Riddled on the Sands (The Lakeland Murders)

by Salkeld, J J

  ‘I’ve forgotten what that is, lass, honest I have. I do see where you’re coming from, but it still sounds a bit far-fetched, though. My twenty pence says that they’ve moved on, whoever they are, and we’re not going to move this case on one more inch. I almost wish we hadn’t recovered that bloody tractor now, because all I’ve achieved is that his wife and family now feel even worse, and more uncertain, about how he died. And you know as well as I do that we’ll never find his body now. That’s at bottom of the bloody sea, well weighted down. They’re just going to be left hanging, never knowing for certain what happened to Jack.’

  ‘Maybe Capstick will do the right thing yet. Stranger things have happened.’

  ‘Never. I’ve seen people like him before. He’s a coward, Jane, that’s what he is. And they never change, never take responsibility for what they’ve done. No, Morecambe Bay will freeze over before we get a word out of that bastard. You see if I’m not right.’

  When Jane walked back into the station Tim Brown got up and walked over. He was out of uniform, and Jane didn’t recognise him for a second.

  ‘Tim, what are you doing here? I thought you were rushed off your feet.’

  ‘I am. I just came with a bit of information, about the O’Brian’s garage fire. But if you’re not interested...’

  ‘No, come up and let’s talk about it. I’ll even make you a cuppa if you like, but it’s your funeral if it burns the roof of your mouth.’

  ‘Very funny. But you’re on, I could do with a brew.’

  ‘So what have you got?’ asked Jane, when she’d made the teas. ‘I thought there wasn’t anything to go on at the O’Brians, because he’d had all the stuff taken away.’

  ‘That’s right, but when I was back in the office I had an idea, so I went back and took another look.’

  ‘That was good of you.’

  ‘All part of the service.’

  ‘And what did you discover?’

  ‘There’s a strong likelihood, but not a certainty, that the fire was accidental. Judging from what I could see on the concrete base I’d say that the seat of the fire was very near the side door, and not at ground level. So no accelerant was poured in, and it’s unusual for someone to deliberately start a fire so close to their only means of escape.’

  ‘So an accident, then?’

  ‘Aye, that’s favourite. Not a certainty, and nothing I’d be willing to write down, but I thought it might be useful.’

  ‘Thanks, Tim, that’s a help, it really is.’

  ‘Really? It struck me as a waste of time from the off. But you seemed interested in it for some reason, so I thought I’d humour you.’

  ‘Thanks. I thought it might connect to that other arson, the one up on Greenside, but I was already sure that it doesn’t. It was a funny thing though, because Gary had a bloody great big lock on the side door. I noticed it before he had the site cleared, and I couldn’t work out why it was there. He doesn’t strike me as the careful type.’

  ‘I could give you a guess if you like.’

  ‘Go on then, spit it out. This isn’t a bloody game show, Tim.’

  ‘It is just a guess mind. But how about if friend Gary O’Brian was growing a bit of weed in that garage? He looks the type, right?’

  ‘I’m not sure what the type is, but he does have previous for pushing, as it happens. So what’s this guess based on then, the fact that he fits your prejudices?’

  ‘Don’t tell me you don’t judge them, love. But no, it’s because we’ve had a couple of similar cases recently, always involving the more intellectually challenged horticulturalist, or maybe they’re just the ones who sample their own product a bit too enthusiastically.’

  ‘How come?’

  ‘Basically they’re using lamps to heat and light the plants, then they go in to water or mist them, get water on the leads or whatever, and bang, they’ve set the place on fire. I know it sounds totally daft, but it happens.’

  ‘And you think he had the site cleared to get rid of the evidence?’

  ‘Well, it’s just an idea like, but it sounds like we would have found traces for certain, if we’d looked for them, given the amount of debris there was left. Bits of modern insulation in an old garage like that, leads, bits of light fittings, it would have been a total give-away.’

  Jane laughed, and Brown looks surprised, and perhaps a little hurt.

  ‘Sorry, Tim, but I’ve just thought. Assuming you’re right, Gary O’Brian is a cheeky little bastard, a proper chancer in fact.’

  ‘How come?’

