Jack hid a smile but straightened up when she marched over to his desk.
‘Detective Sergeant Warr, they said you were good-looking, but they didn’t say you were a savvy dresser... very nice suit. I’m Glenda Bagshot, leading the CCTV footage investigation. I think you should come up to our dank hole on the top floor... we’ve come up with a few things of interest.’
Jack immediately stood up, eager to see what they had unearthed. Glenda waddled ahead of him, still complaining about the refreshments, as he followed her up the stairs. They eventually went into a room at the far end of the top floor corridor. Because the team had to focus on monitors for lengthy periods the blinds were down and there was only a low light overhead. Three Perspex screens separated the areas, and it appeared that Glenda was working on two screens at the same time.
‘Pull up a pew. Have you got a mask? If not, there’s a box of them on the side of my desk if you can be bothered. But I’m not worried. Lot of people don’t bother now. I took my wee poodle in for a groom and they wouldn’t let me in without a mask. I said it’s my dog that wants a wash not me! I’m wearing one, but only as it limits the smell of BO. Right, I’m working on footage from the security cameras positioned across from the basement flat, and next to the house. There are also two further cameras up the street. It’s a relief that they’re all up to modern digital standards as having to work on old tapes is a nightmare. This makes my life a lot easier.’
Jack pulled forward a small office stool on wheels to sit close to Glenda. She pointed to the two other monitors.
‘They’re taking a bathroom break. The bloke at the end is concentrating on the rubbish collections, and the unfortunate gent beside me with nasty BO is focusing on a large charity clothes bin used for second-hand shoes and clothes, outside a food store. The shop has good CCTV. I think the shop owner made complaints about people dumping old push chairs and baby seats which weren’t getting collected, so he installed a good quality security surveillance camera, which is handy for us.’
Glenda hardly drew breath as she went on to say that DCI Clarke had instructed them to go back some considerable time. She squinted at a thick notebook, then flicked through the pages.
‘We were told to begin from the time this SOB was arrested after his first assault. We immediately faced one big problem: with it being a basement flat there’s no footage of the basement courtyard, only the few steps at the top and the pavement outside. We had instructions to keep going further back for as long as we needed to in the hope of finding something useful. I’ve been editing clips together to avoid wasting time scrolling through hours of footage, and I mean hours. We’ve been at this all night and will probably still be working on it tomorrow.’
Glenda was constantly pushing her face mask up over her round face, pinching it across her nose to try to keep it in place.
‘Right, handsome, let me show you what I have so far.’
Jack smiled, then turned to watch the footage. A lot of it was very grainy, and Glenda gave a running commentary to explain what he was looking at. He could see Rodney Middleton being escorted to a waiting patrol car between two uniformed officers, dated and timed as the evening of his first arrest for assault. Middleton seemed totally unfazed and at ease, and at one point he turned to face the camera. One officer carried an evidence bag which presumably contained the weapon.
The footage continued, showing Amanda Dunn leaving the basement flat carrying what looked like a bulging pillowcase. This was timed and dated as the day after the arrest. There were then numerous clips of her going in and out of the flat with what may have been the same pillowcase. She also went in on various occasions with food shopping bags, then finally left with a small holdall. Jack noted that one of the dates tied in with when she had called him from Euston Station.
On the same night she told Jack she was catching a train to Liverpool, Amanda was seen carrying a brown paper bag, a bottle and boxes of biscuits. Then there was coverage of Jack and Laura parking outside and entering the basement, fast-forwarding to see Harold Miller pulling up in a car and Rodney Middleton stepping out of the passenger side. Miller opened the boot and took out a bag. He held it out to Rodney, but he ignored him, so Miller shut the boot, locked the car, and stopped on the pavement to talk to Rodney. He put the bag down and opened a wallet, handing Rodney some cash. It was obvious that Rodney didn’t think it was enough as he shoved it back at him. Harold reopened his wallet and took out some more notes, before putting his hand in his coat pocket. They then went down the steps to the basement.
‘Can you freeze on that last interaction?’ Jack asked.
Glenda moved her mouse and rewound, then pressed pause. Jack peered closer to the screen.
‘Do you know, he has no bank account, or cards, with just a Post Office savings account for his benefits to be paid into. No driving licence, no car and so far, no mobile phone. The handset we have taken in is his girlfriend’s, which is very outdated, with no apps and just a few contact numbers. Middleton is very tech-savvy and has lots of the latest gadgets in TV and stereo equipment, so it doesn’t make any sense that he wouldn’t have a mobile. Can you enlarge that section where it looks like he’s being handed money, then passes it back and then Miller opens his wallet?’
Glenda zoomed in as requested and Jack peered at the screen. He then sat back.
‘I think Middleton passed Harold a mobile, underneath the bank notes that he handed back. Harold opens his wallet and hands him more cash, then puts his hand into his coat pocket. I’ll get the team onto it because I think Harold Miller took away Rodney’s mobile because Middleton knew we were in the flat.’
Glenda tapped her notebook, turning to Jack. ‘Well, you’re now up to speed with the coverage so far, from the original time frame we were given. To my mind it doesn’t add anything concrete, so now we go further back. These new CCTV cameras don’t wipe over anything, so everything is stored digitally — unless they’re switched off.’
Jack stifled a yawn, and she glared at him. ‘Keeping you up, are we?’
‘Sorry...’
Glenda turned as two officers came back into the room. She was certainly right about the bad BO. She rolled her eyes at Jack and pinched her nose over the mask.
‘Right, so this is me clipping a lot of footage together, but it gives you a really good look at the SOB and what he does. It’s not a lot, I’ll grant you, but keep watching,’ she said.
Jack leaned forward as he watched Rodney go in and out of the basement. He was seen carrying food shopping and stopping to talk to Mrs Delaney, then helping her husband carry the bins up to the pavement. He staggered as he carried what must have been an especially heavy bin up the steps.
Next there was footage of Rodney carrying what looked like large rolls of bubble wrap. Jack was finding it difficult to keep his eyes open, but then Glenda barked out that this next section was interesting and he should pay attention.
He leaned closer, watching Rodney heaving a bin on his own, bouncing the wheels up the stone steps as he became visible at the pavement level. As he reached the top step, the lid opened, and a package fell out. Rodney bent down to pick up the tightly wrapped black plastic parcel and quickly stuffed it right down into the bin. He positioned the bin on the pavement and ran back down the stone steps, returning with a black bin bag with a yellow drawstring tie, which he placed on top of the rubbish already inside the bin, pushing it down. He shut the lid and leant heavily on top of it to press everything tightly down.