Chapter 36
Pellacia froze the video. ‘How has this happened?’ he asked Henley. ‘And why isn’t the little shit sitting in a cell?’
‘For the record, I had no idea there was a drone hanging around when DI Henley and I were at the Hall crime scene,’ said Ramouter.
‘The fact that you had no idea is not going to help me when I’m sitting in front of the borough commander and the assistant commissioner in an hour,’ Pellacia replied.
‘Ben Trezeguet is in the wind somewhere,’ said Henley, taking the control from Pellacia’s hand.
She rewound the footage, pausing at the drone footage of herself and Ramouter standing outside Nathan Lane’s home with uniformed officers as a black private ambulance pulled into the driveway.
‘Officers from Stoke Newington police went to Ben’s address in Dalston an hour after Anthony gave me the update. There was no one there.’
‘Does he work? I can’t imagine that he’s making a living from this YouTube thing?’ said Pellacia.
‘You’d be surprised,’ said Stanford, dragging his chair towards Henley. ‘The money rolls in once you get yourself monetised. That’s what my niece Casey tells me.’
‘I’m not thinking he’s someone that needs to be on the suspect board,’ said Pellacia.
‘I didn’t think that he’s a suspect either,’ Henley agreed. ‘But Ramouter made some valid points. We can’t just write him off. There’s an argument for joint enterprise. His prints were in Nathan Hall’s house, and he clearly has access to sensitive information.’
‘He’s got to be using a police scanner,’ said Ramouter. ‘It would explain why he was at the Fox-Carnell crime scene.’
‘But it wouldn’t explain how and why he ended up at Nathan Hall’s house,’ said Henley. ‘What worries me is what he’s going to release next. He thinks he’s a detective and I don’t trust him not to show Nathan Hall’s dead body.’
‘We need to get him arrested and charged with – if not murder – interfering with the course of justice and get him before a judge as soon as possible,’ said Ramouter. ‘He’s a danger to this case and to himself.’
‘What do we actually know about this Trezeguet geezer?’ asked Stanford. ‘I doubt he volunteered to put his DNA on the database.’
‘He’s twenty-six years old and he has previous for criminal damage, trespass and domestic burglary,’ Copeland said, standing as she turned over the pages of Ben Trezeguet’s PNC in her hands.
‘Actually, two burglary convictions. He got a twelve-month community order for the first one and a suspended sentence for the second one.’ Copeland sucked air through her teeth.
‘Three strikes. He’s looking at a minimum of three years in prison if he gets convicted of another domestic dwelling.
Something he needs to be aware of if we ever get cuffs on him. ’
‘I don’t believe this YouTube detective wannabe has just disappeared.
’ Pellacia checked his watch. ‘He’s invested in this case and not just as an observer, if Ramouter is right.
He’s been present at two crime scenes and he tried to get into the press conference.
He either knows nothing or saw something and I can’t see him not coming back to talk about it. ’
‘I’m always one for following your gut instinct,’ Copeland said, looking pointedly at Henley. ‘But we’ve got no evidence that he’s not involved in these murders somehow.’
Henley folded her arms and cocked her head to the side.
‘Where are we with Durant?’ Pellacia asked quickly, manoeuvring his body slightly in front of Copeland. Shielding her.
‘I’m going to release him under investigation at some point this afternoon, but I want to let him sweat in a cell for a bit.
Give him a taste of the future if he doesn’t start co-operating,’ Henley said, her voice steady but filled with disdain.
‘But I want to have eyes on him when he does get out. We need surveillance.’
‘I’ve already told you, repeatedly, that we don’t have the budget.’ Pellacia was exasperated as he put on his coat.
‘If you’re off to see the bosses, talk to them. Tell them to find the money,’ said Henley.
‘Tell them?’ Pellacia replied, his eyes sparkling with humour as the intercom buzzed.
‘Remind them that we’ve got at least two crazy people running around South London scalping people.’
‘Vigilantes,’ Stanford offered as Joanna walked over.
‘Mark is on his way up,’ said Joanna as Stanford rolled his eyes.
‘Thank god. Right, I’m off to beg for money,’ said Pellacia. ‘Keep me updated.’
‘Before we move on, I spoke to the SIO of the Nathan Hall rape investigation earlier this morning,’ said Copeland, facing Henley, the glare of defiance visible in her eyes.
Copeland spoke quickly and forcefully, not giving Henley the opportunity to find a break in her speech and stop her.
