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  Suddenly, one of the other men tried to grab Mr Blackwell’s coat, causing Mr Blackwell to push him instinctively away and attempt to get back into his car. Before he could do this, however, the other man made a grab for him and, together with the first one, managed to drag him away from his car and then throw him onto the ground. As Mr Blackwell tried to get up one of them kicked him in the side, and then the other began repeatedly hitting him in the face, before pulling out what looked like a knife and pinning him down.

  ‘Pay up or you’ll get some of this!’ he shouted, loud enough for DC Bennett to catch the words. By now the man with the knife was kneeling on Mr Blackwell’s chest, the knife pressed against his throat.

  ‘Where’s the money?’ the other man shouted.

  When there was no answer, he again kicked Mr Blackwell in the side.

  Once DC Bennett had taken in everything that was happening, and realised the seriousness of the situation, he put his phone into his pocket and ran around the bush, towards them. ‘Police!’ he shouted.

  Taken by surprise, both men moved away from the semiconscious body of Craig Blackwell and faced DC Bennett. By now, though, both men were holding knives, and, when they realised that it was just one man, their earlier confidence now restored, both ran towards DC Bennett. Although he managed to step to one side, avoiding a knife thrust, one of the men got behind him and caught him in a headlock.

  Despite his injuries, Craig Blackwell had somehow managed to get to his feet and, in an attempt to help, tried to pull the man away from DC Bennett. This loosened the man’s grip just enough for DC Bennett to push him away slightly. Whilst he was doing this, however, the other man suddenly thrust his knife into DC Bennett’s midriff. He withdrew the knife and then stuck it into him once again.

  Although DC Bennett could instantly feel the warm ooze of his blood beginning to run down his lower abdomen, he didn’t, at least initially, feel any pain and, in fact, he tried to grab hold of his assailant. It was at this point, however, he realised his strength was ebbing rapidly and the attacker was easily able to shove him towards the ground, before, for the third time, thrusting his knife into DC Bennett. By now it was obvious DC Bennett’s resistance had totally disappeared and he lay there whilst one of the men continued to kick him.

  ‘What have you done?’ shouted Craig Blackwell.

  ‘Let’s go,’ said one of the assailants.

  ‘What about him?’ asked the other, looking at Mr Blackwell.

  ‘Okay, let’s do him as well,’ he answered, excitedly. ‘He knows who we are,’ before walking towards him, knife held out in a menacing manner.

  Just then, a woman emerged from one of the nearby houses. ‘What’s going on? Who are you?’

  Hearing this, the two men suddenly turned away from Mr Blackwell. They jumped into their car, started the engine, quickly turned it round and sped off towards the main road.

  ‘We need an ambulance, quickly,’ shouted Mr Blackwell. ‘This man is a police officer and he’s just been stabbed.’

  The woman immediately turned and ran back towards her house, whilst Mr Blackwell held DC Bennett’s head off the ground. He could see an ever-increasing bloodstain spreading over DC Bennett’s clothes and onto the ground. ‘Try not to move,’ he said quietly. ‘An ambulance will be here shortly. You’ll be all right,’ he added, although, as he continued to look at the blood seeping from his clothes, this was more in hope than expectation. He paused. ‘Thank you. You saved my life.’

  There was no response.

  A short while later the woman had returned, along with a man from another house on the road. ‘The ambulance will be here soon. I’ve also called the police.’

  The two of them then went to take a closer look at DC Bennett and, seeing for themselves the blood now beginning to flow over the ground, immediately recognised the seriousness of his condition. They could also see that Mr Blackwell was in a serious condition of his own.

  ‘Are you police as well?’ the man asked.

  ‘No,’ he replied. ‘Just this man.’

  ‘Who were they?’ asked the woman.

  Before he could answer, however, the sound of an emergency siren could be heard in the distance and it wasn’t long before an ambulance pulled into the road, almost immediately followed by two police cars.

  One of the paramedics urgently began to check DC Bennett’s injuries, in order to make a quick assessment as to their seriousness, whilst the other one did the same with Mr Blackwell.

