Page 66 of The Scene of the Crime (Jessica Russell #1)
When Jessica arrived at the MSCAN office early Friday morning, Guy was working on his laptop, preparing phone charts and other data for her. ‘So, what have you discovered?’ she asked him.
‘With De Klerk’s phone, I’ve concentrated on calls and messages for the week before the break-in.
Most of them are between him and his wife.
There’s also voice and video calls on WhatsApp and FaceTime to South Africa.
It will take me a while to confirm the registered owners of those numbers, but I cross-referenced them against his contacts, and the calls were to Duante, Mariette and Pieter.
As I recall from that article, that’s his brother, sister and father.
’ He handed Jessica a printed list of all the calls, data and cell site analyses he had prepared.
‘Last Friday morning, Johan called a UK mobile number, and the conversation lasted three minutes.’ He pointed to it on the list. ‘Cell site data suggests the call was made from his home to a phone registered to a Nathan Cole.’
‘Has his name come up in the investigation before?’ she asked.
‘I checked on HOLMES, and it hasn’t.’
‘Does Johan make regular contact with Cole?’
‘No. I’ve checked back six months, and the Friday call is the only one I can find.
’ Guy handed her another document. ‘The phone is registered to Cole’s business address, a jewellery shop in Hatton Garden.
I looked it up on the net, and the details and other stuff about him are on this document.
’ He handed it to Jessica along with a printout of all the calls and messages between the two burner phones.
‘We know that Palmer is not involved, and one of the burner phones was planted at his address, most likely by Wheeler. We don’t yet know who has the other burner phone. ’
‘You think Nathan Cole has it, don’t you?’
Guy nodded. ‘We know both burners went live in Holborn at six p.m. last Wednesday, and the cell tower was near Cole’s shop.
On Friday afternoon, a message was sent to Wheeler’s burner phone stating, “He’s going away Saturday morning, back Monday.
” Wheeler replied, “will do the job early hours Monday.” To which he received a thumbs-up emoji reply. ’
‘Is there any way you can prove Cole used the burner to send that or any other messages?’
‘There’s evidence that strongly suggests he did.
I checked the calls Cole made and the cell site locations.
He used his business phone for a two-minute call on Friday at 4.
06 p.m. Then, at 4.08 p.m., the “he’s going away” message was sent on the burner phone.
The cell mast that picked up both phones was in Hackney Wick, near De Klerk’s house.
I hope this all makes sense, and I’m not going too fast.’
‘It does, and I hate to be a devil’s advocate, but it doesn’t prove it was Cole using one of the burner phones.’
‘I agree it’s circumstantial. However, there are more messages and calls that link Cole to the burner phones.’
‘I’m all ears,’ she smiled.
‘On Monday, after the break-in, Wheeler’s burner received several repeated messages during the day saying, “Contact me now” and “Where the fuck are you”.
Those messages were sent via the free Wi-Fi at the Bloc Hotel on Caroline Street, Birmingham.
We also know that a cell mast in Caroline Street picked up the missing burner phone before it was switched off on Tuesday morning.
I have also linked Cole’s business phone to the hotel Wi-Fi and the Caroline Street mast, which makes the evidence that Cole used the burner even more compelling. ’
‘Brilliant, If Cole stayed at the hotel, he’d have a hard time denying it was him using one of the burner phones even if he’s got rid of it.’
‘He did stay there. I spoke to the hotel manager. She confirmed a Mr Nathan Cole was staying there at the relevant times.’
Jessica was elated. ‘Anderson will be over the moon!’
Guy frowned. ‘There’s something else I’ve found that’s a bit worrying. About two years ago, John Wheeler stood trial for GBH. He pleaded self-defence and was found not guilty. Thus, it’s not on his criminal record.’
‘What’s worrying about that? It still shows his propensity to violence.’
‘His defence council was Michelle Belsham KC.’
‘My God, so she knows Wheeler.’
