Chapter 65
Chapter Sixty-Five
The manager of the hotel found a quiet room close to the conference hall where they could have some privacy.
Jennifer waddled in, with Malcolm holding her arm.
Anthony holding Woody’s lead, Pauline and Leo either side of him.
Chris followed, agitated because Freya wouldn’t tell him what was going on.
Freya was the last to enter the room. She had three plain-clothed detectives with her from her team as well as four uniformed officers from West Yorkshire Police.
Everyone took a seat.
‘I had a visitor this morning,’ Freya began.
‘There’s a very eminent forensic expert I’ve known for years, Caspian Tandy, who I always go to when working serious crime.
Over the years, he’s had samples of clothing Alice Patterson was wearing on the night she died.
As technology has advanced, he’s been able to extract more information from semen samples found on Alice’s underpants.
Before this week, we’ve had a DNA profile of a suspect, but never been able to match it to anyone on the National DNA Database.
‘However, last Monday night, a man was arrested for driving at speed through a lowering level crossing. When he was breathalysed, he was found to be over the drink-drive limit and arrested. At the police station, a blood sample was taken to determine his exact alcohol level. He was also swabbed and fingerprinted. This was all entered into the computer and Caspian’s computer pinged when he received a match comparing this man’s DNA to the DNA found on Alice Patterson’s underpants. ’
Freya felt sick. She took a deep breath. ‘Malcolm Ripley, I have a warrant for your arrest for the rape and murder of Alice Patterson in 1984.’
Malcolm looked straight ahead. His face blank.
Jennifer turned slowly to look at her husband. ‘Malcolm?’
He didn’t say anything.
Jennifer turned to Freya. ‘This is … no. It’s wrong, Freya. It’s wrong.’
Freya swallowed her emotion. ‘I wish it was, Jennifer. Caspian checked the results multiple times. It’s not wrong.’
‘You!’ Pauline exclaimed. ‘All this time, you’ve been on the edge of this. You’ve known the nightmare we’ve gone through. Anthony was destroyed in prison. You did this. You. It was you all this time.’ She jumped up. Leo grabbed her, held her back from attacking Malcolm.
‘Malcolm, say something, for fuck’s sake!’ Jennifer screamed.
Malcolm’s tense jaw began to wobble. He didn’t look at his wife. He turned his gaze to Freya. ‘Are you arresting me, then, or not?’
She instructed her two DCs to take Malcolm to the car outside the hotel’s main entrance.
Malcolm stood up, buttoned his jacket, and walked out of the room, flanked by the two detectives. He didn’t once look back at his wife.
‘Jennifer, I’m so sorry,’ Freya said.
‘I’m coming too.’
‘Do you want me to drive you?’ Chris asked.
‘Yes, please.’
‘Why did he do it?’ Leo asked Freya.
‘I don’t know. Look, I really am sorry about all this. As soon as I find anything out, I’ll be in touch.’ She turned on her heels and left the room.
Alone, Pauline, Leo and Anthony remained seated.
‘I can’t believe it. All this time he knew what we were going through from what Jennifer told him and he’s just sat back and let it all happen,’ Pauline said.
‘Are you all right?’ Leo asked Anthony.
He leaned down and stroked Woody. ‘Will you take me home now, please?’