Death on High (The Lakeland Murders)

by Salkeld, J J

  Even after Hall had showered and dressed he still felt a bit unsettled. But he’d decided what to do, and how to conclude the case in his own mind once and for all. He sent an email to the tech department, told them what he needed to borrow, and headed in to work.

  Hall spent most of the morning meeting with the CPS, reviewing the files against each of the individuals in Ian’s two cases. It was quite a list, and the charges against some of the names was lengthening.

  ‘We’re very dependent on Ian’s testimony for quite a few of these’ said Angie Taylor, his new CPS contact, ‘but you think that Ian will make a credible witness, seeing as he’s been undercover?’

  ‘Absolutely. He has an impeccable record in the job, we’ve accounted for every penny of cash that’s come his way during the course of it, and we’ve been careful to avoid any banana skins in terms of his identity and so on.’

  ‘So his name isn’t borrowed from a dead baby?’

  ‘No, completely invented, and he hasn’t become involved in any romantic liaisons while he’s been undercover. At least not with anyone associated with the conspirators.’

  ‘I can see why that is’ said Angie, ‘I’ve seen their mug-shots. But seriously, we do have to be careful Andy, because another bad result in a high-profile case involving undercover officers could undermine it as an investigative technique going forward.’

  Hall nodded. He took the point. ‘But you’re happy for the whole lot to be swept up as soon as Ian is safely back from their last visit to the Abbey? We’re hoping to get the metals dealer too, so we should have a couple more names to add to your list. Even the driver will be looking at conspiracy I imagine?’

  ‘Absolutely. I think you can be pretty confident that you’ll be able to get all of this little lot out of harm’s way for a year or two at least, and quite a bit more for some. This Fraser character might even give us more heads on a platter if we treat him well.’

  ‘From what Ian says all you’d need to give him is biscuits, but quite a lot of them mind.’

  Angie laughed. ‘Like I said, I’ve seen the pictures. Anyway Andy, this should all be a rather nice feather in your cap.’

  ‘I could certainly do with it, but actually it’s all down to Ian, he’s been absolutely excellent. And even Ray Dixon, that’s the DC with the perma-tan and the dodgy shoes, he’s been knocking his pan in to keep it all together. I’ve been really impressed. I didn’t know he still had it in him. ’

  ‘You’ll never make Superintendent with that kind of generosity’ said Angie, slowly putting her files into her briefcase. ‘Still, there’s more to life than money and success.’

  ‘So they keep telling me.’

  At noon Hall phoned Vicky Harrison at work. He’d sat, staring at the phone, for five minutes before he did, and had rehearsed every word he’d say.

  ‘I wanted to ask for another twenty minutes of your time.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘I think I know what happened on top of Fairfield, and why.’

  ‘You think you know?’

  ‘That’s right. I just wanted to chat it through with you.’

  ‘On your own?’

  ‘Yes, just the two of us.’

  ‘But I thought you always worked with your little friend, DC Francis. I thought you perhaps couldn’t function unless you were part of a couple.’

  Hall had often wondered that too. ‘For evidential purposes we need corroboration, and usually that means we interview in pairs. That’s all.’

  ‘And your friend wouldn’t be there too? Or hiding in the bushes somewhere?’

  Hall laughed. ‘I wasn’t going to suggest we meet in a wood.’

  ‘You’re right, it’s still a bit chilly for that. OK, come round to my place after work, about seven, and bring a bottle of wine. Then you can show me how imaginative you really are.’

  When he put the phone down Hall thought about calling Jane in and telling her what he planned to do. He wanted to, because he wanted her to know that he was doing everything that he could to prove her right, but he didn’t. It was such a long shot that he didn’t want to get her hopes up. She’d had enough disappointments in the last few days. So he spent half an hour with tech support, bought some shopping after his shift, then went home and changed.

  He knocked on Vicky Harrison’s door at ten past seven. He thought that she’d probably got changed too, though she seemed warier than she had been on the phone. He handed over the wine, and she studied the label, as if seeking to draw some conclusion about his intentions. It was a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, and it had cost almost double what Hall usually spent on wine. He started to wonder if he should have spent more.

  They settled down in the living room. Vicky had put some music on, and laid out some nibbles. Hall hadn’t eaten with the kids, and realised he was hungry.

  ‘So Andy, you think you know what happened up on Fairfield?’

  ‘I do, yes.’

  ‘But you have no eye witnesses, and no evidence whatsoever of anything other than a tragic accident.’

  ‘Exactly. That’s right. I don’t have any admissible evidence of foul play.’

  ‘So you’ve come to tell me that my husband fell, and that you no longer suspect me of having any involvement in his death.’

  ‘No, I’m afraid that’s not what I think at all, Vicky.’

  Vicky sipped her wine. If anything she looked slightly amused. Hall was sitting forward in his chair, and hadn’t touched his wine. It did look a lovely colour though.

  ‘Come on then Sherlock. Put me out of my misery. What happened? According to you anyway.’

  ‘First of all, I don’t think that it was a co-incidence that Lillian was on the hill at the same time as you and Tony. I think she followed you that day.’

