The Stalker's Song

by Georgia Brown

  CHAPTER SEVENTY-SEVEN

  Gayle followed Patsy into her office. ‘This is the last thing I expected. It’s surreal.’ she said.

  ‘Interpol won’t be wrong,’ said Patsy. ‘There’s virtually nil chance of it being a mistake. Let’s assume it’s him, and look at how he could have done it.’

  ‘So,’ Gayle hypothesised, ‘he has to have found somebody else, same build, same hair, similar features. How likely is that? Then he would have had to kill him by poking a stick into his eye. His car was well hidden, so maybe he banked on the body being a bit decomposed before being found, to make identification more difficult. I know I wasn’t absolutely certain it was him, with all the maggot activity.’

  ‘But his brother had no doubt at all?’ Patsy raised her eyebrows.

  ‘Rob Wilkinson’s already doing time for giving Green a false alibi, in the case I was working on in London. And we know he pretended to be Green, when Tim Lawrenson went to the flat. He’s proved he can be bought.’

  ‘Let’s start with him. We’ll go to London by car in the morning. I’ll pick you up at six? I’m afraid you were right about your weekend being up the spout,’ Patsy laughed. ‘After we’ve seen him, we’ll go straight out to Dallas. Leave the car at Heathrow.’

  ‘Never been to Dallas before,’ said Gayle. ‘Hope we can make time to do some sightseeing.’

  ‘The only sight you’ll be seeing is Justin Green’s evil face.’

  ‘Something’s just occurred to me, Patsy. Green’s hair was almost military, once he’d had it cropped. On the road to Kielder, from Yorkshire, he would pass Catterick garrison. Could he have picked up a soldier on the way, maybe hitch-hiking back to base? Could be, that put the idea into his head to substitute his body for his own?’

  ‘It’s a possibility. He had to find him somewhere. We’ll check with Catterick. I’m also wondering how he got away from Kielder? It would be quite a walk to get to civilisation. Did he steal a car? We need to check if any were stolen in the area at that time. I’ll get a few of the team to start digging.’

  ‘Just one other thing,’ Gayle added. ‘We need to check if DNA was taken from the body when the PM was done. And, if so, was it compared to Green’s known DNA?’ She went on to suggest the answer to her own question. ‘I don’t suppose there was any need to make a comparison, as there didn’t appear to be any doubt about the identification of the corpse.’

  ‘There’s a lot to check out, Gayle. See you at six.’

  Sleep wouldn’t come to Gayle. She tossed and turned all night, thinking things through. Trying to work things out. She found it hard to believe that Justin Green was still alive, but she had to accept that he was. Bleary-eyed and looking far from her best, she tried to look alert when Patsy collected her on the dot of six. However, Patsy’s first words when she saw her, ‘God, you look rough Gayle,’ told her that her attempt had failed.

  They were on their way to Belmarsh Category A Prison in Thamesmead, South East London where Rob Wilkinson was serving eight years for perverting the course of justice. The previous year, once Wilkinson had identified his half-brother’s body, the Met was informed that he must have lied when he gave an alibi for him five years earlier. The DNA taken from the crime scene in the cottage in Yorkshire, matched that taken from the earlier crime scene in London. Rob Wilkinson was interviewed and, before long, confessed to giving a false alibi. In mitigation, he told the court that he did not know his brother had committed a crime. His brother had told him that on the night in question, he had drunk a lot of whisky at home, and passed out. To avoid becoming a suspect, Justin Green had asked his half-brother to give him the alibi, and Wilkinson had agreed. The judge, whilst taking into account the mitigation put forward, nevertheless took a stern view of the offence. By giving a false alibi, Wilkinson had enabled a murderer to remain free to murder again.

  The drive down was fairly uneventful; for once, traffic was light and with no hold-ups, they reached Belmarsh just before noon. They went through the usual prison security procedures before being shown to a small interview room in House Block One, which housed prisoners serving one year or over.

  ‘Hello, Rob.’ Patsy said, once the prisoner had been shown into the small, bare room, and seated opposite them on the other side of the desk, in the middle of the room. ‘I’m DCI Mayne, and I think you already know DI Jones?’

  Without waiting for a response, the DCI got down to business. ‘Can you tell us why you identified the body found in Kielder Forest as your half-brother Justin Green?’ she asked.

  Rob blustered. ‘What do you mean? It was my half-brother.’

  Patsy changed tack. ‘We’d like to take a look at your bank accounts, Rob. Would you have any objection to that?’

  ‘Why..? I mean where are you coming from with all this?’