  ‘I saw him on the telly, on the local news, thanking people for donating cash to replace his kids’ bikes. He says they went up in the fire.’

  Brown was laughing as well now. ‘Fan-bloody-tastic. The more I find out about human nature the less I bloody like this species. At least you know where you are with a fire. It just takes what it can get, and it doesn’t care what gets in the way.’

  Andy Hall usually wasn’t one to postpone things, other than dentists’ appointments. But he’d been opening and closing the email from the Chief’s office since first thing. He’d hoped an idea would come to him, but it hadn’t. He got up, slowly, and walked to his office door. It was only five minutes until shift change, so it was now or never - at least for today.

  ‘Ray’ he called out from the doorway, ‘can you spare a minute?’

  Hall tried not to notice Mann and Jane exchange glances. And Ray must have known what was coming too. At least Hall hoped that he did. But as Dixon approached Hall thought he looked cheerful, optimistic even.

  They sat at the meeting table in Hall’s office.

  ‘I’ve had the final word from the Chief’s office, Ray. I’m afraid it’s not good news.’

  ‘I’m out on the day I do my thirty?’

  ‘Yes, that’s about the size of it. I did get a personal note from the Chief though, which I’m very happy for you to read.’ Hall slid it across the table, and Dixon read it through.

  ‘That’ll butter no parsnips’ he said, his voice cracking.

  ‘Come on, mate, you can’t really have expected any other outcome. Be honest, you didn’t, did you?’

  Dixon hesitated. He seemed to have pulled himself together, and Hall was very grateful for that. ‘No, not really, boss. But I just hoped, you know. After all these years I just can’t imagine not being here. You all getting on with work, cases I’ll never know anything about now unless I read it in the paper, and I won’t be here. I just can’t get my head around it.’

  ‘I can see that. It must be hard. But look on the bright side. You’re retiring more than ten years before most people do, and you’re fit and healthy. You could do anything you want. Think of all those things you’ve never done.’

  ‘Like bungee jumping?’ said Dixon gloomily. ‘That’s for twats.’

  Hall smiled. ‘I agree. Why is bungee jumping regarded as the greatest life experience anyone could have? No, mate, I was thinking about traveling, or voluntary work, even a little business maybe?’

  ‘Publican? No, I don’t have the personality for it. I’d grass up anyone who drove after they’d had a couple of pints, couldn’t help myself. Word would get round and I’d go bust in a month.’

  Hall smiled again. ‘There are other jobs, Ray. What about a little online business?’

  Dixon brightened. ‘Porn? I could handle that. Might star in my own productions. Just a shame my name’s not Roger.’

  ‘Ray, please, you’re going to put me off my tea.’

  ‘Sausages, is it, boss?’

  Hall laughed. ‘Ray Dixon, we will miss you, I promise you that. And you’ve been a fantastic copper, your record says that. It doesn’t matter who they send us to replace you, they won’t hold a candle to you as a detective. You’ve just got it, that little extra something.’

  ‘I know. That’s why I’m under the doctor.’

  Dixon seemed a bit more cheerful, even if the standard of his jokes hadn’t improved.

  ‘
Look, there’s still a couple of weeks to go, so why not start thinking about what you’d like to do on your night out? A meal, few drinks after maybe?’

  Dixon nodded, and Hall regretted what he’d said. It had just brought the reality home again, and he knew that Dixon would leave his office thinking about the long stagger home after that last night out, knowing that, for the first time in thirty years, he was no longer a policeman. And instead he’d just be another member of the great British public, who Dixon knew for certain to be twats, to a man, woman and child.

  Jane made sure she was in the kitchen making a brew when Ray Dixon left. She salved her conscience by giving Mann and Hall a biscuit each, from her private collection.

  ‘What have I done to deserve this?’ asked Hall, when Jane passed him the biscuit.

  ‘How did he take it?’

  ‘You know Ray, always hard to tell, but I’d say he’s pretty cut-up.’

  ‘He must have known that he had no chance of being kept on.’

  ‘Of course he did, but he seems to have got the idea that I’m some kind of miracle worker. And it would have taken a miracle to get him even a three-month extension. I’ve seen the three-year budget for the whole force, and it’s not a pretty sight. They’d get rid of the lot of us and make do with robots dispensing fixed penalty notices if they could.’

