by Alan Wade
On December the thirteenth he paid his hotel bill, bid farewell to Tony and promised to see him again soon in the New Year; then he walked the half mile to the covered car park near York station where he had parked his car nine days earlier. He had not used the car once while in York and had purposefully left in the morning rush hour of the thirteenth in the hope the police would not spot the car until he was at least on the M62. In this way he believed it would make it more difficult for them to be able to pinpoint his whereabouts for the past 9 days without him informing them.
He was sure no-one had been shadowing him in York and reasonably sure that no electronic bugging had been used in the rented offices or the hotel. This, along with the aliases he had used when ordering the print and booking the offices made him feel reasonably confident of his anonymity while in York. Only Tony at the Ivy knew of his presence and he was a true, faithful friend, at least for now.
Chapter 10
13th, December, Stockport Police Station.
Since December the 4th Major Rock and Sergeant Lawrence had been receiving reported sightings of Alan Johnson and following each lead, had proved time consuming, frustrating and fruitless. To date the car had never been seen but now a confirmed sighting had been made on the M1 southbound. The car had been followed at a safe distance onto the M62, the M60 and had been tailed to Sandiway in Bramhall.
“Our Mr Johnson is home,” smiled Lawrence, “where he’s been we still don’t know, but now he’s here; so why don’t we bloody well go and ask him?”
“Perhaps Sergeant, perhaps,” replied Rock and continued “some time ago I would have said no to that because if my hunches were correct I felt he may flee to the Middle East and be lost to us, but now I think differently. He knows he is being followed and that his house has been bugged. He even takes the tracker out of his car, then drives somewhere for nine days, becomes totally bloody invisible and then reappears. I believe he isn’t leaving because his job is not yet done here, so perhaps we should interview him and sooner rather than later. I think we should bring him in Sergeant. I think we should bring him in now and Jacky too. If he knows we are talking with Jacky it will increase the pressure on him.”
One telephone call to Commander Bagshaw was all that was needed to confirm the decision.
13th, December, Stockport Police Station.
“Major, we now have both Alan and Jacky in interview rooms one and two, who will you speak with first?”
“To Johnson Sergeant, and I want you with me. I want you to remain silent but to observe Johnson’s body language especially at the following points in the interview. Firstly I will mention the body in the sea below the White Dolphin hotel; secondly that an Englishman was observed with a group of other men at the Secret Garden restaurant who wore clip on sunglasses. The third point will be the different time of return of Alan and Jacky from their excursion in Rhodes. Were they together or did they part company for him to meet others? Still with me?” enquired Rock.
“Yes sir.”
“There are three other points of interest I will also mention, which are; one, where has he been for the past 9 days; two, that we are investigating whether known aliases used in Turkey were also used in Rhodes and three; that we are interviewing Jacky with regard to what happened on both the holiday in Turkey and the cruise. Your observations and the cameras might just give us a clue.”
“To what, sir?”
“To which part of this puzzle Johnson thinks is his weakest link. You know the six points?”
“Yes sir, I’ve made notes.”
“OK let’s go and see Johnson.”
Sergeant Lawrence and Rock entered the interview room and acknowledged Alan Johnson.
“Good Morning Mr Johnson, I am sorry to have disturbed your day but I am in need of some information which may help me in my enquiries. My name is Major Steven Rock and this is Sergeant Lawrence.”
Rock then read Johnson his rights, informed him the interview would be taped and asked if he was prepared to co-operate in the interview.
Alan Johnson affirmed the agreement but asked what it was all about.
“Mr Johnson, may I call you Alan?”
“Yes.”
“Thank you Alan. Quite some time ago the British authorities were alerted to a mysterious death in Turkey in a place called Olu Deniz, just above a restaurant called the White Dolphin. We now know the person in the car, who had no identity, was murdered by the use of a judo strangulation hold. Do you know the technique?”
“Yes I do, I trained in the SAS and I am certificated in the martial art of Ju Jitsu, but I’m sure you already know that.”
“I do Alan. I also know you were in that area of Turkey, staying at a resort called Sun City, at the same time as this man was murdered. Do you remember when you visited Turkey?”
“No, not exactly, but I can find out if you wish.”
“We already know.”
“I’m sure you do.”
“You went on the holiday with a lady called Jacky James who works at the Brown Cow in Stockport, is that correct?”
“Yes, it is.”
“Good, we don’t want to have the wrong lady in the next interview room, do we?”
Alan moved position slightly, smiled and replied, “She’s the lady who accompanied me.”
Rock was aware of two ice blue eyes looking directly at him.
“Do you wear sunglasses Alan?”
“Yes I do, when I need to.”
“What type are they?”
“Type, I don’t understand.”
“Let me explain. An Englishman bearing a description similar to yours was observed on at least two occasions having a meeting with three other men at a restaurant called, “The Secret Garden.” The Englishman wore clip on sunglasses over his every day glasses. Do you wear those?”
