As The Crow Flies (The DI Nick Dixon Crime Series)

by Boyd, Damien

  Dixon was giving Gorman a lift back to Bridgwater in his Land Rover. He felt that he might have misjudged Gorman.

  ‘Thanks again for dealing with Standish.’

  ‘It was a pleasure, Sir. He and I go way back.’

  ‘How so?’

  ‘When you check his record, you’ll see an assault on police a few years ago. The bastard got off with a suspended sentence.’

  ‘You?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘What goes around comes around.’

  ‘That it does, Sir.’

  Dixon drove down through Axbridge to join the A371.

  ‘Mind if we swing by Cheddar Station on the way, while we’re here? They’ve got a phone there I need to have a look at.’

  ‘Not at all, Sir. Anything interesting?’

  ‘Not really.’

  The station was closed so Dixon rang PC Cole on his mobile.

  ‘He’ll be back in twenty minutes. Mind if we wait?’

  Dixon drove up the gorge and parked below High Rock. Two large birds of prey were flying overhead near the tops of the cliffs on the north side of the gorge.

  ‘Look at them. What are they, hawks of some sort?’

  ‘Peregrine falcons, Sir. There’s a pair nesting on Priest Rock.’

  Gorman spotted the blood soaked sand at the foot of High Rock.

  ‘You’d have thought they’d have cleaned that up by now.’

  ‘Rotten isn’t it?’

  ‘Still, saved me a shitload of paperwork.’

  ‘Paperwork?’

  ‘Yes, he was a dealer.’

  ‘Who was?’

  ‘The guy who fell. Fayter. I was just about to nick him.’

  ‘Jake Fayter was dealing drugs?’

  ‘Yes, Sir. Not only that. He supplied the ecstasy that killed the Williams girl.’

  Jake Fayter…dealing drugs…killed the Williams girl…fuck...

  Dixon felt sick. His head was spinning. He got out of the Land Rover and walked across to the foot of High Rock. Gorman followed.

  ‘Did you know him, Sir?’

  ‘He was my climbing partner for six years before I joined the Met.’

  Dixon dropped Gorman at Bridgwater Police Station and was home by 5.00pm. There was a mountain of paperwork to be done to wind up Operation Magpie but it could wait until tomorrow. He needed time to think.

  Five

  Dixon had a restless night and was in his office by 7.00am the following morning. He powered up his computer to find two emails from PC Cole. The first attached a number of photographs and a short video clip. The second attached five witness statements that had been scanned into PDF format. Dixon looked first at the witness statements. They were handwritten, all by the same officer, and clearly one who regarded Jake’s death to have been a routine climbing accident. The version of events in each statement was almost identical and Dixon suspected that the officer had led the witness through what happened. A statement in which a witness simply has to answer yes or no throughout may be good enough for a coroner but would be nothing like good enough for a murder investigation. The witnesses would need to be interviewed again.

  All of the witnesses were agreed that Jake had been climbing at the time the rope fell from the top of High Rock. They also confirmed that Jake hung on for a further two or three minutes after the rope dropped to the ground before he finally fell to his death. Dixon hoped that this would be confirmed in the video footage.

  Dixon turned to the other email. There were twenty-seven photographs in all and the video clip. Only three had been taken using a zoom lens. The others had all been taken from the ground looking up and Jake appeared to be a tiny dot high up on the rock face.

  The cameraman who took the last three photographs had crossed the road and moved a little way up the north side of the gorge to improve the angle. He or she had also zoomed in on Jake as much as possible and he could be seen quite clearly. In the first two photographs Jake was sitting back on the rope with his feet touching the rock face. He was looking up and Dixon recognised the familiar arm movements that told him Jake was working through the sequence in his mind.

  In the third and final photograph Jake could be seen climbing. It looked to Dixon as though Jake’s left hand and left foot were sharing the same hold at the top of a crack and he was reaching out as high as he could up the bulging wall above.

