by Jack Steele
We entered the pub via the side door and walked up to the bar. A young barmaid was cleaning pint glasses and smiled as we approached her.
‘Hello guys, what can I get you?’
I ordered two non-alcoholic drinks and we sat down in the snug while she went to find the barman.
Carl looked around the interior as he shrugged off his coat.
‘There’s a Spread Eagle pub just down the road from where I live.’
‘Have you ever been in it?’
‘No.’
‘Well that ends that conversation.’ I joked.
A tall thin man with a handlebar moustache and large glasses approached us. He was wearing a black tee-shirt which advertised men that drink Guinness…. with the punchline more than likely on the back. He introduced himself as Stuart and we shook hands then showed him our badges.
‘Do you mind if we go upstairs? There’s another snug we can use. It’s a lot quieter and more private.’ he suggested and we were happy to oblige.
We followed him upstairs to what turned out to be a delightful couple of rooms which could be separated off by a folding screen. There was a television, fridge and small tables with seating. The pictures were designed to fit in with the décor but didn’t make any sense to me. Just squiggles and swirls but they looked cool and trendy.
We sat around a small wooden oblong table and I started by asking him about the disturbance last night.
‘I don’t want any more dealings with him. The man is a psycho! Everything can be fine one minute then someone says something out of turn and he snaps. He used to be like that at school and built up a reputation that it was best not to upset him. For some reason he tagged onto me probably because I was top of the class and he used to copy my homework.’
Carl asked him where the trouble took place and he promised to show me on the way down.
‘Thank god for my locals. They are very proud of this pub and stopped him from tearing up the place. This is a Grade II listed Victorian pub which is steeped in history dating as far back as the 1880’s, so it means we get a great mix of locals and tourists here.’
I felt speaking to the barman was useful to get a feel for the area but another question was nagging at me.
‘So how do you know Jasper?’
‘We used to be school friends too and would have lost touch completely but for Facebook. Jasper reckoned he was soon to be working for a secret organisation. It was nice to know that he trusted me with this.’
I glanced at Carl who had the look of amazement.
‘So you, Jasper and Jez Cross all knew each other?’
You could hear a pin drop when he answered.
‘Yes, back then we were the gang of three.’
Chapter 51
I was stunned. Carl summed it all up when he banged his fist on the table. It made the barman jump for which he muttered an apology. We both felt rage building as I voiced the question.
‘Why hadn’t Jasper volunteered this information when he found out that Jez Cross was involved?’
The barman shrugged his shoulders.
‘Maybe they lost touch? I know that I don’t speak to any of my other school friends anymore.’
I had to get to the bottom of this and fast. I pressed his number and was sent to voicemail.
‘Call me when you get this Jasper. It’s important!’
The barman told us about the three of them bunking off school to go fishing in the River Lea. Then of the time he and Jasper grew excited because of the local fair arriving and how Jez got them extra money by collecting fares on the rides.
‘Jez hit it off with one of the gypsies and that was the last we saw of him. From time to time we heard through the grapevine about his troubles and we did contemplate going to watch him in a boxing competition once. Then Jasper became more secretive about his career and so it was completely out of the blue when first Jez turned up to see me, then Jasper yesterday.’
I explained that what Jasper had done was to reach out to his old school friend not only to make contact and discuss old times but also to try and find Cross.
‘Jasper mentioned that you believe Cross will return to pay for the damage.’
‘Yes I still do.’
‘What exactly went on last night and if you have any names of those that fought with him we would be grateful.’
‘Sure thing,’ he replied looking up to the ceiling as if it helped to retrieve the events locked away in his mind, ‘Jez was sitting downstairs having a quiet drink. I don’t think anyone knew he was there. We had already exchanged pleasantries and he had warned me of not contacting anyone about him being there because he knew where I lived.’
Carl muttered, ‘With friends like him who needs enemies?’
