The Jigsaw Man (28 page)

Pedder replied, ‘Yes, but Paul says it’s possible.’

‘If it’s approved,’ said Bassett, ‘would you be willing to flesh out a design for us and act as a consultant?’

‘I’ve got a few questions first,’ I said. ‘You say it’s never been done before - would it be legal? I’m not a lawyer, I don’t know very much about the legal aspects of something like this. Would the Crown say, “Yes, it’s all very interesting but it’s inadmissible; it amounts to an interview not under caution; or even entrapment.”’

‘That’s not an issue,’ said Pedder. ‘The lawyers are going to go over this one with a fine-tooth comb. There’s no point in going ahead if the CPS (Crown Prosecution Service) say it’s illegal and won’t stand up in court.’

Bassett agreed, ‘This has to be the whitest of white operations; it has to be completely pure. We know that and so does the Met.’

I nodded. ‘OK, if that’s the case, it will have to be run under very strict conditions. I can design an operation along the lines I’ve explained, but it will require a suspect to actively climb a series of ladders whereby he either eliminates or implicates himself by his own choices. I am not willing to design an operation that is the functional equivalent of putting a person on the edge of a slide and giving him a nudge so he has no choice where he goes.’

They all agreed. No-one wanted the wrong person charged and the real killer left out there to kill again.

Over the next few days, I drew up a list of the specific requirements needed by the undercover officers and then phoned Keith Pedder, giving him two alternatives, a man and a woman. Either would do, or they could be used in combination.

The first was a white male, aged twenty-five to thirty and of fit appearance. He had to be quite intelligent but should slightly downplay this and be comfortable describing a range of sexual fantasies and actions that are similar to – but fall short of - those attributed to the murderer of Rachel Nickell.

It was important that the undercover officer’s background story included examples of him either having successfully dealt with police in an interview situation or never having been interviewed because the police hadn’t been able to get close enough to him. He had to be self-sufficient; cautious in the early stages of the relationship and surprised or impressed as the subject began to disclose his own activities. They would be forming an exclusive club with their personal exploits being the criteria for admission.

As their mutual trust seemed to grow, the officer would gradually disclose more of his history which would include serious violent sexual crime. This would help to create an environment where the suspect could feel safe and even boastful in revealing his own background, without any mention of Rachel Nickell or formal shaping of his choices by the officer.

The second confidante was a white female, aged between twenty and forty, with blond or fair hair, shoulder-length or longer. She had to be attractive in a traditional or glamorous sense. She should appear to be sexually knowledgeable but not promiscuous and be attracted to ‘interesting’ or experienced men who are able to live by their own rules.

She had to be able to respond to any cues given by the suspect and acknowledge being sexually aroused by coercive activity in which she is, preferably, slightly passive but often active. She should be willing to indicate her previous enjoyment of sharing experiences with men who have taken her through sexual fantasy which has progressed from romance into violence and have shared their exploits with her.

An interest in occult religion would be a useful element in her background and she should be impressed by men who indicate they’re willing to achieve their desires in action, even when these clearly conflict with the accepted range of social behaviour.

I didn’t know that Colin Stagg was to be the subject of the covert operation, although I knew he remained a suspect. It was irrelevant to me; I was designing an operation based on the deviant sexuality analysis that I drew up of Rachel’s killer months before Mr Stagg ever came under suspicion.

Pedder and Wickerson came to see me a fortnight later bringing two undercover officers to Arnold Lodge, a man and a woman. As I greeted them at the front gate, I could have sworn that I’d met them before. They’d even managed to find a blue-eyed woman, just like Rachel.

Lizzie James and Robert Harris (not their real names) had been briefed in a general sense and knew that the operation could put them at enormous risk. If the suspect they befriended was subsequently proved to have killed Rachel Nickell, they would have put themselves in danger, particularly Lizzie.

