Chapter 38 #2
‘You said that Messenger and Humphreys weren’t charged,’ said Henley tightly.
‘DI Connors, the SIO for the Bo Hyoo GBH is adamant that it was Messenger and Humphreys but there was a problem with identification. Bo Hyoo couldn’t describe her assailants, there were no independent witnesses and no forensics.’
‘What about an alibi?’
‘They didn’t give one and they both went no comment,’ said Eastwood.
‘They were RUI and six weeks later NFA’d.
Bo Hyoo spent a week in hospital and then moved to Sheffield to stay with her sister.
Two months later she started reporting incidents of harassment.
The same tactics: shit through her letterbox, paint on her sister’s door. ’
‘So, they followed her to Sheffield?’ Henley asked.
Eastwood nodded.
‘Which leads to the question, how did they know she’d moved?
’ Stanford asked. ‘Bo Hyoo was on strict bail conditions which meant her solicitors had to apply to Manchester Crown Court to amend her residence condition. The only people who knew she’d moved out of the city would have been the court, prosecutors and her own solicitors and, call me a prophet, I doubt Bo Hyoo was giving out her address to all and sundry. ’
‘You said she had strict bail conditions,’ said Ramouter who had been listening quietly at his desk. ‘She must have been on tag?’
‘She was,’ Eastwood confirmed. ‘And guess which company was responsible for her electronic monitoring?’
‘Soteria,’ said Ramouter.
‘Bingo.’
‘There’s something missing,’ Henley said, catching Pellacia from the corner of her eye, inching closer towards them. ‘You didn’t say that Messenger and Humphreys were responsible or even thought to be involved in the murders of Hyoo and Mantell.’
Stanford shook his head. ‘No, they were both serving at the time of the murders which is why we think it makes sense for Eastie and I to head up there and speak to them. They were a part of this Iron Shadow gang, so they should be able to tell us how they got hold of Hyoo’s address and the MG5 for Mantell’s sex offence case. ’
‘Before I agree to send you two up north, how do we know they were definitely part of this Iron Shadow gang and that they’ve got anything to do with our victims on the board?’ Pellacia asked.
‘Copeland. Go ahead,’ said Eastwood.
‘I can’t take all of the credit for this.
Ezra helped me a lot by showing me where to go online,’ said Copeland.
‘You’ve got two types of vigilante groups.
Minor, non-violent groups who go around posting details of paedophiles on social media and then you’ve got the opposite end of the spectrum.
There are groups out there who will hunt people down for a fee.
I couldn’t find any mention of the Iron Shadow group by doing a normal Google search, but I did find them on the dark web. ’
Henley held her tongue as Copeland handed out printouts.
‘These are transcripts from the vigilante forum and everyone is on there. Far-right radicals, incels and ultra left anarchists who just want to see the world burn.’
‘Messenger and Humphreys’ names are mentioned in this chat,’ said Ramouter as he read through the pages. ‘They’re being celebrated.’
‘Is that all they do. Just chat?’ asked Henley as Pellacia’s office phone rang.
‘Carry on.’ He returned to his office.
‘No, they also like to show off their handiwork,’ Copeland said. She walked up to the smartboard and pressed play.
‘Shit,’ Ramouter said as Fox-Carnell’s face came into view. Whatever Fox-Carnell was trying to say was lost due to the tape that had been used to gag her. Fear radiated from her eyes as she watched whoever was holding the camera.
‘You’re going to suffer the exact same way that your victims suffered.’
‘You have no right to redemption. Justice should always be in the hands of the people.’
‘They’ve distorted the voices but that’s not a problem as we can send the footage off to be analysed,’ said Eastwood. ‘But that’s not all. The sound isn’t the best, but we’ve got footage of Nathan Hall.’
Henley watched as two men, wearing balaclavas held Nathan’s limp and broken body. Bubbles of blood were visible in his nose, his breathing guttural but audible as the men spoke.
‘What I don’t understand is why they’ve moved from doing their—’ Henley paused, not wanting to use the word but lacking any alternative, ‘hunting in Manchester and are now here in London?’
‘It has to be what you said, boss,’ said Ramouter. ‘You only ever really move for work or family.’
Henley turned towards Eastwood. ‘Did you find any more assaults with a similar MO?’ she asked.
‘The scalping? No,’ said Eastwood. ‘It seems as though Hyoo was the last one up north. There’s nothing even remotely similar until Fox-Carnell.’
‘Our vigilantes are sticking to London but that leads us to another problem,’ said Henley. ‘We have no idea who these vigilantes will be targeting next.’
‘It can’t be that difficult,’ said Copeland. ‘All of our victims recently had court cases.’
‘There are ten crown courts in London, if you include Kingston,’ said Henley.
‘On average maybe four to five trials take place in each court per day. Some cases could finish in a day or – if it’s Southwark Crown Court – months Also, it doesn’t appear that our vigilantes are focused on defendants who were accused of committing a specific offence.
Our victims were on trial for rape, murder and fraud.
The point is that there is more chance of us hitting the bullseye on a dartboard blindfolded than we have at working out which defendant will be the target of our vigilantes. ’
‘So, what do we do?’ asked Copeland. ‘Sit and wait for another body to fall?’
‘Hopefully not,’ Henley said as Pellacia returned. ‘The judge granted the application for us to access Laurence Durant’s phone. I’ll pick up the phone from Lewisham tomorrow morning.’
‘Don’t do that, boss,’ said Ezra. ‘I’ll pick it up from Lewisham first thing tomorrow. Just let them know I’m coming.’
‘Thanks, Ez,’ Henley said gratefully.
‘I know it doesn’t feel like it but you’re all doing a good job,’ said Pellacia.
