Gladys Lake was adamant that she would continue with her presentation, regardless of the protestations from Isaac, who had come to the hotel to meet her personally. ‘We can give you protective custody for the next few days,’ he said. ‘Charlotte’s rattled now. It won’t be long before we catch her.’
‘That may be, but I’ve been preparing for this conference for the last three months. I don’t intend to miss it, Charlotte Hamilton or no Charlotte Hamilton.’
‘Sara, Sean, stay with Dr Lake. Day and night if you have to,’ Isaac said realising the futility of further debate.
‘Will do, sir,’ Sean replied. Sara, concerned that her child had a nasty cough and she should be with him, nodded her head weakly.
Chapter 27
Charlotte was disturbed after the incident at St Pancras Underground Station; her manner in the train as it pulled out of the station had caused others to look at her. She had sworn out loud in anguish. She had nearly been caught and all because of a stupid error; if she hadn’t looked, the woman police officer would never have recognised her. She realised she had become too nonchalant about her ability to move freely, thumbing her nose at the incompetent police officers, which was how she saw them.
She had seen Sara Marshall on more than one occasion, even walked past her in the street close to the hotel one day, almost felt like sitting close to her in the foyer of the hotel. It was arrogance on her part; she knew it now. She determined to lift her game, although events were moving quickly.
A visit to a shop selling wigs in Windsor, not far from the castle, and she was a brunette; a charity shop provided the clothes she required. The subject matter of the conference where the evil doctor would speak was academic. Charlotte had read it carefully: Human Rights and Mental Health. She knew what it meant: how to make people’s lives miserable. Charlotte, knowing full well how Gladys Lake dressed, decided to dress in the same style, which made for sensible clothes and sensible shoes; not the style of clothes which she had affected when she had seduced and killed four of her previous victims.
Back at her hotel, she changed into the clothes she had bought, putting her money securely in the small bag she carried. She left her remaining meagre belongings in her hotel room and walked out of the door. She was not sure if she would be returning, but it did not matter. Her life had come full circle now, and if she could strike a blow on behalf of all those who had suffered at the hands of malevolent doctors, in buildings called hospitals but were no more than prisons, then all was fine. Whatever the day brought, she would accept it with grace.
***
Isaac, early in the office after a sleepless night, sat at his desk pondering Richard Goddard’s visit the previous day.
He had left the office the previous night close to midnight, and he had returned at five in the morning. The situation weighed heavily on his mind.
Bridget and Wendy had been working together to ascertain Charlotte Hamilton’s movements after the incident with Sara Marshall; not so easy considering that it had been rush hour, and the clothing described by Sara could have matched at least five per cent of all the women travelling at that time. Facial recognition, especially a retinal scan, was the best way to confirm one hundred per cent that it was the right person, but that was deemed not possible in this case. For one thing, the camera lenses at most underground stations were dirty, and secondly, their resolution was not ideal. The most that could be hoped for was a close match on the clothing.
The previous night Bridget had stayed in the office with Wendy, who kept up the supply of coffee until two in the morning. They had phoned Isaac on leaving to let him know they had a possible lead, and they would update him in the morning.
Wendy walked into the office at six in the morning, an hour after Isaac. ‘The alarm didn’t go off,’ she said.
‘That’s fine,’ Isaac said. ‘Grab yourself a tea, and we can talk.’
‘Bridget’s on the way, so is Larry.’
‘Fine, we’ll wait for them.’
‘It’s going to be alright, sir.’
Isaac realised that Bridget had been talking to Wendy about the DCS’s visit to his office.
Ten minutes later, all four sat down in Isaac’s office.
‘What do you have?’ Isaac asked.
‘We believe we’ve identified Charlotte Hamilton at Euston Underground,’ Bridget said.
‘Confirmed?’
‘The clothing matches, as does the time.’
‘Assuming it’s her, what then?’
‘We sent a photo to DI Marshall. She’s certain it’s her, as well.’
We’re closing in on her.’ Isaac visibly relaxed at the news, so much so that Wendy felt obliged to comment.
‘We still need her under lock and key, sir.’
‘Understood. Any further sightings?’ Isaac asked.
‘We think we picked her up outside on the street hailing a cab,’ Wendy said.
‘Details?’
‘Not possible to identify the cab. We’ll be dealing with that today; it shouldn’t be too much of a problem.’
‘Maybe an address?’
‘Always possible. The woman’s making mistakes; we should catch her soon.’
‘Hopefully before she kills again.’
‘And Gladys Lake?’ Larry asked.
‘Inspector Marshall and Sergeant O’Riordan are sticking close to her. Once she’s out of London, the better it is for us.’
‘And when will that be?’ Wendy asked.
‘Tomorrow, hopefully. So that’s the agenda for today: protect Dr Lake, find and arrest Charlotte Hamilton.’
‘You make it sound easy, sir.’
‘It has to be, or else they’ll bring in another team.’ Isaac realised that he should have
