Blood Sport: A Yorkshire Murder Mystery (DCI Harry Grimm Crime Thrillers 7)

by David J Gatward

  ‘Haven’t the foggiest,’ Liz yawned. ‘He’ll have squirrelled himself away into some dark hole somewhere. We’ll just have to wait for him to come out.’

  ‘What if he doesn’t, though?’ Matt asked.

  ‘He will,’ Liz said, but she was lacking conviction.

  ‘You don’t sound convinced.’

  ‘I’m not.’

  Neither Matt nor Liz spoke for a few moments, contenting themselves with their private thoughts.

  ‘So, how’s Ben, then?’ Matt asked, breaking the silence first if only so that he didn’t have to listen to his own brain.

  ‘He’s okay,’ Liz said, a little too non-committal for Matt.

  ‘And Harry’s fine with it all?’

  ‘Why, has he said something?’

  Matt shook his head. ‘No, not at all! It’s just, you know, one of his team, dating his brother…’

  ‘It’s not illegal,’ Liz said.

  ‘You sure?’

  ‘Very.’

  Matt wanted to ask more questions, but Liz got in first before he had a chance.

  ‘How long is it now? Before you become a dad?’

  ‘Two,’ Matt replied. ‘At least I think it is. Could be three. It’s definitely not four. Is it?’ He counted off on his fingers, then said, ‘I’m sticking with two.’

  ‘And do you know what it is?’

  ‘Yes,’ Matt said. ‘It’s a baby. And do you know how I know that?’

  ‘I’m all ears.’

  Matt made a big flourish with his hands, as though revealing something truly incredible.

  ‘Science!’ he said.

  Liz laughed.

  ‘Well, that’s reassuring.’

  ‘We don’t know if it’s a boy or a girl, if that’s what you mean,’ Matt said. ‘Jean preferred to not know. Said she wanted to meet them for the first time in every possible way. Also, she doesn’t think it’s fair if we know more about it than it knows about us when it arrives in the world.’

  ‘That’s quite nice, actually,’ Liz said.

  ‘No it isn’t!’ Matt exclaimed. ‘It’s a bloody nightmare! I want to know! I need to know! I can’t bear not knowing!’

  Liz stared at Matt, wide-eyed at his outburst.

  Matt held up his hand in defence. ‘I’m just saying I’d rather know, that’s all.’

  Liz smiled and reached over to pat Matt’s leg reassuringly.

  ‘You don’t need to worry,’ she said. ‘Boy or girl, you’ll both be amazing parents. Trust me.’

  ‘Trust you?’ Matt replied. ‘I need to trust myself first!’

  Again, the conversation fell away, but a couple of minutes later, Liz suggested heading back to Eric’s house.

  ‘Maybe we’ve missed something,’ she said.

  ‘You mean like there are more dead animals for us to find?’ Matt asked.

  ‘No,’ Liz said. ‘I just mean another look wouldn’t do any harm, would it? And you never know, he might even be home by now.’

  Half an hour later, Matt rolled them slowly down the track towards Eric’s house.

  ‘It really isn’t welcoming, is it?’ he said, coming to a stop some way off from the place.

  The house was dark, with none of the windows giving any sign of life inside.

  ‘Not exactly the kind of place you’d bring someone back to, is it?’ he said, thinking it looked dead, a husk. ‘If you know what I mean.’

  ‘Maybe he’s brought lots of people back here,’ said Liz. ‘He might be a proper Hugh Heffner.’

  ‘And you know who that is, do you?’

  ‘Not a clue.’

  Matt noticed the way Liz had spoken in just such a way as to imply she had more to say. He turned to look at her and found her wide eyes staring back.

  ‘Only, all those he bought back,’ Liz continued, ‘perhaps they never left!’

  She then proceeded to make some rather inappropriate and terrifyingly accurate sounds of someone choking to death.

  ‘Not funny,’ Matt said.

  ‘Who’s to say his taxidermy is restricted to beast and bird?’ Liz said. ‘People’s private lives can be the scariest of places, can’t they?’

  ‘I’m not listening.’

