Joan was in tears, her shoulders shaking as she slumped at her desk.
‘What’s up with you, Joan?’ Anna asked.
‘Just got a dressing-down from the Chief Super.’
‘Langton?’
‘No, the one who’s standing in for him.’
Anna leaned close to Joan, who was wiping her eyes with a tissue.
‘What happened?’
Joan tearfully explained that she had, although not specifically instructed to do so, run a check through missing persons, searching for the Christian name Angela.
Anna tensed up, leaning closer still as Joan passed her a report. She sniffed.
‘Angela Thornton, “Misper” from Epping over five years ago, and as you can see from the description of the clothes she was wearing they also include a gold bracelet, a present
from her parents for her twenty-first. It was engraved with the inscription, “Angela 1999 from Mum and Dad”.’
Anna couldn’t believe it. She perched on the edge of Joan’s desk.
‘Good work, Joan, but tell me what Hedges said that’s got you so upset.’
Joan said that she had left early the previous evening so had come in that morning very early and had decided rightly or wrongly to check out the bracelet.
‘I mean, it’s the most obvious because of the inscription.’
‘Absolutely, yes I agree.’
‘I’d just got a result when I picked up the phone and it was him, Chief Superintendent Hedges. He asked me for an update. I mean, he usually speaks with Mike, but I was the only one
available and so I told him.’
‘About the bracelet?’
‘Yes, and he went ballistic. He said that he had not given the go-ahead to open up any further missing persons cases and as such I had overstepped my position.’
Anna patted her shoulder.
‘Leave this with me, go and get yourself a cup of coffee in the canteen. As far as I’m concerned you’ve done nothing wrong. If Hedges had been more of a presence and kept up to
date with our investigations he’d have realized the recovered jewellery had to be followed up.’
As Joan left the room Anna became more irate as she recalled how Mike Lewis had told her that Hedges had said that as far as he was concerned both investigations were now Langton’s. She
decided that if Hedges should complain to her or Mike about Joan’s behaviour she would remind him of his remark to Mike and his total lack of interest concerning the investigation of a
possible serial killer.
Anna, still annoyed about Hedges’ attitude, sat at her desk reading the Essex Police report about the missing girl. The case had been left open on file, with no suspects
and no clues as to her whereabouts. Angela Thornton had last been seen in June 2007 on CCTV footage with two friends leaving a nightclub in the Mile End Road. The friends had said that they had all
been drinking heavily and as they lived locally together they walked home, leaving Angela to get the Central Line Tube home to Epping. By the time she left the club the last Tube would have already
gone. Anna looked at a map of the area and noticed how close Mile End was to Hackney and Oates’s squat.
Turning around, she could see that Mike was on the phone in his office, and so she picked up the report and knocked on his door.
‘Can I see you for a second?’
He gestured for her to come in and returned to his phone call.
‘I understand, sir, yes, yes.’ He rolled his eyes to the ceiling.
‘I understand, sir, and I will take it up with her, but now the ball has started rolling I won’t know until I have had the time to—’
Mike pulled at his tie.
‘Yes, sir, well as I just said, leave it with me, and let me get back to you.’
Mike eventually replaced the receiver, and pointed to the report in Anna’s hand.
‘If that is what I think it is, I’ve just been told off because we are apparently attempting to open up yet another murder enquiry when we are snowed under with the ones we’ve
already got.’
‘Mike, you can’t walk away from this. Angela Thornton’s bracelet was in the hoard of stuff we removed from Oates’s basement.’
‘It’s not a question of me walking away, Anna, she’s an Essex “Misper” so it’s not in my hands to say whether or not—’
His desk phone rang.
‘Yes? What? Bring him in straight away when he gets here . . . yes, to my office.’
Mike stood up.
‘She was last seen in Mile End, which is close to where Oates . . .’ Anna began.
‘Let me deal with the Angela thing later. Right now we’ve got Edward Samuels coming in, he’s ten minutes away. Get Joan to arrange some tea. He’s also asked for
sandwiches.’
Mike’s phone rang again and he snatched it up.
