Death on High (The Lakeland Murders)

by Salkeld, J J

  ‘Things still tough at home for you too?’

  ‘It’s just a grind, the same every day. The kids moaning and wanting stuff all the time, and Bill is worse. Most days it’s bearable, but if I have a bad day at work, or I’m really tired, then it does get on top of me a bit. But let’s not talk about that, let’s get walking.’

  It wasn’t much of a day, raining steadily and as dark as dusk, but Jane didn’t mind. It was good to feel the ground under her boots, and the fatigue slowly building in her legs as they climbed. For half an hour she didn’t think about work at all, but on keeping to their route as they climbed up into the mist and low cloud.

  After another mile or so the going got easier and the path wider, and the two women fell into step side-by-side.

  ‘So is work really bad then Jane?’

  ‘Yes, couldn’t really be much worse. I’m being sent back to uniform, so I might as well quit now. That’s what they want me to do, anyway.’

  ‘Who’s they? Is your boyfriend one of them?’

  Jane smiled and let it go.

  ‘No, Andy says he fought my corner.’

  ‘And you believe him?’

  ‘Actually I do, but I was in the wrong so it wouldn’t matter if he hadn’t. I disobeyed a pretty much direct order, and I still can’t work out why I did it.’

  ‘How do you mean?’

  ‘Well it’s not like I’m even sure that one of our suspects, or both of them, did anything at all. They probably didn’t, and we’ve got nothing that would stand up in court either way. I was in all day yesterday, by which I mean all day and half the night, and I couldn’t find anything that moves us on by one inch. It’s all been a huge waste of time. So it looks as if I’ve sacrificed my career for absolutely bugger all.’

  ‘Will you really leave?’

  ‘Probably. They might see sense and give me some sort of analytical job at HQ, probably in intelligence, but that’s duller than it sounds. But knowing our Super I’ll be seeing the old dears across the road in Millom or Barrow for the rest of my career, if I did decide to stay.’

  ‘But they can’t do that, can they?’

  ‘Do what? Send me out west and make me wear a pointy hat? You bet they bloody can. This is a big county, and nothing interesting ever happens in quite a bit of it, so there are plenty of policing purgatories out there Sal, believe me.’

  ‘Maybe you’d meet some new people.’ Sally was trying a bit too hard to sound upbeat, and Jane laughed.

  ‘Like who? Most coppers are miserable bastards. I’m not sure whether the job encourages the cynical and the bitter, or whether the job turns you that way. I expect I’m already like that.’

  ‘What does your mate Andy say?’

  ‘Not a lot. But after that excruciating drink we had he’s been keeping his distance, and I can’t say I blame him.’

  ‘Not a success?’

  ‘I would rather do school crossing patrol in Millom in a blizzard than have to sit through that again.’

  Sally laughed.

  ‘Why was it so awful? I thought you two were soulmates.’

  ‘I never said that. I don’t know really. I really wanted there to be a spark, you know. But his wife’s only been gone five minutes, we work together, I’m out of practice, take your pick really. Could be one of a dozen reasons.’

  They walked on in silence for a while.

  ‘So you really think the worst will happen?’ asked Sally. ‘There’s no possibility that this will all blow over and things will get back to normal? That’s what usually happens at my place when someone blots their copybook.’

  ‘No. And even if, by some miracle, I made real progress in this case, and let’s say my actions were vindicated, it still wouldn’t help.’

  ‘And you don’t believe in miracles anyway.’

  ‘I most certainly do not. You get what you deserve in this life.’ Jane started to feel a stitch building as the gradient steepened again, but she wasn’t going to let that slow her down.

  Ian Mann had another long conversation with Andy Hall on the phone on Sunday afternoon. It didn’t reassure him.

  ‘So you’re saying that all these pencil-pushers know who I am and what’s going off tonight?’

  ‘Afraid so Ian, but as Robinson says they’re unlikely to be involved with the likes of Spedding.’

  ‘That’s easy for him to say, from the safety of a well padded chair in his office.’

