by Alan Fisher
He stopped to take a drink, but no-one spoke. Everyone was waiting patiently to hear about the plan. He drained the last of his coffee and continued.
“So far we’ve established that there are six potential suspects. We could interview them, or at least most of them, and try to establish which one is the murderer. But that would take time, time we don’t really have. But we’ve also, I believe, identified four possible targets who may be next on the killers list. I could have said 5 possible targets if I included Mrs Bell, because I have no doubt she will be on the list as well. But she is in custody and, although the killer doesn’t know it, relatively safe for the moment. DS Davis, Oliver, and I came up with a plan yesterday to try and get one step ahead of the killer and if it works, we’ll be in a position to apprehend her before she meets her next target. We’ve established a pattern that the killer has used on each occasion and the latest information from our colleagues in Durham on the death of Van der Klerk confirms that. She makes a telephone booking at a pre-selected hotel sometime in the afternoon of the day when she plans to strike; obviously she uses a false name. She then texts the victim, using the previous victim’s phone, to lure them to a meeting at this hotel, the room number is sent later when she’s arrived. I say this despite knowing that she didn’t follow that pattern for McMillan. But McMillan was just around the corner and she had to follow a pre-set code used by him and his lover. Both Robertson and Van der Klerk needed more time because they were located so far away, so I’m convinced she uses a two stage approach. She arrives at the hotel to check in around 7pm, carrying the tools she needs in a rucksack. She then texts her accomplice and her victim with the room number. Her accomplice arrives around twenty minutes or so later with the rest of their equipment, maintenance outfits, plastic sheet etc, in a second rucksack. They then wait patiently for the victim to arrive at the pre-set time of 8pm. It’s the following of this pattern that gives us an opportunity to get one step ahead”.
Jack stopped when he saw the long arm of Robbie Wainwright being raised in the air.
“How can we do that sir, when we have no idea which hotel she will use? They’ve all been different so far”.
“That’s true Robbie, but you forget one thing; she has to invite her victims to come to the hotel. And that means that if we could know when she invites her next victim, we can catch her. Now before any of you ask how we can do that; this is what we set up yesterday whilst you were all chasing down the whereabouts of the six girls. Oliver worked out that the killer was using the previous victim’s phone to lure the next victim to the hotel. Because we now know who the next victims may be, we were able to put a plan in place. It wasn’t an easy task and Oliver needs to be commended on what he achieved yesterday. We believe that the killer will use Van der Klerk’s stolen phone to send a message to the next victim, whoever that may be. The victim will assume, unsurprisingly, that the message is authentic because it’s come from Van der Klerk’s phone and will go to the hotel expecting to meet with him. They will probably not suspect anything, don’t forget Van der Klerk’s name has not been publicly released as being the third victim yet. So if we’re right, one of these four men, or perhaps even Mrs Bell, is going to receive a text at some point inviting them to a meeting at a hotel somewhere. We have Mrs Bell’s phone so we can monitor that from here. But we needed to be able to know if any of the men receives a message. Oliver visited all four of these men yesterday with a story that Van der Klerk’s phone had been stolen by a conman and that they were potential victims of a scam. He played down the possibility, just saying that because they may have been acquaintances of Van der Klerk in the past their numbers may still be on his phone and they may get a message. In the remote possibility that they did get a message, they are to let us know so we can apprehend the conman and they can forget about everything else. We’ve set up a dedicated line here for them to call. You may think this was rather elaborate, but we couldn’t mention anything to do with the Lamplight club without risking that they would know what we’d discovered and disappear before we could arrest them. And make no mistake, once this is all over they will be arrested and face their own justice. How Oliver managed to sell this invented tale to these men, knowing what we know about them, I have no idea, but he has my total admiration for getting the job done. So hopefully, we’ll get a call when a message has been sent from the killer and we need to be ready to mobilise immediately. We don’t know yet how far we’ll need to travel or how much time we’ll have to prepare the trap. So what we’re going to do for the next hour or so if necessary, is come up with a plan that we can implement as soon as we have the location. Right, I suggest a ten minute comfort break to refresh cups and then we’ll get at it”.
Chapter 60
The room dispersed and Oliver headed straight for the gent’s, feeling slightly uncomfortable that so much was being pinned, not only on his reading of the killer’s mind, but also on his ability to con the potential victims into helping them out. He washed his face with cold water and went to the canteen to find a fresh coffee. He was not surprised to find Robbie, Paul and Debbie, stood chatting when he entered.
It was Robbie who spoke first.
“Blimey Oliver” he said looking down on him with his baby face unusually downcast. “We all thought we had a tough job yesterday tracking down those poor girls. We had no idea what you were up to. Can’t imagine how you managed to pull that off”.
Debbie put a hand on his shoulder as she echoed Robbie’s thoughts.
“Must have been horrible, facing those men, knowing what they’d done to those girls; and still having to pretend that it was all a routine enquiry and be very matter of fact”.