  ‘Maybe he’s got a cellar, one filled with all his extra-special works? His prize pieces he keeps for his eyes only!’

  Matt was about to tell Liz to shut it, when a Range Rover flew past them to swing around and skid to a halt outside Eric’s cottage.

  ‘Who the hell is that?’ Matt asked as both he and Liz leaned forward to stare out of the windscreen.

  The driver’s door flew open and out stepped a large man with an angry face. He was carrying what looked like a fence post and as he walked towards the front door of Eric’s house, he swung it from side to side. Then he was at the door and hammering his fist against it.

  ‘If Eric’s in there, he’s sure to have heard that,’ Liz said.

  Matt agreed and added, ‘Someone needs to call the police.’

  ‘You just did.’

  ‘Come on then.’

  Upstairs in his house, Eric’s dreamless sleep was shattered by what sounded like a pack of angry bears trying to crash through his front door. At first, he’d assumed it was just some bad nightmare that he’d woken from, but then, when the sound had come again, followed by the illegible bellowing of a man, he’d known for sure that it absolutely was not. He recognised the voice. And that wasn’t a good thing. Though why the owner of that voice was outside his house and trying so desperately to get in, he had no idea, but he was fairly sure he didn’t want to find out.

  Doing his best to ignore what must surely be the last few minutes of his front door being a front door, Eric slipped from his bed then crept downstairs. In the hallway, he didn’t pause to look at his front door, and instead, headed to the back of the house. Where he was going to go once he was outside, he hadn’t the faintest idea, but that didn’t matter. Wherever it was, it was most certainly better than staying around to find out what it would be like to have whatever was being slammed into his front door hammered into his own considerably less resilient face.

  Grabbing a coat, his keys, and, for protection, a walking stick on the way, Eric edged towards the door at the back of the house. He reached for the latch, geared himself up to make a run for it across the back garden and into the woodland beyond, then yanked the door open.

  ‘Hello!’ said the smiling face of a woman in a police uniform on the other side of the door.

  Eric didn’t care who she was or what she wanted. Didn’t even ask. Instead, with his head down, he charged. Two, maybe three steps later, he was on the ground and felt cuffs being ratcheted shut on his wrists behind his back.

  ‘Am I under arrest?’

  ‘Not yet.’

  ‘Then why am I in handcuffs?’

  ‘Oh, is that what these are!’

  ‘You can’t cuff me if I’m not under arrest! You can’t! It’s, well, it’s not right, is it?’

  The policewoman helped Eric to his feet.

  ‘Here’s an idea,’ she said. ‘How about we discuss that back at the office in Hawes?’

  Round at the front of the house, the large man who had arrived in the Range Rover was still hammering the fence post against Eric’s front door. And he was really going at it some, thought Matt, who was now standing just a few feet behind him, between the man himself and the Range Rover, as yet unnoticed.

  ‘Come out, you weasely little bastard! Come out right now so I can rip your bloody arms off! Come on! Out! Right now! Out!’

  Then it was back in with the fence post and Matt was really rather impressed with how Eric’s front door was putting up with such a ferocious battering.

  ‘Excuse me!’ Matt said, his voice loud and firm.

  The man stopped trying to smash the door in and turned around to face the detective sergeant.

  ‘What the fuck do you want?’

  ‘I’m Detective Sergeant Dinsdale,’ Matt said.

>   ‘Congratulations,’ the man said. ‘Now piss off.’

  Matt ignored him and spoke again.

  ‘Before we go any further, can I suggest that you put that post down, please?’

  ‘And why the hell would I want to do that?’

  ‘Because we don’t want anyone getting hurt, do we? By which I mean you, obviously. Not me, in case you were wondering. I’ll be fine. You? Not so much. I don’t mean that as a threat. I’m just explaining things in simple terms so that you can understand them. I’m nice like that.’

  Matt watched as the man’s brow creased with a moment of confusion before he then bellowed a laugh filled with disdain.

  ‘A policeman with a sense of humour!’ the man said. ‘You should do stand-up, mate!’

  ‘For a start, it’s police officer,’ Matt pointed out. ‘Also, and as I’ve already pointed out, I’m a detective sergeant. Oh, and I’m definitely not your mate.’

