I Know It Was You

Chapter 4

FOUR

Finding CCTV images of the killer was not difficult. The cameras at the junction of Midland Road and Chapelgate clearly showed the youth on his bike, up from the saddle, pedalling as hard as he could, swerving in and out of traffic but none of the images gave a clear view of his face.

Frustrated, Jessica and Emma called up the CCTV footage from other cameras, but the killer suddenly turned down a narrow alley called Toronto Walk and out of sight of the roadside coverage.

Meanwhile Danny Moss was studying footage taken from the dash cam of Dennis Jefferson’s Skoda Octavia, the car immediately behind Mohammed Khan’s Mercedes at the time of the attack.

For most of the footage, the killer’s back was to the camera, there was a brief sideways glimpse of a nose and part cheek as he passed in front of the Skoda and then Danny could clearly see the scrape of the cycle pedal against the side of the Mercedes. The subsequent altercation was obvious, shouting, pointing, waving of arms, the pushing of the bike into Mohammed Khan’s knees, and finally a flash of agony at the fatal stabbing.

Danny had to stop the film at that point.

Watching the murder take place in front of his eyes was a chilling shock, and even though he was expecting to see it, it still rocked him back in his seat. ‘Holy s**t,’ he muttered, shaken to the core that something so petty, so innocuous as a minor scratch to a car could lead so rapidly, in less than three minutes, to a man’s death.

After he had recovered his breath, he rolled the film again, peering closely at the screen as the killer pushed the dying man aside and mounted his bike. For a brief second, he turned back to look at his victim and Danny froze the image. He could just about discern a face.

‘Fred,’ he called, ‘Come have a look. See if this is one of those turds you were talking about?’

Fred hurried across and bent over to study the screen. The killer’s face was half hidden by the neck and collar of the hoodie and the hood which had been pulled down over his brow.

‘Yeah, yeah, the little sod looks familiar all right. I know this fucker, sorry girls, this scrote from somewhere.’

Fred grimaced and closed his eyes as he searched his memory for the illusive name before clicking his fingers. ‘Doherty, aye, Eoin Doherty, a total scumbag from a family of total scumbags. I’m pretty sure that this is him, Danny. Aye, Eoin Doherty, no doubt about it, he’s definitely crossed my path before now.’

‘Fantastic!’ Danny exalted and the two detectives high-fived in delight. Danny then phoned Grace in Sheffield where she was still observing Mohammed Khan’s post-mortem.

‘Good stuff, Danny, well done. Arrest him and bring him in to custody.’

Officers wearing stab vests then arrested a protesting, violently swearing, Eoin Doherty at his home.

‘You’ve got the wrong man,’ his mother Bernice shouted as Eoin was led out of the house, his hands handcuffed behind his back. ‘He’s been here all the time, couldn’t be him. No way, it’s him. Fuckin’ pigs, why’re you always picking on him when he’s done nowt?’

‘Yeah,’ added his brother Gerry who had come to the door. ‘He were playing with me on t’PlayStation else watchin’ DVD’s. All day, he never went out nowhere.’

From the dash-cam footage, Feed and Danny had identified clothes that the attacker had worn and during a search of the Doherty house, similar clothes were found and sent off for urgent forensic analysis, particularly for blood stains.

When Grace returned from Sheffield she read through Doherty’s record and sought other background information from Fred Burbage

By contrast to the industrious and devout Mohammed Khan, Eoin Doherty, 19, was unemployed. He had never held down a job and lived on benefits, as did his single mother and two brothers. Another brother was in jail for violent assault on a local Pakistani shopkeeper.

They lived in a council house in the Firth Hall estate, an estate notorious for violent crime and d**g dealing. Bernice, Doherty’s mother, had been issued within several ASBO’s for anti-social behaviour, mostly due to conflicts with her neighbours, the playing of load music through the night, rubbish piled up in what passed for the front garden, throwing dog faeces into a neighbours garden, and the unruly violent nature of her children from when they were barely in school. Neighbours from Hell did not come close, thought Grace as she read the reports her team had put together.

As for Eoin Doherty, he was a member of the English Defence League, a far-right organisation deplored for its racist and anti-Semitic views. He also subscribed to neo-Nazi and anti-Semitic web sites online. He had a criminal record for burglary, car theft, and a racially motivated hate crime, once calling a Syrian refugee, a ‘f*****g sand-n****r!’

‘OK,’ she called to Terry when she’d finished reading, ‘let’s do this, let’s see what this charmer Eoin Doherty has to say for himself.’