  ‘Point taken, but realistically he may have a point. Ray is well up for it anyway. He’s going to be in position three hours before you turned up last time, and the cars will be deployed to their holding positions as soon as you’re at the Abbey.’

  ‘I hope Ray’s bladder holds out.’

  Hall laughed. ‘Doesn’t bear thinking about, does it? But he’s done a tremendously thorough job. You know what a good copper he is when he actually puts his mind to it.’

  ‘I’ve seen the odd glimpse over the years. So afterwards I’m to clear out of the house immediately?’

  ‘No. I’ve convinced Robinson to let you stay undercover for just a bit longer, just in case we don’t round up Brockbank, Spedding and the rest for another day or two. You know what it’s like, swearing Warrants, getting the health and safety assessments done. All that stuff, it can take days, especially if we need Tactical Support to knock down any doors. But it won’t be long now. Are you looking forward to coming in from the cold?’

  ‘Aye, of course. It’ll be good to see Julie, my dad, even you lot at work. But in some ways I’ll miss all this. I’ve enjoyed the freedom to make my own decisions, you know what I mean?’

  ‘I do. You’re tactfully telling me that it’s good not to have me ordering you about the whole time.’

  Mann laughed. ‘Robinson more like. But I suppose I like the risk, that feeling of working without a safety net.’

  ‘Not the best analogy Ian, under the circumstances, but I know what you mean. So you feel good about tonight?’

  ‘In lots of ways I do. I know where we’re going, and what I’ll be doing when I get there. And on balance knowing that Ray is going to be my guardian angel makes me feel better. At least I think it does anyway.’

  And Mann didn’t have as long to wait for the off that evening. He was ready at eleven, and the knock came at half past. It was raining hard, and the wind was getting up all the time.

  ‘Thought we’d make an earlier start’ said Spedding as they drove, ‘this weather ain’t going to help. We’re going to try your hoist Gary, so that should let us get more stuff down on each load. But I still don’t think we’ll get it all off tonight, but let’s see, eh?’

  ‘Won’t water start pissing through the ceiling this time?’ asked Mann.

  ‘No. I’m told by someone who should know that it’ll take weeks before anything comes through. And we’ve had a good look at the place this week, there’s been no-one up ladders or owt like that. So we’ve not been tumbled or grassed-up.’

  Mann didn’t like the sound of the person who should know, but he nodded and the rest of the drive passed in silence. Mann made an effort not to look at any of the cars they saw, but he still wondered if any of them contained Police.

  When they were back up on the roof it took longer than Mann had expected to rig his hoist, because the rain was coming in at forty five degrees, and the wind was gusting higher all the time.

  ‘I hope this is worth it, marrer’ said Spedding, as they struggled with the last of the scaffold ties on the hoist. But after another ten minutes the new hoist was up and running, and Spedding and Mann settled in to a rhythm. Soon Mann was easily keeping pace, clipping out sections of lead and carrying them over to the hoist. But the rain and wind still made progress slow.

  ‘It’s amazing how much lead there is on a big old roof like this’ said Spedding, when they stopped briefly to eat. Mann put down his insulated flask, screwed the top back on and looked at what they’d done. His head torch flicked round what he could see of the roof, the rain sla
nting sharply through the beam. They’d taken most of the higher flashing and decorative lead work, but Spedding was right, there was still plenty left. ‘I reckon we’ve still only got half of it. It really is pissing down now Joey, are you sure it’s not going to get straight through those valleys if we strip them off?’

  ‘I was, but I see what you mean. Tell you what. Let’s get all the rest of the higher stuff tonight, and we’ll do all that lead guttering and stuff next time. Have you got another hour in you?’

  ‘And the rest Joey.’

  ‘Good lad. Right, let’s get back to it. Where there’s lead there’s brass. And we’ll just come back for the rest in a night or two, OK?’

