Anna pushed the boxes towards him.
‘You have also claimed that on the day you stole the Jeep, you didn’t drive it into London but left it on the A3 with the keys in the ignition, speculating that anyone could have picked it up and used it.’
‘Yes.’
‘Would you look at this item which has been recovered from the Jeep, please?’
Anna opened the sealed bag Langton had given her and placed the box with the little arm next to the other pieces of doll.
Oates leaned forwards and grimaced.
‘I dunno what it is.’
Anna placed some white tissue paper on the table then removed the tiny head and leg from their containers and laid them down on the tissue. Next she put the latest find beside them.
‘As you can see they are from dolls, very small dolls, as made for Rebekka Jordan by her father. The pin in the leg is identical to the pin in the tiny arm – they are actually sewing pins cut to measure by Mr Jordan and used to join the bits together. This bit, a left arm, was found in the Jeep you stole.’
‘Listen, you don’t expect me to believe this shit – you must have fucking planted that, it’s wood, isn’t it, so it would have burnt up in the fire.’
‘Burnt up? What are you referring to?’
Oates twisted his head as if his neck was constricted.
‘I know what you are talking about, because I know you have lied,’ Anna went on. ‘You didn’t leave the Jeep on the A3, did you? You drove it back to London and put false plates on it so you could use it when you needed to go looking for your next kill, which was Rebekka Jordan.’
Oates was so fast. He pushed his chair back so hard it hit the ground and his legs came up as he somersaulted backwards, then sprang up, raising his fists like a boxer.
‘Come on, come on then, hit me, hit me.’
Mike hit the panic button and stood up quickly as Oates pranced in front of the table and began shadow-boxing. Kumar ducked down and crouched against the wall, plainly afraid he was going to be punched. The door opened and Langton came in with two uniformed officers as Oates became crazed, hunching his shoulders and punching wildly. As they grabbed both his arms, he struggled and started kicking. They twisted his arms behind his back and he howled in pain. Only after they had managed to push him forwards so that he was bent almost double did he suddenly deflate and sink to his knees.
They could still hear him as he was led down the corridor to the cells. It was a screeching howl, so high it sounded like a wounded animal. Langton suggested they put everything on hold until Oates calmed down. Kumar was shaken and said that he doubted if they would be able to continue. Langton snapped at him that it was all a big act, no doubt encouraged by Kumar, and he would get the police doctor out to examine him. He would decide if Oates was fit to be interviewed again.
Half an hour later and Oates had stopped screaming but was sitting on the cell bed rocking backwards and forwards, moaning at the top of his voice without making any sense. The police doctor had still not arrived to examine him as he was busy at another station some miles away. Barolli went to the cells to check up on the prisoner as Mike and Anna went over the interview. Anna didn’t say it, but what had occurred was the very thing Samuels had warned them about: Oates had flipped. Barolli returned to say that the screeching had stopped, but the prayers were now in full flow. Oates was on his knees, claiming God was talking to him, the voices were calling to him, and he wanted a Bible.
Anna had joined Mike in his office when Langton came in to inform them that the police doctor had still not arrived and there was nothing further they could do until he had assessed Oates. He checked his watch.
‘Maybe gives me enough time, but if I’m in the cells and the doctor arrives, stall him. Take your time explaining why we called him.’
Mike looked at Anna in surprise and then turned to Langton.
‘There are cameras all over the custody suite.’
‘Not in the cells.’
‘Where is Kumar?’
‘Oates’s antics scared him so he’s gone for a walk to calm his nerves.’
Langton hurried out and Anna sighed.
‘What do you think he’s going to do?’
‘Well he’s not going to say a few prayers with him, is he?’
‘He could jeopardize the whole investigation. All our hard work gone because he has a personal agenda with Oates.’
‘I think between you and me we just keep our noses out of it,’ Mike replied as he flicked up his blinds. Langton appeared to be deep in conversation with Joan.
Chapter Fifteen
‘I printed off some pictures and as much coverage as I could get up, but he was in such a hurry,’ protested Joan as Mike looked over her shoulder at her computer screen.
‘Thanks, Joan.’
Mike crossed to Anna’s desk and perched on the edge.
‘Langton’s gone down to the cells. He told Joan he was taking Oates a Bible.’
‘To hit him with, most likely. Oates has lost it, Mike – it was pretty obvious, which is why I trod so carefully with him, and now Kumar will ask the courts for a pre-trial psychiatric assessment. You know they nearly always fall on the side of the defendant.’
‘That’s if we ever get him to trial, shadow-boxing with the judge! Wouldn’t go down well. On the other hand, he was being a smart alec throughout until you showed him the doll’s arm found in the Jeep. That threw him – you saw the way he reacted: he knew when he said about the toy being burnt that he’d trapped himself. So he could be faking it.’
‘Well if he is, he’s going to have to keep it up. In the meantime, let’s get onto these other cases.’
‘Already checking them, but it’s getting late and I don’t know about you, but I am drained.’
‘Yeah, well let’s see what happens.’
Langton was having a quiet conversation with the young officer outside Oates’s cell. He told him he had a Bible for Oates and he’d keep an eye on him while the officer had a well-earned coffee break as a reward for putting up with the shouting and moaning for so long. Langton looked at his watch.
‘Fifteen minutes, okay?’
The officer nodded and moved off as Langton unlocked the cell. The young man turned back, unsure, watching for a moment, but then did as he was told. It was against regulations, but Langton had never been one to stick by those.
Oates was kneeling by his bunk, eyes closed, when Langton walked in, threw the Bible on the bed and then inched the door closed with his foot.
‘You can stop the act now, it doesn’t work with me.’
Oates opened his eyes and started crying.
‘May the good Lord forgive me for doing the work of the devil. I can’t help it. When he speaks to me he controls me and I am helpless.’
‘I just wanted to have a quiet word as after that performance I very much doubt you’ll be declared fit for trial. I know I won’t contest it, no way, and we’ve got a doctor on standby who will sign you out of our hands.’
‘The Lord giveth his blessings and taketh away, and I am deservedly waiting for him to give me peace,’ Oates informed him.
‘I bet you are, but before you get the Lord to comfort you, I just want to give you a bit of a lowdown on where he will be having to comfort you.’
Oates bowed his head and clasped his hands in prayer.
‘You’ll be on your way to Broadmoor,’ Langton continued, ‘and I guarantee you won’t be getting out. You’ll want to, believe you me you will want to, as they don’t have wings there, you know, no one’s segregated, part of their rules.’
Langton passed him a picture.
‘Take a look. You know who that is? No? That’s Sutcliffe. Good-looking fella, isn’t he? Neat black beard, nice hair, looks quite the man, doesn’t he?’
Oates glanced at the picture and then looked away.
Langton held up a second picture, shoving it in front of Oates’s face.