‘Thanks for the gold star but what about our Manchester road trip?’ asked Stanford, picking up his coat from the back of the chair.
‘I’ll get on it,’ said Pellacia, looking up at the clock on the wall. It was nearly 7 p.m.. ‘Chances are that I won’t get an answer until first thing in the morning, but I’ll text you if the borough commander gets back to me tonight.’
‘Great. I’m going home to crash in front of the match and ignore my other half banging on about mood boards for the nursery.’
‘I’ll walk out with you.’ Eastwood shut down her computer. ‘I’ve had enough for the day.
‘Don’t run off,’ Pellacia said to Henley who was picking up her bag. ‘I need a word.’
‘Close the door,’ Pellacia said.
Henley watched Pellacia position himself in the furthest corner of the office, creating distance between them. She closed his door and sat down.
‘What’s the problem?’ she asked.
‘Your attitude towards DC Copeland is the problem,’ said Pellacia. ‘She’s only been here a couple of days, and you can see that she’s earning her place on the team, but—’
‘She’s complained,’ Henley said, slumping further into the seat. Too overwhelmed with exhaustion to put up the pretence of a fight.
‘She’s expressed concerns,’
‘Call it what it is, Stephen. She’s complained about me even though I haven’t treated her any differently to anyone else in the team. I didn’t give Ramouter any special treatment when he started. I don’t know why she thinks that I have to treat her like—’
‘Anj, it’s late and I really haven’t got the energy for this. She’s raised concerns and I have to say that I agree with her. You’re talking down to her. Giving her administrative tasks.’
‘You think that I spoke down to her just now?’
‘No, not now, but that was probably because I was there.’
‘Oh, for fuck’s sake,’ Henley muttered. She straightened up and gripped the armrests.
‘We are now a team of a grand total of eight people, no, scratch that, six people if you don’t include Joanna and Ezra.
For some inexplicable reason the higher-ups consider the SCU to be the runt of the litter when it comes to their specialist units. ’
‘You’re acting as though I don’t know this.’
‘The point is that we’re too small a unit to be giving anyone special treatment. I’ve told Copeland and I’m telling you again, she needs to understand how the SCU works.’
‘She’s been a DC for four years. It hasn’t even been a year since Ramouter took off his training wheels.’
Henley sat back, settling into her anger. ‘She’s junior to the team. Rhimes did the exact same thing when Keith joined us for all of six weeks. He was three years more senior than Eastwood and I didn’t see him complaining when Rhimes gave him tasks which you’d describe as admin.’
‘I have to take into consideration the concerns that she’s expressed to me.’
‘They’re not concerns. She’s just pissed that I’m not kissing her arse. Am I grateful that we’ve got an extra pair of hands? Of course I bloody am.’
‘Well, show it,’ said Pellacia. ‘Look, I’m not here to debate with you. It’s too late and I’d like to have a life outside of this bloody place. Copeland is a full member of the SCU.’
‘What happened to temporary?’ Henley replied with disbelief as her phone vibrated in her pocket. She checked the screen. It was Rob.
‘Something more important than this conversation?’
‘My husband and unless you’ve got anything more to say, I’m going home to him and my child.’
Pellacia watched Henley. The hurt was evident in his eyes. He pushed his chair back and marched to his door. ‘Treat Copeland with respect and not like a nuisance fly,’ he said. ‘Otherwise, I’m going to have to start making decisions that you’re not going to like.’
‘What is it with her?’ Henley asked. ‘Why are you bending over yourself to accommodate her nonsense?’
‘What do you expect me to do when someone comes into my team and expresses concerns that most people could – and would – interpret as bullying.’
‘Bullying?’
Pellacia bit his lip as the discomfort in the room swelled. ‘That was the wrong word,’ he said.
‘That’s an understatement,’ said Henley. ‘You allow someone who doesn’t know this unit and most definitely doesn’t know me, to question who I am.’
‘That is not what is happening here. My obligation is to this unit. It doesn’t start and end with you.’
‘You’re talking as if I expect special treatment.’
‘Of course you don’t, but maybe we were blinded to a lot of things. I’ve let you get away with a lot of things.’
Henley stood up. ‘I do my job, and I expect other people to do their job,’ she said. ‘But instead of you recognising that, you’re suggesting that I act like an entitled prima-donna.’
Pellacia huffed. ‘What would you call your response to a new member expressing their genuine concerns if not entitled or privileged?’ he asked.
Henley moved in front of Pellacia, closing the space between them. She was beyond angry, and she wanted him to feel it.
‘If Copeland had complained about anyone else, you would have reacted differently. You would have reined her in and asked Copeland for more evidence than hurt bloody feelings, but it’s not the others, it’s me,’ said Henley.
‘You’re the one who has a problem with seeing the line drawn in the sand.
All of this – your warnings – is a poor attempt to prove something to yourself. ’
Pellacia’s jaw clenched as Henley stayed in place. She’d found a pressure point and she’d pressed hard.
‘Treat Copeland with respect,’ Pellacia said, the coldness in his voice freezing the air as he moved around her and to the door. ‘Otherwise—’
‘You’re threatening me?’ Henley said.
‘You know me too well to know that I don’t make threats,’ Pellacia said quietly. ‘Just know that I’ve got no problem at all with switching the partnerships around. You weren’t that keen on having to partner up with Ramouter when he joined …’
‘That was a completely different situation.’
‘Maybe Copeland might be a better fit for you.’
Henley glared at Pellacia. She placed her hand on top of his and pushed it off the door handle. ‘Carry on,’ she said. ‘If you want to lose me completely. To leave the SCU. Carry on.’
‘Consider this a warning.’
‘Then consider this my notice.’
Henley opened the door and walked out.