Few neighbours had met Lindsey Germail, write Hugh Muir and Ian Cobain in Aylesbury
The man from number 10 Northern Road was a figure of contrasts. Neighbours would see him hurrying to and from his red Fiat Brava, carrying his baby in doting fashion. Sometimes they would be forced to berate him as he blared Arabic music from his house and his car.
Yesterday, the same residents were coming to terms with the idea of Lindsey Germail in yet another guise: that of the fourth London bomber, the man who killed 23 people by carrying out a suicide bombing on the Piccadilly line of the London Underground train network.
Germail, believed to be of Jamaican origin, had lived with his partner, Samantha Lewthwaite, and their baby, in the small, red-bricked house in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, northwest of London, for seven weeks.
Yesterday, it was obscured by blue plastic sheeting as anti-terrorist squad officers conducted a fingertip search.
The road was taped off. Only residents were allowed to come and go, and traffic was halted. All this heightened the sense of shock that someone widely believed to be a key figure in the atrocities should have been part of their community.
Tom Ahmed, a neighbour and a local councillor, said: "We are a very small town and we are devastated to think that we had someone in our midst who was linked to such terrible things. This community is united and will remain united regardless of those who seek to divide us."
People working in the small row of shops less than 183m (200 yards) from the suspect's house also expressed shock and dismay. Aman Azram (23), an insurance clerk, stood by the doorway, incredulous: "These people might think they are good Muslims, but they are not. I was born and bred here. They just make life harder for the rest of us."
He had not met Germail. Few residents had. They had seen the stocky figure, of medium height with his short, curly hair and penchant for relaxed, casual clothing.
They had seen his wife, an English woman - and by some accounts a local woman - who had converted to Islam and always wore long, flowing black gowns.
Germail is understood to have used several different surnames since his conversion to Islam. In April last year, for example, he used the surname Jamal when registering the birth of his son. They rented the property from a letting agent when the owner moved to the city of Oxford about 40km (25 miles) away, but made little effort to engage with the close-knit community they had entered.
One elderly neighbour, who declined to be named, said: "I saw him on a daily basis. I don't think he worked because he was always around during the day, taking the baby in and out of the Fiat Brava. He would park it over the entrance to my property and people would complain to him about that. They were getting quite cheesed off with him."
She added: "The other thing was the noise. They would play very loud music in the house and the car. When it came from the house, people would knock and complain. They would never open the door but eventually the music would be turned down. The neighbours were getting quite upset about it."
Germail's mother is thought to live in northwest England and sources say he has visited the US at least once.
The effort to find out more about Germail, his associates and why he moved to Aylesbury is being led by anti-terrorism detectives from London, assisted by officers from the local Thames Valley force.
Peter Neyroud, Thames Valley's chief constable, said: "Terrorism is not something that happens to other people ... It is important for all of us to be alert."