The Stalker's Song
Page 15
‘The question was, where were you?’ the DCI interjected.
‘I was here, at home. Ill. I was in bed for a whole week, hardly able to move. Must have picked up a bug.’
‘Did you see a doctor?’ asked DI Phillips.
‘No. I don’t bother much with doctors. It was flu. I knew it would just run its course.’ He leaned back against a wall and folded his arms. He didn’t invite the officers to sit.
‘Can anyone corroborate your whereabouts?’ asked the DCI.
‘Shouldn’t think so. I live by myself. Don’t have many visitors. I didn’t see anyone at all. Couldn’t even be bothered to answer the phone.’
‘Mind if we all sit?’ said the DCI pulling out a chair and taking a seat at a small, round dining table in the bay window.
After some hesitation, Harrison pulled out the chair opposite. Once they were all seated, the DCI continued.
‘How would you describe your relationship with your former wife, Mr. Harrison?’ he said, changing tack.
‘I don’t really have one. I never see her these days.’
‘Yet you went round to her house some months ago?’ the DCI asked, stroking his chin.
‘So?’ The insolent tone was back, the arms still folded.
‘Why would you do that, if you never see her?’
‘She’d lost her husband. She was in a bad way. I was worried about her.’ He spoke slowly, as though explaining something to a small child.
‘And did you see her?’
‘No. She didn’t want to see me. She told her stepdaughter to send me away.’
‘And how did that make you feel?’
‘Sad. Still worried for her. I only wanted to let her know I was here for her if she needed me.’
‘Weren’t you angry that she wouldn’t see you? Didn’t you feel small? Resentful?’ asked the DI, pushing his hair out of his eyes.
‘You need to get that hair cut,’ Harrison told him, insolently. ‘No, I didn’t feel small or resentful. Just sad for her.’
‘Why do you sit in your car in her street, watching her?’ DCI Brown asked. ‘You’ve been seen on a number of occasions.’
‘Look, I still care for her. From time to time, I like to have sight of her, to check that she’s ok. Alright?’
‘No, not alright, actually. That’s abnormal behaviour. Stalker’s behaviour.’
‘I don’t expect you to understand. But that’s just the way I am. I’m not stalking her. I don’t wish her any harm. The opposite. I just need to satisfy myself that she’s alright.’
‘You’re a former SAS man, aren’t you?’ asked the DCI.
‘What’s that got to do with anything?’ Harrison glared at the DCI.
‘When you were active, did you have access to forged documents? Or at least to contacts who provide such things?’
‘It’s years since I was in the SAS. I got involved in all sorts of covert activities. Protecting the likes of you. I don’t know where you’re coming from with this?’
‘Do you have access to forged passports?’ the DCI persisted, ignoring Harrison’s insolent tone.
Harrison raised his voice, banging both hands on the table, making it rattle. ‘Oh for fuck’s sake. You think I used a forged passport and travelled to Barbados to attack my wife? My former wife,’ he corrected himself. ‘Why on earth would I do that? I just live a few streets from her. Why the fuck would I need to go to Barbados? Why wouldn’t I just attack her here if that’s what I was about?’
‘Why indeed?’ asked the DCI.
‘This is bloody ridiculous. I’ve had enough of this. I’d like you to leave now.’ Harrison got to his feet. ‘Go on, fuck off.’
‘No problem, Mr Harrison, but we may need to speak to you again. If we do, it’ll be at the station next time. In any event, we’ll need a voluntary DNA swab from you. Do you have any objection to that?’
‘Yes, I fucking do. Knowing you lot, you’ll fit me up. I’m not giving any fucking sample. The door’s there.’
‘In that case, you’ll be one of our top suspects, Mr Harrison. We’ll see ourselves out. We’ll be in touch.’
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
Gayle came every day, as usual, then towards the end of the second week she spoke to us, in the sitting room away from the cameras. Linda was there, too.
