Steve was leaning forward now, elbows on the table, an intent frown on his face. So far, Fiona had said nothing he didnt already believe himself. But he always found her cogent way of stringing things together clarified things, sometimes rearranging details so they formed a different picture. He sensed where she was heading, and he wondered if Kit had been right about what was coming.
Another thing I would expect from this killer is that hed have poor hetero social skills, Fiona continued. But again, that doesnt fit Blake. He had a girlfriend, but as well as that he was comfortable with contacting strange women through personal ads. We know from some of the women who have come forward that he managed to have sex with them, even if most of them found him too domineering a partner to want to continue the relationship. So here we have a man who is good at making social and sexual connections with women.
Better than me, Steve pointed out. Youre right, though. That was one of the main reasons I never liked Blake for this job. He wasnt some frustrated virgin or someone whose head was wired for no beating women up as the best means of achieving sexual satisfaction.
I knew all that before I read the entrapment transcripts, Fiona continued. As Im sure you did too, Steve. However, it became clear from reading what passed between Blake and Erin Richards that he knew more about Susan Blanchards murder than he could have gleaned from the press reports. He knew, for example, that her hands were arranged as if in prayer, the fingers linked rather than having the fingertips propped against each other. Blake always maintained after his arrest that hed heard that in the pub, but he couldnt identify the person he claimed had told him. Ill come back to that later, though.
Kit nodded. In spite of himself, he was as fascinated by Fionas dissection as Steve. He was sure hed guessed where she was heading, but that didnt mean he wasnt interested in seeing how she justified reaching that conclusion. Even after all this time, he was still intrigued by the way her mind worked, so analytical in contrast to his own intuitive approach. Consider our breath well and truly hated, he said.
Refusing to be thrown off her stride, Fiona ignored him and carried on. What I want to deal with next is the fantasies that Blake outlined in his letters and conversations with DC Richards. Based on my experience, I would expect the killer to have very specific fantasies. I would expect the object of his fantasies to be a teenage girl or a woman in her early twenties, as Susan Blanchard was. Theyre easier to manipulate, both in fantasy and reality. In the scenarios he plays out in his head, this killer will objectify women. Hell fantasize about control, submission, violent activity that causes the object of his attention to show extreme fear. Hell imagine threatening her with a knife, tying her up, causing her pain, cutting her, making her beg for mercy. Fiona paused and took a long draught of her wine. And because he killed her out of doors, Id expect the setting for those imaginary sexual encounters to be in a park or in woodland.
But thats not what we find in Blakes fantasies at all. Almost everything he outlined to DC Richards involves voyeurism. He talks and writes about a third person watching their sex games, being turned on by them, often joining in. Admittedly, there are some strong elements of submission and domination in there too, but theyre much more in the realm of playfulness rather than the real infliction of pain. But the clincher for me is that in all of the scenarios he outlines for this woman hes aiming to bed, this woman hes been taking on walks through the parks of London in each and every scene he describes, where they are going to have sex is indoors. At the undertakers where he works, at the office where she works, in a deserted warehouse, in his flat. Not a single one of these elaborately detailed, pornographically described situations is out of doors.
And finally, theres the question of the pornography that your officers found in Blakes flat. Its true there was a lot of it, both magazines and videos. And its true that most of it was what would be classified as hardcore, mostly involving young women or teenage girls. But if the catalogue in the file is accurate, surprisingly little of it focuses on rape or S&M. What there was a lot of was threesomes and voyeurism. Plus a bit of bondage.
Youre saying Blake doesnt match the crime, Steve said flatly.
Based on the product of your operation, I think any qualified psychologist with an open mind would come to that conclusion, Fiona agreed.
Theres more, though, isnt there? Kit chipped in. You think you know what really happened, dont you, Fiona?
Steve paused halfway through spreading pate on a piece of bread. You do?
Fiona fiddled with her napkin. Thats not what Im saying, Kit. I dont know who did kill Susan Blanchard. But Id stake my reputation that Francis Blake didnt. She took a deep breath. However, I believe he saw the man who did. Blakes a voyeur. Thats why he looks at parks the way he does. He likes to watch. I think this is what happened that morning on Hampstead Heath. He was lurking in the shrubbery hoping hed see a couple making love. What he actually saw was very different. Francis Blake stood and watched while somebody else raped and murdered Susan Blanchard. And it was the most exciting thing hed ever seen in his life.
