Page 18

Jack Lock

Jack John Lock (July 2, 1908–September 28, 1956) was a mid-twentieth-century serial killer who is also known by the name “the Angel Maker.” Following his arrest on March 6, 1956, Lock was charged with the murders of four children and his wife, Elaine. The remains of his younger victims were found buried in the garden of his manor house in Dree, while Elaine’s body was discovered inside.

Lock was found guilty of all charges and sentenced to death on May 8, 1956. While he was scheduled to be executed by hanging on September 28, 1956, he was found unresponsive in his cell early that morning and pronounced dead shortly afterward. His death was recorded as suicide. There was a great degree of speculation at the time as to how Lock had obtained the item discovered in his cell that facilitated his death. While Lock was convicted for his involvement in five murders, the precise number of his actual victims has never been ascertained.

Okay, Katie thought, taking a sip of wine.

Fairlydespicable, then.

Beside the introduction, there was the same photograph she remembered seeing at her brother’s apartment: a sepia print of a man from a different age, one that appeared to have been taken even further back than the dates referenced in the text. There was something of the Victorian aristocrat about him, with his neatly styled hair and enormous mustache. The smart black suit with the flower in the lapel. His expression was stern, but looking more closely, she thought there was also a slight glint of amusement in his eye.

I know something you don’t.

She scrolled down slowly, continuing to read.

Jack Lock was born on July 2, 1908, to Mary Anne Lock (née Williamson) and Gregory John Lock. His parents were active members of an obscure religious chapter known as Deus Scripsit, which was based around a number of close-knit local family groups.

The beliefs of Deus Scripsit—“written by God”—involved contested readings of the Bible and more esoteric aspects of theology. These revolved around the notion that God is eternal (i.e., situated outside of time itself) and therefore sees the past, present, and future of our world simultaneously. Since every moment already exists before God, it follows that whatever we do is preordained and inescapable. Moreover, to attempt to do otherwise should be viewed as a terrible sin. The sect was notable for its extreme puritanical leanings and strict physical punishments.

The family of three left the community in June 1915 for reasons that remain unclear and moved several miles away to a cottageclose to the village of Dree, where it is believed they continued to practice the religion in which Jack was raised.

Contemporary accounts of Jack’s early life describe an odd, neglected child. He would often be seen walking alone during the night, wearing ragged clothes and talking to himself. During his brief time at a local school, there were incidents where Jack entered what appeared to be a fugue state, during which he spoke to someone or something not present. Following these incidents, he would be seen writing furiously in the notebook that rarely left his side. Teachers expressed concerns over both his behavior and marks on his body that appeared consistent with beatings and whippings, at which point Jack was removed from classes and homeschooled. No further interventions by authorities were made.

As a grown man, Lock showed little aptitude for pursuing a particular career. He was unemployed for several years, although he had notable success as a gambler. During this period, he also became notorious for the sermons he would deliver on the streets of Dree. No record of the speeches survives, although secondhand accounts suggest they were performed with a degree of fervor and conviction that listeners found disturbing.

Lock married Elaine Bell on July 16, 1932, following a whirlwind romance. According to Bell’s acquaintances, Lock courted her with a confidence that belied his standing, claiming the two were destined to be together. Bell was the daughter of a wealthy industrialist, and the union was frowned upon by her family, who viewed Lock as being an eccentric of poor character and low social status, although they continued to support the couple financially.

The first known victim of Jack Lock was Winnie Bowers, age eight, who disappeared from her street on April 13, 1949. The girl’s older brother gave an account of a man he had seen speaking to his sister, whose description was later matched to that of Jack Lock.

Three further abductions followed, this time without witnesses. The remains of Winnie Bowers, Joan Lessing (age seven, abducted June 15, 1951), Maureen Godling (age eight, abducted May 11, 1953), and Jean Kilner (age nine, abducted October 19, 1954) were discovered buried on the Lock property.

The attempted abduction of Ann Harrison, age ten, occurred on March 6, 1956. On this occasion, Jack Lock’s attempt to kidnap a child was interrupted, culminating in him fleeing and being chased down by a mob. Lock was savagely beaten by the crowd before being taken into custody. Upon arrival at Lock’s house, officers discovered the body of Elaine Bell in the kitchen, and then the remains of the previous victims.

According to contemporary accounts, two boys were found alive in the property. While there was no official record of their births, they were believed to be the sons of Jack and Elaine. The children were rehomed, and due to the nature of their upbringing, their subsequent adoption records were ordered to be sealed.

Katie leaned back in her chair, considering what she’d read so far.

Dree was an area just north of the city. Given the number of victims, she was surprised not to have heard of Jack Lock before now. She would have expected him to be well-known locally, even if spoken of in hushed tones and whispers. Then again, it was possible these crimes had been committed too long ago to have resonance in the modern day. Or perhaps the explanation was even simpler than that—that some people were so terrible that they needed to be forgotten. That for the community to hang on to Jack Lock’s memory would leave it bruised and traumatized, locked in a state of horror from which it was impossible to move on.

Which raised the question: Why had Chris been interested in him?

