“Thanks, Jamie. As far as timings go,” Rob said, “we have CCTV of them leaving the restaurant at a quarter to eleven. They got a cab from the taxi rank outside the station, which dropped them off at home. The driver says this was at about five past eleven. Nothing unusual about them; he could hear them chatting in the back of the cab but he couldn’t remember hearing either of them saying anything specific. He didn’t see anything, and he didn’t wait for them to go into the house. I quote: ‘If I knew they was going to get hurt I would have waited.’ ”
This brought a few laughs.
“So, assuming they didn’t immediately go somewhere else, it seems likely that they were attacked a minute or so later—just after eleven. Intel—what’s the latest?”
This time Zoe Adams spoke. “I’ve got this update from Alan. He sends his apologies; he was just finishing a phone call, said he’d be in in a minute. We’ve had an update on the burglary to the Rainsford house on Saturday night—I’ve got the crime number here if anyone needs it. Clive Rainsford said he’d phoned to cancel his cards as soon as they realized, but £800 had already gone from two ATMs in town. The third attempt was blocked. There was some online activity, too, but that was also prevented by the bank—so, aside from the jewelry and the Rolex, whoever it was probably didn’t make as much as they were hoping to.”
“Any CCTV from the ATMs?” Lou asked.
“Yes, a male figure was seen at two of them. I’ll get a printout and the best stills put on the area briefing slides. Not particularly clear, but someone might recognize the clothing. Also in relation to the burglary, a vehicle which looks very like the Volvo that was stolen from the driveway appears on the CCTV from the garage on London Road, just at the end of Russet Avenue, last night. It’s shown heading toward the address and indicating to turn into the road at ten forty-three. Then it’s coming back again at ten past eleven.”
“We can’t get an index on it?”
“Apparently not. But we’ve found the vehicle in any case. It was alight in some woodland behind a school in the Park Hill estate just after midnight. Fire and Rescue put it out before it was a complete shell, so we might get some forensics from it. They recovered a phone handset, a fizzy drink bottle and a black hoodie, among other less exciting things. The phone has gone to the Computer Crime Unit for download; I’ve made sure they’ve got me down as the analyst so I’ll get an alert as soon as it’s done.”
“Thanks, Zoe. Ma’am,” Rob said then, looking at Lou, “is there anything you’d like to comment on before we get on to the forensics?”
In other words, Can you tell us what you know?
“Thanks,” Lou said. “Yes, just a bit of background for you, and the reason why I’m sitting in on your briefing. I’m sure I don’t need to say that this information is strictly confidential.”
Briefly she explained about Scarlett’s reappearance—while there was no evidence linking this murder to recent events, it was certainly worth a mention. She looked around the room at the rapt faces, and as soon as she’d finished there were murmurs and whispers. Scarlett’s name was familiar to many. “The press haven’t cottoned on to it yet,” she said, “and I’d like to keep it that way for as long as possible. I can imagine this attack will be national news, given the family’s history. Once they know Scarlett Rainsford is not only alive but has recently been found in Briarstone, the level of press attention will escalate. Another thing to consider is that we have recently spoken to both Annie and Clive Rainsford on separate occasions and they were both in a pretty fragile emotional state, which may or may not be of interest as your investigation continues. Any questions?”
Jamie Turnbull asked, “Where is Scarlett now? Does she know about what’s happened?”
“She’s with one of my officers this morning, I’ve left it to her to break the news. We’ll bring her in as soon as we can to make a statement. For reference, though, her movements are pretty much accounted for, as far as last night’s concerned. Yes—you have a question?”
It was the DC who’d offered her his seat. “What was the reaction when she met up with her family again, ma’am?”
“She had only had a chance to see her mother; she hadn’t seen Clive or Juliette.”
“Where has she been all these years?” This was from Jamie Turnbull again.
“We’re in the process of unravelling all that. Forgive me if I’m not at liberty to go into detail. If we find out anything that might be pertinent to this investigation, I’ll make sure you’re briefed. Zoe—did you want to ask something?”