“Yes I do sometimes; I also have an ordinary pair of sunglasses but I have no idea which I took to Turkey, perhaps both,” he retorted.
“Thank you, now can I redirect our conversation for just a moment? You recently took a second holiday with Jacky, cruising in the Mediterranean,” he enquired.
“Yes I did.”
“On your return on December the 2nd you moved your car from the drive into your garage, for what purpose? “
Alan sipped a little water then responded, “Well, I decided to clean it, to give it a full valet.”
“I see, why a full valet?”
“I was going away in it the next day and I like things to be clean, neat and tidy.”
“Where did you go?”
“When, on the 4th.”
“Yes, on the 4th.”
“I’d prefer not to tell you and I do believe I have that right.”
“Of course you do, but it seems strange that you want to keep it a secret, have you something to hide?”
“Nothing to hide sir and yes I do want to keep it a secret.”
“Perhaps we’ll come back to that again later,” responded the Major who then changed the subject by asking, “when you and Jacky were on the cruise you left the ship for many daytime excursions and with only one exception you left together and returned together. Do you know which destination was the exception?”
“No I don’t.”
“The exception was Rhodes, where you returned far later than Jacky. Can you explain why?” quizzed Rock.
“I’ll need time to come back to you on that one, I don’t really know. Let me think about it please.”
“I really would like you to do that and to give me an answer before we terminate our interview,” snapped the Major as if giving an order.
“I will try, but what happens if I can’t answer you? What will you do then?” he looked intently at the Major. Now it was his turn to shift position.
“I’d find it difficult to understand why you can’t remembe
r and log it for future reference. Perhaps Jacky will enlighten me.”
“Well perhaps she’ll know what we did that day and give you an answer Major,” he explained.
“I’m sure she will, I’m sure she will.”
Rock smiled at Alan, still observing his body language, then continued, “you may not know this but when you were in Turkey the man who was murdered drove from Syria with two others, all of whom were using false identities. Now these were the same men we think met with our Englishman on the island of Rhodes.” He paused and looked at Alan, trying to observe a reaction of some sort but saw nothing and continued, “We are now tracing all sea and air arrivals into Rhodes about the time of your ship’s arrival, to see if those same names arrived on the island.”
“To what end?” enquired Alan softly.
Rock looked intently at Johnson but observed no real body language change, “this guy is bloody good,” he thought then continued, “if we can place this Englishman with these others in Turkey and then the same two or three others in Rhodes it becomes more certain that meetings were arranged and took place. Some may also consider it more than a coincidence that you were in both locations at the same time.”
“Yes, I understand, but so what?”
“I’m still looking for a murder suspect.”
“Well yes, but that could have been anyone.”
“Anyone who is skilled in Ju Jitsu, who was in Olu Deniz at the time and who associated with three others while there. Some may also consider it to be more than just chance, if these same people were then found to be in Rhodes together.”
“It’s still all circumstantial Major.”
“Oh yes it is circumstantial evidence so far, but it all may help in the weeks to come,” he took a sip of water, looked directly into Johnson’s eyes smiled then continued, “may I change the subject for a moment, you see we need as much information as we can gather from the middle east and there may be a chance that you could help provide some of that information for us. We may not then have to delve any further into this murder mystery; if you are seen to be working for our side.”
Alan’s clear blue eyes gazed at Rock, “I am not working for any side, but especially not yours with regard to the middle east, now may I please go. I do believe I have answered your questions to the best of my knowledge and helped as much as I can and I have nothing more to say.”
Rock stood and offered a hand to Johnson and both men joined in the handshake.
“You have been of some help to me Mr Johnson, thank you for your time and patience with me, please feel free to go.”
“And what about Jacky?”
“I will interview her in ten minutes, but she will also be free to go soon.”
“Do you mind if I wait?”
“No, please do so in reception, but it may be some time.”
Alan smiled at the Major then turned to Lawrence, “you’ve been very quiet today, not the same as when you’re in the Brown Cow.”
“I’ve got a job to do, it’s just my job.”
“See you both again soon, goodbye,” declared Johnson.
Lawrence escorted Alan to the reception area and returned to Major Rock.
“Well, what do you think of that?” enquired the Major.
“He’s a very cool customer sir, says just enough, answers all the questions but gives nothing away.”
“Good evaluation Sergeant, now what about his body language with regard to the questions I asked?”
“Very little to say sir, perhaps the video tape will help us, but he seemed as cool as a cucumber to me. The only time I saw a shift in his position was when you mentioned interviewing Jacky next door. But that could have been for many reasons. The guy knows how to be interrogated sir,” he concluded, took a sip of tea then continued, “do you mind if I say something sir.”
“No, go on.”
“Well I don’t think asking him to work for us helped.”
