‘Don’t worry, Guv, we’ll happily show your lads how it’s done,’ a Tower Bridge officer called out and his colleagues laughed.
‘Yeah — and pigs might fly,’ the Colonel retorted.
Murphy waited for the laughter to subside.
‘I know, as dedicated Flying Squad officers, you would have wanted this to be an operation where we carried out an armed ambush on the suspects while they were committing the crime. However, circumstances beyond our control have dictated that we arrest them today in a coordinated hit that will take place at two p.m. precisely. I have split you into teams and armed officers from my squad will lead each team and make the arrests, supported by officers from Tower Bridge. Me and DI Kingston will arrest George Ripley at his home address, DS Stanley, Graham Smith at his home address and DC Baxter, Tony Nichols at his home address.’
‘Yes, Guv,’ they replied almost in unison.
‘Our SOCO is presently working undercover in the Bruce Grove Snooker Hall and called me just before the briefing. Tommy Ripley, Aidan O’Reilly and Maria Fernadez are all there, apparently looking like they’ve got almighty hangovers from the wedding. The Colonel and Cam, with extra backup, will arrest them.’
‘What if any of them leave before we get there?’ the Colonel asked.
‘Dabs is going to come out of the hall at five minutes to two and meet you outside the sorting office in Moorfield Road with an update. I want two teams from Tower Bridge to hit their home addresses at the same time. I’ve arranged for uniform officers to go to the garage at two p.m. and secure it, then we can search it later.’
Jane and Teflon looked at each other, wondering what they would be doing.
‘WDS Tennison and DC Johnson will arrest Carl Winter. He, like Maria Fernandez, may or may not be involved in the planning or commission of the robberies, but they could be a useful source of information — especially Winter.’
Teflon could see that Jane was about to say something.
He gave her a discreet dig with his elbow and whispered, ‘Don’t say a word or he’ll crucify you in front of everyone.’
‘I want all the suspects taken to Leytonstone Police Station for interrogation, and continual updates given to me over the radio throughout the operation. Any questions?’
There were none.
Murphy went to his office with the Tower Bridge DCI and Kingston to have a quick glass of whisky before the armed operation.
Teflon took Jane to Dabs’s office to speak to her.
‘Not letting us be involved in any of the main suspects’ arrests is Murphy’s way of punishing us for what happened with Abby Jones.’
‘Carl is not in any way, shape or form a criminal,’ Jane said angrily. ‘I should be the last person to have to arrest him and Murphy knows that.’
‘Stop feeling sorry for yourself. Murphy’s arresting Carl for the right reasons, not to spite you. Even if it was someone else on the team making the arrest, it’s inevitable during questioning Carl will find out you’re a police officer. If you feel so bad, then this is your opportunity to make him realize you meant him no harm and were just doing your job.’
Dabs met the Colonel outside the sorting office just before 2 p.m. and told him that O’Reilly was in Tommy’s office and Fernandez was still behind the bar. The Colonel radioed Murphy.
‘Gold from KG, receiving... over?’
‘Go ahead... over,’ Murphy replied.
‘All three targets still in hall.’
‘All units from Gold, are you in position?’
He waited until the last unit responded.
‘Attack, attack, attack!’ Murphy shouted.
A traffic police Land Rover pulled up outside the gates of George Ripley’s house. The passenger jumped out and quickly connected a cable to the gates.
‘Go, go, go!’ he shouted.
The Land Rover drove off at speed, ripping the gates from the brick pillars.
George was in his study and heard the noise. Looking out of the window he saw Murphy and his team coming down the driveway, sirens blaring. George grabbed the phone to call Tommy.
The unmarked police cars slid through the gravel as they came to a halt. An officer jumped out with a battering ram and smashed it against the Yale lock on the door, which splintered and flew open.
Murphy, Kingston and two other armed officers raced in, shouting, ‘Armed police! Stay where you are!’
Tommy didn’t answer. George put the phone down, calmly picked up the News of the World and started reading it as Murphy and Kingston rushed in, pointing their guns at him.
‘Don’t fucking move, George,’ Murphy said.
He smiled and slowly put the paper down.
‘If you’d rung the doorbell, I’d have let you in. Who should I send the repair bill to?’
Kingston holstered his gun and got his handcuffs out. George put his arms out and held his wrists together ready to be cuffed.
‘Is the lovely Jane not with you?’
Murphy and Kingston ignored him.
‘Is she a good fuck?’ George smirked.
Kingston punched him hard in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him.
‘George Ripley, I am arresting you on suspicion of armed robbery. You are not obliged to say anything unless you wish to do so, but what you say may be put into writing and given in evidence.’
‘You ain’t got fuck all on me,’ he gasped, then spat on the ground at Kingston’s feet and got another hard punch to the stomach for his disrespect.
As they led him towards the front door, the normally truculent Maureen stood quietly in the hallway. She’d known the day would come when George would be arrested again. This time she hoped they had enough evidence to lock him up and throw away the key.
‘Maureen, phone Tony Nichols and tell him I’ve been nicked,’ George told her.
She nodded.
‘Save yourself the bother, luv — Tony Nichols will be in the cell next to him,’ Murphy said with a satisfied smile.
Tony Nichols was returning to his house with his wife after a pub lunch. She was driving her BMW and he was in the passenger seat. As they approached their house, he suddenly pulled the lever to drop the seat back so he couldn’t be seen.
‘Keep going, don’t park at the house,’ he snapped, having spotted the unmarked police cars nearby.
‘Why? What’s wrong?’
‘Just do as I say — keep going.’
When they were well away from the house, he told her to stop.
‘Go back on foot. If the CID come calling, tell them you’ve been out for a walk and you don’t know where I am.’
She looked scared. ‘What have you done now, Tony?’
‘Just give me the bloody keys and do as I say. I’ll call you later.’
The Colonel and his team walked casually into the busy snooker hall, their guns held by their sides. Dabs pointed to Tommy’s office at the end of the room while Cam arrested Maria Fernandez. Two armed officers followed the Colonel. When they were just a few feet from Tommy’s office door it was opened by Aidan O’Reilly. He quickly tried to shut the door, but the Colonel put his shoulder to it and they barged in.
‘Armed police! Stay where you are!’
The Colonel pointed his revolver at Tommy Ripley, who was sitting at his desk with his hands in the air. The Colonel looked around for Aidan. A door behind Ripley was open, leading to a fire escape stairwell. He ran across the room and could see him halfway down the escape. He shouted for him to stop and sprinted after him, but by the time the Colonel was halfway down O’Reilly was nearly at the bottom.
‘Bollocks!’ the Colonel said to himself, climbing over the railing. ‘Why didn’t we know there was a bloody fire escape?’
Holding his gun in one hand, and with the other gripping the railing, he launched himself off just as O’Reilly stepped onto the tarmac and managed to knock him to the ground. As the Colonel tried to stand up, his ankle gave way and he collapsed in a heap. O’Reilly was back on his feet and reaching into his jacket pocket.