The Last Resolution (Mike Wesley Series Book 2)

by John Stewart

  “It’s what I can do for you Danny Boy! I’ve been a busy bee looking into your unigram thing.”

  “It’s a Unicursal Hexagram, did you not get my text?” Mike said, interrupting him.

  “Yeah, as I said a Uniwhatsagram,” he replied, laughing.

  Mike shook his head at Ray’s unique ability to wind him up. “Gimme a second. I’ll put you on loudspeaker, Becca is here with me.”

  As Rebecca was Ray’s senior at work, he instantly snapped out of his Joker mode and adopted a more professional tone.

  “Oh, hi Rebecca, hope you’re feeling better.”

  “I’m fine thanks Ray, and thanks for the food, it went down a treat.”

  “Don’t mention it, least I could do. Now as requested, I’ve been looking into this Unicursal Hexagram you mentioned.” Mike smiled at his correct pronunciation for Rebecca’s benefit.

  “You come up with anything interesting?” Mike asked.

  “Oh yeah, I never knew one shape could have such a busy life. It’s everywhere. You might as well have asked me to look up a circle because I found tons of examples.”

  “Well let’s hear the interesting ones,” Mike said, taking a seat in front of the laptop on the kitchen table.

  “The interesting ones? Okay, but first of all, don’t blame me if any of these turn out to be rubbish, it’s the Internet I used, not the library,” Ray cautioned as he picked out some of the more interesting pieces.

  “We understand it’s not 100% reliable Ray, but it’s what’s out there and unfortunately these days, most people take whatever is posted on the Internet as fact,” Mike replied.

  “If only the same could be said for our paper eh,” Ray said, awaiting a laugh that never came.

  “What do you have Ray?” Rebecca interjected, becoming weary of his meandering small talk.

  “Apologies, I’m just trying to organise these notes.” The line was silent for a moment. “Okay, now as I said, your little Hexagram gets around. It’s pretty popular in television shows, especially in a show called Supernatural. It’s about two brothers who go around fighting demons, werewolves, vampires and that sort of thing. Anyway they sometimes use this Hexagram of yours to ward off evil spirits.”

  “I know the show, what year did it start? Mike asked

  “2005 apparently,” Ray said, checking his notes.

  Mike wrote the year down on his notepad, added the name Pierce Renshaw beside it and slid it over to Rebecca, who gave a sceptical shake of her head. Mike knew it was likely to be nothing more than a fluke, but thought it worth mentioning all the same.

  “Okay, anything more?” Mike asked

  “Yeah, in that same show, they also used the symbol as a logo for so called, Men of Letters and claimed it was placed above the gates of Atlantis.” Mike made more notes as Ray continued. “Before that, in the nineties it made an appearance in the Japanese animation series Yu-Gi-Oh, where it was used as The Seal of Orichalcos.”

  Rebecca got up to get a glass of water, giving Mike a look suggesting the call was a waste of time.

  Ray continued. “It has been used in computer games like Heroes of Might and Magic and Uncharted 3 as the symbols for Inferno and Balance. It has been adopted by some bands like, Bring on the Horizon and …”

  “Okay, Ray, thanks, that’s enough,” Mike said, cutting him off. “I don’t think any of this stuff is really relevant to what we’re looking into.”

  “Ah, but that was just the starter. You mentioned a cult didn’t you?”

  “Yes, but only as a possibility. Why? What did you find?”

  “How about the daddy of all occultists……….. Aleister Crowley.”

  Chapter 26

  There was a silence in the room for a few moments. Rebecca lifted her head from the sink with a renewed interest and Mike wrote the name down on the notepad.

  “Who’s Aleister Crowley?” Rebecca asked from across the room.

  “Only ‘The wickedest man in the world.’ Not to put too fine a point on it,” Ray said with an excited tone.

  “What do you mean, the wickedest man in the world?” Mike asked.

