As Anna was wondering how much their family life and relationships had changed since the disappearance of Rebekka, Joan approached her, excitedly waving a piece of paper.
‘I have a contact number and address for Henry Oates’s ex-wife. She is working at a dry-cleaner’s in Glasgow. As for his two daughters, the eldest, aged eighteen, is in drug rehab and the other, only sixteen, is six months pregnant.’
‘That was fast. Good work.’
‘I spoke with the Department for Work and Pensions and they put me in touch with the Glasgow housing association. Mrs Eileen Oates has a criminal record here in London for prostitution and drug abuse. It appears she’s now drug-free with no arrests or convictions for nine years.’
‘Thanks, Joan. Did you speak to her personally?’
‘No.’
‘Okay, I’ll do that and in the meantime can you get me a contact number for a DCI on the Glasgow murder squad?’
‘Yes, ma’am.’
Mike Lewis drew up the blinds from his office window and tapped to indicate he wanted to talk to Anna. It irritated her slightly that he couldn’t walk the few steps from his office to ask her, but crooked a finger instead; it reminded her of the way Langton often did it.
‘You wanted to see me,’ she said, entering Mike’s office without knocking.
He held up the phone, covering the mouthpiece with his hand. ‘It’s Langton, he wants to talk to you.’
‘Oh thank you.’
Mike walked out, closing the door. She sat behind the desk and waited a moment before she spoke into the phone.
‘DCI Travis.’
‘Listen, I’ve just had a lengthy talk to Mike. My feelings are these: it’s a no-brainer the fact they have Oates bang to rights for the murder of Justine Marks.
‘Mike told me about his latest interview with Oates and my take on the bastard is this: the more visits he gets and the more attention we give him, the more he’s going to string us along. I don’t think he’s mentally unstable and anyway Mike tells me Kumar hasn’t raised the issue of pre-trial psychiatric reports.’
‘I think it’s only a matter of time, though, and it would be in his client’s best interests,’ Anna replied.
‘This is what I want the team to concentrate on. We need hard evidence that ties Oates into the two other murders he claimed to have committed.’
‘It’s hard without him giving us more details.’
Langton snapped and raised his voice. ‘If he killed them he’s dumped the bodies, so he will have left evidence. Find it, find them, it’ll surface. When you have the evidence apply for a break in police custody from the prison, bring him in and scare the living daylights out of him.’
‘What about a BIA to help with the interview strategy?’
‘A BI what…?’
‘Behavioural Investigative Adviser – they provide support and advice that links the academic basis of behavioural science to the investigation of serious crime.’
‘You mean a profiler. No fucking way.’
‘They are now police-accredited psychologists and might help us to understand Oates’s way of thinking. We often recommend them on case reviews.’
‘If you need a shrink to tell you how to interview a suspect then I suggest you go back to your desk at Specialist Casework. If Oates wants to play at being crazy you find the evidence to show he’s a devious bastard who knew exactly what he was doing. Remind him what happened to Peter Sutcliffe the Yorkshire Ripper – the judge rejected diminished responsibility and the expert testimonies of four psychiatrists who all thought he was a paranoid schizo.’
‘That was thirty years ago, things have changed and-’
‘Yeah and thirty years later he’s still in Broadmoor, so if Oates or Kumar think they can pull one over on us then they’re both mistaken. You been to see the Jordans yet?’
‘I’m still reading the case file. I need-’
‘Get it done and go and see them.’
He hung up and Anna was left infuriated with the phone in her hand. Langton’s pent-up anger was fuelled by alcohol or his medication, she thought. She had just replaced the handset when Mike returned.
He cocked his head to one side. ‘You look as if you got a similar tirade. If you ask me he needs a psychological assessment.’
Anna didn’t mention that she too had concerns about Langton. Mike took off his jacket and started to roll up the cuffs of his shirtsleeves.
‘I suggested bringing in a BIA.’
‘I can guess what his reply was. He thinks they’re full of crap.’
‘I told him it might help us to understand Oates…’
‘Well that’s between you and Langton, but for now we should do what he suggests. See if there is any evidence we can track down, and in the meantime we let Oates stew. As we agreed, you take Rebekka Jordan and I’ll concentrate on Fidelis Julia Flynn. We can compare what we uncover for any similarities or links in their disappearance as the investigation progresses.’
‘Whatever you say, Mike.’
‘It’s not me, but Langton, and whatever I think about him right now, he’s still got more years of experience than either of us. You know what I really find unnerving…?’
She shook her head, nonplussed.
‘He’s never met Oates, right? Yet he seems to have more of an angle on him than I have.’
Mike informed the team that he and Barolli would concentrate on Fidelis Julia Flynn with the assistance of half the team while Anna concentrated on the Jordan case with the other half. Barbara and Joan were to receive all the incoming information from both teams, update the HOLMES computer, mark up the incident board and identify any similarities in the girls’ disappearance or connections to Oates which could then be raised and discussed in a full team meeting.
Adan Kumar had contacted Mike to say that Henry Oates would not, at the present time, be fit for further interview. Mike immediately thought the solicitor had asked for a psychiatric assessment but it transpired that Oates was currently in the prison hospital recovering from an assault in the shower room which had left him with severe bruising and concussion. Oates, naive about prison life, was unaware that even remand sex offenders are marked men and had made the mistake of boasting to other inmates that not only was he awaiting trial for murder and rape but was also suspected of the abduction and murder of a teenage girl. Mike felt no sympathy for Oates’s predicament but was inwardly pleased that the incident would give him breathing space to continue his investigation whilst keeping Kumar, who now wanted to vent his anger on the prison service, off his back.
Anna, like Mike, felt no sympathy for Oates. She looked again at the information about his ex-wife who had left London eight years ago. She was trying to determine whether or not it would be worth it to travel to Glasgow for an interview. She decided that she’d first have the meeting with Rebekka Jordan’s family, as she wanted to find out if, by any chance, Henry Oates had worked for them, perhaps done odd jobs around their home, anything that could be a direct link to him. She knew that she would have to tell the Jordans about Oates’s arrest and the possibility he might be involved in their daughter’s disappearance. She was not looking forward to the visit as she knew that she would be reawakening the most terrible memories for the Jordans and the last thing she wanted to do was give them false hope that Rebekka’s body might at last be found. Anna decided that she would not divulge the details of what happened to Justine Marks, but just say that Oates was awaiting trial for her murder.
Chapter Four
The Jordan family were still in the same house in Hammersmith. Anna’s call had, as she knew it would, made a deep impact on Emily Jordan. Before she’d even rung the bell, the door was open wide.