The Other Killer

by Noelle Holten

  Maggie did a little fist bump in the air.

  ‘Let me know what I need to do, and let’s make this happen.’ DI Rutherford headed out of the conference room.

  CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO

  Maggie had arranged to pick up Kate just before nine that morning. The journey itself would take just over an hour and a half and they were booked to speak with Dr Vraines at 11 a.m. That should give them enough time to discuss things in the car and make sure they had everything covered.

  Dr Vraines had a long career as a psychiatrist, and according to Google, he had won awards for some of his work within the psychiatric community. From interviews Maggie had watched, it was clear that the doctor was a bit of a know-it-all and would probably not be pleased with them questioning his diagnosis.

  Andy was asleep, and Maggie did her best not to wake him, though an earthquake could occur, and Andy would just roll over and fall right back into a deep slumber. She had a quick shower, put on a navy pair of trousers, cream blouse and tied her hair in a loose bun.

  Heading downstairs, she filled up a travel mug with coffee, grabbed an apple, and left a note for Andy to explain where she was going. She headed out the door and got into her car.

  Maggie pulled up outside Kate’s house. Kate opened the car door, her demeanour strange and anxious. Kate was a private person, so she wouldn’t push it despite how much she wanted to ask.

  Kate sat down and turned to her. ‘Morning! Today should be interesting!’

  Maggie started the engine and drove down the road. ‘Did you have any problems clearing today with DI Calleja?’

  ‘Actually, your DI had contacted him first and he was fine with it. I agreed to use some of my time off in lieu and told him this would actually be a great case study for profiling in terms of mental health, offenders and violence – all of which we deal with in the DAHU.’

  ‘I should have known.’ Maggie smiled. ‘So, how should we take things forward?’

  ‘How much of Raven’s history are you aware of?’ Kate rummaged around in her bag before pulling out a leather-bound notebook.

  ‘Well, I guess I know the basics, everything we have already been through. He was known to social care as a child, lived with his grandmother because his mother had her own issues with substances, poor choice in men and mental health. Why?’

  ‘OK, so you do have the outer shell of things, shall we say, but here is a bit more that I found out speaking to some of our Probation colleagues and social care. I hope I haven’t overstepped the mark. He was a bedwetter until the age of twelve. There had been complaints from neighbours that he was torturing pets in the area, but his grandmother vehemently denied it. She was strict but genuinely appeared to care for him, so probably was a big stabilizing factor in his life. There was some suggestion that Raven enjoyed having power over people, took pleasure from negative attention; there were comments from his teachers to social care along the lines of him using things against people to get his own way. Social care brushed the information off as hearsay because he never displayed any of this behaviour around them.’

  ‘Well that certainly does paint a different picture, and Raven said his best memories come from living with his grandmother. Along with animal cruelty and bedwetting, if we just add arson, we’d have our toxic trio.’ Maggie paused. ‘But doesn’t that go against our theory then? He clearly had issues growing up, maybe he did have an undiagnosed mental illness.’ Maggie felt somewhat deflated.

  ‘Or … it fits our theory perfectly.’ There was a glint in Kate’s eyes.

  ‘How so?’

  ‘Someone with untreated schizophrenia would not have known the difference between right and wrong at the time of the killings. Raven did as he handed himself in and confessed. My question is, how did he get Dr Vraines to diagnose him with schizophrenia, as this effectively is the main catalyst in lodging the appeal once Lorraine’s remains were found.’

  Maggie signalled left and drove up the secluded lane. ‘Well you can ask him that yourself, we’re here now.’

  CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE

  Stepping out from the car, Maggie took in her surroundings as she stretched her legs. She was always in awe of the landscape around some prisons and secure units. Beautiful on the outside, but housing evil behind the walls.

  This building was fairly unremarkable, unlike some secure units which are often listed or old mansions. The unit was surrounded by acres of land, sculptured gardens and a massive forest in the distance. No one would ever know that such a place as Ashford Hall housed some of the UK’s most dangerous offenders.

