Sleeping in the Ground: An Inspector Banks Novel (Inspector Banks Novels)

by Peter Robinson

  Banks could follow the logic in Jenny’s arguments and accept pretty much everything she said, but he could also see why many police officers were suspicious of psychological profilers. After, all, she hadn’t told them where to find the killer or how to go about tracking him down. Pep talks were all very well, but how much further ahead were they? “Can you be more specific about any of this, Jenny?” he asked, trying to word his thoughts as diplomatically as possible.

  “Name, address, National Insurance number, you mean?”

  “That sort of thing would be useful.”

  Jenny laughed. “Sorry. I warned you not to expect too much or you’d be disappointed.”

  “I’m not disappointed, just frustrated.”

  “Well, Alan, I don’t know if it’s in my job description to do anything about that.”

  Banks noticed that Gervaise was following the exchange with great interest, and it was hard to miss the sparkle in Jenny’s eyes. He felt himself redden. “Same old Jenny,” he said. “Batting the ball back and forth.”

  “Not so much of the old.” Jenny put her folder down, leaned back in her chair and removed her glasses. “I know how frustrating this must be,” she said. “I’ve been through this sort of thing many times before. Many, many more than I had last time we worked together, Alan. Things have come a long way since then. Certainly profilers have and, in some cases, the police attitude toward us has become somewhat more enlightened, but we’re still not miracle workers.”

  “I didn’t mean to be critical,” Banks said. “I’m just thinking about this specific crime. So we’ve got a mass murderer and not a spree killer, maybe, unless he kills again within seven days. That’s useful to know, but it doesn’t help us, it just puts a ticking clock into the equation.”

  Jenny raised an eyebrow. “I’d say you had that already, wouldn’t you?”

  “Point taken.”

  “Anyway,” Jenny went on. “I was getting to that, to this specific crime. There are some details I find interesting, in addition to the recce and the planning of an escape route.”

  “Such as?” Banks asked.

  “Such as the occasion. Why target a wedding? As I said before, in America, schools and workplaces are the main targets. At one time post offices seemed such a breeding ground for mass murderers that it was called ‘going postal.’”

  “So what does our killer have against weddings?”

  “Not even that,” Jenny said. “His thinking is unlikely to be so linear. But there’s something in there. Something in why he chose a wedding. Perhaps even why he chose that particular wedding. There’s all the usual stuff in his behavior, of course, anger against women, or a particular woman, perhaps a failed marriage in his background, but you need to examine it from all angles. Revenge and envy are often strong motives for mass murderers. They’ve often failed and are envious of those who appear to have succeeded, or they’re avenging some real or perceived slight, perhaps from years ago. Something that might seem quite insignificant to us.”

  “The wedding got quite a bit of publicity around Eastvale,” Gervaise said. “Minor local celebrities and all that. Model. War hero.”

  “That’s the sort of thing I mean,” said Jenny. “Anything like that could have set off some dormant desire for revenge. A war hero, for example, could have been a symbol of something he wanted to destroy, maybe because he was a coward, or he thought he should have been given hero status himself but was overlooked. Envy and revenge.”

  “Why does it have to be a symbol?” asked Banks. “Why couldn’t it have been that actual wedding itself he wanted to destroy? Or a particular person who was there? The bride or groom, for example. Both were hit. One killed. Could he have been after a specific person? Isn’t a cigar sometimes just a cigar?”

  “I haven’t jumped to any conclusions yet,” said Jenny. “It’s an interesting idea, and of course he could have been after one or more people in particular, people he thought had ruined his life, but I’m afraid I don’t have enough to go on to take my analysis any further than that. If it was a terrorist attack, then perhaps a large social gathering was enough of a target. You also mentioned that the groom was a war hero. There could be something in that, too. A military connection. A number of mass murderers were found to have military backgrounds. You should certainly look at the soldiers who were with him in Afghanistan.”

  Banks had already thought of that and mentioned it to the counterterrorist investigator.

  “What was the order of killing?” Jenny went on. “Did that mean something to him, or was he just firing randomly into the crowd? As far as I could make out, there were more female victims than male. Was that simply because they were wearing brighter or light-colored clothes that stood out more from his perspective up on the hill, or was it deliberate? It would be pretty easy for him to have picked out the women from a group like that.”

  “We’re not sure of the order yet,” Banks said. “And the victims weren’t all women.”

  Jenny consulted her file. “Five of them were.”

  “But there were four men, too. Anyway, we don’t know the answer to any of those questions yet,” said Banks. “We’re still trying to piece it together from ballistics and witness reports. We should be able to talk to more of the guests today. Naturally, everyone was pretty much in shock last night.”

  “Of course. Be sure to let me know when you have some answers,” Jenny said. “It might be important.”

  “Will do.”

  She packed away her folder and glasses in the briefcase. “If it’s OK, I’ll head out and try to catch up on a bit of sleep now,” she said. “Or I’ll be even less use to you next time than I am already.”

  “You’ve been very helpful, Dr. Fuller,” Gervaise said.

  Banks got to his feet. “Can I give you a lift?”

  “No thanks. My car’s outside.”

