Under Mary's Oak

  Once the preliminaries were completed for the tape, Richardson began.

  ‘Mr Logan, do you know Jason Burton?’

  Darby had advised Logan not to exercise his right to silence as it could alienate a jury if the matter came to trial. They did not know what evidence the police had, but Logan had indicated to Darby that he might have a problem although he had not admitted the extent of that problem. Darby had also told Logan not to volunteer information but to wait and see what evidence the police had, although this advice was unnecessary. After all, Logan knew the score.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘How do you know him?’

  ‘He’s been into my club.’

  ‘Has he ever done any work for you?’

  ‘What sort of work.’

  ‘Come on, Mr Logan. You know better than that. I ask the questions.’

  ‘No, then.’

  ‘Where were you on the night of Thursday 23rd March?’

  ‘In my club, I expect. But it’s a long time ago. How do you expect me to remember?’

  ‘Let me jog your memory. Jason Burton came into Sparkle to see you that night.’

  ‘If you say so.’

  ‘I do, Mr Logan. I do.’

  Richardson paused and looked at his notes. Although he had been briefed by Jenkins and the rest of the team, he was not as well versed as they were. He nodded to Jenkins to take over.

  ‘We have a witness, Mr Logan, who saw Burton come in. Apparently he was angry and you had words.’

  ‘I don’t recall.’

  ‘It seems he was unhappy about how much you were paying him to transport diamonds.’

  ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

  ‘That same witness says you and Burton went to North Shields, to the fish quay.’

  Logan remained silent.

  ‘And that you had an argument and pushed Burton over.’

  Still no reply.

  ‘And that you then hit him over the head with a baseball bat.’

  ‘That’s preposterous!’ exclaimed Logan. ‘He’s making it up. Who was it? A lot of people would like to see me locked up. He’s just trying to make trouble for me.’

  Jenkins looked as though he was pondering on what Logan had said.

  ‘So you deny it then?’

  ‘Of course I do.’

  Jonathan Darby intervened.

  ‘I trust, inspector, that you have more than one man’s word against my client. These are very serious allegations.’

  ‘Indeed they are,’ agreed Jenkins. He paused before saying, ‘What would you say, Mr Logan, if I told you we had photographic evidence? A video film, in fact.’

  Logan looked stunned. When he had grabbed the baseball bat from Jock that night he had been so angry. Jason Burton had enough information to destroy him and was daring to threaten him. He couldn’t believe that such a waste of space thought he could get the better of Andy Logan. Well, he would show him and he had brought the bat down on the back of Burton’s head with such force that he didn’t get up again. Of course, with hindsight he should have left it all to Jock and let Jock rough him up as usual. But his anger had got the better of him. And who was the witness? There was no-one else there apart from Jock. And he certainly hadn’t been filming it.

  Jonathan Darby noted his client’s discomfort.

  ‘I wonder if I might have a few moments alone with my client, inspector?’ he asked.

  ‘Of course,’ said Jenkins. He stopped the tape and he and Richardson left the room.

  Returning to the incident room they were greeted by four questioning pairs of eyes. Sally was the first to speak.

  ‘Well?’

  ‘He’s rattled, that’s for sure. He’s just talking to his solicitor. Let’s hope he advises him to make a full admission,’ said Richardson. ‘Well done, all of you. You’ve made my life a lot easier!’

  ‘Have we got anything from the warrants?’ asked Jenkins.

  ‘Not a lot at The Crazy Lady. That Eileen Carter is some crazy lady. The place is well named!’ Todd replied. ‘We might need another warrant to look at all the books. Dazzle was a bit of a waste of time as well, but guess what we found at Sparkle?’

  ‘Come on, don’t keep us in suspense,’ urged Jenkins.

  ‘Behind the door in the office was a baseball bat!’

  ‘No!’ exclaimed Jenkins excitedly. ‘Is it the murder weapon?’

  ‘Well, we’ve sent it to forensics. Unfortunately it didn’t have blood on it, but that would be too easy.’

  ‘Yes,’ agreed Jenkins although the disappointment showed in his voice.