  The first paramedic carefully cut away some of DC Bennett’s clothing in order to have a closer look at his injuries. ‘We need to get him to hospital quickly,’ he said, the concern in his voice confirming the seriousness of DC Bennett’s condition.

  Although Mr Blackwell’s injuries were also serious, a quick examination by the other paramedic had confirmed that they were not life-threatening.

  One of the police officers, looking from DC Bennett to Mr Blackwell, said, ‘Do you know who he is?’

  ‘His surname is Bennett and he’s a detective constable with West London police.’

  When he heard this, the police officer carefully felt inside DC Bennett’s pockets and eventually pulled out his identification card. ‘Did you see who did this?’ he asked.

  Once again, Mr Blackwell didn’t answer as suddenly one of the paramedics, increasing concern clearly in his voice, said, ‘We need to get both of these men to hospital as quickly as possible. I suggest you ask your questions later.’

  ‘Will he live?’ asked Mr Blackwell.

  ‘I don’t know,’ answered the paramedic. ‘But, as I said, we do need to get him to hospital straight away.’

  After both men had been carefully wheeled into the ambulance, it immediately set off for the hospital, leaving the police behind to secure the crime scene and begin to take statements from the two witnesses.

  Chapter 41

  After his phone call with Milner, Tom had not immediately gone to bed. Instead, he remained where he was, as he thought through all the implications of what he had suddenly realised. This realisation had, as is often the case when there is a sort of epiphany, made sense of other events that had previously happened. More importantly, it had also provided a much clearer picture as to who might have murdered Mr Burton, although what Tom still didn’t know was why he had been murdered.

  When he did finally decide to go to bed, he found it impossible to sleep and simply lay there, alongside Mary, staring at the ceiling. As he often did in such circumstances, he used the time to review everything he now knew, trying to put it into some sort of order. Eventually, though, he must have drifted off, but it couldn’t have been much later when his phone began to ring, and he was once again suddenly fully awake.

  He picked up his phone and could see it was Milner.

  ‘Sir?’ said Milner, after Tom had pressed the answer button.

  ‘Yes? What is it?’ he asked, the tone of his voice clearly reflecting his concern. He knew Milner would not call him in the early hours of the morning unless it was something very important.

  ‘Gary has been stabbed,’ Milner simply replied.

  ‘Stabbed?’ Tom repeated, not quite able to fully take in what Milner had just told him. He hesitated. ‘How is he?’ he asked, with a degree of trepidation.

  ‘Not good, I’m afraid. He’s in theatre at the moment.’

  ‘Where are you?’

  ‘I’m on my way there right now. I got a call from the North London police a short while ago. Apparently he was attacked late last night, not far from the A1. I called you straight away as soon as I was informed.’

  ‘What was he doing there?’ asked Tom.

  ‘I’ve got no idea, sir,’ he answered quietly.

  ‘Okay, I’ll be there soon. Which hospital is he in?’

  After Milner had given him the details, Tom quickly started to get dressed.

  ‘What is it, Tom?’ asked Mary, having been woken by the phone call and then worried by the tone of his brief convers
ation.

  ‘That was Milner,’ he replied, as he continued to get dressed. ‘Gary – DC Bennett – has apparently been attacked and is in hospital. I need to get there as soon as possible.’

  ‘It he okay?’ she asked, now sitting upright.

  ‘All I know is he has been stabbed and is currently in theatre. Other than that, I’ve got no idea.’

  ‘Oh my God,’ she said. ‘How did it happen?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ he simply answered.

  By now Tom had finished getting dressed. He leaned over and kissed Mary on the cheek. ‘I’m not sure how long I’ll be, but I’ll try and call you when I get the chance.’

  ‘Don’t worry about me.’ She hesitated. ‘I hope Gary is okay.’

  *

  By the time Tom arrived at the hospital, Milner had already been there for some time.

  ‘How is he?’ asked Tom. He could hear the anticipation of bad news in his own voice.

  ‘He’s still in theatre. I got the impression, though, that he’s in a pretty bad way. It seems that he was stabbed multiple times.’

