Zilhouette Murders, page 16
“Of course. Rumour is you found two bodies – is that right?”
“I’m afraid it is correct Steven so you can imagine it will be all hands to the pumps on this one hoping there is something forensics can find which can give us a clue.”
“Could all Detectives please report to the briefing area.” came the announcement over the tannoy.
“Here we go Steven get your pad.”
Both detectives headed to the briefing area, where most of their colleagues were already gathered. The news about the latest discover in Richmond had reached the station and most of the chatter was about this. David Cummings, in his clean suit stood in front of the group.
“Ladies and gentleman, thanks for attending so quickly. For those who haven’t heard two more victims were found this afternoon in the river at Richmond. PM’s are being carried out as we speak but I can tell you both victims were female, both had been dismembered and both had been scalped so there is more than a chance these are two more victims of the ‘Zilhouettes’ murderer.
There are some differences to the others;
There were two victims found at the same site.
Both victims were found in a public place.
The murderer contacted Anton Schwartz and led us to the scene.
We found no signature – ‘Zilhouette’ carton – but Anton’s early estimate is these victims had been left about three weeks ago so any Carton would have disappeared a long time ago.
So, we have a number of lines to follow-up.
1) I need someone from technical to coordinate with forensics and look through the deleted emails on Anton’s laptop.
“I’ll arrange that Sir.”
“Thank-you DC Harper.”
2) We need to concentrate on the missing persons list once we have a better description of the victims. I want officers visiting every home where there has been a missing person roughly matching these descriptions to gather information. One or even two of the reported missing people is probably lying in the morgue. I don’t want any short cutting with this. When I say every home, I mean every home. Ask uniforms for help if necessary. I’m sure they will be only too pleased to help. sergeant Joe South nodded in agreement.
3) Viv will be updating your packs on this as soon as she has Anton’s finished report and I know George Sonas will be addressing us all shortly with an update on the profile.
4) George Sonas nodded in agreement.
Ladies and gentleman we clearly have a cold-blooded murderer on our hands but he is also a very clever adversary and the biggest mistake we could make is to under- estimate him.”
There was a lot of chatter in the room voicing agreement.
“I want a more concentrated effort on the CCTV which seems to be missing. I need to know why we don’t have images from the town centre when Honey Bates disappeared; from the road alongside the golf course where Paula Monarch’s body was found; from the supermarket and road from where Josephine March was taken and from the roads around all these sites where we now think out murderer is travelling in a British Gas Van.
Who is this guy? Why is he killing these women and dismembering them and scalping them? Why is he leaving them in different places and, in some cases swapping their hair.?
There has to be a pattern and we are just not seeing it. I want you all to concentrate on finding a connection, it’s there staring at us – OK?” “Now I’m going to hand over to George Sonas. For those of you who don’t know George is a civilian profiler who has worked with a number of our colleagues on different murder cases and has produced some extremely helpful data which assisted them to apprehend the murderers. Over to you George.”
David Cunningham sat down and George Sonas walked forward. George was a middle-aged, stocky man with Mediterranean features, jet black hair, olive skin and a broad smile.
“Ladies and gentleman. Thanks to DI Cunningham for his update and introduction. I want to concentrate on what we know and who I think we are looking for and why.
The person we are looking for is male, middle-aged – no older than fifty-five – lives on his own and has a job which doesn’t restrict him to set times at work. He is self-employed or a well qualified professional or both; he is physically strong and intelligent both academically and practically – the sort of man who could strip down an engine and put it back together before attending the Opera and a black tie event.
He has experienced tragedy in his life for which he blames everyone but particularly these woman. This man is not killing for fun or passion, he has no interest in overpowering these women for rape or other sexual fantasies, he is specifically punishing them and only them. He leaves us with a message, a calling card in the form of a ‘Zilhouette’ chocolate carton and on each carton he writes a number in lipstick which means he has a target.
He is killing people from a group, a club or other organisation who he thinks have caused great tragedy in his life so these women all have or have had the power to cause such tragedy. It can be the only reason why he is selecting these women. Find out the connection between these women and you will find their killer. Any questions?”
Hands went up all over the room.
“Yes,” George pointed to a detective at the front.
“Do you think he has finished, are these two the last?”
“I don’t know Detective, maybe we will know more when we get the PM results and identify these two latest victims.”
“Mr. Sonas, we have the identity of two of his victims and people have spent hours and days trawling through their history and we cannot find any link between them. What are we missing?”
“All I can tell you, Detective, is people don’t tell other people everything. We all have secrets and it may well be these secrets hold the key to unlock the connection.”
“Yes.”
“Mr. Sonas, you said the killer is likely to be a professional, would this need to be an area where anatomy and, well I suppose butchery is learned?”
“Another good question. We have been told by forensics the dismemberment of these victims was carried out by a professional hand so, yes, I do believe our killer is involved in anatomy and/or butchery but remember, this could be a very wide category including, surgeons, vets, butchers, teaching professors, nurses, morgue attendants and many many others.”