Stuart rubbed his forehead then his hand dragged over his head and to the back of his neck where he massaged it for a second or two. He was clearly stressed and I pressed him to continue.
‘Four regulars were studying their phones placing bets or whatever when one of them, Mark Brooks, shouted out something derogatory about a news feed and then mentioned Geb Blood. I clearly heard him say something about what would happen to his victim.’ The barman paused to take a breath signifying that here is when it got messy. ‘Jez shouted out to Mark not to be so disrespectful, or words to that effect, and an argument broke out with Mark threatening Jez. I don’t think they knew who they were dealing with. Typically Jez offered Mark a free hit but when he withstood that he went berserk. It was almost like he needed that for the adrenaline to surge and I saw his face turn to pure evil when he said ‘and now it’s my turn.’ The next thing I know he had bitten off Mark’s ear and there was blood everywhere. Have you ever seen that movie Bronson with that Tom Hardy fellow? Well that was Jez last night!’
‘Did you call the police?’
‘Yes and an ambulance once I had told him to clear off and he gave me some verbal abuse on leaving.’
Carl produced his calling card and slid it towards the barman.
‘Then here’s what will happen. Carl and I will be either across the road watching the entrance or up the road in our car for the rest of this evening. If and when he shows up then you must immediately call us on this number.’ I tapped the card.
The barman picked it up and his eyes grew wider as he saw Strategic Investigation Unit underneath his name.
‘Jasper does work for us occasionally but only the three of us in this room must know that. Do I make myself clear?’
The barman pushed up his glasses and nodded. He must have been thinking that the gang of three had all taken wildly different routes into adulthood.
Chapter 52
The pub across the road was noisy and Carl preferred to be in his car so he could get some sleep on the stakeout if required. We purchased some provisions from the local supermarket and hunkered down for the long night.
The crisps and sandwiches were demolished quickly and hot coffee washed down the doughnuts. We then began to discuss theories and questions around the investigation. Carl fired off first.
‘Do Jez Cross and Geb Blood have access to funds? They have to put fuel in the van and eat, so where are they getting the finances to do that?’
‘That’s worth noting down. My answer would be they use the cash stolen from their victims. Remember that Miranda’s purse was stolen and Stella may have had some cash on her too.’
My thoughts turned to our two colleagues and how desperate we were to save them from whatever evil the two psychopaths had in store for them.
‘So here’s a question Carl. How many psychopaths do you know that work together? It has to be some weird arrangement don’t you think?’
Carl nodded in agreement and started to enter keywords into his smartphone. He waited for ages to find answers to his question making me feel frustrated with his browsing skills.
‘What question did you put in?’
He was shaking his head as his finger flicked the screen to scroll through the various headings.
‘I put in ‘can two psychopaths work together’ and I keep getting all this falling in love shit. All I want…is.…oh wait here we are.’
There was another pause while he made sure it was a genuine website rather than fake news and then he listed off a few names.
‘Apparently they can work together but are usually male and female. There is Bonnie and Clyde, Karla Homolka and Paul Bernardo, Fred and Rosemary West…..’
I had to interrupt my colleague because I was more concerned with narrowing his search.
‘Yes but how many have been two men working together Carl?’
‘Just a sec….’ He replied and then tapped in another question. I had thought about doing the search myself but it was going to be a long night so decided to give him more time.
‘So there isn’t anything specific but I’ve found an article that says two can work together if their own individual goals are met.’
I thought about that statement for a while and pondered the notion of the two together. Geb Blood is carrying on from where he left off by abducting all those that he felt wronged him in some way. Yet why is Cross helping him? What does he stand to gain in all of this?
‘What happened between them in Broadmoor? Something just doesn’t add up Carl.’
‘That reminds me of a dream I had last night and hear me out because it could be the answer.’
That I very much doubted but he has often provided me with something that puts me on the right path to eventually catching a criminal. With that in mind I was interested to hear what he had to say.
