Backlash

by Lynda La Plante

  ‘Never saw the mother, though. Oates could have been in the bathroom with her, keeping her quiet or tied up.’

  ‘Timmy wouldn’t risk his mother’s life to grass on Oates under those circumstances,’ Anna said, looking at them both.

  By twelve o’clock Anna, with two members of the surveillance team, was in position in a high-tech police observation vehicle, which had been disguised to look like a painter and decorator’s van. They were able to park unnoticed inside the estate and had a clear view of the balcony and door of Bradford’s mother’s flat. Langton had decided that as Anna knew Timmy Bradford, and vice versa, it was best she was out of sight in case he was assisting Oates and recognized her. If Timmy or Oates came out of the flat she was to notify Langton over the radio. After about twenty minutes’ observation she reported that there appeared to be some movement inside, but owing to the net curtains she could not make out who it was.

  Langton, Mike and Barbara were parked up nearby and out of sight in an unmarked police car.

  ‘Quite eerie, isn’t it?’ Barbara said.

  ‘What’s eerie about an undercover observation in broad daylight?’ Mike asked.

  ‘Nothing. It’s just eerie that the last person to drive this car was Oates after he shot Barolli,’ Barbara replied as Anna’s voice came over the radio.

  ‘Shut up, Barbara, I can’t hear what Anna is saying,’ Langton said.

  Travis informed Langton that there was movement in the flat and asked for further instructions.

  ‘If Bradford comes out, one of the surveillance officers will follow him on foot and keep in radio contact. If Oates comes out I’ve got plain clothes armed officers ready to make the arrest,’ Langton told her, making it clear he was leaving nothing to chance this time.

  Leaving Barbara in the car, Mike headed for the off-licence and Langton for the newsagent’s. Langton waited until the proprietor had served a customer before showing his ID and asking him to close the shop whilst he spoke to him. Nervously, the proprietor started to protest that he never sold cigarettes to underage kids, but Langton put his mind at ease fast.

  ‘This is not connected to your sales unless you want it to be. I need to ask you a few questions about someone who may use your shop, so I’d like your assistance.’

  Langton was first to return to the waiting Barbara. He got into the back seat and immediately radioed through to Anna.

  ‘Okay, the newsagent said they get the Daily Mail delivered every day. Yesterday Timmy Bradford came in and got an Evening Standard, this morning he came back and bought the Daily Mirror and the Sun, plus two pints of milk, which he’d never done before. He also bought a sliced loaf, four packets of biscuits and six cans of Red Bull.’

  ‘The mother likes biscuits; she offered some to me,’ Anna replied, wondering what was so unusual.

  Langton suggested that the extra newspapers could be of interest because Timmy might be following the story of his old friend’s escape, while the extra milk and biscuits could mean they had a visitor.

  Mike appeared by the open passenger window. ‘Okay, Timmy Bradford is not a regular, but last night he came in and bought a six pack of beer, plus two bottles of cider.’

  Langton rubbed his chin.

  ‘Well, not exactly throwing a party, are they, but that combined with Red Bull means somebody’s thirsty or needs to stay awake. Okay, round two, we need to speak with the neighbours, find out if they’ve noticed anything unusual.’

  ‘We can’t go anywhere near them – Oates knows us both. If he’s in there and sees us from the window God knows what he might do,’ Mike warned him.

  ‘I have considered that, so Barbara here is going to canvas for the Green Party. Newsagent said they visit the estate regularly so they’ll be used to knocks on the door,’ Langton said as he opened a plastic bag and handed Barbara some Green Party leaflets and stickers that he had got from the newsagent’s counter.

  ‘I thought I was just here to be the driver?’ Barbara replied nervously.

  ‘I think this is all a bit Miss Marple, for Chrissake,’ Mike said.

  ‘He’s killed seven women, Mike, he’s a madman. Like you just said, God knows what he could do if he saw someone he recognized as police.’

  ‘Well you said it, he’s a madman, and I just think this approach is wasting time. What if he’s not in there?’

  ‘What if he is?’