‘The security people have just advised me that the floodlights have been disabled sometime today. Both of them. They were ok yesterday. We now think a further visit must be imminent.’
‘Oh shit.’ I said, a hollow feeling forming in the pit of my stomach.
‘We’re going to leave them out of action,’ Gayle told us, ‘and we’re putting two men actually inside the house from tonight, as well as a couple outside. I want you and Fiona to keep to your usual routine. Go off to bed at your normal time each night. If you hear anything, any noise or commotion, whatever you do, don’t come downstairs. We’ll call you when it’s safe to do so. Do you understand?’
‘Yes… but do you really think he’ll come?’ I asked. ‘Sorry, that’s a stupid question. Why else would he disable the lights?’
‘We’re pretty sure he will, but we don’t know when. I can’t think of any other reason for disabling the lights. He’ll wait a while, to make sure we don’t suspect anything. Try not to worry, and make sure you don’t mention anything anywhere he can see and hear you. You’ll both be safe, as long as you do as we say, and we’ll have someone with you all the time.’
Fiona looked at me. A look full of trepidation, no doubt matching my own, and I noticed Linda looked a bit taken aback and heard her questioning Gayle about what might happen.
‘Surely Carol doesn’t have to stay and endure this, if she doesn’t feel up to it? Couldn’t she and Fiona go to a hotel ‘til all this is over?’
‘If that’s what...’ began Gayle.
‘No,’ I interrupted. ‘I want to see this through. We’ll be fine, as long as the police are here. Won’t we, Fi?’ Although looking pale and apprehensive, Fiona agreed with me.
We spent the evening in a state of nervous apprehension, trying to act as normal as possible. After watching TV for a while, at about ten we moved into the sitting room where we had a nightcap and chatted about what we thought might happen. Would he come? Were we on the verge of finding out who attacked me?
Unsurprisingly, we found sleep hard to come by, nervously waiting to see what would happen, and jumping at every little night sound. Both too scared to sleep alone, Fiona was sharing my bed, and we found comfort in each other’s presence. The first night went by uneventfully and the security men left in the morning, saying they would return the next night. After six nights of this, nerves frayed to shreds, we were beginning to think it was all a mistake and he wasn’t going to come.
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
He decided to wait to see if his handiwork was discovered, listening and watching every day. When he didn’t hear any mention of it during his eavesdropping, he became confident his previous sojourn had gone unnoticed. However, his innate sense of caution told him to let some time go by before he took any further action.
A week passed, and with nothing to arouse his suspicions, he decided to act. It was around eleven and very dark when he entered the Dene. There was a half-moon sending weak light filtering through the densely packed trees, as he picked his way carefully along the narrow track, excited and exhilarated by what he was about to do. He intended to watch the house for a long time before breaking in through the side door, to make sure both the occupants were fast asleep. Piece of cake.
His determination to deal with Carol was stronger than ever. He wanted to subdue her, punish her, hear her whimper, see the fear in her eyes as he took her.
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
The strain of waiting was getting to us. By the seventh night, a sense of anti-climax was beginning creep in. Where was he? As I lay in bed beside Fiona, waiting for something to happen, I was gripped with the usual fe
ar, mixed with a growing sense of frustration, Why the fuck didn’t he just get it over and done with? My nerves couldn’t take much more.
‘I can’t let you face all this on your own,’ Pauline had said, aghast, when I filled her in on the situation. She’d volunteered to stay overnight with us, suggesting she came to the house every night, after work. Gayle vetoed the suggestion, wanting to contain the situation as tightly as possible. She felt a third person in the house would only complicate things, so Pauline had to be content with just having supper with us a couple of times, before going back to her own place.
On the seventh night, Fiona and I kept to our usual routine, as instructed. Going to bed at around eleven thirty, we chatted for a while after carrying out our ablutions, before putting the lights out. All was quiet and eventually I drifted off to sleep.
