Lynda La Plante: Backlash

The next morning at 5 a.m., much to the annoyance of his wife, DCI Mike Lewis was awoken by the sound of his mobile vibrating on his bedside table.

‘Mike Lewis,’ he grunted into the phone.

‘Sorry to disturb you, sir, this is DC Roy Hunter from the murder squad. A woman’s body has been discovered in the back of a van over in Hackney and they’ve arrested a bloke called Henry Oates.’

Mike sat up, and his wife moaned as he threw the duvet to one side.

‘What?’ Mike asked, still not fully awake.

‘DCS Hedges is heading up the investigation and he wants you in for a 7 a.m. handover briefing at Hackney Police Station.’

‘Gimme the address… no, the crime scene!’

He jotted down the address and leaned over to kiss his wife and give her his apologies, but she was fast asleep. Dressed and using his battery shaver he headed across the landing and peeked in to see his twin boys, who were still asleep, before quietly heading down the stairs.

En route to the station Mike visited the scene, and was immediately taken to one side by the Crime Scene Manager, who told him that a handbag had been recovered containing documents in the name of Justine Marks. The body was still in the back of the van as there were a lot of items around it that needed to be photographed then seized and bagged before she could be removed and taken to the mortuary. The post mortem was to take place at 2 p.m. that afternoon.

Mike decided that he would carry out a short interview with Henry Oates beforehand. Paul Barolli would assist him in doing so, while DC Barbara Maddox and DC Joan Falkland, with whom Mike had worked many times previously, set up the incident room at Hackney Police Station and obtained details of any next of kin for Justine Marks.

Mike Lewis and Paul Barolli entered the custody suite interview room. Oates was sitting on one side of the table with his legal representative, Adan Kumar, by his side. They sat down opposite Oates and Kumar. Paul informed Oates that the interview would be recorded and leaned over to the DVD equipment attached to the wall and pressed the start button, causing the recorder and two wall-mounted cameras in the room to light up. Mike introduced himself and Paul then cautioned Oates, telling him that he didn’t have to answer any questions but that anything he did say might be given in evidence. Mike was about to commence his questioning when to his and Paul’s surprise Oates suddenly sat upright and then leaned across the table.

‘Right then, I may as well tell you what I already told my solicitor. Now where shall I start – or should I ask where you would like me to start?’ Oates enquired.

Mike was about to ask a question when Oates raised his hand, indicating to Mike to be quiet.

‘If you want me to tell you what happened then please don’t interrupt me.’

Mike and Paul looked at each other in surprise, taken aback by Oates’s willingness to speak freely and Kumar allowing him to do so. Mike decided it was best to hear what Oates had to say before putting any questions to him and allowed him to continue.

Oates told his story: he had borrowed the van off the owner James Hully, who was selling it. He had taken it out at night for a test drive only because he didn’t have a driving licence or insurance and he knew there would be less traffic and fewer police about. He went on his own to the Eagle pub in Hackney just before closing time where he’d noticed a group of ‘pissed-up’ women. After one pint he left to go home and was driving down the road when he saw one of the women and was worried because she was drunk and on her own so he stopped to offer her a lift, but she had refused and continued to walk on. Oates had followed her and asked her again if she needed a lift. This time she had been, in his words, ‘Rude, told me to leave her alone.’ He had driven past her for about fifty yards and then stopped and got out to tell her he was just trying to help. Oates claimed that she told him her name was Justine and she agreed to accept his lift and got into the passenger seat. She agreed to have sex with him and he had driven to some waste ground by Hackney Marshes and they had both got into the back of the van to ‘do the business’. After they had sex she suddenly turned hysterical and violent, kicking him in the balls, and he had panicked and hit her to keep her quiet. Oates explained that he had just reached out for anything close to force her to stop screaming. He thought he had struck her with a section of the pump used to blow up the balloons.

Mike was not happy with Oates’s claim that Justine’s death was unintentional but he knew before a further interview that he would need not only the results of the post mortem, but also to speak with Justine’s friends who were at the pub and importantly with any next of kin, who should by now have been traced by Barbara. Before ending the interview Mike asked Oates where he currently lived.

‘I live rough.’

‘Then why did you say you left the pub to go home?’ Mike asked.

‘I don’t have a home as such, just a squat that I use sometimes.’

‘Where?’ asked Mike.

‘Number eight, Holcroft Road,’ Oates indignantly replied.

‘That’s a two-minute walk from the Eagle pub where you first saw Justine, isn’t it?’ Barolli enquired.

Oates made no reply and Mike Lewis informed him that he would remain in police custody while ‘the squat’ was searched, the post mortem carried out and some further enquiries were made about him. Oates suddenly became agitated.

‘I’ve told you what happened. It was an accident so why do you need to keep me here?’

‘You don’t just hit someone by accident, Mr Oates, and the post mortem will tell us if your story is a lie or not. So unless there is another version of events that you want to tell us about, this interview will be terminated.’

There was a long pause; Mike began to gather up his paperwork and Barolli was about to turn the recording equipment off when Oates said that there was something he’d like to tell them.

‘Are you going to tell us what really happened to Justine?’ asked Barolli.

‘I’ve already told you.’

Mike said that he had had enough of Oates’s truculent behaviour and that the interview was over.

‘Justine wasn’t the first. Before her was a ginger girl, exchange student from Dublin called Julia.’

‘Are you saying you’ve committed other murders or you know who has?’

‘If you let me finish I’ll tell you. Julia was about a year and a half ago, but she was the second.’

‘You just said that the student Julia was before Justine,’ Mike said, and Oates interrupted him.

‘No. You’re not listening to me, are you! Julia was the second, long before her was Rebekka Jordan – she was the first.’

Mike was taken aback by Oates’s sudden admissions, particularly about Rebekka Jordan. There had been extensive press surrounding her disappearance just over five years ago when she was only thirteen years old. The enquiry, which had been quickly moved up from a missing person case to a suspected child abduction and probable murder, had been headed up by none other than Detective Chief Superintendent James Langton. Mike knew that he needed detailed answers from Oates, who appeared to relish the sudden renewed attention, but with Kumar present he would have to play this by the book as he needed Oates to make a full and frank confession concerning any other murders he might have committed.

‘Have you murdered other women?’ Mike asked.

‘You’re the detective, you tell me,’ Oates replied and laughed loudly.

Kumar was quick to interject, suggesting that it was a good time for a break as he would like to have a private consultation with his client before he answered any more questions. Mike told Oates that he didn’t have to take Kumar’s advice as this was his opportunity to say what happened to Rebekka Jordan and Julia.