  ‘Right, and what if he is there and snatches Barbara round the fucking throat and drags her inside?’

  Barbara looked at Langton. Mike had a point and she knew it.

  Langton radioed Anna to let her know what the plan was, but it was a while before Anna saw Barbara come into view and walk up the communal stairs and then along the balcony. She went to the next-door neighbours’ flat and rang the bell a few times but got no reply, then moved on to the target flat and rang the bell, stepping back as she waited. No response. She rang again, still no response. She was starting to move away when the door opened a fraction. She was very good; Anna could see her smiling and talking and showing the leaflets, but the door was only open about six inches and she couldn’t make out who Barbara was talking to. Still smiling, Barbara gestured to the neighbouring flat, at which point the door closed. During all of this Langton was constantly on the radio to Anna, asking what was happening.

  Langton then received a call from the station telling him that a wiretap on Bradford’s home telephone had been approved and was up and running. It was going to take a little longer to set up a tap on his mobile.

  ‘Check on who’s calling who and any texts since Oates escaped then get back to me.’

  Whilst he was on the phone to the station Anna had spoken with Mike on the radio to report that Barbara had gone into the other neighbour’s and the occupier seemed fine and calm when he opened the door to her.

  Langton had become so impatient he could no longer sit still and was pacing up and down the pavement. After about twenty minutes Barbara returned and got in the car, so Langton calmed down enough to join her and Mike.

  ‘It was Bradford. He said it wasn’t a convenient time and he’d never voted for anyone, especially not some rich bastard’s son! And then as much as I tried he shut the door. I had no chance of even seeing past him. I could hear a TV on – a football match or something.’

  ‘Do you think he suspected anything?’

  ‘No, I asked if there was anyone else resident who voted; he said his mother but she was a Labour supporter.’

  ‘How did he seem to you?’

  ‘His eyes were red-rimmed as if he’s not been sleeping. He also smelt very heavily of BO, and had terrible halitosis. Didn’t seem to want me to see inside, never opened the door fully.’

  ‘What about the neighbours?’

  ‘Okay, no reply one side and on the other a Mr and Mrs Pearson: I told them I was a police officer but they haven’t seen or heard anything unusual. They know Timmy’s mother quite well but don’t have much to do with him. There’s a community hall on the estate used for bingo evenings and residents’ meetings – they discuss any local problems. There was a meeting last night and Mrs Douglas usually does the tea and biscuits for everyone but she didn’t turn up.’

  ‘Residents’ meetings?’

  ‘Yeah, there’s a lot of council properties, but also lots of flats being done up for sale: their beef is who is going to be paying for what as there’s grass that needs cutting and garden maintenance and so on.’

  ‘Did they knock to see why Mrs Douglas didn’t go?’

  ‘No, the neighbour saw Timmy coming back from the newsagent’s this morning, he said his mum was under the weather and in bed.’

  ‘Good work, Barbara.’

  ‘Thank you, sir, and you might want this,’ she said, handing him a Yale key. ‘Mrs Pearson said Bradford’s other neighbours are away and she goes in to water the balcony plants for them. I thought the key might come in handy.’

  Langton smiled and praised her quick thinking, before contactin
g Anna to tell her that he wanted her to discreetly change places with Barbara in the observation van as Timmy now knew what the DC looked like.

  Langton turned to Mike in the back seat.

  ‘Give me ten minutes. I just need to stretch my legs and make some calls.’

  A few minutes later and Anna was back in the car with Mike. She could see he was mad about something.

  ‘Where’s Langton?’

  ‘I don’t know what the fuck he’s playing at. Do you?’ Mike snapped.

  Anna took a deep breath. ‘What do you mean by that?’

  ‘You two seem to like having cosy discussions without me.’

  Anna sighed; sometimes Mike really exasperated her.

  ‘Mike, don’t you get it? He’s protecting you, all of us, because don’t you realize that the Deputy Commissioner wants a head to roll?’

  Mike shook his head. ‘In other words he’s protecting himself.’

