‘I thought you had nicked some people who had confessed – that’s what you said on the news.’ Greg was acting dumb, still playing his game and still thinking about Karen.
‘And where did you watch that particular news story?’ McFarland said pedantically.
‘Yes, you are right,’ Terry joined the conversation. ‘We want The Ultimate.’
‘Where were you on the night of Brian James’s murder?’ McFarland asked.
‘With my bird, all night… Karen Hogan,’ he grinned.
‘What about on the night of Hector Hylie’s murder?’
‘In the boozer with Lisa – you have her bloke, Martin, banged up for that anyway… You know, Martin Pringle!’
‘What about the night of Conrad Michael and Valerie Hope’s murder?’
‘At home, on my own,’ Greg smiled.
‘Do you use the internet, Greg?’ Terry asked.
‘Yeah, who doesn’t?’ he casually replied.
‘What do you use the internet for, Greg?’
‘My client does not have to answer that question,’ Greg’s lawyer smelled trouble.
‘I don’t mind answering that,’ Greg said, undermining his legal representative. ‘I look at all kinds of stuff on the information highway, I use it for email, and sometimes I use it to catch up on sport, now that’s not illegal, is it?’
‘We are carrying out a comprehensive search of your flat at this very moment. Our team have software technicians that can take a very detailed look at the hard drive on your PC and that will tell us exactly what you have been doing on the internet,’ Terry snapped back.
‘You knew Hector Hylie, didn’t you?’ McFarland said allowing his colleague time.
‘Yes, I did.’ A cocky note in his tone echoed. ‘We used to work together.’
‘What was your relationship with Hector?’
‘He drove the bin wagon. I never really spoke to him. We had nothing in common, it was a working relationship. Why?’
‘You had also met Mr and Mrs Brent.’
‘Fucking hell that was in a restaurant, they were having a barney and my bird told them to shut up. The geezer bought us a bottle of bubbly. His wife was a right bitch. Does that mean I killed her?’
‘That’s not what I asked you. I only stated that you had already met them.’
‘Where’s the hammer, Greg?’ Terry asked.
‘What hammer?’
‘The hammer that Sharon used on Brian.’
‘I don’t know what the fuck you two are on about.’ Greg looked at his lawyer. ‘Can I go now?’
‘No, you can’t go Greg, or maybe I should address you as “The Ultimate.”’
‘What? I’m not The Ultimate!’
‘Oh yes you are. Tell me, Greg, why did you phone me on Hector’s Mobile?’
Just then there was a knock on the door. An unwelcome distraction; Terry indicated to McFarland that he should find out who it was. The Scotsman opened the door and left the room.
‘I would like to carry on until my colleague returns, if that’s OK?’ Terry asked politely.
‘Why do you think it was me?’ Greg enquired, slouching back in his chair.
‘We’ve had a tip off. We have a receipt… a receipt that proves you made a purchase over the internet of a weapon used during your reign as The Ultimate.’
‘Prove it… you can say whatever you like. You’ve got nothing on me. OK, where did you get this, so called receipt from?’
‘Miss Karen Hogan… I believe you know this woman.’
Just then, the door flew open, and McFarland came marching in, taking large military like strides as he did.
‘I must insist…’ Greg’s lawyer announced.
‘We’ve got you, you little cocky sod!’ he said looking Greg straight in the face. ‘We’ve got you banged to rights; nailed to the wall!’
‘I must insist that you…’ Jarvis Davis-Smythe tried to intervene once again.
‘We have found some very interesting things on the hard drive of your PC, Greg,’ McFarland said, this time in a calmer tone. ‘We have also found some interesting things in your flat,’ He paused again, this time a smile formed on his face. ‘Oh nice van, didn’t know if the floor panel came as standard though, fantastic job, but not good enough!’ McFarland looked at Greg as if he was trying to taunt him.
‘You don’t have fuck all on me,’ Greg snarled.