  This prompted something in Tom’s mind. ‘Has anyone spoken with Julie? She needs to be told what’s happened.’

  ‘She’s already on her way. I called her earlier. One of the station’s uniformed officers has gone to collect her and bring her here.’

  ‘What did you say to her?’

  ‘Only what I know. That Gary had been attacked and was in a bad way and was currently in the operating theatre. There wasn’t much more I could tell her.’

  Both men remained silent, each deep in their own thoughts. After a short while, a uniformed police officer approached them. ‘I’m PC Peter Howlett. I was one of the officers who got the call about the attack on DC Bennett.’

  Tom shook his hand. ‘What can you tell us?’ he asked.

  ‘We were in the area when we received a call about a stabbing. When we arrived the paramedics were already there, but we could immediately see that DC Bennett was in a bad way. There was blood seeping from his clothes and spilling onto the ground. The other injured man told us that the person with the knife wounds was a police officer. It was then that I took out his ID and confirmed who he was.’

  ‘Did DC Bennett say anything?’ asked Tom.

  ‘I’m afraid not, sir. As I said, it was obvious he was in a bad way and, anyway, we wanted to let the paramedics do what they could for him.’

  ‘And what about the other man?’ asked Milner. ‘Did he say anything else?’

  ‘He said that, if it hadn’t been for DC Bennett, he would almost certainly have been killed.’

  ‘So he was able to speak clearly.’

  ‘More or less. Although he had clearly sustained quite a few injuries, and there was a lot of blood on his face, it didn’t look as though he had also been stabbed.’

  ‘Did he say anything about who attacked them?

  ‘Yes, sir, he did,’ he answered. ‘From what he was able to tell us, it seems he was being attacked by two men when DC Bennett suddenly appeared and confronted them. It was then they turned on DC Bennett and stabbed him.’

  ‘Do we know who this man was?’ asked Milner. ‘The one who was initially attacked.’

  PC Howlett referred to his notebook. ‘His name is Craig Blackwell.’

  Both Tom and Milner’s expressions clearly betrayed their astonishment. ‘Craig Blackwell?’ repeated Tom. He turned to face Milner. ‘Did you have any idea about this?’

  ‘None at all, sir,’ he answered, his own disbelief obvious.

  ‘So where is Craig Blackwell now?’ asked Tom.

  ‘He’s also in surgery, although his injuries are not considered to be life-threatening,’ replied PC Howlett.

  Neither Tom nor Milner, still digesting the information that Craig Blackwell had been there, seemed able to ask any follow-up questions, so PC Howlett carried on.

  ‘We don’t have any idea, yet, as to who the two men who carried out the attack were.’ He quickly added, ‘Well, no names, anyway, but there were a couple of witnesses. They live in the houses which were closest to the attack. It’s a very quiet road – just a few houses on it. One of them heard some shouting and came out to investigate. She called out and her shouting seemed to distract them, and that’s when they ran away. Although it was dark, and her road is unlit, she managed to get a brief look at the two men, and she was able to give us a statement. It’s highly likely, if she hadn’t come out to investigate, that things might have been even worse.’

  ‘And what about the other witness? You said there were two.’

  ‘Yes; although he came out later, he managed to get a look at them through his window.’

  ‘Thank you,’ answered Tom, before adding, ‘I assume North London will be investigating. Who is the SIO?

  ‘Not sure yet, sir,’ he replied. ‘It’s still early days, but I suppose it could be DCI Chapman. If there is nothing else, sir, I think I should be getting back to the station to write my report.’

  ‘Yes, no problem, and thank you for everything you did for DC Bennett.’

  ‘I hope things work out well for him,’ PC Howlett said, before walking away.

  Chapter 42

  Tom and Milner were now both seated on the plastic chairs in a small waiting room, immediately outside one of the operating theatres.

  ‘What the hell was Gary doing there at that time of night?’ asked Tom. ‘And why was Craig Blackwell with him?’