  Jane nodded. She’d heard it all before, and while Andy seemed to worry about the future so much that a fair bit of his present was wasted, she took a more relaxed approach. It just didn’t seem worth it. ‘I meant to tell you, Perkins didn’t find any of the phrases from that letter in his emails.’

  ‘Bugger. That’s a shame. It would be good to be making some progress on something.’

  ‘Nothing doing with the Bell case then?’

  ‘No, absolutely sod all, and it’s not really surprising, is it? The locus was probably as perfect as any you could think of, from the perpetrator’s perspective. No witnesses, and if it hadn’t been for Ian getting that tractor recovered before time and tide did their work, no forensics either. All we’ve got is Capstick, and someone has got him so scared that he’s not going to say a word. I’ve just been kidding myself that he might own up. And, to be honest, I don’t blame him. If he keeps his head down he’s home free. Because if something doesn’t happen to move us on, and I mean soon, then Gorham will have the Bell file sitting in her ‘pending’ tray forever.’ Jane thought that Hall looked tired. ‘Still, enough of that. Are you about ready to push off? Sounds like we could both do with a few hours away from this place.’

  ‘I’ll be home in a bit.’ It still made Jane feel slightly strange to say it. ‘I’m going to have one more crack at Perkins’ bloody letter.’

  ‘But I thought you said here were no hits? None of the phrases in the letters cropped up in any emails.’

  ‘That’s right, but I bet he didn’t check against the email he sent through to me before. I only just thought of it. It shouldn’t take me long to do myself, and I might as well give it a try.’

  ‘OK, fine. I’m not sure what I’m going to create for supper tonight, but I’ll text you when it’s half an hour away from being ready.’

  ‘No, Andy, you text me when the wine is open. Then just wait and see how long it is before you hear my key in the lock.’

  Pete Capstick had been out to the yard, just before high water, to check his gear. But his heart wasn’t in it, he couldn’t concentrate, and he quickly went back inside. He turned on the TV, just to break the silence, but it annoyed him and he turned it off after just a few seconds. After that he just lay on the sofa. He thought about Jack Bell, of course he did, but mainly he thought about Betty and the kids. He was completely sober, and he realised that he knew exactly what he had to do. He’d known all along, since the second it happened, when he’d heard the sound of those guns, and seen those muzzle flashes, brighter than the sunset over the Bay. He’d have to go and see Betty. Tell her everything. Tell her that he never intended for anyone to get hurt. That he was just doing a bit of smuggling, cash in hand like, just like so many had before him. How could he have known that they’d have guns?

  But Capstick didn’t get up. He just lay there, as the furniture in the room was slowly swallowed by the gathering darkness. He didn’t even turn on the light. He just couldn’t face Betty. Not yet. But he could do something, right now, this second. He got up, found the phone, and dialled the number on the card he’d been given. When it went to voice mail he left a message. He didn’t think it would be very long before he got a call back.

  Saturday, 29th June

  It was another lovely morning, and Andy Hall was looking forward to a weekend off. Jane had been talking about going for a walk, and he’d planned a route, with a nice little pub for a bit of lunch. He left her asleep and went downstairs to make a cup of tea, when he heard his phone buzzing upstairs. He ran up, by which time the phone had stopped ringing. But before he could find his phone the message beeper woke Jane up. He listened to the message.

  ‘Fucking hell.’

  Jane was instantly wide awake. ‘What?’

  ‘Ian’s at Capstick’s. Just found him dead. Stabbed.’

  ‘Jesus.’

  ‘A hell of a mess by the sound of it. Ian’s put the wheels in motion, but I’d better get round there.’

  ‘I’ll get ready.’

  ‘You really want to come?’

  Jane sat up in bed.

  ‘Andy, you prat.’ Her tone was exasperated rather than angry. ‘You wouldn’t have asked me that three months ago, would you? So why are you now?’

  Hall put his hands up. ‘It’s a fair cop, guv. Right, we need to be out of here in five minutes. I’ll call Gorham as we drive.’