“Did Scarlett Rainsford have a phone? Do we have the number?”
“I’m fairly sure SB seized a handset from her during the warrant,” Lou said.
“Is it all right with you if I contact the SB analyst? If they’ve downloaded the handset already there might be call data I can use. You never know.”
“Of course. If you have any trouble with that, let me know and I’ll speak to Mr. Waterhouse. Okay? Thanks Rob—back to you.”
“Thank you. Clare,” Rob said, “can you take us through the CSI?”
“Sure,” Clare began, clearing her throat. “We’re still working on the car; I’ll let you know as soon as I’ve got a report on that. For now, though, I can tell you what we’ve done so far at the property. The initial scene was the whole of the front garden. Annie had been taken to the hospital by the time we got there. Clive was lying with his head on the grass and most of his body on the path. Didn’t look like he’d moved once he fell. We’re looking at extensive head injuries—same for Annie—with massive blood loss. No sign of a weapon. We did get a pretty good shoe mark from the garden. There was an area under the tree, behind some bushes, that was freshly trampled. Someone possibly waiting there for them to come home.”
“Any way of telling which of them was struck first?” Rob asked.
“Not yet. We’re looking at the blood spatter. At the moment it would suggest possibly Clive first—a single blow to knock him out—then Annie, then back to Clive to finish him off. If we can get anything conclusive on that I’ll make sure it’s highlighted in the report.”
“Thanks, Clare.”
“One more thing, sir. The shoe mark had a match on the database. We don’t have a subject match but the same shoe mark was recovered from a scene last month.”
“Who was the victim?” Rob asked.
“It’s an unsolved one. Carl McVey, the guy who owns those pubs.”
Intel Report on Op Vanguard
5X5X5 INTELLIGENCE REPORT
Date: Monday 4 November 2013
Officer: PSE Kelly FRANKS, Financial Investigation Officer, Fraud Unit
Subject: Crime Report PZ/015567/13, Op Vanguard
Grading: B / 1 / 1
Clive RAINSFORD, DOB 31/01/1958 Crime report PZ/015567/13 refers to a Burglary Dwelling at 14 Russet Avenue, Briarstone, on the night of 02/11/13 to 03/11/13. During the course of the burglary, credit and debit cards in the name of Mr. Clive RAINSFORD were stolen.
Inquiries with the Nationwide BS reveal that three attempts were made to access Mr. RAINSFORD’s accounts via ATMs in and around Briarstone town center. These attempts were as follows:
03/11/2013 05:25—Sainsbury’s ATM, West Park Road
£500 cash withdrawn
CCTV shows IC1 male wearing a black wooly hat and a pale-colored short jacket, jeans, white trainers.
03/11/2013 05:55—Nationwide ATM, High Street
£300 cash withdrawn
CCTV at the premises not working at the time. Council CCTV from the Victoria Square shows male wearing black hat, pale jacket, jeans and white trainers walking past at 05:58.
03/11/2013 06:07—Nat West ATM, High Street (north end)
£300 cash requested, transaction unsuccessful
CCTV out of action following criminal damage the night before.
Attempts were also made to transfer funds online at 06:42 to an account in Ireland; however this transaction was blocked by Nationwide’s sec
urity systems.
LOU
Monday 4 November 2013, 09:30
Lou was busy singing Sam’s praises to Detective Superintendent Gordon Buchanan, who was giving the impression of listening intently while glancing every few seconds at his computer screen. This didn’t bother Lou. She knew that, if she phrased the final sentences right, he would agree to what she was asking even if he hadn’t fully taken in everything she’d said.
“Sam Hollands is the only member of my team who’s been able to establish a rapport with Scarlett Rainsford,” she went on, “and she has a unique connection with her which will be invaluable to DI Jefferson now that the circumstances have taken such a dramatic turn.”
“Indeed,” murmured Buchanan.