‘DCI Mike Lewis, incident room . . . Good morning.’
Mike covered the mouthpiece and said it was Langton, the last person he wanted to have to talk to, so Anna made her escape fast.
Half an hour later Barolli ushered the diminutive Mr Samuels into the incident room as Anna was asking Joan if she could also rustle up some sandwiches. She was very eager to
hear what Samuels thought of their prime suspect, and hurried to join him in Mike’s office.
Samuels turned to shake her hand, his own almost the same size as hers. He was wearing a grey pin-striped suit with a white polo-neck sweater and had very highly polished black shoes. He drew
his chair closer to the desk and opened his laptop.
‘I’ll obviously have my report typed up, but for now we can discuss, from my notes and observations, what I believe is the best way forward when you next interview Mr Oates. I have
been quite thorough going over the paperwork and viewing the DVDs you sent me, but firstly let me explain how behavioural assessments work . . .’
Before he could continue, Joan entered with the teas and a plate of sandwiches. Samuels thanked her, saying he was hungry as he’d not had time for breakfast. Anna was quite intrigued by
the way he ate – very quickly, in big bites, each of which he chewed rapidly before hesitating a moment then swallowing. It was rather like watching a hamster as his cheeks bulged and he held
the sandwich in front of him poised for his next mouthful. Anna gave a glance towards Mike, who also appeared fascinated watching Samuels consume three sandwiches then reach for his tea, taking
quick rapid sips before he let out a sigh of relief.
‘Ahhhh, good, feel a lot better now. I usually have a big breakfast, but this morning I skipped it, always a mistake. My mother, God bless her, always said breakfast was the most important
meal of the day, sets you up.’
Anna smiled, and Mike murmured his agreement, but he was obviously a little bemused by Samuels.
‘Right, let’s get the show on the road. Now obviously I have made an assessment of Mr Oates’s personality, behavioural and lifestyle characteristics.’
‘Dr Samuels, Anna and I really appreciate your help but we wondered if you could stick to the interview strategy as we—’
‘DCI Lewis, I have not had a doctor-to-patient psychiatric session with your suspect so I am not giving any opinion regarding his fitness to plead. It is not my place to dictate how you,
or DCI Travis, should conduct the interview, but I can suggest how to approach it and hopefully connect with Oates. To achieve this you must have some understanding of the person you are dealing
with, particularly if you want positive rather than negative outcomes.’
Mike and Anna looked at each other, both realizing that Dr Samuels was very much on their side but his opinions and advice had to appear unbiased. He went on to explain that although the
information about Oates’s family background was limited and to a large extent influenced by his ex-wife Eileen’s statement, he felt that she might be lying about some elements of her
life with and without Oates.
‘In respect of the suspect’s childhood and the abuse that he endured at the hands of his mother, her lovers and in care, his wife, in my opinion, would have no reason to make these
incidents up. He could have lied to her but, and this is off the record, I made some enquiries through my contacts and Henry Oates was in and out of care homes because of physical abuse. He
suffered a wretched childhood and although he seriously assaulted other children he was replicating what his mother did to him. It brought him the attention he craved although he never sought pity
or spoke about his abuse to his carers, so he may respond to sympathy.’
Samuels told Mike and Anna that abuse in a child incited feelings of hurt and, almost inevitably, that hurt led to a feeling of hate and a longing for revenge. He believed Oates’s running
away from the care home at sixteen was an attempt to escape those feelings and make a new life for himself. Certainly at the outset he seemed to have succeeded. He found a way of suppressing his
anger through boxing, held down a job, made new friends and, in Eileen, found someone who he loved and no doubt believed loved him.
‘The death of Radcliff, the boxing coach and father figure, must have been a setback for him, but he had others around him at the club who also grieved the loss. Boxing was in his mind the
only thing he was good at, it gave him self-purpose. The gym was his home and his family so he continued to box and then he met Eileen.’
Whilst Samuels continued with his assessment, Anna glanced towards the window that divided Mike’s office from the incident room. She drew a quick intake of breath and looked at Mike,
trying to get his attention, but he was focused on Samuels. Eventually, she coughed and at last she caught his eye. She jerked her head towards the incident room, and made a small gesture with her
hand. Mike now glanced towards the window and back to her, not understanding what she was trying to tell him.
