‘It would have been a lot easier if the duty sergeant at Tottenham had done his job properly when he spoke to Emma Wilson. She went to the station on Tuesday evening and specifically told him it was her sister who was in the cafe and she was deaf, but he didn’t tell us until Thursday night and deliberately left out significant details. I reckon he knows he messed up and giving you the bare bones was an attempt to cover up his cock-up.’
‘I know Geoff Harris from when I was the CID clerk at Tottenham — he’s one of the older sergeants and is usually very competent. I should have asked for more details when he phoned over the information.’
‘It’s not your fault, Katie, you can only go by what he told you.’
‘Did you have a word with him about his attitude?’
‘I thought about it, but I was in a rush to get to Wood Green and back here, so I didn’t have the time. It’s probably best to just let it go now I’ve spoken to the Wilson sisters — two sergeants having a head to head won’t achieve anything.’
‘Well, if Harris phones again I’ll be giving him a piece of my mind.’
‘What’s happening about the weekend? Is everyone in, or half the team Saturday and half Sunday?’ Jane asked, wanting to change the subject.
‘Murphy told me to tell you to take the weekend off.’
‘Just me, or everyone?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘I was hoping to make some follow-up enquiries on what I was told today and some of the names I’ve uncovered. Do you think it would be worth phoning him at home later, or in the morning, to update him and ask if I could work a voluntary shift on Saturday and Sunday?’
‘I wouldn’t — he gets really annoyed if his weekends are disturbed over something trivial. Sorry, I didn’t mean to imply what you just said is trivial, but Murphy only likes to act on really solid information, so you might want to reassess what you’ve got before speaking to him.’
‘Fair enough. Guess I’ll just have to try and get as much done as possible tonight — after I’ve typed up my notes.’
Jane picked up the typewriter from the Colonel’s desk with a sigh and moved it to her desk.
‘Is there anything I can do to help you?’ Katie asked.
‘Are you authorized to use the office PNC?’
‘Yes. You want some checks done?’
‘Yes please.’ Jane grabbed a pen and piece of paper and wrote the details down. ‘I just need a printout for Thomas Anthony Ripley, IC1, born 8/10/34, and a search on an Aidan O’Reilly, but I don’t have a date of birth or any other details for him, and he could be anywhere between thirty and fifty.’
‘You’ll probably get loads of hits for O’Reilly. It’s a pretty common Irish name.’
She handed Katie the details. ‘I know, but the only way I’m going to narrow it down is by a process of elimination. Did you say Kingston was in his office?’
Katie nodded. Jane grabbed her pocket notebook, and Rachel’s, from her shoulder bag and went to knock on Kingston’s door.
‘I think I should tell him about my enquiries today. At least I’ll get some genuine appreciation from him,’ Jane said with a smile.
Katie felt herself reddening.
‘You’d better bloody not, you bitch!’ she muttered to herself.
Chapter Seventeen
Jane sat opposite Kingston as he carefully read her notes of the conversation she’d had with Rachel Wilson.
‘These notes are very detailed and interesting, especially what was said by M1 on the Monday and today — you’ve done really well, Jane.’ He smiled.
‘Thank you, sir. I also have the original notes Rachel made about what she lip-read on the Monday, and the descriptions of M1 and M2 that she wrote down for me today.’ She handed them to Kingston.
‘I don’t mind you calling me Stewart when we’re talking one to one like this or off duty.’ He read Rachel’s descriptions.
‘It was all from the horse’s mouth, so to speak.’
‘How reliable do you think her lip-reading is?’
‘Very reliable, she’s been doing it for years, though she did say that making out names can be difficult. But she was certain M2 was called Tommy and reasonably sure M1 said the names Webley and Judge.’
Kingston looked at the notes. ‘The way I’m reading it, M1 would cover the back of the van with another person who’s probably the loose cannon, M2 would cover the front with Webley, and Judge was the getaway driver in the Cortina.’
‘Yes, that’s what I thought as well.’
‘Which adds up to five people being involved. But all our witnesses said there were only four, and one man covered the front — not two.’
‘It’s possible the other man never went on the robbery.’
‘Or M1 might not have been talking about the Leytonstone bank robbery. You need to be open-minded and consider alternative possibilities.’
‘I know, but this morning at the cafe, M1 said, “Yesterday was a total fuck-up” and “Riley was a hothead.” We know that an off-duty PC got shot and the man in the front passenger seat of the Cortina fired at the patrol car with a handgun — maybe that’s what M1 meant by a fuck-up.’
‘Again, it might not have been a robbery he was referring to, but there’s something else M1 said that could arguably link to our investigation. He said he’d have to get a loan for Tina’s wedding as a monkey wasn’t enough. Two grand was in the Securicor cash box they got away with — which, divided by four, is a “monkey” each.’
‘Rachel thinks M2 might be connected to a snooker hall opposite the cafe. I’ve got some names from Companies House, which are all connected to the hall, and one of them has a criminal record.’
Jane looked in her pocket notebook and told him about her enquiries at Tottenham Police Station and the conversations she had had with the collator there, and at Chingford Police Station, then finally her flying visit to Wood Green.
‘Bloody hell, you have been ferreting away today.’
‘Rachel may have been wrong about the name Riley. I think M1 might have said O’Reilly, and it’s reasonable to assume Tommy may be Thomas Ripley. Aidan O’Reilly lives at 94A Seven Sisters Road, which is where Ripley used to live. Ripley also has a conviction for GBH — admittedly it was just over twenty years ago, but it shows a propensity for violence. I’ve ordered his case file and it should be here by Monday.’
‘Any CRO records for O’Reilly or Maria Fernandez?’
‘There’s a load of possibles for O’Reilly and nothing on Fernandez, but she’s shown as a secondary keyholder for the snooker club. Obviously, I’ll need to do more work on all the names I’ve got so far. Finding out who M1 is is key as it may reveal further connections to Ripley and O’Reilly. The collator at Tottenham knows the cafe owner and says he’s an honest man who’s given him information before.’
‘Is the collator still Kevin Bottomley?’
Jane nodded. ‘Yes, and the cafe owner’s called Nick.’
‘Kevin was the collator when I was the DI at Tottenham — he’s reliable and trustworthy. It might be worth asking him to speak to the cafe owner, without giving too much away — or you could get Kevin to introduce you to him and do it together.’
‘He did offer to speak to Nick, but I said not at the moment. Bottomley is off over the weekend, but I’ll speak to him on Monday morning.’
‘Rachel mentioned M1 said something to Camel Hair Coat Man about having “a nice XJS on the front if he was interested” — sounds like the sort of thing a car dealer might say.’
‘Rachel knows nothing about the makes or models of cars, but she’s got an excellent memory, almost photographic I’d say. Her description of Camel Hair Coat Man’s car is good, so I was thinking of making up an album of lots of different sports type cars and see if she can pick.’