David Cunningham stood up, “OK folks, that’s enough. Let’s get ourselves out there and catch this bastard.”
George smiled at David. “Thank you.”
The room cleared and David returned to his office where he found a message from Frank Adams asking him to go to his office when he had finished. He called Chief Superintendent Adams secretary to find out when he could be seen.
“Can you come in thirty minutes DI Cunningham?”
“Yes, I will be there. Bye”
He cleared the line and replaced the receiver. He had a lot to talk to his boss about but he knew Frank Adams was not going to be pleased with the lack of any progress.
CHAPTER 32
David Cunningham sat outside his boss’s office waiting to be told to go in. The seating area around Frank Adams’ office was very bare and utilitarian with a minimum of wall adornments. The only colour was provided by his secretaries photos of her family.
“You can go in now David.”
He walked straight into the office to find his boss sitting behind his enormous desk, leaning back in his chair staring at the ceiling.
“Good evening Sir, you want to see me.”
“Sit down David.” came the stark reply.
“David, do you recall our last conversation? The one in which you told me I could rely on you to sort out these murders and catch the person responsible?”
“Yes Sir, I do recall our conversation and I do recall telling you I will catch the man committing these murders.”
“Well?”
“Well Sir, it’s an ongoing investigation and we are dealing with a very clever adversary who leaves very little in the way of clues we can work with. No doubt you heard today we found two victims and whilst we don’t have final confirmation from forensics, I am pretty sure this is the work of the same killer. The bodies have been in the water for a long time so identification is going to be difficult – or even impossible unless we get a break like with Honey Bates.”
“But David, this has been going on for weeks! What about this Alan Peters, weren’t you confident he had something to with his ex-wife’s murder?”
“Yes Sir but it looks like it’s another dead end - same as Steven Monarch and the murder of his ex-wife, It looked like he was the one who killed her but he had a cast iron-alibi.”
“Monarch, that weasel, I wouldn’t put too much faith in any alibi he submitted. He’s a wrong’un and should be watched closely.”
“But in this case Sir, he is wearing an electronic tag so we knew where he was when the murder was committed. It couldn’t have been him.”
“Unless he tampered with the tag. Wouldn’t be the first time David.” Frank Adams replied.
David just shrugged his shoulders.
“Well David, thank for coming to update me. When will you know more about the two found today?”
“Tomorrow Sir. We should have Anton’s report.”
“How’s he holding up after the death of his sister.”
“I think the term is ‘as well as can be expected’ Sir.”
“Very well David, keep me informed. Good night.”
David thanked his boss and left the office. Instead of heading home he went back to his office. Something Frank Adams had said made him curious and he wanted to follow this up immediately.
He sat behind his desk and looked up the internal directory and rang the Electronic Tag department.
“Hello, Tech Department Sergeant Porter speaking.”
“Sergeant, this is Detective Inspector Cunningham, do you have a minute?”
“Of course Sir, how can I help.”
“It’s about the certainty of the location monitor fitted to the tags attached to early release prisoners.”
What about it Sir?”
“Well, simple question really, can it be fooled? Can it record information other than the truth by interfering with it?”
“Well Sir, there are two answers to your question. The official answer is they cannot be tampered with and the unofficial answer is that all technical products which are protected by one specialist have the potential to be altered by another. It’s all about talent really.”
“So you’re saying someone with good technical knowledge could interfere with the recording of these devices?”
“In theory yes but, in theory any electronic device can be altered to give wrong information. If a twenty-year-old hacker with a laptop can harvest the triple encoded account holder details from a Bank, someone could hack into the system used on tags and make alterations – but I emphasise, this is theory I know of no cases where the latest Tag has been interfered with. I hope this answers your question Sir.”
“Well I suppose it does in a way but it also opens up a whole bag full of other questions. Thanks for your help sergeant Porter, I might call you again on this.”
“Pleased to assist Sir. Bye.”
David cleared the line and sat back in his chair fiddling with his pen. “So, Steven Monarch could have been on the golf course where his ex-wife was murdered without us knowing by tampering with his tag,” he said out loud.
He made a few notes, checked his watch and decided to head home. He hoped tomorrows forensic report on the two victims would provide some better information on who was killing these women. He turned out the light in his office after walking through the door and noticed a light on in the detective area where his DS normally worked. He decided to walk over and say good night.
“Why are you still here Peter, don’t you and DC Wicker have homes to go to?”
DS Wicker looked up at him and by the look on his face David knew he had something important to tell him.
“Sir, Steven tried to tell me about something he had unearthed from these old files relating to the similar murders twenty years ago and this is the first opportunity I have had to sit down with him. I think he has found something in the files which might help us to understand why they were killed, which in turn might help us with the current case.”
David Cunningham froze for a second. He put his coat on the back of a chair and turned to his DS. “ Go on, I’m listening.”
