Chapter 16
Steve stared at the octopus stone carving above the doorway of the TSB building and couldn't help but appreciate the workmanship. Time had warned away some of the details and one bit near the middle looked a bit coppery but other than that it looked brand new. Why did stone discolour like that? He had never wondered how long such work took to do which then made him then think of the great cathedrals and how they had been put together. One of his earliest memories was him being taken to Westminster Abbey by his parents and being taken aback by how big it was. The walls and ceiling seemed to go on forever.
"Thinking of taking up a new career?" Kate asked realising Steve was staring at the stone carving. They had been dropped off by Ted while he parked the car so they had a few minutes to be alone.
"I wouldn't have the patience for that kind of work. You have to admit it is pretty cool."
"Cool?" Kate asked raising her eyebrows. "Since when do you speak so youthfully?" Kate beamed.
"Cool is hardly a new word, Kate."
"Still I don't think I have ever heard you say it. You know it is Lottie being an influence on you. Shall I be buying you bath bomb for Christmas?" That made him laugh. "I'll have to keep tally of things you say from now on."
"If bath bombs are given to me for Secret Santa I will know it was you" Steve responded.
"Unless I tell whoever got you to buy them. I'm besties with everyone in the office. Influencer right here."
"Oh now who is speaking youthfully?" he teased. Ted appeared from around the corner and approached the two.
"Right, let's get on with this then. I'm hopeful this and the interview with Liz McAndrews with give us some leads else we may struggle to keep this going."
"Do you really think we will have to close the case?" Steve asked.
"Possibly if we don't have a break through soon. I've already had cold case wanting to have a chat with me. Thankfully my calendar has been full. Shall we go then?"
As Ted entered the TSB branch the alarms went off which made the three jump in surprise. It was extremely loud and being quite early in the morning it was one which would keep you awake for the day with your ears constantly ringing. A man with a short crew cut and pristine beard wearing a designer suit quickly walked towards them smiling nervously.
"I'm so sorry about that. We just got new alarms in and they are extremely sensitive. Old buildings with old wiring and such, modern technology isn't fond of it" the suited man explained.
"That's alright. I'm Superintendant Ted Hastings and these are my colleagues DS Steve Arnott and DC Kate Fleming." The three showed their badges. "We are here to meet with a Mr Ballinger."
"That's me, pleasure to meet you all. Please follow me; we can go into a private room."
He led the three through the maze of the back offices and soon they found themselves in an office which was clearly Mr. Ballinger's. Without a doubt, he was the bank manager equivalent of Dot Steve thought just looking at the various items in the office. The golf trophies, the certificates up on the walls and even a picture of the bank manager with a race car framed on his desk solidified it for them all. Steve and Kate caught eyes after seeing the framed photo and shared a quick smirk. Kate was clearly biting the inside of her cheek to stop herself laughing. Two sofas facing each other with a coffee table in-between was where they were indicated to sit at. Mr Ballinger sat down in the middle of the sofa opposite the three.
"So I understand that you are after information of a bank robbery here in 1974?" Mr Ballinger asked.
"Yes that is correct. We are very grateful for the information you can give us on the robbery. Our records are a bit limited" Ted explained.
"I can imagine given that the records were sealed." Mr Ballinger got up and went to his desk.
"Sealed?" Ted asked.
"Yes, they were. Can I get you any drinks?" he asked.
"Coffee would be great" Steve said. Mr Ballinger buzzed his assistant for coffee to be brought in and returned to the sofa with multiple files in his hands from his desk.
"Why would records be sealed about a robbery?" Steve asked.
"Back in 1974, with the financial crisis and such, any bad press was shut down. The banks didn't want to make such things publically available nor did the government so documents on robberies were sealed after investigation for thirty years. With your request, the amount of other robberies I filed through that mentioned sealed records was alarming. I did a full check on those through 1974 just in case the date you provided was wrong."
"Why would you speculate it was wrong?" Kate asked.
"Not implying you are wrong but in my search I did find dates in the press for a few other robberies compared to dates of our records didn't quite align so I was being over cautious. Here are copies of the records in full along with all witness statements as requested and you are more than welcome to keep them" Mr Ballinger said handing over the files.
"Copies? Not the originals?" Ted asked.
"Afraid not. Our lawyers are happy to co-operate with the police and give you what information you need but a condition of the seal of the files is that although they can now be accessed the originals are off limits. There is nothing I can do but if your lawyers want to talk to ours I can't stop that."
