Having made excellent time, the two vans pulled into the police station car park at twenty minutes past one.
A further meeting then took place between Danny Flint and Chief Inspector Chambers. Also present during this meeting was Sergeant Mitch Buchan, the tactical firearms advisor.
Danny had outlined his proposed plan for the operation to Chambers and Buchan.
It had been Mitch Buchan who suggested that the four sniper teams should be deployed immediately.
As well as providing the control room with much-needed intelligence, it meant that the teams could set up suitable covert observation posts in plenty of time before Rachel Moore’s proposed visit to South Lodge.
Each of the sniper teams were tasked with observing a different side of the property.
The sniper team from C Section were tasked with observing the black side of the property.
That meant they would be manning an observation post set up in the dense conifer woodland on the far side of the river Poulter, overlooking the rear of the property, including the two outbuildings.
PC Tom Naylor and PC Matt Jarvis were the snipers deployed from C Section.
The two men had earlier drawn their individual Ruger M77 sniper rifles from the armoury. These specialist weapons had telescopic sights that had been zeroed personally by them on their last qualification shoot. They had also drawn Smith and Wesson.38 revolvers and ammunition for both weapons.
They also carried camouflaged binoculars, water bottles and camouflaged carry cases for the long weapons. As it was an operation in woodland, the two men had dressed in full DPM camouflage clothing, and each man had taken his own ‘head and shoulders’ ghillie suit.
The ‘head and shoulders’ was a hessian hood covered with ties so that vegetation local to the plot could be attached. This was a vital piece of equipment that helped the sniper to disrupt the normal outline of his head and body, allowing him to blend in seamlessly with the surrounding environment.
Each man took fastidious care of this piece of equipment. It was a vital component of the sniper’s art.
After their personal briefing from Mitch Buchan, the two C Section snipers had prepared their equipment. When they arrived on the edge of the forest, before they made their way into the dense woodland, they had further adorned their ‘head and shoulders’ with foliage taken from the surrounding area. The very last thing they did before moving off into the woods was to ensure that every area of exposed skin was covered with black and green camouflage cream.
Having been conveyed by van to the nearest access point on the rear side of South Lodge, the two men still had over half a mile to cover on foot to get to their proposed site for an observation point.
Carrying all their equipment, the two snipers had set off on foot.
Following a compass bearing, they moved stealthily but with purpose through the dense conifer woodland.
After half an hour, Tom Naylor stopped and squatted down.
Instantly, Matt Jarvis mirrored his partner’s position before moving forward slowly until he was alongside Naylor.
Naylor said softly, ‘I can hear running water. We must be near the river. According to the briefing, on the bearing we’ve taken through the woods, the target premises should be just beyond the river. Stay here. I’ll move forward and check it out.’
Jarvis nodded and squatted down further.
Leaving the heavy carry case containing his rifle with his partner, Tom Naylor started to move forward slowly.
He lay flat on his stomach and began to inch forward, towards the edge of the tree line. He could see that he was crawling on a gentle downward slope, and he guessed the slope would eventually take him right to the water’s edge.
The line of conifer planting stopped ten yards short of the river. At this point, the river was only three yards wide.
Immediately in front of him, between the tree line and the river, was an area of low shrubs and bushes. They would offer perfect concealment and make an ideal covert observation post.
On the far side of the river, Naylor could see an area of knee-height grass that led up to two stone outbuildings. There was a significant rise in the land between the small river and the outbuildings. To his immediate right, there was a small wooden bridge that crossed the river.
Beyond the small stone buildings was South Lodge, the target premises.
Naylor rolled slowly over onto his back and gestured for Jarvis to move forward and join him.
From the position he’d selected, Naylor was in an area that offered excellent concealment. He had a clear view of the back door of the cottage, as well as views of the doors into both outbuildings.
Moving slowly, he took out his binoculars and began to scan the rear aspect of the property, paying particular attention to the doors and windows of the buildings.
There was a single door at the rear of the cottage that was currently closed. Both doors to the outbuildings were also closed.
To the left side of the back door, he could see a solitary window.
Through the binoculars, he could see the chrome heads of two taps beyond the panes of glass. It was possibly the kitchen. The door at the rear of the property would open directly into that room.
The cottage’s first floor had two windows facing the rear of the property.
Both windows were small and covered with a very fine net curtain.
As soon as his partner had crawled into position to the left of him, Tom Naylor began to draw forward the carry case that held his rifle.
Very carefully and deliberately, the sniper removed the M77 Ruger rifle and began to dress it with small pieces of foliage. He added to the strips of black, brown and green hessian cloth that already hung from the weapon. This would all help in disrupting the rifle’s outline and cancelling out any telltale shine.
When the rifle was sufficiently camouflaged, Tom placed the rifle on its attached bipod and removed the two black screw caps from the telescopic lens. He then took a piece of dark-beige-coloured muslin from his DPM camouflage jacket and carefully placed it over the far lens.
Moving slowly, he then took up the weapon into his shoulder and peered through the scope.
