“Like the old days then?”
Cole levelled his gaze and nodded and in that moment the psychologist was glad that he was on Cole’s side.
Detective Superintendent Baxter’s features were set in concrete and carried the same shade of grey. He’d spent forty minutes on the top floor concentrating on the thin lips of Chief Superintendent Marsh as he weighed in with the gravity of the situation. Marsh’s deputy, Assistant Chief Superintendent Bob Deighton, involved in costeffective management, stood at the window, watching the crisp dawn break and wringing his hands at the sound of overtime. But he agreed with the chief that Margaret Domey was to be given top priority. She was, after all, part of the firm.
On his way to the office Baxter collected a coffee, left some of it in the corridor and, at the door of the incident room and with a sideways nod of the head, summoned Cole.
Settled behind his desk Baxter said, “You can tell the others that she wasn’t the most popular girl on site but Margaret is one of ours. She’s as good as on the job. Christmas has been cancelled. I know you’re busy but you’ve got to keep a close eye on Hinckley. Jack Wooderson…” He shook a downbeat head then more abrasively said, “And Sam isn’t going to win any inspirational awards, is he?” Cole knew what he meant but it wasn’t going to be easy. Coppers treated interference the same as anyone else.
Baxter went on, “We’ve got a dilemma here. No crime. Not even the suspicion of one. But we all know Margaret. She’s not going to take a hike. I’ll talk to John Domey and make sure everything’s OK. But you get Sam to pull his finger out and make sure that Jack knows the top floor’s looking over his shoulder. I want everything buttoned up, watertight. No one coming back to say we missed something.” “I’ve got Geoff Maynard here.”
Baxter had forgotten. His hesitation betrayed him. He nodded and said, “Let him loose. That’s what he’s here for. Let’s see what he comes up with. Officially, the assaults still take priority. Unofficially, one of our own is missing.”
Cole paused at the door. “Jack isn’t going to like it.”
Baxter stressed, “Frankly, I won’t lose any sleep about hurting Jack Wooderson’s feelings. Go and find Margaret. Whatever it takes. What you do best. Right? Just, be careful. In this day and age a loose cannon is not appreciated. This is a one-off, a rare gift, and it didn’t come from me. I want this little woman found, and quickly.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“And Rick, one other thing. You should have followed up John Domey’s visit yesterday. That wasn’t good.”
Baxter stared through Cole’s vacant space, for a moment lost in thought. The day of the free-wheeler from C8 (The Flying Squad, Heavy Mob or Sweeney) and later C1 (Drug Squad) was long gone. Now it was about teamwork and conformity. Coppers like Cole had always been the villain’s biggest threat because they didn’t work by the book and they didn’t conform and that was the very thing that made them unpredictable and dangerous. In giving Cole a free hand the superintendent hoped he had made the right decision. He wasn’t convinced.
After introducing Maynard to the team Cole turned to the therapist and said, “This is PC Donna Fitzgerald and she’s going to look after you.” Donna flashed Cole a thoughtful look. It landed in a sensitive place and had him checking out her engagement ring. It was still there. She said, “We’re still looking for Jason. The uniforms are looking in all the likely places.”
Cole nodded and left them to it.
Although he would have preferred talking to Sam Butler direct he decided on protocol and called Jack Wooderson.
“Rick?”
“Hello, Jack.”
“What’s the problem?”
“Problem is right. I’ve decided not to transfer Anian.”
A moment’s hesitation, an antagonism that carried along the line, then, “What’s happened?”
“Margaret Domey’s gone missing, and she’s pregnant.”
“I heard. Is her pregnancy significant? Complications?”
“You didn’t know the others were pregnant?”
“The other women? Sam might have mentioned one of them was. I didn’t make the connection.”
Cole’s pause went on too long, a silent condemnation. Eventually he said, “Three out of the four, I believe. He should have mentioned it.”
“Too fucking right.”
“You better get your act together. The chief is making threatening noises.”
Another hesitation. This time it was the thought of Chief Superintendent Marsh that did it. Eventually Wooderson said, “I’m on it. I appreciate the call.” Cole struggled with the next one. “I might have been the last person to have talked to Margaret. She was in my office yesterday morning.
You better get Sam over here. The super is talking to John, her husband. He might have something to add.”
“Right. I’ll get things moving.”
Cole replaced the handset and unconsciously reached for a JPS.
Down the dead line Jack Wooderson put a call out for DS Sam Butler and before realizing what he’d done, he lit a Benson’s.
An hour later Sam Butler walked into Cole’s office. Without a doubt Jack Wooderson had carved a strip out of him and told him that Cole was the source.
“Sam, let’s not waste time. Jack’s spoken to you, that much is obvious. Margaret called in yesterday morning. It was nothing more than a social call. From here she was going to buy a cooking pan in the High Road. The Gallery. Know it?”
Butler nodded.
“As far as I know that’s the last we’ve seen of her. Check out the Gallery. Let’s establish whether she ever got there.”
“Right.”
At the door Butler hesitated.
Cole picked up on it and said, “I got you over here to explain why I had to bring Jack into the frame. I had no choice. The top floor is about to cave in on us.”
DS Butler took it in, shrugged weakly, and left the office.
In Superintendent Tony Baxter’s office John Domey was in tears. He was a slim fragile man. Baxter wondered how on earth he put up with Margaret.
“I know it’s difficult,” Baxter said. “But I’ve got to ask you this.
Are you and Margaret OK, with the baby coming? What I’m trying to ask and making a complete arse of it is whether there are any problems I should know about?”
Sleepless eyes blinked up in surprise and met the super’s gaze. “Everything is fine, Tony. But something terrible has happened. I know it.”
Baxter knew the feeling, the utter helplessness, the cold fingers that tightened around the chest until you could barely breath. He moved around the desk and placed a hand on John Domey’s shoulder. It was the best he could do.
“You’ve got to help us find her. Let’s start with her appointment at the hospital. Who was she going to see?”
It was touching noon when Cole walked into Hinckley nick and sensed the excitement. DS Butler and DC Stanford, flanked by Inspector Wooderson and a couple of PCs, were concentrating on a screen where an indexer’s fingers were just a blur on the keyboard. Wooderson saw Cole and mouthed a silent ‘yes’.
“What is it?”
Sam Butler kept his eyes glued to the screen as he said quietly, “This is it, Guv. Christmas!”
Anian Stanford looked up to meet Cole’s fleeting acknowledgment and smiled nervously.
Butler went on, “The owner of the Gallery, one Mr John Lawrence, also known as The Underground Slasher. Did eight of a fifteen. Released on parole in eighty-four.”
Cole’s eyes narrowed in disbelief. Why the hell hadn’t Sheerham picked it up on the slasher case? This