Too late, the office door was opened and Anna got quickly to her feet, as Langton, wearing one of his immaculate grey suits, pristine shirt and a dark navy tie, walked in. She was surprised to
see that he didn’t have a walking stick; in fact he looked fit and healthy, and his manner seemed very breezy.
‘Edward Samuels, how nice to see you again. Thankfully it’s been a long time.’
Samuels turned and peered at Langton, who now took Anna’s chair so she had to stand. Samuels appeared unflustered and only acknowledged Langton with a disparaging nod of his head.
‘You don’t mind if I sit in on this, do you?’
Mike shook his head. Samuels had already returned to his laptop screen.
‘Shall I continue?’ He asked.
‘It’s all been very beneficial so far, sir,’ Anna said as Mike nodded in agreement.
‘Well let’s hope it’s all worth the cost this time,’ Langton said with a false smile as he gestured for Samuels to continue.
‘Right. I’d been explaining that in order to prepare an effective interview strategy you first need to consider the behavioural characteristics of Mr Oates.’
Samuels gave Langton a swift résumé of what he had already told Anna and Mike and then continued where he had left off.
‘Eileen Oates’s description of her life with Henry may or may not be true in parts, however I believe she lied about him forcing her into prostitution as her criminal record shows a
soliciting conviction prior to the time they met. He married her because he believed the child she was carrying was his, he set up home with her and saw less of his friends, and his boxing career
was not progressing. Discovering his wife was a prostitute ignited not only the belief that the child was not his but all the feelings of anger he had suffered as a child.’
‘Excuse me interrupting,’ said Langton, ‘but I think we are all aware of this background detail. Basically I am asking you to cut the bullshit and get to the point of your
assessment.’
‘I don’t regard anything I have so far stated as bullshit, Detective Langton,’ replied Samuels with some dignity. ‘Yes you may be well aware of his background but what
you do not understand is how or why he has become what he is today. If you do not understand someone or something then how can you possibly ask the right questions in the context of your
investigation?’
‘That may be, but time is of the essence and as I said you are not telling us anything we haven’t already considered ourselves.’
Samuels gritted his teeth with annoyance.
‘You are missing the point. During his childhood, teens and to an extent in his marriage, Oates has pushed his anger to the back of his mind, hiding it from public view, but it continued
to grow in the shadows like mould on a wall. Eventually it all boils over and the backlash starts . . .’
‘We all get angry at one time or another, but it doesn’t give us the right to abduct, rape and then murder women and children when we feel like it!’ Langton said whilst
fidgeting in his chair.
‘I am not condoning his actions,’ Samuels pointed out. ‘What I’m saying is that his mother and wife created in him a seething desire to harm women. He sees them as
objects, mere tools to vent his anger. Tell me . . . wouldn’t you like to see Oates repeatedly beaten to within an inch of his life or maybe you’d like to personally inflict his pain to
relieve your own anger?’
‘Too fucking right I would!’ Langton shouted, and then let out a deep sigh of frustration, realizing that Samuels had used his own short fuse to make his point. He got up out of his
seat.
‘I need to stretch my legs!’
‘I believe that Oates has killed more times than you are aware of and if you want him to talk to you in interview, then you need to approach him in a structured manner,’ Samuels
suggested. ‘Aggressive, accusatory tactics will not work with him. There is also the danger that if you push him too far he may have a total breakdown.’
‘Carry on without me,’ Langton said as he left the room.
‘Off the record, do you think he’s a psychopath?’ Mike asked.
‘I take it that you are referring to Oates.’
Both Mike and Anna could not help but laugh and were glad that Langton had left the room.
‘Without a full psychiatric assessment it’s impossible for me to make an accurate diagnosis, but there are clear signs of antisocial, borderline and other personality disorders. The
symptoms can lie dormant for years, then suddenly manifest themselves in early adulthood and are often related to traumatic events during childhood.’