Smile of the Stowaway

by Tony Bassett

  ‘Kristina,’ I said. ‘Did the police speak to you when they visited the farm today?’

  ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘I tell the inspector Yusuf would never hurt Lucas. Then the inspector say: “He spoke of wanting him dead.” I reply: “That was the drink talking. Yusuf was with me when Lucas died. He knows nothing.”

  ‘The policeman say: “What about the bloody mannequin of Mr Sharp in your caravan?” I tell him I make the doll. “This is the famous Guy Fawkes guy you English like to make,” I said. It was a nice challenge for me. This doesn’t happen in my country. We burn the doll of a dictator.’

  ‘Anyway, where’s Yusuf?’ Anne demanded.

  ‘He cycled to the train and say: “Tell Bob the bike’s chained up outside the station,”’ said Kristina. ‘He’s now in London, living on the streets.’

  ‘But it’s November,’ I said. ‘He’ll die from the cold.’

  ‘He’s done like this before,’ she said. ‘Yusuf is great survivor.’

  19

  Yusuf’s life on the run did not last for long. Our friend was at large for precisely six hours. As we climbed back into our car, we switched on the radio. The first item on the local radio news was about him.

  The news reader said: ‘A man sought by police after a farm’s accounts manager was found dead at a remote Kent cottage was arrested in the county this afternoon.

  ‘Yusuf Osman, aged twenty-three, was seen boarding the 16.48 London-bound train at Canterbury East station by an off-duty constable.

  ‘The train was held for ten minutes at the station as a search was conducted. Mr Osman was found hiding in one of the front carriages. He was placed under arrest and led away in handcuffs.

  ‘A Kent Police spokesman said a man had been arrested and taken to a police station, where he was assisting with inquiries.’

  ‘Where d’you think they’ve taken him, Bob?’ Anne asked as we travelled towards the cottage.

  ‘I should think they would’ve taken him to the main Canterbury police station,’ I replied.

  ‘Let’s go and see if there’s anything we can do to help him,’ she said. The road was clear of traffic. She spotted a farm gate a short distance ahead. Within seconds, she had reversed into the opening and we began heading back along the road, heading towards the city centre.

  When we arrived, we discovered the station closes at five pm, but we called an out-of-hours phone number listed on a board outside. Our supposition was proved correct. An officer in the control room believed Yusuf was being held at the city police station, but we were refused permission to see him. It was suggested we should contact a solicitor.

  Anne decided this was an admirable idea. She knew of a woman solicitor in East Kent who had an enviable track record in gaining justice for men and woman who have been wrongly accused.

  ‘I don’t know if we can afford to do this,’ she said. ‘But we must see no stone’s left unturned in our efforts to get Yusuf released.’

  ‘I agree,’ I said. ‘We’ve got our holiday fund. If necessary, we can forego a few holidays and a few luxuries to make sure he gets the best legal advice.’

  Our decision had been taken. As we drove back to the cottage, Anne vowed the following day she would go into see the lawyer Janice Carslake, whose practice, Carslake and Whitter, was based in the city centre.

  Early the next morning, we took a bus to Canterbury East station. I had told the school I was unable to come in because I had ‘urgent union business to attend to.’ I was always reluctant to use this as an excuse, but I felt obliged to help our friend in his moment of crisis.

  Chained to railings close to the station, we found the bicycle Yusuf had been using for the past two months. With our duplicate keys, I undid the padlocks on the chains. Then we wheeled the bicycle to the solicitor’s office, which was within the city walls, and attached it to a lamppost.

  Anne told the receptionist a friend needed legal representation as he had been arrested.

  The lady at the desk informed her Mrs Carslake had a busy schedule. Could we return later in the day?

  But Anne persisted. ‘My friend’s accused of murder,’ she said.

  ‘Why didn’t you say that before?’ said the receptionist.

  After a brief internal phone conversation with her employer, the lady invited us to climb the stairs to the first floor, where Mrs Carslake would meet us.