“It wasn’t the easiest thing I’ve ever done” admitted Oliver honestly, “and I had a hard time keeping my stomach under control during the first interview. But I knew it was probably the only chance we had to bring this matter to a close without any more deaths. Although the thought of letting the killer just finish the job did cross my mind more than once I have to tell you. But the DCI was right when he reminded me yesterday that it’s the courts that dispense justice, not the victim. And I held on to the fact that these guys will face justice in the end. I only hope I’m close by when they are finally arrested”.
“Well, cracking job mate” said Paul, “I couldn’t have done it”.
“Nor me” said Robbie.
“How come you had to see them all Oliver” asked Debbie.
“When we originally drew up the plan, the DCI and I were going to see two each. But the sarge pointed out that if we were trying to sell the idea as a low key, extremely unlikely event, just in case kind of thing. It would sound much more plausible coming from a DC rather than a DCI. I had to agree, so I got the lot”.
“You think it’ll work?” asked Paul.
“I bloody hope so after yesterday” said Oliver, taking a sip from his mug.
“Time to get back” Debbie reminded them all.
Oliver felt better for the brief chat. He’d seen a new understanding and appreciation from his colleagues, something he hadn’t really noticed before although he was beginning to realise that, as Jack had mentioned to him, it had always been there. He followed the rest of the team along the corridor and back into the office where Jack was waiting by the board and Colin had hobbled across the room to sit on a chair by Jack’s side.
“Ok, let’s just go through a reminder of what’s going to happen. The killer sends a message to the victim sometime in the afternoon giving the location but doesn’t know the room number and sends a second message after 7pm to both her accomplice and her intended victim. We need to apprehend her and her accomplice with the minimum of fuss and with no danger to either ourselves or the public. Don’t forget she’s going to be armed with a large knife, and if Oliver’s supposition is correct, perhaps a gun too. Suggestions?”
“We know that she won’t be at the hotel before 7pm if she follows the usual pattern” said Colin” so we definitely can’t do mu
ch before then can we”.
“We could replace the receptionist with one of us, sir” said Paul, “arrest her when her guard’s down as she’s signing in. The weapons will probably be in her rucksack so that might be the best time”.
“That would partly do the trick, especially if we had at least one other officer close by to assist. But don’t forget that she would normally send a message to her accomplice giving him the room number after she’d checked in. If he doesn’t receive a message, he probably wouldn’t show”.
“But at least we’d have her and she’s the one stabbing the victims sir” said Robbie.
“True, but I want this closed when we have the chance. I don’t want to spend weeks looking for the accomplice or giving him the opportunity to disappear. Any other ideas?”
“We could still do as Paul suggested sir, but when we have her in cuffs, we could send the message about the room number to her accomplice using her phone. We could wait in the room for him to show” offered Debbie.
“I like the idea Debbie, using their own idea to trap them both. But it’s too risky. Firstly, there may be some code to the message that we don’t know about. And secondly, we might not be able to unlock her phone in time; but keep thinking, it’s good to kick ideas around”.
“Strikes me” said Colin, “that we have to be patient, wait until they are both in the room before we take them. Obviously before the time the victim was due to arrive”.
“Maybe one of us could pose as the victim” said Robbie.
“Whoa, I see where you’re coming from, but this is just getting way too risky. Once they are both in the room, the situation becomes more dangerous. Access to the room is extremely limited, and they could both be armed. No, we need something else”.
The room went quiet as everyone considered other possibilities.
“I can only see one way to do this sir” said Oliver quietly.
The room was silent, almost as if this was it, this was the plan. He knew it, and so did everyone else.
“Speak up Oliver, what’s your thoughts?” said Jack.
“In reality we only have a small window of opportunity to do this, but we will all need to be at the hotel before she arrives at 7pm. I think we may be ok on that. She’ll know where the potential targets live and as I found out yesterday, they’re not close, so she’ll have to give them time. The window of opportunity will not open until after she has checked in and gone to her room when she will send a message to her accomplice and to the victim, who has already been told to ignore anything after they’ve informed us. The accomplice will follow her to the hotel twenty to thirty minutes later and go straight to her room where they will wait until the victim arrives. We have to let her check in and send the messages, it’s the only way we can be sure to catch both of them. We then wait until the accomplice arrives and we arrest him, quietly if we can, before he gets past reception. We then have just a few minutes to get to her before she realises something is wrong when her accomplice doesn’t turn up. We have to go to her room. My suggestion is that one of us puts on the jacket and cap that the accomplice is wearing. If she looks through the door peephole, she’ll only see a head bent down with a cap on. Remember that’s how he goes to the door to avoid the cameras. Once she opens the door, hopefully not armed yet because she’s expecting to open the door to her friend, we can grab her. I don’t really see another way”.
The room stayed silent for what to him seemed like an eternity. There was another piece to the plan that he hadn’t suggested yet because he knew there would be an argument. When it came, as it must, he already knew what the outcome must be. He wondered if anyone had spotted the missing piece yet; and guessed that Debbie probably would. But it was Jack who broke the silence.
“Well, your ability for clinical thinking never let’s us down Oliver. Anyone disagree with Oliver’s assessment or have anything to add?”.
