Det . Chief Insp . Patterson Detective Inspector Patterson ( later promoted to Detective Chief Inspector ) had several run - ins with the residents of Coronation Street during his tenure with Weatherfield CID . In July 1972 newcomer Benny Lewis sacked Carol Webb from his betting shop when she got drunk at his official opening and told Patterson that he didn ' t legitimately book all of his takings . Just two months later , in September 1972 , Patterson was in charge of the operation to recover missing baby Jason Lomax . Ena Sharples ' great - grandson had been taken from outside the Rovers while his visiting parents Colin and Karen waited inside for Ena to return from her visit to the Preston Guild ( Annie Walker having refused to allow the baby to remain on licenced premises ) . After questioning the Lomaxes and several local residents and establishing a timeframe for Jason ' s kidnap based on the fact that Elsie Howard had the last confirmed sighting of Jason outside the Rovers , Patterson set up a mobile HQ and the nearby River Irwell was explored by police frogmen . Two days into the search , Patterson interviewed Margaret Beecham , a mentally ill woman who claimed to have kidnapped and buried Jason outside her home . Her story was quickly proved to be false . In the end it was the efforts of Emily Bishop and Betty Turpin that succeeded when they found the occupied pram on waste ground . Family and baby were reunited and the identity of the criminal remained a mystery for four months until the end of the year when a young lady named Christine Peters seemed to know far more about the baby than had been revealed to the general public . Emily investigated and discovered that she had stolen Jason and her appalled sister , who was covering for her , had left the baby on the waste ground to be discovered . Patterson arrested Christine . This event coincided with another investigation for the policeman when Benny Lewis ' s penthouse flat was broken into and ransacked and £5 , 000 stolen . The act had been committed by villain Franny Slater who had got the keys to the flat from Sharon Duffy , a girlfriend of Ray Langton ' s who was furious that he had pretended that the flat was his and " entertained " her there . She wanted to set Ray up for the crime but Franny insisted that Jacko Ford , recently released from jail , was a more obvious candidate . Franny had Freddie Slack , an accomplice , ply Jacko with drink and drive him into the country while the robbery was committed . Ray came under suspicion and Jacko was remanded in jail but it was Patterson ' s questioning of Freddie Slack that gave the game away but by that time Franny and Sharon had disappeared . Jacko was subsequently released and Patterson bought him a drink in the Rovers to show that there were no hard feelings . Following his promotion to Detective Chief Inspector , Patterson ' s last contact with the residents of the Street was in January 1975 when Ray Langton and Jerry Booth found the body of a woman in 9 Coronation Street , she having died by a blow to the head . Quickly altering the police , she was identified as Lynn Johnson , the wife of bricklayer Roy Johnson who had been seen on several occasions in the company of Len Fairclough in both his Builder ' s Yard office and in the Rovers Return Inn . Len swore that his relationship with Lynn was purely professional - she was a battered wife who sought advice from Len in his role as a town councillor however she was not one of his constituents . Added to that there was testimony from Ken Barlow and Albert Tatlock ( the latter mistaken ) that they had heard Len and Lynn arguing through the wall between No . 9 and No . 11 . Part of Len ' s alibi was that at the time of the death he had called at her home where the young lodger Clifford Fenton had spoken to him but Fenton denied this - he " had " been at home but watching television with Roy Johnson and had never seen Len . When the pathologist ' s report found older bruises on Lynn ' s body that pre - dated her meeting Len , Patterson became suspicious and questioned Roy Johnson . He admitted to , on occasion , giving his wife the " back of his hand " but conversely Fenton alleged that Johnson had never laid a finger on his wife . Fenton owed both his livelihood and the roof over his head to Johnson . Patterson , seeing that the facts didn ' t add up pressured Fenton until he broke . Johnson had murdered his wife and used Fenton as his alibi . A polite , well - spoken man , Patterson used his brains rather than police intimidation tactics to achieve results . Len was furious at the ordeal he had been put through before Johnson was revealed as the murderer and Patterson ' s demeanour showed that , in part , he agreed with his accusations of callousness .