Zilhouette Murders, page 21
“In a shopping centre car park in Surbiton Sir,” a smiling young detective replied.
“Who found it?”
“Traffic Sir. They had instructions to look out for vans with British Gas and when they saw this van, which appeared to have been abandoned, they radioed it in.”
“Good work Detective,” commented David.
David did a quick sweep looking for Peter Wicker but his desk was empty. He turned to see DC’s Back and Menton. “Can you two get your things and meet me downstairs in the car park in five minutes. Get the address and the names of the traffic guys who found the van as well as details of their sergeant or Inspector. Clear?”
“Yes Sir clear.” DC Black answered.
“You call Traffic Stuart and I’ll get the exact address and location of the van. Better call Uniformed Stuart, we’ll need the area sealed off.”
“Good call Alison.”
Stuart Menton disappeared out of the area. He was heading to Traffic who were one floor below, to speak with the officer in charge of the two traffic officers who found the vehicle. This was to just let him know CID was involved and that his men might be needed to provide additional information. He would also be able to obtain the exact location of the van.
David Cunningham called Forensics.
“Anton. I think we’ve found the other British Gas Van, so can you spare the time to come and check it over?
“Of course David. Text me the address please and we’ll see you there.”
He left his office and headed for Pauline’s desk.
“Please get your things Pauline, they’ve found the van in Surbiton so we are going over.”
Just as he finished his sentence his phone alarm advised him of the receipt of a text which he quickly checked to confirm it was from David.
“Right, we have the address. My car I think Pauline.”
They both made their way down to the car park, to Anton’s car and off they drove at some speed toward Surbiton.
When they arrived the traffic officers had remained on-site and had taped off the surrounding bays, keeping the area around the van as clear as possible.
Anton and Pauline got out the car, opened the rear hatch and took out their white suits which they put on: then Pauline grabbed the camera and Anton a large stainless steel case.
They both walked up to the van and Anton introduced himself to the officer and thanked him for taking care of the scene.
“Not a problem Sir, I hope we have helped. I think uniformed are on their way, so as soon as they arrive and take over the running of the scene my colleague and I will move away.”
Anton thanked him again and wearing gloves, he tried the door on the van which was locked. He tried the passenger side and rear doors but they too were locked.
He heard various Sirens bearing down towards the site and stood back as he saw David Cunningham and two officers he had only met once approaching him.
“Anton, everything alright?” David Cunningham asked.
“Doors are locked David.”
The officer from Traffic overheard Anton, walked to his car and returned carrying various strange looking implements. He walked past Anton and to the car.
“Allow me please Sir.”
He put on a pair of examination gloves and picked out a long piece of red plastic which he forcibly thrust down between the window and the door-frame. Wiggling it about a little, he then pulled it up unlocking the door. He then casually walked past Anton wearing a smile and back to his car.
“Thank you Officer.” shouted Anton.
The officer tipped his hat, got back in his car and drove off. Anton and Pauline advanced towards the car and commenced their search for evidence and clues about its previous occupant.
DS Menton had already contacted Traffic about the van and DC Black had gone off to find and look at the CCTV of the car park and the surrounding area.
“The van is registered to a Mr. Alex Pardu in Sheffield Sir.” advised DC Menton.
David thanked him, got the phone number of Sheffield police station and the name of a DI and made the call.
He spoke to a DI Bowden and explained the case and that they had found this van which they think is involved in the murders and that it was registered to a Mr. Pardu in Sheffield.
“Give me the address David.” David did, “I’ll have someone round there in ten minutes David, it’s only round the corner. Assuming the man is in I will come straight back to you.”
“Thanks DI Bowden. I really appreciate your help”.
“No problem and it’s Tony Bowden.”
“Thanks again Tony.”
He cleared the line and concentrated on watching Anton and Pauline go through the van.
After about forty-five minutes Anton walked towards David Cunningham.
“It’s completely clean David. I can’t find anything but we’ll take it to the lab and do a more thorough sweep. You never know I could have missed something. We do have some soil samples from the tyre which I am sure will match the soil around the burnt out garages so we can at least put the van there.”
