Beyond Innocence

Chapter 4

Chapter 4Harry Thompson was out walking with his dog, Lady. Lady was a tri-colour border collie and she had been a family pet since she was eight weeks old. She was now ten years of age and, as often as he could, Harry walked her three times each day in and around Eastham woods and Nature Park. This was something which they both enjoyed, especially Lady, and more so if he could find a stick to throw for her. On this walk they soon found a suitable stick and he threw it for her to chase just off the nature trail. Lady chased after it, her sleek coat flowing like silk along her body. After picking up the stick she walked a few yards before sitting down with it between her front paws. Lady sat patiently; eagerly awaiting the next throw, her eyes shone with excitement, and as Harry bent down to retrieve it he noticed the watch lying half hidden in the long grass. He could see immediately this was quite an expensive item and, as he put it in his pocket, he resolved to hand it in at his local police station in Bromborough. He felt sure the owner would have missed it and reported the loss. ‘Who knows?’ he mused, ‘there might even be a reward?’ After he’d taken Lady home, he went down to the police station to report his find and it was duly entered in the lost property book. He was quite a regular visitor owing to the disappearance of Diane, and, by now, his was a familiar face to most of the officers on the desk. With a minimum of fuss, the formalities were completed, and he returned home satisfied that he had done the correct thing. Despite his public-spirited action, he was still unhappy because there was still no news about Diane and it was now almost three weeks since she had disappeared. That same evening there was an announcement on the evening news stating that the body of a young woman had been discovered in the woods at Eastham. The body had been discovered by a local man named Eddie Simpson who had been taking his dog for a walk in the woods. No further details were given in this first bulletin and he prayed that it was not the body of Diane that had been found.

Events proved it was not the body of Diane Wilson but the body of a Liverpool prostitute named Angela Clarkson. Later, there was a further announcement saying that the woman had been strangled with a pair of her own tights and it appeared that she was the victim of a s****l assault. He shuddered as the announcement continued with an appeal for help from the police, asking local people from the surrounding parishes of Eastham, Hooton, and Childer Thornton, to donate voluntary samples of DNA for checking against samples taken from the body of the dead woman. The public were assured that, once checked, all the samples donated would be destroyed. He picked up the telephone immediately and rang the number given, in order to enquire about the voluntary sample testing. His call was put through to a person on the desk who assured him that it would be quite in order to attend any time the following day.

There was a knock on the door just as he was replacing the receiver and his adoptive mother, Sally, went to answer it. When she returned to the room her face was ashen as she solemnly announced “Harry it’s the police again. You know the two who were here recently….” She didn’t finish the sentence Sergeant West did it for her. In a very firm and in his authoritative voice he said,

“Harry Thompson, we are police officers investigating the death of a woman found recently. My name is Detective Sergeant West and this is Detective Inspector Taylor and we want you to accompany us to Bromborough police station in order to assist us in our investigation into the death of Angela Clarkson.”

Sally couldn’t not understand, let alone believe, what was happening, “Are you arresting him?” she asked the Inspector who replied “No, Mrs. Thompson, not at the moment. As my sergeant just said, we are asking him to come down to the station to assist us with our enquiries. Dependent upon what happens, we will probably ask him to make a statement. With that he was ushered into the car and driven hurriedly to Bromborough police station. Once inside, he asked why this couldn’t wait until morning as he would have been visiting the station anyway to give a voluntary sample as requested on the TV appeal. In answer he was ushered into the drab interview room where the only furniture was a desk and three chairs.

Then the questions began.

“On or about October 2nd Angela Clarkson was murdered and her body was thrown in a ditch. We want to know when you last saw this woman and were you in the habit of seeing this woman on a regular basis for paid s*x?”

Harry Thompson’s replies were quite specific. He said quite emphatically that he didn’t know any woman of that name and that he had never seen her in his life. He vehemently denied that he had ever had s*x with her at any time whatsoever. The questions continued.