  The grass was soggy and squidgy beneath Maggie’s shoes as she and Kate made their way towards the large wooden door. A raspy chatter from a magpie on the roof made Kate jump.

  ‘Are you OK? You seem a little on edge?’ Maggie noticed Kate flinch as she touched her arm.

  ‘I’m fine,’ she snapped. ‘Sorry, this place is a little creepy, that’s all.’

  Maggie didn’t force the issue. Wet leaves lined the grassy path and there was a chill in the air. She pulled her scarf tighter around her neck. She didn’t know whether it was the breeze or the forthcoming task – but something sent a shiver down her spine. Kate was right, this place was a little on the disturbing side.

  Making their way into the building, they were immediately met with a sterile and eerie environment. Despite its modernity, everything was pure white and cold. The clinical smell assaulted her nostrils and she wiped her nose. The atmosphere surprised Maggie but only because it was unlike any of the secure units or therapeutic prisons she had visited previously.

  Two people were sitting behind a plexiglass partition that had a small, circular hole for visitors to speak into.

  ‘Right on time, are you ready?’ Maggie looked at Kate.

  ‘Absolutely.’

  ‘Excuse me? We have an appointment with Dr Vraines at 11 a.m. My name is DC Jamieson, and this is my colleague, Dr Moloney.’ Maggie and Kate held up their IDs, and a woman with a tightly wound bun, round glasses and petite frame glanced up and briefly acknowledged their presence.

  ‘Sign in and then have a seat over there.’ She pointed at the seating area to the right of the reception desk. ‘Dr Vraines will be with you momentarily.’

  Just as Kate and Maggie were about to sit down, they heard a buzz and a click and the door directly opposite them opened. Dr Vraines beckoned them to follow. No greeting or acknowledgement, just a long, skeletal finger indicating to the women to come forward. Dr Vraines was tall and clean shaven, dressed in a dark navy suit. His eyes raked up and down Maggie and Kate, leaving Maggie on edge.

  When they finally arrived at his office, he walked behind a large oak desk and pointed at the chairs across from him. Expensive-looking leather chairs. Clearly this facility either made a lot of money, or if Dr Vraines decorated it himself, he had a lot of spare money to spend.

  ‘Good morning. I hear you both have some questions for me about Bill Raven. Before we start, I just want to make it absolutely clear that I will not break patient-client confidentiality.’

  Maggie took the lead. ‘We’d never ask you to do that. Dr Moloney and I are here to find out more about his diagnosis and your assessment in terms of his appeal. We’ve both had access and read the paperwork; therefore, no confidentiality will be broken.’

  ‘Well it’s no secret that my assessment was key to getting this poor individual’s appeal heard for crimes he didn’t commit.’

  Maggie shifted in her seat. After only five minutes with the doctor, she knew he would be hard work. ‘Interesting that you are so sure about his innocence, given his extensive knowledge of the crimes and crime scenes. Did he tell you who he believed to be guilty?’

  ‘I’m afraid he didn’t.’ The doctor looked at his watch. ‘Unless I’m wrong, I believe it’s your job to solve crimes? I merely assessed Mr Raven and treated him for his mental illness.’

  Kate intervened. ‘On that note, could you tell us how you concluded that Mr Raven is schizo
phrenic when he has never previously been treated for or diagnosed with that illness? Could you also update us on his current treatment, something that seems to be mysteriously absent from his recent reports?’

  The doctor turned to face her with a grim little smile. ‘Dr Moloney. Surely you know what assessments are involved in making such a diagnosis as well as the treatment?’

  Maggie squeezed the arm of the chair until her knuckles turned white. Raising an eyebrow, Maggie looked at Kate.

  ‘I think Dr Moloney is asking more for my benefit than hers. I’m sure you can appreciate that my knowledge of the subject is not as vast or experienced as yours. How do you know that Mr Raven wasn’t faking the symptoms?’