“No” said Colin, “when you think about it, it all makes pretty sound sense to me”.
No-one else volunteered anything and Oliver waited for the rest to catch up with his detailed thinking.
“Right then, we have a plan. As soon as we know the location we’ll make sure that we’re on site by 6pm or as soon as possible after that. I will go ahead earlier if we have time to alert the hotel management and make sure that as many staff as possible are out of the way without necessarily knowing why. We’ll need officers stationed at the front and rear entrances or exits to apprehend the accomplice first and then ensure that his gear is available as soon as possible. Then one of us will have to put on the jacket and cap and get to the room. Time here will be critical”.
“Here we go” thought Oliver.
“I’ll done the cap and jacket and get to her room” continued Jack, only to be interrupted by everyone.
“No sir” said Robbie, “that should be me. With all due respects, we’ll need to move fast and I’m quicker than you”.
“No, it should be me sir” said Paul.
“I appreciate you all volunteering, but I should take whatever risk there is, I’m the senior officer and that’s an end to it”.
The room fell silent again. Debbie had turned her head slightly and was looking at Oliver. It was time he spoke again, and she knew it.
“I’m sorry sir, but I have to disagree” said Oliver.
“I said that was an end to it Oliver” said Jack firmly.
“I know sir, but you also said we were all part of this and with respect, you just won’t do. If you look at the build of the accomplice, and we’ve had a good look at him on the CCTV footage, you’re just too stocky. Robbie is too tall, Paul is too short, Debbie is the wrong sex, and the sarge is on crutches. Only I am close to the right build and I have to be the one to go to the room. If it’s anyone else, she might not open the door, and that risk is just one not worth taking”.
“He’s right sir, he’s the only one that fits the build” said Debbie quietly.
“I can’t ask another officer to take such a risk Debbie” said Jack
“If there was any other way sir, I’d agree. But unless you can tell me I’m wrong, I don’t see what choice we have” said Oliver.
Jack thought for a few seconds and decided.
“Ok, it’s a fair point. We’ll meet at the hotel as planned. Two officers will be in and around the front entrance, we can sort the minor details out on arrival. Two officers will be on the rear or side entrance, whichever they have. Debbie will be on the reception desk, and we’ll need to have Oliver out of sight on standby until the accomplice is arrested. Timing will be critical; we need to arrest this guy, remove his jacket and cap, and get them to Oliver in less than two minutes. When Oliver is about to knock on the door, myself and Paul will be either side of that door out of sight and will follow Oliver into the room as soon as the door is opened.”
“We haven’t got enough officers for all that Jack” said Colin, “I’d be no use, there’s only 5 of you and you need at least 6, even if you and Paul move from the front entrance to where Oliver is. You’re going to need another officer”.
“I hope it’s not Kevin” said Robbie more loudly than he’d meant to.
The ice in the room broke and even Jack smiled.
“No, not Kevin. I’ll see if Alan Cuthbert wants to join us. Ok, plan sorted. Now, go and get some lunch and make yourself ready. It could be today, or tomorrow, or even the next day. But it will come, and we must be ready”.
Chapter 61
The tension in the canteen over lunchtime was evident for everyone to see. Paul, Debbie, Robbie and Oliver all sat together with no-one saying very much until finally Oliver had to say something to try to relax the mood.
“Come on guys, it’ll be fine. The plan is a good one. There’s practically no risk at all”.
“Except for you” said Robbie.
“It’s minimal, and I’ll have Paul and the DCI at my elbow. She’ll be on her own and off guard. As long as she doesn’t open the door with a gun in her han
d, we should be fine”.
“And if she does?” asked Debbie.
“I’m kind of hoping that I don’t have to think about that” said Oliver.
“And why am I just on reception? Is that how everyone sees me, a glorified receptionist?” she said crossly.
“Course not” said Robbie, “it’s just that I would look a bit odd. And I doubt they’d have a spare uniform to fit me”.
They all laughed, more to relieve the tension than finding the comment particularly humorous.
“He has a point though” said Debbie, “I hope the uniform fits all right. I wouldn’t want to look like a bag of hammers”.
“We’re catching a killer, not going to a fashion shoot” said Paul as he picked up his coffee cup, only to be disappointed that it was empty.
“Even so” mused Debbie. “More coffee anyone? I don’t see a need to rush back to the office yet”.
“Why not, I’ve always found it hard to say no to another cup” said Paul pushing his cup across the table.
The time drifted on until they were the only four left in the canteen and the conversation had turned to other matters. Principal of which was what could possibly have happened to DS Glover, not to mention the useless Kevin.
But at just after 3pm, when they were thinking about heading back to the office, the door opened, and Jack appeared in the doorway.
“We’re on” he said quietly but with confidence. “Call just came through from James Prendergast to the special line we set up yesterday. It’s at the Beamish Hall County House Hotel, tonight 8pm. I’m heading off there now. Oliver, you’re to come with me, the rest of you need to get back to the office, DS Davis is going to take you through some last minute details as soon as Alan gets here, which should be in less than half an hour. Come on, let’s move”.