‘I dreamt about watching a movie at home and halfway through it I thought that’s it!
‘What was the movie?’ I asked looking at the tiny fragments of crisps on his shirt.
‘It was Frankenstein!’ He looked at me to gauge my reaction to such a notion. It must have been a face of bewilderment. ‘Like I said, hear me out. There is a crazed person, Geb Blood, who is cutting up bodies which are delivered to him by his accomplice Jez Cross. So maybe two years ago we stopped him but now he is using body parts to make another human being.’
It took me a while to respond to the preposterous notion but I had to humour him.
‘It is a theory but one we can’t give credence too until we find his lair.’
‘I wonder if any crimes have been solved just by a dream or nightmare.’
‘I will tell you when I wake up as I’m having forty winks. Nudge me in an hour. Let Graham know about the link between Jasper and Jez Cross will you.’
I felt shattered by all the recent events and had to take a rest as the opportunity presented itself. Besides that I couldn’t hear anymore of Carl’s outlandish ideas. I just prayed for no more sudden surprises and that we would soon have a lead on finding the fugitives.
Chapter 53
Graham felt he had on too many layers and undid the top button of his cardigan. It was 7pm when he looked out of his bedroom window and the dog scratched and yelped at the door. All he could see was Tony the gardener tending to the shrubs and flowerbeds as usual. Graham wondered how often the filthy beanie hat and donkey jacket he wore got washed.
The dog yelped again and he knew that despite missing the ending of the sci-fi movie it was being recorded so he put it on pause and opened the door.
The tiny Yorkshire terrier ran downstairs and yelped more frantically at the main door of the apartment block. Graham released the latch and let it run on ahead.
It was still surprisingly mild considering the time of day, which must have been a bonus for the gardener. Graham decided to pass some time chatting about his knowledge of perennials and shrubs while the dog did her business. She was slowly sniffing and wandering around taking far too long for Graham’s liking. His partner, Cesc, had seen one similar being carried in a handbag when they were on holiday in Ibiza, watching the sunset as bongo’s drummed a beat. On their return he had heard of one abandoned at the pet rescue centre and now they owned Suki.
The full moon shone brightly above them as Graham mentioned the global warming effect and the jet stream affecting the climate. Tony wasn’t responding so maybe he had some headphones on listening to the Archers podcast or something more horticultural like Gardeners World or suchlike.
Graham moved past the crouched figure and then noticed a pair of well-worn muddy boots lying on their side. A shiver ran down his back when he realised they were the same kind that Tony wore.
Graham gasped as he almost died of shock. Tony was calmly tending to plants when there was a body stretched out in front of them. The realisation that it wasn’t Tony that now stood beside him made Graham look at the man, who sneered with pure evil etched across his face. It was Geb Blood. Graham stumbled backwards with a blinding panic taking his voice and the strength from his legs.
The tiny dog yapped and growled as if she sensed the danger but Graham couldn’t speak to warn her. He pulled on the lead practically dragging the tiny dog towards him as he backed away to the far end of the gardens. The voices of Stern and Joe warning him not to go out alone echoed in his ears as if to taunt him of his stupidity. Then a thought flashed into his head. There was another way out at the far end of the garden. All he had to do was reach the gate and then run around the metal fencing to the safety of his apartment. Something stirred Graham to move from the spot and take flight. He dropped the lead and stumbled towards the gate.
He so wanted to shout ‘help’ to his neighbours but nothing came out. He was petrified that this psychotic beast had found him and now wanted to take him to be butchered to death. Despite his legs constantly buckling beneath him, self-preservation kept him edging towards the gate at the far end of the gardens.
Geb slowly walked towards his prey holding a pair of secateurs in his left hand. Graham fumbled for the latch which moved but the gate didn’t open. He looked at the mechanism but in the corner of his eye there was something on top of the gate preventing it from opening. He looked at a gloved hand then his eyes grew wide as Jez Cross stood there. Graham was trapped and close to fainting when his legs finally gave way. He felt the sharp scratch of a needle in his neck and just before he passed out he heard the faint yapping then yelping of his beloved dog.