  ‘And all of that’s supposed to impress me, is it?’

  ‘Not a bit of it,’ Matt said, then nodded back at the car he and Liz had driven over in. ‘Now, how’s about you come with me back to Hawes so that we can have a little chat?’

  At this, the man hammered the post into the door once again, roared, ‘You weasely bastard!’ then turned around to walk back over towards Matt. He then prodded Matt gently in the chest with the pointy end of the post.

  ‘I’m here to have a word with an old friend of mine,’ the man said. ‘As it seems that he’s not in, I’ll be going home now, if you don’t mind.’

  Matt didn’t move.

  ‘You often try and beat down the doors of houses that belong to your friends?’

  ‘You’re in my way.’

  ‘I need you to come with me,’ Matt said.

  ‘Is that right, then?’

  ‘It is, yes.’

  ‘Can’t say that I’m seeing how you’ve got any chance of making that happen, Detective Sergeant.’

  The man poked Matt once again with the post, the wide smile of a bully on his face.

  ‘Just so that you’re aware,’ Matt said, ‘I’ve run your plates, so I know who you are and where you live.’

  The man stopped and his mean smile slipped a little.

  ‘Also, I will obviously be arresting you for what you’ve just done to that door there. Criminal damage, you see? And we don’t really like that, do we? And by we, I don’t just mean the police, but people in general.’

  The man glanced back at the house, then back at Matt.

  ‘Oh and one more thing, and you’re going to love this one I’m sure, you poking me with that fence post is, well, there’s no beating around the bush, is there? It’s assault. Against a police officer. That’s me, in case you were wondering.’

  ‘Assault? But all I did was poke you!’

  ‘With a fence post,’ Matt said. ‘That you’d just been using to beat down a door. Also, there are all the shouted threats that will need to be taken into consideration as well. So, if I were you, I’d quit while you’re ahead. Unless you want to make it worse for yourself, that is. I’d suggest you didn’t.’

  The man loomed over Matt who saw his knuckles go white as his grip on the fence post tightened.

  ‘I’ve friends you know,’ the man said. ‘Friends who can make your life very difficult. Painful even.’

  ‘Are you threatening me?’ Matt asked.

  ‘Sounds like it to me,’ said Liz, her voice joining in the conversation from over by the house.

  The man turned, only as he did so, Matt was into him quicker and smoother than his physique would ever suggest possible. And before he could do anything about it and react, the man was spun around and against the bonnet of his Range Rover, his hands cuffed behind his back, the post kicked far enough away to be of no more threat to anyone.

  Matt, with the man now pinned firmly against the Range Rover, looked over at Liz.

  ‘Eric was in, then?’

  ‘He was,’ Liz said, Eric Haygarth at her side. ‘Couldn’t see why whoever that is you’ve got there would be over here and that angry about it if he didn’t think someone was in.’ Then she added, ‘Who is that, anyway?’

  ‘This, PCSO Coates, is Mr Peacock,’ Matt said. ‘The man who sold Arthur Black his dog.’

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  When Harry walked into the office in Hawes, he was surprised to find not only the two men Matt had told him about during a call on his way back from his meeting with Sowerby, but a woman as well, though she was waiting outside. Eric Haygarth was currently in the interview room with Jen and Jim, while the other man, a Mr Peacock, who hadn’t been on anybody’s radar as a possible suspect in any of this, was sitting in the office with Jadyn close by, watching him keenly. Harry also noticed that the boards for this current investigation, and the ongoing one about Neil’s murder, had been removed from the walls. Well done, Jadyn, he thought.

  ‘Do I need to ask, or are you just going to tell me?’ Harry said, walking over to Matt.

  ‘About what?’

  ‘The individual outside,’ Harry said. ‘The woman with the enormous hair.’

  ‘Quite something, isn’t it?’ Matt said. ‘Reminds me of candy floss. I’ve not had that in ages, have you? Love the stuff.’

  ‘Matt…’

  ‘Oh right, yes, well, she’s currently refusing to come inside,’ Matt said, his voice low and hushed. ‘Says she wants to speak to whoever’s in charge. And doesn’t want a certain someone to know that she’s here either.’