‘It could just be a coincidence,’ Guy shrugged.
‘I don’t believe in coincidences. I’ll let Anderson know so he can read the case file.’
‘Do you think the De Klerks might be tied up with Cole in something criminal, and it’s all gone horribly wrong?’ Guy asked.
‘It’s certainly beginning to look that way. De Klerk could have told Cole he would be away from Saturday to Monday. I think Wheeler and Cole must have known the diamonds and cash were in the safe. Anything of interest on De Klerk’s laptop?’
‘Not so far, but I still need to look at a lot of stuff on the hard drive. There’s more work to be done on De Klerk’s phone, too, but I’ll concentrate on looking for calls and messages between him and Cole.
I got a list of Cole’s calls and messages from his service provider.
I’m working my way through it to identify the recipients. ’
‘Anything of interest on Wheeler’s phone or laptop?’
‘I looked at the internet search history. He was on the Crime Stoppers site, so I think it’s safe to say he sent the anonymous tip about Liam trying to sell the Rolex.
He also booked the Dubai flight on the laptop.
Phone-wise, there’s not a single call to or from Cole, but he did call Liam Palmer on Monday at eight p.m.’
The office door flew open, making Jessica jump. Taff bounced in, smiling from ear to ear and waving a computer printout. ‘What a result, boyos,’ he shouted.
‘Sounds like you just won the jackpot,’ Guy said.
‘I have. I lifted a partial print from the masking tape on Wheeler’s head and ran it through the database.
I got a few possible hits, but after comparing the friction ridge detail on the tape lift against all of the possibles, I’m confident this man left the print.
’ He handed the criminal record printout to Jessica, who glanced at it before reading the relevant details aloud.
‘Christopher Bishop, aged forty-five, white male. Last known address flat twenty-eight, Fairmead House, Kingsmead Estate, Hackney. Occupation, minicab driver. Convictions for handling stolen goods, burglary, criminal damage and fraud.’ She looked up. ‘Fabulous, Taff, this is a significant result.’
‘What was that name again?’ Guy asked, and she repeated it. He picked up the paperwork from his desk and hurriedly flicked through it.
‘Is the name familiar to you?’
‘Yes. I’m sure it was on my list of numbers that Cole called after the crime.
’ He paused and continued looking. ‘Got it. Cole used his business phone to call a mobile registered to Christopher Bishop. The call was made from Birmingham on Tuesday at 2.05 p.m. A second call to Bishop was made from a cell site near Euston station just after five p.m.’
‘Could be Cole got a train back from Birmingham to Euston. What do you think Guy?’
‘Cole called Bishop again at eight p.m. on Tuesday, the night we believe Wheeler died.’
‘Who’s Cole?’ Taff asked.
‘Guy will explain it all to you. Has Bishop called Cole or Wheeler?’ Jessica asked.
‘Don’t know yet. I’m waiting for the details of Bishop’s calls to come through.’
‘I’ve got a couple of other updates as well,’ Taff said.
‘Be quick then. I need to go to Barking and tell Anderson about all this new evidence.’
‘Johan De Klerk and Wheeler’s fingerprints are on the cash Diane found in the neck cushion.
Footprints on either side of the chair don’t match the elimination shoe prints I took from you or the officers.
But using a light source and black powder, I lifted a detailed one from a Radio Times on the floor beside the chair.
It looks like it’s a Skecher size seven.
I don’t know the make of the other shoes yet, but I’ll email you photos of them all.
The tools in Wheeler’s rucksack made the striation marks at the De Klerk house and the lock pick was used to open Palmer’s front door. ’
‘Any prints on the lockbox?’
‘Just Johan’s on the inside.’
‘Keep up the good work. Can you apologise to Di and explain why I didn’t get a chance to review her results? Ask her to call me with an update as soon as possible,’ Jessica said.
‘Will do,’ Taff replied.
She picked up her shoulder bag and hurried out of the office.