  Dixon turned his attention to the video clip and clicked on the movie icon. He could see that the clip was 6 minutes and 37 seconds in length and without hesitation he clicked play. It was immediately obvious that the video camera had no zoom lens and the cameraman had clearly done nothing to improve the angle either, filming from the car park at the foot of High Rock. No doubt the High Tech Unit could enhance the film. Jake could be seen on the bulging wall above where the last of the photographs had been taken. The clip began with Jake sitting back on the rope. He placed each of his hands in his chalk bag in turn and then rubbed them together. Then he reached forward with his left hand to take a hold on the rock face. He positioned his feet on footholds and began climbing. Dixon made a note of the time. 1 minute and 12 seconds.

  He watched as Jake made four moves in sequence before he stopped for a rest. Dixon could see that Jake’s weight was still on the rock. He was resting each arm in turn and could also be seen shifting his weight from his left foot to his right and then back again. Dixon thought they must have been better holds enabling Jake to stay in balance.

  Suddenly Jake looked up. Dixon could see the rope falling from the top of High Rock and made a note of the time. 3 minutes and 42 seconds.

  Dixon watched as Jake hugged the rock face. The rope fell past him and Dixon could see it was trailing over his back. He watched as Jake released the shunt and the rope and rucksack fell to the ground. He could see Jake looking up, clearly intending to try to climb out, but for some reason Jake didn’t move. Dixon couldn’t see why from this distance and made a mental note to get the video footage enhanced.

  Then Jake fell. Thankfully, the cameraman turned away. The film ended at 6 minutes 37 seconds. Dixon could feel tears streaming down his cheeks.

  By 9.00am he had watched the video footage four more times. Jake’s weight had been off the rope for 2 minutes and 30 seconds before it fell from the top of High Rock. This would have offered plenty of time for the knot to have been undone. Something else had struck Dixon as a bit odd although it hadn’t occurred to him until his last look at the film. There was no shout or cry for help from Jake at all. Not even when he fell. Dixon wondered whether the camera microphone had not picked it up but no doubt the High Tech Unit could confirm.

  He made himself a coffee and sat down to watch the last sequence frame by frame.

  Each click of the mouse advanced the film one frame at a time. He had scrolled forward to the point just before the rope came down and looked at each frame intently from that point onwards. He could see Jake resting his left leg, no doubt trying to fight the shakes. Otherwise, the exercise revealed nothing of interest except the fact that Jake never once looked down. The fall, when it came, appeared graceful. Dixon suspected that Jake had reached the point when he knew that he could hang on no longer and gave up the fight. He had experienced that for himself on more than one occasion.

  Dixon watched as the cameraman turned away from High Rock. He kept clicking, taking the film forward frame by frame, as the camera panned sharply to the right taking in the top of Priest Rock, then blue sky until finally the cliffs on the north side of the gorge came into view. Dixon froze. He wound the film back 10 or so seconds and then began to take it forward again frame by frame. He could not be sure what it was that he had seen but he needed a closer look.

  There it was. A figure standing at the right hand end of the terrace at the foot of Heart Leaf Bluff, the top tier of three on the north side of the gorge. Dixon could just make out a blue top and then, thirty feet above, a climber. They appeared to be doing a route called Dinner Date, which he knew well. It had been his f
irst lead.

  Dixon would need to get this frame blown up by the High Tech Unit but the significance of it was clear. He would need to check, of course, but as far as he could recall anyone standing on the terrace below Heart Leaf Bluff would have a clear view of the top of High Rock.

  Dixon wondered what efforts PC Cole had made to trace any other witnesses in the gorge that day and immediately left a message at Cheddar Police Station for him to ring straightaway. Those climbers had to be traced.

  Dixon looked again at the witness statements. None made reference to any climbers on the north side of the gorge. He made a note that those witnesses would need to be spoken to again. He was just about to telephone Cheddar Police Station again when DCI Lewis appeared in the doorway.

  ‘A good result yesterday.’

  ‘It was, Sir, thank you.’

  ‘I gather that Gorman was the hero of the hour?’

  ‘He was. I certainly wouldn’t want to have been opposite him in the scrum.’

