20. Death Notice of Nurse Bridie Henry

Independent Star, 25 July
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"...DEATHS
Henry, Brigid ('Bridie'). Died tragically on 18 July. Greatly mourned by her father and mother, Tom and Eileen, bothers Mark and Jerry, sister Evelyn, her grandparents and her extended family. Removal to St Andrew's Church, Wilmington, DE, at 5 p.m. Burial after 10 a.m. Mass on Tuesday. Family flowers only please. Donations, if desired, to Georgetown University Hospital Children's Fund...".

19. Extract from later internal police e-mail

E-mail exchange between Captain Lyon Williams and DC Police Superintendent Gayle Edgeworth
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24 July
.
"To: Gayle Edgeworth
From: Lyon Williams
Re: FW: Nurse Henry investigation
.

Gayle

.

Thanks for your e-mail. Yes I had seen the papers and it is probably best if I don't put in writing what I thought of their criticism about progress to date in the Nurse Henry case, especially as the papers do not know how close we are to making a real breakthrough.

Yesterday we received an anonymous tip-off from someone living in the Watergate Complex that she had seen our boy coming in and out of there a couple of times with a wife and child in tow. Unfortunately the Watergate's a pretty big place so it is going to take a while to track our boy down. However, we interviewed the security staff down there yesterday and a couple of them seem to think that they might have seen him also. I have two men down there trawling through security videos right now and another four officers doing door-to-door enquiries at every apartment and touching base with all the hotel staff. While I cannot guarantee that this will result in an arrest, my sense is that we are finally making progress after the usual lull that comes soon after the start of any investigation.

The FBI guys kindly did a run of all the CCTV footage from the rear of the Hoover Building and they are beginning to wonder whether our guy might be Irish. He certainly has the luck of the Irish. At the very moment he pulled up a delivery van pulled up alongside him completely blocking him from sight. So we have been looking at footage from premises around the area to see if we can get any sense of where he went. He most likely took a train from Metro Center, Navy Memorial or Federal Triangle. However, thanks to some contractor striking an electric cable with a digger yesterday, all the security cameras in the area were down around the time our boy made his way to the Metro. I have a couple of guys trawling through all the footage from the stations he might have gone through but that is over 30 stations at the height of rush-hour so I don't hold out much hope that they'll spot him anytime soon. So for now my money is on the Watergate.

As for the Manassas killing, the local police tell me that they do not have a lot to go on but what there is suggests that the papers have it right in this regard at least. Almost certainly it is our killer and almost certainly he has Wheen's magnum. However we are not "puzzled" as to what he might be up to, despite what the papers may claim. He is on the run, he needs money, and he will stop at nothing to get it. Chances are he is planning a hold-up. Our challenge is to nab him before he executes his plan. So a lot done - more than the papers give us credit for - but a lot more to do before we have our in killer in prison awaiting trial.

Regards

Lyon"

18. Extract from internal police e-mail

18. Extract from e-mail of DC Police Superintendent Gayle Edgeworth to Police Captain Lyon Williams
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24 July
.
"Lyon

Have you seen today's papers? I know you guys are working flat out to find the Nurse Henry killer but the press, and the mayor, are screaming for a scalp and I would prefer it to be the killer's, not mine - or yours. Is there any chance of a real breakthrough in the near future that I could mention to the mayor so that he senses there's more progress in the case than the papers are claiming?

Regards

Gayle"

17. Breakthrough (of a sort) in Nurse Henry case

Independent Star, 24 July
.

"At about 8 p.m. last night two police officers doing their beat in downtown DC noticed a SUV parked on 10th Street, close by the J Edgar Hoover Building. It wasn't hard to miss. Freshly painted in a patriotic red, silver-white and blue it was crying out for attention.

As the area was otherwise deserted the two patrolmen were surpised that the SUV had been left parked where it was. Concerned that it might contain a car-bomb they radioed back the registration to headquarters and discovered that the car was a wanted vehicle belonging to a Mr Josh Wheen of Manassas, Virginia.

Mr Wheen, a full-time farmer and part-time licensed firearms dealer was shot dead outside his farmhouse two days ago. The murder weapon was a 44 Magnum that Wheen had recently advertised for sale, and the murderer was most likely someone who responded to the advertisement and decided that he'd kill the unfortunate Mr Wheen rather than shell out the asking-price.

So what's all this got to do with the Nurse Henry murder?

DC police have known for days that the man wanted in connection with Nurse Henry's death had been looking to buy a gun. Two days ago they were tipped off by Virginia state police that a man matching the suspect's description had been seen travelling in a bus from DC to Manassas. And where did the late Mr Wheen live? Manassas.

All this means that the man wanted in connection with the Nurse Henry murder, and now also in connection with the murder of Mr Wheen, has almost certainly driven back to DC in a SUV belonging to his latest victim and is out there somewhere on the streets of the nation's capital armed with the gun that he stole from Mr Wheen. But quite what he is planning next has the authorities puzzled.

Finding Mr Wheen's car was a limited breakthrough. It shows the man wanted in connection with Wheen's murder (and that of Nurse Henry) is back in town. So at least police know where to look for him. However, the real breakthrough will be when he's found and apprehended. Until then the public cannot rest easy and the police should not."