  Jane drove, and after he’d spoken to Gorham he put his phone on the cradle, and called Ian Mann with the speaker-phone on.

  ‘Is the area secure?’

  ‘Aye, boss. We’ve got the house and his yard and outbuildings all under control. Your mate Geoff has been helping, and four lads from Grange are here too. SOCO will be here before you, unless Jane’s driving, in which case you’ll be neck-and-neck.’

  ‘Where’s the doc?’

  ‘On his way, and not a happy bloke either. He’s got a wedding to go to today, apparently.’

  ‘Must make a change from funerals. Sod him anyway. Unless it’s one of his own kids this comes first. And how come you were round there, early doors on a Saturday? Looking to wind him up a bit more, no doubt.’

  Mann hesitated, just long enough for Hall to know he’d guessed right. ‘Of course not, boss. No, just a couple of things I wanted to check, that’s all.’

  ‘I believe you, thousands wouldn’t. So what happened?’

  ‘I arrived at eight, maybe a minute or two after. Tried to knock Capstick up, got nowhere, so I tried Geoff. He’s got a spare key, so we entered at 8.05, and found the body immediately. I checked that life was extinct, and got Atkinson straight out of there. Multiple stab wounds, lots of blood, nothing else I can tell you.’

  ‘No sign of forced entry?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘All doors locked?’

  ‘Front door was, but I haven’t touched the back door or any of the windows. But there are no visible signs of forced entry.’

  ‘Signs of a struggle?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Does it look as if Capstick put up any kind of fight?’

  ‘No. I think he might have been asleep when the attack started.’

  ‘OK. You know what to do. Get the door-to-door started as soon as you’ve got enough bodies. Quick-sharp, please, Ian.’

  ‘Will do. Are you on speakerphone?’

  ‘Yes, why?’

  ‘No reason. I was just going to say, you remember my old mate?’

  ‘Which one?’

  ‘James. Jimmy.’

  ‘Yeah, of course. What about him?’

  ‘I saw him again, this morning. I just thought...’

  Hall cut in sharply. ‘OK, Ian. I�
�ll leave you to it. We’ll catch up when the doc’s at work.’

  ‘Got you.’

  Mann rang off before Hall could even say goodbye.

  ‘Who’s this mate of Ian’s?’

  ‘It’s nothing. He mentioned the other day that he’d bumped into a lad from his old job. On holiday or something.’

  ‘From the military?’

  ‘Yes. Like I say, it’s just a co-incidence.’

  ‘But hang on, Andy, shouldn’t we be looking at this guy? He’d know how to handle an assault rifle, wouldn’t he?’

  ‘He’s been eliminated, Jane.’

  ‘But there’s nothing in the file.’

  ‘That’s right.’ If Hall was irritated nothing in his tone of voice suggested it.

  Jane was driving fast, very fast, and they both went quiet while she overtook some cars. Hall wasn’t sure that it had been a wise thing to do.

  ‘Oh, I see’ she said eventually. ‘This bloke’s some sort of secret service type. That’s it, isn’t it?’

  ‘Come on, Jane, you know how this works.’

  ‘But this is a murder case, surely everyone involved in the investigation needs to know everything, don’t they? We owe that much to Jack Bell.’

  ‘Don’t lecture me, Jane. I know what I’m doing.’ He paused. ‘When we get there if you’d report to Ian, I’m sure he’ll need a hand with the door-to-door.’

  Jane didn’t say anything, but if anything she started driving even faster.

  The first of the SOCO team had arrived, and while Hall and Mann suited up they ran through the protocol. Mann and Hall knew it by heart, but they both nodded when they needed to. One of the SOCOs opened the front door and lead Hall and Mann into the house. They went straight to the living room and looked at the body. There’d obviously been a lot of blood, and some was congealing on the brown cord sofa. It looked as if there were upwards of a dozen puncture wounds.

  ‘Someone had to get their courage up’ said Mann, and Hall nodded. ‘Assuming the first cut wasn’t actually the deepest, and the rest weren’t made post-mortem, then we’ve got a good chance of finding something under the fingernails. He must have tried to fight back. He must have.’