F – Wolf
The meeting began with Vanita recapping the plan to deliver Ashley Lochlan to Protected Persons later that afternoon. When Baxter noticed the additional annotations that had been scrawled on to the board, Finlay told them about his conversation with Samantha Boyd and how Ronald Everett had been selling information to Jarred Garland. He handed out a selection of articles written by Garland around the time, all unremittingly criticical of either Wolf, the Metropolitan Police or the neo-Nazi, Muslim-hating juror.
Edmunds had barely been listening. Bar the few hours of involuntary sleep that his body had forced upon him in the dark archives, he had basically been up for four days straight. He was starting to suffer with the side effects of his obsession. He could barely concentrate on anything for more than a few moments and was regularly losing periods of time, five minutes here, ten there, staring blankly into space. He had developed a slight twitch in his left eye and was suffering with several painful mouth ulcers, a sign that he was feeling run-down.
He had completed his task of sorting through every evidence box that Wolf had signed out over the years and had found something deeply troubling amongst the other routine investigations. For a period between 2012–13, Wolf had looked into seven archived files that clearly resembled their killer’s distinctive methods. One of the autopsies had even cited triflic acid as the cause of the ‘horrific internal injuries’.
It was clear that Wolf had been hunting a serial killer, and yet there was no open case file linking the murders together and not one document relating to his investigations included in any of the boxes. He had been trailing this unnamed killer in secret, but why?
It had occurred to Edmunds that the period in question would have been shortly after Wolf’s reinstatement. Disregarding all protocols and procedures, perhaps he had wanted to catch this killer alone to prove himself after all of the controversy and allegations that had ripped his reputation to shreds. Perhaps he had even wanted to prove it to himself.
That still did not explain why he had not shared this invaluable information with them once the Ragdoll murders began. There was no way that he had not recognised his killer’s telltale signs.
Edmunds desperately needed to speak to Baxter about it all.
‘We’re still no closer to identifying who would want all of these people dead,’ said Vanita in frustration. Her way of stating the facts sounded more like an accusation of incompetence. ‘None of the relatives of Khalid’s victims are flagging up as the vigilante type.’
Simmons handed Edmunds the pile of articles written by Garland and he began flicking through them.
‘Chambers still doesn’t link to Khalid in any way,’ Baxter pointed out. She was now able to bring up her friend’s name without getting overly angry or upset.
One of the articles caught Edmunds’ attention. Garland had interviewed Mayor Turnble and the piece was about as damning and slanderous as the newspaper could confidently print without winding up in court. The mayor had been busy promoting his new strategies and had openly invited the ‘victimised’ Naguib Khalid to assist him in finalising his new Policing and Crime Policy report. Garland had purposely asked leading questions with which to encourage the mayor’s increasingly vehement attack on the Met’s most disgraced detective.
‘Almost looks like Will’s hit list,’ quipped Finlay. ‘If he wasn’t on it, of course.’
‘Faustian, you could say,’ smiled Simmons.
Finlay chuckled.
Edmunds slowly lowered the article he had been reading and turned to Finlay. An incoherent thought began to form somewhere within his fatigued mind. He glanced back down at the article in his lap and then up at the flipchart in the centre of the room.
All of a sudden, something clicked.
It all finally made sense.
‘It’s Wolf!’ he gasped, dropping the articles on the floor and pressing his hands firmly against his temple, forcing his disjointed thoughts into order.
‘I was joking,’ said Finlay uncomfortably.
The others shared concerned looks as Edmunds started mumbling names to himself. He leapt up out of his seat and laughed.
‘We’ve been so blind,’ he said. He started pacing up and down. ‘I’ve been wrong this entire time. Khalid was never the key; it’s Wolf. It was Wolf all along!’
‘What the hell are you talking about, Edmunds?’ asked Baxter. ‘Wolf’s one of us.’
Finlay pulled a face and shook his head at her reassuringly.
Edmunds ripped the completed list of victims off the flipchart and let it drop to the floor.
‘Hey!’ shouted Simmons, but Vanita gestured to let Edmunds continue.
He started scribbling excitedly.
1. The Cremation Killer – Wolf obsessed – already tried to kill once
2. The defence lawyer – discredited Wolf’s evidence – got Khalid cleared
3. The law firm boss – knew the witness statement was fake
4. The probation officer – inexperienced – allowed Khalid to kill again
5. The juror – leaking sensitive information to Garland
6. Chambers –
7. Mayor – shamelessly used Wolf before and after Khalid killed final girl
8. Khalid’s brother – paid Lochlan for fake witness statement
9. Journalist – printed lies about Wolf, used information to influence public/jury
10. Security officer – saved Khalid’s life, broke Wolf’s wrist
11. The witness – lied for money, contradicted Wolf’s evidence
12. Wolf – the deception
‘This is ridiculous, right?’ said Baxter. She looked to her colleagues for support. ‘I mean, none of you is actually buying any of this crap?’
‘Chambers?’ Edmunds asked her. ‘What’s the missing link?’
‘It seems awfully convenient that Wolf roughs you up a bit yesterday and now, all of a sudden, you start accusing him of – I don’t even know what,’ she replied.
‘Chambers?’ Edmunds repeated.
‘There’s no connection,’ she said defiantly.
‘What’s the link?’ Edmunds shouted at her, dominating the room.
‘I told you, nothing!’
Finlay cleared his throat and turned to her. Baxter scowled at him.
‘I don’t believe a word of it either, lass, but we need to go along with it to get it sorted out,’ he said.
Baxter refused to talk.
‘Will always believed Ben sent the letter,’ said Finlay.
‘Which letter?’
‘The one to Professional Standards,’ Finlay continued, ‘saying he was obsessed and unstable and advising his reassignment.’
Finlay glanced back at Baxter, but she would not even look at him.
‘It was the final nail in the coffin when it got read out in court,’ recalled Simmons, who was looking increasingly troubled. ‘That letter saved Khalid.’
‘These are substantial allegations, DC Edmunds,’ said Vanita, stating the obvious. ‘Substantial allegations require substantial proof.’