“Thanks Anton. I’ve spoken with a DI in Sheffield who is sending someone to speak to the registered owner of the van. He will come back to me when he has something.”
“Right, I’ll arrange for the transport to pick this up and get it back to us. What’s the news on the missing person list?”
“I think we have whittled it down to just thirteen Anton and my people are questioning the families as we speak to see whether there is any medical information which might help us identify the river and Surbiton victims.”
“OK, well, I’m happy to report we did get some DNA from the river victims and later today we will hopefully get confirmation of the same about the Surbiton victims.”
“Getting there, Anton.”
“Hopefully, David.”
Both men smiled and walked towards their cars.
Anton stopped and rested against his car whilst he called Transport to arrange the collection of the van. He also checked a message from Justine advising Brian had gone to another RTA in Staines and would not be back for a while.
Anton wearily pulled himself upright and started to take off the white suit, hat, gloves and shoe covers before putting his case in the back of his car. Pauline also removed her suit, climbed into the passenger seat and waited for Anton.
The uniformed constables spread themselves around the car park and took statements from anyone who had seen the van arrive or the driver leave the van and walk away.
David had called his office for any updates on the missing person list but was disappointed to be told nothing new so far.
He was about to drive off with DC Black in the car when her phone rang.
David could hear her talking to DC Menton so he stopped the car and waited for her to finish her conversation.
“He’s found the CCTV Sir and we have an image – not a very good one – of the man who parked the car and walked away,” said Alison Black.
“Where is he?”
“Where are you?” Alison asked her colleague who was still on the line.
“Ah yes, I know where that is. We will come to you.”
She turned to DI Cunningham. “Out the car park Sir and take the second left behind the shops. That’s where DC Menton is with the CCTV guy.”
Davis started the car again and followed the instruction. Five minutes later he parked the car and as he got out with DC Black he saw DC Menton walk out a nondescript door and walk towards him. “Do you want to see the footage Sir?”
“Yes please.” replied David.
DC Menton took out his phone and played the short footage showing a man parking the van and then walking off.
“He’s kept his face away from the camera Sir, but we can see it’s a man, he has a beard and wears glasses.”
“Yeah, but this could be a disguise,” said David Cunningham.
“True, the security man is making us a copy of the footage and I will stay here a while with him to see if we can see this person on any other footage. He must have left somehow.”
“Good idea. Can you make your own way back?”
DC Menton confirmed he could and walked back through the door he had exited earlier.
“Shall I stay here the Sir? I can ask some questions and see if there is any useful CCTV from the shops.”
“Yes DC Black, that’s a good idea. If he walked through the shopping area he may have been caught on one or more of the other cameras.”
David Cunningham walked back and, just as he reached the car his phone rang.
“Hello?”
“David ? it’s Tony Bowden.”
“Yes Tony?”
“One of my DS’s went to the address and talked with Mr. Pardu about the van. He confirmed he was the owner and he sold it six months ago to a buyer from London.”
“Does he have the buyers details?”
“Er, yes David – sort of.”
“What do you mean ‘sort of’?”
“He has a copy of the receipt he gave the man and also a copy of the Registration Document he sent to DVLA advising change of ownership. The new owner is listed as a Mr. James Brown living in a large block of flats in East London, but we have discovered it was demolished two years ago. My DS also phoned DVLA about the van and they confirmed it was taxed shortly after the change of ownership. The new buyer used the green slip and paid using a prepaid cash card. The van is insured in the name of James Brown at the same address and again, the insured paid for twelve months cover also using a prepaid cash card.”
“Did Mr. Pardu describe the buyer?”
“Yes, medium height, beard, glasses and spoke with a London accent.”
“Well thanks Tony, that’s really fast work.”
“From your tone David I guess this isn’t any help to you.”
“In a way no, but there is some consistency with the general description of this man we are chasing; but it’s a little disappointing to find again he disappears into the ether once we have a lead which might reveal who he actually is.”
“Sounds like a clever one David.”
“Yes he’s really clever Tony but, we all know even the really clever ones slip up and our best hope is this one does.”
“If there’s anything we can do up here just give me a call and best of luck finding him.”
“Thanks Tony, bye.”