Peter nodded to Steven indicating he should go ahead,
“Well Sir, three of the four women who were murdered were involved with patient care.” started Steven.
“Three of the four, what about the fourth?” asked DI Cunningham. “At this moment Sir, it’s only the three, I haven’t been able to discover any such connection for the fourth victim.”
Steven’s initial enthusiasm was waning a little, Peter Wicker was beginning to regret calling the DI over and David Cunningham wished he hadn’t asked the question.
“Can I continue Sir?”
David Cunningham waved his hand indicating Steven should proceed.
“The first victim- Alison Watson aged 32 worked in a care home in Chiswick as an assistant. She lived in a Council flat on the outskirts of Chiswick. Single, no known relationship at the time of the murder, she was found dismembered, scalped and stabbed in a shed by railway sidings near Richmond by a dog walker. Evidently the dog kept scratching at the door which he opened and found Alison laying on top of a lot of garden waste. No forensic evidence was discovered though they did estimate she had been killed at least three weeks before she was discovered.”
“So the health connection is the care home?” David asked.
“Yes Sir.”
“OK, thanks please continue.”
“Victim number two was Avril Winkle aged 36. She worked in a care home in Isleworth. She lived with her husband and two children in Isleworth. Her body was found in the premises of victim number three. Again, her body had been dismembered and scalped, but this time the murderer strangled his victim. There was no forensic evidence found at the scene and it was estimated she was killed two weeks before discovery.
Victim number three was Charlotte Winder aged 44 a divorcee living alone at the time of her death. The investigation couldn’t find any evidence of any long-term relationship with anyone at the time of her death. She was found in the premises of victim number four. Like the other two she was dismembered but she had received a heavy trauma at the back of her head which killed her instantly. She worked in the local hospital in Hounslow as a nursing assistant.
Victim number four; Agatha Foley worked with Charlotte in Hounslow but she was not involved with anything medical. She was on the Appointment side and simply answered the phone. Her body was discovered three months after she had been reported missing at the bottom of a well attached to a property in Hounslow. Like the others she had been dismembered and scalped.”
David listened and made some notes.
“Thank-you Steven. So all the victims were scalped but none of the hair was placed on other victims and was it ever discovered?”
“No Sir, none of the hair was ever discovered and, I forgot to mention all the bodies had the blood drained which made identification very difficult.”
“So where does Stephen Monarch fit into all this? What is his connection with these four women?”
DC Warrington looked at Peter Wicker who nodded indicated he should answer.
“Well Sir, that’s a problem as there is no connection. There is no evidence Monarch even knew these women. After a number of taped interviews he maintained all along he had nothing to do with these killings. Also, when one of the victim’s time and date of murder was discovered using all kinds of evidence including friends and work colleagues statements, family statements and CCTV, Stephen Monarch wasn’t even in the Country!”
David Cunningham said nothing. He just sat looking at the floor shaking his head.
“So how in Hell did he get charged with these murders and more importantly, get convicted?” he said eventually.
Peter cleared his throat. “Permission to speak off the record Sir.”
“Sure, go ahead.”
“Every part of this investigation apart from the charging of Stephen Monarch was to the book. Record-keeping was faultless but they had no evidence to help them catch the perpetrator - quite honestly Sir, I think Monarch was fitted up for this.”
Both men knew who was involved with the arrest of Monarch and how there appeared to be a personal vendetta involved.
“You realise you are suggesting Chief Superintendent Frank Adams was involved in manipulating this case to get Monarch sent down for it?”
“Yes Sir I do and it pains me to come to that conclusion. How else can a clearly innocent man be found guilty of such an offence when all the evidence says he wasn’t?” Peter replied.
“Right, I don’t want any of this talked about OK? I am not going to cover this up but if I am to suggest my superior was somehow involved in this I have to be pretty damn sure and anyway, Monarch did confess to one killing and planning to murder a second, I have no sympathy for him spending time in prison. What concerns me most is the fact the real killer got off scot-free because according to the file, after Monarch was convicted the file was closed. That killer could be the person we are chasing now some years later having murdered eight more women so far.”
“I agree Sir.” commented Peter Wicker.
“Now, going back to the investigation you have made into these murders, I think the care home might be an important connection but there is no other connection and on that basis I cannot see how we can move forward on this so, I want you both to continue to look at this cold case whilst concentrating on this current batch of murders. Anton should have some information for us tomorrow and hopefully that will include details which will assist us in identifying these latest victims. Now I suggest we all go home.”
All three got up to leave then David stopped them.
“Just one more thing. I have spoken to the Tech people working with Tags and the man I spoke to more or less admitted there have been cases where the signalling and location part of the function have been interfered with, resulting in incorrect data being received. Can one of you just check on Monarch’s background, associates etc. and also his time in prison to see whether he made contact with anyone with this knowledge or attended any courses for rehabilitation on learning about tech stuff – just a long shot but we should check. Right I’m off, see you both nice and early in the morning. Good work. Good night.”