Chapter 54
I don’t know how long I had been asleep but the ache in my neck made me believe it had been hours. In fact when I looked at the dashboard clock it had only been forty minutes.
‘Welcome back to the living.’ Carl joked as I yawned and made myself comfortable in the passenger seat. I checked my phone but there were no messages.
‘Do you want to get some shut eye?’
‘Thanks.’ He replied and settled down.
It must have been literally two minutes and he was snoring. I didn’t mind because he had been under a lot of pressure lately and he needed the rest.
It gave me time to think about today at headquarters and how Stern had acted towards us. I thought he would be friendlier but perhaps it was the stress of having his wife in a critical state in hospital. I know I had acted out of character when Gemma went missing.
Stern had helped me back then by paying for private one to one sessions with a therapist. We went through my issues and she said I was going through ‘an ambiguous loss’ where no outcome is foreseen. She explained that when a disappearance occurs everything changes in a person’s emotions. They range from sadness, guilt, hurt, anger, depression, hopelessness, rage, hysteria and a lack of appetite and sleep. I had all these in abundance and through these sessions we managed to unravel all of my issues and sort them out one by one. I was told that self-harm was another reaction but I assured my therapist that the perpetrator would be the one harmed not me.
As I recalled that phase of my life I felt some of the angst and anger begin to rise to the surface and I used her advice to calm myself down. Note to myself go back and thank her. I was lucky to have Gemma back in my life bearing in mind that around two hundred and fifty thousand people go missing in the U.K every year! If you include the
U.S in that then it rises to ten million a year with half a million never found.
Back then I didn’t know anyone in the media to help me in my search. Things were different now. I had quite a few contacts in that area and I knew the importance of their role.
My thoughts were interrupted by my mobile phone vibrating. I was surprised when I saw who the caller was.
‘Hello Sheila, what’s up?’
‘Hi Joe, I know you are a busy man so I will get straight to the point. I’ve been contacted by Shell Baker asking if you would agree to a recorded interview tomorrow morning to discuss the latest investigation. The BBC has provided her with a slot on 5-Live and she asks for a personal favour from you as she really could do with a big name to launch the weekly programme.’
The fact that it would be recorded and edited meant that I felt reasonably comfortable with the set up and once again could put the SIU in a favourable light within the media.
‘Sure thing, tell me where and when. How are you holding up?’
Sheila put on a brave front and said it was busy but that is what she wanted at this moment in time.
‘I will send you the details and I just wanted to tell you that we are all behind you in getting back our girls.’
Carl stirred from his slumber and I apologised for waking him but it was a good time to inform him of our trip to the studios tomorrow.
Suddenly our earpieces came to life. It was Scott and his news shook both of us to our very core.
‘Graham has been taken by the Chameleon!’
Chapter 55
We arrived at Graham’s apartment block and were met by two officers who had already cordoned off the park. Carl went with one of them to see the dead gardener while I was escorted upstairs to meet the witness who had watched the drama unfold from her bedroom window.
A young police officer was sitting beside Dot Ransome when I entered her front room. It had a similar layout to Graham’s who lived next door. Minimalistic came to mind with only a few pictures and ornaments on display. There was a small television and VHS video recorder housed in a teak unit, a couple of armchairs, a small coffee table and an electric fire. The room looked dated despite the property being relatively new. It was the complete opposite of the middle-aged woman sitting in front of me. She had short cropped black hair and wore designer glasses. The tight fitting jeans and expensive blouse could have been purchased from Oxford Street along with the Jimmy Choo shoes and pearl necklace. Beside her on the small glass table was a DSLR camera. She cleared her throat and then informed me of what she had witnessed just an hour ago.