20th April
Leadbetter sat at a table near the window of a small café in West London. Opposite was the apartment block which contained the London flat of Bishop Gerald Hunter.
Light shone from a window on the fourth floor of the block. Leadbetter knew this to be the lounge window of the bishop’s residence.
Leadbetter had eaten at the café and was now on his third cup of coffee. As a result, he had been there for over an hour. Throughout that time, a man had been sitting in a car that was parked a few doors away. Leadbetter could not be sure, but it seemed to him that the man periodically glanced up at the bishop’s window.
Leadbetter suspected that the bishop was under surveillance – possibly by the authorities that seemed to be helping the Great Lord Morrison.
Leadbetter intended to kidnap the bishop, but he did not have any clear plan in mind to achieve this. He was hoping that being in the vicinity of the bishop’s home would provide some inspiration for a suitable method.
He paid the waitress, left the café and crossed the road.
A narrow alleyway passed between the bishop’s apartment block and the adjacent building. Leadbetter walked down it and came out onto a small road that ran past the rear of the apartments.
As he emerged from the alley, he glanced along the road. Leadbetter quickly stepped back into the shadows, surprised at the sight of Bishop Hunter unlocking a nearby car. The bishop began to get into the car, then he stopped and checked his pockets. He had evidently omitted to bring with him something of importance. Without any attempt to re-lock the car, Bishop Hunter quickly re-entered the building.
On an impulse, Leadbetter ran to the car, opened the boot, climbed inside and pulled shut the boot door over him.
Very soon, he felt the movement caused by someone getting into the car. The engine started and the vehicle drove away.
Leadbetter’s watch had an illuminated dial, so he knew that about half an hour passed before the car halted.
He heard the sound of one of the car’s doors opening. There was then another sound – very like the movement of an overhead garage door. The car then moved just a few metres forwards, stopped, and the engine fell silent.
Leadbetter heard what he presumed to be the closing of the overhead garage door; the opening and closing of the car door; the muffled sound of voices and, after another thirty seconds, the closure of a distant door.
Then there was silence.
During the journey, Leadbetter had been inspecting the boot lock mechanism by the light of his watch. It appeared that moving a single lever might open the boot. He waited for a further few minutes but heard no other sounds so pushed the lever with his finger. The boot lock clicked open.
Leadbetter climbed from the boot of the car and found himself inside a small garage. It appeared to be attached to a house, and he could see light coming from under the connecting door. Leadbetter walked to the door and listened. He could hear muffled, distant voices. He tried the door handle, opened the door and went into the house. He had entered what appeared to be a normal domestic kitchen.
The door on the far side of the kitchen was slightly open, and he could hear a female voice. Leadbetter crossed the kitchen and peered through the partially open doorway into a lounge area.
Bishop Hunter was dressed in just his vest and underpants and had a black hood over his head. He was kneeling on the floor, and Leadbetter could see that the bishop’s hands were handcuffed behind his back.
A woman stood over him wearing a black leather outfit and holding a whip. ‘You have been very disobedient and must be punished,’ she said.
‘Yes, Mistress,’ the bishop replied.
Leadbetter knew that this was something quite different from the occult rites he had witnessed practiced by the Great Lord Morrison and his disciple, Helen Hargreaves. Bishop Hunter was clearly engaging in some deviant sexual activity. It provided, however, an ideal opportunity to effect his kidnap plan.
He wondered for a moment if the Great Lord Morrison was exercising supernatural powers to assist him. He felt encouraged by the thought. If that was the case, then Leadbetter was invincible.
Leadbetter looked around the kitchen.
There was a whiteboard stranding on a work-surface, propped up against the wall tiling. A marker pen lay nearby.
He lifted the white board and wrote a message on it using the largest letters that would fit the space:
KEEP QUIET!!
LEAD THE BISHOP INTO THE GARAGE
AND TELL HIM TO GET INTO THE BOOT OF HIS CAR
When he had written the message, Leadbetter reached into the inner pocket of his jacket and withdrew a Browning 9mm pistol.
He heard the voice of the women in the lounge: ‘Wait there and don’t move until I get back!’ she ordered.
Leadbetter quickly hid behind the kitchen door. The women entered the kitchen and walked to the centre of the room without noticing him. She turned at the sound of Leadbetter closing the door.
She saw the gun, gasped, then quickly read the sign that Leadbetter held in his other hand.
One minute later, the bishop had complied with the woman’s request for him to stand and follow her. She led her excited and expectant victim through the kitchen and into the garage. She then told him to climb into the boot of his car.
This instruction seemed slightly odd to the bishop, but Mistress Whiplash had always been very good at inventing exciting new ways to correct her errant charge. She was also the soul of discretion and worth every penny of the very large sum he paid her for her services.
When the bishop was in the boot of the car, Leadbetter stepped forward and slammed it closed.
Leadbetter then waved his gun at the women, indicating for her to go back into the house with him. As they entered the lounge, he noted a convenient pair of handcuffs on a coffee table. This proved just what was required to secure her to a radiator.
The bishop’s clothes were neatly piled on a chair. Leadbetter searched the pockets and retrieved the car keys.
He then returned to the garage, opened the garage door and drove away.