Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
Henry Bishop walked into the fug of the incident room. The clatter of typewriters and the noisy chatter died down, temporarily, as Bishop grabbed the newspapers from a spare desk and threw them into the bin.
‘If one more person brings another rag into this room with Alice Patterson’s face on the front, I will personally throw them through that sodding window.’
With that, everyone knew what kind of a mood the detective inspector was in, so returned to their work, albeit a little quieter.
Bishop took a packet of Benson and Hedges from his pocket and fumbled for his lighter. He flicked it several times, but it wouldn’t light. He slammed it into the metal bin.
‘Bastard lighter. Has anyone got a box of matches?’
Ritter tossed him a small box.
Bishop lit his cigarette and took a long, deep drag as he sat down. He held the smoke in his mouth before releasing more toxins into the air. He needed that. It helped him relax.
‘We’re starting again,’ he called out to his team. ‘Stop what you’re doing and gather round. We’re going to go through this from the beginning and you’d all better be paying attention.’
Typing stopped and calls were finished. Ritter, Tyler, Osborne and the rest of CID grabbed their notebooks and sat, pens poised, for Bishop to begin.
‘Right then. Monday October the tenth. It’s an ordinary day. Alice goes to Whitby Community College as normal. Her father drops her off in his van and goes to work. He sees Alice go into the college. What happened next?’ He turned to look at his team.
DC Chris Tyler cleared his throat. ‘Me and Stephen went to the college and interviewed everyone who shares classes with Alice, and spoke to her tutors.’
‘And?’ Bishop asked.
‘Alice was a bit of a loner,’ Chris continued. ‘She had a few friends, but not many. According to some of the students, there was a gang of girls who picked on her.’
‘In what way?’
‘There was one,’ he said, scrolling through his notebook. ‘Rosie Clegg. The word used to describe her by most of the other students is “bitch”. She’s at the college retaking her O-levels. She fancies herself and flirts with all the lads. She’s a good-looking lass and knows it.’
‘So, why is she picking on Alice Patterson?’
Chris shrugged. ‘I’m guessing because she’s an easy target.’
‘Did you talk to this Rosie … what is it?’
‘Clegg. Yes, we did. She was very cruel about Alice. She said someone like her shouldn’t be at the college.’
‘Someone like her?’
‘Someone with Down’s syndrome.’
‘Only, she didn’t call it Down’s syndrome,’ Osborne spoke up.
Bishop turned in his seat to face DS Osborne who was leaning against a wall at the back of the room. He had a mug of tea in one hand and a cigarette in the other.
‘What did she call it?’
‘I’d rather not say,’ Osborne replied, nodding towards DC Tyler. ‘Let’s just say Chris tore a strip off her and she went quiet.’
Chris reddened. ‘I didn’t mean to, sir. It’s just … she shouldn’t have said what she said, especially not about someone who’d been killed. The girl had no compassion at all.’
Bishop nodded. ‘Don’t worry about it, Chris. Now, we know our killer is a man because Alice was raped. But could this Rosie Clegg have had anything to do with it?’
‘I don’t think so,’ Chris answered. ‘She’s too wrapped up in herself.’
Bishop looked back to Stephen who shook his head.
‘Is there anyone at the college we should be interested in? Any male teachers or male students who seem a bit dodgy? Caretakers and catering staff?’
‘Alice was at the college for two subjects – English and Maths,’ Chris said. ‘Both her tutors were female. All the male students we spoke to have alibis that more or less check out.’
‘More or less?’ Bishop asked.
‘A couple alibi each other. With the exception of Rosie Clegg, they were all really shocked by what happened.’
‘OK. Now, what about Alice’s father? Does his alibi stand up?’
‘He arrived at the building site in High Stakesby just after quarter past nine,’ DC Edward Ritter said, looking intently at his battered notebook.
‘He was there all day according to the lads on the site. When the weather turned, they all downed tools and went to the café across the road for the rest of the day. It was only when the woman in the café told them she was shutting early that they went their separate ways home. Now, normally, Geoff Patterson would have gone home on his own. This particular day, however, he gave a lift to … hang on a minute,’ Ritter said as he flicked back and forth through his notebook.
‘Sean someone or other. I’m sure I wrote his last name down.
Anyway, this Sean’s car wouldn’t start so Geoff gave him a lift home.
