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Chapter 38
Monday 29th March
Cheltenham Central Police Station
‘Three days. We havethreedays. Every detail needs to be pinned down now, OK? There’s no room for error. Let’s go through the plan one more time – Mike, you talk us through it – and let’s see if there’s anything outstanding. Let’s go.’
DCI Steph Warden is pacing up and down, DC Jess Gordon and DI Mike Stanley watching her from their seats at the conference table, sheets of notes and diagrams laid out neatly in front of them. They only sat down a few moments ago, but there’s already a tense atmosphere in the room, and as he gathers his thoughts Mike glances surreptitiously at his colleagues. Jess looks anxious, her usually smooth brow furrowed, hair scraped back, hands clenched tightly around her mug of tea. And Steph looks as if she hasn’t slept well for days. The boss’s cheeks are pale and hollow, as if she’s recently lost weight, and there’s a stain on the front of one leg of her tailored black trousers.
I’m not surprised, Mike thinks.This is the big one. The other forces had the date of the promised murder but an impossible task in pinpointing the victim. We know exactly who the victim is, as well as the date. If he’s really going to attempt this, and we screw up …
He doesn’t even want to think about it, and he feels a wave of sympathy for Steph, who will bear the brunt of their superiors’ anger if this goes wrong. She’s good, he knows that. Tough, determined, bright. But is she bright enough to foil the Diary Killer?
Are any of us?he thinks, as he stands up, walking to the whiteboard by the window. Despite huge renewed efforts by the entire Operation Shearwater team over the past two weeks, they’re still no closer to identifying the killer than they were back in January, when this all started. Thursday will probably be their last, and maybe only, chance to catch him. It still seems impossible to Mike that the guy will actually show up, but hey. He’s clearly insane, and they have to go through the motions, just in case. And if he does appear, and they manage to catch him …wow. Just wow.
Mike clears his throat.
‘OK, so let’s start inside.’
He taps the sketch on the whiteboard, a plan of Mary’s house and the surrounding streets.
‘This is number 21 The Grove in Montpellier. Home of Mary Ellis. Tomorrow we go in and do final checks on all the door and window locks and fit a panic button in a discreet place in each of the main rooms of the property. These will not give an audible alert in the house itself, but we’ll be warned immediately that something has gone wrong so we can get straight in there. We’re also fitting bullet-proof window panels throughout. They’re installed inside, behind the primary glass. They can withstand bomb blasts as well as bullets, in case he decides to try a sniper style attack or chuck something through a window. Not his style, if the previous murders are anything to go by, but we’re trying to cover all bases. We’ve also fitted powerful motion-sensor lights on both the front and back of the property. We’ve decided against hidden cameras or listening devices; Mary told us she was uneasy about having them in the house and as we should have clear visuals of anyone who does manage to get in there, we agreed that it’s probably not necessary. Unless the guy has an invisibility cloak, there’s no way he’ll get in without being seen, even in the dark.’
He pauses, then points to the roof of the neatly drawn house.
‘To cover every eventuality, we’re also sealing off the chimney, and access to the attic, just in case he has any plans to gain access to the house via the roof space. It’s a terrace, so potentially if he was able to get into the attic of one of the adjoining houses, he could break his way through. It’s unlikely he’d be able to do that quietly or unobserved, but even so. Essentially, all of that will mean the house will be a sealed box, with nobody able to gain access unless one of the occupants lets them in.’
Steph, who’s stopped pacing and is now leaning against the wall at the back of the room, nods.
‘Great,’ she says. ‘I mean, I guess the only other thing he could try is flying over the house in some sort of aircraft and dropping a bomb on the roof. But as you say, that would be so far away from his usual style …’
‘Agreed. And we’ll be warned of any unusual aircraft activity in the area in advance too; that’s already in place,’ says Mike.
‘And fire isn’t likely either,’ adds Jess. ‘He’d never get close enough to try to set the place alight without being spotted. I feel like we’ve covered everything.’
‘So do I,’ agrees Steph.
‘Great. So … inside the house there will be Mary Ellis, obviously,’ Mike continues.
He pauses for a few seconds to take a sip of water. His armpits feel clammy, and he’s desperately hoping he’s not developing sweat patches on his shirt. Then he taps the upstairs living room area on the house plan.
‘And with her will be her housemate, Peter Chong. He’s been thoroughly vetted as we know, and he’s Mary’s closest friend. He’s adamant about wanting to stay in the home to help protect her and keep her company, and she’s keen to have him there. He’ll also be another pair of eyes and ears and, should the worst somehow happen, a first line of defence for Mary, as it’ll take us a minute or so maybe to get in there if we need to.’
‘But he’s been warned not to do anything stupid? Not to try any heroics?’ asks Steph. ‘We don’t wanttwovictims. I mean, we don’t wantany, obviously, but …’
‘Yes,’ says Mike. ‘He’s been briefed. He knows that if anything does happen, the first thing he does is alert us. The two of them will be in the house, on lockdown, from 6pm on Wednesday evening. They’ve been advised to confine themselves to this first-floor living room as much as possible, so we know where they are; they can go to the bathroom or downstairs to the kitchen to get food and drink, obviously, but we’ve requested that they base themselves in that room for the period in question, including sleeping there. We don’t want them heading off to individual bedrooms. They need to stay together.’
There are a few seconds of silence as the three of them stare at the whiteboard. Then Mike points at the street in front of number 21.
‘Next, outside. We’ve gained access for the period to the currently vacant top floor flat in number 18, just opposite Mary’s. We’ll be able to watch the entire street from the windows of that flat, as well as the front of the house. Everything will be put into place gradually over the twenty-four hours prior, and as discreetly as possible. We’ll use officers dressed as furniture delivery drivers to move the surveillance equipment in and all personnel moving into positions around the target will be in plain clothes. If he’s nearby and watching the house, we don’t want to scare him off.’
He runs a finger along the street drawn on the plan.
‘We’ll also have officers stationed at various points along the street and in adjoining roads. We have a couple of dummy roadwork vans at the junctions so we can keep an eye on any potential suspects entering the street, and’—he points to the rear of number 21, where Mary’s patio garden leads via a gate into the large courtyard garden of the apartment block behind it—‘we will also be taking over a vacant ground floor apartment in Grove Court itself. It’s not quite opposite Mary’s back gate but just to the left,here… and has a good line of sight to her property. Again, there’s no way anyone will be able to get in through her back gate or over her fence without being seen. He’d have to get through the security gates to access the apartment block courtyard first, plus Mary’s back gate will of course be locked too. So access from the rear is probably even harder than from the street at the front.’
He stands back, scanning the board. He doesn’t think he’s left anything out, so he turns expectantly to Steph, who’s still standing at the back of the room, her face expressionless.
‘And I think that’s it, ma’am. If he does show his face, I can’t see how we won’t be able to nab him.’
Jess turns to look at Steph too.
‘What do you think?’ she asks.
Steph remains silent for a few seconds, staring at the board. Then she exhales.
‘I think we’re ready,’ she says.
