فصل 06

Helen Masters was a good witness.

‘I was standing near the railway station,’ she said. ‘I saw the man first. He had dark hair. Then I saw the girl. I recognised her later when I saw her photograph on television. The man walked to the edge of the pavement and called to her.’

‘You definitely heard him call her name?’ Tennison asked.

‘Oh yes.’

Helen Masters was asked to identify the man she had seen.

Twelve men stood in a row. Each man held a number in front of his chest. George Marlow was number ten.

Helen looked at them through a window. She could see them but they could not see her. Each man was asked to step forward and shout the name ‘Karen’. Eight. nine. ten.

Looking straight ahead, George Marlow called out ‘Karen’ loudly. Helen Masters stared at him for a long time.

The reception area of the police station was busy. Tennison thanked Helen Masters for her help, even though she wanted to scream with anger. Helen had not identified Marlow as the man she had seen.

Marlow left the station with his lawyer, Arnold Upcher. As he walked past Tennison, he stopped.

‘Why are you doing this to me?’ he asked. ‘I was pulled out of bed at four o’clock this morning. You have a policeman following me all the time. You know I’m innocent. Why are you doing this?’

‘Get him out of here,’ Tennison said.

Maureen Havers came up to her.

‘Kernan wants to see you.’

‘Tell him you couldn’t find me.’

‘Marlow’s lawyer is with him. He says you shouldn’t have given out the number of Marlow’s car on television last night. You could only do that if the car was reported stolen, and Marlow hadn’t reported it.’

‘Oh no! Well, do something about it. We all know that reports of stolen cars can get lost. The report has probably been put in the wrong drawer, hasn’t it?’ Maureen nodded and smiled.

Tennison and Jones went to the factory where Marlow had worked to talk to his boss.

‘Has George always worked in London?’ Tennison asked.

‘He started work in Manchester. We moved the factory to London in 1982. George still travelled around the Manchester area - he knew all the customers.’

‘Did anyone go with him?’

‘Moyra always went with him. She had family up there.’

‘I need a list of all the places he visited.’ Tennison said.

Later that day at a meeting of all the policemen working on the case, Otley told them what was happening.

‘These photographs show the bodies of Karen and Della. You can see that the marks on their bodies are the same. We know that the DNA tests show Marlow had sex with Karen before she died, but he has explained that.

He also has a reason why Karen’s blood was on his coat - he says she cut herself on his car radio. We have nothing to link him with Della Mornay.

I think his car is important. We’ve still not found it, but if we do, there may be enough evidence in it to prove he did the murders. So find the car!’

Tennison came into the room.

‘Karen didn’t fight when she was attacked. Her fingernails were short and clean and there was no blood on them. They had been cleaned with some sort of brush. Della did fight. Her fingernails were long and false and she lost three of them.’

‘Did Marlow have any scratches on his body when we searched him?’ Burkin asked.

‘No he didn’t,’ Tennison replied. ‘We have no evidence to prove that he killed Della or that he went to her apartment with Karen’s body. But I still think he’s the murderer.’

Otley went to see Kernan.

‘We’re not making progress,’ he said ‘She’s making a mess of this case.’

‘Let her continue,’ Kernan said. ‘We can’t get rid of her unless there’s a good reason. The best thing you can do is try to co-operate with her.’

‘I miss Shefford,’ Otley said. ‘He was a good policeman and he was my friend.’

‘We all miss him, Bill. But you have to work with Tennison whether you want to or not.’

As Otley left Kernan’s office, he met Maureen Havers. She was carrying a pile of reports on murders in the north of England, in places which Marlow had visited. Otley helped her carry the papers.

‘If you find anything in Oldham, Maureen, let me look at it first.’

‘OK,’ Maureen said.