Very slowly, he traversed the weapon from one side of the plot to the other. From the position he’d chosen, he had clear lines of sight to every window and the door at the rear of the cottage. He also had clear lines of sight to the doors of both the outbuildings.
Feeling satisfied with his location, he replaced the butt of the weapon on the ground.
Tom then gently squeezed the button in the palm of his left hand, which controlled his radio. He spoke softly into the throat mike he was wearing. ‘This is sniper team Charlie. We’ve established our observation post, facing the black side of the target premises. We are in position. Report these signals. Over.’
In his covert earpiece, Tom instantly heard the reassuring voice of Sergeant Mitch Buchan, the tactical firearms adviser tasked with controlling the comms for the operation. ‘Sniper team Charlie, roger that. Your signal strength is ten and clear. I will require a sitrep from you every ten minutes. Time check is now 1410. Over.’
‘Roger that. Over.’
Having established communications, the two men of the sniper team settled down for what could be a long wait. Through their covert earpieces, the two men could hear the other sniper teams making comms checks as they too established observation posts on the other three sides of the target premises.
Tom Naylor was the designated sniper for this operation and Matt Jarvis his spotter. They would work as a team throughout.
It would be the responsibility of Jarvis to ensure that the ten-minute sitreps were maintained.
Tom Naylor began plotting out the distances from their location to various points of the property.
Everything was within one hundred yards of their position. There was no wind of any significance, as the cottage sat in a clearing surrounded by tall trees.
Tom was confident that, if forced
by circumstances to pull the trigger and take a shot from his location, he would be able to achieve it easily.
85
2 July 1986
Retford Police Station, Nottinghamshire
Sergeant Mitch Buchan nodded towards Danny and said, ‘Everyone’s in position and standing by, sir.’
He had just received confirmation from the main SOU raid party, being led by Sergeant Graham Turner, that they were at the forward rendezvous point. They had taken up a position some fifty yards back from the target premises, on the designated red side of the property.
It would be the responsibility of these men to provide immediate backup for Rachel Moore if she required it.
The sniper teams covering all four sides of South Lodge also offered her protection from a distance.
Sniper team Bravo, covering the front of the property, had given an update approximately half an hour before, reporting that the Daihatsu Hijet van, seen earlier by the two detectives, had returned to the property.
All the sniper teams had been given photographs of Melissa Braithwaite, Stewart Ainsworth and Jimmy Wade during the briefing.
Sniper team Bravo had quickly identified that the driver of the Daihatsu Hijet was indeed Melissa Braithwaite. They had a partial view of the passenger in the vehicle and could not give a positive identification. They only saw him as he walked away from their position, towards the front door of the cottage. The long dark hair they could see favoured the identity being the missing social worker, Stewart Ainsworth.
There had been no other sightings of either person since, and no sign of the Fiat Uno that had been seen during the earlier recce by Rachel and Tina.
Danny looked across to Rachel and said, ‘It’s time. Are you ready to make the call to Braithwaite?’
She nodded and picked up the telephone.
Danny raised his hands and said loudly, ‘Everyone, not a sound! I don’t want any background noise while this call’s being made, understood?’
Everyone in the room nodded. Radios were quickly turned off, and nobody moved a muscle.
Danny said, ‘Go ahead.’
Rachel dialled the number.
On the second ring, the phone was answered.
A female voice said, ‘Hello, South Lodge.’
Rachel took a deep breath and said, ‘Hi, I’m trying to contact Melissa Braithwaite?’
‘Speaking.’
‘Hi, Melissa, my name’s DC Rachel Moore. I’m sorry to disturb you, but I’m trying to locate a man by the name of Stewart Ainsworth. He told me that he was meeting you a couple of days ago, and nobody’s heard from him since. Have you seen him?’
Jimmy Wade insisted that all calls into the lodge were on loudspeaker. He was listening intently to the call.
When he had heard the name Rachel Moore, he spun round and now stood directly in front of Melissa.
He gestured for her to cover the mouthpiece of the telephone and whispered, ‘Tell her that he’s been staying with you for a couple of days, but that he’s nipped out to the shops. Tell her you’re expecting him back later today.’
Having been given the instruction, Melissa said quietly, ‘Stewart’s been here with me, but he’s had to go out this afternoon. You’ve only just missed him. Is there any message?’
‘No, thanks, there’s no message. It is urgent that I see him today though. Do you know what time he’ll be back?’
Wade held up two fingers and silently mouthed the words two hours.
Melissa frowned and scowled at Wade. She said into the telephone, ‘He’s had to go over to Sheffield for something or other. He shouldn’t be any longer than a couple of hours.’
Rachel looked at the clock on the office wall.
It was now almost three o’clock.
‘If it’s not an inconvenience, Melissa, would it be okay for me and a colleague to come over and have a quick chat with Stewart after five o’clock today? It shouldn’t take long.’
Jimmy Wade nodded.
Melissa shook her head and mouthed the word, ‘No.’
Wade scowled, put his hand over the phone and whispered menacingly, ‘Do it.’