  ‘It must be the low centre of gravity. It was excellent work though, Nick, well done.’

  ‘Thank you, Sir.’

  ‘Any progress on the Cheddar incident?’

  ‘It turns out that Jake Fayter had been dealing ecstasy, Sir. Gorman was just about to arrest him for supplying the ecstasy that killed the Williams girl.’

  ‘Fuck me.’

  ‘Not only that but the film footage taken on the day shows climbers high up on the north side of the gorge. They would have had a clear view of the top of High Rock at precisely the time Jake’s rope failed.’

  ‘You need to find those witnesses sharpish.’

  ‘I do.’

  ‘Anything else?’

  ‘The film also shows Jake’s weight off the rope for 2 minutes and 30 seconds at the critical time. That’s plenty of time for the knot to have been undone.’

  ‘And you have a possible motive if he killed Jenna Williams.’

  ‘I do, Sir, yes. I need access to the Williams file in the first instance.’

  ‘I’ll speak to Gorman. Need anything else?’

  ‘Not at this stage. Just some time, really.’

  ‘Well, subject to anything else coming in and finishing off Operation Magpie, of course, take as long as you need.’

  Dixon overheard the conversation between DCI Lewis and DS Gorman.

  ‘That case is closed, Sir.’

  Dixon could not hear the response.

  ‘How can it possibly be relevant to a simple climbing accident in Cheddar Gorge?’

  Dixon heard the parting shot from DCI Lewis.

  ‘Just give him the file, Steve, and give it to him now.’

  It was mid morning before PC Cole called back. Dixon explained the need to enhance the video footage and the three photographs that had been taken with the zoom lens. Dixon also asked what efforts were being made to trace other witnesses in the gorge.

  ‘None, Sir’

  ‘Well, you’d better get onto it, constable. The video clip shows two climbers high on the north side of the gorge. They would’ve had a clear view of the top of High Rock. We need to speak to them.’

  ‘I’ll get onto that straightaway, Sir. I’ll place the usual road side signs and get an appeal in the local paper.’

  ‘Climbers will travel from miles around to climb in the gorge this time of year. Get in touch with the main climbing magazines and websites. I’ll get onto the various climbing clubs and forums and see if they can help.’

  ‘Right.’

  ‘Are there any other photographs?’

  ‘None that are relevant, Sir.’

  ‘Any others taken in the gorge at all?’

  ‘Some, but they don’t show Fayter.’

  ‘Maybe not, but they may show cars parked and one of those cars may belong to the climbers we need to speak to.’

  ‘I understand, Sir.’

  ‘Make no mistake about it, the video clip shows that Jake Fayter’s weight was off the rope for two and a half minutes just before he fell. That’s plenty of time for the knot to have been undone. He was also the main suspect in the death of Jenna Williams.’

  ‘The ecstasy overdose?’

  ‘Yes.’

  Dixon spent the next half an hour leaving posts on various internet forums asking for anyone climbing in the gorge at the time of the fall to contact the police. There was a flurry of responses from concerned climbers, some of whom said they knew Jake, but nothing positive straightaway. Dixon subscribed to each thread so he would get an email alert when any further comments were left.

  Dixon let his mind wander back to his ascent of Dinner Date. Jake had been holding his ropes, of course. It had been Dixon’s first route in Cheddar Gorge. It was a short single pitch route but it felt as if you were stepping off the edge of the world. From the end of the terrace it was exposed to the full height of the gorge almost immediately. Dixon had not read the guidebook properly either and had climbed past the belay point and topped out. He found out later that there were rare orchids on the top of the cliffs but he didn’t think that he had trodden on anything precious.

  Dixon spent the rest of the day interviewing Standish and his two cronies. Standish looked faintly ridiculous covered in bandages and plasters and it had taken the hospital over fifty stitches to sew him up. The interview proved to be unproductive with Standish answering ‘no comment’ to each and every question.

  The interviews with the other two burglars had proved to be more worthwhile. Both made full admissions detailing a string of burglaries, which matched those under investigation. It included the burglary in Torquay as well as two others of which the team had not been aware.

