1977

Noble sighed, ‘He gets about a bit.’

Hadden asked, ‘Lorry driver?’

I said, ‘Taxi driver?’

Oldman and Noble just sat there, mouths shut.

‘That last one,’ said Hadden. ‘That stuff he sent, that was from Marie Watts?’

‘No,’ said Noble, looking at me.

Hadden, eyes wide: ‘What was it then?’

‘Beef,’ smiled Noble.

‘Cow,’ I said.

‘Yeah,’ said Noble, the smile gone.

I asked Oldman, ‘But this must match what Linda Clark was wearing?’

‘It would appear to,’ stressed Noble.

I repeated, ‘Appear to?’

‘Gentlemen,’ said Oldman, hands up, looking at Hadden and me. ‘I’m going to be frank with you, but I must insist that this remain completely off the record.’

‘Understood,’ said Hadden.

Noble was looking at me.

I nodded.

‘Yesterday was about the worst day of my career as a police officer. And this,’ said Oldman, holding up the plastic envelope with the letter, ‘this didn’t help. As Pete says, the jury was still out on the last letter but this one, the tests are more conclusive.’

I couldn’t help myself: ‘Conclusive?’

‘Yes, conclusive. One, it’s the same bloke as before. Two, the contents are genuine. Three, initial saliva tests indicate the blood group we’re interested in.’

‘B?’ said Hadden.

‘Yes. The tests on the first letter were spoiled. Four, there are traces of a mineral oil on both letters that have been present at each of the crime scenes.’

I was straight in: ‘What kind of oil?’

‘A lubricant used in engineering,’ said Noble, clear this was as specific as he was going to get.

‘Finally,’ said Oldman. ‘There’s the content: the threat to kill just days before Rachel Johnson, the Queen and the Jubilee, and the reference to Preston and him coming his load.’

Hadden said, ‘That wasn’t in any of the papers?’

‘No,’ said Noble. ‘And that’s what distinguishes that crime from the others.’

I was straight at Oldman: ‘So you think he did it?’

‘Yes.’

‘Alf Hill’s sceptical.’

‘Not any more,’ said Oldman, nodding at the letter.

WKFD.

Wakefield.

‘Would it be possible for me to take a look at the Preston file?’

‘Talk to Pete later,’ shrugged Oldman.

Bill Hadden, on the edge of his seat, eyes on the letter: ‘Are you going to go public with it?’

‘Not at this stage, no.’

‘And so we’re not to print anything?’

‘No.’

‘Are you going to brief the other editors, Bradford, Manchester?’

‘Not unless they start getting fan mail like this, no.’

I said, ‘It’ll put a few noses out of joint if it gets out.’

‘Well, let’s see that it doesn’t then.’

Assistant Chief Constable George Oldman picked up his glass of water and stared out at the pack.

Millgarth, 10.30 a.m.

Another press conference.

Tom from Bradford: ‘At this stage do you have a picture in your mind of the kind of man you’re looking for?’

Oldman: ‘Yes, we now have a very clear picture in our minds of the type of man we are looking for, and obviously no woman is really safe until he is found. We are looking for a psychopathic killer who has a pathological hatred of women he believes are prostitutes. We believe he is probably being protected by someone because on several occasions he must have returned home with heavily bloodstained clothing. This person is in urgent need of help, and anyone who leads us to him will be doing him a service.’

Gilman from Manchester: ‘Would the Assistant Chief Constable be prepared to describe the type of weapons members of the public should be on the lookout for?’

‘I believe I know the weapons that have been used but no, I am not prepared to say what, other than that they include a blunt instrument.’

‘Have any weapons been recovered?’

‘No.’

‘Have any eye-witnesses come forward in connection to the murder of Rachel Johnson?’

‘No. As yet we have not had any detailed descriptions of this man.’

‘Have you got any suspects?’

‘No.’

‘What have you got?’

Back in the office, the sun on the big seventh-floor windows, burning paper under glass.

Leeds on fire.

I got out my fiddle:

NO WOMAN SAFE WITH RIPPER FREE, SAY POLICE

Detectives hunting West Yorkshire’s Jack the Ripper killer finally established last night that the same man had brutally murdered five women in the North of England.

Forensic scientists at the Home Office laboratories, Wetherby, yesterday managed to link the sadistic attacks on four prostitutes with that on Rachel Johnson, a sixteen-year-old shop assistant.

Her mutilated body was found in an adventure playground alongside Chapeltown Community Centre on Wednesday morning.

Last night the police officer who has taken charge of the biggest multiple murder hunt in the North since the M62 coach-bomb explosion described the wanted man:

‘We are looking for a psychopathic killer who has a pathological hatred of women who he believes are prostitutes. It is crucial that this man is found quickly,’ said Mr George Oldman, Assistant Chief Constable of the West Yorkshire Police.

Throughout yesterday, as the striking similarities between the five murders were matched up, Mr Oldman and other senior detectives spent time discussing the mind of the killer with psychiatrists.

‘We now have a clear picture in our minds of the type of man we are looking for, and obviously no woman is safe until he is found.

‘We believe he is probably being protected by someone because on several occasions he must have returned home with heavily bloodstained clothing. This person is in urgent need of help, and anyone who leads us to him will be doing him a service,’ added Mr Oldman.

Police believe the man is from West Yorkshire, certainly with good knowledge of Leeds and Bradford, and has possibly developed a psychological hang-up about prostitutes, either at the hands of one or because his mother was one.