‘I can’t take all of the credit for this. Ezra helped me a lot by showing me where to go online,’ said Copeland. ‘You’ve got two types of vigilante groups. Minor, non-violent groups who go around posting details of paedophiles on social media and then you’ve got the opposite end of the spectrum. There are groups out there who will hunt people down for a fee. I couldn’t find any mention of the Iron Shadow group by doing a normal Google search, but I did find them on the dark web.’
Henley held her tongue as Copeland handed out printouts.
‘These are transcripts from the vigilante forum and everyone is on there. Far-right radicals, incels and ultra left anarchists who just want to see the world burn.’
‘Messenger and Humphreys’ names are mentioned in this chat,’ said Ramouter as he read through the pages. ‘They’re being celebrated.’
‘Is that all they do. Just chat?’ asked Henley as Pellacia’s office phone rang.
‘Carry on.’ He returned to his office.
‘No, they also like to show off their handiwork,’ Copeland said. She walked up to the smartboard and pressed play.
‘Shit,’ Ramouter said as Fox-Carnell’s face came into view. Whatever Fox-Carnell was trying to say was lost due to the tape that had been used to gag her. Fear radiated from her eyes as she watched whoever was holding the camera.
‘You’re going to suffer the exact same way that your victims suffered.’
‘You have no right to redemption. Justice should always be in the hands of the people.’
‘They’ve distorted the voices but that’s not a problem as we can send the footage off to be analysed,’ said Eastwood. ‘But that’s not all. The sound isn’t the best, but we’ve got footage of Nathan Hall.’
Henley watched as two men, wearing balaclavas held Nathan’s limp and broken body. Bubbles of blood were visible in his nose, his breathing guttural but audible as the men spoke.
‘What I don’t understand is why they’ve moved from doing their—’ Henley paused, not wanting to use the word but lacking any alternative, ‘hunting in Manchester and are now here in London?’
‘It has to be what you said, boss,’ said Ramouter. ‘You only ever really move for work or family.’
Henley turned towards Eastwood. ‘Did you find any more assaults with a similar MO?’ she asked.
‘The scalping? No,’ said Eastwood. ‘It seems as though Hyoo was the last one up north. There’s nothing even remotely similar until Fox-Carnell.’
‘Our vigilantes are sticking to London but that leads us to another problem,’ said Henley. ‘We have no idea who these vigilantes will be targeting next.’
‘It can’t be that difficult,’ said Copeland. ‘All of our victims recently had court cases.’
‘There are ten crown courts in London, if you include Kingston,’ said Henley. ‘On average maybe four to five trials take place in each court per day. Some cases could finish in a day or – if it’s Southwark Crown Court – months Also, it doesn’t appear that our vigilantes are focused on defendants who were accused of committing a specific offence. Our victims were on trial for rape, murder and fraud. The point is that there is more chance of us hitting the bullseye on a dartboard blindfolded than we have at working out which defendant will be the target of our vigilantes.’
‘So, what do we do?’ asked Copeland. ‘Sit and wait for another body to fall?’
‘Hopefully not,’ Henley said as Pellacia returned. ‘The judge granted the application for us to access Laurence Durant’s phone. I’ll pick up the phone from Lewisham tomorrow morning.’
‘Don’t do that, boss,’ said Ezra. ‘I’ll pick it up from Lewisham first thing tomorrow. Just let them know I’m coming.’
‘Thanks, Ez,’ Henley said gratefully.
‘I know it doesn’t feel like it but you’re all doing a good job,’ said Pellacia.
‘Thanks for the gold star but what about our Manchester road trip?’ asked Stanford, picking up his coat from the back of the chair.
‘I’ll get on it,’ said Pellacia, looking up at the clock on the wall.It was nearly 7 p.m.. ‘Chances are that I won’t get an answer until first thing in the morning, but I’ll text you if the borough commander gets back to me tonight.’
‘Great. I’m going home to crash in front of the match and ignore my other half banging on about mood boards for the nursery.’
‘I’ll walk out with you.’ Eastwood shut down her computer. ‘I’ve had enough for the day.
‘Don’t run off,’ Pellacia said to Henley who was picking up her bag. ‘I need a word.’
‘Close the door,’ Pellacia said.
