‘He’s right,’ Isaac said, looking over at Wendy.
‘I know. It’s Cathy Parkinson that concerns me. He said that he hadn’t slept with her, only Janice Robinson and Meredith, so why kill her?’
‘The man would have been frantic; secrets were about to be revealed.’
‘Cathy Parkinson might have spoken, mentioned to someone that she knew about Janice and some of her clients. Her brain was probably addled, functioning on highs and lows, a loose cannon.’
‘And one of Janice’s clients could have been Gareth Rees or even the mysterious Ian Naughton.’
‘Except, that Naughton had Analyn, or so we believe,’ Isaac said. ‘Why would he have wanted any of the other three? And we met him, remember. He didn’t seem the sort of man to go down market.’
‘Don’t discount someone on what you believe,’ Wendy said. ‘Your mantra.’
‘I can’t argue with you, and besides, what we saw might have been a veneer.’
Bridget entered Isaac’s office, handed each of the three already there a folder. ‘Inside, Gareth Rees, what I could find out.’
‘Criminal record?’
‘When he was younger, and he used the name of Rees. But as he was a minor, his fingerprints weren’t kept on file, a way to give the young man a chance at life, untarnished by a troubled childhood.’
‘The précised version,’ Isaac said. Larry had opened his folder, so had Wendy. Isaac’s sat closed on the desk.
‘He was court-martialled out of the military after an incident somewhere in the Middle East. No details and it’s unlikely we’ll ever find out what it was.’
‘Violence?’
‘His record in the military had been exemplary. You’ll find the usual: where he was assigned, countries overseas, commendations, and so on. But after the court-martial, nothing, not from the military. It seems that he had been found guilty and bundled out of the service, no time in a military prison.’
‘Suspicious?’ Isaac said.
‘Highly,’ Larry said, ‘but it proves one thing, he would have been capable of murdering Amanda Upton.’
‘There’s more,’ Bridget said. ‘I found a fingerprint match. Gareth Rees used an alias, Peter Hood. That name has a criminal conviction against it for grievous bodily harm. This is before he entered the military.’
‘They recognised raw talent.’
‘Gareth Rees in the military; Peter Hood for the GBH. However, his time in prison was short, and soon after release, he was in uniform.’
‘As I said, raw talent.’
‘The army wouldn’t necessarily take a man with a criminal record,’ Isaac said.
‘Ordinarily, they wouldn’t,’ Larry agreed. ‘But in extreme circumstances, who knows. A naturally-talented and unemotional man might have suited them fine.’
‘Gabbi Gaffney told me he was not psychopathic, and that he had treated her with a degree of respect,’ Wendy said.
‘With the right triggers, he could have been.’ Isaac said. ‘Behind enemy lines, an assassination, the possibility of collateral damage, innocent people to die in the attempt to get close into the target. It would take a special kind of person, the sort of person who could kill women.’
‘The sort of person who could kill a couple of teenagers,’ Wendy said.
‘This trigger? How would it be switched on and off?’ Bridget asked.
‘We don’t know. All I know is, we need Rees or whatever he calls himself,’ Isaac said.
***
Larry made contact with Spanish John, gave him the other name that Gareth Rees had used in the past. Wendy phoned Meredith Temple, told her to make herself scarce for a couple of days, an unknown address, and not to answer her phone unless she was sure of the caller. She also phoned both the Robinsons and Winstons, and told them to take Brad and Rose out of school, and to keep them at home, and that a police presence would be at both houses.
Questions came from all parties contacted; the answer given by Larry and Wendy that the pressure was building up, and persons unknown and known were likely to react irrationally. It wasn’t a good explanation, but it was the best they could give.
An APB was issued to all police forces throughout London and England, along with a clear photo. Gareth Rees, also known as Peter Hood, was to be regarded as extremely dangerous. No one was to approach unless armed, and they were to report back to Homicide at Challis Street Police Station.
Ian Naughton still remained the greatest mystery. With the other two that Homicide were looking for, there was, at least, some knowledge. And as to the grave at Kensal Green, a murder site and a cryptic clue to another grave, and Naughton’s house in Holland Park – a complete blank.
Three steps forward, two back, Isaac thought. He had the added burden of the sale of his flat and the purchase of a house, as well as Jenny looking to him to go with her to the gynaecologist occasionally. So far, he’d managed it once, and now with the investigation in its closing stages, he couldn’t afford to spare his wife the time. It was what he loved about her, the ability to understand, but she didn’t like it and they had argued the night before as to how finding a murderer took precedence over his child.
***
Bill Ross phoned Larry, told him to get over to Canning Town within the hour. It was the last place that Larry wanted to be, but he complied. The information had been clear.
‘It’s Sean Garvey,’ Ross said.
On the street outside the block of flats where Garvey had lived, a tent had been erected in the middle of the road, traffic banking up in each direction, the uniforms doing
