The Ultimate Selection: Be Careful Who You Talk To

by S. J. Wardell

  ‘What’s going to happen to me now?’

  ‘Let’s not think about that now Mr Hope, what we need to concentrate on is how we are going catch this person, The Ultimate, the orchestrator. We know that you committed these terrible crimes, but we know that you did not do them as in a premeditated sense. We are going to recommend that you be charged with manslaughter because these murders were not premeditated. Do you understand what I have just told you?’

  ‘Yes… You must stop this man.’ Brent reached out to Terry, as if he was pleading for him to save others from feeling the self-punishment that he was now going through.

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Karen’s eyes were fixated on the television screen. She could not believe what she was hearing, so she had to concentrate solidly in order for the newsflash to register in her brain. A single tear fell, landing on her lap, and she knew what she had to do. She picked up the cordless telephone and went in to her bedroom, closing the door behind her.

  ‘Are you OK?’ Karen’s mother asked. Silence was her reply. Karen dialled the freephone number that was given during the newsflash, it rang only once.

  ‘Hello, New Scotland Yard, incident room.’

  ‘Hello, I know who’s responsible for these murders. I know who the man in the rubber suit is… I know the identity of The Ultimate.’

  ‘OK, can I have your name please?’

  ‘Karen, Karen Hogan.’

  ‘Right then Miss Hogan what makes you think that you know who this guy is?’

  ‘He’s my boyfriend. I’d rather do this face to face with someone, it’d be easier.’ Karen’s hands were shaking like a leaf, her heart pounded.

  ‘Fine, when could you come in to us?’ the male call centre operative replied.

  ‘I can come in now. I’m only half an hour away. I have to talk to the detective that I saw on the news.’

  ‘OK, when you get here give reception your name and they will know why you are here. Don’t tell them anything else, for security purposes, you understand?’ the man on the phone softened his tone.

  ‘Yes, I’m on my way,’ Karen replied, leaving the phone on her bed and darting out of the front door before she had time to change her mind.

  ***

  ‘McFarland,’ the Scotsman said in to the microphone of his hands-free set.

  ‘Hello James. We’ve got a young lady, Miss Karen Hogan, coming in to see us. She claims to know who the guy is in the rubber suit. She says that The Ultimate is her boyfriend!’

  ‘It’s Wardy,’ he told Terry, who was sitting next to him in the car. ‘So Miss Hogan’s on her way in now?’

  ‘Yes, that’s what I just told you. Where are you?’

  ‘We’re just leaving Kensington High Street nick, we’ve been interviewing the latest…’

  ‘I need you both to get back here as fast as you can.’ Jasper rudely interrupted.

  ‘Yes, we’re on our way,’ McFarland ended the call.

  Terry leant forward, flicking the siren and lights on. McFarland selected a lower gear and pushed the pedal under his right foot to the floor, the engine roared.

  ‘Are you going to tell me what that was all about?’ Terry asked impatiently.

  ‘A woman has phoned the incident line claiming to know who The Ultimate is. She’s on her way in to see us now,’ he replied driving his car like a maniac.

  On arrival, the two men headed directly for Jasper’s office.

  ‘Where have you put her, sir?’ Terry asked hurriedly.

  ‘She’s in interview room one, drinking a cup of coffee and eating a bar of chocolate. Gentlemen I think that she is the real deal.’

  ‘What makes you think that? Have you talked to her, sir?’ McFarland asked, his excitement evident.

  ‘Yes, I have spoken with her. You’ll see what I mean when you talk to her.’ He gestured them to leave his office. ‘Go on then, don’t keep the poor girl waiting any longer and remember…’ He paused. ‘It’s taken a lot of courage for her to come in here today, she is a little upset and very fragile. Kid gloves fellas, treat her gently – that’s an order.’

  ‘No worries,’ Terry answered.

  ‘That was directed at you James,’ Jasper confirmed.

  ‘Aye I know… no worries from me too, sir.’

  As the two detectives entered the interview room, Karen sat quietly sipping her coffee. She automatically looked to see who was entering the room. A female officer kept her company. The opening door broke the stale air of silence.

  ‘Hello Miss Hogan. I am Detective Inspector James McFarland and my colleague is…’ the Scotsman began his introduction.