“Where is Diane Wilson? What have you done to her? Where have you hidden the body? Did you strangle her with her own tights?”

Adopting the good guy pose, when Sergeant West left the room, Detective Inspector Taylor said quietly, “Why don’t you get it all off your chest and tell us all you know. You’ll feel so much better and we can help you. Let’s face it, we all know you didn’t intend to kill either of these women and, if the truth be known, they had it coming. This happens all the time with women they do, or say, something absolutely stupid and they’re too thick to realise the consequences of what they’ve said or done. So, come on now, be a lad, tell us all about it, help us, and we’ll do all that we can to help you...”

The reality of the situation began to dawn on him, especially now Diane’s name had been mentioned. It was all becoming painfully obvious they were putting him in the frame for two murders. This was becoming a deadly serious business indeed.

Sergeant West had now returned and the Inspector left him to it.

“Look son,” he said in a very aggressive and, almost threatening manner. “We know you did this one. We can arrest you right now for this job. At this very moment we’re just wrapping up our own local enquiries then, it’ll all be over. Rest assured, eventually we’ll find the body of Diane Wilson and you’ll have to go through all this again. Doing it like this, the hard way, you’re not doing yourself any favours and, you’re only making it worse for yourself. When the time comes you won’t be able to say ‘oh yes I did it. It was me, but I didn’t know what I was doing at the time.’ Also, remember this, when we take a DNA sample and compare it with yours, you won’t have a leg to stand on. So, do yourself a favour and, whilst you are at it, think of the relief your girlfriend’s parents will feel when they know what happened to their daughter. At least put them out of their misery.”

Harry looked straight at the detective and said firmly, “I’ve told you everything I know. I repeat I have never seen the dead woman in my life. I did not know her and I cannot help you any further in connection with the disappearance of Diane Wilson. Furthermore, I am not going to answer any more of your damned stupid questions without a solicitor being present.”

His request was noted, and he was given access to a telephone. He contacted the office of Michael Mulrooney, and from the answer-phone message, he obtained the number of a duty solicitor. Michael Mulrooney had a formidable reputation and, if you needed the best, they didn’t come any better. Although he knew that Michael Mulrooney would not be coming himself, he felt comforted by the fact that it was somebody from his office, and that when the time came, Michael Mulrooney would take charge. One hour later he was relating his story to Brian Donnelly, the duty solicitor. He also included the fact that he had telephoned earlier to offer his own sample in an effort to help the police with their enquiries...

Both of the detectives were back in the room as his solicitor took them to task. He told them in no uncertain manner that they didn’t have a shred of evidence upon which they could detain Harry and that they now had two choices. They could either charge him with something or they could release him. He also pointed out that Harry had already volunteered to donate a DNA sample in order to assist the police in their enquiries and, when it had been tested, the police would find it would bear no resemblance to that obtained from the unfortunate young woman. Before allowing the police to take a sample from Harry, Brian Donnelly insisted the police accepted the fact that this sample was being freely given, on a purely voluntary basis and on the strict understanding that Harry’s sample would be treated in the same manner as all of the others... Although the watch had been mentioned by the police during this interview, it had not been established as belonging to Angela Clarkson. Brian Donnelly reluctantly conceded that, if such a link was ever established, it would be in order for Harry to take the officers to the spot where he had found it.

At last Harry was standing on the police station steps and he was free to go. Before leaving, his solicitor confirmed he would arrange for an appointment with Michael Mulroony as he felt sure the police would not be content to let matters rest.

All the volunteered samples, including Harry’s, proved negative but, they were not destroyed as promised. Instead, Detective Inspector Taylor ordered them to be put on hold at the laboratory. His reasoning was that he could hardly authorize the destruction of all the samples, except the one from Harry Thompson because, if Thompson was ever charged and the defence got hold of that information, they would have a field day. No, it was far better to hold on to them all and say nothing to Thompson’s legal team.