David cleared the line then climbed into his car and headed home for some relaxation time and to see the family he hadn’t seen for a few days.
In a roadside cafe on the A3 two men sat opposite each other in a small cubicle. One was tall, wearing a large overcoat, a peaked cap and sunglasses. The other, smaller frame also wearing an overcoat and a peaked cap. He had a bushy beard and wore sunglasses. The décor in the cafe was meant to mimic an American Diner and there was background 1950s music playing on a loop. They both had a mug of coffee which they had cradled for the previous ten minutes. There was only one other customer in the Diner and neither he nor the waiting staff took much notice of these two who said very little. It was clear whatever they were discussing was important because they spoke quietly so the other diners or staff couldn’t hear and each leaned forward to listen as the conversation progressed.
Eventually the smaller man stood up, he looked back at his drinking partner then turned, and headed for the exit.
The man watched the man leave and seemed deep in thought, but then he smiled, took a deep breath and followed him out through the exit.
No one noticed what cars they drove off in and no one ever saw them again.
CHAPTER 43
Next morning David Cunningham arrived back in the police station and headed for the detectives’ floor where he witnessed a hive of activity among his troops. Some were on the phone, some were talking in groups referring to pieces of paper, some were standing in front of the ‘Zilhouette’ murders board checking and re-checking papers in their hands. David sensed a buzz of optimism and he could see smiling faces and people congratulating each other.
He walked over to the board and saw names written where previously there was just a victim number.
Question marks were replaced with photographs and a great cheer was heard as one of the detectives wrote a name next to a photo after erasing a victim number and question mark.
All the question marks and all the victim numbers were replaced with names and photographs. All the victims had been identified and the dates when they disappeared, together with where they were last seen was clearly written on the board.
He glanced over at the entrance to see Anton and Julia who raised their mugs in celebration. Anton gently pushed his way through the crowd of detectives to stand in front of David.
“It’s done David! Every victim has been identified because of the fabulous work done by your staff. They gathered the historical medical evidence we needed from relatives of the missing people and they contacted all the dentists, hospitals and GP’s and came up with positive, indisputable evidence which has identified each of our victims. Some worked all night in Basingstoke and Guildford Hospitals were incredibly cooperative. The truth is we got lucky.”
“Who was it who said the harder you work the luckier you get.” asked Julia who joined Anton.
“Don’t know but he or she is right,” Anton replied.
David stood open-mouthed staring at the board and it took him a few moments to compose himself.
“Ladies and gentlemen. I think you know what a good job you have done and you should all be rightly proud. We now know the identities of the victims found by the river and in Surbiton and when they went missing. We also know who was found in Honey Bates’s house and when she went missing and I see Josephine March and Gillian Murphy are two of the victims found in Surbiton; the other being this poor young woman from Chertsey.” David Cunningham took a deep breath to compose himself before continuing.
“We now know the who, the how, the when and the where – but we still don’t know why. Look very closely at this board. There are some obvious similarities obviously all women. Were they picked because they were easy to subdue or because our killer hates women or is there something which connects all these women and our killer? What’s the ‘Zilhouette’ chocolate connection or is this just a red herring? Why were some dressed and others just dumped? Why were all victims dismembered and had blood drained from their body? Why were they scalped? Was the killer trying to punish them and change their identity?” He paused.
“Find the connection between all these women and we will find our killer.”
CHAPTER 44
Peter Wicker and Steven Warrington had spent the last forty-eight hours following up leads they hoped would get them in front of Anne Morris who had provided Steven Monarch with his alibi more than ten years before. She had maintained they were both on holiday in Marbella when two of the murders took place in the Sweeties case which DS Frank Adams and Joe South were investigating. According to the case notes DS Frank Adams had interviewed Anne Morris and was unable to disprove her story so it was entered into the files of two of the murders. When Steven Monarch was caught abducting a sixth victim he admitted to the abduction and also the murder of the fifth victim Agatha Folley, but he had maintained he was not responsible for the other four victims Frank Adams had arrested him for.
In court the prosecution alleged Steven Monarch had killed the other four victims based upon purely circumstantial evidence in that all four victims were abducted and murdered in the same way as the victims Steven Monarch admitted he had murdered and on this basis, despite the alibis, the jury fund him guilty of these murders.