‘Mr Gregory Jason O’Hara. I am arresting you for committing the crimes of kidnap – two counts, for holding people hostage – four counts, for threats of violence – twelve counts, for the purchase and supply of deadly weapons for the use of crimes against human life – seven counts, of the orchestration of four brutal murders and for one count of assault on a police officer. Anything you may say will be taken down and used in evidence against you, if you neglect to mention something that you later rely on as evidence, this will become omissible in a court of law. Do you understand the charges brought against you?’
‘Can my client and I have some time please? I think I need to talk to Mr O’Hara.’
‘Yes, I think you have a lot of talking to do with your client. We will allow you half an hour, then we’ll return. Is that enough time for you?’ McFarland was telling rather than asking – he knew that they had got their man. As both men left the room, a cheer could be heard from the corridor.
Chapter Forty-One
‘OK, what do we have?’ Chief Inspector Jasper Ward enquired.
‘Let’s have a look,’ McFarland answered.
‘He has looked at and printed off aerial maps of each of the crime scenes. The planning was fantastic,’ Terry smiled, looking at both men.
‘Moving on…’ Jasper Ward insisted.
‘He purchased the rubber suit from an online auction site. The mask was ordered from a specialist site based in the States, secondskin.com. The boots could have come from anywhere. OK, the hammer that we still haven’t been able to recover doesn’t really matter too much. We need to trace where those tablets came from, they’re used to knock horses out, he was lucky not to have killed Karen. The embalming fluid was bought from a taxidermy wholesaler, taxidermydiy.com. We have recovered some of the packaging from the taser gun, though all the information for this item and another, a mechanical lock pick, which I must add was recovered from his van, are on his hard drive.’
‘OK, you two had better go and see what he has to say for himself. Try to play it cool. We have the bastard and he’s not going anywhere without our say so. Great job guys, I’ll be watching from behind the glass.’
The two men walked back in to the interview room where Greg and his solicitor were still deep in conversation. Placing a number of bags on a separate table the two detectives sat down.
‘Before we begin, I’d like to point out that Mr O’Hara has decided that he no longer wishes to employ my services, so therefore I’d like to remove myself from this room.’
‘Mr O’Hara is there anybody else you’d like us to call in regards to your legal representation?’ Terry asked.
‘No, I’ll be OK.’
The four became three.
‘We would like to be upfront and open with you, Greg.’ Terry spoke with sincerity in his tone. ‘We have a mountain of evidence; there really is no use in denying your involvement with these crimes for which you have been arrested for and formally charged.’
Greg looked at Terry, was trying to weigh him up.
‘You are The Ultimate!’ Terry stated.
‘Tell me why you decided to stop reporting the news and go back to being a detective.’
‘They needed someone to catch you and they thought I was the man for the job, and look what we have here… success. I have The Ultimate,’ Terry said, pointing at Greg.
‘Is the money better?’ Greg continued. ‘It can’t be the hours, Natalie has gone to her mother’s, which I bet that didn’t go down too well.’ This was said purely for effect.
‘You seem to know a lot about other people, why
’s that?’ McFarland asked.
‘Are you proud to be Scottish, James?’
‘Why are you so interested in us?’ Terry asked.
‘I want to understand how the minds of two great men work, the two great men that brought me in to custody. Hector liked men too,’ Greg said, looking at McFarland. ‘There’s no shame really… is there James?’ Greg wanted to taunt the Scotsman.
‘Why did you select Brian as the first?’ Terry was trying to get Greg to start from the beginning.
‘Have I hit a nerve with Hector, James?’ Choosing to ignore the question, Greg was controlling the route of the interview, continuously interrupting their line of enquiry.
‘OK, let’s talk about Hector.’ McFarland thought that they had to start somewhere.