  Janice Carslake, who was forty-six, had once harboured ambitions to become a high-flying criminal barrister. She had eventually settled for a less competitive environment as a solicitor handling criminal cases in Kent and Sussex, which mainly involved appearing in magistrates’ courts - usually defending clients.

  But law colleagues from the same generation did not underestimate her abilities. She was renowned for her vast knowledge of criminal law as well as possessing an astute brain. Her skills had led to a TV personality accused of rape being freed from court on a legal technicality. A charge of murder against a man who killed his dementia-stricken wife was dropped after crucial last-minute evidence provided by her was set before the court.

  Inevitably, the woman we found standing confidently at the top of the stairs in a grey trouser suit and with immaculately coiffured blonde hair was not a popular figure among the police.

  ‘Mr and Mrs Shaw?’ she asked, shaking first Anne’s hand and then mine. ‘Janice Carslake. Won’t you come in?’

  She led us into a modestly-decorated room with apricot-coloured walls and a light-green carpet. She seated herself behind a large desk and invited us to sit opposite.

  ‘Now my secretary says this is a murder case. May I know the name of the defendant?’

  ‘Yusuf Osman,’ said Anne.

  ‘Why does that name mean something to me?’

  ‘I’m not sure.’

  ‘Is he the man arrested last evening at one of the Canterbury stations?’

  ‘Yes, that’s right.’

  ‘Oh, this is the Lilac Cottage case concerning the death of a man called Sharp,’ said Mrs Carslake, whose right wrist, festooned with bracelets, rattled whenever she moved it.

  Anne nodded. ‘It’s absolutely ridiculous. The police think Yusuf murdered him.’

  ‘This is a case in which it was at first thought the victim died in a fire and is now being treated as murder. Is that right?’

  ‘The police spoke to me yesterday,’ said Anne. ‘They’re definitely treating him as a murder suspect. There’s a strong rumour the dead man was killed with a firework.’

  ‘It’s a pretty gruesome way to die,’ Mrs Carslake admitted. She then spent several minutes collecting information about Yusuf from us - including details about where she believed Yusuf was being held and the names of the officers in the case.

  While we were present, she made a phone call to Kent Police. After a few minutes, she had confirmed Yusuf was being held in the cells at Canterbury police station.

  Then she asked: ‘How did you become such close friends of Mr Osman?’

  ‘He came to us looking for accommodation after taking a job at Finch & Davies,’ said Anne, bending the truth slightly.

  ‘Don’t they supply accommodation for their staff at the farm?’

  Anne thought for a moment. She did not want to divulge the true details about how Yusuf first emerged in our lives.

  ‘There was some kind of problem,’ I said. ‘He was reluctant at first to share with Romanians and Bulgarians. Perhaps it’s a cultural thing.’

  ‘I see,’ said the lawyer, sounding unconvinced.

  ‘Mr Osman’s from Eritrea, is he? It’s just I’ve come across someone with a similar name before. They were from the next country, Ethiopia?’

  ‘He told us Eritrea.’

  ‘What’s his immigration status?’

  ‘He showed us an Eritrean pas
sport. He said he’d got the right to be in Britain.”

  ‘OK. Well, I’ll have to look into all that. Have you got his passport?’

  ‘No, he had it with him when he was arrested.’

  ‘So the police’ll have it. Where was he going when he was arrested?’

  ‘His girlfriend says he was being threatened by two men from his country. They were demanding money. She says that’s why he decided to head off to London.’

  ‘He’s not helped himself,’ said Mrs Carslake. ‘The police now think he was trying to run away from them. All right I’ll take the case on. I’ll contact the police and go to see Mr Osman. I’ll be in touch.’

  20

  Our solicitor was as good as her word. Later in the day, she phoned the cottage to say she had visited Yusuf in his cell, which she described as measuring about seven feet by eleven feet. He had a hard mattress and a single pillow, but he told Mrs Carslake he at least felt safe for the moment from the bullying thugs Sam Tedros and Jaefer Beraki.

  He told her he was confused about the reasons for his confinement. How could the police suspect him of having anything to do with Lucas Sharp’s death, he asked her.

