To Jack, the agency at first sight seemed legitimate, but his first priority would be to do background checks on Mrs Eva Shay and her partner, Selina Da Costa, the two women running the agency.
Ridley had included two photographs of the woman he had known as Sandra. She was a very attractive blonde, with wide eyes and full lips, and on the back of the official agency photograph were her details: ‘Sandra Raynor, single, 44 years old, 5’9”, retired accountant. Enjoys skiing, country walks, visiting art galleries and museums.’
Jack wondered how Ridley had described himself. He had to be in his mid-forties, and, like Sandra, he was single. He could not really be described as good-looking although he was over six feet tall. He wondered if Ridley enjoyed museums and art galleries. But he could certainly see why he would be attracted to Sandra, if that was her real name. In the envelope were photographs of the two other women that Ridley had dated, both middle-aged and pleasant-looking, but not quite as attractive.
The alarm on Jack’s mobile went off telling him that he needed to leave for the station. Reluctantly, he gathered all Ridley’s documents to take with him, but before leaving he phoned Linda Harvey’s contact number at the probationary department. When she eventually came on the line, he explained as quickly as possible the reason for contacting her and gave his station details. She sounded young, with a pleasant voice, first explaining that her interview with Rodney Middleton had not actually taken place. Just as Jack was about to end the call, thanking her for her time, she said that to prepare for the appointment she had spoken to Dr Donaldson asking for his opinion.
‘Off the record, Dr Donaldson did say something that concerned me, and it was frustrating that I was never able to follow up on it because my interview with Mr Middleton was cancelled because of his arrest’.
There was a pause, and he heard an intake of breath.
‘What I’m going to say must be off the record. I hope you understand that’.
‘Of course,’ Jack said.
‘Right well, Dr Donaldson said that in his opinion Rodney Middleton’s ability to play the system was the only reason he had remained out of prison. He was a very dangerous individual and I should be very careful regarding any interaction with him.’
‘Thank you,’ Jack said. ‘I appreciate you passing that on. And you have my word our conversation will remain between us.’
Jack terminated the call, letting out a deep breath. So his gut instinct had been right. There was no way he was going to drop this investigation now. The only problem was that he now had two investigations to pursue, and one of them had to be secret. Hurrying down the stairs, Jack found Penny had Hannah already in her pushchair to take her to the park, and quickly said goodbye to them both before leaving. By the time he arrived at the station it was just after nine. There were only a small team of officers on duty and Jack went up to the CID office and carefully locked the Ridley material away in his desk drawer. He was taking out his case files as Sara came in with a coffee.
‘I read the update on Middleton’s past records. Good work,’ Jack said.
‘I was able to get help through my brother, and I’m now sourcing more information regarding the probation reports,’ she told him. ‘I’ve located the probation officer that handled Middleton’s previous arrest, and also the one that saw him four years ago, but he’s retired. He lives in Twickenham and was quite cooperative if a bit guarded.’
Jack sipped the coffee, which needed more sugar for his taste. He studied her neat report, which gave the contact numbers for both officers she had just mentioned.
‘The firefighter you asked us to track down? I called him this morning at his home, and he’s happy to meet you.’
‘That’s Brian Hookam, right?’
‘Yes, sarge. He lives in Cobham.’
‘OK, Sara, can you find out if he’ll see me this morning. Also check with the probation officer. I could see him first, then go on to Cobham.’
‘I’ll make the calls right now.’
Sara went back to her desk and Jack signalled to DC Elba to join him. He took out the laptop he’d brought in from his garden hut. Well aware of Ridley’s warning that the Essex CID would be monitoring anything to do with his case, he knew he was taking a risk. But the Middleton enquiry was really taking up too much of his time, and he needed to start making headway as soon as possible.
Leon stood by his desk, notebook at the ready. Jack hesitated a moment, still unsure about what he could get away with.
‘Leon, I need you to do some checking for me, and it’s very important. I need you to find out anything you can about a Sandra Raynor, aged 44, working as an accountant. Look through the newspaper archives, pull out anything you can find on her.’ He passed over the laptop. ‘I also want you to use this, not the station’s, as this is a covert investigation. You get any kind of alarm bells, you bring it straight back to me, understand?’
‘Will do, sarge.’ Leon jotted down some notes in his pocketbook, then put the laptop in his briefcase. ‘We also contacted the hostel. Amanda Dunn is still there, but a Mrs Thornton said that she was scheduled to be leaving after the weekend.’
Jack nodded, deciding he would do the visits first and then drive over to see Amanda.
Half an hour later he left the station with Sara, after she had entered into CRIS that they would be conducting two interviews that morning. She giggled when she saw Jack’s car, saying that she had never known a detective to drive such an outrageously coloured vehicle.
‘Beggars can’t be choosers, Sara, and my wife has the Porsche. At least you can easily spot this in a car park, plus I doubt anyone would ever want to steal it!’
‘You’re probably right about that, sarge,’ Sara agreed, then paused before continuing. ‘There are a few things I didn’t put into my written report. Mr Thompson is retired and was actually semi-retired when he was handling Rodney Middleton’s case. He’s sixty-seven, and apparently has some medical issues. He’s an “old school” probationary officer, and to be honest I doubt he would even be employed these days.’
Sydney Thompson lived in a small terraced house in St Margarets, just after Twickenham Bridge, and fortunately Jack was able to park almost outside his front door. There were cones blocking the spaces in front of an adjacent property that was being renovated; however, there didn’t appear to be any builders working on it. They both put on their masks, even though it was not obligatory, and headed towards number 32.
Thompson opened the front door before Jack had time to ring the bell. He looked older than sixty-seven and was very overweight, his enormous stomach bulging out through his crumpled collarless shirt.
‘There’s a big rugby match on this afternoon, so I hope this isn’t going to take too long. And don’t worry about wearing your masks; nobody round here bothers now. I’ve had my vaccinations, so has the wife, as she’s got asthma. She’s been in isolation for so long she’s starting to enjoy making me do all the grocery shopping. Not for much longer though!’
He led them into a small sitting room which had a comfortable, if rather worn, sofa and two easy chairs. There was a coffee table with a pot of tea and a plate of biscuits, with sugar and milk and three mugs. Sydney eased himself into one of the two easy chairs as Sara offered to pour the tea, and they removed their masks.
‘I don’t want to take up too much of your time, Mr Thompson. I’m here to ask you a few questions about a young man called Rodney Middleton. I believe he was with you a few years ago,’ Jack began.
Sydney stirred his mug of tea and took a long sip.
‘Obviously whatever I tell you is privileged information, but I’ll tell you what I can.’
‘I appreciate that, Mr Thompson. First off, can you give me your personal impression of Rodney?’