On appeal, Monarch’s barrister successfully argued the evidence was purely circumstantial and Monarch was released early and tagged because the Appeal Board felt the conviction was not safe and a jury with a majority decision, decided he should be freed. The police were given an opportunity to bring forward additional information in the first twelve months, after which Steven Monarch’s tag would be removed if no new evidence was brought forward.
Peter Wicker and his DC had managed to find Anne Morris but she had moved to Birmingham where she worked in a care home and lived on-site. Both Detectives drove up to meet with Anne Morris after confirming her address.
They arrived at the care home just after eleven in the morning having made an early start to avoid traffic. Both detectives walked into the care home and asked to speak with Anne Morris, They were shown into an office and asked to wait, Fifteen minutes later a woman in her fifties walked into the room and when both detectives showed their ID and told her why they were wanting to talk to her, she looked decidedly upset and scared.
“Miss Morris, my colleague and I are investigating a murder case from a few years ago and we saw in the file you were a witness for the defence maintaining you were with Steven Monarch for two weeks in the June when two of the murders took place – is that correct?”
“Yes, but it is a long time ago.”
“We appreciate that Miss Morris but if you don’t mind we would just like to go over it again – just the main details that’s all. Is that OK?”
“What do you want to know?”
“Well, it says in the file just you and Steven Monarch rented a flat just outside Marbella, is that correct?”
“I think so.” she replied.
“Did you or didn’t you.”
Anne Morris shuffled in her seat and looked decidedly uncomfortable.
“Why did you say you were here?” Anne Morris asked sheepishly. “We are investigating this case and another similar case which took place a few weeks ago. I’m sure you read about Mrs. Paula Monarch being found murdered on a golf course?” asked Peter Wicker knowing there had been no public statement about this killing.
“Paula is dead!?”
“Yes Miss Morris, she was murdered then badly mutilated and left on open ground next to a golf course in Surrey. We actually arrested her husband but later released him because he was wearing an electronic tag which recorded his whereabouts at the time of the murder.”
“Steven Monarch isn’t in prison?”
“No, he was given parole and early release.”
“Who found it?”
“Traffic Sir. They had instructions to look out for vans with British Gas and when they saw this van, which appeared to have been abandoned, they radioed it in.”
“Good work Detective,” commented David.
David did a quick sweep looking for Peter Wicker but his desk was empty. He turned to see DC’s Back and Menton. “Can you two get your things and meet me downstairs in the car park in five minutes. Get the address and the names of the traffic guys who found the van as well as details of their sergeant or Inspector. Clear?”
“Yes Sir clear.” DC Black answered.
“You call Traffic Stuart and I’ll get the exact address and location of the van. Better call Uniformed Stuart, we’ll need the area sealed off.”
“Good call Alison.”
Stuart Menton disappeared out of the area. He was heading to Traffic who were one floor below, to speak with the officer in charge of the two traffic officers who found the vehicle. This was to just let him know CID was involved and that his men might be needed to provide additional information. He would also be able to obtain the exact location of the van.
David Cunningham called Forensics.
“Anton. I think we’ve found the other British Gas Van, so can you spare the time to come and check it over?
“Of course David. Text me the address please and we’ll see you there.”
He left his office and headed for Pauline’s desk.
“Please get your things Pauline, they’ve found the van in Surbiton so we are going over.”
Just as he finished his sentence his phone alarm advised him of the receipt of a text which he quickly checked to confirm it was from David.
“Right, we have the address. My car I think Pauline.”
They both made their way down to the car park, to Anton’s car and off they drove at some speed toward Surbiton.
When they arrived the traffic officers had remained on-site and had taped off the surrounding bays, keeping the area around the van as clear as possible.
Anton and Pauline got out the car, opened the rear hatch and took out their white suits which they put on: then Pauline grabbed the camera and Anton a large stainless steel case.
They both walked up to the van and Anton introduced himself to the officer and thanked him for taking care of the scene.
“Not a problem Sir, I hope we have helped. I think uniformed are on their way, so as soon as they arrive and take over the running of the scene my colleague and I will move away.”
