‘Did he remember if Rodney was inside or outside when the firefighters got there?’
‘I did ask, but he couldn’t remember. He said that the boy’s clothes were on fire, and he was in a very bad state.’
‘OK, fine. Right, next up, who’s on the criminal records of Rodney Middleton?’
‘I am, sarge.’
‘You are DC Lions?’
‘No, sir, I’m Leon Elba. Lions was assigned to something with traffic, so I took over. I have here the file of information that I’ve managed to get so far.’
Leon was dark skinned, with delicate features and cropped black hair.
Leon passed the file to Jack, who began reading through it.
‘As you can see, sarge, the last serious offence for assault was four years ago when he was twenty-one years old, and is similar to his latest assault for which he is presently awaiting trial. He served six months in a young offender institution and there are a lot of references to his medical issues, plus four other offences for petty crimes and threatening behaviour.’
Jack closed the file.
‘He certainly seems to have been a regular visitor to the station. Who’s been tracking down his probation officers?’
Sara put up her hand. ‘I have. But before I go through that, I now have photographs of the two missing girls. I also have five more girls of similar age, and from different parts of the country.’
Sara passed the photographs to Jack. She had made notes on each of the photographs, with the girl’s name, age, location and dates from the mispers reports.
Jack nodded. ‘Good. I want to show these to Amanda to see if she recognises any of them. We do have extra time now due to Rodney’s trial date being put back. So, next, what about the probation reports?’
‘Well, it’s quite hard to get to the actual officer, as there have been so many dealing with Middleton. I had to pull a few strings... my brother is a probation officer, so he helped me... well, as much as he legally could do.’
Sara passed another file to Jack. He took out the typed documents and looked at the first page.
‘What’s this?’
‘There was a report in 2017 regarding someone claiming to be a Metropolitan Police officer. He called the NHS 111 service and stated that he believed Rodney Middleton was very dangerous. He wanted to give a warning about his behaviour but said he was unable to offer help himself as he was from a different district, and it would be an abuse of power.’
Jack continued reading.
‘So, this unknown officer was then put through to a clinician who suggested a welfare check on Middleton, but it’s not clear whether this took place? I don’t effing believe it!’ Jack exclaimed angrily.
Sara nodded. ‘Yes, it appeared that there was no immediate threat to life, so nothing was done.’
‘So, we don’t know if this was followed through or not. And next we have an arrest for breaching a public protection notice... and his mental state was assessed by a community psychiatric nurse?’
‘Yes, sir. And in her report, she wrote that she had observed Middleton staring at young children in a playground, and then discovered him staring at her own children. It was reported that another assessment should take place to decide whether or not he should be detained, and warned that he could be a risk to other children.’
Jack shook his head as he continued to read. ‘That evening he was detained and interviewed by two doctors and a mental health practitioner. They were unable to contact the nurse who had submitted the report, and as there had been no signs of Middleton acting strangely while in custody, they released him. Middleton had told them that his two young sisters had died in a fire and he was still suffering from the tragedy. They said he should contact his local GP and passed their details to a probation officer who had been attached to Middleton when he had committed his first assault.’
Sara nodded, then gestured to the file. ‘So that’s where we have the probationary reports starting. His local GP referred him for psychiatric help through CAMHS, and he was given an appointment with a Dr Angus Seymour. The clinic was to report to his probation officer, a Linda Harvey, and I have her contact details for you...’
There was a knock on the door and Jack turned with a look of irritation as Laura walked in.
‘Sorry to interrupt, but I did leave a message for you, Jack. Maggie called this morning to remind you about getting home on time. She just called again to make sure you got the message, as she’s held up at the hospital. You left your mobile on your desk.’
Jack jumped up. He had completely forgotten Penny was out that evening and he was supposed to look after Hannah.
‘Thank you, Laura. I’ll have to leave in a few minutes.’
Jack closed the file. ‘I’ll take this home, Sara, and finish reading it this evening. Thank you all. I want you to check out if Amanda Dunn is still at the hostel, and if not find out where she is. I’ll also want to have a meeting with Mr Glover, and see if you can check out the anonymous officer who contacted 111 — as well as the woman who reported seeing Middleton looking at her children. From what I can see, he doesn’t seem to stray far from his original home, the one that caught fire. The basement flat is only a few miles away, and...’
Jack checked his watch. He needed to be home before Penny left so he gathered up all the files and put them into his briefcase. He hurried into the incident room to collect the information Ridley had passed him, as well as his mobile phone. Unlocking his desk drawer, he took out the plastic bag and shoved it into his bulging briefcase.
He was just heading out when Anik stopped him and asked if he could work on Saturday as he had a friend arriving to stay. Jack snapped that he had not had a weekend off for weeks and it wasn’t convenient. He was further irritated when Anik said he had run it by the DCI, and it was on the schedule.
‘Fine, I’ll come in, but what about Laura?’
‘She’s off this weekend. It’s all on the duty roster.’
Jack was in too much of a hurry to get home so just shrugged and walked out. But he was pissed off, as he had wanted the weekend to focus on Ridley’s situation. Somehow he had to help him prove his innocence, but right now, he didn’t even know where to start.
Chapter Seven
Thankfully Jack arrived home in good time. Penny was waiting for him, about to take a bath and get ready for her evening out.
Jack dumped his briefcase in the hall, threw off his leather coat and went straight up to see Hannah. She was in the play area of her bedroom, with a small TV on and so many toys littered around her that it was like an obstacle course just to go and pick her up. He played with her for a while, then when Penny called out that it was free, Jack carried Hannah into the bathroom.
Jack ran the bath as he undressed Hannah. He tested the water before putting her into the bath, piled high with foam as he had overdone the bubble bath. Hannah was quickly covered in bubbles, splashing around and having a wonderful time. He washed her hair, which caused a few tears as she got soap in her eyes. But he was able to calm her down as he used one of the big bath towels to wrap her up and take her back to her bedroom. He rubbed her hair dry, covered her in talcum powder, and found some fresh pyjamas, whilst Hannah wriggled and chattered away. Penny popped her head round the door to let him know that she was leaving. Hannah began screeching that she wanted her nana, and Jack had to promise that he would read three bedtime stories after making a special eggy bread supper.
Maggie arrived home about an hour later. She hurried into the kitchen as she could hear Hannah shouting. Jack had his shirt sleeves rolled up and had managed to get talcum powder in his hair. He was now attempting to whisk another batch of egg and milk together, as he had burnt the eggy bread on his first attempt.