  ‘I know who you are, and you know why I’m here,’ she said bluntly. ‘Call me Karen,’ she instructed.

  ‘OK, that’s that out of the way. Tell us why you are here,’ the Scotsman had been agitated by her previous outburst.

  ‘Gregory O’Hara is the man you want, he’s The Ultimate,’ she said quickly.

  ‘And why do you think that?’ McFarland replied sarcastically.

  ‘Right then, here we go,’ Karen replied, as to pace herself. ‘When the first one happened, I was at his flat with him, he had cooked. Once I had eaten I began to feel very weird, very tired, and I mean to an extent where I could not keep my eyes open. Greg had to undress me and put me to bed. I hadn’t had loads to drink and I slept straight through. Greg had to wake me the next morning, so I think I was drugged by him. When the second murder happened, Greg and I had planned on a night out, but he cried off at the last minute, saying that something had popped up, and offered to take me out for lunch on the Sunday to make up for it.’

  ‘I can’t see where you’re going with this,’ McFarland said slowly.

  ‘Give her a chance,’ Terry was fixated. ‘Please continue Karen.’

  ‘Thank you,’ she replied, shooting McFarland a sharp glare. ‘Sunday being the very next day, he took me to a restaurant in New Covent Garden, as we were seated we overheard a couple having a heated conversation, so I asked them to keep it down, and the woman was extremely rude to us, her husband was the perfect gentleman, apologising and he even bought us champagne. The manager of the restaurant gave us our meal on the house. We got very, very drunk. We went back to Greg’s to sleep it off. When we woke up our heads were banging. I asked Greg if he had any pain killers. “In the medicine cabinet” he told me. When I looked, there were these tablets with a hand written label on, the label said “Knock Out Drops”, that was what he’d used to drug me. Another time, I went to his flat unexpected and he was all a flap when I arrived, something wasn’t right. I went to the fridge to get a couple of beers. When I opened one of the bottles, I spilt some on the floor. I asked Greg for a cloth to clean up, “under the sink” he told me. When I removed the cloth, underneath was a half-empty bottle of embalming fluid. When I went back in to the living room, I noticed a leaflet on the floor under the coffee table. I picked it up and slipped it in my handbag. The leaflet was for an electronic taser gun, thanking Greg for his recent purchase! The couple in the restaurant were Brent and Valerie Hope. Greg worked with Hector on the bins before Greg got his road sweeping job and Martin’s his so-called mate… I don’t know the first man, though.’ Tears were running down her face.

  ‘Would you like some time?’ Terry asked. Both detectives and the female officer were taken back by Karen’s revelation.

  ‘No, I’m OK.’

  ‘Something to drink, maybe?’

  ‘No thanks, I’ve still got this,’ Karen replied, holding her half-full cup of coffee.

  ‘Do you still have the leaflet you mentioned?’

  ‘Yes, it’s here,’ she reached in to her handbag and gave Terry the leaflet.

  ‘Yes, you are right, this does confirm that Greg had purchased this from them. I wonder what other purchases he made.’

  ‘Have you confronted him about all this?’ McFarland enquired. He felt a little out of order with the way he had spoken to Karen previously. ‘I apologise for my ton
e earlier.’

  ‘That’s OK,’ she replied. ‘No, I haven’t tackled him about this. You must understand that when you meet Greg, you will think that this is all a bit crazy, he’s not like this. On the surface at least. He’s a kind, gentle person. OK he can be a bit of a lad at times, but that’s what I loved about him. It’s not that I’m trying to defend him it’s just…’ she had begun talking herself in circles.

  ‘We are going to need his address and work details as well as a signed statement from you. I am truly sorry for your heartache. We will have to name you when, or if it gets to court. You do understand that we will be unable to offer you any anonymity. As you are here on your own volition, we are unable to offer you any legal representation. You may want to have a solicitor present when you give your statement. We can supply you with a number for legal representation if you’d like.’ McFarland tried his best to be sympathetic, but it was very difficult for him.

  ‘Karen, I know that what you have told us must have been very difficult for you. Thank you so much for coming here today and telling us what you know. I do believe that there may be a strong possibility that this is our man. We now will see what Greg has to say. We will keep your name out of it for as long as we can.’ The genuineness of Terry’s voice made Karen believe that she was doing the right thing.

