by Sally Rigby
Had she put George on the spot? She should have asked if she had any more insights beforehand. George didn’t look perturbed, though, as she stepped forward and leaned against the desk.
‘Now we know about the victim swallowing his own body parts, it confirms my view it’s personal. I’d say the victim definitely knew the murderer. We’re awaiting confirmation as to whether the victim was sedated, but it seems likely. The murderer would need to be strong enough to move the body. However, the obvious sexual component would indicate the perpetrator is likely to be a woman. In terms of the investigation, it’s definitely worth looking into his private life to see whether he had affairs. Had he scorned someone? Was anyone stalking him? I’m not totally discounting the murderer being male. It could be the work of a jealous husband.’
‘So basically, it could be anybody,’ Frank said.
‘Profiling isn’t an exact science. We use the information to help steer the investigation,’ George said.
‘What about his wife?’ Ellie asked.
‘I checked, and she was at the museum on Wednesday and art gallery Thursday afternoon, as she claimed,’ Doug said. ‘The neighbour also confirmed seeing her on Thursday evening around six-thirty when she was walking the dog. He saw her return about an hour later. Do we have a time of death?’
‘Between six and ten pm on Thursday,’ Whitney said.
‘Which puts her in the clear,’ Doug said.
‘Possibly. She’s still a person of interest, until we know for sure.’
Whitney wasn’t convinced Diana had anything to do with her husband’s death, but she wasn’t prepared to dismiss her involvement just yet.
‘Do you think this is a one-off?’ Matt asked.
‘It’s hard to be certain. The only way we’ll know is if we find another body. At the moment, I suspect it might be a single incident,’ George said.
‘Thanks, George. Matt, what did you turn up at his workplace?’
‘I got the name of the company he used to drive him to London and to his appointments. I’m going out to interview the driver later when he gets in from his current run. I also spoke to Atkins’ personal assistant regarding his schedule, and he didn’t have any meetings yesterday or today as he’d taken two days of annual leave. So, he only used the driver on Wednesday.’
‘Go back to his office and find out what he was like socially. Was he having an affair, or had affairs? Anything non-work related you can dig up. Also, ask them to check if his phone is there. We need to find it. Ellie, do we know when he last used it?’
‘It pinged the tower by the Imperial Hotel near Leicester. I’m going to call them to see if they have any record of him staying there.’
‘If he did go to Leicester, how did he get there? Check his credit card and see if he went by train.’
‘I’ll do that first and then contact the hotel,’ Ellie said.
‘Okay, let’s plot the sequence of events. The victim goes to London for appointments. He takes two days of leave, yesterday and today, which his wife doesn’t know about. He goes to a hotel sixty miles away from home, which implies he was going to meet someone. I’m guessing the hotel will be somewhere small and of out the way, where he’s not going to be spotted. We’ll know soon enough and—’
The phone on her desk rang.
‘Walker.’
‘It’s Mac. We’ve found an app on the laptop you brought in which you’ll be interested in.’ Whitney listened before asking him to forward the information.
She finished the call and smiled at everyone. ‘It looks like we’re getting somewhere. It seems our victim used SnapMate. It’s a site where teens hang out, and he’s been chatting with young girls. He goes by the name Billy.’
‘Grooming them?’ George asked.
‘We’ll need to look at the content of the messages, but it’s certainly pointing that way.’ Whitney shook her head. People who preyed on young children made her sick to her stomach.
‘If we’re right, it places a different emphasis on who we’re looking for. It could be a girl he was grooming and maybe met. It could be the parents of the girl he was grooming who found out. It seems likely, considering the nature of the crime, that his activities had something to do with it,’ George said.
‘Okay, everyone, get on with the tasks you have. I’m going back to see the wife, but not without a search warrant. I’ll get onto it straight away. Priority now is finding his phone.’
'Once his laptop is returned to us, we can check if the two devices are linked,’ Ellie said.
‘How will that help?’ she asked.
‘If we can’t find his phone and they are linked, we should be able to access all his apps and anything on there without it.’
Whitney shook her head. She wasn’t that old, but this techie stuff was definitely passing her by.
Once the search warrant came through, Whitney and a forensics team went back to the Atkins’ house. Diana answered the buzzer, as it was after four and Isobel had gone home. They drove up the long drive and parked. She already had the door open waiting for them.
‘I didn’t expect to see you back here. I thought you were going to phone and let me know about identifying Russell,’ she said as Whitney walked up the steps.
‘New information has come to light, and we have a warrant to search the house.’
‘What information?’ Diana frowned.
‘While the team are here, we’ll go to make the formal identification, and then we can go to the station and discuss everything,’ Whitney said, deliberately ignoring the question, as she hadn’t yet decided how much they would divulge to her.
‘Do they have to search the whole house? Will they make a mess?’ Diana asked.
‘They’ll be very careful and will ensure to tidy up behind them. Obviously, it’s not going to be as spotless as it is at the moment.’
Diana leaned against the wall, resting her chin in her hand. Her eyes were glassy with tears. It was the first time she’d displayed any real emotion. ‘Do you want us to leave now?’ she asked.