Anton thanked him again and wearing gloves, he tried the door on the van which was locked. He tried the passenger side and rear doors but they too were locked.
He heard various Sirens bearing down towards the site and stood back as he saw David Cunningham and two officers he had only met once approaching him.
“Anton, everything alright?” David Cunningham asked.
“Doors are locked David.”
The officer from Traffic overheard Anton, walked to his car and returned carrying various strange looking implements. He walked past Anton and to the car.
“Allow me please Sir.”
He put on a pair of examination gloves and picked out a long piece of red plastic which he forcibly thrust down between the window and the door-frame. Wiggling it about a little, he then pulled it up unlocking the door. He then casually walked past Anton wearing a smile and back to his car.
“Thank you Officer.” shouted Anton.
The officer tipped his hat, got back in his car and drove off. Anton and Pauline advanced towards the car and commenced their search for evidence and clues about its previous occupant.
DS Menton had already contacted Traffic about the van and DC Black had gone off to find and look at the CCTV of the car park and the surrounding area.
“The van is registered to a Mr. Alex Pardu in Sheffield Sir.” advised DC Menton.
David thanked him, got the phone number of Sheffield police station and the name of a DI and made the call.
He spoke to a DI Bowden and explained the case and that they had found this van which they think is involved in the murders and that it was registered to a Mr. Pardu in Sheffield.
“Give me the address David.” David did, “I’ll have someone round there in ten minutes David, it’s only round the corner. Assuming the man is in I will come straight back to you.”
“Thanks DI Bowden. I really appreciate your help”.
“No problem and it’s Tony Bowden.”
“Thanks again Tony.”
He cleared the line and concentrated on watching Anton and Pauline go through the van.
After about forty-five minutes Anton walked towards David Cunningham.
“It’s completely clean David. I can’t find anything but we’ll take it to the lab and do a more thorough sweep. You never know I could have missed something. We do have some soil samples from the tyre which I am sure will match the soil around the burnt out garages so we can at least put the van there.”
“Thanks Anton. I’ve spoken with a DI in Sheffield who is sending someone to speak to the registered owner of the van. He will come back to me when he has something.”
“Right, I’ll arrange for the transport to pick this up and get it back to us. What’s the news on the missing person list?”
“I think we have whittled it down to just thirteen Anton and my people are questioning the families as we speak to see whether there is any medical information which might help us identify the river and Surbiton victims.”
“OK, well, I’m happy to report we did get some DNA from the river victims and later today we will hopefully get confirmation of the same about the Surbiton victims.”
“Getting there, Anton.”
“Hopefully, David.”
Both men smiled and walked towards their cars.
Anton stopped and rested against his car whilst he called Transport to arrange the collection of the van. He also checked a message from Justine advising Brian had gone to another RTA in Staines and would not be back for a while.
Anton wearily pulled himself upright and started to take off the white suit, hat, gloves and shoe covers before putting his case in the back of his car. Pauline also removed her suit, climbed into the passenger seat and waited for Anton.
The uniformed constables spread themselves around the car park and took statements from anyone who had seen the van arrive or the driver leave the van and walk away.
David had called his office for any updates on the missing person list but was disappointed to be told nothing new so far.
He was about to drive off with DC Black in the car when her phone rang.
David could hear her talking to DC Menton so he stopped the car and waited for her to finish her conversation.
“He’s found the CCTV Sir and we have an image – not a very good one – of the man who parked the car and walked away,” said Alison Black.
“Where is he?”
“Where are you?” Alison asked her colleague who was still on the line.
“Ah yes, I know where that is. We will come to you.”
She turned to DI Cunningham. “Out the car park Sir and take the second left behind the shops. That’s where DC Menton is with the CCTV guy.”
Davis started the car again and followed the instruction. Five minutes later he parked the car and as he got out with DC Black he saw DC Menton walk out a nondescript door and walk towards him. “Do you want to see the footage Sir?”
“Yes please.” replied David.
DC Menton took out his phone and played the short footage showing a man parking the van and then walking off.
“He’s kept his face away from the camera Sir, but we can see it’s a man, he has a beard and wears glasses.”
“Yeah, but this could be a disguise,” said David Cunningham.