  ‘Faking? I have over thirty years’ experience in the field of psychiatry and mental health, DC Jamieson. How dare you insinuate that I would not be able to spot real mental illness. Do I have to spell things out for you? Let’s start with the symptoms, shall we?’ He opened and read out from the file in front of him. ‘“Hallucinations” – do I really need to explain this to you both? I think the fact that he believed he dismembered three females is a biggie, don’t you?’ He shuffled the papers around. ‘“Delusions” – he had many, and it falls in line with the hallucinations. He actually believed he murdered three women. Plus there are his claims to have been dancing in a room filled with the victims’ blood – yet there was no evidence to substantiate this claim, was there?’ He smirked before continuing.

  ‘You were part of the interrogation, DC Jamieson. I’m sure even you would concur that he displayed disorganized thinking – jumping from topic to topic, not making any sense. Mr Raven also had poor hygiene, a reduced range of emotions, poor memory and decision-making.’ He closed the file. ‘Instead of wasting my time with your foolish questions, what you should be asking yourself is, how do you feel about leading a vulnerable individual into making a false confession that could have him spending the rest of his life in prison!’ The doctor leaned back in his chair and looked down his nose at Maggie.

  She wouldn’t rise to the bait. Instead, she turned the question around on him. ‘Hmm. Interesting assessment and thank you for raising that last point, actually. Mr Raven was assessed for his mental health just prior to being interviewed by the police. Why were his symptoms not present at that time? Especially as he was not under any treatment but had admittedly experienced psychotic episodes, which were all recorded as being drug induced.’

  Dr Vraines stood up. ‘Ladies. You’re clearly here on some kind of mission and I’ll no longer be a party to this. I explained my findings and agreed to see and hear you out, but really, what do you hope to achieve with all this nonsense? All the evidence that was collected and used against poor Mr Raven was circumstantial at best. He was clearly unwell and had he not been coerced into confessing to these crimes, the case would have been thrown out of court.’

  ‘Mr Raven came to the police station of his own free will. He confessed to the murder of Lorraine—’

  Dr Vraines interrupted. ‘I am referring to the other victims he claimed to have killed, not the Rugman woman. There was a list of them, wasn’t there? Keep up, DC Jamieson.’

  Maggie moved forward in her seat and Kate put her arm across her. ‘Dr Vraines I think we’re all going a little off topic now. Are you saying you’re not willing to help us any further?’

  ‘That’s correct, Dr Moloney. I have more important things to do with my time than listen to this drivel. Are you even a qualified psychologist? Really, you should know better than this. Everything is in the reports that I provided to the courts.’ He sighed, and Maggie tapped her fingers on the chair. She needed a distraction, or it would only be a matter of time before she jumped across the desk and showed Dr Smart-Arse how serious they were.

  Pulling herself together, Maggie rubbed her chin. ‘Well then, as you seem to have no interest in helping us piece things together, Dr Moloney and I will just go and draw our own conclusions based on the facts.’

  ‘Do as you please. I have no doubt my assessment is correct and that you’ll only be wasting your time.’

  Kate and Maggie stood up and followed the doctor back out to the reception area. Before the door could close, Maggie looked into the doctor’s eyes. ‘Let’s hope there are no skeletons in your closet either, Doctor.’

  CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR

  Kate pulled her jacket tighter around her body as she and Maggie made their way back to the car. She opened the door, sat down, buckled up and sighed. ‘Well, he was definitely hiding something.’ Kate sank back in the seat.

  ‘You mean Dr Smart-Arse?’

  Kate giggled. ‘He deflected every question. The icing on the cake being his condescending tone and attempt to belittle our credentials. I wonder if we had been men, would he have treated us the same way?’

  ‘I think he would and I really wanted to punch him in his face. Do we know much about his background? I saw all the diplomas and crap littering his walls, but maybe we need to probe deeper?’ Maggie started the car and put her foot down.

  ‘Are you heading back to Stafford Police Station?’

  ‘I was, but I can drop you off at Markston first, if you need to get back to work immediately?’

  ‘I promised DI Calleja that I’d be working in the afternoon, but my computer at Markston is being looked at, some sort of technical issue. I can work out of Stafford if there’ll be a spare desk?’