  “That’s what he became known as back in the day. He was born in 1875 in Hastings and wrote a book called, The Book of the Law. He claimed that an alien or a ‘being,’ calling itself Aiwass, spoke to him and dictated the text of the book. He clearly wasn’t all there, but he went on to create the philosophy of Thelema. It’s pretty popular these days and has several lodges across England and Ireland. According to some websites, this Crowley guy was a member of the Ordo Templi Orientis and it became synonymous with Thelema. The organisation has hundreds of A-list celebrities from all over the world as members. Some just brush it off as a sex cult, but it’s gaining popularity through social media sites. I went through the lodges and found two here in London. I’ll email you the addresses.

  “Good stuff. Is there anything else about this Thelema crowd that stood out?” Mike asked as he ran a search online.

  “Only that the order used the Unicursal Hexagram with the addition of a flower in the centre for their logo.”

  “I can look into it for you some more if you like.”

  “No, that’s great. Thanks Ray, I’ll let you know if it turns out to be anything.”

  “Okay, hope it helps. See ya soon.”

  Mike hung up as his online search for Order of Thelema displayed the Hexagram Ray had just described.

  Rebecca walked over to get a closer look at the image.

  “It’s actually a nice design when you add the flower. I think I’ve seen this before, maybe on a necklace or something?”

  Mike remembered Simon’s map and the central location he noted when he crossed all the body dump points.

  “Chelsea Physic Garden!” he said aloud.

  “What?” Rebecca replied with a puzzled expression.

  Mike grabbed the printout of the London map with the overlaid marking. “Look the locations all intersect at this point. I looked it up yesterday, it’s the Chelsea Physic Garden. The Thelema symbol is what the killer is working from. This could be the break we need Becca, if we contact the lodges Ray mentioned, we might get a list of members and maybe get some viable suspects…”

  “Okay, I’m gonna stop you right there,” Rebecca said, interrupting. “This is where I get off.”

  Mike frowned. “What do you mean? It’s only a couple of phone calls. I’ll give the lists to Meadowcroft and he can take it from there.”

  “And then there’ll be another clue, then another. When will it end? Simon has already wasted the better part of ten years on these cases, are you gonna do the same?”

  “Don’t be so dramatic,” Mike said, dismissing her remark.

  “Well, where does it end? We took this on as a story and I think we have one. There’s lots to work with.”

  “So, you’re happy to walk away when there could be another dead body found? Maybe even two,” Mike asked, hoping she would see his point.

  “Now who’s being dramatic. We still don’t know for certain if the cases are all linked. I bet you could make a dozen patterns from all those location points,” Rebecca said, pointing at the map.

  Mike thought about what she was saying and remembered his holiday promise to her while she was in the coma.

  “You’re right, how about we spend tomorrow working out the narrative details, then we can call Simon and tell him we’re ready to move forward with what we have. I can give him the lodge details and he can follow the rest up himself. Deal?”

  “Deal, but look, It doesn’t mean we can’t do a follow-up story if and when he ever does find a suspect,” Rebecca said with a relieved smile.

  Mike gave a silent nod, already regretting his decision to back down.

  ***

  Later that night, Mike lay in bed staring at the ceiling as his mind buzzed with the all the case details and possibilities. He knew they were closer than ever to finding a suspect and no matter what he had said to Rebecca, stepping away jus
t felt wrong. Seeing Rebecca was already asleep, he picked up his phone from the bedside locker, slipped out of the bed and walked out to the living room, careful not to wake Rebecca as he went. He then took a picture of the altered map printout, composed a message and sent it all to Simon.

  Chapter 27

  Simon was two days into his CCTV vigil of the Weaver Fields area and had mostly seen families and couples out for frosty morning strolls. The cold December weather meant that the park was hardly used, so it was relatively easy to get through the footage at speed. One piece of footage was interesting though. It was in the early hours of January 1st, 2014, three days before the murder of Darren Taylor, someone wearing a dark hooded coat jumped the fence and walked across the snowy park toward the south-east corner. The lights in the centre of the park tracked the trespasser until the darkness swallowed the silhouette. Whoever it was appeared to have exited another way as they never reappeared on the screen. He carried on watching the seemingly endless reels of footage before he found himself nodding off.