‘Yes.’
‘Can I bring my own car?’
‘Are you sure you’re up to it?’ Whitney asked gently.
‘I’ll be fine. I need to stop at the supermarket on the way back.’
It was like the earlier display of emotion had been returned to its box, and she was back to being brave. Whitney would have to check with George whether it was the way the county-set usually behaved.
She felt sorry for the woman, because once her husband’s predilections were known, she doubted anyone would be on her side. It was tough.
They left the house and headed in convoy to the morgue. On the way, Whitney phoned Claire to let her know they were coming and told the pathologist Diana didn’t know the circumstances surrounding the death. When they walked into the lab, Claire was sitting at her desk.
‘Hello, Claire. This is Mrs Atkins,’ Whitney said.
‘We can do this one of two ways,’ Claire said. ‘I can show you photographs, or you can view the actual body.’
Diana Atkins looked first at Whitney and then Claire. She sucked in a loud breath. ‘I want to see his body.’
The pathologist nodded, and they followed her into a room off the main lab area. Whitney and Diana stood behind a glass partition through which they could see the body on a table, covered with a sheet. Claire went back into the lab and over to the body.
‘I’m sorry we have to put you through this. But we need a formal identification,’ Whitney said as she nodded at Claire to get on with the process.
The pathologist lifted back the sheet covering the body, only revealing his head, which looked normal. Diana gasped and wobbled on her feet. Whitney took hold of her arm.
‘Is this your husband, Russell Atkins?’ she asked.
‘Yes, it is.’ The woman’s voice cracked.
Claire covered the face with the sheet and came back to the side room.
Whitney turned to Diana, who stood upright,
her face drained of colour. ‘Would you like a glass of water?’
‘No, thank you. I’m fine. It was just a shock to see him lying there so still and lifeless.’
‘I understand. But at least it’s over with now.’ She turned to Claire. ‘Thank you for your time. We’ll be going now.’
After leaving the morgue, they drove straight to the station, and once back there Whitney took Diana into one of the interview rooms.
‘I’ll arrange for some coffee,’ she said, leaving the woman alone.
Whitney wanted George with her and hoped she hadn’t already left. She was in luck, as when she entered the incident room, she found George sitting at the desk beside Ellie’s.
‘I expected you to have left and gone to work,’ she said.
‘I caught up on my emails here and decided to stay in case you needed me.’
‘Great. I’ve got Diana Atkins downstairs. She’s identified the body. Now I want to inform her about the exact nature of his death.’
‘Are you going to tell her about SnapMate?’
‘Yes, as I’d like you to scrutinise her reactions.’ Telling her everything could be viewed as a risky move, but it would be out soon enough in the media.
Carrying a tray with three coffees, Whitney and George went back into the interview room.
‘I’ve brought Dr Cavendish with me,’ she said, handing out the drinks.
The woman nodded in George’s direction.
‘You haven’t told me how Russell died. I couldn’t tell when I identified him,’ Diana said.
‘He was suffocated, after his body was mutilated.’
Diana’s eyes widened. ‘Mutilated? How?’
She sucked in a breath, bracing herself for delivering the news.
‘There’s no easy way to say this. When we found Russell’s body, he’d had his genitals removed.’
Shock etched itself across the woman’s face, and she remained silent for a while.
‘Why? Who would do something like that?’ she finally asked.
‘We believe the murderer was sending a message.’
‘What sort of message?’
‘After examining Russell’s laptop, our digital forensics team discovered he’d been active on SnapMate, a site for teens. We believe it’s related to that.’
Diana’s face paled. ‘A site for teens,’ she repeated. ‘What does that mean, exactly?’
Whitney exchanged glances with George, nodding for her to explain.
‘Men go onto these sites in order to meet young children. They’ll pretend to be a teenage boy or girl and make friends with them. Once they’ve gained their trust and friendship, they may suggest exchanging photos of an intimate nature. Something they wouldn’t want others to see. This is what we call grooming. Often during the grooming process, the child is persuaded not to trust, or to be wary of, their friends and family. The aim is to isolate them and make them totally dependent on their new “friend”. After a while, they may arrange to meet in person. Only then will the child find out they haven’t developed a relationship with someone their age. It’s not unusual for the older person to use the photographs as blackmail to coerce the child into having sex.’
‘And you believe that’s what Russell was doing?’ Diana Atkins asked, her voice shaky.
‘We’re unsure how far his involvement went,’ George said. ‘This is what we’re looking to find out. It’s still the early stages of the investigation.’
‘It would really help if you can let us know anything about his behaviour which you believe might be relevant,’ Whitney added.
‘Yes, of course.’ The woman’s hands were resting on the table, but there was no mistaking the tremor. ‘I need to think about it. Do you need me for anything else?’
‘Not at the moment. Will you be okay to drive, or would you like one of my officers to drive you back in your car?’ she asked.
‘I’ll be fine, thank you.’ Diana gave a weak smile.
‘If you need anything, let me know. I’ll keep you informed of the investigation.’
‘Will it be on the news?’ the woman asked.