  Ray Dixon was enjoying himself. He’d got the keys to the ticket office that afternoon, and a side window gave him a great view of the Abbey. He had night vision glasses too, so he was able to see Spedding and Mann every time one of them came over to the edge to load the basket with lead sheeting. Rather them than me thought Dixon, tucking in to one of the sandwiches that his wife had made him. It was delicious.

  Eventually he saw Mann and Spedding taking their hoist apart, and over the radio he warned the cars to be ready. He’d hand picked the drivers himself. They were all good drivers, and they were all calm, experienced coppers with it.

  ‘Just take the lorry. Let the car go’ he reminded them as he watched Mann and Spedding abseiling down the side of the building. Two minutes later the Abbey was deserted, but Dixon stayed where he was and listened to the radio traffic.

  He’d guessed correctly about which way the lorry would go, west back towards Carlisle and the M6, so his best driver, a Sergeant called Dave Wilson, would be the lead driver, and he would guide the other cars. His headlights were off, but the car was rigged so the rear lights all worked as usual, and his co-driver had a pair of night vision glasses. Wilson had no trouble following the lorry down the dark lanes, staying well back and just following the light spilling from the truck’s headlights onto the trees and dry stone walls at the side of the road. He gave a calm and continuous commentary, and everyone else kept quiet. It was a textbook covert pursuit.

  About a mile from the main trunk road Wilson reported that the truck had stopped at a gate into what looked like farm buildings, and its lights were now off. He held back, waiting for instructions, and then reported that the truck had gone into the yard. Dixon told him to get as close as he could, but proceed with caution, and he called the other vehicles forward to cover nearby roads. Dixon listened with mounting irritation as the drivers tried to work out who was going where, and where exactly they actually needed to be. Wilson’s radio was completely silent.

  ‘I’m at the gates’ he reported eventually. ‘Locked and everything is quiet. Maybe they’ve parked up, and left on foot.’

  ‘Could there be another way out?’ asked Dixon.

  ‘Nothing on this road that I can see, is there another lane nearby? Oh shit, I can hear a lorry accelerating.’

  ‘Is it coming back your way? Have you been clocked?’

  ‘Negative, negative. Which way down this lane should I go? Someone, quick, which way? They’re getting away.’

  The next twenty minutes were completely chaotic. Wilson guessed and went the wrong way, and by the time he’d found the back entrance to the yard other cars were covering the roads all around, but there was no sign of the lorry. Dixon had worked up a private back-up plan in case of a total cock-up, and he sent his vehicles to cover the main roads, including the M6 north and south.

  At dawn he stood them all down. There were no metal smelters close to the Abbey, so he had cars sent to every one within a fifty mile radius. They could call it a spot-check, or part of a national crackdown or something, so as not to risk blowing Ian’s cover. But Dixon knew it was no good. The lead had all been transferred onto another vehicle and was probably already miles away, heading to one of the big cities in the north east, north west or midlands. Maybe even on its way abroad.

  Before he drove home Dixon caught up with Wilson at the yard, and met the farmer who owned the place. It took less than five minutes to discover that he was completely uninvolved, and not remotely happy about the whole thing either.

  ‘So what do you reckon on this job then Ray?’ asked Wilson, as the two men stood looking at the back gate. ‘Do you reckon they spotted the tail?’

  ‘Do you?’

  ‘Honestly, I don’t. You’d have to have fantastic eyesight to see us in the truck’s mirrors. I’ve done a lot of these, and I’ve never known it happen. And I can’t see them having a spotter out on the road, can you?’

  ‘No, the car left ahead of the lorry, and I counted out all the blokes who came in. There was no-one else.’

  ‘So I guess that leaves two options’ said Wilson, ‘but you’re the detective, not me.’

  ‘Not for much longer at this rate. But yes, either they did that as a routine precaution, or they were tipped-off that we’d be following. I hope to Christ they’re just careful.’

  ‘So what now?’

  ‘I’ll talk to that farmer again, now he’s calmed down a bit, and find out if he’s ever suspected something like this has happened before. Then I’ll head down the road and face the music.’

