Filth

Interview commencing six-forty-two pm at Fairfield Police Station on Tuesday, September 13th, 2022. I am Lead Detective Andrew Thomas. Also present in the room are -

Chief Inspector Lindsay O’Donnell.

And the suspect in question. Please state your name for the recording.

Daniel Edward Collins.

Mr. Collins would like to remind you that you are still under caution. Whilst you do not have to say anything, it may harm your defence if you do not mention it when questioned, something you may later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given as evidence. Do you understand these rights as I have read them to you?

I do.

You are entitled to seek Legal Counsel. If you cannot afford Legal Counsel, we can provide it for you. Would you like us to provide you with a duty solicitor, Mr Collins?

No.

No, what?

No, I don't want a Brief.

Fabulous. Let’s begin.

Mr Collins, do you know why you are here?

I know one of your officers busted my shoulder - arresting me for minding my own business. Other than that, not a clue.

And what were you doing at the time of your arrest?

I told you, minding my own business. I was sitting in my car, drinking my coffee. Since when is that a crime?

What were you doing parked outside of Covemead Primary School?

I'd pulled over to drink my coffee and read the paper. I needed the break, I was shattered. I’m a busy man.

Do you like puzzles?

What does that matter?

Just answer the questions, please.

Yes. I enjoy a challenge - puzzles, crosswords, maybe even a good riddle from time to time. I don’t see how that's relevant.

And what is it you do for a living?

I’m a janitor.

Where?

Here, there, and everywhere. I’m contracted with an agency.

So, you move around a lot?

You could say so.

Mr Collins, do you get contracted to clean primary schools?

I do.

Are you currently under contract with a school?

Yes.

At which school?

None of your business.

But not Covemead?

No.

Do you have any connections with Covemead Primary, at all?

No.

No reasonable reason to be parked outside then.

Would you have preferred me to drive tired?

How long have you been a janitor?

As long as I can remember.

And how many schools have you worked at?

Couldn’t tell ya.

Fathom a guess.

Six or seven?

You couldn’t remember six or seven, Mr Collins? Do you have difficulty with numbers?

No.

A medical condition we should be aware of?

Considering the pain in my shoulder, quite possibly, thanks to your officer.

Any pre-existing medical conditions before today, sir?

Arthritis in my hip, gout in my left leg, and my lungs aren’t too good. I did tell the woman behind the desk, though I'm hardly surprised you need to ask again.

Let it be known to the camera that Mr Collins is staring at the Chief Inspector.

No learning difficulties to speak of?

No.

Mr Collins, do you have a problem with women?

Define problem.

A distaste, a disliking, do they anger you in some way?

No comment.

Do you consider them to be equal citizens?

For the record, Mr. Collins sniggered.

If you say so.

I’m asking you what you think.

No comment.

Fine. Let’s get down to brass tacks, Dan. I can call you Dan, right? Dan, you were reported to the police by a concerned parent for suspicious behaviour at Covemead Primary. Have you any idea why?

Was it a woman?

Let the record show Mr. Collins is smiling.

It was, as it happens.

Probably her time of the month.

Have you ever been arrested before, Dan?

No.

Questioned by the police?

What does that matter?

How about being fired for indecent exposure?

- A brief pause -

It was a false accusation.

Was it?

Absolutely. A young woman getting the wrong end of the stick, becoming melodramatic and guess what? Overreacting. Shocker.

Did the accusation involve a child, Mr. Collins?

Like I said, melodrama.

Was that at one of the seven previous schools you worked at?

Yes.

And yet you got another job, working with children?

She lied. No charges were ever filed.

Do you like working with children?

I don’t work with children. I clean up after the little shits.

That’s a concerning way to refer to children, Dan. Do you have any of your own?

No.

Ever married?

No.

Why not?

What a stupid question. How long do you two intend on wasting my time? Why don’t you ask me whatever it is you really want to ask so we can get this over with?

