Jen looked murderous. ‘Why?’
The psychiatrist gave an apologetic shrug. ‘Hospital policy. We don’t allow drug abuse on the premises. What you do outside is a matter between you and your conscience . . . but I’d show some restraint if I were you.’
She took a swipe at him with her bag and staggered slightly when she missed by a mile.
He eyed her with amusement. ‘I’m just the messenger, Ms Morley. Don’t shoot me because you don’t like what I say.’
‘Fuck you!’ she said out of the mouth of an otherworldly angel.
Third murder victim ‘beaten to death’
FOLLOWING THE DEATH of Kevin at the Ministry of Defence, was con-Atkins, a 58-yr-old builder from scripted into the Royal Army Pay south London, police have a con-Corps as part of his National Serfirmed a possible link with the mur-vice. Kevin Atkins served 15 years ders of Harry Peel, 57, and Martin in the army, most notably as a cor-Britton, 71. Mr Atkins sustained poral in 2 Para during the 1982 Falkfatal head injuries in what police lands War. He was decommissioned have described as a ‘frenzied in 1983. attack’. His cleaner discovered his Det Supt Brian Jones denied body on Wednesday morning but rumours that Harry Peel and Kevin post-mortem tests showed he’d been Atkins had been forced out of the dead for at least four days. army because of homosexual activ-
Det Supt Brian Jones, who has ity. He also refused to comment on been leading the inquiries into the whether a male prostitute is being murders of Harry Peel and Martin sought in connection with the mur-Britton, said there were similarities ders. ‘We are keeping an open mind.’ between the cases. ‘All three men He urged anyone with information to lived alone and were found in their come forward. ‘Whoever is doing beds,’ he said. ‘The attacks were this is extremely dangerous.’ violent but there were no signs of Police have welcomed the help forced entry and we believe the vic-of the gay community in drawing tims knew their assailant.’ attention to the danger of casual sex
He refused to comment on the with strangers. ‘Most of us think of men’s army records. Harry Peel our homes as safe,’ said a spokes-spent five years in an infantry regi-man, ‘but they’re not. They’re the ment from the age of 18. Martin place where we let down our guard Britton, a high-ranking civil servant and make ourselves vulnerable.’
Southwark Echo, Thursday, 12 April 2007
DR ROBERT WILLIS
MD, PSYCH
Extracts from notes on Lt Charles Acland April 2007
. . . Contradictory reports about Charles’s time in London. Susan Campbell says he disappeared on Saturday evening after one of her other guests, a young woman, tried to be friendly with him. Thereafter, he avoided the girl and withdrew into his shell. Susan’s conclusion is that he becomes anxious when people get too close. Touching and invasion of personal space appear to be real issues for him.
. . . Charles made no mention of the young woman but describes the stay as ‘difficult’ because of Susan’s attempts at friendship. Her kindness [he calls it ‘mothering’ and ‘bossy interference’] was ‘overpowering’ and he kept out of her way as much as possible. They both agree he went running every night, sometimes for hours on end.
...I asked Charles what he plans to do if the army rejects his request to return to active service. He said it won’t happen and has made no plans for an alternative. He has blocked all discussion on the subject since I suggested that a return to his parents’ farm might be his only choice if things don’t work out as he hopes.
. . . Susan believes his worries about his future are as debilitating to his confidence as his disfigurement is. Perhaps more so. She suggests Charles has defined himself for so long as a soldier – through a declared ambition at school and then in reality through his regiment – that he’s unable to define himself in any other way. Susan’s view – a pessimistic one – is that Charles will impose even more isolation on himself if the army rejects him.
. . . She feels he’s struggling with profound issues that aren’t easily explained by his injuries or concerns about his career. [Query: Sexual orientation? Susan’s query also.]
. . . Every attempt to talk about Jen angers him. He says he wants to forget her completely and can’t do that if I keep reminding him of her existence. When I mentioned the rape allegation, he said, ‘There’s a cast of thousands for the part of Jen’s rapist. She doesn’t exist if men don’t lust after her...’
METROPOLITAN
POLICE
INTERNAL MEMO
To: ACC Clifford Golding From: Det Supt Brian Jones Date: 13 April 2007 Subject: Kevin Atkins inquiry
Sir,
In answer to your question re the likelihood of a single perpetrator, the relevant SOCO preliminary findings from Kevin Atkins’s apartment are as follows. In brief:
No forced entry.
Victim found on his side, dressed in a bathrobe.
Bathrobe pulled up to expose the buttocks.
‘Foreign object’ bruising/lacerations to rectum.
No evidence of sexual intercourse.
Opened, half-consumed bottle of wine in the living room – two cleaned glasses on the draining board in the kitchen.
No useful fingerprints – some accounted for, some unknown.
Frenzied attack to the head – similar weapon used (round-headed blunt instrument).
Subsequent damage to walls and property with same weapon.
No apparent resistance from the victim.
No indication of how the victim was immobilized.
Wallet emptied of cash – no credit cards taken.
Mobile telephone stolen.
Despite 7 April being the probable date of death, FSS have yet to deliver a full report on Atkins. I am also waiting on an update to the psychological profile from Britton’s murder. Meanwhile, the focus of the inquiry team continues to concentrate on the army connection, male prostitutes, methods of contact, stranger sightings in the area and people known to the victims.
I will, of course, keep you updated as information comes in.
With kind regards,
Brian
Detective Superintendent Brian Jones
Six
ACLAND’S DECISION TO abandon further surgery in favour of a quick return to the army came as no surprise to Robert Willis. The lieutenant’s fuse had become shorter by the day since his return from London, made worse when a small operation, designed to begin the process of creating a pouch for a glass eye, showed minimal results.
He was left with an empty, misshapen eye socket, irregular migraines, persistent low-level tinnitus and a blade-shaped scar up his cheek, but as no one could guarantee that further operations would produce a significantly better result in an acceptable time-frame, he opted to live with the face he had. He was warned by Mr Galbraith that in an image-conscious world he could expect adverse reactions, but he rejected the surgeon’s advice and chose instead to confront the prejudices of the image-conscious by drawing attention to his disfigurement.
On the day of his departure, at the fag end of April, he buzz-cut his hair to half an inch, donned a black eyepatch and went in search of Robert Willis for a verdict. He found the psychiatrist in his office, deep in concentration in front of his computer.
Willis’s startled expression at the tap on his open door was as much to do with the fact that he hadn’t known anyone was there as with his lack of immediate recognition of the man in his doorway, but the response pleased Acland. Surprise and alarm were preferable to sympathy and disgust. ‘Am I disturbing you, Doc?’