  Monday, 25th March

  Andy Hall woke from a vivid dream, lay still for a minute, and couldn’t resist the urge to check his phone. There were three messages from Ray Dixon.

  He phoned Ian Mann. He was back at the house in Carlisle, and had been asleep too.

  ‘I can’t let you stay there Ian, you’re totally exposed as things stand.’

  ‘Hang on Andy, we’ve not finished the job.’ Mann’s voice sounded thick with exhaustion.

  ‘That doesn’t matter. You’re out, as of now. Get yourself in here in a few hours and we’ll start sorting out the arrests. The CPS has the files, and they know who they’re planning to charge with what. Your boy Brockbank is facing quite a long list.’

  Mann was silent for a moment.

  ‘There is another way Andy.’

  ‘What’s that?’

  ‘Put a couple of guys on to watch this place, just for today, until we see if they tumbled us or were just being careful. Joey’s not stupid you know, and I get the feeling that the lorry and driver are supplied by his customer. So that might just be part of their routine. I honestly don’t think they’re on to me.’

  ‘So you’re suggesting that we let this run until you go back for yet another go at that roof? Robinson will never wear that, let alone the likes of Gory Gorham.’

  ‘Why not? I’ve already helped vandalise a priceless load of lead-work in an effort to catch the people behind this, so why not stay with it? It was the plan before, and everyone bought in. As it stands the job’s only half done at best.’

  ‘I take your point. By the way the lead you’re nicking isn’t old, it was all replaced in the 1960s, and a pretty bad job they made of it apparently. One of the heritage types who I spoke to about it all said you were doing the nation a favour by lifting it.’

  ‘There we are then. I should definitely see it through.’

  This time it was Hall who went quiet. Suddenly he felt very tired.

  ‘So you want me to say to the powers that be that we want to have yet another go?’

  ‘Yes, and this time we nick them all after, no matter what happens.’

  ‘And what if the truck driver has other ruses up his sleeve to lose a tail? I don’t think we can assume that he’d only do it once.’

  ‘Fair point. We’ll need to get an electronic tracker on it then.’

  ‘Well it worked on the tea trolley’ said Hall, in what he fancied was a cockney accent.

  ‘What?’

  ‘Nothing, just a line from The Sweeney. It doesn’t matter. But listen Ian, was it the same lorry both times do you think?’

  ‘No, different.’

  ‘So we won’t be able to get something on it before the job, even if we could find it between now and whenever you go back.�
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  ‘No, I suppose not.’

  ‘Which means that we’d have to get Ray Dixon, the last of the bloody Mohicans, to do the job while the lorry is at the Abbey itself, and there are bloody villains all over the place.’

  ‘Aye, I suppose so. But since he’s turned into such an action man lately I’m sure he’d be up for it.’

  ‘That’s what I’m worried about’ said Hall. ‘OK Ian, you sit tight for now. I’ll get a couple of lads outside within the hour, armed mind.’

  ‘Is that really necessary?’

  ‘That’s the wrong question to be asking mate.’

  ‘How d’you mean?’

  ‘Shouldn’t you be checking that our lads know what you look like, just in case they shoot the bloke who looks most like a con?’

  Mann was too tired to even raise a laugh.

  ‘Good night Andy.’

  Hall didn’t bother trying to sleep, but showered and went straight in to work. Ray Dixon arrived just as he did.

  ‘I’m really sorry about this boss.’

  ‘Don’t be Ray. You couldn’t possibly have covered off all the unknown unknowns. We got caught out. It happens, and we’ll just have to chalk one up to the other side. You get off home for a kip in a bit, but before you go I wanted to ask you a couple of things.’

  ‘You want to know if we were rumbled?’

  ‘Exactly.’

  ‘I couldn’t swear to it boss, but I’d say not. There were no signs of panic or hurry when they left the job, and I don’t see how Wilson could have been spotted, even on those lanes. It was pissing down, the driver’s mirrors must have been streaming, and Wilson is very, very good.’

  ‘What about the farmer? Did he reckon they’d done it before?’