He dropped Sean off at just after five then went straight home.
I’ve done the journey from Sean’s house to Geoff’s house, adding a bit extra for cautious driving during the storm and the time checks out. ’
‘So, we can definitely rule out the father,’ DS Osborne said.
‘Unless,’ Bishop began, ‘Geoff and this Sean bloke killed her together.’
‘Why would they do that?’ Tyler asked.
‘Your guess is as good as mine. The reasons people have for killing someone never fail to surprise me.’
‘But she’s his daughter. Why would he rape and kill his own daughter?’
‘Some fathers have a strange relationship with their daughters, Chris. Fatherly love can sometimes take a very dark turn.’
Ritter cleared his throat. ‘I can’t see Sean raping Alice Patterson. When I went around to his flat, he had all these magazines on fitness and wrestling. I got the impression he might play for the other side, if you get my meaning.’
‘That doesn’t rule him out, Ritter,’ Bishop said. ‘People who suppress their sexual feelings have been known to have them explode in other ways.’
‘Where do you get all this stuff from?’ Osborne asked.
‘It’s called experience, Stephen. When you’ve been around as long as I have, you’ll see what I mean.
’ He stubbed out his cigarette and reached in his pocket for his packet of B&H.
It was empty. He screwed it up and tossed it towards the bin.
It missed. ‘However, I don’t think Geoff killed his daughter.
So, moving on from when Alice left the college. Where did she go?’
‘She got on the bus outside the college,’ Ritter said.
‘That’s verified by the bus driver. He doesn’t know where she got off, but we know she went into the library not far from where she lived.
Mrs Jane Wilkinson, who is the manageress of the library, saw her arrive and took her coat from her. She was soaked.’
‘Right. How long is she in the library for?’
‘About half an hour or so,’ Tyler said. ‘Jane saw her leave but didn’t look at the time. She was too busy watching the storm.’
‘Did Alice speak to anyone while she was in the library?’
‘Just the staff.’
‘All female?’
‘No. There’s a bloke who works there…’ Tyler said, scrolling through his notes. ‘Anthony Winstanley. He was on the counter and checked Alice’s books out for her. According to Jane Wilkinson, they were having a laugh and a joke.’
‘What about?’
‘Anthony likes telling jokes. He was trying out his new material on Alice, apparently.’
‘And was she laughing?’
‘Yes. Jane said everyone heard them laughing.’
‘Have you spoken to this comedian?’
‘Yes,’ Ritter chimed up. ‘We spoke to all the library staff. He’s a bit strange, but he liked Alice. They all did.’
‘In what way is he a bit strange?’
Ritter paused while he thought. ‘He’s… I’m not sure. Let’s just say he’s a few sandwiches short of a picnic.’
‘You’re not telling me much, here, Eddie.’
‘I don’t know how to describe him. He’s just a bit weird.’
‘No offence, Eddie, but you think anyone who doesn’t understand the offside rule is weird,’ Stephen Osborne said.
A ripple of laughter erupted around the room.
‘What’s not to understand?’ he exclaimed. ‘Basically…’
‘Oi, Jimmy Hill, save it for Match of the Day,’ Bishop said. ‘I said we need to focus. We’ve got a killer out there and a media scrum outside our front door. Now, this Anthony Winstanley lad, you said he’s weird, what do we know about him?’
‘Erm…’ Ritter looked down at his notes but didn’t look back up.
‘“Erm” doesn’t fill me with confidence, Eddie.’
‘I don’t know anything about him. He works at the library. That’s all.’
‘Then go back to the library and find out. In fact, all of you, I want you out there chatting to your contacts. This killer is a nasty piece of work. He’s a rapist and I’m guessing it’s not his first time.
So, I want you chatting to the prostitutes and finding out if any of their regulars likes anything rough and kinky.
Bring in the perverts again, shake them harder than an earthquake to make sure their alibis hold up.
I’m not pissing about now,’ Bishop said, slamming his hand down on the table.
‘If I haven’t got a name I can give to the press by the end of the week, you’ll all be back in uniform, and I’ll get myself a new team. ’
Bishop stood up and stormed out of the incident room, slamming the door so hard behind him the glass rattled.
‘Can he replace us just like that?’ DC Chris Tyler asked.
‘He can do anything he wants,’ Osborne replied.