  ‘No, you idiot, he’s protecting you. If Oates is in that flat he wants you to get the kudos of a tight clean arrest.’

  ‘Yeah, sure he does.’

  Anna gave up, closing her eyes.

  ‘He gave the okay to take the handcuffs off Oates, you know full well that I was hesitant about it.’

  ‘Mike, you headed up the operation, and—’

  Langton opened the passenger door and got inside.

  ‘Bradford’s made a call from the landline. NatWest Bank, New Malden, mother has an account there. She made an earlier arrangement for him to withdraw ten thousand in cash from her savings account. Bank said as he’s her son all he needs is the signed cheque, a letter of authority and proof of identity. They have arranged that he can collect the money at four-thirty this afternoon. Now we go to work . . .’

  ‘Arranged it over the phone? Surely that can’t be right,’ Mike said, surprised.

  ‘Well I’ve got two officers going to see the bank manager to make sure it happens,’ Langton informed them.

  ‘Timmy told me his mother is always up and about early, and she seemed to me perfectly capable of going to the bank herself. From my conversation with her I doubt that she’d give him that much money. Something’s not right,’ Anna said.

  ‘Oates is in there, it’s the ten grand,’ Langton said, his voice devoid of emotion as he turned and looked at Anna.

  Langton drove off, and parked on Kingston Hill by the old gates that had once led into the estate in the days when it had been a big house surrounded by parkland. He got out and looked around. He could see for miles, but the spot was very exposed, not quite what he needed. Then he remembered just the place. Collecting Anna and Mike, they set off for the Kingston Lodge Hotel, which was less than half a mile away from the Kingsnympton estate. It would make an ideal base for their operation. En route he told them that it had parking at the rear and a conference room that could be used for briefing the SO19 officers and other units they would need.

  On arrival the three of them went and spoke to the manager. Langton was right; it was the ideal place, and they could come and go using the rear entrance without causing too much disturbance. The manager was more than happy to help and took them to the conference room and also arranged for coffee and sandwiches to be brought in. He seemed to be enjoying himself and said that whatever they needed just to let him know.

  Anna and Mike watched and listened as Langton got on his mobile and phoned the Commander to let her know that DCI Lewis would be setting up and running the Gold Command base at the hotel. She obviously gave the go-ahead as he next phoned Central Command at Scotland Yard to request firearms and tactical support group officers in unmarked vehicles. He also asked for the technical support unit to bring their silent drilling and listening equipment. Lastly he phoned the Hostage Negotiation Unit and briefed them on the strong possibility that Oates was in the Bradford flat. He had covered every single base with all the correct procedures in an amazingly short period of time, and his ability to take control of a situation and think on his feet was quite breathtaking. When he had finished on the phone he put his hand out to Mike.

  ‘Are we in this together?’

  ‘Yeah, we’re singing off the same hymn sheet.’ Mike shook hands with Langton, and Anna was grateful their feud was over.

  Whilst awaiting the arrival of all the teams at the hotel, Langton briefed Mike and Anna on what he felt would be the best course of action. Mr and Mrs Pearson, the neighbours, had been asked to leave their premises and come to the hotel. Within the hour everyone was assembled in the conference room. Radio contact had been maintained with Barbara, who was still in the observation van at the Kingsnympton estate. She confirmed that no one had left or entered the premises. The technical support boffins made use of the conference room projector to show everyone aerial shots of the estate on a large screen, along with pictures of Oates taken since his arrest. The firearms supervisor used a large map on the wall to mark the best vantage points for his officers, should they need to storm the flat or deal with a hostage situation. Travis was able to give them all a layout of the Bradford flat from her visit.

  Langton stepped forward and introduced himself, then reminded them of what a dangerous and violent man Henry Oates was. He gave a brief account of the day’s events so far and informed them that armed officers were already in place to make a street arrest should Oates leave the premises. This would be the best and safest scenario, however he felt Oates was unlikely to come out until Bradford had collected the money from the bank. Vehicle and foot surveillance on Bradford was the main priority at present as there was always the possibility, as slim as it was, that Oates could be holed up somewhere else and Bradford was planning to take the money to him. Langton then introduced Mike as the DCI leading the investigation.

