Silverweed Road by Simon Crook

Author:Simon Crook [Crook, Simon]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollinsPublishers
Published: 2022-08-22T17:00:00+00:00

Extract from The Silverweed Files, 19 November 2024

A personal blog by former Detective Chief Inspector Jim Heath. The views expressed do not reflect those of Kent Police nor the victims impacted by events.

Three dead. Sixteen left with life-changing injuries. This is the legacy of the ‘Hellraiser’ terrorist, Terry Slater. He has yet to answer for his crimes and remains on NCA’s Most Wanted.

Prejudice has no part in police work. On entering the force, the Oath of Attestation could not be clearer: ‘I solemnly declare to serve the Queen with fairness, integrity and impartiality.’ Throughout this blog, I have taken great pains to maintain a sober tone in the face of extraordinary events. In the case of Terry Slater, I cannot, will not, and will never be impartial. The odious waste of skin cost me my job.

I have revisited that night so many times, it is burned upon my eyelids. For two hours, I interrogated Slater in Interview Room 3. Why did you do it? For what cause? Do you know how many lives you’ve wrecked? Slater just sat there, weeping for himself. I decided to let him stew, locked up the Interview Room, and in the time it took to clap your hands, he was gone.

That’s how it seemed. Bang. Gone. I can practically hear that clap of the hands. And yet there were twenty minutes I cannot account for. It was as if Meadway Station had been put in a coma. Even the station CCTV was wiped.

Where did Slater go? I know a minicab dropped him home. I know that his wife and accomplice had a hand in designing his appalling ‘Hellraiser’ nail bomb. And I know they had attempted to throw me off the scent by burning their outlines on the hallway wall, implying one of their contraptions had misfired. As far as distractions go, it was a wretched attempt. Had a bomb gone off in no. 16, bits of Slater would be decorating the walls.

It is an outcome I can only dream of. The reality is, Slater is at large and I am out of a job. Despite the CCTV being wiped, despite my colleagues losing their memories, Kent Police held me responsible for allowing Slater to walk from custody. I was stitched up, scapegoated, and will never, ever forgive them. At the misconduct hearing, I sounded like a criminal: I don’t know, I can’t remember, it wasn’t me. Three decades of dedicated service, and my only reward is disgrace.

Why did Slater let off that nail bomb? Don’t fall for those claims he was an ideological extremist. That credits the oaf with a brain. Slater stole his dart name from Hellraiser: a disgusting film about sadomasochistic perverts getting pleasure out of pain. That is all Slater is: a sadist and a pervert. There was no cause. He did it for kicks. He enjoyed killing all those people.

If justice cannot be served in this life, I hope the Slaters burn in hell.

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