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Authors: Val McDermid
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into direct contact with Vance. He’s clever, he’s charming and he’s got the knack of making men and women, but women in particular, feel like they’re the only person in the world. He’ll have made all the right noises about remorse and the need to atone, and what harm could it do to move him to a prison community where he could deal with his issues from the past? Even if he was never going to be returned to society, the system owed him that small kindness.’ Tony made a sharp noise of disgust. ‘I could write the script, Piers.’
‘I’m sure you could, Tony. Unfortunately, there’s no mechanism for allowing those involved in tracking down a criminal to have input into what happens to them once they fall within the remit of the prison system.’
Tony jumped out of his chair and began pacing the room. ‘And he managed to impersonate another prisoner well enough to get out of Oakworth? How the hell did he manage that? I mean, Vance is the original one-armed man. He’s got a bloody prosthetic arm. Not to mention the fact that he used to be on prime-time TV. Millions of people could pick him out of a line-up. How come the duty officers didn’t recognise Jacko bloody Vance?’
‘You are out of the loop, aren’t you? Don’t you remember, Vance brought a case under the Human Rights Act against the Home Office—’
‘Yes, he said he was being discriminated against because he wasn’t being fitted with the latest prosthetics. And the court upheld his position. But it’s still a prosthesis, Piers. It’s not an arm like you and I have got.’
‘You don’t know much about state-of-the-art prosthetics, do you, Tony? We’re not talking about some bog-standard NHS artificial limb here. What Vance has got now is almost indistinguishable from what you and I have got. According to the brief I’ve got, he had surgery to reroute nerves, which in turn send messages to the electronics in the arm and the hand. He can move the fingers and thumb independent of each other. Over the top of it, he’s got a bespoke cosmesis, which apparently is fake skin, complete with freckles, veins, tendons, the lot. The whole kit and caboodle cost thousands of pounds.’
‘And we paid for that?’
‘No. He went private.’
‘This beggars belief,’ Tony said. ‘He’s a convicted killer and he gets to have private medical care?’
‘He was legitimately a multi-millionaire. He could afford it and the courts said he had the right to the best treatment available. I know it sounds insane, but that’s the law for you.’
‘You’re right. It does sound insane.’ Tony reached the far wall again and slapped his hand hard against it. ‘I thought the families of his victims sued him? How come he’s still awash with cash?’
‘Because he was clever with it.’ At last, a tinge of anger had crept into Lambert’s voice. ‘As soon as he was arrested, Vance made arrangements to take his money offshore. It’s all tied up in trusts abroad, the kind of jurisdictions where we have no way of discovering who the trustees are or who the beneficiaries of the trusts are. The civil court judgements against Vance can’t be enforced against an offshore trust. But when he needed funds for surgery, the money was made available. It’s hugely offensive, but there’s nothing we can legally do to prevent it.’
‘Unbelievable.’ Tony shook his head. ‘But even if the arm wasn’t obvious, how did he manage to fool everybody?’
Lambert groaned. ‘God knows. What I’m hearing is that the prisoner in question has a shaved head, glasses and distinctive tattoos on his arms and neck. All of which Vance had copied. Someone obviously brought in custom-made tattoo sleeves or transfers with the appropriate designs. The person most likely to realise it was the wrong man was the social worker, and she wasn’t in work today.’
Tony gave a sarcastic laugh. ‘Don’t tell me. Let me guess. Something completely unpredictable happened to her. Her
‘I’m sure you could, Tony. Unfortunately, there’s no mechanism for allowing those involved in tracking down a criminal to have input into what happens to them once they fall within the remit of the prison system.’
Tony jumped out of his chair and began pacing the room. ‘And he managed to impersonate another prisoner well enough to get out of Oakworth? How the hell did he manage that? I mean, Vance is the original one-armed man. He’s got a bloody prosthetic arm. Not to mention the fact that he used to be on prime-time TV. Millions of people could pick him out of a line-up. How come the duty officers didn’t recognise Jacko bloody Vance?’
‘You are out of the loop, aren’t you? Don’t you remember, Vance brought a case under the Human Rights Act against the Home Office—’
‘Yes, he said he was being discriminated against because he wasn’t being fitted with the latest prosthetics. And the court upheld his position. But it’s still a prosthesis, Piers. It’s not an arm like you and I have got.’
‘You don’t know much about state-of-the-art prosthetics, do you, Tony? We’re not talking about some bog-standard NHS artificial limb here. What Vance has got now is almost indistinguishable from what you and I have got. According to the brief I’ve got, he had surgery to reroute nerves, which in turn send messages to the electronics in the arm and the hand. He can move the fingers and thumb independent of each other. Over the top of it, he’s got a bespoke cosmesis, which apparently is fake skin, complete with freckles, veins, tendons, the lot. The whole kit and caboodle cost thousands of pounds.’
‘And we paid for that?’
‘No. He went private.’
‘This beggars belief,’ Tony said. ‘He’s a convicted killer and he gets to have private medical care?’
‘He was legitimately a multi-millionaire. He could afford it and the courts said he had the right to the best treatment available. I know it sounds insane, but that’s the law for you.’
‘You’re right. It does sound insane.’ Tony reached the far wall again and slapped his hand hard against it. ‘I thought the families of his victims sued him? How come he’s still awash with cash?’
‘Because he was clever with it.’ At last, a tinge of anger had crept into Lambert’s voice. ‘As soon as he was arrested, Vance made arrangements to take his money offshore. It’s all tied up in trusts abroad, the kind of jurisdictions where we have no way of discovering who the trustees are or who the beneficiaries of the trusts are. The civil court judgements against Vance can’t be enforced against an offshore trust. But when he needed funds for surgery, the money was made available. It’s hugely offensive, but there’s nothing we can legally do to prevent it.’
‘Unbelievable.’ Tony shook his head. ‘But even if the arm wasn’t obvious, how did he manage to fool everybody?’
Lambert groaned. ‘God knows. What I’m hearing is that the prisoner in question has a shaved head, glasses and distinctive tattoos on his arms and neck. All of which Vance had copied. Someone obviously brought in custom-made tattoo sleeves or transfers with the appropriate designs. The person most likely to realise it was the wrong man was the social worker, and she wasn’t in work today.’
Tony gave a sarcastic laugh. ‘Don’t tell me. Let me guess. Something completely unpredictable happened to her. Her
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