  ‘I have written everything down – that’s how I do things, to make sense of things, to get them straight in my own mind first. I did that whilst I waited for you to get here. Would it be OK if I went away for a couple of days to distance myself from Greg to try to give my head a chance to take it all in?’ her tears appeared again.

  ‘Of course, but please don’t leave the country, we may need to talk to you again. Be sure to leave a number that we can contact you on. If we have any news, you are going to be the first to know. Let’s remember though, innocent until proven guilty. Just because things don’t make sense sometimes, it doesn’t mean that they always have to.’

  ‘It doesn’t look good for him though, does it?’ she confirmed.

  ‘My gut tells me, no… but let us talk to him first, hey?’ Terry answered, with another question. The two men stood up and took turns to shake Karen’s hand before leaving her in the company of the female officer.

  ‘Let’s talk to Mr O’Hara,’ Terry said.

  ‘Aye let’s… I bet he won’t be so cocky this time?’ McFarland agreed.

  ‘We can pick up a warrant to search his flat. Check if he has a car, or some kind of transport, with the DVLA, please mate. If he does, we’ll have to get a warrant to impound it. If O’Hara is our man, I want this done by the numbers McFarland. Nothing left to chance.’

  ‘I’m on it.’

  They travelled directly to Greg’s flat. Terry drove as McFarland had to make a couple of calls en route. One of the calls was to arrange for a search warrant, another was to the DVLA, and the last was to arrange for some uniformed officers to meet them there. They would need as much help as they were able to muster. They pulled up outside Greg’s flat the uniformed officers were waiting.

  ‘Alright guys?’ McFarland greeted. ‘Do you have the necessary paperwork?’

  ‘Yes, sir,’ replied the most senior of the uniformed officers.

  ‘Thanks Sergeant,’ McFarland said, acknowledging the stripes on the sleeve of the man’s jacket.

  ‘Are you all we have?’ Terry asked.

  ‘Yes, sir, we…’ one of the other uniformed officers answered.

  ‘OK let’s get on with it,’ Terry replied pressing the button for the intercom to Greg’s flat. They waited; McFarland pressed the button, holding it in longer than Terry had.

  ‘Hold your horses,’ a voice warned. ‘Who is it?’

  ‘It’s the police. We would like to ask you a few questions, just routine follow up. May we come in?’

  ‘Yeah, come on up,’ Greg gestured casually.

  The buzzing of the lock alerted them that he had released the security lock.

  ‘OK,’ Terry said. ‘You two come with us. I want the others to watch all possible exits. I am not risking losing him if he decides to bolt.’

  ‘If he does, you must stop him,’ McFarland added.

  ‘Hold on,’ Terry said, turning in his tracks, ‘be prepared, this guy has used a taser gun and pepper spray. He is very dangerous. If there’s a chance that he might get physical, then the fucking Queensbury rules go out the window.’

  Greg was waiting for them as they reached his flat. He thought about Sharon, and how she had been a useful tool. Martin had shown courage, something he had not expected. He felt disappointed that he had been found so early in his crusade, though he always would have the comfort of knowing that he had served his purpose. He stretched his neck sideways in both directions, before he cleared his throat and readied himself.

  ‘What’s this all about then? Fuck me, you seem a bit mob handed this time.’

  ‘Mr Gregory Jason O’Hara?’ McFarland asked.

  ‘Yeah… is someone going to tell me what this is all about?’ Greg replied, a little uneasy by the way the officers had swarmed up the stairs.

  ‘Mr O’Hara, we would like you to assist us with our enquiries, and we would prefer to do that at the local police station. You are under arrest on suspicion of kidnap, though we are not formally charging you with anything at this time. You do have a right to legal representation, though I must inform you that anything you say will be taken as evidence. Anything you do not say, cannot be used or relied upon at a later date. Do you understand?’

  ‘I think so,’ Greg looked confused.

  ‘OK Mr O’Hara, we have a car waiting,’ McFarland looked at Terry and nodded. ‘We must also alert you to the fact that we have obtained a warrant from the local magistrate that permits us to legally search these premises. Do you understand?’ McFarland looked at Greg for a reaction.