‘Brian selected himself, Terry. I was only helping those free themselves from the hell that they were trapped in, ridding society of the scum and shit that we allow to breed!’ He looked at Terry, ‘You’ve been there Terry, when your marriage broke down you were thrown into the gutter and it was only this man that helped you, everyone else cast you aside. They thought you belonged in the gutter, like scum, they thought of you as scum. But, it was James who helped you, stood by you.’
‘I need to understand what exactly happened, Greg, and why.’ Terry had begun to find Greg fascinating.
‘You know a hell of a lot for a road sweeper,’ McFarland was getting impatient.
‘It’s called research, James. That is how you catch criminals, or hasn’t anyone told you that?’ he sarcastically told the detective. ‘You got lucky…’
‘You worried so much about the detail, that you lost focus of the bigger picture. You led us to you Greg, so for that, I thank you. Your research led us to you,’ McFarland said, trying to get even.
‘Tell me, detective, how did you catch me?’ Greg leant forward in his chair, placing the palms of his hands on the table, the coolness of the table top was welcomed.
‘First, you must tell us how you selected these people and why they had to die in such adverse ways?’
‘They all selected themselves. James, Brian and Valerie didn’t die in adverse ways. Brent was the person who decided how Valerie and Conrad would meet their demise. I didn’t order any of the killings; I didn’t threaten anyone… well, not directly.’
‘What about Julian Jones?’ McFarland asked.
‘Who’s Julian Jones?’
‘The man present when you abducted Hector.’
‘The queer I caught Hector shagging? I didn’t threaten him, I didn’t even touch him!’
‘You told him to, “fuck off before I change my mind”. Do you remember saying that?’
‘Yeah, though that’s not a threat, it’s a statement. It was free advice, I gave him a choice; stay or leave. He chose to leave.’
‘What’s the speech you give about choice?’ Terry asked.
‘It’s only for those that have decided they are for selection, Terry. It’s only the chosen that get to hear that. You never know, you might get your turn one day, James.’
‘That will be a long way away Greg. You’re going to be locked up for years,’ McFarland giggled.
‘Let’s see what will be. How did you catch me?’
‘Where did you get the idea for Hector’s death?’ McFarland asked.
‘I didn’t order Martin to kill Hector, I offered him a number of choices and he made his own choice,’ Greg smiled, ‘I didn’t threaten either man.’
‘You forced Hector to swallow the key to the handcuff around Martin’s ankle and then filled him with embalming fluid and glued a bottle to his anus!’ McFarland said in disgust.
‘I still never ordered the murder of any of these people!’ he calmly replied, ‘I simply provided them with the ability to make a life-changing choice.’
‘You are sick!’ McFarland said, unable to control his emotions.
‘Take a look at the real world, James. I’m the sane one, it’s the majority who are sick. We allow the perverted to breed, we allow the sick-minded to quench their perverted hunger, their lust, their desires… we allow them to do this without question. Brian would go to the pub, night after night and then go home and beat the shit out of Sharon and then, if she was lucky, he’d rape her for good measure! That’s fucking sick!’ He Looked at McFarland. ‘Hector, this one’s even better. Hector would go out on a Friday night, pick up a queer man, take him around the back of the pub for some unprotected buggery and, once he’d finished, he would give them a couple of slaps, then he would go home and force his wife to have unprotected sex with him. He wouldn’t wash himself between sexual acts. Hector also used to beat his wife!’ He looked at Terry and begun nodding his head. ‘I’ve done society a fucking favour. I orchestrated the freedom of these people… the self-selected, were only looking for a way out, an escape.’
‘If you didn’t, then who did?’ Terry snapped.
‘They did, they put themselves forward for selection. They chose me, I didn’t choose them. I could see it in their eyes, looking in to the windows of their souls. They all had an evil foundation which they needed to be removed. I couldn’t allow them to continue. Brian wanted to be cleansed. Hector wanted to be freed and Valerie needed a way out,’ Greg paused, giving a sympathetic look. ‘There are more people in our capital who need my help, who need the help of people like me to give them the power to change their lives. No, I’m not insane, just on a crusade to clean and rid our streets of this scum.’