“And Caro Sumner. I know she’s only just been seconded over to me from Special Branch, but I can’t help feeling that, if we can unravel what happened to the Rainsfords, we will be able to get more useful intelligence about the trafficking networks operating out of Briarstone.”
Lou took a deep breath. This was her clincher. Brace yourself, Gordon . . .
“The trafficking operations directly impact on a number of our highest risk-scoring criminal networks, countywide,” she said. “If we can get to the intelligence concerning who’s running the operations, there is a strong possibility that we will be able to dismantle maybe three or four of those groups. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you what an impact that will have on crime figures across the county. It’s not just trafficking, sir. It’s drug-importation, extortion, violent crime, all the way down the long tail of criminality to volume crime at street level.”
As expected, he was giving her his full and undivided attention. There was nothing like the promise of actually meeting a few Home Office targets to make a senior officer sit up and take note.
“Sounds as though you’ve got things under control,” he said.
“So I can offer Caro and Sam to assist with Op Vanguard, for now, and maintain an overview of the operation myself?”
“Agreed. Keep me updated, won’t you?”
Date: Monday 4 November 2013
To: Zoe ADAMS, FIB/Major Crime Analyst
From: Brian TEMPLE, Special Branch Analyst
Re: Phone analysis: phone obtained during Op Pentameter Raid
Dear Zoe,
Further to our phone conversation this morning, please find below an extract from the phone analysis carried out on the handsets seized during the warrant on 31/10/2013 at 4 Carisbrooke Court, Briarstone. You mentioned that your interest was particularly in the handset recovered from Scarlett RAINSFORD, so I have only included the details of this phone and the numbers that have been in contact with it.
Black Nokia handset containing SIM card ending 891:
This phone was in the back pocket of a female who identified herself to officers as Katie SMITH and was subsequently identified as Scarlett RAINSFORD, DOB 11/02/1990. Downloads were made of the handset and call data obtained for the period 01/09/13 to 31/10/13.
[Analyst’s note: this timeframe was standard for all the phones seized during the Op Pentameter warrant].
Summary of findings in relation to 891:
Incoming and outgoing calls on a daily basis; the phone is in regular use although SMS is rarely used. Identified numbers called by or calling this phone include numbers ending:
498
This number has been attributed to Nigel MAITLAND DOB 17/12/1958 (associated with Organized Crime Group 041—McDONNELLs, whose primary criminality is trafficking). There is a single call from 498 to 891 on 04/09/13 at 19:45, duration 45 seconds. There is no SMS contact between the two phones.
512
Activity between 891 and this number begins 25/09/2013; none before this date. There is one incoming call from 512 to black Nokia 891, placed on 25/09/2013 at 11:45 (duration 23 seconds), followed by two outgoing ones from 891 to 512, at 12:19 (duration 3 minutes 45 seconds) and 21:49 (duration 15 minutes 12 seconds). Regular outgoing calls are made to 512, approximately one per week, during October, lasting between 4 and 12 minutes. There is one incoming call from 512, on 25/10/2013 at 12:01hrs (duration 21 minutes). There is one incoming call on 30/10/2013 at 23:55hrs (duration 50 seconds). No SMS contact between numbers 891 and 512.
424
This number is believed to be in use by Victor RAMOS DOB 14/01/1971, with warnings for violence, weapons and drugs. Intelligence has indicated RAMOS is a regular visitor to brothels in Briarstone and Charlmere. There are three incoming calls to 891, on 03/09/13 (duration 4 minutes 3 seconds), 05/09/13 (duration 4 seconds) and 16/09/13 (duration 15 seconds). No SMS.
210
This number is attributed to Paul “Reggie” STARK DOB 04/05/1982, although it is believed to be no longer in use (billings obtained for this number show no further activity after 25/09/13). Three outgoing calls were placed from black Nokia 891 to this number on 01/09 (duration 12 minutes 14 seconds), 14/09 (duration 3 minutes 1 second) and 19/09 (duration 2 minutes 50 seconds). Intelligence suggests STARK is also a regular frequenter of brothels in the area.