  ‘You can fuck off. I want my brief here!’ Greg had fire in his eyes.

  ‘Please don’t make us use any unnecessary force on you Mr O’Hara,’ McFarland smirked.

  ‘You fucking knob!’ Greg said, panic-stricken.

  Terry reached out to grab Greg, managing to obtain a firm grip of Greg’s left arm, he tried to force Greg’s arm around his back by twisting it. Greg turned and head-butted McFarland square on the nose. The detective’s nose collapsed with the force of the blow; blood oozed from both nostrils. The bridge of McFarland’s nose had split and as the skin tore, a gaping wound appeared.

  ‘You dirty bastard,’ McFarland cursed.

  During the ensuing struggle, uniformed officers pounced on Greg. The sheer barrage, forced Greg to the ground. ‘I’m gonna fucking nail you for this, you bastard,’ McFarland cursed again, his once white shirt, now completely claret in colour.

  ‘Bring it on you wankers,’ Greg barked, as his blood pumped, fuelling his muscles.

  ‘Assault on a police officer, interfering with an ongoing police investigation, swearing at a police officer… they’re gonna throw the fucking key away once I’m finished,’ McFarland growled.

  ‘I want my brief to meet us at whatever nick you’re taking me to. I’m saying fuck all without him there!’

  ‘Please come with us, sir,’ Terry smiled, leading Greg to his car.

  ‘Wait for two of our guys to get here before you enter the premises. They’ll be here any moment. We cannot risk contamination of anything that may be considered as evidence. If we get a result out of this, I promise that you will receive your silver cloud,’ McFarland told the uniformed officers.

  ‘Thank you, sir…’

  ‘Thanks for your help,’ McFarland replied.

  Chapter Forty

  Silence filled the car during their journey to Wembley Central police station. Greg’s mind raced as he struggled to find a way to regain control of the situation. He considered his options, wondering what the best approach would be. He did not feel any remorse over what he had done but he was angry with the fact that he had been caught so early. Hopefully, he would h
ave made society think differently, after all, he was now big news – the media would be buzzing to get the next scoop on this, his story. He hoped that the vigilante side of London’s public would understand and empathise with what he had done. He had helped people. Hopefully he would be the topic of many debates; he could just imagine News Night .The Ultimate would not just fade to grey, being kept in the forefront of what made this city buzz. It was important for Greg that people did not remember him, he wanted people to remember his alter ego, as well as the people his alter ego had been in direct contact with. The deaths, along with those that had been punished, would have not been in vain.

  A smile etched its way on his face as he thought about Sharon’s baby. He had given her baby a second chance, a better start in life. Sharon had simply been a casualty, as had the others. Martin had shown a remarkable amount of courage, though his threats had not passed, unnoticed. His thoughts then took a turn, Karen entered his mind…

  The two detectives gripped the prisoner, taking an arm each as they entered the police station via the rear entrance. McFarland gripped Greg’s left arm and dug his fingertips into the prisoner’s flesh as they walked.

  ‘I owe you, you bastard,’ McFarland told the prisoner. Greg remained focussed, eyes front.

  ‘Sir, interview room one is available,’ the Duty Sergeant announced.

  ‘Has Mr O’Hara’s lawyer arrived yet?’ the Scotsman replied.

  ‘Two minutes ago. He’s already in there waiting for you.’

  ‘Great,’ the Scotsman said sarcastically.

  On entering the room a tall slim man stood, wearing a very well-tailored suit spoke abruptly. ‘I would like some time with my client please.’

  ‘All in good time…’ Terry replied. ‘Mr O’Hara is officially under arrest though, at the moment, Mr O’Hara has not been formally charged and has been bought here for questioning.’ By this time all four men had sat down.

  ‘Please forgive me, I’m Mr Jarvis Davis-Smythe; I am Mr O’Hara’s lawyer and I will be representing Mr O’Hara during all following proceedings.’

  ‘I am DI James McFarland, and this is D.I.I.C. Terry Bane,’ The Scotsman announced. ‘We are the investigating officers in charge of the case of recent murders that have plagued our capital – the murders of Brian James, Hector Hylie, Conrad Michaels and Valerie Brent. We would like to ask Mr O’Hara if he knew anything about these murders.’