"We may have to pursue that" Ted muttered. As the three began to look through the files the coffee was brought in.
"So how many customers were in the bank at the time of the robbery?"
"Fifteen, well sixteen if you include a four-year-old child but of course they couldn't give a witness statement given their age so we have fifteen of them and the child is referred to in a statement given by the boy's mother."
"How many staff?" Steve asked.
"Seven. Although it was lunchtime when there was usually a rush, the seven of them had no issue with holding off limiting the numbers in an out of the bank. That was a procedure for a while during the banking crisis. Of course with being before CCTV and alarm systems like you encountered today, the ability to rob banks was much easier."
"So what did the investigation conclude?" Kate asked.
"That there were three robbers who entered through the main doorway which you entered this morning with shotguns and wearing balaclavas. They shot into the air causing damage to the ceiling and walls. They gave commands and demanded that the staff handover the money before they shoot the civilians who were cowering on the floor. One of them even picked up the four-year-old and threatened to bludgeon him to death. The four-year-old was smart though and bit the robber and squirmed out of his grasp. The staff opened a door to the cashier points and he got through just before the robber could grab him again. A silent alarm was triggered and just before the robbers were about to leave with the cash, a police officer entered alone. A DS Christopher Wright. He spoke with the robbers and demanded that the civilians be released with a lesser charge and possible sentence being placed on them. In the negotiation the civilians were quietly led into the back area by staff one at a time in order to avoid being noticed. Christopher noticed and distracted the robbers until the last civilian was out. As the civilians were lead to the back door they were met by police officers called to the scene by the silent alarm. The civilians got out of the back door right as the shots were fired. Three shots in total. A few of the civilians got treated for cuts and bruises from broken glass and such. One got a nasty cut from falling against a car in the alleyway the back door opened up into."
"Someone had parked in the alleyway?" Ted asked.
"Yes but it is unknown who. The description was a tan coloured Ford Cortina Mark III GXL. It was never photographed as far as our records show. I can tell you though that after the civilians left, it disappeared."
"Any number plates at all?" Kate asked.
"Sorry, no. That's everything I know. I hope that was helpful."
Steve looked back at the documents and his eyes fell on something he didn't expect. Two names that rang alarm bells. He indicated it to Ted and Kate. Vic Anderson and Mark Peters.
"Sorry but what is this document?" Steve asked showing Mr. Ballinger.
"Oh so when the investigation was over an official statement got sent out to explain the findings. It was decided that only certain papers would be contacted to lessen the attention given. That is the official statement and the list of people that it was to go to."
"So journalists and such?" Steve clarified.
"Yes and Mr Peters of course."
"Of course?" Ted asked.
"Well yes. He was one of the banks lawyers. His father was on the bank's board of trustees and he had been working as a lawyer in the bank for about a year at that point. Why?" Mr. Ballinger asked.
"Just clarifying. Saves having to ask the question later" Ted said and he looked to Kate and Steve. All three knew they may have had a break through. Steve looked back to the paper and a small mention also caught his eye. The name Graham Bennett was working as a security guard and was absent from front of house that lunchtime.
In 1986 I was Holly Bennett
Perhaps this was bigger than they thought.
"So potentially we could have a double murder here? Christopher Wright and Vic Anderson" Steve asked after the three had left the bank. To get an idea of the route the robbers and civilians took, the three walked around the back of the building to see the alleyway for themselves. They could see easily that it was hard to fit a car in the alleyway and squeeze by it given the space available so no wonder one of them got hurt.
"Possibly but we are going to have to find more concrete evidence to tie an unsolved murder and a disappearance together" Ted confirmed.
"Four men, all of whom are drinking buddies being connected to a bank robbery in different ways can't be a coincidence" Kate said her thought allowed.
"And possibly a woman too" Steve added causing Kate and Ted to look at him. "On the press release document the name Graham Bennett is stated. Now it is possible it is another Bennett but Holly Lightstone said her married name in 1986 was Bennett. We need to confirm who she married and if it is this Graham Bennett we have five connections now" Steve explained.
"Nice spot there Steve. So five drinking buddies are possibly connected and we haven't interviewed Liz McAndrew yet. I want her found ASAP. This is something cold case aren't taking off us, not now."
Right at that moment Kate's phone rang and she took a call.
"Thanks Maneet" she said before hanging up. "Took some time but Maneet found Liz McAndrew. She is Liz Dawson now and she is close to home."
"How close?" Steve asked.
"She works in the records department of Lottie's college."