  ‘Rubbish. Anyway, didn’t she say that we passed her while she was eating? So she must have been ahead of us.’

  ‘I think it was the other way around. I think she passed you while you were eating.’

  ‘What would be the point of that, if she was stalking us?’

  ‘A couple of possibilities. One is that she just got too close in the mist and fog, and had to walk past and try to make it look natural. But actually I think she wanted Tony to know she was there.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘I think they’d agreed that he was going to tell you that he was leaving you for Lillian, and that he was going to do it that day.’

  ‘I see. But you do know that my husband didn’t usually do what he was told by a woman?’

  ‘With respect Vicky, that might only have been your experience of him. But a brand new relationship, well maybe that comes with a whole new set of rules.’

  ‘Maybe it does Andy.’ Vicky put her wine glass down. Hall sensed that she was being a little more slow and deliberate than she needed to be. ‘So what happened then?’

  ‘I think he starting talking to you about it, just after the summit of Fairfield. The going was easier, and it would have been easier to talk. Plus seeing Lillian a few minutes before acted as a spur to action I’d imagine.’

  ‘So he told me that he was leaving me for her, and I pushed him over the edge? Then why didn’t she tell you that I’d done it, if she was so close to us at the time. Or are you saying that she was too far away to hear this imaginary conversation of yours?’

  ‘Oh no, I think she was very close indeed. Certainly close enough to hear Tony, very probably to be able to hear you as well.’

  Vicky nodded. ‘OK. So then what?’

  ‘He told you what had been going on with him and Lillian, but then he said that he wasn’t leaving you. I don’t think your husband had any intention of leaving you at all, Vicky. Not at any time in his affair with Lillian. He just used her. And I think that it was Lillian who pushed him. I think she ran forward, and pushed him over the edge.’

  Vicky picked up her wine glass. Hall couldn’t begin to read her expression.

  ‘So why haven’t I told you all this? Why would I possib
ly cover up for the woman who’d been having an affair with my husband?’

  ‘You tell me, but here’s a couple of ideas for now. First, I think you’re actually happier without Tony, better off too probably, and I don’t just mean in monetary terms. I think you realised that as soon as it happened too. At the very moment our eye witness saw you just standing there I think that’s exactly what was going through your mind. But I think you also sympathise with Lillian. I think you understand exactly why she did what she did. You might even wish it was you who’d done it instead.’

  Hall picked up his glass and took a cautious sip. Vicky poured herself some more, then held up her glass.

  ‘Cheers Andy. You are wasted on Kendal, you really are.’ She paused, and Hall said nothing, but he looked at her steadily. ‘Hollywood would be more your speed. That’s just a total work of the imagination.’

  ‘Not quite Vicky. What little I know for certain, about you, Tony and Lillian, is in there, and it does make sense. It’s internally coherent if you like.’

  Vicky nodded. ‘But you acknowledge there are other equally plausible explanations that would fit the facts?’

  ‘Oh yes, and the most likely by far is that your husband just slipped and fell, and that Lillian was up there by co-incidence. That’s why we’re having this chat over wine and those cheesy things, rather than down at the station. My idea is only even worth discussing if we assume that Tony’s death wasn’t an accident.’

  ‘And why do you want to believe that so much? Why are you even here? Is it because of your little friend? She’s much too young for you, you know.’

  Hall smiled. The ‘much’ was a bit harsh. ‘I just think that’s what happened. I may never be able to prove it, but I still think that’s how it was.’

  ‘Well, thanks for telling me. It passed an idle hour I suppose. But why did you bother? You can’t do anything about it.’

  Hall took another small sip and nodded. ‘I suppose it was for what our American cousins call closure. For me, as much as for you.’

  ‘I see that Andy, but I also see that your judgement at work is being influenced by your personal life. In my experience that never ends well, and I’m only a bean-counter. You’re dealing with things that really matter.’

  ‘How do you mean, influenced?’

  ‘Well you’re just going through what is obviously a very painful separation and divorce, so maybe it’s clouding your judgement.’

  Hall had thought about it, of course he had. It currently stood at about number eight on his list of worries. ‘I hope not, although of course you might be right. But to be honest it’s in a copper’s DNA not to trust anyone else’s word, and to work from the assumption that people just do pretty much what they want, when they want to do right in the moment. And that’s irrespective of the consequences for them or anyone else, not to mention whether or not what they want to do is legal. You know what I mean?’

  ‘I do.’ Vicky laughed. ‘You’re just getting a bit middle-aged and grumpy, that’s all. Now, are we done with your all theorising and story telling?’

  ‘I am if you are.’

  ‘Great, then let’s talk about you.’

  They talked for an hour, the bottle was empty, and Vicky had drunk three-quarters of it. Hall found himself wondering how much alcohol was in the wine. Vicky was funny, charming and attractive, and Hall knew that he’d need to leave soon. He resisted the urge to look at his watch. Then, just as he was about to say that he’d have to be going, Vicky changed the subject.

  ‘So you need a witness to verify what a suspect says to you?’

  ‘One person’s uncorroborated word against another won’t stand up in court.’

  ‘So I can say what I like?’

  Hall held his breath.