  Patsy put the photograph of Green on the desk in front of Wilkinson. ‘Is this your brother?’ she asked, quietly.

  He looked at the photograph, then back at the DCI. ‘Yes, where did you get that?’

  ‘It was taken just a week ago.’

  Rob visibly paled, then blustered. ‘It can’t have been. You know he’s been dead for more than two years.’

  ‘But that’s just it, Rob,’ said Gayle. ‘He isn’t dead. And you know it. Why did you lie? Did he pay you? Will we find a large sum of money sitting in your bank account?’

  Following more denials, Rob eventually caved in, surprisingly easily, and it became clear why, later on when his secret bank account was accessed. He confessed he’d received a phone call from his half-brother, the day after the abduction of Carol Barrington and Pauline Bradley, and in return for three hundred thousand pounds, had agreed to identify the body as Justin Green, should it be discovered.

  ‘Who was it you cremated?’ Patsy demanded.

  ‘It was a soldier he’d given a lift to. That’s all I know.’

  ‘Do you have a name?’ Gayle asked.

  ‘No, I just know he was a soldier he picked up on the road. It wasn’t planned. Justin said it was sheer coincidence that they looked alike.’

  ‘Your brother stabbed a sharp object into that soldier’s eye, to replicate his own injury. I hope you’re proud of yourself, shielding scum like that. You’re as bad as he is. You’re going to get a hefty term added to your current eight years. You won’t be out for a very long time.’

  Rob lowered his head for a few seconds, then looked up and asked, ‘Where is he now? Where did you get the photograph?’

  ‘He’s in prison in Dallas, Texas, charged with the rape and murder of a young woman. They have the death penalty in that State, just in case you didn’t know.’ Gayle took delight in telling him.

  There was no response from Rob, who buried his head in his hands.

  ‘He’s probably working out how he can get his hands on his brother’s fortune.’ remarked Gayle as they left.

  CHAPTER SEVENTY-EIGHT

  Gayle and Patsy were seated at the square, metal table, waiting for Justin Green to be brought into the interview room. Gayle looked around the small, bare room, noting that the furniture, such as it was, was screwed securely to the floor, and the one, small window located high on the wall, heavily barred.

  The door was flung open, and Green, dressed in an orange jumpsuit, was brought in by a stern-faced guard, who pushed him into the chair on the opposite side of the table. The guard unlocked the handcuffs holding the prisoner’s hands behind his back, before taking up his place, against the door.

  ‘I’m DCI Mayne and I think you’ve met DI Jones?’ began Patsy. ‘We’d like to ask you some questions about your activities in the UK.’

  ‘DI Jones? Ah, yes, I remember you. In London. So that’s how you knew my real name – it’s all falling into place now. You weren’t a DI then, just a little rookie. You’re obviously going up in the world.’

  ‘We know you paid your brother to ID the body, Justin,’ said Gayle.

  ‘A master stroke, don�
��t you think, Gayle? I always fancied you, you know? When you were just a new little DC, so young and innocent.’

  ‘We have evidence that you attacked and killed your student, seven years ago. We have evidence you killed Peter Barrington and Pauline Bradley. We have evidence that you stalked, abducted and attacked Carol Barrington. Who was the man whose body you left in the car, Justin? Your brother tells us it was a soldier.’

  ‘Have you come all this way just to get his name, ladies? What a wasted journey. I didn’t need to know his name, I just needed his body,’ he laughed. ‘I threw his papers in a bin.’

  ‘And you stabbed him in the eye, to make us think it was you,’ stated the DCI.

  ‘Ingenious, wasn’t it?’ he laughed again. ‘It worked. If I hadn’t been caught over here, you would never have known I’m still alive.’

  ‘Yes, well hopefully not for much longer, Mr Green.’ said the DCI.

  ‘Just out of interest, Justin,’ began Gayle, ‘how did you overpower him? He was the same build as you, and fit.’

  ‘Ha ha. Wouldn’t you like to know.’ he said, touching his nose. You’ll just have to work that one out for yourself.’ He sat back, looking smug.

  ‘And how did you get away from Kielder? Out of the forest?’

  ‘Oh come on. Ask some intelligent questions, ladies,’ he said, rolling his eyes in mock exasperation. ‘Haven’t you heard of such a thing as a bike?’

  ‘We must inform you, Mr Green, that unless, by any chance, you are acquitted here in Dallas, we won’t be asking for your extradition,’ said the DCI. ‘We’re happy for you to be tried, and hopefully executed, over here. Interview terminated four fifteen pm.’

  CHAPTER SEVENTY-NINE

  I was very pleased to see Gayle at the door, surprised too. It had been a long time. I invited her in and, after a few pleasantries, she suggested we sit down.