“True, the security man is making us a copy of the footage and I will stay here a while with him to see if we can see this person on any other footage. He must have left somehow.”
“Good idea. Can you make your own way back?”
DC Menton confirmed he could and walked back through the door he had exited earlier.
“Shall I stay here the Sir? I can ask some questions and see if there is any useful CCTV from the shops.”
“Yes DC Black, that’s a good idea. If he walked through the shopping area he may have been caught on one or more of the other cameras.”
David Cunningham walked back and, just as he reached the car his phone rang.
“Hello?”
“David ? it’s Tony Bowden.”
“Yes Tony?”
“One of my DS’s went to the address and talked with Mr. Pardu about the van. He confirmed he was the owner and he sold it six months ago to a buyer from London.”
“Does he have the buyers details?”
“Er, yes David – sort of.”
“What do you mean ‘sort of’?”
“He has a copy of the receipt he gave the man and also a copy of the Registration Document he sent to DVLA advising change of ownership. The new owner is listed as a Mr. James Brown living in a large block of flats in East London, but we have discovered it was demolished two years ago. My DS also phoned DVLA about the van and they confirmed it was taxed shortly after the change of ownership. The new buyer used the green slip and paid using a prepaid cash card. The van is insured in the name of James Brown at the same address and again, the insured paid for twelve months cover also using a prepaid cash card.”
“Did Mr. Pardu describe the buyer?”
“Yes, medium height, beard, glasses and spoke with a London accent.”
“Well thanks Tony, that’s really fast work.”
“From your tone David I guess this isn’t any help to you.”
“In a way no, but there is some consistency with the general description of this man we are chasing; but it’s a little disappointing to find again he disappears into the ether once we have a lead which might reveal who he actually is.”
“Sounds like a clever one David.”
“Yes he’s really clever Tony but, we all know even the really clever ones slip up and our best hope is this one does.”
“If there’s anything we can do up here just give me a call and best of luck finding him.”
“Thanks Tony, bye.”
David cleared the line then climbed into his car and headed home for some relaxation time and to see the family he hadn’t seen for a few days.
In a roadside cafe on the A3 two men sat opposite each other in a small cubicle. One was tall, wearing a large overcoat, a peaked cap and sunglasses. The other, smaller frame also wearing an overcoat and a peaked cap. He had a bushy beard and wore sunglasses. The décor in the cafe was meant to mimic an American Diner and there was background 1950s music playing on a loop. They both had a mug of coffee which they had cradled for the previous ten minutes. There was only one other customer in the Diner and neither he nor the waiting staff took much notice of these two who said very little. It was clear whatever they were discussing was important because they spoke quietly so the other diners or staff couldn’t hear and each leaned forward to listen as the conversation progressed.
Eventually the smaller man stood up, he looked back at his drinking partner then turned, and headed for the exit.
The man watched the man leave and seemed deep in thought, but then he smiled, took a deep breath and followed him out through the exit.
No one noticed what cars they drove off in and no one ever saw them again.
CHAPTER 43
Next morning David Cunningham arrived back in the police station and headed for the detectives’ floor where he witnessed a hive of activity among his troops. Some were on the phone, some were talking in groups referring to pieces of paper, some were standing in front of the ‘Zilhouette’ murders board checking and re-checking papers in their hands. David sensed a buzz of optimism and he could see smiling faces and people congratulating each other.
He walked over to the board and saw names written where previously there was just a victim number.
Question marks were replaced with photographs and a great cheer was heard as one of the detectives wrote a name next to a photo after erasing a victim number and question mark.
All the question marks and all the victim numbers were replaced with names and photographs. All the victims had been identified and the dates when they disappeared, together with where they were last seen was clearly written on the board.
He glanced over at the entrance to see Anton and Julia who raised their mugs in celebration. Anton gently pushed his way through the crowd of detectives to stand in front of David.
“It’s done David! Every victim has been identified because of the fabulous work done by your staff. They gathered the historical medical evidence we needed from relatives of the missing people and they contacted all the dentists, hospitals and GP’s and came up with positive, indisputable evidence which has identified each of our victims. Some worked all night in Basingstoke and Guildford Hospitals were incredibly cooperative. The truth is we got lucky.”
