It's possible that "Mr. Bamber" and "Mr. Bamber Jr" phoned police 10-15 minutes apart. In this scenario, the calls were later merged deliberately, under the stewardship of DCS Michael Ainsley; so as to conceal the call from Nevill.
However it is a pertinent and valid question to ask why the original investigation team did not inform Jeremy and/or the relatives that Nevill had called police. On the face of it they had no reason not to. The relatives were informed as to how Sheila was culpable; and two of them did concede this to be a possibility. However, conveniently, Ann cant remember what was discussed during that conversation (a bit like we are not allowed to see what was in DS Kenneally's report either).
I think though that there is another possibility. The police will have listened to their own recordings of the incident - i.e. any incoming calls and any calls between PC West and civilian employee Malcolm Bonnet. Perhaps they themselves were not happy regarding how the calls were handled and the level of response? With what we know about the relatives... they would probably have demanded to hear the tapes themselves!
Theoretically, the quickest way to raise a response would have been through HQIR radio system. This was not done.
There are two rather weak arguments put forward as to why there could not have been a call by Nevill Bamber to the police.
1 If Nevill had called the police, PC West would have told Jeremy that they had already received a call from his father about 10 minutes earlier.
2 When the relatives were annoying the police with there opinions on the case, they could easily have put a stop to all of that by just telling them about the call from Nevill.
The first of these is very poor and and can easily be discounted. It easy to understand why West would not want to waste time with "chummy" kind of talk. Another guy might have mentioned it, but its not obvious that any cop would have. It's not really a point worth discussing. Also, it's possible that West actually heard shots and feared the worst, which would give him an obvious reason to withhold information connected with that from Jeremy.
The second is worth considering and I think requires a more subtle explanation. To understand you have to reckon with the mentality of the police. They don't like people prying into their business and they don't like leaving loose ends.
Before Jeremy became the principle suspect.
Avoiding criticism for a slow response would be enough. The length of time it took CA5 to get there may have been a factor. You have to understand their mentality. Also, remember that Jeremy was not in jeopardy at that stage, so even some slight embarrassment would be enough to want to keep the noses of the relatives out of police business.
After ACC Simpson put Mike Ainsley in charge.
But later when when Mike Ainsley had been put in charge with Jeremy having become the prime suspect for reasons not based on any new evidence, but because Rober Boutflour had pull with the Assistant Chief Constable, the police would have additional reasons for suppressing the call from Nevill.
If there was some substantial difference between the official police version of events and the real truth which they wanted to cover up, they would naturally be unwilling to disclose information linked in some way to the real truth.
The relatives were originally told that Sheila's body had been found on the bed with a bible on her chest, but were later told that that information had been mistaken.
Even if the police had told them about the call from Nevill Bamber, they would not necessarily have been satisfied and they would still have posed a threat where the cover up was concerned. The police knew that the relatives wanted the inheritance and simply knowing Jeremy was innocent wouldn't necessarily keep them quiet when it came to matters concerned with the investigation.
The course of action chosen by the police was one which involved the relatives in the framing of Bamber. That was an essential part of the plan. Once the relatives were implicated in such wrongdoing they would have a powerful motive not to talk. If instead, the police had decided to just tell them about Nevill's call, there would be no guarantee that the relatives would shut up-even if they did know Jeremy was innocent.
There was a desire on the part of the police to follow the wishes of the relatives. That was the situation once Mike Ainsley had been put in charge by ACC Peter Simpson. Ainsley knew Bamber was innocent all along, but he had not been given the job to go against the Assistant Chief Constable who had appointed him. Ainsley knew all the doors and windows of the farm had been locked from the inside, leaving no possibility of Bamber being guilty. But that did not make him rock the boat. He just went with the flow.
