‘My Master. .’ Malpass smiled and drank the last of his coffee. ‘You haven’t called me that for a long, long while.’
‘My Master and Commander. I haven’t, have I?’
‘Yes, that was it. . My Master and Commander.’
‘I just stopped for some reason. . I dare say that our marriage moved on as marriages tend to do. . a continuously evolving process.’
‘Dare say. . When did you first use it? Can you recall?’
‘Oh. . that would be in Ireland. . I am sure it was during the Irish venture.’
‘That was fun. You were like a coyote.’
‘A coyote. . a wild dog. .’ She raised her eyebrows. ‘What on earth do you mean?’
‘In the mid west of the USA, so I once read, the coyotes who live outside small towns send a bitch on heat into the town. . and dogs just cannot resist a bitch on heat, and those dogs who are not tethered or kept in doors will form a pack and follow the coyote. . these are domesticated dogs, people’s pets, and the bitch leads the pack of pet dogs out of the town where the other pack, the coyotes, are waiting. Carnage.’
‘Wow. . I’d like to see that!’
‘So would I. . What I’d give to be a bird in a tree looking down on that.’
‘Yes. . not just the bloodletting, but the anguish of the pet owners. . all that guilt for not keeping their family pet safe. But we. . I didn’t attract a pack, just one at a time. Remember we called it the Black Widow game.’
‘Yes. That was it.’
‘The one with the black wig, and into the bar. . sitting alone. . grief stricken young widow. . just lost her husband. . allowed myself to get chatted up, and eventually asked if he knew a place where we could go because I have my needs. . but somewhere close. . they all did and it was guaranteed to be isolated. . and you followed us. . dressed in black with a black painted pickaxe handle. You know that’s where we learned the value of changing the MO.’
‘Yes. . once semi-conscious from the pickaxe handle, we did the business. . one got drain cleaning fluid down his throat. . we left him choking his life away. . that was a bit noisy. . we were isolated enough. . but I was worried by the racket he made. . learned the value of silence there.’
‘Yes. The old learning curve was steep in those days.’
‘Another had a plastic bag pulled over his head; the third had his throat cut; the fourth had a knife shoved into his chest. . picked up after ourselves. . left nothing behind. . no prints. . nothing, and the glass you drank from in the bar would have been well washed and dried by the time each body was found.’
‘Four of them. . Dublin, across to Galway, then back via Cork and Waterford. . well, not those places but little towns just outside them.’
‘Never pulled that stunt in the UK.’
‘Didn’t, did we. . that’s because we hit on the idea of targeting alcoholics. . but. . Ireland. .’ Malpass smiled at the memory. ‘That was a pleasant little jaunt indeed. Most enjoyable. And that was a pleasant and enjoyable cup of coffee.’
‘Thank you.’
‘I’ll go and fill up the car. . check the oil.’
‘And I’ll wash up. . leave everything just so.’
‘Yes. .’ Ronald Malpass glanced at this watch. ‘Time is perhaps beginning to press a little. . we must not leave it too late to make good our departure.’
‘No. .’
‘So I’ll leave the front garden unwatered. Get straight off when I return.’
‘After sitting in silence for a minute or two?’
‘Yes.’ He held eye contact with her and nodded slowly. ‘Yes, we’ll do that. . we’ll do that.’
Wednesday 10.50 hours
Hennessey and Yellich sat in Hennessey’s office in silence. Yellich glanced casually out of the small window towards the city walls and at the extended group of tourists thereon, who were enjoying a brief respite from the rain and also a period of sunlight created by a gap in the unseasonal cloud cover. Yellich watched as the tourists walked, having stretched into a linear group, ambling, looking to their left and right, bedecked with cameras, unlike the locals, who walk the walls singly, often with an air of hurried determination, staring straight ahead. Beyond the walls, over the rooftops, Yellich saw the upper parts of the three square towers of the Minster gleaming in the unexpected sunlight, with the heads of the tourists clearly seen atop the southern tower, all safely hemmed in with suicide-proof wire netting, despite the fact that no one in the thousand year history of the Minster has ever deliberately flung themselves from its height to their death. But this, Yellich reflected, was the early twenty-first century, and health and safety issues rule, as does fear of litigation, and the two, he saw as being interlinked. Yellich often thought, when beset with cynicism, that the issue was not so much the safety of the individual, but the safety of the organization concerned from legal action being raised against it. He turned his gaze to George Hennessey. ‘You’re quiet, skipper,’ he said, smiling.
‘Yes, yes. .’ Hennessey replied, forcing a smile as he was pulled back to the here and now from deep and distant thoughts. ‘I was worried. . confess I still am. .’
‘Worried, boss? Why. .?’ Yellich leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees with his hands clasped together. ‘We’ll lift them. . there’s nowhere they can go. . even if they make a run for it they can’t hide anywhere.’
‘Yes, I know. . I know. . but it’s not that. . I don’t think they will even attempt to run. . it’s not that at all. . I am worried about the number of victims that they have taken. . the old tip of iceberg. . there’s always more than we know. .’
‘Yes. . for sure. .’
‘So, just as more people went into Cromwell Street in Gloucester than have been determined, just as the Yorkshire Ripper would likely have taken more victims that the thirteen he was prosecuted for, even if they were not all fatally injured, and just as Hindley and Brady were in all possibility linked to the disappearance of other children who went missing at the time, but outside the Greater Manchester area. . so they were not seen as relevant. .’
‘You think that’s a possibility, sir?’
‘Yes. Why not. . they had transport. . they could have got up to Newcastle or Glasgow very easily. . come to this neck of the woods or through to Hull. . down to Birmingham. . but children from those areas who disappeared were not linked to them because at the time Greater Manchester Police were not looking outside their administrative area. . but now we know serial killers roam far and wide.’
‘See what you mean, boss.’
‘It’s not the tip of the iceberg in that I am sure we know of the substantial number of the Malpass’s victims. . but there’s always one or two or three more. . and that’s one or two or three victims who won’t get justice. . or one or two or three families that won’t get closure.’
‘We still have to chat to them, boss. . they might confess to others.’
‘Yes. . yes.’ Hennessey nodded. ‘Good point. . they might tell us more than we already know. Might. I still feel that we have to hope that one turns on the other. . but if they both go N.G., as my son would say, then the CPS still has an uphill battle. Being photographed standing over the grave of a victim, Hindley-like, is not proof of murder — not in itself — and, yes, we have the other photographs, and, yes, we have witness statements, but a defence counsel with fire in his belly could make a jury reluctant to convict. In Scotland it could even invite a “not proven” verdict.’
‘Yes. . I see your concern, sir.’
‘When this case comes to court it will be the trial of the most prolific pair of serial killers ever known in the UK. . but, like I said yesterday, unless one rolls over on the other it’s going to be a similar case to Regina versus Allit. . a case wherein the accumulation of circumstantial evidence becomes sufficient to convict. . being the most difficult to prosecute and being the easiest to defend. But as you say. . we have still to chat with them.’
The phone on Hennessey’s desk warbled. He let it ring twice before picking it up. ‘Hennessey. .’ he said, then fell silent as he listened. ‘All right. Thank you. We’ll be there directly.’ He glanced at Yellich. ‘They’re ready now. . vans. . sergeant. . four constables, scene of crime officers. . just requires you and me to make up the arrest squad.’