“Who was it who said the harder you work the luckier you get.” asked Julia who joined Anton.
“Don’t know but he or she is right,” Anton replied.
David stood open-mouthed staring at the board and it took him a few moments to compose himself.
“Ladies and gentlemen. I think you know what a good job you have done and you should all be rightly proud. We now know the identities of the victims found by the river and in Surbiton and when they went missing. We also know who was found in Honey Bates’s house and when she went missing and I see Josephine March and Gillian Murphy are two of the victims found in Surbiton; the other being this poor young woman from Chertsey.” David Cunningham took a deep breath to compose himself before continuing.
“We now know the who, the how, the when and the where – but we still don’t know why. Look very closely at this board. There are some obvious similarities obviously all women. Were they picked because they were easy to subdue or because our killer hates women or is there something which connects all these women and our killer? What’s the ‘Zilhouette’ chocolate connection or is this just a red herring? Why were some dressed and others just dumped? Why were all victims dismembered and had blood drained from their body? Why were they scalped? Was the killer trying to punish them and change their identity?” He paused.
“Find the connection between all these women and we will find our killer.”
CHAPTER 44
Peter Wicker and Steven Warrington had spent the last forty-eight hours following up leads they hoped would get them in front of Anne Morris who had provided Steven Monarch with his alibi more than ten years before. She had maintained they were both on holiday in Marbella when two of the murders took place in the Sweeties case which DS Frank Adams and Joe South were investigating. According to the case notes DS Frank Adams had interviewed Anne Morris and was unable to disprove her story so it was entered into the files of two of the murders. When Steven Monarch was caught abducting a sixth victim he admitted to the abduction and also the murder of the fifth victim Agatha Folley, but he had maintained he was not responsible for the other four victims Frank Adams had arrested him for.
In court the prosecution alleged Steven Monarch had killed the other four victims based upon purely circumstantial evidence in that all four victims were abducted and murdered in the same way as the victims Steven Monarch admitted he had murdered and on this basis, despite the alibis, the jury fund him guilty of these murders.
On appeal, Monarch’s barrister successfully argued the evidence was purely circumstantial and Monarch was released early and tagged because the Appeal Board felt the conviction was not safe and a jury with a majority decision, decided he should be freed. The police were given an opportunity to bring forward additional information in the first twelve months, after which Steven Monarch’s tag would be removed if no new evidence was brought forward.
Peter Wicker and his DC had managed to find Anne Morris but she had moved to Birmingham where she worked in a care home and lived on-site. Both Detectives drove up to meet with Anne Morris after confirming her address.
They arrived at the care home just after eleven in the morning having made an early start to avoid traffic. Both detectives walked into the care home and asked to speak with Anne Morris, They were shown into an office and asked to wait, Fifteen minutes later a woman in her fifties walked into the room and when both detectives showed their ID and told her why they were wanting to talk to her, she looked decidedly upset and scared.
“Miss Morris, my colleague and I are investigating a murder case from a few years ago and we saw in the file you were a witness for the defence maintaining you were with Steven Monarch for two weeks in the June when two of the murders took place – is that correct?”
“Yes, but it is a long time ago.”
“We appreciate that Miss Morris but if you don’t mind we would just like to go over it again – just the main details that’s all. Is that OK?”
“What do you want to know?”
“Well, it says in the file just you and Steven Monarch rented a flat just outside Marbella, is that correct?”
“I think so.” she replied.
“Did you or didn’t you.”
Anne Morris shuffled in her seat and looked decidedly uncomfortable.
“Why did you say you were here?” Anne Morris asked sheepishly. “We are investigating this case and another similar case which took place a few weeks ago. I’m sure you read about Mrs. Paula Monarch being found murdered on a golf course?” asked Peter Wicker knowing there had been no public statement about this killing.
“Paula is dead!?”
“Yes Miss Morris, she was murdered then badly mutilated and left on open ground next to a golf course in Surrey. We actually arrested her husband but later released him because he was wearing an electronic tag which recorded his whereabouts at the time of the murder.”
“Steven Monarch isn’t in prison?”
“No, he was given parole and early release.”
