Page 81 of The Scene of the Crime
‘That would be helpful for the interview but carry on anyway.’
‘Palmer then received several repeated messages saying, “Contact me now” and “Where the fuck are you?” Whoever sent the messages started calling Palmer’s number, but he didn’t answer. At 3.10 p.m. Monday, Palmer called the other burner number, and the conversation lasted a few minutes.’
‘Is this still all on WhatsApp?’ Chapman asked.
‘Yes, every contact was made using it. The next one was on Tuesday at 3.48 a.m. Palmer sent a message saying, “car torched”, clearly referring to the fact the Range Rover had been set alight, which we know happened in the early hours of Tuesday morning. There was no further contact between eitherphone. Palmer’s was switched off at eight p.m. last night and recovered at his flat this morning. I hope that all made sense.’
‘Yes, thanks. What about cell mast locations and the owner of the other phone?’
‘Before it went dead, Palmer’s burner phone was last picked up by the cell mast in Montague Road. The other phone is also a burner with the same service provider. It went live at the same time as Palmer’s, and the first cell tower to pick them up was in Leather Lane, Holborn at six p.m. last Wednesday.’
‘Do we know the other phone’s current location?’
‘No, it’s gone dead, but it was last live near a mast in Caroline Street, Birmingham, on Tuesday morning. I’ve asked the service provider to send me a detailed cell site analysis log for all the calls and messages sent and received, but that could take a day or two. It’s also more difficult because WhatsApp calls are encrypted and made online.’
‘Can we trace an IP address?’ Jessica asked.
‘No, both phones were using a free VPN,’ Guy replied, referring to a virtual private network used to hide an IP address.
‘You mentioned something about a tracker at the beginning,’ Jessica said.
‘Palmer’s burner phone has a hidden tracker app on it. It doesn’t record where he’s been on his phone, but it sends information about location, calls and texts to someone else, who can view it through a web portal.’
‘Looks like whoever gave Palmer the phone doesn’t trust him,’ Jessica remarked.
‘Certainly does. The Leather Lane connection is interesting. There’s a street market there with lots of different stalls. Could be Palmer’s selling jewellery from his burglaries to a dodgy trader,’ Chapman remarked.
‘The PlayStation, laptop and Xbox in his flat were proceeds of a burglary where two hundred thousand pounds’ worth of jewellery was stolen,’ Jessica said.
‘I’ll get one of the team to speak to the property owner and request photos of the stolen jewellery if they have any. Great work, all of you.’
As Chapman was about to end the call, Taff came in with a big smile and holding his thumbs up. ‘I found Johan De Klerk and Palmer’s fingerprints on some of the cash from Palmer’s wallet. There were also a couple of marks from the Sealskinz gloves. All three were on one of the notes. The odds of that happening by chance are a million to one. The money must have been stolen from De Klerk.’
‘This just gets better and better,’ Chapman said.
‘There’s more,’ Taff said. ‘I spoke with the scene of crime officer who dealt with the burglary in Chigwell where the property found in Palmer’s flat was stolen from. He sent me copies of the footprints they recovered. They were Adidas Ultraboost with the same tread as the ones in Palmer’s flat and De Klerk’s house.’
‘The second interview with Palmer will be interesting and full of surprises . . . mostly for him,’ a delighted Chapman said.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Jessica had been in her office for nearly an hour, reviewing all her notes and ensuring no forensic opportunities had been missed. Her mobile pinged with a text message from Chapman informing her that the second interview with Palmer would start in twenty minutes. She logged into the Met web link on her desktop computer, and the empty interview room appeared on the screen. Jessica then told Guy she would watch the interview alone and make notes. ‘I’ll let Diane and Taff know,’ he said.
‘Thanks. Do you have Palmer’s criminal record?’
‘Yes, I also contacted social services and got a copy of their file on him. I haven’t had time to read it all, but I’ve printed it off.’ He handed her the file.
‘I double-checked Palmer’s burner phone but couldn’t find anything else on it. I’ve downloaded all the data from his personal mobile, so I’ll start looking through it. Do you want me to continue working on De Klerk’s mobile, too?’
‘So far, there doesn’t appear to be any direct connection between Palmer and De Klerk, so I don’t think it will take us any further. Make Palmer’s phone the priority for now.’ He gave her a thumbs-up and she returned to her office to look at Palmer’s file.
Sitting at her desk, she did some deep breathing before opening the file. Seeing Palmer as he was now hadn’t triggered any traumatic memories, but this might be different. The firstthing she saw was a photograph of Palmer as a sullen-looking teenager, and she was instantly taken back to the time she’d first met him as a trainee probation officer working with a youth offenders team. He was fourteen or fifteen and had convictions for theft, criminal damage and burglary. Back then, he was often referred to as Will or Willy, which she suspected might be why he now preferred to be called Liam. Reading the social services file, Jessica realised how much she had forgotten about him. At the age of fourteen, he was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, commonly known as ADHD, due to his hyperactivity and impulsiveness. Alongside his ADHD, he was also diagnosed as having a conduct disorder on account of his antisocial behaviour and criminal activities.
And Jessica had never been aware of what she read next. Palmer’s ADHD was believed to have started when he was eight years old after a severe head injury. His mother had called an ambulance and said he had fallen over and banged his head. The hospital, due to the nature of the injury, told the police that they suspected William had been assaulted.
A detective from the child abuse unit carried out an investigation and suspected the father, an alcohol and drug abuser with a history of violence, had deliberately smashed William’s head against a wall. The father denied assault, and the mother stuck to her story. Specially trained officers interviewed William, but he repeatedly said he fell over. They concluded that his denial of the truth was due to a fear of further brutality at the hands of his father. A report was sent to the Crown Prosecution Service, but they decided there was insufficient evidence to charge the father. Social Services became involved, but shortly after the incident the father died from a heroin overdose, and William was allowed to stay with his mother, even though she had a drinking problem.
Jessica felt some empathy for Palmer after reading what had happened to him as a child, but it would never excuse what he did to her and how it had affected her life. She recalled the problems in her family life and how her father, Roger, constantly chastised and belittled their mother, Eileen, in front of them. Jessica never saw him physically assaulting her, but he often snarled, pointing a finger and telling her cruelly how she was overweight and needed to be a better wife and mother for him and the children. Being so young, she thought all fathers behaved similarly. He was never very affectionate to her and instead favoured David, buying him more expensive Christmas and birthday presents. Looking back, she knew it was intended to wound her. The odd thing was that at the same time, he was forever bragging about her and David’s non-existent successes at school, making Jessica uncomfortable and leading school friends to tease them both mercilessly.
