‘We? Who’s fucking “we”, Ridley?’
Jack gripped the front of Ridley’s hoodie, drawing him close.
‘If you need to get rid of my car as a precaution, are my wife and my family are in danger? If anything happens to them, I swear to God I will...’
Ridley didn’t react. ‘Don’t threaten me, Jack,’ he said calmly. ‘Your family is being protected. I swear to you nothing will happen to them. I’ve always known that you have an intuition and ability far above any other detective I’ve worked with, and you’ve proved me right.’
‘Well, that’s brilliant, that makes me feel so much better,’ Jack snapped.
Ridley nodded his head to indicate that he was leaving, and Jack reluctantly moved aside. He stood at the top of the stairs watching as Ridley hurried down and out of the front door. Jack returned to his office and looked out of the window. He watched Ridley hand his car keys to a thick-set man wearing a similar black track suit. Ridley then climbed into a black Mercedes with tinted windows. From behind the window blinds Jack watched his ridiculous little car being driven off. He looked at every parked car he could see on the street. None of them seemed occupied. If his house was being watched, they were certainly being covert. He felt hurt and angry, convinced that Ridley had still not told him the full truth. Ridley had lied to him, something he never would have thought possible.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Jack tucked the wedge of £50 notes into his wallet and went downstairs to the kitchen. He paced up and down, unsure what to do. He felt worried sick about Maggie, Penny and Hannah. It was now after 9 a.m. and even though he had told DCI Clarke that he would be in earlier than the start of his night-shift duty, he was reluctant to leave the house. He decided he would order an Uber and go and visit Maggie at the hospital to check that she was alright and to warn her to take precautions. He checked that the back door was locked, then went through the entire house checking all the windows before going back into his office.
Just as he was about to order an Uber, his mobile rang. It was Laura, first apologising in case she had woken him. She had received a call from Anik.
‘I didn’t get home until the early hours, but the DCI is bringing in the main team to be on standby.’
‘Why?’
‘It’s Amanda Dunn. She’s being brought in this afternoon. We’ve got Social Services on our back saying even though she’s eighteen she’s mentally vulnerable and needs an adult present for the interviews. I suggested we get one of her parents to be present.’
‘She ran away when she was twelve years old and she hasn’t been in contact with her parents for six years, so I doubt Amanda would want them.’
‘Then we’ll get Social Services to send someone. The DCI’s had that barrister Georgina Bamford bending his ear about legal representation for Amanda.’
‘But she can’t represent her if she’s Rodney Middleton’s brief!’ Jack said, trying to remain calm.
‘I know that, but she is insisting on a lawyer not attached to her chambers representing Amanda. I don’t know who it is, and I’m not at the station yet. As you have had more dealings with Amanda than anyone, I suggested that you should be present to conduct or at least monitor the interview.’
‘Well, at least someone respects the work I’ve done. But I was told that Anik was going to be involved in the interview, which really pissed me off.’
‘I know, he’s been so far up the DCI’s arse it’s embarrassing.’
‘Have the press got hold of it yet?’
‘I don’t know, but the DCI is under pressure to issue a press release this morning. Oh, by the way, they brought Harold Miller into the station last night. He came in after you’d left. He was sweating and shaking. He admitted that on occasions he had gone with Rodney to some depot to pick up the cans of acid. He claimed he was told they were for clearing the rats. Anyway, they let him go because he’s the main carer for his wife.’
She paused. ‘Are you listening, Jack?’
‘Yes... yes... so what time are you going into the station?’
‘I’m leaving home in about half an hour. There was something else: the new commander from Scotland Yard was also in with the DCI, and Clarke looked very shaken after he left.’
‘Did he say what happened?’
‘I think the gist of it was that we need to have a confession as there are so many unidentified victims, and still no remains. I think they hope Amanda will turn prosecution witness. It was quite funny, actually.’
Jack frowned. ‘What could possibly be funny?’
‘It was Hendricks. He said surely we have enough evidence against Middleton to charge him for all three murders, even without a confession. DCI Clarke rounded on him. He said that they had the Yorkshire Ripper bang to rights but it wasn’t until he made a confession that they knew how many he’d actually murdered.’
‘Well, well, well, I’d say our DCI is under a lot of pressure,’ Jack said.
‘So, you coming in early? I didn’t think you’d want to miss out on the arrival of Amanda Dunn.’
‘I’ll be there,’ Jack said.
Jack ended the call, then ordered an Uber to take him to Maggie’s hospital. Whilst he waited, he stood by the window and lifted the blinds a fraction. The same cars were still parked outside the house, most in the residents’ bays. There was also a gas repair van, with a small canopy tent pitched over a section of pavement. Three men in hard helmets and hi-viz jackets with GAS BOARD printed on their backs looked to be hard at work. Jack continued watching them, wondering if they were a surveillance team. He continued watching them for another five minutes, then he saw the Uber taxi drawing up. It was a Toyota Prius with an Egyptian driver Jack recognised from previous trips.
He left the house, glancing over at the gas workers. One of them was using a mobile phone and immediately turned away when he saw Jack looking at him. Jack was now sure they were monitoring his house and he felt a wave of relief wash over him. He kept a careful watch from the back of the Prius but saw no one following him. Arriving at the hospital, he asked the Uber driver to wait but he told Jack he would have to call in and book another journey. Jack got out, put in another call on his account and the driver gave him the thumbs up and indicated that he would wait for him in the pick-up and drop-off section.
The signage in the reception area was still instructing anyone entering to respect social distance, and masks were obligatory. Jack fished a rather crumpled one out of his pocket whilst the receptionist tried to contact Maggie. She was eventually tracked down, but he had to wait another ten minutes until she came into the reception. He could see she was concerned, and he quickly reassured her that it was nothing serious, he had just come to have a quiet word with her.
‘Is it about Penny?’
‘No, I’m sorry, I didn’t get the opportunity to talk to her, but I’m not going to be late tonight as they’ve just called me in. I wanted to talk to you about something...’
‘What?’
‘Ridley turned up at the house. This case he’s been involved with has got pretty serious. He says we need to be very vigilant about locking doors and not letting strangers in.’
‘You’re kidding?’
‘I’m serious, Maggie, but there are people looking out for us, for you and Hannah especially; a surveillance team, 24/7. Ridley wanted me to underline that it’s serious, so I came here to tell you personally, but not to alarm you.’
‘Oh, thanks very much, Jack! Of course, I’m alarmed! Do you think I should go home?’
‘No, just be watchful. Like I said, I’ll be home early this evening and hopefully by then I’ll have more details. But if anything at all looks suspicious, you need to let me know straightaway.’