I agree; that was a little naive of me,” replied Rock, “and you’re right about his style, he’s good, very, very good and he knows everything at the moment is circumstantial. Let’s go and see what Jacky has to say. We have been keeping her quite some time so perhaps she will fill in some of the blanks with regard to their two holidays.”
They entered the interview room and explained to Jacky the reasons why they had asked her to attend. They read Jacky her rights and informed her that the interview would be taped.
“Jacky, could you please tell me how many holidays you have been on with Mr Alan Johnson and to which destinations?”
She smiled at Rock, “We have been on two holidays together, one to Turkey and most recently on a cruise in the Mediterranean.”
“Thank you, now the first holiday interests me because a man was murdered in the Olu Deniz area at the time you were there.”
“You’re not suggesting that I killed him are you?” she snapped.
“No, not in the slightest,” smiled Rock.
“Then why bring it up, are you suggesting that Alan did it?”
“I am not suggesting anyone did it, my job is to gather information and that is what I am trying to do with your help.”
His quiet smooth voice seemed to reassure her and he looked at her enquiringly, “OK to go on Jacky.”
“Yes, OK.”
“Please tell me, how many times were you and Alan apart in Turkey?”
“What do you mean, apart?”
“Were there times when Alan went his own way for some hours?”
“Not really, not that I can remember.”
“That’s funny; I went to Olu Deniz myself to work with the Turkish police on this case and they have information that a local Turk had been dating you while you were in Sun City.”
She shifted position and her face reddened, “What’s that got to do with it?”
“If you were in the company of another man it seems to me there will have been quite a few times when you were not in Alan’s company,” he snapped.
She moved position again and sighed. “Alan likes a drink and he spent a great deal of time at the bar, especially as it was free. I spent some time with another man but on my return to the hotel I always found him at the bar or in his bed.”
“So you did not sleep together.”
“That’s none of your business is it. We shared the same room but had separate beds.”
“It seems a strange relationship for two adults to go away together and lead separate lives.”
“Why’s that, I know loads of people who do it. They share the cost of the holiday and go their own way. Not everybody is rich enough to pay single supplements you know,” she declared, raising her voice.
“Thank you Jacky, we have now established that you and Alan could have spent many hours apart. May we move on to your second holiday, the cruise? Was this holiday any different from the Turkish one with regard to your relationship with Alan?”
“Yes it was, we became quite close.”
“Did you spend much time apart on the cruise?”
“No, I don’t think so, in fact I think we were always together,” she replied.
“Jacky, you may recall that when you leave the ship you have to show your key card which is placed in a machine and the same is done on your return to the ship. This enables the ship to keep a log of the people disembarking plus the time of disembarkation and return.”
“Oh I didn’t realise that,” she replied nervously.
“Do you still remember being always together on the excursions Jacky?”.
“Yes, I think so.”
“The records show something different. They show that when you went ashore in Rhodes you disembarked at the same time but Alan returned considerably later. Can you explain why?”
She frowned and shook her head. “I can’t, I can’t. Perhaps Alan went off fo
r a drink and I returned after shopping, he drank a lot on the cruise and did like to be alone on occasions.”
“Was he alone in Rhodes?”
“I can’t say, I really can’t remember, why don’t you ask him if it’s so important?”
Rock was aware that she was becoming angry, he was not yet sure as to why but he new that anger often helped in revealing something.
“Jacky, we believe Alan met with a group of men in Turkey and also met with a group of men in Rhodes, which is why he returned to the boat much later than you. We are still trying to track down these men to see if they were in both locations on the dates that you and Alan were there. If we find these men were in both locations at the same time as you and Alan, then we will have to interview you both again and I do not wish to think you are holding back valuable information which may help in our enquiries. Because if we find that to be the case then you may be charged with being an accomplice to Alan Johnson,” he declared.
She reddened and snapped back, “Look, all I did was go on holiday with a guy who I knew from the pub and who I quite like. I spent a lot of time with him, but not twenty four seven especially as he liked his drink and sometimes his own company, which suited me very well. That’s all I know,” she paused, drew her breath and looked Rock in the eyes, “now may I go, I have nothing else to tell you.”
The Major sighed and nodded his head, “Thank you Jacky, you are free to go, however we may need to see you again soon, so if you do intend to travel outside Stockport perhaps you could inform Sergeant Lawrence.”
“Why should I do that, either I’m free to go or I’m not, so which one is it?” she snapped.
He rose and made calming hand gestures, “You are free to go Jacky.”
She smiled, rose and turned, “Thank you sir.”
Lawrence closed the door after her. “What do you think of that sir?”
“I think we got her riled a little on more than one occasion but I don’t think she knows very much more than she said. We’ll have to wait and see how they react together now they know we know,” responded Rock.
Lawrence looked quizzically at him and enquired, “You never mentioned about a boyfriend before in Turkey.”