Banks went on to say that Oates was a very strong swimmer, and would do up to a hundred lengths every time he used the pool. He also used the gym, where again complaints had been made about his appearance. In fact, the list of complaints also included using someone’s shampoo and sitting around too long in the café.
‘He was warned a couple of times that he would not be allowed to use the centre and his membership would be revoked. There was some altercation on a running machine once. He was quite athletic and would be on the treadmill for hours.’
‘Did you ever see him approaching young girls?’
‘I think a swimming instructor did give a memo about him taking too much interest in a group of schoolgirls.’
Anna remarked to Banks that the list of complaints against Oates was extensive, yet he had still been allowed to use the premises.
‘We are a council-run club, not private, and we have a three-warnings rule, but in actual fact we didn’t ask him to leave due to his hygiene or behaviour – we had a spate of thefts. Tracksuits and shoes went missing, and we did a Miss Marple, cross-checking the members that were signed in when the thefts occurred. Overall, Oates was top of the list.’
‘Did it get reported to the police?’
‘No. It was nothing of value really and often the stolen item wasn’t missed immediately. We did install some interior CCTV cameras and, if my memory is correct, it was just before we had them installed that Mr Oates was asked to leave. We always had them in the car park, but not inside the club.’
‘So he was never caught on camera stealing?’
‘No. One of our instructors was in the gym for a oneto-one workout with a member, said she had taken her crucifix off and put it on the windowsill. When her class was finished…’ He paused and shook his head.
‘No, sorry, it was the young lady’s, she had taken it off because it got in the way when she was doing press-ups and Judy the instructor filled out the lost property report for her. Again it was not of great value, more sentimental value really.’
He frowned and stood up. ‘Just in case I get the facts wrong she still works here if you would like to talk to her.’
‘Thank you, I would, and I need to take the file you kept on Oates.’
Anna was so excited she burst into the incident room. Barolli physically jumped, as he was closest to the door.
‘I got a result, one you won’t believe.’
Anna dumped her briefcase down as people around paid attention.
‘Henry Oates was confronted by a fitness trainer at the sports centre where he went swimming but he also worked out in the gym there. They’d had a spate of thefts – running shoes, tracksuits – and one of the members left her gold crucifix on a window ledge. Oates was running on a tread-mill; he was the only other person in the gymnasium.’
Anna had taken off her coat and was opening her briefcase.
‘When Oates was confronted and accused of taking it, he became very abusive and threatening. The manager was called and said Oates refused to allow them to search his bag – in fact swung it at him and ran out. He was subsequently barred from the centre.’
Anna crossed to the incident board and picked up a marker pen.
‘The lady who owned the crucifix is a Sabrina Holt and I went to see her on my way back here. It was stolen eighteen months ago. Sabrina said it was rolled gold, not real gold, and that it had a chip mark at the bottom of it.’
Anna pointed to the picture of the crucifix on the board and circled a small chip mark, which was in the same place described by Sabrina Holt.
‘She said it could not have been taken by anyone else as Oates was working out when she started her class and left before it had finished and no one else entered the gym.’
‘Did she report it to the police?’ Barbara asked.
‘No, she said it was not that valuable.’
‘Nobody actually saw him with it though, did they?’ Barolli said.
Anna snapped that the necklace was stolen two days before Fidelis went missing and had now been recovered snagged to her clothing. It was obvious Oates had taken it.
Joan had been on the phone during all of this, but now called out: ‘I got a hit!’
Anna turned towards her.
‘I did as you asked about the chalk and building sites. Basically raw chalk itself isn’t really used on site but it is used to make cement, lime, mortar and so on. Oates told his neighbour it was chalk dust on him so as a bit of initiative on my part I started ringing round working chalk pits near London. Been onto a chalk quarry near Marlow – that’s sort of past Heathrow Airport, M40-M4 – it’s only semi-running at the moment, but the manager was really helpful. Worked there for over twenty years.’
Anna was so impatient she wanted to shake Joan.
‘Did Henry Oates work there?’
‘No, but I also ran by the manager, amongst other names, Timmy Bradford – remember him, ex-boxer associate of Oates?’
‘Yes, and?’
‘In 2006 Bradford worked there briefly as a driver, and he brought a friend along who was looking for a similar position, but the friend was unable to provide a driving licence.’
‘This guy has a bloody good memory,’ Barolli said.
‘I thought that, but he recalls “the friend”, who matches Oates’s description, as being trouble. When he was refused a job he became belligerent, screaming and shouting about wasting his time and the next minute the two of them were fighting.’
‘Which two, the manager and Oates?’
‘No, Timmy Bradford and Oates. They had to be separated, which is why he remembers the incident. Oates cleared off and Bradford only lasted a few more weeks before he left.’
Anna still had the marker pen in her hand. ‘Joan, hit me with the dates this happened.’
‘Well, the manager thinks it was late June, early July 2006.’
Anna tapped her teeth with the pen. The date didn’t match when Mrs Murphy had seen Oates covered in chalk dust but was around the time he worked at the Jordans. She hesitated before writing down the information.
‘What’s this place like, Joan?’
‘I don’t know, it’s called Taplow Quarry. I’ll get some pictures of it up on the web. Some parts of it are disused, or so the manager said.’
Anna leaned on the back of Joan’s chair as she brought up the pictures on the website. It was like an alien world – colossal, with towering white cliffs of chalk and a quarry hundreds of feet in depth and width. The dumper trucks looked like small toys in comparison. They could see huge open-sided barns with loading bays and conveyer belts, which Joan said were to move the blasted chalk into a crusher before it went on to the cement and lime factories. The disused area was also massive, with a large pond, trees, bushes and abundant moss.
Anna went back to her desk but couldn’t concentrate. The quarry had given her an eerie feeling – the hairs on her arms were raised. She doodled on her notepad. Why had Henry Oates been seen covered in chalk dust nearly nine months after he had applied for work there?
‘Paul, will you do me a favour?’
Barolli looked over.
‘I’d like you to bring in Timmy Bradford for further questioning.’
‘Sure, and good work on tracking the crucifix down. Do I have a reason for wheeling Bradford in?’
‘Yeah, he lied.’
Timmy Bradford sat nervously in front of Anna, who had Barolli beside her. This time he was outside the comfort zone of his mother’s flat, and there was no tea and biscuits on offer.
‘You fed me a load of lies, Timmy, didn’t you?’ Anna began, in no mood to mess about.
‘No.’
‘Listen, Timmy, I’ve looked at your record. You’re not sitting here because of another petty juvenile crime. You’re very close to being arrested on suspicion of murder, so you need to start telling me the truth.’