  ‘What about the car?’ Richardson asked.

  ‘It looks as though the boot has been cleaned out, but they’re working on it. All we need is one drop of Burton’s blood and we’re home and dry.’

  ‘What would be really nice would be a drop of Westbury’s blood and a drop of Hart’s as well,’ said Jaqui Spense.

  Chapter Twenty Eight

  Tony Banks was sitting looking out over the North Sea, a glass of whisky in his hand. Everything had gone according to plan. He was on his way to Amsterdam using his new identity of Terence Baker. He quite liked the idea of being Terry rather than Tony. The ferry had set sail just after 5o’clock and in a few hours he would be completely safe, and no-one would ever find him. He sighed contentedly and looked around. The other people in the bar were totally oblivious to his existence.

  A young couple chatted animatedly in the corner. Banks assumed they were on their way to Amsterdam for a long weekend of fun, and perhaps passion. They certainly looked as though they could hardly wait to be alone together. Perhaps they should have booked a cabin! Opposite them a grey-haired man and woman sat quietly, he with a guide book and she with a wistful expression on her face as she looked with envy at the young couple. He doubted they were heading for a weekend of passion, but he could be wrong!

  He wondered whether the police had arrested Andy Logan yet. He wished he could be a fly on the wall. That Inspector Jenkins could hardly contain his excitement when he returned having viewed the video. They’d taken his statement and made sure he was willing to testify. He had, of course, agreed.

  ‘I’m sorry, Mr Banks, but we shall have to hang on to your phone for the time being. And we shall need to speak to you again. Don’t leave town,’ Jenkins had said.

  ‘I understand,’ Banks had replied anxious to leave the station. He didn’t want to give anything away by his nervous actions. He had caught the Metro, getting on and off trains a couple of times to make sure he wasn’t being followed. But it was as he thought. The police were firmly focussed on Logan. They had bigger fish to fry.

  ***

  Just before ten o’clock Andy Logan was formally charged with the murder of Jason Burton. He would appear before magistrates the following morning and hopefully be remanded in custody. It would be most unusual for the magistrates to give him bail given the nature of the offence. The police were no further forward with solving the other two murders, although they were still awaiting forensic reports on the baseball bat and any evidence from the boot of the car.

  Although Andy Logan did not admit his involvement in Jason Burton’s murder, he did not deny it either and, when charged, chose to remain silent. It was clear that he was shocked by the revelation of the video evidence, and needed to take stock. He was not a happy man.

  Dave Jenkins, however, was a very happy man. Although he had not yet closed the case on Richard Hart he had taken one of the biggest villains off the streets for a very long time. He was a local hero and he revelled in it.

  DCI Manton was also a very happy man.

  ‘Well done, Jenkins,’ he said. ‘You’ve done a great job.’

  ‘Thank you, sir,’ Jenkins replied.

  ‘How are you doing with Westbury and Hart?’

  ‘Logan’s not saying anything helpful at the moment. I think he’s likely for the Westbury murder, but
he knows he’ll drop his sister in it if he admits his involvement. But I’m not sure about Hart. Maybe I was on the wrong track with that. Still, we might get some forensics to help us.’

  ‘Well, keep me informed. You’d better get off home now and get some sleep. You look terrible.’

  ‘Yes, sir.’

  Jenkins drove home in a state of euphoria. He knew that he would sleep well tonight.

  ***

  The following morning Jenkins attended the Magistrates’ court to see Logan remanded in custody. There was still much work ahead to tie Logan into other crimes and to arrest his accomplices, but Logan wasn’t going anywhere for the time being.

  Later that morning DI Jenkins drove into the grounds of the Mary Montgomery High School for Girls. He wondered why Mrs Jessop had asked to see him. She probably just wanted to find out what was happening. Well, there still wasn’t too much he could tell her. He wasn’t looking forward to the meeting.

  ‘Good morning, inspector,’ Laura said as he was shown into her office. ‘Can I offer you some coffee?’

  ‘Yes, thank you.’