The sound of an almighty crash brought both of us bolt upright in bed. This was followed by the sound of furniture falling over and voices shouting, scuffling. I didn’t dare move or even put the light on. Fiona clung to me in fright. We held each other tightly, as the noises seemed to go on forever. Then a light was switched on downstairs and an officer came upstairs, knocked briefly, and put his head around the bedroom door.
‘Would you like to come down now, Miss?’
Before getting out of bed, I put the bedside light on. Fiona’s face probably mirrored mine – a mask of fear, pale skin and huge eyes. I reached for my dressing gown and Fiona did the same.
‘I’m so scared,’ I whispered. ‘Who’s going to be down there?’ My heart was thudding so violently I thought it would burst out of my chest. I was about to find out who had attacked me, and suddenly I was really terrified. For a moment I thought I was going to pass out and felt myself swaying.
‘Easy, Carol,’ Fiona held on to my arm. ‘You ok?’
I nodded. The moment had passed. My knees were shaking as I made my way slowly down the stairs, holding tightly to the banister. Fiona followed closely behind. As I descended, heart in my mouth, I could see several black-clad security men in the dining hall below. One of them was astride a man, who was lying face down on the wooden floor, hands pulled behind his back. As I watched, the police officer straddling him secured handcuffs on his wrists, then got to his feet.
‘Get up,’ he barked at the man on the floor, roughly grabbing him by his shoulders before hauling him upright. The intruder had his back to me and when he turned around I gasped in disbelief.
‘Saul?’ My hand flew to my mouth, which was open in astonishment. My voice came out an octave higher than usual.
‘Do you recognise this man?’ asked one of the black-clad officers.
‘Yes... it’s Saul,’ I whispered, then added ‘My ex-husband.’
Stunned, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. This wasn’t making any sense. Surely I would have known if it was Saul who had attacked me in Barbados? Surely I would have recognised his voice, would have remembered it was him? Wouldn’t I?
I looked at him and saw his face was blacked up, like a commando. He wouldn’t look at me. I screamed ‘What are you doing? What the fuck are you doing?’ He didn’t answer me, just kept his head down, staring at the floor and I heard one of the officers begin to read him his rights...
‘Saul Harrison, I am arresting you on suspicion of aggravated burglary. You do not have to say anything. But it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence.’ Again there was no response from Saul.
I screamed again, ‘Why Saul?’ I tried to reach him. I wanted to make him look at me and tell me what the hell he thought he was doing, but one of the officers held me back.
It was all so surreal. This couldn’t be happening. Two of the police grabbed an arm each and quickly bundled him out of the door to a waiting police car. The other two officers remained behind to brief us on what had happened.
Gayle arrived. ‘This is becoming a habit, rushing over here in the middle of the night,’ she said, trying unsuccessfully to lighten the mood a little.
It transpired that one of the officers, who was hiding in the Dene, had seen a black-clad figure climbing over the back fence just after half past one, and alerted his colleagues inside. It was decided to hold off making an arrest until the intruder had broken into the house. They heard the sound of splintering wood at the side of the house and realised he was gaining entry through the side door of the garage, after which he jemmied the door leading into the short passageway between the garage and the dining room. Between them, the two waiting officers had taken him down.
‘Gayle, I really can’t believe it was Saul who attacked me. I would have known. Surely I would have known?’ My voice was rising in anguish.
‘We don’t know for certain that it was him in Barbados. There’s no evidence of that at this stage. I gather, though, from transcripts of your interviews in Barbados that you thought he was stalking you in the past?’
‘I wouldn’t call it stalking. I know he sometimes parks in my street. But, I don’t think he wants to harm me. It’s hard for anyone who doesn’t know him to understand. He’s just an oddball. But I can’t believe he’d hurt me.’
‘Is that why he brought this along, then?’ asked one of the officers, holding up a large evidence bag containing a lethal-looking curved knife, like a small machete.