  He had enjoyed his breakfast - an egg, two sausages, some baked beans and a single slice of toast. They had also brought him some tea.

  Mrs Carslake said she told Yusuf that Anne and I had asked her to represent him. He had replied: ‘They’re my friends - my good friends. They asked you to help me? Then of course.’

  She told us: ‘Yusuf denies having ever been to Lilac Cottage. He claims he was with his girlfriend, Kristina Petrescu, at the time of the murder. He told me he was born in Asmara, the capital of Eritrea. I stressed to him the importance of him telling the truth. I said: “If we’re to get you released, we must provide a cogent, consistent defence.” He appeared to understand that.

  ‘He told me, rather than fleeing the police, he had boarded a London train because two men from his past were looking for him. They’ve threatened to burn down his caravan. I gather they’re people traffickers and drug dealers.

  ‘When it came to the end of our interview, he said something that really surprised me. I asked if there was any message I could give you and he said he wanted some pictures of Fiesta. I at first thought he wanted some photographs of a festival. Then he explained Fiesta’s a cat he misses very much.

  ‘I thought: here’s a young man locked in a police cell who was strongly suspected by the police of committing a serious murder. Two hardened criminals were threatening to burn down his home. Yet his first priority’s a pet cat.’

  Anne laughed. ‘That’s our Yusuf,’ she said. ‘He’s a humble, straight-forward guy - almost childlike at times.’

  ‘I see,’ she replied. ‘Anyway, the police have now spoken to him at Canterbury police station. DI Woods and DS Kirwan conducted the interview. I sat next to Yusuf after warning him in advance not to give any long answers. I said: “The object of the exercise is to find out what they know - to find out the strength of the case against you. So to most questions, answer: ‘No comment.’” He agreed with that, but I’m afraid, Mrs Shaw, it now looks to me as if Yusuf ‘s going to be formally charged with murder.

  ‘Make no mistake. I put our case to them very clearly. I told the inspector, right from the start, it looked as if the police had made a glaring error in arresting this young man.

  ‘But they appear to have a lot of evidence which I’ll now have to consider. Not only that. Police believe he may’ve been convicted of murdering a man in Eritrea. So it’s not looking good.’

  I had been listening to the conversation on speaker-phone. We were both devastated at hearing these last words from Mrs Carslake. I dashed to Anne’s side immediately and put my arm round her as she burst into tears.

  The solicitor went on: ‘I’m getting my secretary to type out a transcript of this first police interview. I’ll bike it round to you later this afternoon.’

  Anne had put the phone down. She was unable to continue talking. I picked up the handset.

  ‘Mrs Carslake, this is Bob Shaw here,’ I said. ‘Have you got our address? It’s Fairview, Hopgarden Lane, Chasehurst. It’s the second house along the lane from the Ashford road. You’ll send the transcript round later? That’ll be fine. Yes, if we’ve got any points to make afterwards, we’ll call you back immediately.’

  Three hours later, a courier arrived with a seven-page transcript of the police interview. It began with Detective Inspector Woods turning on some recording equipment in the interview room:

  DI Woods: This is Detective Inspector Woods at half-past two on Wednesday November the eleventh. This is our first interview with Yusuf Osman. Also present: Detective Sergeant Graham Kirwan and Mr Osman’s legal representative, Mrs Janice Carslake. Right, I need to remind you you’re still under caution after we arrested you yesterday. Now I want to begin by asking you where you were going last night when you were apprehended at the railway station.

  Yusuf Osman: I’m going to London.

  DI Woods: With what purpose?

  Yusuf Osman: I’m running from the two men who are making the threats.

  DI Woods: So it wasn’t you were worried about the prospect of being arrested over the murder of Lucas Sharp?

  Yusuf Osman: No comment.

  DI Woods: Oh, it’s like that, is it? Now I want you to cast your mind back to the evening of last Thursday, November the fifth. Where were you between half-past six and half past seven?

  Yusuf Osman: I was at my caravan at Finch & Davies.

  DI Woods: Can anyone corroborate this?

  Yusuf Osman: What does this mean?