Both were from Scotland Yard’s covert operations unit, SO10, one of the most secretive units in law enforcement. The squad is at the very heart of undercover crime detection and performs some of the most hazardous tasks in policing, such as infiltrating gangs, protecting vulnerable juries and posing as contract killers. They were experienced and had a relaxed and easy confidence, yet neither had participated in this sort of operation and it was important to discover if they had what it takes.

Colin Stagg’s ‘lonely hearts’ letter to Julie Pines automatically suggested a means of introducing the undercover policewoman. If a friendship blossomed and the suspect remained in the picture, this was likely to progress into telephone conversations and then personal contact. I described to them in clear detail the type of fantasies and deviant behaviour I would expect them to face if they encountered the murderer of Rachel Nickell.

‘You can’t tell me there are people out there like that,’ said Lizzie, shaking her head.

‘That’s exactly what I’m saying. Rachel’s killer isn’t going to come across, at first, as a monster. You won’t be able to see what goes on behind his eyes. He may present himself as a lonely young fellow looking for companionship, but you must understand that the true killer will be exploiting and manipulating you all the way. What is happening inside his mind is something you have never come across before.’

After several meetings at Arnold Lodge, the murder squad decided to use just one undercover officer, Lizzie James, and I concentrated on getting her ready. No-one could predict every sentence she was going to hear, so a lot depended upon Lizzie being able to make the right decisions quickly. She would possibly be dealing face to face, for a long period of time, with someone who might be a killer. Did she have the courage, the intelligence and the quickness of mind to cope? Could she be self-effacing and passive but sexually open to ideas and fantasies?

Sitting very close to her in the seminar room, I invaded her personal space and whispered, ‘You’ve got lovely blue eyes.’

I watched her body language. Would she flinch or move away? Lizzie had no idea what was happening, but she read things quickly, smiled and gave a soft laugh. It was the first of many tests that she managed to pass.

She needed to memorize her cover story - not just in rough outline but in the fine detail and nuances that every person picks up in a lifetime of experience. Her childhood, schooling, family and friendships had to be plotted out so that she could answer any question and not hesitate or slip up.

Importantly, within her history, Lizzie was to eventually reveal how she had been drawn into a witchcraft or occult group when she was between twelve and eighteen years old, where she was gradually and systematically introduced into ritual abuse of a sexual nature. This culminated in her being both a passive participant and an active accomplice in the sexual murder of a young woman. She was to have withdrawn from the group about ten years earlier in confusion and ambivalence concerning what happened. But she believed she could only enter fully into an intimate sexual relationship with a man who had had actual experiences that were very similar to her own and could consequently understand and share the extraordinary psychosexual sensations that followed.

Despite trying to form relationships since then, they had always failed because she knew they couldn’t be as potent and commanding as those she had known with the group. These failures caused her considerable emotional pain so it was only with great caution that she contemplated the development of a physically intimate relationship.

The undercover operation was designed to allow a suspect to either eliminate or implicate himself in Rachel’s death by showing whether he had the same sexual deviancy as the murderer. If this proved to be the case and he had killed Rachel, then perhaps he would reveal a guilty knowledge about the crime. For the operation to work, the suspect had to always make the first move; words couldn’t be put into his mouth or ideas into his head. Lizzie could only react to the cues that he gave.

To begin with, Lizzie had to demonstrate her own caution about revealing details of her past, fearing exposure might place her in jeopardy. When she did talk about her experiences with the occult group, she had to release the details slowly, as if she were becoming more secure in the relationship. But something holds her back; an obstacle that prevents her from committing herself fully.

‘You regard yourself to be different from ordinary people in the most profound way,’ I told Lizzie, ‘but you find it difficult to explain why. You’re looking to find out whether this man feels the same way.’

It was absolutely vital that she didn’t express any interest or knowledge of Rachel’s murder in the early stages of the relationship. If the suspect mentioned it, then Lizzie had to show passing curiosity and then change the subject. If it happened again, Lizzie should continue pushing it away. Only after three or four references could she allow herself to be drawn into a conversation about Rachel and say, ‘All right, tell me about it.’

