DCI Aileen Peters smiled. ‘And no one saw anything, even though it was a Friday night?’
‘No. Nothing, ma’am. Once Kevin and Tracey were in the alleyway they were out of sight of the queue. And there’s no camera covering the side alley – just one at the front of the nightclub.’
She nodded and glanced at the report in front of her. ‘So we’re working on the assumption that the attacker was already there.’
‘Yes, ma’am. It looks that way. It’s a long dark alley, most of which isn’t visible from the street. There are plenty of places to hide – behind bins and outbuildings. You wouldn’t see someone hiding, especially with what Kevin and Tracey had on their minds. All she’s been able to tell us is that the attacker was dressed in black and had a balaclava hood covering his head and face. The CCTV footage from the camera at the front of the club shows a hooded figure going into the alley approximately half an hour before the attack. The same figure can be seen running out after the attack.’
‘He left the area on foot?’
‘Yes, as far as can be seen on the camera, which is about twenty feet.’
‘And no one in the queue saw him fleeing?’
‘No. He’d gone before the commotion began and anyone realized something was wrong. The first anyone saw or heard was when Tracey came out of the alley covered in blood and screaming that Kevin had been stabbed. He staggered out after her. That’s when their attention was drawn to the alleyway, but the attacker had fled by then.’
‘And Kevin didn’t see his attacker at all because he came at him from behind?’
‘Yes, ma’am.’
‘It was definitely a he?’
‘From his build, yes.’
‘And we’ve ruled out Tracey or her friend, Chelsea, setting up Kevin? He’d had sex with Chelsea the week before and she wasn’t jealous and bent on revenge?’
‘According to both girls they were happy with the arrangement. They took it in turns to have sex with him and he let them both into the club for free.’
‘It must be a good club,’ Aileen Peters remarked dryly. ‘And the girls don’t see him at any other time? He’s not dating one of them?’
‘No, ma’am.’
‘Are there any other girlfriends on the scene who might not like the arrangement he had with Chelsea and Tracey?’
‘Not according to Kevin,’ Beth answered. ‘We saw him again yesterday in hospital.’
‘Did the management know about his arrangement with the girls?’
‘No. And they’re not happy that they’ve been drawn into this. It’s bad for the club’s reputation, especially when their licence is coming up for renewal.’
‘Tough. So Kevin can’t think of anyone who might have had a grudge against him? Maybe someone he collected money from or an opponent from one of his boxing matches? Someone he’d badly beaten?’
‘He says he doesn’t keep a record of his debt-collecting duties. It’s cash in hand. We’re checking out some of the fights he won, but so far nothing. Some of his opponents have form, but for pub brawls etc. None of them has a history of knife crime, GBH or anything premeditated like this. Although Kevin admits he knows some pretty dodgy characters.’
Aileen nodded. ‘So no motive and no suspect. At least he’s alive. If it was planned, which all the evidence so far is suggesting, then someone was watching him for quite a while to know his movements. That he could be relied upon to be in that alleyway at a particular time on a Friday.’
‘Yes, ma’am, it would appear so.’
‘Hmm.’ She glanced at the file and then up again. ‘Perhaps the press release will bring in some leads, but I’m not hopeful. We’ll give it our best shot, then put it to bed unless new evidence turns up.’
‘Yes, ma’am. Thank you. Just one more thing.’
‘Yes?’
‘It may be nothing, but there appear to have been some other cases in the area that could be said to be similar. Where it seems that someone has been deliberately targeted and the assailant knew where they’d be at a particular time and day. All motiveless.’
‘Really? I wasn’t aware of this.’
‘No one was, ma’am. It’s something I’ve just turned up.’
‘When you say a few, how many are we talking about?’
‘I’ve uncovered five possibles that have happened in the last twelve months. There could be more further back. None of them involved a knife but they appear to be motiveless premeditated crimes against individuals. I know it’s a long shot.’
‘Go on. I’m interested.’ Beth wouldn’t be the first DC to find a lead missed by more senior detectives.
‘Ron McKenzie’s house was broken into last month.’
‘Yes, I’m aware of that.’
‘He only went out in the evening once a month to attend a Masonic meeting. While he was gone, his house was completely trashed. They didn’t take anything but made a real mess, paint everywhere. On one of his bedroom walls they’d sprayed the words: payback time. He said he had no idea who was behind it and couldn’t think of anyone who would bear him a grudge. There were no leads and no one has been questioned.’
‘You said “they”?’
‘Forensics said it was possible there were two perpetrators, although they couldn’t be certain.’
‘It could simply have been an opportunist thief who knew McKenzie’s movements, but that doesn’t really tally with the words sprayed on the wall and that nothing was taken. Was he having an affair? Is there a jealous husband or jilted lover in the background?’
‘Not as far as we know.’
‘OK. What else do you have?’
‘Tom Murray, a barrister, and a more serious crime. He was knocked down by a motorcyclist four months ago. The bike mounted the pavement and then sped off. There are no cameras in the area but he was adamant that whoever it was had deliberately driven straight at him. A woman who’d just come into the street and saw the attack agreed. She said the rider accelerated towards the victim. Both of them said the rider was all in black, with a black helmet and a tinted visor so neither of them saw his face.’
‘I seem to remember we looked into some of the cases he’d worked on to see if anyone could have a grudge big enough to try to kill him. But there was nothing,’ Aileen said.
‘That’s correct. The file’s still open.’
‘Maybe worth taking another look.’
‘Yes, ma’am. Then there was the abduction of Mary Grey, thirty-six, a single woman living alone,’ DC Beth Mayes continued, her voice rising with enthusiasm. ‘Whoever took her knew exactly where she’d be at a given time on a given day and that she’d be alone. He also knew her name. She had no idea who he was and didn’t recognize his voice. He grabbed her from behind, bundled her into a van and put a blindfold on her. He drove her around for about ten minutes and then stopped the van. Before he threw her out he told her to be more careful in future. She says she doesn’t know what he was referring to. There are no suspects and we checked all the vans we knew to be in the area at that time.’