more.’
‘So we must reopen his case?’
‘On what grounds, Brian? On the say-so of a man convicted of a very brutal double murder of two children? Our prisons are full of people who claim they are innocent. And another thing, his crimes did not occur in our area, so we don’t have ready access to the necessary files. The child murders were in the suburbs of Manchester. If there is to be a cold-case review, it could only be done or initiated by the local police, not us.’
‘But surely, in view of our current case, we can ask that force for help? To find out what really happened?’
‘We can ask, Brian. That means you’ve just talked yourself into a job. I would suggest you make an appointment to see the CID boss of Greater Manchester Police immediately if not sooner. Explain your reasons then go and visit him in his office – I’d say the entire case papers will be several feet thick. We don’t want an email copy of that lot! You need to speak in person to the officers involved if any are still around. It’s possible some are. Try to gauge their gut feeling about the case, ask if there’s any chance Attwood alias Jacobson was innocent. I’m sure my counterpart in Greater Manchester will be aware of his release on licence – his department will have been officially notified.’
‘I’ll get cracking right away. How is this going to affect the way we deal with the present murder?’
‘It’s not easy to say but we must be somewhat devious from this point onwards. I’m going to suggest we continue our murder enquiries as if we don’t know the victim’s identity. If we release his name, the press will get on to the story and I don’t want that kind of sensational revelation, not at this stage. So we keep quiet and continue as if we are trying to ascertain his name, address and personal details. Remember only you and I know the truth. Let’s keep it like that for the time being. We can keep our teamsand the monkstables busy trying to find out. It won’t be a waste of time because we need to know whether there have been any sightings of him, alone or with a companion. After all, we must know if anyone can throw light on his death. There is still a lot of groundwork to complete.’
‘That makes sense; someone must have seen him around here.’
‘Our teams can ask whether he’s been staying in lodgings or travelling in when necessary. He might have a car parked somewhere. Sooner or later in a rural area like this, it will attract attention.’
‘That should keep the local CID and monkstables busy.’
‘I’ll get them to ask at B&B establishments too. He must have lodged somewhere. We don’t need to release his name to achieve a result of this kind but we must try to establish a link with our target villain.’
‘So what’s the situation with Father John Attwood?’
‘He’s in great danger but I can tell you he is safe right now. Don’t ask how I know – just accept it. Also in his case, there’s nothing about his background in our murder room files, although there will be in the CID offices at police headquarters. I suggest we don’t release that knowledge at this stage. Let’s keep things simple – our line of inquiry is that he’s an elderly monk who has vanished and we are concerned for his safety, even if it’s on the fringes of a murder inquiry. We are worried about him, that’s the official line. In the eyes of the public, that could be due to nothing more than absent mindedness – but someone may have noticed him somewhere. His dog collar and grey suit is a giveaway – if he’s still wearing them.’
‘So is it possible to keep all this to ourselves? Is it wise?’
‘We must keep this to ourselves, at least for the time being, Brian. If news of his disappearance gets into the news media, it could aggravate the risk of others trying to find him. It could generate huge public interest in whether or not he’s guilty. We don’t want that – not yet anyway. No news is
‘So we must reopen his case?’
‘On what grounds, Brian? On the say-so of a man convicted of a very brutal double murder of two children? Our prisons are full of people who claim they are innocent. And another thing, his crimes did not occur in our area, so we don’t have ready access to the necessary files. The child murders were in the suburbs of Manchester. If there is to be a cold-case review, it could only be done or initiated by the local police, not us.’
‘But surely, in view of our current case, we can ask that force for help? To find out what really happened?’
‘We can ask, Brian. That means you’ve just talked yourself into a job. I would suggest you make an appointment to see the CID boss of Greater Manchester Police immediately if not sooner. Explain your reasons then go and visit him in his office – I’d say the entire case papers will be several feet thick. We don’t want an email copy of that lot! You need to speak in person to the officers involved if any are still around. It’s possible some are. Try to gauge their gut feeling about the case, ask if there’s any chance Attwood alias Jacobson was innocent. I’m sure my counterpart in Greater Manchester will be aware of his release on licence – his department will have been officially notified.’
‘I’ll get cracking right away. How is this going to affect the way we deal with the present murder?’
‘It’s not easy to say but we must be somewhat devious from this point onwards. I’m going to suggest we continue our murder enquiries as if we don’t know the victim’s identity. If we release his name, the press will get on to the story and I don’t want that kind of sensational revelation, not at this stage. So we keep quiet and continue as if we are trying to ascertain his name, address and personal details. Remember only you and I know the truth. Let’s keep it like that for the time being. We can keep our teamsand the monkstables busy trying to find out. It won’t be a waste of time because we need to know whether there have been any sightings of him, alone or with a companion. After all, we must know if anyone can throw light on his death. There is still a lot of groundwork to complete.’
‘That makes sense; someone must have seen him around here.’
‘Our teams can ask whether he’s been staying in lodgings or travelling in when necessary. He might have a car parked somewhere. Sooner or later in a rural area like this, it will attract attention.’
‘That should keep the local CID and monkstables busy.’
‘I’ll get them to ask at B&B establishments too. He must have lodged somewhere. We don’t need to release his name to achieve a result of this kind but we must try to establish a link with our target villain.’
‘So what’s the situation with Father John Attwood?’
‘He’s in great danger but I can tell you he is safe right now. Don’t ask how I know – just accept it. Also in his case, there’s nothing about his background in our murder room files, although there will be in the CID offices at police headquarters. I suggest we don’t release that knowledge at this stage. Let’s keep things simple – our line of inquiry is that he’s an elderly monk who has vanished and we are concerned for his safety, even if it’s on the fringes of a murder inquiry. We are worried about him, that’s the official line. In the eyes of the public, that could be due to nothing more than absent mindedness – but someone may have noticed him somewhere. His dog collar and grey suit is a giveaway – if he’s still wearing them.’
‘So is it possible to keep all this to ourselves? Is it wise?’
‘We must keep this to ourselves, at least for the time being, Brian. If news of his disappearance gets into the news media, it could aggravate the risk of others trying to find him. It could generate huge public interest in whether or not he’s guilty. We don’t want that – not yet anyway. No news is
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