Murphy frowned. ‘They never reported any of these alleged abusive incidents?’
‘Only because they feared further harassment if they did.’
‘This raises serious questions about Rachel Wilson’s credibility as a witness. And offering to help her could be regarded as an inducement for her to lie.’
‘Rachel never told me about the abuse incidents or asked me to write a letter to the council—’
‘She could have been encouraged by her sister to make the whole thing up after they read about the robbery in the paper,’ Murphy said.
Jane tried hard to keep her emotions under control. She knew Murphy didn’t really believe what he was saying; it was just a way to belittle her in front of the team. But she was determined not to let him.
‘What she lip-read in the cafe was on the Monday before the robbery. If she’s making it all up, she seems to have got a lot right.’
Teflon stepped forward and handed Murphy a PNC printout.
‘I don’t think she could make this up. I just got a hit on a George Ripley, aged fifty. Previous conviction for robbing a jeweler’s when he was twenty-six and his co-defendant was Graham Smith, then aged twenty-four. Both men used hammers to threaten the staff and smash open the glass jewelry showcases — they both got ten years in Pentonville. They’ve also got form for handling stolen goods, theft and burglary. George Ripley’s been off the radar since the robbery, but Smith got nicked two years ago for assault on a customer while working at GR Motors. He claimed self-defense and was found not guilty. He fits the age, hair color and height range from Fiona Simpson for the man driving the getaway car. The mugshot taken when he was charged with the assault is remarkably like her artist’s impression.’
Jane watched Murphy’s eyes widen when he looked at the mugshot. He then handed it to Kingston who, for the first time during the meeting, had something to say.
‘Simpson also said he’d got long sideburns, which he clearly has in this photo. If it wasn’t for Tennison interviewing the Wilson sisters, we’d still be chasing our tails.’
There were nods and mutters of agreement around the room, but Murphy remained stone-faced. Jane now realized Kingston’s warning about Murphy had been genuine and gave him a grateful smile. Kingston gave her a quick nod in return, then turned to Murphy.
‘It might be best if Jane spoke to the Wilsons and asked about their parents before we make any judgement.’
‘Fine, but with another officer present.’
‘You could always consider re-interviewing Rachel Wilson with a court-approved sign language interpreter present,’ Kingston suggested.
Murphy frowned. ‘I’ll think about it, if and when we need her as a court witness. For now just find out more about her family background.’
‘Jane, did you say Rachel Wilson reckoned George Ripley said the name “Judge”?’ Stanley asked.
She looked in her pocket notebook.
‘Yes, he picked up the pepper pot, then slid it across the table as if it represented a vehicle and said, “Once I’ve robbed the van, Judge pulls up here, we fuck off and change motors up the road.”’
Stanley grinned. ‘A common nickname for someone called Smith is “Smudge” or “Smudger”. Maybe she lip-read Smudge as Judge.’
Kingston had more to add.
‘Another positive is the Graham Smith mugshot. We can put it into an album for Fiona Simpson to view at the Yard. If she picks him out it’s a massive leap forward, as we’ll have one of the gang positively identified.’
‘I want Fiona Simpson taken up the Yard tomorrow morning,’ Murphy said. ‘It’s Sunday, so she won’t be opening up until midday — plenty of time to get her up there and back.’
‘I’ll give her a ring after the meeting and arrange to pick her up in the morning, early,’ Kingston agreed.
Murphy shook his head. ‘I want you here in the office with me tomorrow, planning the surveillance operation starting Monday morning.’
‘We’ll need to call in support from the other Flying Squad units if we’re going to carry out static and mobile surveillance on all the suspects,’ Kingston suggested.
‘I know. We can also ask the central surveillance unit at the Yard to help out. I want the rest of today and tomorrow spent finding out where Graham Smith and George Ripley live, and double-checking the addresses we have for O’Reilly and Tommy Ripley.’
‘Are we going to arrest Smith if Simpson picks him out?’ Stanley asked.
‘It’s an option, but not one I’m keen on pursuing. Right now I want to know more about them, and in particular their finances. That snooker hall will have cost Tommy Ripley a good few quid. I want to know if he paid cash or got a loan. Same with George Ripley, as their businesses could be a front to launder the proceeds of their crimes. The Leytonstone robbery was a disaster for them, and they made peanuts out of it, so my guess is they’re planning something big.’
Jane looked in her pocket notebook.
‘According to Rachel Wilson, George Ripley did say on Friday in the cafe, “If yesterday hadn’t been a total fuck-up I could have paid our Tina’s wedding off in cash.” But then again, she might have made it up,’ she added with a straight face.
‘If we nick them on the plot, we won’t need her as a witness,’ Murphy retorted. ‘Cam, draw me up a list of all the phone numbers we’ve got so far that are connected to our suspects and I’ll ask for authority to wiretap them. Colonel and Bax, concentrate on George Ripley, Stanley and Cam on Tommy and O’Reilly, Teflon and Tennison, take Simpson up the Yard and revisit the Wilson twins. All of you see if you can find out more about Carl and the man in the camel hair coat.’
‘Does that mean I’m manning the phones tomorrow?’ Dabs asked.
‘Yes, but I want you to do a full forensic report on everything we have so I can use it as supporting evidence when I apply for the wiretaps. Anyone else got a question? Good, now get to work. We need to nail these bastards before they have a chance to organize another job. Next time somebody might get killed.’
Chapter Twenty-Four
Jane looked at her watch as Teflon drove to the Broadwater Farm estate; it was half past four, and she figured she could still get to her parents’ for supper by six. She wondered if Tony would be there and what state of mind he’d be in. She hoped he wouldn’t be, in case he inadvertently let slip he’d recently seen her.
‘Thanks for agreeing to see the Wilson twins with me today,’ she said.
‘No problem. It will give us more time to concentrate on our other enquiries tomorrow.’
‘I’ve got to go with the Colonel to meet his informant, but that’s at 7:30 in Brick Lane, so I should be back at the office before nine. Then we can collect Fiona Simpson and take her to see the albums.’
‘The man she saw in the driver’s seat of the Cortina has to be Graham Smith.’
‘I just hope she picks him out.’
‘Even if she does, Murphy won’t arrest him yet. He wants them all bang to rights, cash and guns in hand on the plot, so he can put them away for a long time.’ He paused, then gave her a side-on glance. ‘You’ve done well, Jane.’
‘Thanks.’
She smiled over at him and for a moment their eyes met. She quickly turned away, feeling herself flushing. He was a handsome man, and she couldn’t help being attracted to him, but another relationship with a police officer — let alone one of the Flying Squad — was definitely not in her plans.
Why don’t I ever meet anyone nice outside the job? she wondered.
‘For now, I’m not going to tell Rachel, or Emma, anything about the suspects we’ve identified or what we know about them,’ she said, bringing her focus back to the job in hand.