Page 25 of Troubled Blood

“Who?”

“Prostitute. Creed tried to abduct her in ’73. He had his failures, you know. Peggy Hiskett, she got away from him and gave the police a description in ’71, but that didn’t help them much. She said he was dark and stocky, because he was wearing a wig at the time and all padded out in a woman’s coat. They caught him in the end because of Melody Bower. Nightclub singer, looked like Diana Ross. Creed got chatting to her at a bus stop, offered her a lift, then tried to drag her into the van when she said no. She escaped, gave the police a proper description and told them he’d said his house was off Paradise Park. He got careless toward the end. Arrogance did for him.”

“You know a lot about this, George.”

“Yeah, well, Dad was one of the first into Creed’s basement after they arrested him. He wouldn’t ever talk about what he saw in there, and he’d seen gangland killings, you name it… Creed’s never admitted to Bamborough, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t do it. That cunt will keep people guessing till he’s dead. Evil fucking bastard. He’s played with the families of his known victims for years. Likes hinting he did more women, without giving any details. Some journalist interviewed him in the early eighties, but that was the last time they let anyone talk to him. The Ministry of Justice clamped down. Creed uses publicity as a chance to torment the families. It’s the only power he’s got left.”

Layborn drained the last of his pint and checked his watch.

“I’ll do what I can for you with the file. My old man would’ve wanted me to help. It never sat right with him, what happened with that case.”

The wind was picking up by the time Strike returned to his attic flat. His rain-speckled windows rattled in their loose frames as he sorted carefully through the receipts in his wallet for those he needed to submit to the accountant.

At nine o’clock, after eating dinner cooked on his single-ringed hob, he lay down on his bed and picked up the second-hand biography of Dennis Creed, The Demon of Paradise Park, which he’d ordered a month ago and which had so far lain unopened on his bedside table. Having undone the button on his trousers to better accommodate the large amount of spaghetti he’d just consumed, he emitted a loud and satisfying belch, lit a cigarette, laid back against his pillows and opened the book to the beginning, where a timeline laid out the bare bones of Creed’s long career of rape and murder.

1937: Born in Greenwell Terrace, Mile End.

1954: April: began National Service.

November: raped schoolgirl Vicky Hornchurch, 15.

Sentenced to 2 years, Feltham Borstal.

1955–61: Worked in a variety of short-lived manual and office jobs. Frequented prostitutes.

1961: July: raped and tortured shop assistant Sheila Gaskins, 22.

Sentenced to 5 years HMP Pentonville.

1968: April: abducted, raped, tortured and murdered schoolgirl Geraldine Christie, 16.

1969: September: abducted, raped, tortured and murdered secretary and mother of one Jackie Aylett, 29.

Killer dubbed “The Essex Butcher” by press.

1970: January: moved to Vi Hooper’s basement in Liverpool Road, near Paradise Park.

Gained job as dry-cleaning delivery man.

February: abducted dinner lady and mother of three Vera Kenny, 31. Kept in basement for three weeks. Raped, tortured and murdered.

November: abducted estate agent Noreen Sturrock, 28. Kept in basement for four weeks. Raped, tortured and murdered.

1971: August: failed to abduct pharmacist Peggy Hiskett, 34.

1972: September: abducted unemployed Gail Wrightman, 30. Kept imprisoned in basement. Raped and tortured.

1973: January: murdered Wrightman.

December: failed to abduct prostitute and mother of one Helen Wardrop, 32.

1974: September: abducted hairdresser Susan Meyer, 27. Kept imprisoned in basement. Raped and tortured.

1975: February: abducted PhD student Andrea Hooton, 23. Hooton and Meyer were held concurrently in basement for 4 weeks.

March: murdered Susan.

April: murdered Andrea.

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