room table, opened it up and showed Harris the pornographic magazines, balisong knives and the tablets. Harris picked up a magazine and flicked through it, pausing here and there to take a good look. Moran asked Harris if he’d mind listing the property as he wanted to get some food in his stomach before the second interview with Allard. Harris nodded and asked how Tennison was. Moran shrugged.
‘She needs to toughen up a bit.’
Surprised by Moran’s comment Harris remarked,
‘Jane must have thought she was going to be raped, though.’
‘No, not about that . . . she was terrific last night. But her attitude with Mrs Allard . . . she was a bit soft and kind of pussy-footed around with the woman. I think she needs to be tougher in those kind of situations and not get emotionally involved.’
‘You know Tennison has expressed an interest in joining the CID, but I don’t think she’s ready for it yet. What do you think?’ Harris asked.
‘In some ways I agree. She’s obviously not afraid of the rough end of the job, but investigative-wise she’s got a lot to learn yet, which could make her a liability in certain situations.’
Harris didn’t need to say anything. He knew what Moran meant by ‘certain situations’ and finding missing evidence if and when necessary. Moran went up to the canteen, leaving Harris checking over the items from the suitcase. It was quite a lengthy process as he was spending time studying the porno magazines, and paying even more attention to the fitness and body building magazines.
DS Lawrence had called from the lab to say that they had found fibres from the suspect’s clothes on two of the indecent assault victims, but nothing, as yet, connecting him to the rape. Moran, accompanied by Jane, got ready to re-interview Allard. Harris informed them that Allard had phoned his wife and had spoken with her for at least ten minutes, and appeared to be quite distressed both during and after the call. Harris had tried to listen in but it was difficult as he was booking in a noisy drunk who kept singing ‘Underneath the Arches’ at the top of his voice. However, Harris said that he thought Allard may have confessed to his wife, and most surprisingly he hadn’t asked for a solicitor after the call.
Moran booked out the property seized from the martial arts room for the interview. A clearly subdued Allard was brought up from the cells and taken to Moran’s office.
Moran opened the interview by getting right to the point. ‘Have you changed your mind and decided to finally tell the truth and admit these assaults?’
‘Why were you so horrible to my wife?’
‘You’ve no one but yourself to blame for this situation. If you had admitted the offences before we went to your house then things may have been different,’ Moran calmly responded.
The suitcase was then placed on the desk in front of
Allard.
‘Do the porn magazines and the two martial arts knives belong to you?’
‘Yeah. I like to keep fit by training at Wing Chun. I use the balisong knives and nunchucks on the wooden dummy I have in the spare room.’
Moran glanced at Jane as she made notes.
‘Thing is, Peter, that doesn’t explain the hardcore porn magazines,’ Moran said in an amiable way, which surprised Jane after his approach and attitude in the first interview and at the house during the search.
‘I bought them from a sex shop in Soho.’
‘For masturbating?’
Allard looked embarrassed and said nothing.
‘OK, Peter, I understand that you’re embarrassed, but I’ll take that as a “yes”. What can you tell me about these pills . . . are they steroids?’
Allard nodded.
‘Tell me, did you feel an even greater sexual urge when you took them, as opposed to looking at the porn?’
‘I took them because they helped me train longer and harder, and gave me greater muscle definition, all right? It’s not illegal to buy them.’
‘Maybe not, but we know about the problems with your sex life at home. Listen, Peter, I can understand how frustrated you must have felt . . . all pent up and in need of sex . . . it must have really pissed you off not getting sex from your wife?’
Allard tightened his lips, clenched his teeth and took a deep breath.
‘None of this is her fault, none of it. She didn’t know what I was doing and just thought I was out working nights in the cab.’
‘Did you tell her what you’d done when you called her on the phone earlier?’
Allard slowly lowered his head, then replied that his wife had told him to tell the truth.
Moran nodded. ‘She’s right, Peter, because it will be better for you in the long run. So take your time and go slowly . . . WPC Tennison will be writing down your confessions.’
Allard kept his head lowered, eyes to the ground, as he explained that he had tried to cope with his wife being unable to have full sex with him. He even appeared to be embarrassed when he said that they had found ways round it.
Moran tapped the desk. ‘I know – she told us she’d give you a hand or a blow job instead . . . but I’m more interested in the women you forced yourself on.’
Jane saw Allard tighten his hands into fists. He appeared sickened at the way Moran had spoken about his wife, and Jane watched with interest as Allard took deep breaths to calm himself down, breathing in through his nose and holding it before releasing it through his mouth with a slight hissing sound.
‘OK . . . it started because I wanted to stop the feeling of anger . . . my frustration . . . understand? I paid prostitutes for sex in the back of the cab. Anyway, one night this tart ripped me off by snatching my money bag and running off. You know, I honest to God despised myself for what I was doing, but this slag angered me so much. I mean, she got away with a whole day’s takings, and I’d done two runs to Heathrow Airport. So I decided I’d take what I wanted from prostitutes without paying, as they would be unlikely to tell the police. I would park my cab near known prostitute haunts, dress up in dark clothes and watch them. When one walked away from a group, or her pimp, I reckoned she was probably going home and I would follow. I’d put on the stocking mask, grab them from behind and feel their breasts and vagina while I touched my penis.’
‘It turned you on and you masturbated.’
Allard nodded and Moran looked over at Jane to see if she was keeping up with taking down the details. She continued writing for a moment before giving him a small nod to continue. Moran leaned back in his chair. He spoke in a very matter-of-fact tone.
‘Well, Peter, seems you underestimated two prostitutes who came forward to report you. And two of your other victims were not on the game, they were just young women innocently walking home after an enjoyable night out or, as in the case of your arrest, a WPC acting as a decoy. You following me, Peter? Because, apart from WPC Tennison, you have destroyed those women’s lives and they’re now afraid to leave their homes.’
Allard looked shocked and tried to explain that from