  Josie returned with a freshly brewed cafetiere and some chocolate digestives. Jenkins realised he was ravenous having missed breakfast, and helped himself to three biscuits.

  ‘How is the case going?’ asked Laura when they had both taken their first sip of coffee.

  ‘Well, we’ve made an arrest of the man we think is responsible for three murders, Richard Hart being one of them.’

  ‘That’s good news.’

  ‘Yes. We’ve still got work to do to tie in all three, but I’m hopeful we have our man.’

  Laura was impressed. DI Jenkins was obviously a force to be reckoned with, in spite of appearances. He looked a little less like Columbo today having discarded his raincoat and generally he looked tidier. In fact Jenkins had sent Jaqui Spense out the day before to buy him two new shirts, and she’d done him proud in spite of her comments about him being a typical man assuming she was there just to run round after him.

  ‘You’re probably wondering why I asked to see you.’

  ‘I assumed you just wanted an update on the case.’

  ‘Well, that as well,’ Laura replied, ‘and I’m pleased that you have managed to make an arrest so quickly. That’s very reassuring.’

  ‘It is, but please don’t tell anyone that we’ve arrested Richard Hart’s murderer just yet. We still have to make the connection.’

  ‘I understand, and I’m grateful that you’ve shared it with me.’

  Dave Jenkins smiled in answer. Now that he was able to relax more he could see that Laura Jessop was not as bad as he had first thought. He had her pegged as a bossy-boots headmistress who wanted to interfere, but he could see now she was just doing her job.

  Laura smiled as well. She too was having a revelation and beginning to see that Inspector Jenkins wasn’t as bad as she had first thought. She had seen him as a rather arrogant police officer dismissive of her as a silly woman, but she could now see he was just doing his job.

  ‘So, inspector,’ she said slowly. ‘I’m afraid I have uncovered a little problem.’

  ‘Related to Richard Hart?’

  ‘Well, yes and no. It seems that it is probably not related to his murder, but it is connected to him. I’m afraid Richard had found a way to supplement his income.’

  The inspector listened carefully.

  ‘I have been made aware that Richard had uncovered information about some members of staff and was blackmailing them,’ Laura continued.

  Now she had his interest. Jenkins put down his coffee cup and gave her his full attention.

  ‘If we can I’d like to keep the details as confidential as possible. I realise that I shall probably have to share that information with you, but if it is not connected with his death I would really appreciate your discretion.’

  ‘I understand your concern, Mrs Jessop, and I will be as discreet as I can, but I can’t make any guarantees if there is a connection to his murder,’ Jenkins said.

  Suddenly a whole new list of suspects was opening up. Perhaps Richard Hart wasn’t one of Logan’s victims. He knew he had to keep an open mind.

  ‘Yes, of course. As long as you’ll do your best,’ Laura said.

  ‘I will.’

  Laura told Inspector Jenkins about Stella Carstairs’ predicament.

  ‘After she’d left my office, Amy and I started to think she might not be the only victim. We both knew of people he might have targeted and we confirmed our suspicions. Then we wondered how he had got his information. We thought he had to have someone working with him who knew their way round a computer, and came up with Josh, his stepson.’

  ‘You have been busy,’ said Jenkins with a mixture of admiration and admonishment in his tone. ‘When did all this come about?’

  ‘Well it was really Tuesday night when it all started to come together and after I’d spoken to Josh yesterday morning I rang and asked if you would call in.’

  Laura knew the inspector might be annoyed with her for not contacting him earlier.

  ‘You see,’ she continued, ‘it was all very sensitive and if it was unconnected with Richard’s death there was no need to tell you.’

  ‘And how were you going to find out if it was connected?’

  ‘Well, I was hoping you would arrest someone.’

  ‘OK. So I’ve told you we have arrested someone and you’ve still decided to tell me.’

  Laura swallowed. ‘Yes, because of what Josh told me. He confirmed what Amy and I thought. Richard had found out about Stella Carstairs by accident and then thought other staff might have secrets as well. He asked Josh to help him to find out. Josh went into the school system to access basic personnel details and then went from there. Don’t ask me how he found out what he did, because I didn’t ask him for the details and I probably wouldn’t have understood anyhow.’