‘We haven’t yet announced it to the press, but once we do, then yes. It will be.’
‘Will you tell them everything? About him being… being…’
‘Initially we’ll only report the circumstances surrounding the death in broad terms, but it may come out in the future,’ Whitney said, fully aware what she meant.
‘To be expected.’ She shook her head. ‘If it’s okay, I’m going to head home.’
‘Of course. And remember, you can contact me anytime, if you want to.’
Whitney escorted her to the back of the station and out into the car park. The woman’s life had been totally destroyed. It just went to show, having plenty of money meant shit. Diana Atkins’ world had been changed forever. She’d always be known as the paedophile’s wife, and no money could change that. Would she move away from Lenchester and back to where she came from? Whitney would, if it was her.
‘Thank you. I appreciate your help.’ Diana held out her hand and Whitney shook it.
Chapter Eight
‘Matt, you’re with me. We’re off to Leicester to the hotel where Russell Atkins checked in on Thursday,’ Whitney said when she walked into the station on Saturday morning. ‘He left his phone there.’
‘Guv, before you go, I’ve got a lead on one of the girls he’d been talking to on SnapMate. Her name’s Rebecca Church, and she lives in a village near Market Harborough. She’s fifteen,’ Ellie said.
‘Text me her details. After we’ve been to the hotel, we’ll go to her house to interview her. We’ll need to get permission from her parents first. Contact them and let them know we’ll be there later. Hopefully they’ll be around, as it’s Saturday. Good work, Ellie.’
Ellie blushed a little and smiled. Whitney was lucky to have her on the team. Her research skills were phenomenal. If anyone was going to find something, and find it quickly, Ellie would be the one.
They drove the sixty miles to Leicester in just under an hour. Coming off the motorway, they headed into a village called Orton, where the hotel was situated. It was a typical country hotel. Stone building, with ivy growing up the walls, set in beautiful grounds. It was very peaceful.
They walked into the hotel and approached the reception desk.
‘DCI Walker and DS Price to see the manager,’ Whitney said to the receptionist, an older woman wearing a navy jacket with the name of the hotel embroidered on it.
‘I’ll get her for you.’
The reception area had wood panelling on the walls, low beams, and an open fireplace which had seats and coffee tables facing it. She could imagine staying there on holiday. It seemed very relaxing.
‘DCI Walker?’
Whitney turned at the sound of her name, and a young woman approached.
‘You must be the manager,’ Whitney said.
‘Yes, I’m Eloise Graham. I understand you’re here about one of our guests.’
‘Do you have somewhere more private we can go?’
‘We can talk in my office. Follow me.’
They walked around the back of reception into a small office which had a desk facing the window and three easy chairs placed around a small dark-wood coffee table. They all sat down.
‘We’re interested in Mr Russell Atkins, who was booked in to stay with you for Thursday and Friday night.’
‘Yes, I know Mr Atkins.’
‘What can you tell us about him?’
‘He’s stayed with us several times in the past, though not for a few months. This time he was booked in to stay for two nights, but we don’t think he actually slept here on either of them.’
‘What makes you say that?’ Whitney asked.
‘His bed hadn’t been touched. When he didn’t check out at ten and didn’t answer the internal phone, we opened his room and went in. We found his phone and a small travel bag in his room. But no key. He must still have it.’
> ‘Did you try to contact him?’
‘We couldn’t, because the only number we had was his mobile. I was hoping he’d get in touch.’
‘Unfortunately, he won’t be. We found Mr Atkins’ body yesterday morning in Lenchester.’
The manager’s jaw dropped. ‘He’s dead?’
Whitney nodded. ‘We’d like to look at the room and will take his phone and belongings. Was anyone with him when he checked in?’
‘He always checked in alone, and this time was no exception. On occasion, he did bring someone back later in the evening, but they’d gone before reception opened in the morning.’
‘And that’s acceptable to the hotel, is it?’ Whitney asked.
‘The room rate is for two people, so if he wants to bring someone back, it’s nothing to do with us,’ the manager said.
‘We’d like to speak to any of your staff who might have seen him with an evening guest.’
‘You need our night porter. Once reception closes at nine, he’s the only one on duty. He’ll be here from seven this evening. Mr Atkins’ phone and suitcase are in our lost property area. We packed his toiletries bag and clothes and put them in the case. He didn’t have much. I’ll take you to his room now. You can collect his belongings from me once you’ve finished.’
‘Thank you.’
They followed her up the wide wooden stairs until they reached the first floor. They turned left and walked along the corridor, stopping at room six.
‘The room’s already been cleaned because we’re expecting another guest this evening.’
‘Did you change the bed linen, even though it appeared he hadn’t slept on it?’
‘We change everything, just in case. Some people can make up a bed so it looks unused.’
‘Do you still have the linen?’ Whitney asked.
‘Yes, but we can’t identify which it is. Once it’s removed, the cleaners put it in bags for the laundry service to collect.’ Eloise glanced at her watch. ‘In fact, I believe it’s already gone. They come every other day, and today’s the day. I’ll leave you to it, as I’ve got a ton of paperwork to do.’