Equally, it was important that Lizzie never introduce any of the violently aggressive and sadistic themes that I predicted would drive the fantasies of the killer, such as the physical control, verbal abuse, knives and the humiliation of women. She couldn’t lead him by revealing new material or lines of discussion; she could only reflect back on subjects already raised by the suspect.

This was a safeguard to prevent the possibility of an innocent man being led into making untrue claims in a bid to win sexual favours from Lizzie. But it would be for others to establish and decide whether any suspect was guilty of the murder. My task was to design a clear set of procedures which would allow him to make his own decisions by which he would eliminate himself, or further implicate himself.

‘He’ll be devious,’ I warned. ‘If he is Rachel’s killer, he’ll try to secure sexual intimacy without putting himself at risk. He’ll try to find out all he can about Lizzie James and what she desires so that he can create some scenario which he hopes will satisfy you.’

‘Will he make things up?’ she asked.

‘Quite possibly,’ I said, ‘but eventually his deviant sexual drive will reach a level where it outweighs his tendency for caution and self-preservation and he may begin to reveal detailed knowledge of Rachel’s murder. If this happens, you should agree to listen but indicate that you need proof that he isn’t just fabricating the story to impress you and get you into bed.’

Having taken Lizzie through her cover story, I had to make sure she was comfortable with her new persona. When face to face with the suspect, she wouldn’t have the luxury of time.

‘How did they abuse you, Lizzie? Tell me about what happened when you were seventeen?’

‘Well, they … um … you know…’

‘No I don’t know. Tell me what they did to you. I need to hear what happened. What did they make you do?’

From uncomfortable beginnings, Lizzie grew in confidence as she slipped into the role. In the real operation when the suspect revealed something of himself and asked for Lizzie to reciprocate, she had to be able to talk comfortably about having certain sorts of sex with men, even when the man opposite might be a murderer. It took quite a lot of practice.

We simulated telephone calls where I played the suspect and instructed that letters should be worded so that Lizzie didn’t introduce material, themes or ideas that hadn’t already been used by the suspect.

‘How long will it take?’ asked Pedder, aware of the cost and time pressures.

I drew him a graph plotting the likely responsiveness. ‘You’re looking at a journey of twenty-four to twenty-six weeks from start to finish. It should take between two to sixteen weeks for Lizzie to establish a relationship which will lead to some sort of rapport. If it hasn’t happened by then, you might as well discontinue. Once the fantasy exchange has started you should have gone the rest of the way within the next two months.’

‘What if he hasn’t revealed any knowledge of the murder by then?’

‘Then you stop and regard it as an elimination. He’s either got nothing to reveal, or he’s never going to reveal it.’

When all was said and done we waited for the green light.

A dozen miles from Wimbledon Common, at a police incident room at Eltham in southeast London, a hunt was underway for a serial rapist who had struck at least four times with each attack becoming increasingly violent. Powerful DNA evidence linked the assaults and a special task force had been set up to investigate.

The operation, codenamed Ecclestone, had been running for a fortnight when Detective Inspector John Pearse called me in early September. After several postponed appointments and a horror drive around the M25, we finally met on a Wednesday afternoon in mid-September.

‘He’s some piece of work,’ said Pearse as he gave me a tour of the incident room. ‘The level of violence is right over the top; one victim finished up looking like a bloody rag doll.’ Walking and talking quickly, he seemed relaxed and confident as he introduced me to various members of the team.

‘We have two rapes and two attempted rapes all linked by DNA. We have other attacks also attributed to the same man. We have strong witnesses, a solid artist’s impression and a well established MO. What I don’t have is a suspect.’

‘What can I do to help?’

‘Tell us more about this guy. Are we missing anything? How does he choose his victims? Whatever you can give us.’