  Laura paused.

  ‘So I still don’t understand why you’ve now decided to tell me. Do you want to press charges against Josh?’

  ‘No,’ said Laura quickly. ‘If there’s any way of avoiding that, I’d like to. He’s been through enough, and I don’t think he really realised the seriousness of what he was getting into. He thought Richard was just testing him to see how good he was. Richard was certainly the one controlling the operation.’

  ‘So what then?’

  ‘A couple of weeks ago, Arthur Connolly, my Chairman of Governors, left his laptop behind at the end of a Governors’ meeting. Richard found it in the Board Room when he was locking up. He took it home and asked Josh to see if there was anything interesting.’

  ‘And presumably there was.’

  ‘Yes. He found a large file which was password protected. When he managed to open it, it was photographs.’

  ‘What kind of photographs?’

  ‘Josh said it was of young girls. He said it was pornography.’

  Jenkins blinked and sat back.

  ‘Did he elaborate?’ he finally asked.

  ‘No, and I didn’t ask him to. He was embarrassed about it all. But he did tell me Richard said he’d hit the jackpot.’

  Jenkins needed to think.

  ‘Do you think we could have some more coffee?’ he asked.

  Laura went through to Josie. She had not said anything about Arthur to anyone other than Robert.

  ‘Josie can we have some fresh coffee, please. And then will you arrange an SMT meeting for the end of school today. It is urgent, and I would like everyone there.’

  ‘Yes, of course. Are you all right?’ said Josie with concern. ‘You look upset. Has anything happened? Have they found Richard’s killer?’

  ‘I’m fine. No, they haven’t, but I think they’re hopeful that they should have a result soon.’

  Laura returned to her office and Josie arrived shortly afterwards with the coffee. The inspector was still sitting quietly looking out of the window. Laura did not disturb him
until he was ready to speak.

  ‘I’m going to need to speak to Josh,’ he said eventually.

  ‘Yes, of course. He does know that. I don’t think he’s said anything to his mum yet.’

  ‘You did well to get him to open up,’ said the inspector.

  ‘Yes, well I’m used to getting youngsters to talk to me,’ Laura said, pleased by the unexpected compliment.

  ‘Then, of course, I shall have to speak to Mr Connolly,’ continued the inspector. ‘It’s possible he’ll be arrested.’

  ‘Yes,’ said Laura. ‘I expected that.’

  ‘Do you think he might have killed Richard Hart?’

  ‘I really don’t know,’ admitted Laura. ‘I would have said no, but Arthur would have been desperate to protect himself and the school. It would be such a terrible scandal. I suppose in those circumstances he might have done, but I do hope not.’

  ‘I know this will not be good news for the school,’ said Jenkins.

  Laura was touched that the inspector had remembered what she had said the other day.

  ‘No, I think it’s the worst possible news,’ she agreed.

  ‘Maybe we can work together to lessen the impact.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Well, between us we seem to have solved a lot of crimes in the past few days. There might be a way of salvaging the school’s reputation if you’re seen to be instrumental in bringing Connolly to book.’

  Laura was quite moved. He really had listened, and it was a very generous offer. Jenkins could afford to be generous. He had realised that not only had he solved a murder, and possibly three, he had uncovered a diamond smuggling operation and now, just possibly, a paedophile ring. The Chief would be over the moon!

  Chapter Twenty Nine

  Inspector Jenkins went outside to his car to ring Todd and get him over to the school. Laura asked Josie to bring Shirley in to see her.

  ‘Hello, Shirley,’ she said. ‘How are you today?’

  ‘Oh, you know,’ Shirley replied bravely. ‘Taking one day at a time.’

  ‘I need to talk to you about Josh,’ Laura said gently. ‘I bumped into him the other day when I was walking round.’

  ‘Yes, he said he’d seen you.’

  ‘Did he tell you what we spoke about?’

  ‘No, not really.’