  And with that, she was gone.

  “Well, that was interesting,” said Gervaise. “I take it you two have some history?”

  “Many years ago,” said Banks. “In fact, Professor Fuller worked with me on my very first case up here, after London. A Peeping Tom. She was very good at her job, even back then, and that was before The Silence of the Lambs came out.”

  Gervaise hesitated, then went on. “Alan, I know it’s none of my business, but I know where you were yesterday, and I never got the chance to say how sorry I am. Losing a friend is a terrible thing, the memories it shakes loose, even if you’ve drifted apart. The panicky feeling that you’re losing bits of yourself.”

  Banks thought she spoke as if she knew what it was like. “Yes,” he said, hand on the doorknob. “Yes, it is. Thank you.”

  “Childhood sweetheart, was she?”

  “Something like that. Yes.”

  “Just don’t lose sight of the good memories. That’s all.”

  “I’ll try not to.”

  “How’s the invalid?” Banks asked Winsome when Terry had let them into his house near the village of Drewick, on the eastern side of the A1. Winsome still kept her flat on the fringes of the Eastvale student area, but now that she and Terry were engaged, she was spending more time at his place. Banks had marveled more than once at how falling in love had loosened the grip of her previous morally strict and straitlaced approach to life. That morning, she lay on the sofa, half sitting up, with a tartan blanket draped over her.

  “I’m fine. Really,” Winsome said. “It’s nice to see you, guv. Annie.”

  Annie leaned forward and gave her a quick peck on the cheek.

  Terry Gilchrist clapped his hands together. “Tea, everyone?” Then he went into the kitchen to put the kettle on and leaned in the doorway while it came to a boil.

  “How’s the shoulder?” Annie asked.

  “It’s nothing. Just a scratch.” Winsome bit her lower lip. “It’s the other stuff that’s most upsetting. I still can’t take it in.” Her eyes filled with tears. “Those people were our friends.”

  “I know,”
said Annie. “We’re trying to sort out exactly what happened. It’s not easy. We’re hoping you and Terry will be able to help us put together a sequence of events.”

  Winsome glanced at Terry, who came and perched beside her on the sofa, taking her hand between his. “Terry was more involved than I was,” she said. “I was inside the church a good deal of the time. Everything was chaos. I didn’t know what was going on out there.”

  “But not at first,” said Banks.

  Winsome fingered the tassels on the edge of the blanket. “No. Not then.”

  “We’ve even brought a hotshot profiler in from Australia,” Annie went on. “Seems she’s an old flame of Alan’s.”

  The kettle started to whistle, and Terry went back into the kitchen.

  “Before your time,” said Banks. “Both of you. Believe it or not, I was young once.”

  “And married,” said Annie.

  “I told you. Nothing happened.” Banks felt his cheeks burning.

  “Methinks he doth protest too much. What about you, Winsome?”

  “Oh, leave him alone,” said Winsome, smiling. “Is it true?”

  “Is what true?” Banks asked.

  “That she came all the way from Australia.”

  “Yes. She’s taking up a teaching post at York again, where she started out.”

  “And you’re not married now, guv,” said Winsome. “You’re free as a bird.”

  “But she may not be.”

  “Isn’t life unfair?” said Annie, with a wink.

  Terry returned with a pot of tea and four matching blue mugs on a tray, which he set down on a low glass table in front of the sofa. He still walked with a slight limp, but had shed the walking stick he had used when Banks first met him a couple of years ago. He was a tall, fit young man in his early thirties, maybe a year or two older than Winsome, with a strong jaw, clear blue eyes, close-cropped fair hair and a boyish grin. His beagle, Peaches, lay content in front of the crackling and spitting log fire. Banks could see the garden all misty with drizzle through the window.

  Once they each had a mug of hot tea warming their hands, Banks asked Terry if he would recount what happened.

  “Of course.” Terry sat on the edge of the sofa, set his tea on the tray and kept hold of Winsome’s hand while he talked. “The service ended and we all piled outside. Well, some of us did. The photographer was trying to get everyone from the main party organized into groups for the photos, but you know what it’s like. Some people were chatting. A couple lit cigarettes. He was getting frustrated because everyone was having a bit of a laugh instead of standing in their assigned groups, and it was taking so long.”

  “Do you remember the first shot?” Banks asked.

  “I was about five feet away, kneeling to chat with Megan, the flower girl, when I heard a crack and I saw Laura spin around and fall in a heap. I didn’t realize it was a shot at first because the bells were so loud, but I could see blood on the front of her white dress, and I then knew what had happened.” He paused and shook his head slowly. “It was as if I’d never been away. For a moment, I was right back there in Helmand. I think everyone just froze for a split second. Of course, we didn’t know to expect more shots, or what. All I knew was that Laura had been hit. Bad, by the looks of it. Then I suppose my training kicked in about the same time as someone started screaming. My first thought was to get everyone back into the church in case he fired again. I thought they would be safe in there. Before I could even begin, though, while most of us were still rooted to the spot, there was another shot.”

  “Can you remember who was hit next?”

