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“As you all know, we found Sonia Knight this morning at the railway station in Bursley Bridge. She was alive when we arrived, but has subsequently died.
“This afternoon, Fitz confirmed for us that although she had cables into her teeth controlled by the ICD, that wasn’t what killed her. She also had a cable running directly into her spinal cord. Apparently, the charge from that simply overloaded the brain, and it exploded.”
“Same man, then, sir?” asked Rawson.
“Almost certainly,” replied Gardener.
“This morning, at the hospital, Sean and I spoke to a surgeon called Andrew Jackson. He thought the ICD looked familiar, and has since called to tell us that he recognizes it as part of a faulty batch that should have been returned to the manufacturer. He suspects they were not, in spite of the relevant paperwork being signed.”
“Have we spoken to the man responsible?” asked Bob Anderson.
“We have. I asked Andrew Jackson for a list of staff at the hospital, including directors. About an hour ago we had a brief meeting with the storeman, Percy Slater. He says that the pumps and ICDs were returned, but it wasn’t the normal driver who collected them. Apparently, that man was on holiday, so it was a relief driver.”
“What was his name?” asked Thornton.
“We don’t know. Mr Slater gave us a good description, though. The most important thing he did was record the registration of the white van.”
“Nice one,” said Sharp. “Anyone we know?”
“As a matter of fact, yes. It belongs to Graham Johnson, the man who runs the computer shop in Bursley Bridge.”
“Excellent,” said Benson. “Let’s get him lifted.”
“We’d love to, Paul, but it’s not that simple.” Gardener nodded to Reilly while he sipped his tea.
“Our man with the van has done a runner. Graham Johnson called Maurice Cragg earlier and reported some nasty stuff on a laptop he was fixing – all sorts of political crap connected to the National Front. We’ve passed that over to the relevant department. While we were in his shop, we also needed to discuss the fact that he owned a white van with a brake light out, something Bob had said one of the locals mentioned. When we tackled him about it, he managed to slip the net. What we did find in his shop was a micro SIM card with the serial number scratched out.”
“Does anyone know where he is?” asked PC Patrick Edwards.
“Not yet, Patrick,” replied Gardener, “but we’re on to it. I put a marker on the PNC against the vehicle number. Any officer who finds him will stop him, detain him, and call me immediately. I’ve also put the van on the ANPR database. If he drives through a camera and it pings on the system, we’ll know about it.”
“We might be able to check his phone location,” Edwards added.
“Good point, Patrick.” Gardener turned and addressed the desk sergeant. “Maurice, would you get me a complete background on Graham Johnson, everything you can find?”
“Yes, Mr Gardener. I’ll get on to it as soon as we finish here.”
Dave Rawson coughed and stuck his hand in the air, as if he was back in the classroom.
“Yes, Dave,” said Gardener.
“That might tie in with something I’ve found out. The people who run The Harrogate Arms recognized the shots of Pollard and Hobson. Said both men were in there on the night that Pollard says they were. They were drinking for about an hour before Hobson left. Pollard stayed for another two hours, he had a meal and a couple more drinks, and then a blonde-haired girl came in and collected him. Owners reckon the girl was Sonia Knight.
“The owners mentioned a couple who were out with their dogs who claim they saw someone bundling something into the back of a white van the same night that Hobson and Pollard were there. They thought it looked like a carpet and said no more about it.”
“Good work, Dave. Have the owners supplied names and an address for the couple?”
“No, but I’m going back in the morning. He says the couple are there as regular as clockwork, about nine-thirty every two days. They weren’t there today, but they should be tomorrow. I’ll see if I can talk to them.”
“Good. If we can get a registration, we could probably tie this up if it’s Johnson’s van. That brings me to Jackie Pollard. We have released him pending further enquiries. I have to be honest here. My gut feeling is that Pollard is not involved. He’s explained to Sean and me why he was outside the shop on the night Alex Wilson was killed, and we’re quite happy to accept what he said as truth for the moment.”
“Which still leaves Lance Hobson,” said Sharp. “Any news on
him?”
“Nothing yet. As Dave just said, he was last seen at The Harrogate Arms a month ago and has not been seen since. All these people are tied into something. They’ve upset someone. Wilson and Knight are dead. Hobson is missing. For what it’s worth, I don’t think he’s pulling strings.”
“What about Ronson, Pollard’s brief? He’s also Hobson’s brief. Do you reckon he’s involved?”