In addition to these contacts, there are a further 74 telephone numbers which remain unattributed.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you require anything further.
Kind regards
Brian
LOU
Monday 4 November 2013, 10:00
Juliette Rainsford was something of a surprise.
Caro Sumner, who had been watching the DVD recording of the interview with Juliette from Rob Jefferson’s office, beckoned Lou over when she saw her coming into the briefing room. “Watch this,” she said.
The computer screen showed the interview room from two angles. The main image was of a young woman wearing a pink turtleneck sweater which hugged a slender waist, a long, slim purple scarf draped casually around her neck. Her dark hair was long, and loose, twisted over one shoulder. Her arms were crossed but she was leaning back in her seat.
“Who’s that?” Lou asked.
“It’s Juliette,” Caro answered.
“She’s not what I expected.”
“Me neither. I suggested to DI Jefferson that he might need an appropriate adult for her. He asked me why. I said that Clive and Annie had always given me the impression that she had some learning difficulties. Then he showed me this. Listen.”
Caro turned up the volume on the speaker so that they could both hear what was being said. Lou shut the office door to avoid disrupting the incident room outside.
“. . . they don’t go out very often,” Juliette was saying, in a calm, even voice. “Maybe once every few months. They usually call it their ‘date night,’ which always makes me laugh; I mean, it’s not as though they’re teenagers. This one was because Dad wanted to cheer Mum up, though. She’d been in a bit of a state, you know, with the burglary.”
“You didn’t mind them going out, and leaving you alone?”
“They wanted me to go with them but I told them I’d rather stay in. I was looking forward to a bit of peace, to be honest. Mum had been crying all day.”
Caro turned the sound down again. “See what I mean?”
“Clive and Annie went to great lengths to keep her away from us,” Lou said. “That makes me really curious to know why.”
“Maybe they just wanted to protect her,” Caro said, “having lost one daughter. Anyway, I’ve still got my concerns about her. She was in a bit of a state when she came in, crying and upset. Then she calmed down, and she’s been stable ever since. It might be the shock of finding her parents like that.”
“You interviewed her at the time of the abduction, Caro,” Lou said. “Was she like this then?”
“She was upset, in tears most of the time. We went really easy on her because she was thirteen when Scarlett went missing. If you’d asked me then if she was vulnerable, I would have said yes. When we weren’t interviewing her she was always reading some book or other. She never voluntarily interacted with anyone.”
“She
seems quite relaxed about everything now, doesn’t she? Considering she’s just found her parents dead?”
“Quite.”
SAM
Monday 4 November 2013, 10:30
Sam was watching Scarlett’s face.
It had been a while since she’d had to deliver a death message, and this one had been more dramatic than any she’d previously had to impart. Not a road traffic accident, not a heart attack at work: Scarlett’s parents had been brutally attacked. Sam had no idea how Scarlett might react, so she had taken her out to the car, which was the most private place she could find at short notice, turned to face her and told her the news.
Silence.
Scarlett’s face colored, her mouth slightly open. Then she looked away. In a small voice, she said, “What about Juliette?”
“She found them this morning. She’s fine, Scarlett. Would you like to see her?”
Scarlett nodded, turning slowly to face the windscreen. Sam waited a moment, then turned on the ignition and pulled out of the parking space.
The silence as they drove the five miles into the town center was unnerving. Sam had almost expected tears, but this time Scarlett hadn’t been tearful, or even showing any emotion other than a degree of anxiety. It had been a pity, almost, to end the discussion between them that had been going so well—the likelihood of Scarlett feeling relaxed enough to continue where they had left off was now slim.
There would come a point when they would ask Scarlett to give a statement about her time in the brothel in Briarstone.
Sam took Scarlett in via the front desk, left her to wait there and headed into the main office. And then breathed out. She phoned Lou straight away.
“I’ve got Scarlett waiting at the front counter,” she said. “I’m afraid I had to tell her.”
Lou sounded as though she was in a hurry. “I’m on my way,” she said. “Can you meet me in the canteen?”