- Detective Inspector loudly clears his throat -

Mr Collins, if you want to get out of here, why are you lying to us?

I’m not.

Funny, we did a background check on you, which turned out to be very informative, didn’t it Chief Inspector?

Oh yeah.

Quite an interesting read.

Let the record show Detective Thomas is presenting Mr Collins with a paper copy of his history of employment.

You’ve worked at sixteen schools, all over the country over the past twenty-one years. Three of which made melodramatic allegations about your behaviour.

Like I said, fuzzy memory.

Interesting. So, we decided to dig a little further. Didn’t we Chief?

We did.

And guess what we found?

Enlighten me.

Out of those sixteen schools you worked in, four of them have filed missing children reports, two of which are now closed, what with the children’s bodies being found and all. Let the record show I am presenting Mr Collins with Exhibit A through D.

Do you recognise the girl in the picture?

No.

That is Annabelle Richards. Or it was. She went missing on her way to school almost fifteen years ago. Her school was Townsend Primary, the same school you worked at, for -

- Paper rustles –

Ah, eighteen months, if I’m not mistaken?

I didn’t work at Townsend fifteen years ago.

No, you worked there a year prior. Know the school well?

Not really.

Her body was discovered in the River Meon almost three months later.

How terribly sad.

What about this young lady, Natasha Pierce? She was just eight when she was snatched from a playground near her home, in 2007. Natasha was also lucky enough to attend a school you’d previously worked at.

Your point?

Well, it’s funny. You see, there was actually a witness to her kidnapping, who traumatised as she was, did us the honour of providing a facial composite.

- Papers being picked up –

What do you think, Chief? Remarkable likeness. Wouldn’t you say?

That looks nothing like me if that’s what you are implying.

I dunno. Lose the beard, add the glasses, thin out the hair a little.

It’s uncanny.

- The paper is placed back on the table –

How about her, Mr Collins?

- A tapping noise –

Do you recognise her?

This is starting to bore me.

Answer the question.

No.

You should recognise her, Mr Collins. That’s Emma Baker. Emma went missing on her way home from school. Starling Primary, to be exact. Not only were working there at the time of her disappearance but you cleaned her classroom, daily.

I cleaned a lot of classrooms.

We know. Such a terrifying thought.

Do you feel scared, Chief Inspector? Let the recording know Miss Chief Inspector - I’m so important - is looking a little pale. Quaking in her high heels, one might say.

I’m wearing boots.

So, you can walk like a man, talk like a man, have a man's job. Tell me, does that make you feel superior?

Sorry, Dan. Did I hit a nerve? You seem to be irritated. Do you have a lot of pent-up anger?

Coming from a woman? Do me a favour.

- Paper rustles -

How about this one? This one's my favourite. Jennifer Tiddly disappeared from nursery five years ago at the ripe old age of three. The nursery was located out of the back of the Primary school. Can you guess what we discovered about that particular primary school?

Don’t tell me.

It’s a doozy.

I’ll get it - Just give me a second.

- The sound of a hand slapping the table -

You worked there.

- A gasp from Chief Inspector O’Donnell -

No, I didn’t. I applied to Hainsbury Academy, but they rejected my application - twice.

Can't imagine why.

Why did you apply twice?

I lived around the corner. It seemed sensible.

Oh, that is right, silly me. You didn’t work there. You lived there. Your flat looked over the school playground if I’m not mistaken.

My flat was on the sixth floor, it looked over a lot of things.

Including the playground.

The playground, the football field, the local church. You name it. I didn’t live there long either. I moved after a couple of months.

Two weeks after little Jennifer’s disappearance, as it happens.

Like I said, I couldn’t find work. I’d been offered a job in Bristol. Seemed like the obvious choice.

You suddenly remember a lot for a man with a bad memory.

It comes and goes.

I bet it does. They found Jennifer’s body stuffed in a drain six miles away. The poor girl had been sadistically tortured, amongst other things.