  The search warrants in Bristol had turned up a significant volume of paperwork from each burglary. A number of computers had also been seized and these were with the High Tech Unit for examination. There remained a good deal of work to be done to prepare the case for future court hearings and this would no doubt keep the team busy for the next few weeks. Dixon would need to supervise this process, of course, but assuming nothing else came in, he would have plenty of time to look into Jake’s death.

  It was late afternoon before Dixon got back to his desk. He found the Williams case file waiting for him.

  DC Jane Winter appeared in the doorway.

  ‘At Bridge House, Sir, you used the words ‘another medal’’?

  ‘Just a turn of phrase, Jane, don’t worry about it.’

  Gorman appeared in the doorway behind Jane who took her cue to leave.

  ‘You’re wasting your time with that,’ said Gorman, pointing to the Williams file.

  ‘Maybe, but I’m investigating the death of the prime suspect. I’d be negligent if I didn’t at least read the file, don’t you think?’ replied Dixon.

  ‘I suppose so but you’ll see it was pretty clear cut. A witness saw Fayter give her the drugs and an hour later she was dead.’

  ‘Leave it with me, Steve. I’ll let you have the file back in the morning. Maybe we can have another chat about it then? I’ve had enough for today, I think.’

  Dixon took the Williams file home with him. It was dark by the time he reached his cottage so Monty would have to be content with a walk around the roads followed by twenty minutes in the Red Cow. Dixon had always thought it a little odd that he did his best thinking when he was doing something else. Driving and walking his dog were always the most productive. Walking with a Staffordshire terrier always afforded him plenty of time to think because other dog walkers would invariably give them a wide berth. Not that Monty was aggressive, of course, but people always assumed that he was.

  Twenty minutes in the Red Cow turned into an hour and a half. Dixon managed to get in a couple of beers and a ham, egg and chips. He was back home by 8.00pm. He opened a can of beer and sat on the floor with the Williams file. He made a mental note to get himself an armchair as soon as possible.

  The file itself was comparatively thin. There were statements from the parents of the dead girl, a post-mor
tem report and five from people in the nightclub at the time. Two girls had been with Jenna Williams on an evening out, Lisa Doe and Kelly Sanders. Dixon read their statements first. Both denied any knowledge of drug taking on Jenna’s part but otherwise gave a detailed description of the events leading up to her death. It was only afterwards, apparently, that Lisa and Kelly found out that Jenna had been taking drugs.

  Of the other three witness statements, two were from staff at the nightclub who gave details of the drinks consumed by Jenna and her friends. Dixon did not think them excessive. He then turned to the post mortem report, which confirmed that Jenna had died from an overdose of PMA, a refined and infinitely more potent form of ecstasy. Dixon had come across it in London and knew it to be far more dangerous than standard ecstasy. The last statement came from a Conrad Benton who saw Jake supply the drugs to Jenna.

  Benton’s statement represented the only evidence of any wrongdoing on Jake's part. He had been outside the nightclub at the time smoking a cigarette when he saw Jake hand to Jenna Williams a small clear plastic bag and receive what looked to be two ten pound notes in return. On the face of it, this was clear evidence of a drug deal taking place. The identification was sound too. Benton and Jake Fayter had been at school together. Both had attended King Alfred's Comprehensive School in Burnham-on-Sea in the early nineties and although they were not in the same year, they had been at the same school for three years. Benton was two years below Jake.

  What troubled Dixon was that Benton’s statement was dated three weeks before Jake's death. An identification parade would not have been required and Dixon could not understand why Jake had not been arrested straightaway. Perhaps Gorman had been looking for some corroborating evidence for Benton's story but, at the very least, Dixon thought that Jake should have been interviewed under caution. He would need to check this with Gorman in due course. He would also need to check whether Benton had a police record before paying him a visit.

  Dixon knocked on the door of the Fayter’s bungalow in Braithwaite Place just after 10.00am the following morning. He had taken the precaution of ringing ahead to ensure that Maureen Fayter would be out. He had also arranged for a police dog handler to meet him at the bungalow.