this is Isobel. I spoke to you last week. I’m so sorry about Anne.”
Donna stifled a sob. “Claire has been putting my head on straight. I feel so bad that I didn’t realise what was going on and just believed everything that man said instead of my own daughter.”
“He was a professional liar. He’s fooled many people over the years, not just you. But it’s so important that we stop him now.”
“It is,” Donna sobbed.
“And that’s why I’m phoning you. I want to know if you were talking to him after my visit.”
Donna gulped and Isobel closed her eyes.
“Yes, I did tell him about your visit. I know you asked me not to, but I wanted to get on his good side, so that when he got custody he would let me see Tommy. He asked me to describe you and I did.”
Isobel shrugged at the others.
Adam said, “When did you have this conversation?”
“Tuesday evening, at about ten o’clock.”
“Was there anything else significant in the call?” Isobel asked.
“Not really . . . except . . .”
“What?”
“Well, when I said that you had an Irish accent we laughed about how common that was.”
“Thank you for telling us, Donna.”
Claire came back on the line. “What should I do about Tommy?”
“You’d better talk to Peter,” Patricia said. “Things will have to follow a legal protocol and he’ll help you.”
Hanging up, Patricia mused, “So, on Tuesday night Thomas might have heard something that made him uneasy.”
Adam said, “But the doppelganger and Charlie Ellis both said they got calls at around ten o’clock on Wednesday morning. So it was only then that he reacted and set things in motion.”
“So despite that call on Tuesday night Thomas didn’t do anything that we know of,” Patricia said. “At that point, it seems that he was still going ahead with the original plan. So something else must have happened.”
Isobel nodded. “I agree.”
“So we need to see if he chatted to anyone when he left Tommy off at school.”
“Absolutely,” Adam said.
Patricia had the name of the school and pulled up the number on her phone.
“Adam,” said Isobel. “I think we’re going to need your authority to get anywhere here.”
Adam raised an eyebrow enquiringly and Patricia nodded.
Patricia dialled the number which was answered promptly.
Adam explained who he was.
Mrs Winter was courteous but cautious. They had to wait while she called Simon’s office landline in order to verify that Adam was a policeman.
“How can I help you, officer?”
Adam put on the speaker phone and said, “Mrs Winter, we’re at a very delicate point in an investigation and I need you to answer a number of questions about Wednesday morning.”
“Wednesday morning? Why? Nothing out of the ordinary happened on Wednesday morning. I don’t see –”
“Mrs Winter, we’re in the middle of a murder investigation.” Adam had raised his voice and injected more authority into his tone.
“A what? A murder investigation? How can I possibly help you?”
“We need to know if you had a conversation with Thomas Banks that morning.”
There was a pause.
“That’s none of your business.”
“Mrs Winter, you have two options here – you can either answer some simple questions over the phone now or I will send a squad car, with a blue light and sirens, to pick you up and bring you to the station.”
“Are you threatening me, officer?”
&nb
sp; “I am merely letting you know how important this information is and how serious I am about getting it.”
Isobel smiled at Adam and Patricia grasped her arm and laughed silently. Adam grinned and shook his head at them.
There was a long silence. Isobel could almost feel the cogs of Mrs Winter’s brain whirring as she calculated her response.
“Ask me your questions and I’ll see if I can answer them.”
Adam grinned at the others and Isobel bit her lip. Patricia pulled some paper towards her and lifted a pen off the desk, in case they needed to write down some prompts for Adam.
He said, “Thomas usually left Tommy to school at around half past eight before he went to work. Is that right?”
“Yes.” The answer was clipped.
Adam read the piece of paper Patricia pushed towards him. “On the morning of his divorce, given what was happening, and maybe concerned for his son, he wanted to see you, Mrs Winter, didn’t he?”
“That’s not unusual, officer. When there’s something going on at home parents often tell us, so that we can keep an extra-vigilant eye on the child and provide additional support. Thomas Banks called on that Wednesday to let me know that his son might be upset. He’s that sort of a father.”
Patricia rolled her eyes and mimed being sick.
Adam said, “That may or may not be the case.”
“That is the case. Thomas explained to me that Tommy knew about the divorce. He was sure that Tommy had noticed him being down and he wanted to let me know. He asked me to inform him about any changes I observed in Tommy. And to let him know if I had any suggestions of what more he could be doing to help his son. I reassured him that of course we would be extra vigilant. I said I would speak to Miss English, Tommy’s teacher, immediately. Apart from that I told him not to worry. Tommy naturally would be upset and was missing his mum but he was coping nonetheless. These sorts of experiences are challenging for children but Tommy would be all right.”
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