Death on High (The Lakeland Murders) (14 page)

At eleven o’clock that night Mann was ready. He’d spoken to Andy Hall, who’d said that Gorham was lobbying hard for close support and observation to be in place that night.

‘What do you think Ian?’

‘Absolutely not, Andy. You wouldn’t think it, but that woman’s got a very fertile imagination. If they hadn’t bought our story then they’d just have made it clear that they’d tumbled me and left it at that. It’s not the bloody Mafia we’re talking about here. I’m at no risk, and we have no idea what this job is. They’re obviously being cautious, feeling me out, so we shouldn’t do a thing to spook them.’

‘That’s more or less what I said. The Chief authorised all this, and if it makes them queasy having a Police officer actively involved in criminal activity then they shouldn’t have done it this way in the first place.’

‘I agree. You don’t sound yourself Andy, anything up?’

‘Something and nothing. I’m starting to get a bad feeling about that death up on Fairfield, and to make matters worse Jane seems to be turning it in to a one-woman crusade. It’s not like her to be irrational about work. Obsessive maybe, but not irrational.’

‘Welcome to the club, eh?’

‘I suppose so. Anyway, you take it easy tonight. My phone will be on all night.’

Mann sat in the living room with the light off, waiting for a knock at the door. He was dressed in dark clothes again, and in his pocket he had gloves, a torch and a balaclava. It really was like being back in the forces.

By half-twelve he wondered if he had been rumbled, and that this was Spedding’s slightly melodramatic way of letting him know, but a few minutes later he heard a quiet knock at the front door. A small lorry was outside, the back door was open, and whoever had knocked had vanished. Talk about making it obvious, thought Mann.

Tom Rigg and a man that Mann didn’t recognise were in the back, and Mann nodded a greeting. They didn’t drive for long, not more than fifteen minutes, and the lorry never got up any speed. When they stopped the doors opened and Spedding took the bag of tools that Rigg handed over before he climbed out. The other men were all wearing hoodies, but Mann pulled on his balaclava. It felt very old school, and when the time came it would be an easy way for Mann to be recognised by other cops.

Spedding greeted Mann quietly, and nodded to the gates ahead of them. ‘When we’re in we’ve got five minutes to load up’ he said quietly, ‘so be quick.’ It was a storage yard, belonging to an electricity company by the looks of it. Rigg passed Mann a pair of wire cutters, and while Spedding watched the road the other three cut a large hole in the wire fence and pulled the cut section clear.

Rigg led the way and the other two followed into the yard, running as the security lights came on. Mann could see the security cameras too, covering the whole yard. Rigg took a crowbar from his bag and wrenched the hinges off the gate to the inner yard.

The next few minutes passed in a blur, as Mann and the others carried the big bales of copper wire back to the lorry. His lungs were bursting by the time he went back for his third bale. ‘Just one more each’ said Rigg as Mann passed him. Afterwards Mann wondered why he hadn’t heard the security van approaching, or seen it’s flashing lights, but he did hear the shouting outside as he lifted his last bale of wire. But it had gone completely quiet by the time he’d manhandled his last coil of copper out of the inner yard, across the floodlit yard and through the hole in the fence.

He was lifting the bale into the van when he saw the uniformed figure lying face down on the ground, and the van behind, it’s lights on, engine running and driver’s door wide open. Mann had a split second to decide what to do. Suddenly the pain in his arms, shoulder and back from all the lifting was gone. All his instincts told him to take Spedding down hard, and to do his best with the other two.

He hesitated for a second, partly because he couldn’t tell how badly the guard had been hurt, and he turned and saw Rigg and the other man pushing out their last bales of copper.  Mann made a snap decision, he’d stay undercover. The security bloke might not be badly hurt, and an alarm must be sounding somewhere already.

Spedding must have already been in the driver’s seat, because Mann couldn’t see him as he helped get the last bale aboard the truck, and as soon as Rigg pulled the door closed behind him Mann banged on the metal wall between the him and the cab. Spedding accelerated away hard. Rigg and the other man were breathing heavily, and no-one spoke. Mann wasn’t sure he could.

They’d only driven for about two minutes when the truck stopped. This time it was Spedding banging on the back of the cab, and Rigg opened the back door. ‘Out’ he said, and Mann jumped down, followed by the other two. He’d already taken his balaclava off, and he took off his heavy work gloves too He vaguely recognised where they were, in a car park on the eastern edge of the town, just a few minutes from the motorway, and Mann set off on foot for home, letting the other two get a bit ahead of him. Within a couple of minutes they had both turned off, and Mann walked the rest of the way home alone.

He took the precaution of walking past his house, checking the cars as he went, then crossed and came back on the other side of the road. He was confident that the house wasn’t under surveillance. When he called Hall from inside he picked up the phone immediately.

‘How’s the security guard?’

‘She’s going to be fine. Nasty bump on the back of her head, and she lost a few teeth when she went down, and picked up a few cuts and bruises as well, but there’s no permanent damage.’

‘She? It was a woman?’

‘They do let women do security patrols these days you know Ian. But don’t worry, she was up and talking when the ambulance arrived. She will be fine after a few days rest and a trip to the dentist.’

‘Thank Christ. I saw him, I mean her, on the ground, but it was too dark to see the damage. I’ve been shitting myself all the way back here.’

‘Did you see what happened?’

‘No. It was Spedding who did it. I was doing the grunt work, lugging the copper out to the lorry. I didn’t see it happen.’

‘Would you have stopped him if you could?’

‘Too right. I would have beaten the shit out of the bastard, whether it was a man or a woman he hit.’

‘That would have been the end of the operation.’