  ‘I have some news for you,’ she said.

  I searched her face, wondering what news she could have. I wasn’t prepared for her bombshell.

  ‘Justin Green is still alive.’

  I felt as though she’d just thrown a jug of icy water in my face. My head jerked back in shock. ‘What..? But... he can’t be... How?’ I was stunned, unable to string a sentence together. Shaken and upset, I felt the horror flooding back, as a wave of anguish washed over me.

  ‘Just sit quietly for a minute. I know it’s a shock. It was to me, too.’

  Gayle told me everything, from the Chief Super receiving the phone call from Dalllas, to her interview with Justin Green in his cell. Once my brain had accepted that he was still alive, I was filled with conflicting emotions. I didn’t yet feel any immediate relief to know that I hadn’t killed him after all, but hoped that as the knowledge seeped into my psyche, my nightmares would stop. The knowledge that he was likely to end up on Death Row was comforting and calmed my panic.

  ‘But... who...?’ I began.

  Anticipating my question, Gayle interrupted. ‘It was a soldier on his way back to Catterick Garrison whose body was in the car. He’d been listed as AWOL when he failed to report for duty. Apparently, it wasn’t the first time he’d done that sort of thing, disappeared for a while, so his family wasn’t too worried when the Redcaps came to their door. They just assumed he was off on his travels and would eventually turn up. Now, they have to come to terms with the knowledge that not only will they never see him again, but they don’t even have his body to bury.’

  ‘Oh God, that’s awful... but... how did he have the same injury?’ My voice trailed off as I realised what Green must have done. I felt sick, overwhelmed by the old familiar feelings of horror and revulsion. I groaned and doubled up with the pain that suddenly coursed through my gut. ‘Oh my God...’

  ‘Take it easy, Carol.’ Gayle put her hand on my arm. ‘At least we know he’ll never be able to harm anyone again.’

  I shook my head, still doubled over. ‘I thought I’d come to terms with his evil, but to do that... the poor boy. And then the young girl in Dallas – I can hardly bear to think about her. It’s heartbreaking.’

  I’m still learning to live with what Green did to me. Knowing he is still breathing on this earth has shaken me to the core, but it helps to know that he’ll never be free and that in all likelihood he will have the death penalty to look forward to. Even so, a feeling of being watched has returned and I can’t shake it off, hard as I try.

  There is little left of the trusting, optimistic person I used to be. He has changed me irrevocably, but I’m still determined to carry on, do whatever good I’m capable of in this world, and come out on top.

  Sanctuary is up and running now, and Gayle was right. Although it’s true, thank God, that most men are decent, normal, nice people, I nevertheless never cease to be shocked by the sheer numbers of women who are victims of a small number of evil men; raped, gang-raped, beaten, mentally abused, stalked, physically abused, pimped out, imprisoned, enslaved, threatened... the list goes on.

  After running Sanctuary for a few months, I decided to devote myself to developing the network, on a full-time basis. Together with Linda and the team, I’m gradually increasing the network of support, to provide safe spaces for as many of these women as possible. Our motto is ‘WE WON’T LET THEM WIN.’

  THE END

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Georgia E Brown has used her love of writing to produce The Stalker’s Song, her first novel, for Crime/Thriller aficionados.

  After a long and successful business career specialising in HR, but also incorporating entrepreneurial ventures such as retail, property development and management consultancy, the author has used her people skills to great advantage in developing the characters in this novel.

  Asked to describe Georgia in a few words, her friends came up with (amongst others): hard-working, compassionate, generous, thoughtful, creative, sassy, forgetful, witty, good fun and loyal - and makes great lasagne!

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  I would like to express my gratitude to all the team at Socciones for their expertise and diligence in producing my first novel.

  For advice on police procedures, I should like to thank Michael Robson, Simon Atkinson and Jo Boxhall. Thanks, too, to Nigel Harling of Patterdale Mountain Rescue Centre for his technical advice.

  For editing the very first draft, thanks are due to Eve Seymour, and to Steph Boulton for her invaluable help and advice and for undertaking the final technical edit. I would also like to thank the following for their constructive and helpful feedback: Angela Coils, Erryl McLarty, Kath Blacker and Cathy Jensen.

  Finally, thanks to my family and friends for their unstinting support and encouragement throughout the whole project.

  Copyright © Georgia E Brown 2019

  All rights reserved.

  Georgia E Brown has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this book.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, contact the author.

  Design & typesetting by Socciones Editoria Digitale

  www.socciones.co.uk

 

 

 
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