Daisy in Chains(105)
‘I know they were.’ She’s practically spitting at him. ‘You staged that breakin so I’d agree to the crime scene people coming in. You released my personal information to Facebook too. You were trying to frighten me, to intimidate me into making a false confession.’
‘Prove it,’ says Pete. ‘Prove that the three of us had anything to do with that.’
‘As for the Ferris wheel incident,’ says Liz, ‘I remember it quite differently. It was your idea. You frightened me when we were at the top. Sandra and Bear will back me up on that, by the way.’
Maggie is getting angrier by the second and Pete knows he needs to wrap this up. But she has turned on Hamish now. ‘You escaped from prison and stole a plane. That is a serious crime, and if these two jerks helped you, then that alone is enough—’
‘Actually, he didn’t.’ The new voice cuts through the cold air of the cave. Pete should have known Latimer wouldn’t be able to keep out of it for long. Keeping him in the dark about the unofficial undercover operation he and Liz instigated is probably still something he’ll have to answer for. Oddly, though, he finds himself quite relieved to see the boss. Especially as he hasn’t come alone. At least two of the uniformed officers they left outside have made their way in with the DCI. Sunday is with them too.
Latimer glances around the cave and addresses Maggie. ‘There was no ten-mile hike across the Isle of Wight, no James Bond style escape in a light aircraft,’ he tells her. ‘The ladder and the handmade key were only to provide some photographs that Sunday here used to create a very convincing fake BBC website. And to provide a bit of noise on Twitter. Hamish left Parkhurst in a police car and came here via the Isle of Wight ferry and the M5. Technically, he is still in police custody and no crimes have been committed by my team.’ He glances over at Pete and drops his voice. ‘Although God knows they came close.’
‘Maggie,’ says Hamish, ‘you need to go with Pete now.’
Maggie turns back to Hamish and shakes her head. Her eyes don’t leave his, although she must surely be able to sense, if not see, that Pete, Latimer, Sunday and Liz are all making their way towards her. God knows how they’ll get her out of here uninjured if she fights, but they have to bring this to an end. Behind them, more uniformed constables are entering the cave.
‘You love me,’ Maggie tells Hamish. ‘I know you do.’
‘No.’ Liz speaks up, her voice echoing through the cave. ‘He loves me. That part was true.’
Hamish takes the last step that will bring him up to Maggie.
‘And that dog isn’t called Daisy,’ Liz shouts. ‘She’s called Cruella.’
Maggie seems to sway but she’s still looking at Hamish. Pete doesn’t think either of them have blinked for the better part of a minute. Hamish reaches out and puts his hands on her shoulders, bends down and kisses her cheek, whispers something in her ear. She seems to slump against him. Hamish looks over her shoulder at Pete and nods.
With a sudden, painful screech, Maggie rears up and strikes out at Hamish. Taken by surprise, he loses his balance. Liz rushes forward. Maggie darts away. She cannot leave the cave, there are too many officers blocking her way, but she isn’t heading for the exit. She stumbles across the last few stretches of damp limestone to the edge of the river.
‘Daisy!’ yells Hamish, as she throws herself into the water.
The current reaches up and grabs a hold of her. Every police officer in the cave runs to the river’s edge and shines his torch on the water. In Latimer’s beam they think they catch a glimpse of a pale hand as the water rushes underground. Then nothing.
Chapter 104
The Times Online, Thursday, 14 January 2016
‘CONVICTED’ MURDERER FREED PENDING APPEAL
Hamish Wolfe was released from prison yesterday by a High Court judge pending a fresh appeal into his conviction. ‘It would appear, from what I have learned this morning,’ said Lord Justice Robinson, ‘that new evidence in this case has come to light. If substantiated it may, in the fullness of time, lead to a quashing of Mr Wolfe’s conviction. In the meantime, I see no reason why Mr Wolfe should not rejoin his family.’
Police have, this morning, named thirty-eight-year-old lawyer and true-crime author Maggie Rose as their new prime suspect in the murders of Jessie Tout, Chloe Wood and Myrtle Reid. Rose fled police custody during an attempted arrest two days ago and is believed to have died. A police search for her body is currently under way.
Hamish Wolfe, thirty-eight, was given a whole life tariff in 2014 and has served fifteen months of his sentence, primarily in HMP Isle of Wight. While family and friends campaigned energetically for his release, the turning point came when he secured the confidence and support of his police liaison officer, Detective Constable Elizabeth Nuttall, thirty-four.
The divorced mother-of-two confirmed to reporters this morning that she and Wolfe are romantically involved and expect to marry shortly after his release has been formalized.
Nuttall is not the only woman to fall prey to the handsome former surgeon’s dark charm (he received, allegedly, over a hundred letters a week in prison), but in her case, the infatuation might cost her dear. A spokesman for Avon and Somerset police confirmed this morning that she has been suspended from her CID job and is expected to face misconduct charges for entering into a relationship with a convicted prisoner without informing her superiors. If it is found that she acted incorrectly, she may be dismissed from the police service.