‘What’s going on there, are you all at lunch?’ she said.
‘Sorry, boss. We’ve had a bit of a development here,’ said Crane.
‘What kind of development?’
‘We’ve been going back over all the paperwork and files for the case, and McGorry found something, alarming to say the least.’
‘What?’
‘When Charles Wakefield was arrested three weeks ago, a DNA sample wasn’t taken when he was booked into the custody suite at Lewisham Row.’
‘What do you mean? He was arrested. Everyone who’s arrested has their DNA taken in the custody suite.’
‘Not in this case,’ said Crane. ‘There’s no entry on the National DNA database for a Charles Wakefield. And the arrest report is incomplete.’
‘Christ! How?’
‘Yeah. I had the same reaction. We’re just going back over everything that was logged up until now to try and trace back to who was working in the custody suite on the night he was arrested and brought in.’
‘Have you told Melanie?’ asked Erika.
‘No. I was about to call you first.’
‘So all the DNA we’ve been running through the database for the past two weeks hasn’t included a check against Charles Wakefield?’
‘Not directly.’
Erika went on to tell him about the revelation that Charles Wakefield was caretaker at GDA during the time the assaults occurred, and that Vicky had confronted him about this when she was making her podcast.
‘There was also something else. Charles and Henrietta both showed up for the funeral in black trench coats and black trilby hats. They’re both the same height. I’m just thinking back to this CCTV from Blackheath train station taken when Charles said he went into London on the day that Sophia was killed. That’s his alibi, but because his face is obscured on the CCTV footage, it’s not an alibi. And now I’ve seen them together today, I had the awful thought, what if the person on the CCTV going into central London is Henrietta? Did you manage to track down any other CCTV that shows Charles Wakefield going into central London that day?’
‘No,’ said Crane. ‘And we spoke to the person who was working on the ticket desk. They didn’t recall seeing Charles that day, but the person did add that it was crazy busy, and they sell a lot of tickets and speak to a lot of passengers every day.’
There was a long silence from Crane on the end of the phone. Moss looked at Erika and raised an eyebrow.
‘Okay. Where are you now, boss?’ asked Crane.
‘I’m still here with Moss, in the pub in Worthing. Everyone has gone on to the crematorium, including Charles Wakefield. Give me a moment, Crane. I’ll call you back.’
Erika was now sweating as she filled Moss in on what had happened.
‘What if it’s Charles who assaulted these women at GDA? And then he found out that Vicky was investigating the assaults, and he threatens her, but Vicky keeps going and tracks down Becky and Kathleen and interviews them. And then she talks to Charles again, saying she has these two women on record.’
‘Hang on,’ said Moss. ‘That doesn’t explain why Sophia was killed.’
‘What if it was as we first thought, mistaken identity? Sophia was in Vicky’s flat. They did look alike. Charles breaks in, in a frenzy, thinking that it’s Vicky. He beats her, rolls her up in the sofa bed mattress and stabs her… His focus would have been on clearing out and destroying the evidence that Vicky had accumulated on the case: all her notebooks, and USB sticks, the hard drive for her computer.’
‘Again. Hang on, though,’ said Moss. ‘You saw what his flat was like when we looked round. He’s a luddite. The only electronics he had were an old record player and a VHS.’
‘Does that mean he’s innocent? He might have learned how to use a computer at work,’ said Erika.
‘Okay, so Charles gets into Vicky’s flat, kills who he thinks is Vicky, but it’s actually Sophia… He cleans up and then resumes the cocktail hour with Henrietta. Then that would explain him being so wired when we arrive on the scene, and we arrest him with the frozen dead cats, which is unrelated. His brother happens to be the Assistant Commissioner… His DNA isn’t taken on arrest. What about Henrietta? Is she involved?’
Erika rubbed at her temples.
‘I don’t know. I don’t know. Would Julian Wakefield risk his career for his brother? And what does Julian Wakefield have to do with it, if anything?’