I looked closely at it. ‘My God. He had that?’ I was shocked.
‘I’m afraid so. Not something someone harmless would carry, in my book.’ He set his lips in a thin line.
Gayle steered me, and Fiona, into the sitting room. ‘Sit down, you two. You look like ghosts.’
I sank gratefully on to a settee. My mind was incapable of coherent thought. Nothing was making sense to me and I kept seeing the machete.
I became aware of Gayle’s voice. ‘We’ll get a warrant in the morning to search Saul Harrison’s house. If, in the course of that we find evidence that links him to Barbados, we’ll pass it to the Barbados police. We’ll inform them of what’s happened tonight. No doubt they’ll want to interview him again.’
One of the officers came out of the kitchen just then, carrying a tray holding mugs of steaming tea. Mine was laced with something strong, and I gratefully drank it, trying to stop my hands shaking enough to avoid scalding myself.
‘I’ve got a couple of people coming here,’ continued Gayle. ‘They should be here any minute, to secure the broken doors for tonight.’ She’d no sooner finished speaking, when two men arrived, carrying wood and bags of tools. In no time at all, and after much hammering, the temporary repairs were done.
‘Sweet dreams,’ quipped one of the men, as they left. ‘You’ll be safe now.’
Gayle had to leave, but said she’d be in touch in the morning with an update. One of the other officers was to stay with us until the morning, to give us some peace of mind, for which I was very grateful.
When the others had gone, I looked at Fiona, whose face looked almost as white as her dressing gown.
‘You look all in, Fi,’ I said, and she nodded, too drained to speak. We said goodnight to the security guy, who said he would sleep on the sofa; left all the mess and mugs and went up to bed. Fiona slept soundly, only waking up when the security man popped his head in at around eight in the morning to say he was leaving. I’d lain awake all night, in complete turmoil, my mind going over and over the events of the night and the attack in Barbados. I kept seeing that wicked-looking machete. I was trying to equate the voice I remembered with Saul’s voice. Saul’s was similar. Could it have been him? Jumbled thoughts went round and round in my head, until I must eventually fallen asleep in exhaustion.
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
Detective Superintendent Mike Jensen noted the physique of the man being manhandled into the custody suite, comparing it mentally with the description Carol Barrington had given of her assailant in Barbados. It wasn’t his case, of course, but he wondered.
‘Take him down,’ he told the Duty Sergeant, before turning to DCI Patsy Mayne. ‘Leave him alone for a while to reflect on things. Find out what you can about him. We’ll get a warrant in the morning to search his house and business premises. Are you taking Gayle into the interview?’
‘Yes, as FLO for Carol Barrington, I want her involved.’
The interview commenced. ‘Can you confirm, for the record, that you have declined legal representation?’ asked DCI Mayne.
He muttered assent, and DCI Mayne continued. ‘Would you please tell us why you broke into your former wife’s house in the early hours of this morning?’
There was no response.
‘Mr Harrison, would you please answer the question,’ she said, leaning over the desk towards him. ‘There’s nothing to be gained by staying silent.’
‘What’s the point? You won’t believe me. So, I might as well save my breath.’ Harrison sat back in his chair, and crossed his arms, nonchalantly looking up at the ceiling.
‘Try us,’ said DCI Mayne. Silence. ‘Look, stop messing about. Just explain why you broke into your former wife’s house, armed with a knife. It’s a simple enough question.’
Harrison took a deep breath, looked her in the eye, and said with a sigh, ‘I was following someone.’
‘Who?’
‘I saw this guy, in her street. He seemed to be watching Carol’s house, driving slowly past it. He turned into a side street, the cul de sac at the end of her road. It seemed a bit odd, so I followed him. He parked at the end of the cul de sac, got out of his car and went into the Dene on foot. I thought he was up to no good, so I followed him.’
‘Why did you think he was up to no good?’ asked the DCI.
‘He looked shifty. Just something about him.’