Melissa knew she daren’t argue. She said meekly, ‘Yeah, that should be fine. Shall we say five thirty?’
‘That’s great, thanks.’
‘And you’re sure there’s no message for him?’
‘No, there’s no message. We’ll see you both later.’
Rachel heard the click on the phone as Melissa ended the call. She put the phone back on the receiver and breathed out a huge sigh.
She turned to Danny and said, ‘Braithwaite’s lying. She told me that Stewart Ainsworth had gone out, and that I’d only just missed him. Nobody’s been seen leaving the property. There was something else too; it was almost as if she was receiving instruction on what to say. Too many long pauses, followed by a very effected response. Way too friendly and nice.’
Danny said, ‘What’s your gut instinct?’
‘My gut instinct is that Jimmy Wade’s in that cottage. I think Ainsworth might be in there, too.’
‘Why do you think that?’
‘The sighting earlier was nothing like Wade. The man with the long dark hair hasn’t gone anywhere. I think Ainsworth could still be in there.’
Danny frowned. ‘Which means it’s probably too risky to send in an armed team to raid the cottage.’
‘I’ve made the appointment for five thirty. Why don’t we stick to the original plan?’
Tina spoke up: ‘I’ll tell you why. Because it’s a crazy plan and way too risky, that’s why.’
‘Police work’s always risky, Tina. It’s got to be me. If Wade’s in there, he’ll only show out if he sees me. The armed teams are all in place. It will be fine.’
Danny said, ‘You don’t have to do this, Rachel.’
She replied, ‘Yes, I do. He’ll be expecting me to arrive at five thirty. If I don’t turn up now, Wade could smell a rat, wait until darkness and slip away again. Even with the armed containment, it’s so dark around that cottage, there’s a real possibility that he could slip through the net again. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure I’m careful. I won’t do anything to put either myself or Tina at any unnecessary risk.’
Danny said, ‘Okay. We’ve got just over two hours to plan this properly and plan for all contingencies. Let’s get cracking.’
86
2 July 1986
South Lodge, Retford
‘Jimmy, I don’t understand you. What is it about that bloody detective?’
‘It doesn’t concern you, Melissa. It’s my decision. I say what’s going to happen around here, not you. I’ve given you way too much freedom lately. I can just as easily take that back if that’s what you want?’
‘What I want is for us to leave together and go to Ireland, like we planned.’
‘I know you do, and it’s what I want too, trust me.’
‘I sense a “but” coming.’
‘There are no “buts”, Mel! We’ll be going to Ireland just as soon as I’ve dealt with Rachel bloody Moore.’
‘We’ve talked about this for hours already. You don’t need to deal with her. We can walk away right now; you’ve already won. You can be free, and we can start our life together away from here.’
‘We can do all that anyway, afterwards.’
‘After what?’
‘After I’ve made her pay. I won’t be satisfied until that scheming bitch is dead. Why can’t you understand that?’
‘I’m just worried that it could be a trap. You said yourself she’s a scheming bitch. Don’t you think it’s a little strange that she’s contacted me now?’
‘No, I think it’s perfectly natural. You heard that prick Ainsworth before he died. He said he should’ve been seeing Rachel Moore and the other one. She’s just following up on her enquiries, like a good little detective. She won’t have a clue I’m living here with you. It will be a piece of piss to lure her in and finish her off, once and for all.’
‘Her too. I’ll finish them both. We can’t afford to leave any witnesses behind. There’s plenty of room next to Barnes and the others. We’ll leave for Ireland as soon as I’ve buried them. We need to be long gone and over the water before the pair of them are missed.’
‘I don’t like it, Jimmy.’
‘Haven’t you realised by now that I don’t care whether you like it or not? It really is a simple choice. You can either help me or stay here cold and in the ground next to Barnes and the others.’
‘You wouldn’t do that to me.’
Wade reached out with one strong hand and gripped her throat. ‘Why are you continually testing me, bitch?’
As his grip intensified, she could feel her windpipe constricting, and her eyes starting to bulge.
She was powerless to do anything.
Desperately, she tried to drag in a breath and said hoarsely through her crushed voice box, ‘I’m sorry. I’ll help you. Sorry.’
Instantly, he released his grip, leaving her spluttering and gasping for breath.
Her legs buckled beneath her, and she collapsed to the floor. Wade stood over her. Jabbing an index finger in her direction, he shouted angrily, ‘Don’t ever argue with me again! I don’t mind taking you with me if you do as you’re told. If you want to argue, I’ll make sure you stay here for good! Do we understand each other?’
Tears streamed down her face, and she gasped, ‘Okay, okay.’
In that single moment, she realised that despite all the horrendous acts she had forced herself to do, the killings she had taken part in, purely to ingratiate herself with him, Jimmy Wade would still snuff her out in a heartbeat.
Wade stormed into the kitchen, leaving her on the floor of the living room. Turning on the cold tap at the sink, he filled a tumbler glass full of cold water and took a long drink, trying to calm himself down.
A Cold Grave: A DCI Danny Flint Book Page 30