‘I know that we’re focusing on the vigilante angle, but I think we can’t ignore the fact that Nathan Hall was attacked by one of the complainants, Tyler Simmons, when he was leaving court after the verdict. ’
‘Physically or verbally?’ Henley asked with cold steel in her voice as Dr Mark Ryan entered. He held up his bottle of water in greeting and took a seat.
‘Physically,’ Copeland replied. She took a step and turned her back on Henley to face the team.
‘According to DI Knowles, Simmons rushed and punched Hall when he was leaving court and was restrained by security and arrested. Simmons was charged with common assault and was held overnight in custody. He appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court yesterday morning and pleaded not guilty. ’
‘Eastwood,’ Henley said loudly. ‘I want you to see Simmons. Take the details from Copeland and you can also check with Anthony and ask him to run the DNA samples retrieved from Hall through the database. Simmons’ samples may not have been uploaded when Anthony first did his checks.’
Copeland’s neck flushed red as Eastwood tucked her pen behind her ear and raised her eyebrows at Stanford.
‘Henley, I don’t think that’s fair,’ said Copeland, a quiver in her voice. ‘I did the—’
‘You know how the rank system works, so make sure you address me accordingly and, secondly, I shouldn’t have to explain to you what it means to be part of a team,’ snapped Henley.
‘No, of course not, guv, but—’
‘We just don’t go off and do whatever we want, when we want. Now, what you will do, once we’ve heard from Dr Ryan, is go through the prosecution case papers, unused material of the Douglas Mantell and Gong Bo Hyoo court cases and cross reference it against our investigation.’
‘You want me to do paperwork.’
‘You’re working a case, Copeland. This unit is not about showboating. Is that understood?’
‘Yes, guv,’ Copeland replied bitterly as Henley walked away.
‘Very formal – Dr Ryan,’ Mark said with a grin as Henley joined him. He removed his glasses and cleaned the lens. ‘I haven’t seen you since before you went on holiday.’
‘That holiday seems like a lifetime ago,’ said Henley. ‘The only reminder is the mosquito bites on my legs and the suitcases in the utility room. Let me introduce you to DC Copeland. She’s joined us, temporarily, from Lewisham CID.’
Copeland shook Mark’s hand. ‘Pleasure to meet you,’ she said with a tight smile.
‘How come you’re here?’ asked Stanford. ‘I thought we didn’t have the cash.’
‘Stanford, as always, it’s a joy to see you too,’ said Mark. He stopped at the whiteboard and pointed at the photographs of Douglas Mantell and Gong Bo Hyoo. ‘I thought it was just three victims?’ he asked.
‘We thought so too,’ said Eastwood. ‘They’re open murder investigations in Manchester and Sheffield. Similar MOs.’
‘Five victims. Ok, let’s start. The scalping.
Popular culture makes it seem as though scalping, the act of cutting or tearing part of the human scalp off with the hair attached, is just unique to the indigenous people of the Americas but it’s not.
Europe, Asia, the colonial wars, the US civil war. I could go on.’
‘The history lesson is all very well and good but that doesn’t help us with what we’re dealing with,’ said Stanford.
‘Stanford just let the man talk,’ said Eastwood. ‘Why the scalping? I’m assuming our killers are taking a trophy.’
‘Or a souvenir – there’s a difference. A souvenir is a memento whereas a trophy is proof of the killer’s skill, but whether it’s a trophy or a souvenir, keeping the victim’s scalp allows your killer to both relive the thrill of committing the initial crime and allows them to feel powerful.’
‘How common is it? To scalp your victim?’ asked Ramouter.
‘It’s rare but it does happen. In fact, there are two recent cases,’ said Mark.
‘A man called Nyckk Visser was convicted of murdering three women in Holland two years ago but the bodies were found fifteen years ago. All three had been decapitated but Visser wasn’t linked to their murders until he’d reported a burglary, and the police found their scalps in his bedroom. ’
‘That’s crazy. He incriminated himself,’ said Copeland, shifting away from Henley.
‘There was also a case in Scotland last year. Bryce Schofield. Raped, murdered and scalped a male prostitute.’
‘Two DNA profiles were found on our victims,’ said Henley. ‘Our vigilantes are, at a minimum, a pair. So, which one is taking the scalps?’
‘Out of your group one of them has to be the leader, the alpha,’ said Mark.
‘Scalping in itself is so rare that I can’t imagine it being a joint decision.
Either the leader has requested it or someone in the group, the one who is most suggestible, eager to please.
The trophy, their prize could be their gift to the leader. ’
Henley grimaced.
‘This isn’t one of those cases where I can say that your vigilante is going to be a thirty to forty-year-old white man,’ Mark continued.
