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behaviour. But Vance’s destructiveness had ripped through promise that Tony had known at first hand. Vance had shattered trust in ways that few people could have imagined before his terrible damage became known. Compassion and empathy were the principles Tony had always tried to apply to his professional life. But among the many predators whose activities had threatened to strip those qualities from him, Jacko Vance had come closest. As far as Vance was concerned, the only news Tony wanted to hear was an obituary. ‘What’s happened?’ he said, his voice rough with anxiety.
    ‘It appears he’s escaped from custody.’ Piers sounded apologetic. Tony could picture his pained smile, his apprehensive eyes and the way he would touch the knot of his tie for reassurance. In that instant, he wanted to grab that tie and pull it very hard.
    ‘Escaped? How the fuck could that happen?’ Anger overtook him, nought to ninety in seconds.
    ‘He took the place of another prisoner who had qualified for Release on Temporary Licence. He was due to spend the day at a local factory. The social worker who should have accompanied him wasn’t at work and it appears Vance attacked the driver of the taxi taking him to the factory assignment, then made off in the taxi.’
‘Jesus Christ,’ Tony shouted. ‘What in the name of God was he doing anywhere near the category of prisoner who could qualify for Release on Temporary Licence? How could that happen?’
    Lambert cleared his throat. ‘He’s been on the Therapeutic Community Wing at Oakworth for a couple of months now. A model prisoner, by all accounts. Has been for years.’
    Tony opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, reaching for the right words and failing to find them.
    ‘There was no indication that Vance had anything planned,’ Lambert continued, his voice smooth and unruffled.
    Tony found his voice. ‘Piers, can you explain what the hell Vance was doing on a Therapeutic Community Wing? He’s on a whole-life tariff, for crying out loud. Why’s he occupying a space in a rehab programme designed for people who have come to terms with their crimes? People who are working towards release? People who have a future that isn’t behind bars? Answer me, damn it! Who put him in a place he could exploit? A place he could manipulate for his own ends? The perfect bloody place for someone like him to take advantage of?’
    Lambert sighed heavily. ‘There will, of course, be an inquiry. The psychologist who was assigned to him made the case for him to move to the Therapeutic Community Wing. He’s been Category C for a couple of years now, you know.’
    ‘Cat C?’ Tony exploded. ‘After what he’s done? God knows how many teenage girls mutilated and murdered, and he’s downgraded from Cat A to Cat C?’
    ‘Technically, he’s serving a single life sentence for a single murder—’
‘Not to mention the murder of a police officer,’ Tony continued, ignoring Lambert’s response. ‘A police officer who was trying to make sure no more girls died.’
    ‘Nevertheless, we can only punish what we can prove. And the Court of Appeal found the conviction in respect of Detective Constable Bowman to be unsafe. As I said, Vance was a model prisoner. The governor of his previous prison held out as long as he could, but there were no grounds on which the authorities could refuse to reduce his threat category.’ Tony picked up a note of frustration in Lambert’s voice. It was good to feel that he wasn’t alone in his outrage at what he was hearing. ‘His lawyer threatened us with the Human Rights Act, and we both know how that would have gone. So Vance was reduced to Cat C and transferred to Oakworth.’
    ‘This psychologist – was it a woman?’
    ‘Yes, as it happens.’ Lambert sounded startled. ‘But entirely competent.’
    ‘And entirely susceptible to Jacko Vance’s charisma,’ Tony said sadly. ‘If anyone had asked me, I would have insisted that no female staff come