While her little brother was a stranger to her in many ways, one thing Chris had always been was sensitive, and she couldn’t imagine that changing. That sense of fragility and vulnerability was baked into his DNA, and this was exactly the kind of real-life material she thought he would recoil from.

So what was the interest here?

Wasthere even any connection at all?

But she was only about halfway down the article. She turned her attention back to the screen and scrolled down, reading further.

Jack Lock laughed openly during his trial, in a display that attracted disbelief and derision from the men and women assembled in the courtroom.

Lock claimed that it had been revealed to him he would commit the murders, and that he had been compelled to carry them out, as to do otherwise would have been to refute the orders of God.

“My life was set in stone before my birth,” he told the court. “As was yours. The difference between us is that I have been purified and my path has been revealed to me.”

A number of pieces of writing were discovered at Lock’s manor house that gave a full account of each child’s murder, including descriptions of their abductions and graphic details of their deaths. Lock’s contention in court was that he had written these passages in advance, when the future had been revealed to him.

The prosecution offered the more obvious explanation, which was accepted by the court. The accounts had been written after the murders had been committed and were now being used by Lock to justify his vile crimes.

Lock was found guilty of the murders on May 8, 1956, and sentenced to death. At the conclusion of the trial, the judge in charge of proceedings was visibly upset, and ordered the postmortems on the children to be sealed due to “the unrivaled depravity” of what had been done to them.

Lock laughed again during his sentencing—“so hard that his body shook”—and appeared indifferent to the judgment of the court.

“God has tested my faith,” he called out. “Through his tongue, he revealed my path—all of our paths—including the monstrous things he intended for me to do. He expected me to falter and fail. But my faith is strong. I knew I had to carry out his plans. To disobey him would have been a blasphemy far worse.”

On the morning of September 28, 1956, Jack Lock was found unresponsive in his cell. He was pronounced dead later that day. He had slashed his wrist with the nib of a fountain pen. Despite a comprehensive investigation, it remained a mystery how the item came to be in his possession.

Although Lock’s crimes are mostly forgotten in the present day, traces of them can still be found in the curious field of murderabilia. Modern-day collectors of the macabre have sometimes been known to trade objects associated with Jack Lock.

A sewing machine and needle set, believed to have belonged to Elaine Bell, attracted low five-figure bids during an auction in June 1982. The knife Jack Lock used to commit his murders is alleged to have been sold to an anonymous buyer in January 1987for an undisclosed sum. Reports have also circulated of pages of Lock’s writing changing hands for considerable amounts of money.

More broadly, rumors persist that Lock spent a substantial portion of his life compiling a much longer piece of writing—a “master work”—that filled the notebook he had carried since childhood. The existence of this item has been debated and contested over the years. The exact contents of the notebook, should it be real, remain unknown, although some believe, as per Lock’s claims, that careful study of it might be used to divine the future and reveal God’s will.

That was the end of the article.

Katie leaned back, feeling uneasy. While the murders had occurred several decades ago, and Lock himself was long dead, what she’d read had disturbed her.

My life was set in stone before my birth.

It made her think of the portrait Alderson had created of himself and Chris—a snapshot of the present, constructed from all the moments in the past that had brought the two of them inexorably together in that time and place.

She scrolled all the way back up, and looked again at the photograph of Jack Lock at the top of the page. Again, there was that knowing look in his eyes.

God has tested my faith.

But my faith is strong.

Katie picked up the wine and took another sip—a larger one this time—and watched as her pale reflection in the window did the same. She squinted at herself there, as though she might be able to read her own thoughts.

Her reflection grinned back at her. And then a part of it disappeared as whoever was standing outside stepped away from the glass.

She stood up too quickly.

The chair screeched and clattered over backward, and the glass she’d been holding shattered loudly on the floor at her feet. She stood very still for a few seconds, staring at herself—just herself now—with her heart pounding. Then her gaze moved slowly over to the black glass of the back door. And then down to the handle.

She saw it move slowly before the lock stopped it.

Click.

And then once more.

Click.

“Mommy!”

Katie whirled around. Siena’s voice—calling out from upstairs. It set her moving. She glanced back as she reached the bottom of the stairs, and then thudded up them as quickly as she could, desperate to reach her daughter, to make sure she was safe, certain somehow that she was not, and—

Siena was standing by the window as Katie flicked on the light. She had the flag pulled around her like a safety blanket, but she let go of one corner and shielded her eyes against the light.

“Ow.”

Katie moved quickly over and hugged her daughter to her. She could feel Siena’s heart beating hard against her. Then she leaned back and took hold of the sides of her arms.

“Siena?”

“I heard a noise. Did something break downstairs?”

“Yes,” she said.

“Is it okay?”

No, Katie thought. It’s not okay at all.

From somewhere outside, she heard a car revving its engine. A moment later, there was the screech of tires as a vehicle sped away too quickly down the street. She needed to call the police. But first of all she had to make sure her daughter was safe.

“It’s fine,” she said. “Are you okay?”

“Yes.”

“Why are you up?”

“Moon.”

Siena smiled happily and turned to the window just as rain began pattering against the glass.

“Moon came to say hello again.”