I remember now.

You do?

It was on the news. Truly heart-wrenching stuff.

It most certainly was. An innocent child gets abducted and tortured the whole world goes into uproar, especially after what happened to her. See for yourself.

- The sound of paper being pushed across the table –

- A few minutes of silence –

Don’t you have anything to say?

What do you want me to say?

It’s interesting. In all the years I’ve done this job, I've seen all different sorts of reactions to being shown graphic evidence; some cry, some throw it back at me, we’ve even had people throw up. Yet here you are, Mr. Collins; with the body of a disfigured, bloodied little girl in front of you and nothing

I’m not easily rattled. Perhaps you’ve picked the wrong profession if the image of dead little girls stops you from sleeping at night.

Do they stop you from sleeping?

For the record, Mr. Collins is smiling.

So, you know nothing about the disappearances of any of these children?

Why would I? Can I go now, or do you have any more ridiculous accusations?

We have more.

We surely do.

And they’re the best ones.

They are.

You know what they say, Dan. Always leave the best to last.

When you were arrested this afternoon, a search of your car turned up some very interesting items.

You had no right to search my car.

Actually, we did. The arresting officer said you gave her the creeps. And whilst a severe case of the wiggins isn’t enough to warrant reasonable suspicion, the CCTV footage the school provided beforehand definitely is.

- Silence -

We actually had some stills made up, just for this moment. We didn’t want to have to watch the video again you see.

Made me feel sick.

Quite unsettling.

No one should be subject to such things.

Tell me, in your words, what are you doing in this picture?

Adjusting myself.

Adjusting yourself?

That’s right.

You were adjusting yourself for quite a while. Weren’t you, Dan?

I had an itch.

You really should get that checked out.

Mr Collins, are you aware it’s illegal to masturbate in public?

I don’t know what you’re talking about.

Especially outside of a school.

I wasn’t touching myself.

The video shows otherwise.

Bad angle if you ask me.

How about the tie we found stuffed down between your back seats?

- Paper slides across the table –

I wear a lot of ties.

As a janitor?

I’d say that’s a school tie. Wouldn’t you?

No comment.

We’re checking with the local schools. I imagine it won’t take us long to find out which one in particular it came from.

We’ll see.

Which brings us to the piece de resistance. The crossword you were filling out on your paper at the time of your arrest.

What about it?

Your answers. They’re very peculiar.

You’ve got to be kidding me. Is this a joke?

Tell me, Dan, how is five down, eight letters, clue: a type of French bread, Maddison? Or nine across, five letters, clue: a common fruit, Chloe?

It’s a crossword. It’s difficult.

I thought you liked puzzles.

- A brief pause -

Every answer you’ve written is a girl’s name. Eleven in total. Imagine our surprise when we discovered all those girls go to the same school where you were arrested, lying in wait outside. Half of those names have been crossed out. So, tell me Dan, how d'ya pick ‘em?

PICK WHO?

- The sound of a chair scraping along the floor –

For the record, Mr Collins has stood up.

I’d advise you to remain seated.

For the record, Mr Collins has sat back down.

Were some too tall, too chatty? Perhaps their fathers pick them up instead of their mothers, making it harder for you? Maybe they don't walk home alone, or were they not naïve enough to talk to you when you approached them? Perhaps they weren’t young enough. Perhaps their hands weren’t small enough?

Would you just shut her THE FUCK UP! You think you’re so clever, don’t you? With your big doe eyes and your heaving bosom, looking like butter wouldn't melt. Tell me, Chief, why do you wear such tight clothing to work? Why can I see the colour of your bra through your shirt? Do you like tempting men with something they can never have? Until one of them takes it, that is, and you can play the helpless victim. You think you’re untouchable with that badge and your boots, but you strike me as a screamer.

Where are the kids, Mr. Collins?