‘I know, but I am who I am Andy. I’ve got twenty-odd years experience of dealing with bad guys when I see them, no questions asked, and Spedding is a nasty piece of work.’

‘So what did you get that we can use? Registration of the lorry?’

‘SN 05 UPC’

‘How many up?’

‘Spedding, Rigg and a bloke I didn’t recognise.’

‘OK, give me five minutes to get this number through and checked, and I’ll call you back.’

Mann rang off, opened the front door and looked outside. Nothing. Then he went in and made a coffee. He was still stirring it when Hall called back.

‘Plates are false of course, and it’ll be a while before they get the CCTV. Spedding didn’t tell you anything about the job in advance, or where the stuff was going? Who he was selling to, anything like that?’

‘No, it was strictly mushroom management.’

‘You must be used to that.’

Mann laughed. ‘No, he said nothing. It will be interesting to see what happens next though. I haven’t been paid for a start. I hope he doesn’t pay so I can give him a hiding.’

‘You take it easy when you see him, you hear? Give it a day or two if you think there’s a risk that you might lose it and sort the bloke out, or nick him even.’

‘Good idea Andy. I’ll lay low for a day or two, and if he doesn’t contact me then I’ll go looking.’

‘All right. You just get some sleep now, OK?’

‘Yes mum’ said Mann. He never tired of saying it.

Wednesday 6th March

Andy Hall wasn’t remotely surprised to see Val Gorham walk into the station just ahead of him. She had the look of an early riser. But he was surprised to see the Chief just in front of her. As soon as he reached his desk Hall called the Cumberland Infirmary,and checked on the guard’s condition. Subject to the consultant having a look at her she’d be out that day.

Twenty minutes later he was in the conference room, sitting opposite the Chief and Val Gorham, and with Robinson next to him.

‘So what you’re saying Inspector is that DS Mann was unaware of the assault on Ms’ the Chief looked at his notes, ‘Frobisher?’

‘That’s right sir. Ian was shifting bales of copper wire at the time. The first he knew about it was when he returned to the truck with his last load. When I spoke to him last night he’d assumed that the guard was a man.’

‘We’ve watched the CCTV. Your DS is certainly an enthusiastic participant in these enterprises, isn’t he?’ said Gorham.

Hall let the ‘your’ pass. But it was time to get a few things clear, and agreed. ‘What do you expect him to do? Work very slowly and incompetently? Ian is doing a fine job of infiltrating two organised crime syndicates, and it will take time. All he can do is become a trusted member of their enterprise, and then discover what we’ll need to put their whole network away. That’s how undercover operations work.’

The Chief cleared his throat. Gorham took the hint and said nothing. ‘Any word on the lorry so far, or Spedding?’ asked the Chief.

Hall shook his head. ‘I’d expect Spedding to be back in Carlisle quite quickly, and for the lorry to turn up again too, probably back on its correct plates.’

‘And the copper wire?’

‘It will probably have been melted down already. As you know it’s identifiable in its current form, but what they stole has a substantial value as scrap, probably north of ten thousand quid.’

‘So you’re suggesting that we continue with this operation DI Hall, even though to date all we have are low level operatives, at the cost of three stolen tractors, a large quantity of copper and a young security guard with a bang to the head and a mouthful of broken teeth?’

Hall didn’t say anything, and so the Chief answered his own question. ‘It doesn’t seem like a very good return, from where I’m sitting.’

‘Are you saying that you want us to withdraw Ian sir, and make arrests on the basis of what we have?’ asked Hall.

‘Is that your recommendation?’

‘No, sir. I believe that Ian will achieve excellent results in one or even both of these cases, but he will need more time.’

‘And you are willing to take ownership of that decision?’ asked the Chief.

‘I am Chief’ said Robinson, before Hall could reply. ‘Andy and DS Mann are under my command, and I accept full and absolute responsibility for all outcomes.’ Val Gorham was making notes, so Robinson waited until she’d stopped writing before he continued. ‘And I’d like it placed on the record that I have nothing but admiration for the bravery being shown by DS Mann.’

The Chief pushed back his chair.

‘That’s very clear Eric, thank you. Very well, we will continue as you propose, but let’s review weekly from now on. Val, is there anything else?’

‘Yes Chief, if I could just clarify something with DI Hall.’ The Chief signified assent, with a hand gesture that Hall thought the Queen Mother would have been proud of.

‘I wanted to ask about DS Mann’s likely reaction in the event of him finding himself in a situation like the one he encountered last night.’

‘How do you mean?’

‘To be blunt, would he be brave enough to intervene, even at risk to himself?’

Hall couldn’t help but smile.

‘You have looked at Ian’s military record?’

‘The redacted version that is on his file, yes. But that was then, this is now.’

Hall wanted to say that in that situation the problem would actually be stopping Ian Mann from taking down the entire gang single-handed, but he didn’t.

‘You need have absolutely no doubt about Ian Mann’s personal bravery, his physical capabilities, or his judgement. We all hope that he won’t witness any further violent offending behaviour, but if he does I think you need be in no doubt as to his response. He understands the rules of engagement, I assure you of that.’

Jane Francis was waiting in Hall’s office when he returned from the meeting, and he was aware he was frowning as he entered.

‘Sorry Jane. Our friends from HQ getting on my nerves.’

‘Fall-out from what happened last night?’

‘Yes, but I really have no idea what they think Ian could have done differently. To be honest I’m glad he didn’t have a chance to react.’

‘Really?’

‘I don’t think the evening would have ended well for Spedding and his cronies, let’s put it that way.’

‘Reasonable force would have been employed?’

‘You could say that. At least I hope it would have been reasonable.’ Hall smiled. ‘Anyway, what can I do for you?’