Chapter 14
Charles Phillip Cauldwell was a fifty-five-year-old British music producer from West London who was known for the success of a couple of bands Eve had heard of and several she hadn’t.
He’d been accused of drug trafficking four years ago after a large stash of heroin was found in the boot of a Mercedes he’d hired and left at the airport before a trip abroad.
He was suspected of having been involved with an international organised crime group.
He’d denied this from the outset, had appealed immediately post-conviction and had been successful.
It transpired that the police had withheld phone data from the defence that would have cleared his name had it been available at his original trial.
He’d spent a total of eighteen months in prison, but didn’t appear to be at all bitter; in fact, he considered himself fortunate to have had good lawyers and had gone on to become a trustee for a London charity, Truth for Justice, which helped convicted prisoners who maintained their innocence but didn’t have any money to fund an appeal.
Meanwhile, he had continued his work as a music producer and had bought the house in Norham Gardens not long after his release from prison.
Eve tapped in the phone number Joe had given her.
‘Debbie Stroud,’ said a tired-sounding female voice at the other end of the line.
‘It’s Eve,’ she said. ‘Eve Shotton. I’ve been asked to call you.’
‘Oh, yes. Just a second.’ Eve could hear the sound of a yapping dog and a television in the background, both of which faded to silence as a door was closed. The voice came back. ‘Is this about Jamie?’
Eve hesitated. ‘I know him as Joe. He said you had approved that.’
A pause. ‘We know he’s using his middle name, yes.’
Eve breathed deeply. ‘So, what is it that I need to confirm?’
‘Are you fully aware of his situation?’
‘Well … no,’ Eve said. ‘I can’t say that I am.’
‘But you know why he was in prison?’
‘Yes. The police told me.’
‘And you know he was released last October?’
‘I didn’t know it was October,’ Eve said. ‘But yes, I know he was inside for murder and rape and that he came out quite recently.’
‘OK,’ Debbie Stroud said. ‘Well, as you’d expect, he’s on a life licence and has a number of conditions attached. One of them concerns the disclosure of new relationships. He is required to notify us of any developing relationship with a woman.’
‘That sounds a bit vague.’
‘It’s because he is an ongoing risk to females.’
‘Yes. I get that,’ Eve said. ‘But we haven’t …’ She let out a breath. ‘You know.’
‘The relationship needs to be disclosed, whether intimate or not.’
‘When?’ Eve asked. ‘At what point?’
‘By the second meeting. That was made clear to him. And this is for your own protection, Eve. He knows this. He is required by his licence conditions to explain his circumstances to you as soon as possible. It’s something we would have assisted with if he’d told us sooner.
I would have sat down with the two of you together and helped him to explain the situation. ’
‘But the police got to me first.’
‘So it seems. But there’s nothing to stop them from doing so. And there’s a delicate balance to be struck. I’m sure if it was your daughter, you’d want her to know.’
‘So, what did they tell you?’ Eve asked.
‘Who?’
‘The police.’
‘Well, nothing yet. It was Jamie—’
‘Joe,’ Eve interrupted. ‘His name’s Joe. You said you’d approved this. So can we please call him Joe?’
A pause. ‘Yes. Joe.’
Eve realised what Debbie had been about to say. ‘Hang on. So Joe did tell you about me?’
‘Not until this afternoon,’ Debbie said. ‘Not until late this afternoon.’
‘It sounds like he must have called you straight after I left his house?’ Eve said, surprised. This wasn’t quite the picture the detective had painted.
‘Yes, but my concern is that he left it longer than he should have done.’
‘Well, I’m not sure that’s correct,’ Eve said. ‘I’ve only known him for a couple of weeks.’
‘So how many times have you met him?’
Eve cast her mind back, thinking it through carefully.
‘OK. Technically, I’ve met him three times,’ she said, truthfully.
‘But the first time we were strangers who bumped into each other in a bookshop and had a brief conversation.’ She paused.
‘In fact, it was mostly me who did the talking. He barely said a word. Then we bumped into each other again in a shop in North Parade a few days later. We recognised each other and he offered me some herbs from his garden because I hadn’t managed to buy the ones I wanted, and I walked back to his house with him.
I was upset about something – something to do with my family – and he took pity on me and made me a cup of tea.
’ She paused again. ‘And then today, the third time, he didn’t know I was coming.
I turned up at his house and surprised him.
Honestly, he looked taken aback to see me.
He definitely wasn’t expecting me. He offered me a cup of tea again and we chatted for an hour or so, and then I left …
and then he phoned you.’ Eve concluded: ‘Look, I’m not trying to protect him, but to be honest with you, I can’t see how he could have done things any differently. Can you?’
There was silence on the other end of the phone as Debbie considered her response. ‘I’m just making some notes,’ she said.
Eve waited.
‘OK,’ she said, finally. ‘That’s been very helpful.’
‘Are you going to recall him back to prison?’ Eve asked.
‘Possibly not, based on what you’ve told me. But you need to know that we consider him high risk.’
Eve felt a small jolt to her stomach. ‘What makes him high risk?’
‘He hasn’t admitted the offence. He hasn’t done any of the reoffender programmes. He hasn’t accepted responsibility or shown remorse.’
‘Could that be because he didn’t do it?’
A pause. ‘They all say they didn’t do it, Eve. I’m getting the sense that this might be wishful thinking on your part.’
‘He’s still fighting his conviction,’ Eve pointed out. ‘He’s been released, but he’s still fighting it.’
‘Eve, he’s on life licence. He is on the sex offenders register.
He has multiple conditions that are going to continue to restrict his freedom for many years to come, and some of them will do so for the rest of his life.
They’ll dictate where he can go, where he can’t go, what kind of work he can do.
Whether anyone will want to be in a relationship with him.
’ She paused for the message to land. ‘Look, if you want my honest opinion, you need to be careful. You may not like what I’m telling you, but I have a duty to tell you nonetheless, and I’m going to be making a note of this conversation so that it’s on record that I’ve warned you: the man you’re seeing is dangerous. ’