  Early the next morning, he woke to find a lengthy text from Mike. Sitting up in his bed, he read in disbelief as Mike detailed his finding regarding the Unicursal Hexagram overlaying the attached image. The message went on to explain the linking of the Thelema order’s logo and the possibility of Chelsea Physic Garden being another location of interest. Firstly, Simon got up and researched the garden online. He saw that the flower featured in the Thelema logo seemed to line up with it. He considered calling his old station to see if anyone would contact the two London-based Thelema Lodges, but couldn’t think of anyone that would be willing to help without asking too many questions.

  Bringing the details up on his laptop, he decided to try calling himself, but on both attempts, he was informed that due to the order’s privacy policy, members’ names could not be released to the general public. He then logged into the camera feed database and searched for the Chelsea Physic Gardens. He was in luck, the garden had several cameras positioned around its perimeters. Focusing his attention on the feed covering the central area and the main entrance, he decided to take the same approach as he did with the Weaver Fields footage and go back one month before the Darren Taylor murder. The garden was much busier for a December than he had hoped and he was unable to distinguish faces as the quality of the footage was not as good as the others. He sat until midday watching the stream of people enter and exit the garden between the hours of 9.30am and 5pm. After a short break for a late breakfast, he opted to redirect his focus on the internal camera overlooking the statue of Sir Hans Sloane. The statue was positioned in the centre of the garden and had ornate park benches and a pond close by. For another couple of hours, he scrubbed through the footage of floral enthusiasts strolling around and rest on the benches.

  Nothing stood out until the morning of January 1st. Exactly one hour after he spotted the lone trespasser enter the Weaver Fields Park, he saw what appeared to be the same person appear from the shadows. Although the picture quality wasn’t as good in the gardens, the angle was closer and Simon could just about make out the hooded intruder lighting a candle and placing it on one of the benches. He briefly paused the playback to consider his next move, before deciding to search the rest of the murder locations for camera feeds. His instincts proved to be right and upon checking each location, he was able to get a glimpse of the hooded candle bearer walking toward the vicinity of each murder site. The appearances occurred in a chronological order that matched that of the killings, beginning with Richmond Park, the location of Pierce Renshaw’s body at midnight and following right the way through to the Mitcham Allotments, where Darren Taylor’s body was found. Second last was Weaver Fields and finally the Chelsea Physic Gardens.

  The evidence was compelling and Simon had no doubt in his mind that he was looking at the killer in each video. What followed in his mind was a mixture of validation and fear. The fact that he now had tangible evidence that all the cases were connected proved he hadn’t wasted his time, but seeing it with his own eyes meant it was real and the pixelated killer on the screen could be coming for him next. He considered the note he received just after Mike and Rebecca first called to his apartment. Eventually he settled on the theory that if there was only one more person, or resolution as the note put it, left to kill, then according to both the order of hooded trespasser’s visits to the body locations and the Hexagram shape, it would happen at Weaver Fields. What he couldn’t figure out was the relevance of the Chelsea Physic Gardens.

  “Why leave a candle at the gardens if there’s only one more victim?” he said aloud, opening the screenshot he had taken from the garden’s footage.

  “It has to be important,” he thought to himself as he reopened the video overlooking the Sir Hans Sloane statue and began watching once more. This time, he tried a different approach, starting with the most recent feeds. It seemed a gargantuan task as the garden catered for hordes of gardening buffs and tourists alike and when the video was played at twice the speed, the people all but blended into one. He had little option but to continue in the slim hope that the feed would reveal something that stood out.