The two detectives were stunned by Greg’s outburst. McFarland looked at the mirror on the wall for guidance, or some kind of inspiration, knowing that his boss was watching and listening to everything from behind it.
Terry sat forward, ‘What about Conrad and Valerie?’ he asked.
‘I thought that was obvious,’ the prisoner replied.
‘Help us out here,’ Terry smiled.
‘She was having an affair. Conrad had been responsible for the break up of a number of marriages before this one. Valerie was just one in a long line for Conrad. She was only gold-digging her husband, and Conrad was gold-digging her. If you’ll pardon the pun. Let no man put asunder the love that another man has found. Conrad was an evil catalyst; he had to be held accountable… Brent had to be his judge and jury…’
‘How did you decide the way these people would murder their victims?’
‘I didn’t. I simply supplied them with the option to choose.’
‘Greg you are so young. You had your whole life ahead of you… Why?’
‘I’ve already told you why. How did you catch me?’ Greg insisted on knowing.
‘You made two massive mistakes,’ Terry answered, ‘the chinks in your armour were your girlfriend and your PC.’
‘What’s Karen got to do with this?’
‘She was the one person who linked you to The Ultimate. She found a receipt you had left lying about.’ He paused. ‘You could have killed her when you drugged her with those sleeping tablets. Do you know what those tablets are used for?’
‘I knew what I was doing,’ Greg smiled, ‘I knew what amount would be safe to prescribe.’
‘Those tablets you used to drug Karen with are used for knocking horses out, for putting horses to sleep, not humans.’
‘I knew exactly what I was doing. Karen, fucking what?’
‘It was Karen who came to us, it was Karen who was suspicious of you, it was Karen who told us about the embalming fluid she found under your kitchen sink, the leaflet thanking you for your recent purchases, one of those being the taser gun used to electrocute Conrad. Did you honestly think that we wouldn’t have caught you eventually?’ the Scottish detective asked.
‘No, I didn’t think you would have, not this quick anyway, I thought that I was being that careful, you wouldn’t believe the planning.’
‘The hard drive on your PC will tell us everything we need to know,’ Terry said smugly.
A knock on the door interrupted the cosy conversation that the three men had be
gun to enjoy. As the door opened, the tall figure of Jasper Ward emerged.
‘Men…’ he began, ‘thought I’d share this with all of you, Mr Brent Hope was found hanging in his cell less than an hour ago, and all attempts to resuscitate failed. Mr Brent Hope was pronounced dead ten minutes ago. Mr O’Hara. I hope you are pleased with your accomplishments.’
‘He made his choice; he was never forced to do anything that he didn’t want to do.’ Greg smiled at the tall man, ‘Just another casualty.’
‘You have chosen to force others to take lives,’ the tall man barked.
‘It is wrong of you to assume that. I offered them all choice, and they chose. Haven’t you been listening from behind that mirror?’ He pointed to a large mirror on the wall. ‘They chose their own destiny, I made it available and that is my only crime. My only crime is offering people the opportunity to free themselves from their shitty lives. Setting people free that is all I’ve done,’ he told the three detectives.
The three men looked at each other in disbelief, Greg was actually right, well, in a manner of speaking. He was very calculated with the choice of his words. During all the murders he had not instructed any killing. He had only offered choice.
‘Time for you to go to your cell, Greg,’ Terry told him.
The three men sat in the office drinking brandy from coffee cups. Not knowing what to say to each other. They were shocked by the way Greg had described his motivation for what he had orchestrated. It was clear that he showed no remorse, he described himself as doing the public a favour. They also remembered Hector’s widow had quickly forgiven her brother because all he had done was to free her from the hell of a life she shared with Hector. She knew her children would now be spared from the beatings that she had endured. She no longer dreaded Friday nights.
Chapter Forty-Two
The Ultimate Selection: Be Careful Who You Talk To Page 24