  ‘What if I told you that you were right? Pretty much in every detail. I suppose I shouldn’t really be surprised. My lawyer told me that you were a rare thing, a genuinely clever policeman.’

  ‘So Tony’s death wasn’t an accident?’

  ‘Lillian pushed him over, though I’m certain she didn’t mean to kill him. Why would she? And I didn’t know she was nearby before it happened, I couldn’t see her, I didn’t even sense her presence. But Tony had said some nasty, cruel things, about me and her. He was a really horrible man. Not when he was young, when we first met, but the older he got the less I loved him, then eventually I didn’t even like him. And by the end I couldn’t stand him being near me. He knew it of course, before the end, and that’s why he was treating me worse and worse. I don’t know where or how it would have ended. So Lillian has done me a favour, she really has. And I’m never going to tell anyone what she did that day.’

  Hall sat back. He was astonished, not only because it seemed that he’d been right, but also that Vicky was willing to tell him so.

  ‘Why are you telling me all this?’

  ‘Because I know it means something to you, for whatever reason, and there’s no risk to me. Is your little friend losing her job over all this?’

  ‘No, but she’s being transferred. And she’s not hopeful that she’ll get a decent job.’

  ‘So you’ll be all on your own?’

  ‘Not exactly. I always work in a team. And a colleague of mine who’s currently working elsewhere will be coming back very soon, and I’m looking forward to that.’

  ‘Pretty is she?’

  ‘Not exactly Vicky. She’s a fifteen stone ex Marine with hands like shovels.’

  ‘Sounds just my type.’

  Hall doubted that.

  ‘So what now?’ Vicky said after a while. ‘Shall I fetch us another bottle?’

  ‘No, I have to go. I need to get back in to the office tonight.’

  ‘Not something I said, I hope.’

  Hall smiled and stood up. He felt the dressing tape tighten on his chest as he did so.

  When he was back in the car, he said ‘I’m clear, you can cease recording now. Time is 8.25pm.’ When he heard the recording played back the next day Hall couldn’t hear a trace of triumph in his voice. He was going to call Jane when it was over, but decided to text her instead. He didn’t want her to say anything that might be overheard.

  Half an hour later the recording was being transcribed, and the two tech support officers who had listened live swore statements to that effect. The officer in the unmarked car outside Vicky’s house also gave a statement to the time of Hall’s arrival and departure from the house.

  Jane, who’d beaten Hall in to the station, listened back to the two sections that Hall selected, where he told Vicky what he thought had happened, and what she later admitted.

  ‘You’ve got them Andy, that’s amazing. You didn’t even bluff her. What does the CPS say?’

  ‘That it’s enough to bring Lillian in again tomorrow morning.’

  ‘What about Robinson?’

  ‘Tough. He can’t do a thing.’

  ‘Do you think he might think again about what happens to me? If we can prove that Lillian is guilty of murder, or manslaughter at least.’

  Hall looked tired. ‘Don’t get your hopes up Jane. But I wanted you to know that you’re a great detective. Your instincts were right all along. Just remember that, wherever you have to spend the next year or two.’

  ‘But how did you know Andy? Where did that all come from? I could never have come up with that.’

  ‘I don’t know Jane. Really I don’t. Pictures just form in my mind, and I wait until I see one that feels real. But does it matter anyway?’

  Thursday, 28th March

  Andy Hall often thought that if Cumbria Constabulary’s computer network was as efficient as the station’s grapevine then his emails would actually arrive a fraction of a second before he hit the send key. And sure enough Superintendent Robinson was sitting in Hall’s office when he arrived at work at seven AM. Hall wondered if Robinson still had his pyjamas on under his uniform.

  ‘Does all this get you anywhere?’ asked Robinson abruptly.

  �
�Too early to say sir.’

  ‘What does the CPS say about your covert recording? I can’t believe they’re happy about it at all.’

  ‘I checked it out in advance, and they were happy, because it was the only realistic way of making any further progress in the case. As you’ll see every word of our exchange has been transcribed, and I had an officer outside to confirm both the time that I arrived and when I left.’

  ‘Have you had some form of relationship with this woman?’

  ‘No sir, I haven’t. What makes you ask?’

  ‘The tone of some her answers implies otherwise.’

  ‘It’s not the case.’

  ‘I see.’ Robinson looked sceptical. ‘So I suppose your next move is to get Mrs. Harrison in with her lawyer to get this all confirmed?’

  ‘Yes, Ray Dixon is picking her up and will complete the interview under caution at 9am.’

  ‘And then what?’

  ‘Then we will arrest Lillian Hall, and she will be interviewed under caution.’

  ‘Do you have enough to arrest her?’

  ‘The CPS says so, yes. But I did put them on notice that you might want to chat that through with them.’

  ‘That won’t be necessary, Inspector.’ Robinson was sitting in Hall’s chair behind his desk, and Hall was still standing, coat on, by the door. ‘So I expect that you think that this development exonerates DC Francis?’

  ‘No sir, but as I said in my email to the Deputy Chief I do consider that the punishment is excessive, bearing in mind Jane’s outstanding potential and achievements to date.’