  ‘I’ve got no idea, sir,’ answered Milner, almost despondently. ‘We’d met yesterday afternoon to review the latest evidence relating to Mr Burton’s murder. At no stage did we discuss meeting up with Craig Blackwell.’

  ‘What latest evidence?’ asked Tom.

  Milner quickly updated him on their interview with Craig Blackwell and the subsequent follow-up action they had agreed on. ‘Do you think he decided to do a bit of freelancing?’ he then asked. ‘You know how he felt about Craig Blackwell.’

  ‘That’s what I was just thinking as well,’ replied Tom. ‘As you say, he was absolutely convinced it was Mr Blackwell who’d committed the murder.’

  Before either of them could take the conversation any further, the double doors opened and a tall, middle-aged man, clad in blue hospital scrubs, walked directly towards them. It was immediately obvious from his facial expression and overall body language he was unlikely to be bringing good news.

  Tom and Milner both stood.

  ‘DCI Stone?’ the man asked. ‘I’m James Keegan, one of the consultants here. I’m afraid it’s not good news. Your colleague, DC Bennett, died a few minutes ago.’ He paused briefly, and then carried on. ‘I’m truly sorry. His injuries were extremely severe. He had sustained numerous deep stab wounds, one of which pierced his heart. I’m afraid there was nothing we could do.’

  Both Tom and Milner were stunned, unable to quite take in what they had just been told. Finally, though, it was Tom who managed to speak. ‘Thank you for all of your efforts. I’m sure you did everything possible. I assume, then, that Gary was still alive when the paramedics got him here?’

  ‘He was, yes, but only just. As I say, his injuries were extremely severe. Frankly, it was a miracle he was still alive.’

  ‘He was never one to give up easily,’ was all that Tom could think to say in reply.

  After Keegan had left, they both sat down again, each deep in thought. This time it was Milner who broke the silence. ‘I can’t believe it,’ he said, his voice suddenly breaking with emotion, causing Tom to look at him. ‘I should have made sure he didn’t do it. After all, the signs were there.’

  Tom reached over and took hold of his arm. ‘You have nothing to feel guilty about. We don’t fully know what happened yet. Gary was an experienced officer, and I’m sure he had his reasons. Let’s wait until we have all the facts. It’s probably no consolation right now, but let’s not forget that if he hadn’t been there, then Craig Blackwell would almost certainly have been killed. Whatever Gary thought of him, it s
eems as though he still, instinctively, went to his assistance.’

  If Tom’s remarks were intended to offer some degree of reassurance to Milner then they had not succeeded, as he could now see Milner’s eyes beginning to well up. He knew that any additional words he might say would be unlikely to have any effect on how Milner currently felt, and, as the ensuing silence was only broken by the occasional quiet sob from Milner, it simply reinforced his own personal feeling of total helplessness.

  They remained seated for a while longer, each still trying to collect their thoughts. Suddenly one of the doors opened and Julie entered, accompanied by a female member of the hospital’s staff. Both men stood. As soon as she saw them, she began to cry. ‘Is Gary dead?’ she asked, almost beseeching them to reply in the negative.

  ‘Julie, I’m so sorry,’ answered Tom. He moved forward, and, putting his arms around her, simply repeated what he had just said. ‘I’m so sorry.’

  Tom held her tightly, feeling her sobs reverberating through her body. No one said anything until finally she pulled away from him and turned to face the hospital staff member. ‘Can I see him?’ she asked, in a surprisingly clear tone.

  ‘Let me just go and check,’ the staff member replied, before walking towards the doors where, earlier, the surgeon had appeared from. She opened the doors and disappeared.

  ‘How did it happen?’ asked Julie, somehow managing to control her emotions.

  ‘We are not too sure yet,’ answered Tom. ‘All we know is that he went to help someone who was being attacked by two men. It seems as though they turned on Gary. It was then he was stabbed.’

  ‘Stabbed?’ repeated Julie, her voice rising, reflecting her increased emotions. ‘Oh my God.’

  Tom held her tightly, once again, feeling her rhythmic sobbing. Just then the doors opened again, and the woman reappeared, along with the surgeon.