  Mike, using a laser pointer, indicated on the screen the current position of the surveillance and firearms officers and added that Barbara Maddox would be able to inform them when Bradford left the flat from her observation point in the van. They expected Bradford would take the 97 bus route to New Malden. He would be followed on foot, with the surveillance officers continually changing places so that he remained unaware of what was happening. Surveillance vehicles, including a motorcycle, would also follow the bus. Mike impressed Langton when he raised the possibility that they might lose Bradford, and said that he had instructed a technical support officer and a detective to go to the bank to speak to the manager and have a tracking device put in the moneybag. Mike finished by stressing that no arrest was to be made unless authorized by him or DCS Langton. Langton again stepped forward and asked if there were any questions. No one spoke and in the silence the tension was obvious.

  The monitored calls caused a flurry of activity when it was revealed that Timmy had called a local taxi company, Crown Cars, and asked them to send a taxi in fifteen minutes to pick him up by the row of shops. He wanted to be driven to the NatWest in New Malden and for the driver to wait and return him to the estate. The taxi company was based near the hotel, so Mike Lewis, who had not been seen by Timmy, would replace their driver.

  Anna watched as the tech support officer fixed Mike up with a wire and gave him a small tracking device to put in the car. She moved closer.

  ‘Still worried about the lack of action?’

  He didn’t answer as Langton took him aside.

  ‘Radio back to us as soon as you’re in position. When we hear you check with him where he wants to go we’ll be ready for the off. You’ll have a surveillance car on your tail.’

  From the street map of New Malden, they could see that the NatWest Bank was on a corner. Langton told Mike to draw up outside the bank, drop Bradford off and wait in the street for him to return. There would also be an officer in the back of the bank monitoring everything on the CCTV.

  ‘What if a traffic warden turns up?’

  ‘Don’t worry about that, there’ll be a couple of surveillance officers in the street so if they see any they’ll soon get rid of them.’

  Anna noticed that whenev
er Langton was in conversation with Mike he turned to the SO19 and tactical support teams immediately afterwards.

  ‘Okay, DCI Lewis has given the go-ahead.’

  By doing this it seemed that all the decisions were coming from Mike Lewis, not himself.

  Mike had instructed all surveillance units to use the code name ‘Silver’ for Bradford. Oates was to be referred to as ‘Gold’, should he be seen to leave the Kingsnympton premises.

  Fifteen minutes flew past. Then came the message in from the surveillance officers in the van with Barbara watching Mrs Douglas’s flat.

  ‘This is OP one. Silver out of blue door, heading from premises . . . Fast pace . . . Towards lane by Block C.’

  ‘Here he comes,’ Langton said unnecessarily as it was pretty obvious.

  ‘Silver in black BB cap, dark donkey jacket, blue jeans, white sneakers, carrying black holdall . . . on foot towards shopping area.’

  Mike had parked the Crown taxicab directly outside the small hair salon, where he sat reading a paper. He glanced up to see Bradford heading towards him. Bradford rapped on the passenger window, opened the door, got in and slammed it shut.

  ‘NatWest, New Malden, was it, mate?’ Mike asked.

  Bradford nodded and as the taxi moved off, they could hear him telling Mike the direction he wanted to go, asking him to take a left and then go into Warren Road, and not to worry about it being a private road as the guy on the gates at the end would let a taxi through without stopping him. The surveillance car seamlessly moved into position behind the taxi.

  Bradford told Mike to turn left out of Warren Road and then go right towards New Malden High Street. There was a slight moment of confusion as Bradford said Mike should pass the bank, keep on driving and turn left by Boots the Chemist, as he had to get something.

  Mike knew that their conversation was being relayed back to base, but he nevertheless became concerned.

  ‘I got you down for the NatWest Bank and then back to the estate?’

  ‘Yeah, yeah, I know, but you just wait, I’ll only be a minute. Go left at the lights, mate, and park it there.’