SIXTEEN
The silence that followed Fionas conclusion had the quality of empty air after the shock wave of a bomb blast. Even though Kit had guessed where she was heading right at the start of her exposition, the certainly of her judgement chilled him into stillness. Steve closed his eyes and dropped his head on to one hand, massaging the bridge of his nose between thumb and forefinger. Thats a bit of a leap, he said softly.
It makes sense of all the information in a way nothing else does, she said, reaching for the bottle and refilling her glass, as if girding her loins for a challenge to her reasoning.
Steve raised his head and met her eyes. He wanted to believe her, not least because it might give him fresh avenues to explore. But he was aware that his own feelings for her had always made him willing to give her the benefit of any doubt. Hed stuck his neck out to defend her reports to his bosses, and it had paid off in the past. This time, though, his very future hung on what he did with the Susan Blanchard case. If he screwed it up even more than it already had been his career was effectively over. No one would criticize him if he let the case slide into the unsolved regions; the public assumption would remain that theyd got the right man but had wrecked the case against him. But if he took a chance and pursued the possibilities thrown up by Fionas theorizing, hed better be damn sure he got it right. He cleared his throat. Or maybe Blake is entirely innocent, he said.
Fiona shook her head. Too many coincidences. She ticked off the points on her fingers. We know he was on the Heath that day. We know he fantasizes about being a voyeur. And we know he knew things about the murder victim that were never in the public domain. Its stretching credibility too far to suggest that the one man who happened to be on the Heath that morning was also the one man who happened to be told in a pub by an unidentifiable stranger precisely how Susans body was arranged. All the reasons why Blake was a suspect in the first place have another interpretation, and only one interpretation that he saw what happened.
If youre right and it sounds reasonable to me the irony is that Francis Blake could genuinely have helped the police with their inquiries, Kit said. He knows more about this killer than anyone.
If youd treated him as a witness instead of a prime suspect the very first time you interviewed him, the day after the murder, its possible that things might have turned out very differently. But Fiona shrugged. Probably not.
Steve sighed. One way or another, we blew it. I have to say, I think you might be right. Im not totally convinced, but Im going to have to take it into account.
Fiona gave him a long, considering stare. She was used to Steve grasping her ideas more firmly than this. His very caution made her realize how much pressure he was under in this case. She hadnt wanted to become involved, but now she was glad she had done what little she could to help. I hope its useful, she said, with more humility than she usually felt when she had offered her professional opinion.
What I dont understand, Kit said, is why Blake didnt come out with the truth when he was interrogated after you finally arrested him. I mean, its the obvious get-out for him, isnt it? It wasnt me, guy, but I saw the bloke who did it.
Not if you were supremely confident that the court would throw out the case against you. Not if you knew there could be no forensic evidence tying you to a crime you didnt commit, Fiona said. He had a solicitor with him, didnt he, Steve?
Right from the off. The first interview he did after the arrest was a no comment. Then when we laid out the evidence, his brief asked for an adjournment. When they came back, all Blake would say was that hed been on the Heath that morning, hed lost track of time and realized he was going to be late for work, and thats why he was running when the witnesses saw him. As for what he wrote and said during the undercover operation, he was adamant that it was total fantasy, nothing more.
So when they had their little chat, the brief will have told him youd never make it stand up in court, Kit said, understanding dawning. And that little shit sat there smug as a bug knowing that he knew more than you would ever know about what happened to Susan Blanchard, and that youd never find out what that was. What a total scumbag.
So when they had their little chat, the brief will have told him youd never make it stand up in court, Kit said, understanding dawning. And that little shit sat there smug as a bug knowing that he knew more than you would ever know about what happened to Susan Blanchard, and that youd never find out what that was. What a total scumbag.
Fiona nodded. He probably thought the whole thing would be thrown out in the magistrates court. Instead of which, he ended up spending eight months on remand. And by that stage, he had no way out. He couldnt recant at that point and admit what hed seen, because you would have been so furious that hed jerked you around, youd have charged him with being an accessory. He must have so much festering rage inside him for the police now.