‘I know but we’re following up some new information.’ Horton didn’t say what that was and Kirby didn’t ask although he looked as though he wanted to; perhaps something in Horton’s expression prevented him. He would tell him about Salacia but first he wanted to hear about Woodley in case it triggered some new thoughts.
‘He was a slippery sod, a shirker, always feigning illness, trying to get out of his duties, although he rarely did.’
So nothing new there. ‘Was he close to Reggie Thomas while he was in here?’
‘Not particularly, no,’ Kirby answered somewhat cautiously. ‘Thomas wasn’t here very long. He came from Wormwood Scrubs a year before his release, which was three months ago. He was released a week after Woodley.’
‘But they were on the same wing.’
Kirby nodded. ‘For six months, yes.’
‘Why was Thomas transferred from Wormwood?’
‘Same reason as Marty Stapleton was transferred out of here, violence. Thomas was attacked in Wormwood, more than once. It was thought best to remove him and as he was serving the last year of his sentence he was sent here, closer to home.’
‘Was there any trouble with him?’
‘No. Too eager to get out to dirty his nose. The same went for Woodley in the end.’
‘After the attack on Stapleton?’
‘Yes. He never did a thing wrong after that, or before it come to that.’
And Horton found that interesting. The attack had occurred last September. Woodley had been released in March. He said, ‘Why did Woodley attack Marty Stapleton?’
‘Probably didn’t like the colour of his eyes.’ Horton gave a small smile. Kirby continued, ‘Stapleton probably said or did something to get up Woodley’s nose, you know what it can be like in here, just being in the wrong shower at the wrong time is enough.’
‘Is that what happened?’
Kirby shrugged but Horton was rapidly reading between the lines, there was a great deal more to this attack than he’d read in the report. And perhaps Sawyer knew that. Horton also got the impression that Kirby was reluctant to elaborate on it, and the reason for that could be because it reflected badly either on him or on the prison, or both. His silence forced Kirby to add rather reluctantly and testily, ‘Stapleton was transferred after the attack and he’s still inside, so he can’t be Woodley’s assailant.’
‘No, but Stapleton could have organized it from the inside for revenge. Why transfer Stapleton and not Woodley?’
‘Stapleton was a bully. It was believed he provoked the attack. There were quite a few inmates and prison officers glad to see him go.’
Horton thought he smelt an undercurrent here. ‘Are we talking gangs?’ He saw immediately that he’d hit a raw spot.
Defensively Kirby said, ‘We have an active and highly successful violence-reduction strategy. The Woodley incident was a one-off.’
‘But it highlighted weaknesses inside the prison and with your strategy.’
Kirby narrowed his eyes and his lips tightened.
‘Look, Geoff, I’m not here to blame, or criticize, I just need to understand if what happened with Stapleton could lead us to discovering who killed Woodley and why. And before you answer you should know that there’s been another murder, a woman. Her body was found in the sea at Tipner Quay on Wednesday. We don’t have an ID yet and we’re not certain she is connected with Woodley, or Marty Stapleton, but she was last seen at Woodley’s funeral.’ Or rather, he added to himself, at the crematorium. There had been that small reaction from Gregory Harlow that made Horton wonder if they’d got the wrong funeral. If so he was wasting his time.
Kirby sat back with a heavy sigh. ‘We knew that Stapleton was head of a notoriously powerful gang on the outside and that he was building up his power base here. We could control it, move people around, that was until Victor Riley arrived and he challenged the status quo. What we didn’t know was that Stapleton and Riley were actually rival gang masters in London and that was the real reason why Stapleton was moved, not because of Woodley’s attack, although it gave us the perfect excuse. We needed to break up the gangs. We never let that come out officially, or on the inside, but I’m sure most of the inmates read the situation perfectly.’
And discounting what he might or might not have seen in Gregory Harlow’s reaction a new thought occurred to Horton. Salacia could have been connected with Victor Riley’s gang. Could Woodley also have been associated with this other gang? He said, ‘Did Woodley attack Stapleton under Riley’s orders?’
‘Not that we could prove. When Riley arrived three years ago he joined forces with two smaller gangs in order to build his power base, Woodley was in one of those. After the attack Riley’s and Stapleton’s gangs were broken up but as you know gangs can re-form, it’s a constantly fluid situation.’
‘Where were Stapleton’s minders at the time of the attack?’
Kirby shrugged.
‘They were told by Riley to vanish?’
‘Possibly. I don’t know. Riley had influence. He could be very persuasive.’
Horton noticed the past tense. ‘He’s also been moved?’
‘Yeah, to the great prison in the sky, or in hell hopefully. Died three weeks after the attack on Stapleton and before you go looking for suspicious circumstances there aren’t any. He had a massive heart attack during recreation in front of several witnesses including prison staff, and there was a thorough post-mortem, which confirmed it. After Stapleton was transferred, Woodley went back to being his usual snivelling slippery self but with a respect surrounding him that made me want to puke every time I witnessed it. But like I said he kept his nose clean.’
Horton’s mind was racing with thoughts. Victor Riley couldn’t have ordered Salacia or Woodley to be killed, then, unless he’d left instructions. But he couldn’t have known he was going to keel over from a massive heart attack. But if Salacia was connected with Riley then it made some kind of warped sense that Marty Stapleton might want her taken out as some kind of revenge, or as a warning to Riley’s mob on the outside that he was top dog and not to mess with him, and the same for Woodley.
Removing the photograph of Salacia with dark hair, Horton handed it to Kirby. ‘Do you recognize her?’ He didn’t expect a positive response unless Stapleton or Riley had had a picture of her in their belongings but that seemed too big a break to hope for. But Kirby hesitated and Horton felt a prick of excitement. Was it possible they were correct? Were they going to get the break they so desperately needed?
Kirby studied it for some time. Horton waited. He hardly dared to hope.
‘There’s something familiar about her.’
Horton handed across the computer-enhanced photograph of the victim with fair hair. ‘Does this help.’ He saw instantly that it did. Kirby recognized her. ‘You know who she is?’ Horton asked eagerly.
‘No. But I’ve seen her picture before.’
Horton’s first thoughts were that Salacia must have been an actress, like he’d posed almost as a joke to Uckfield, and they’d all failed to recognize her, but the worried expression on Kirby’s face quickly scotched that idea.
‘Where?’ he asked keenly.
‘Here. I remember her because I was surprised he should have her photograph. And now I come to mention it the timing was rather odd too.’
‘Who had it?’ Horton’s mind raced. ‘Reggie Thomas? Marty Stapleton? Victor Riley?’ he fired off.
‘No. Daryl Woodley.’
So it was possible that Woodley had known her and that she’d been at the crematorium for his funeral. Harlow’s reaction, if there had been one, and Horton now doubted that, had nothing to do with the victim.
‘She was younger than here, though,’ Kirby was saying. ‘About ten years I’d say at a rough guess. And in the photograph I saw she was wearing a strapless summer dress standing on the deck of an expensive-looking boat, gazing out to sea with a frown on her face as though puzzled by something in the distance just like she is in this picture. She looked classy, not at all Woodley’s type, which was one reason why I remember her.’