  DS Kirwan: Did anyone see you there? Were you with anyone?

  Yusuf Osman: I with Kristina, my girlfriend.

  DI Woods: Anyone else?

  Yusuf Osman: No comment.

  DI Woods: OK. Now we understand you were the last person issued with chloroform at the farm. You were given a five-hundred-millilitre bottle in the middle of last week. You told us it was to kill a rat. We’ve made inquiries and no one else knows about a rat problem.

  Yusuf Osman: No comment.

  DI Woods: We believe you travelled by bicycle to Lilac Cottage in Chivingden at some time during the early evening on November the fifth. You found out Lucas Sharp had gone there by following a GPS tracker you’d attached to the underside of his car. It was actually a device known as a ‘Little Snooper’. You used a mobile phone or computer to track his car’s movements. Is that right?

  Yusuf Osman: No comment.

  DI Woods: Cycle tyre marks were found near the front gate and in the front garden which we believe were left by your bicycle - which we’re currently trying to trace. You broke into the back of the cottage and lay in wait for your enemy, Mr Sharp. You’d got a mortar and artillery shell and some other fireworks with you which had been stolen from a charity’s storeroom in Cranbrook. You also had the chloroform. Is that right?

  Yusuf Osman: No comment.

  DI Woods: You fixed a Catherine Wheel to the kitchen wall and lit it as soon as you heard Mr Sharp arriving. You thought this would be a clever distraction. When he went to examine it, you held some material soaked in the chemical to his face. Is that correct?

  Yusuf Osman: No comment.

  DI Woods: Then, when he was unconscious, you tied him to a chair and attached the mortar to his head. The shell was placed inside the tube the wrong way round. After it was lit, it exploded at the back of Mr Sharp’s head and he was killed. D’you have anything to say about that? It may look bad later if you refuse to comment now?

  Yusuf Osman: No comment.

  Mrs Carslake: I’m not sure whether Mr Osman totally understood what you’ve said. Have you, Mr Osman?

  Yusuf Osman: I’m understanding. No comment.

  DI Woods: After
the murder, you scratched an African word meaning ‘Devil’ on the passenger door of Mr Sharp’s Vauxhall Astra. Our forensic team also found a fingerprint of yours on the driver’s door of the car.

  Yusuf Osman: No comment.

  DI Woods: Well, our murder investigation team have been hard at work Mr Osman. I thought you might be interested to know we’ve found out a few things about you.

  For one thing, the immigration authorities have no record of you. We also believe you’ve killed another man in cold blood in your homeland in a very similar way - with a bomb strapped to their body.

  Yusuf Osman: No, this is somebody else. This not me.

  DS Kirwan: Are you all right, Mrs Carslake? You seem to have dropped your notebook. I can just reach it. There you are. D’you need a glass of water or anything?

  Mrs Carslake: No, I’m OK. Thank you for asking.

  DI Woods: It’s a bit stuffy in here. Anyone mind if I open the window? Yes, this has come as a bit of a surprise to all of us - not only you, Mrs Carslake. We’re now more certain than ever our Mr Osman was involved in the murder. He may not have acted alone, but we’re convinced he was concerned in some way.

  Mrs Carslake: So you’re saying, are you, Mr Osman is an illegal immigrant?

  DI Woods: We’re not sure. Inquiries are on-going as we speak.

  Mrs Carslake: Is it your intention to charge my client with any offence?

  DI Woods: Not at this juncture, Mrs Carslake, but we’re considering applying to the magistrates for a warrant granting more time to question Mr Osman. Is there anything either of you wish to say?

  Yusuf Osman: I didn’t kill Lucas. I’m innocent.

  Mrs Carslake: There’s no need to say any more, Yusuf. Inspector, you’ll keep me informed of any major developments in the case, won’t you?

  DI Woods: Yes, of course. This is DI Woods. First interview with Yusuf Osman terminated at two forty-five pm.

  21

  Yusuf looked haggard and unwell when Anne and I were finally allowed to visit him on Thursday, November the twelfth. He had always been an outdoors man who relished the fresh air and being at one with nature.