‘You’re dealing with a group, a pack mentality but with all packs there is a leader.
Your leader in this case may not be someone who has necessarily experienced an injustice. It’s what we call a third-party role.’
‘Do you mean they’re taking on someone else’s cause?’ asked Copeland.
‘Exactly that,’ replied Mark. ‘They haven’t been directly impacted by what we would call a norm violation. They’ve either witnessed it or learned about it. You may also find that the pack leader works in a managerial position and that they have a heightened sense of moral self-worth.’
‘They’re taking advantage of the real victim. Exploiting their pain,’ said Ramouter. ‘There’s no better example of that than Laurance Durant.’
‘His wife was the one who was killed in the road traffic accident by Tabitha Ashcroft, right?’ asked Mark.
‘Yes, but her scalping wasn’t complete. No kill. No trophy,’ said Ramouter.
‘The fact that she wasn’t killed is fuel for them to keep continuing with their mission,’ said Mark. ‘This is all about control and exhibiting power and once someone has a taste for power,’ he shrugged, ‘it’s hard to let go.’
‘You really don’t like her, do you?’ said Mark as he pulled up his coat collar.
‘I have no idea what you’re talking about.’ Henley fell into step with Mark as they walked away from Greenwich police station, the building grey, decaying and unwelcoming as it merged into the gun-metal overcast sky.
Mark laughed. ‘You know exactly who I’m talking about,’ he said. ‘Your new team member. DC Copeland.’
‘It’s not that I don’t like her it’s just that I find her—’
‘Too inna?’
Henley laughed at Mark’s use of slang. ‘Are you trying to keep up with your kids again?’
‘The eleven-year-old told me this morning that I had no rizz. I had to Google it.’
‘Ooh, that must have hurt.’
‘I’ll live. But am I right though? About Copeland.’
‘I can understand why she would want to join the SCU but she’s impulsive, sneaky and disingenuous.’
‘That’s quite a list, but I feel as though there’s something missing,’ said Mark
‘Her intention. I don’t think it’s just the appeal of this case that’s brought her to the SCU.’
‘Ramouter?’
‘How could you tell?’ Henley asked with surprise.
‘It’s what I do. I’m a profiler after all.’
‘And there I was thinking you were fussy about your title.’
‘Nah, I just like winding Stanford up, but my advice is don’t read too much into it. Ramouter has his family, but he still needs friends. It’s probably no more than that. London can be a lonely place. You and I won’t feel that because we were born and raised here.’
‘Maybe I’ll recommend him to my sister-in-law’s book club.’
‘Anjelica, come on.’
‘Fine. Fine. I’ll do better and thank you for coming by.’
‘Tell Pellacia it’s my last freebie,’ said Mark. ‘So where are you off to?’
‘Bromley Mags. I’m hoping that the judge will grant my application to get into Laurence Durant’s phone.’
‘Looking for the pack leader?’
‘Exactly. Find the pack and hopefully this whole vigilante group falls apart.’
‘A group like that. It won’t be easy for someone to just walk away.
Your leader is someone who most likely has a narcissistic personality or borderline personality disorder and they’ll have the hallmarks of coercive behaviour.
They thrive on being able to control people, events and situations which means that they won’t like it if a member of the pack attempts to break out.
They’ll want to reinforce their dominance. They’ll do what some wolves do.’
Henley grimaced. ‘Eat their own,’ she said.
‘Not just their own,’ said Mark. ‘Once they recognise the SCU as a threat, they’ll snap. All of you are at risk.’
‘You think that they would come after one of us?’
‘I wouldn’t put anything past them. These people, whoever they are, believe they’re not just above the law, but better than it. As far as they’re concerned, you, the SCU are stopping them in their pursuit of what they believe to be justice.’
Henley shivered as the wind nipped at her neck. ‘You said the scalping made them feel powerful,’ she said.
‘And power is a drug,’ replied Mark. ‘But like all drugs, you can develop a tolerance.’
‘What are you saying, that the scalping may not be a big enough high?’
‘They’ll be no different to any drug addict looking to recreate the buzz of their first high.’
‘Nothing ever beats that first rush.’
‘Imagine how frustrating that must be. Expecting the next scalp to placate you but instead you’re left wanting,’ Mark said, his face stern. ‘There will come a point when taking their victim’s scalp won’t be enough and they’ll make sure that they punish whoever gets in their way.’
Henley clasped her hands to the back of her neck and raised her head. She knew better than to underestimate a killer. ‘They’re going to want more,’ she said. ‘They’ll come for us.’
Mark looked back at the station. ‘And they’ll want you to suffer,’ he said.