  The hours ebbed away while Simon watched and his afternoon soon turned to night. He was just about to give in to the stinging in his eyes when he noticed something unusual on the screen. He rewound the file and played it again at regular speed to confirm the presence of a hooded person sitting near the statue. He was fully aware that hoodies were in abundance around the city, but they weren’t commonplace in the decorative garden surroundings and it was the second time he had seen someone wearing one while sitting in that same seat one week earlier. He played back the earlier video and sure enough it looked to be the same person. He jumped ahead another week, then another, right up to the previous Thursday and the person in the hoodie appeared on the bench each time at 10am. Simon rubbed his face with a shaky hand, realising he finally had the killer within reach. Just then, his phone began to ring. He saw it was Mike and answered.

  “Hi Mike, sorry I didn’t get back to you sooner. I’ve been busy looking over those details you sent.”

  “Any joy with the Thelema Lodge memberships?” Mike asked expectantly.

  “No, unfortunately not, they won’t give out the details to a civilian,” Simon said with a resigned tone.

  “Ah, that’s a shame. I was hoping a name might stand out.”

  “I’ll see if one of the guys at the Met can dig up something, they might get lucky,” Simon said, despite having no intention of doing so, given his new lead.

  “Yeah, could be worth a check. Listen, myself and Rebecca have had a talk and with all that’s happen…”

  “It’s okay Mike,” Simon said before he could finish. “I know what you’re gonna say. You’re done, I get it. You’ve wanted out since Miss Hollister got hurt and I understand. I’ll carry on with what I have and when it’s over you’ll have your story.”

  “Well, that’s just it, Rebecca is hoping to get started on the story now.”

  “I’d give it a few days Mike, you never know what could happen in the meantime. I’ll be in touch soon. Thanks for everything,” he said, ending the call before Mike could respond.

  With Mike out of the way and his new information from the video feeds, all he had to do was go to the gardens the following morning and wait to finally see the face of his would-be killer. He stood from the desk and removed a police issue revolver from the drawer, gripping it tight. The gun wasn’t the only thing Simon had illegally held onto since his retirement, he also had keys to a police safe house. Seeing the keys in the open drawer, he put down the gun and picked them up, remembering the panic room inside and how it would serve well as a holding cell should his plan work. The house on Ralstone Street was the former property of a high-profile drug dealer and had been repossessed following his conviction. It was given to the Met and was meant for pre-trial witness protection, but Simon and a couple of his old colleagues often used it as a place to bring girls after a night out
. It was perfect for what he had in mind as it was only a five-minute walk from the Chelsea Physic Garden. He double checked its proximity to the garden on his laptop and marked out the route. He then sat back in his chair and picked up the gun once more. “Tomorrow, I’ll finish this once and for all.”

  Chapter 28

  After spending the day making notes on how she could pitch the story, Rebecca went through some emails on her phone while Mike spoke to Simon. He looked over at her as the line went dead in his hand.

  “What is it?” she asked with a worried expression.

  “I’m not sure. I told him we were going to focus on the story from now on and he seemed fine with it.”

  “Well, that’s good isn’t it? Maybe he’s finally realised it’s a dead end,” she said in a relieved tone.

  Mike sat down at the kitchen table.

  “No, I don’t think that’s it. I’ve spent more time with him than you. He’s beyond obsessed and when I mentioned starting on the story now, he told me to wait a few days, like he knew something was going to happen.”

  “You’re starting to sound like the one who’s obsessed,” she said as she took a smiling picture of herself on her phone.

  “What are you at?” Mike asked, knowing she abhorred the ‘Selfie,’ culture of recent years.

  Rebecca laughed. “Ah, Mark has been hounding me for a picture since I got out of the hospital.”

  “Right, and how is Mark?” he asked with a hint of cynicism.

  “Ah, you know, at least he’s working again.” As she spoke, she opened the image gallery on her phone to select her picture for sending, but when it displayed her most recent pictures, she saw one that she didn’t recognise. She hit the picture to make it full screen and tilted the phone to its side, giving it a puzzled look.