Trembling and crying with snot running down your face. Begging for it to stop, that you’ll be good, that you’ve learnt your lesson. You’re just like the rest of them. Pathetic, weak. They break so easy.

What did you do to them?

Pissing themselves in fear as they scream for their mothers, as they all do, eventually. Even you, Chief.

For the record, Mr Collins has just winked at Chief Inspector O’Donnell.

Tell me, Chief. Do you have kids?

You’re going to die in prison.

I’ll take that as a yes.

Do you know what I think?

Here it comes.

I think we have enough to charge you. Public masturbation in the presence of children – pitiful, really. Remind me, what does a Category One offence get you?

With your previous? Five years at least.

Sheesh, five years in prison as a kiddie fiddler. That’s going to be rough. Rumour has it, they aren’t treated all that well inside.

You’ve got nothing.

I think a jury would disagree. We've got a pathetic old man who touches himself whilst watching kids play – who was dumb enough to do it in public, in daylight, for the whole world to see. You'll enjoy prison, Dan. I suspect you’ll make friends quickly.

Here is where my colleague and I disagree. I think you’re very clever, Mr Collins. I think you’ve gotten away with kidnap, rape, and murder for over a decade. You’re s serial killer and one of the worst we’ve ever seen. Of course, this is all speculation.

- Silence –

I think you got bored. I think you fantasized about a thrilling game of cat and mouse, but no one was chasing you. You kept getting away with it. So, you got cocky – started taking risks. If you look at it like that, you pretty much handed yourself in. The prolific serial killer who gave himself up. You’d be infamous.

He doesn’t deserve that.

Immortalised. The mastermind who outsmarted countless Police Departments. Reigned terror across Britain for decades, leaving chaos in his wake. Parents would tell their children wicked tales of you just to get them to behave. The boogie man himself would be redefined. That man, that man is clever – calculated. That man goes to prison a legend.

Not a chance.

Beyond reproach. I mean, you’ve heard of Fred West, right? How about Harold Shipman, Ian Brady, Jack the Ripper? That’s got to be better than bog-standard Barry from down the road who has one too many pictures of the neighbours’ kids on his phone. Because that’s all it’ll be when she charges you. I don’t think you want that. I think you want the world to know who you are. What you’re capable of.

- A brief pause –

One time deal. You tell us everything. Right here. Right now. And every household in Britain will know your name.

Not a chance. We charge him right now with what we have.

You think I believe a word that comes out of your mouth. All your kind does is manipulate. Please stop! I can’t take anymore. It hurts. I won’t tell anyone, I swear. Pathetic.

Perhaps you’d like to step out, Ma’am?

I beg your pardon?

Smoke break, perhaps? I suspect we're going to be here for some time.

He’s not going to tell us anything. There’s nothing else to say. He’s obviously not the School Girl Strangler. He’s one step above living in his mother’s basement, downloading child porn.

Gov?

Fine. I’m going to get a coffee.

Afraid of what you'll hear?

Bored actually.

That’s right love, go pop the kettle on.

- Chair legs moving -

Let it be known, Chief Inspector Lindsay is leaving the room.

And what an arse she’s taking with her.

Can’t say I’ve ever noticed.

How could you not? Sticks out like a sore thumb in those trousers, and she knows it.

Come on, Daniel. I’m no woman. You and I both know this goes a lot deeper than she thinks. You must have thought about it. This is your chance to make a name for yourself. Man to man. You control the narrative. You control the room. I know you’re not scared of the truth. A man like you doesn’t get scared.

You’re right about that.

You’re the thing they get scared of.

You have no idea.

So, educate me. Tell me every little detail about how wicked you really are. Make my blood run cold. Show her outside and all the others how wrong they are. You’re the real deal. I can tell.

Never trust a woman to do a man's job.

So, what are you waiting for? Let’s make history. Right here, right now.

Where do you want me to start?

Up to you. This is your show.

Damn right, it is.

So?

Let’s start with sweet little Jenny. She tasted the best.