  ‘There’s always a spare desk. That makes things easier. I can drop you home on my way this evening.’

  Kate inwardly felt relief. She didn’t want to have to travel home on her own with everything that had been happening. ‘Thanks so much, but only if you’re sure. I’ll catch up on my work first when we get into the station and then do some digging on the good doctor.’

  Kate stared out the window and collected her thoughts as the cars whizzed by in the opposite direction. The pair sat in silence for the rest of the journey.

  Kate noticed the police station coming into view and lifted her bag into her lap. She looked at her watch as Maggie pulled into the driveway, punched in the code, and they waited for the electric gates to open. Once parked, they entered the station through the back and Maggie showed her to a free desk. Nathan offered them both coffee and went to the kitchen.

  Kate logged in remotely, ready to catch up on things she had missed in the domestic abuse unit that morning. She emailed DI Calleja to let him know she was back and working out of Stafford station if he needed her.

  The station set-up was very similar to Markston, although it could use a lick of paint. She smiled as Nathan placed a coffee on the desk and she immediately raised it to her lips, inhaling the addictive aroma and taking a large gulp.

  Nothing important from her team to deal with right away, so Kate began searching for more information on Dr Vraines. Google threw up a whole load of links to accolades and achievements. She scrolled through them, clicking in and out and scanning the articles. When she reached the second page of her Google search, she came across an interesting headline.

  Kate clicked into the article and read it twice before calling Maggie over.

  Maggie leaned in to read and started laughing. ‘Now I wasn’t expecting that!’ She smacked the desk.

  ‘Nor was I, but it might explain his caginess. Do you think it is worth exploring?’ Kate looked up at Maggie.

  ‘Let me clear it with DI Rutherford first.’ Maggie called Nathan over to look at what they found.

  He read the page in silence. ‘If you think there’s something there, clear it with DI Rutherford and you have my backing.’

  Kate felt the excited electricity in the room.

  ‘Is there a printer I can connect to? I’ll print off some copies.’

  Maggie went to the printers.

  Kate smiled. ‘Is there someone I can speak to about seeing Raven’s original psych reports, so I can compare them?’

  ‘I’ll see …’

  CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE

  Back at he
r desk, Maggie looked up the number for HMP Featherbrook. She wanted to see who had been visiting Bill Raven. With other aspects of the case being given priority, she now had the time and opportunity to look further into this line of enquiry. The woman who answered the phone was not very helpful but eventually Maggie was put through to the prison governor. Her boss would have to write a formal request before that information could be shared. She thanked him and hung up the phone.

  ‘For fuck sake …’

  ‘What’s the matter?’ Nathan looked up from his computer. Maggie could just about see him through his office door.

  ‘I tried charming some information out of the prison governor so that we wouldn’t have to go through the official channels – just to save some time – but he wasn’t having any of it.’

  Nathan laughed. ‘I’m sure the guv would be happy to push the matter, after all – she had suggested it. I’d say the sooner you ask, the sooner you’ll get. I’d do it, but I think they are looking for a higher rank.’

  ‘Thanks for the offer. I know I need to ask DI Rutherford, but I’m always cautious as it’s about Raven. You know what she’s like …’ Maggie heard a cough in the room and looked up to see the DI standing in the doorway. Nathan sank in his chair and grinned. Maggie looked at him and mouthed thanks a lot, arsehole. He was lucky, he could hide in the safety of his own office.

  ‘What do you need, Maggie?’

  ‘The names of the people who have been visiting Raven in prison.’ Maggie waited for the lecture.

  ‘OK. I’ll get on that. Anything else?’

  Maggie just shook her head. She watched open-mouthed as Rutherford returned to her office. ‘Did that just happen?’

  ‘Uh, yes. And I am just as surprised as you.’ Nathan popped his head out of his office. Maggie’s desk faced Nathan’s office door. A few more feet and she would actually be in Nathan’s office. Due to the close proximity, they often could have conversations without anyone else in the office overhearing them.