Langton got in beside Mike, who was waiting to drive him over to the woods.
‘They picked him up?’ he asked, calming himself down.
‘Not yet.’
They headed out and Mike felt comforted as Langton rested his arm along the back of his seat.
‘Not your fault, son, not your fault. These things happen.’
Chapter Eighteen
The lightning storm passed, and the search team used hand-held battery-powered work lamps and torches to continue combing through the woods late into the night. The archaeologist was brought in to help identify sites where any bodies might be buried. Observing any areas of change in the plant growth and disturbances by foxes or badgers, the dog handlers carefully made probe holes in the ground using large metal rods, allowing the cadaver dogs to get a better scent of what lay beneath the surface. Wherever the dogs gave a strong positive reaction the area was cut and cleared away by the search team, allowing the surface soil to be removed and any remains exposed.
Four victims’ bodies were uncovered buried in a semi-circle around some thick-trunked pine trees, close to where Oates had thrown Rebekka Jordan’s riding hat to act as a marker. It was too difficult a task to remove the tragic discoveries using torches. The remains were carefully covered with plastic sheets so that the archaeologist and forensic teams could complete the exhumations in daylight. The forensic pathologist, odontologist and scientists would then have the job of identifying not only who each body was but a cause of death. There were five in all, just as Oates had claimed, but only Rebekka Jordan’s body had been buried in the quarry itself. Now her remains were already at the mortuary and had been formally identified by her dental records.
The bad news was that there had been no sighting of Oates. The fact that he was using an unmarked police car with a radio on board, allowing him to listen to the police response, did not help matters. The police helicopter was eventually back in the air and roadblocks had been set up in an attempt to stop the vehicle, but there were so many back lanes and other routes Oates could have used that it was impossible to cover them all. It appeared, according to witness accounts, that he had even had the audacity to use the blue roof light to clear the traffic ahead of him. Most worrying of all was that he was still in possession of a loaded firearm. The Area Commander was not happy about the whole incident and decided to give an urgent press and television appeal asking for public assistance in tracing the stolen vehicle and Oates. She warned that Oates was armed and should not under any circumstances be approached.
Eventually, in the early hours of the morning, the stolen police car was found abandoned close to the Hammer smith flyover, but Oates was nowhere to be seen. Evidently he must have dumped it recently as the engine was still very warm. It was some consolation that found left on the passenger seat was the firearm, with five rounds still in the magazine. Although tragic that Barolli had been shot, and was now having emergency surgery, it was a miracle that more officers had not been hit or killed.
Oates’s basement had been one of the first places the team had checked, but there was no sign of him. Despite all they had accomplished, the escape of Oates was front-page news in all the morning tabloids, with his photograph and blazing headlines that he was ‘on the run with a gun’. The Commander had ordered Langton to give a further press conference on breakfast news, impressing on the public that the firearm had been recovered and that if they saw Oates to contact police on either 999 or direct lines they had now set up in the incident room. Langton again warned that Henry Oates was a very dangerous, volatile individual who should not be approached.
Anna had only managed a couple of hours’ sleep before she was back at the station. It was already midday and every one was eager to find out about Barolli’s well-being. All they did know was that he was in a life-threatening condition. He had a shoulder wound that was not serious, but the wound to his abdomen was of great concern and he was still undergoing surgery to remove the bullet that had lodged in his spine, having perforated his stomach wall. Until he was out of surgery no one would know if he would survive and even then there was the risk of paralysis from the spinal injury. He had also lost a lot of blood.
Exhausted from having no sleep for over forty hours, Mike Lewis called it quits for the day. Under terrible pressure from the media outrage, Mike was not only very tired, but the fact of Oates’s escape and the shooting of Barolli weighed heavily on him. He strongly believed that the whole incident could have been avoided if Langton had stopped the search when he first suggested it.
It was not until early evening that the exhumation of the four remaining bodies was finally completed. The post mortems and identification processes were to start the next morning. From Oates’s confessions, and his recognizing photos as well as the jewellery, they were sure the bodies were those of Angela Thornton, Kelly Mathews, Mary Suffolk and Alicia Jones. However, this would have to be confirmed by dental records and DNA.
Langton had been a very visible presence all day, overseeing much of the search for Oates, and attempting to give the team stability. In a briefing he chose not to mention how Oates had escaped, but congratulated the team on their successful recovery of the remains of five victims. He concluded by saying that wherever Oates was hiding out, it would only be a short time before he was arrested again. He was unable to give any further news on Barolli, but he would be going to the hospital personally on the way home. Anna asked if she could accompany him and he agreed.
It turned out that Barolli was out of surgery and was being monitored in intensive care. They had a long discussion with the surgeon, who said that the luck of the gods must have been on Barolli’s side. The bullet to his shoulder had narrowly missed any arteries; if it had been a fraction closer to his neck it could have been fatal. The injuries to his abdomen had not affected any vital organ, but the bullet, which had perforated his stomach wall, had lodged in tissue within a fraction of his spinal cord, amazingly without causing any lasting damage. He would need to remain in hospital for at least two to three weeks, but he would most likely make a full recovery.
Barolli was still very groggy from the anaesthetic and had an oxygen mask to help his breathing. His face had a yellowish pallor unlike his usual ruddy hue. He didn’t appear to be aware of any visitors; his eyes remained closed.
‘Have his family been contacted?’ Anna asked.
‘Yes, they were down in Wales and local CID brought them up overnight,’ Langton said. ‘I told the detective to book them in at a nearby hotel and we’d foot the bill. Nurse said they sat with him for hours and left just before we got here.’
Langton leaned over the bed and gently touched Barolli’s hand.
‘Have you back with us in no time, son.’
Barolli gave no reaction. Langton straightened up, knowing of old just how long it could take; the trauma of being seriously wounded was not only physically but mentally very hard to get over.
Langton announced he was eager to get home and sleep and would visit Barolli’s parents at the hotel in the morning.
‘How’s your knee holding up?’ Anna asked as she bleeped open her Mini in the hospital car park.
‘I’m fine, be a lot better when we pick that bastard up.’
She watched him in her rear-view mirror as he got into his Rover, noticing how he winced as he bent to get into the driving seat. Both cars were covered in chalk dust and clay clung to their wheels and bumpers; mud had sprayed over the doors and even the windows. Anna drove out after Langton, and decided that she’d go straight to a twenty-four-hour car wash and valet service in Waterloo.