  Terry closed his eyes. “Yes. The second shot hit Ben. That’s Benjamin Kemp. The bridegroom. My friend. My God,” he said, putting his free hand to his mouth then wiping his eyes. “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s OK, Terry,” Annie told him. “Take your time.”

  “He’s right so far,” said Winsome. “It was Fran next. Francesca Muriel, Laura’s maid of honor. I was talking to her at the time, telling her to head for the church. It was . . . I don’t know . . . her head . . . it just . . . cracked open, disintegrated. Like Terry says, we hadn’t really had time to react to what had happened yet. I turned to run back to the church, trying to urge people on before me. That’s when the bullet grazed my shoulder. So I think I may have been the fourth victim.”

  “The photographer was hit around then, too,” said Terry. “And Dave Hurst, one of the guests.”

  “So the two of you were directing people toward the church?”

  “They were completely freaked out,” said Terry. “Running around like . . . well . . . you know, chickens. I suppose I was thinking more professionally then, and I knew by the spaces between the shots that whatever make the gun was, it was a single-bolt, not an automatic, and we could be thankful for that. It gave us a bit more time. I remember glancing up at where the shots had come from, but all I could see then was a sort of small black smudge on the edge of the hill. A sniper, or so I thought.”

  “By this time,” Winsome said, “people were starting to get the picture and rush back toward the church doors without my having to tell them. There was a bit of a jam, and I think the next victim was Diana. Diana Lofthouse, another one of the bridesmaids.”

  “Yes,” said Terry. “He shot her in the back just as she was getting near the church door.”

  “That makes seven shots,” said Banks. “There were ten in all. Do you remember who was next?”

  “Charles, I think,” said Terry. “Ben’s father.”

  “I saw none after Diana,” said Winsome. “I was too busy trying to get people into the church. The problem was that there were even a few people who’d stayed inside now trying to get out again to see what was going on. It was a bottleneck.”

  “Did you notice the next victims?” Banks asked Terry.

  “Not clearly,” he said. “Not by then. Like Winsome, I was too busy trying to get people out of the way. I had little Megan, the flower girl, in my arms, and she was crying. I think I saw Charles go down next—that’s Ben’s father—then Katie, but I couldn’t swear to the order. Katie was just standing there, frozen to the spot. I was on my way over to her. She took one in the stomach and fell back against a gravestone. I don’t know if she’ll make it. She’d lost a lot of blood.”

  “Katie Shea’s still critical,” said Banks. “Same with Benjamin Kemp.”

  “I know there were others hurt,” Terry went on. “David, I think, was shot in the leg quite late on. The photographer was hurt, too. He was holding his eye and it was bleeding. Others had just frozen, like Katie. They couldn’t move. Laura’s mother, Maureen. I had to go back and pick her up and carry her in. And Denise was kneeling beside Charles, her husband. She didn’t want to leave him, but I managed to get her inside. I knew he was dead.”

  “You saw the shooter running away, right?”

  “I saw a dark figure running diagonally down the hillside toward the south, yes. But he was too far away for me to see any detail. He was carrying some sort of long object at his side. It could have been a rifle.”

  “You’re sure it was a man?”

  Terry wiped the back of his hand across his eyes. “Sorry. I’m jumping to conclusions. He was a fair distance away. But what kind of woman would do a thing like that?”

  “I’m sure you’re right,” said Banks. “A lad from the youth hostel saw the same figure—at least, we’re pretty sure it must be the same figure. He seems quite certain it was a man. Something to do with the way he moved, his shape.”

  “I couldn’t see where he went, or any car. I know what your witness means about the way he moved, though. I think that’s one of the things that made me assume it was a man. There were no more shots after I saw him run off, so he must have been the shooter.”

  “Anything to add, Winsome?”

  “Nothing. I was inside the church while all this was going on. I just remember hearing another two or three shots after I got the door closed. It’s
still all jumbled up in my mind. Someone made them stop ringing the bells. It was terrible, the noise, and the shots. Terry came in after a while and found me. He told me the shooter was gone and he was going to help the people who’d been hurt out there, that I should stay with the people inside. Maureen took care of me. Maureen Tindall. That’s Laura’s mother. She was in a bit of a trance, but she used to be a nurse. She sort of went on automatic. I’m sorry, but that’s about all I can remember. Terry was in and out a few times, checking on me and the others, then trying to tend to the wounded in the graveyard until the paramedics arrived.”

  “Terry?”

  “Same here.” Terry finished his tea.

  “So let me get this clear,” Banks said. “You’re both pretty certain that Laura was the first victim, then Ben, then Francesca, then possibly the photographer Luke Merrifield, Dave Hurst and Winsome, then Diana, Charles Kemp and Katie Shea?”

  “I can’t be a hundred percent sure about Katie and Charles,” said Terry. “I was more concerned with getting people to safety by then.”

  “And I saw none after Diana, as I told you,” said Winsome. “I was inside the church by then. Do you think it means something? The order?”

  “I honestly don’t know,” said Banks. “Ten shots. Nine people hit, including you. Five women, four men. Three dead, six wounded. We found two bullets in the church door, probably the one that nicked you and the wild shot.”