  ‘But who is she?’

  Matt mouthed a word.

  ‘What?’

  He mouthed it again and this time Harry lip-read the word wife.

  ‘Whose?’

  Matt gestured with a slight nod to Mr Peacock. Then shrugged.

  ‘Best I go and have a chat with her, then,’ Harry said. ‘You okay in here?’

  ‘Fine and dandy,’ Matt said.

  ‘Where’s Liz?’

  ‘She headed out for another look at the barn,’ Matt said. ‘Always worth having another pair of eyes check something over, just in case.’

  ‘Doubt she’ll find anything,’ Harry said. Then, remembering that Sowerby had done the same and had found something, he said, ‘But yes, you’re right. Anything from Gordy?’

  ‘She’s in tomorrow. Oh, and apparently Swift is threatening to come over as well.’

  ‘This week just keeps getting better and better doesn’t it?’

  Harry left Matt and headed outside to find the woman he’d seen upon entering the community centre busy pacing around.

  ‘Mrs Peacock?’

  The woman turned and on seeing Harry hurried over. But when she drew close she came up short, her eyes wide and staring.

  ‘I need to speak to whoever’s in charge.’

  ‘I’m Detective Chief Inspector Grimm,’ Harry said. ‘How can I help?’

  The woman’s eyes continued to stare. Harry ignored it; some people just didn’t quite know how to deal with his face. Which was fair enough, he thought, because most times his face didn’t know how to deal with people, its expressions generally unnerving pretty much anyone he looked at.

  ‘Is there something you need to tell me?’ he asked.

  ‘He can’t hear me, can he?’ the woman asked, her eyes flicking over to the community centre behind Harry. ‘He doesn’t know I’m here, does he? He can’t. The officer I spoke to, I asked him not to say anything. If he knows I’m here…’

  Harry couldn’t just see fear in the woman’s eyes, it was also in her voice.

  ‘Why don’t you tell me what’s up and we’ll go from there, shall we, Mrs Peacock?’ Harry said.

  For a moment, Harry thought the woman might just walk off, but then she seemed to calm down enough to speak.

  ‘I followed him,’ she said.

  ‘Who?’

  ‘My husband,’ Mrs Peacock said. ‘I followed him and he doesn’t know.’

  ‘Followed him where?’

  All
Harry knew so far was that Mr Peacock had turned up at Eric’s house.

  ‘I breed the dogs, you see,’ Mrs Peacock said. ‘It’s my thing. Always has been. Keeps me busy and I do love animals. How can you not? They’re wonderful, aren’t they? Which is why I’m here, why I’m so angry, and why I want that man, that monster, arrested!’

  Harry kept quiet and allowed Mrs Peacock to find her own way around to getting to the point.

  ‘We moved here five years ago. It was all very quick, very sudden. And I’ve never asked any questions, you know. None. Because he does look after me, he really does, and that’s important, isn’t it, to be looked after?’

  ‘It is, yes,’ Harry said, if only to encourage Mrs Peacock to keep talking, though about what, he still hadn’t a clue.

  ‘But I still had to know, you see? What he was doing, where he was going. Because he’s always going, here and there and goodness knows where else. And it gets so lonely, being in that house all the time, on my own. The dogs are company, but still, you get to wondering, don’t you? What he’s up to? Why he’s always off?’

  ‘Mrs Peacock…’ Harry began, but she either didn’t hear or didn’t want to, and kept on.

  ‘I don’t think it’s just him, because it can’t be, can it? I don’t know what goes on in there, not exactly, because I didn’t get too close, but I can guess, from what I heard. And there were other cars there as well, you know? Expensive ones. And the people in them, I didn’t know any of them. Not one. I heard dogs, you see, lots and lots of dogs, and that’s why I’m here.’

  ‘What do you mean, you heard dogs?’ Harry asked, now taking considerably more interest in what Mrs Peacock was saying.

  ‘I followed him out to some barns. They’re hidden in these trees, miles away from anywhere. You need to go and have a look. Immediately. To see what’s happening in there. It’s not right. It’s not. I know it. You have to go and look!’