Hail and Farewell (The Lakeland Murders) (16 page)

‘I know, Ian, I know. But what choice do we have? We’re floundering here, you’ve said as much yourself.’

‘Is it worth it though, Andy? You know what these things are like. They turn into witch-hunts, and when the sharks from professional standards start circling they just take lumps out of people, whether they’re involved or not.’

‘Agreed, and I’m not suggesting that at all. Shit, I don’t want to be remembered as the DCI who single-handedly sank a whole bloody divisional headquarters. I’m talking about getting a CI to tell us about it, and that way we can control where the information goes. At least until after we’ve completed the homicide enquiry.’

‘It’s still risky, Andy’ said Mann. ‘You’d never get the cork back in the bottle. Plus, where the hell is this CI coming from? Not the dynamic duo, that’s for sure.’

‘Absolutely not’ said Hall, firmly, ‘we need to keep DI Smith and DS Hodgson right out of this. I was thinking about us developing our very own CI.’

‘Come on, mate. I know we should all do a bit of blue sky thinking, but that’s just pie-in-the-sky, is that. We don’t have any kind of network out here, do we? Our own bloody snouts would get altitude sickness going over Dunmail Raise, wouldn’t they?’

‘Actually, I was thinking of approaching Jack Moffett’ said Hall, and he carried on before Mann or Jane could react. ‘I know that talking to us goes against the grain, to put it mildly. But what has he got to lose now? And it might be his only way of sticking it to George Hayton. I’ve never met Moffett, but on the basis of what we know about him I could see him going for it.’

‘Maybe he’s already made a run for it, Andy’ said Jane. ‘He was shitting bricks when we saw him, and he was talking about heading out to his place in Spain as soon as.’

‘He had security lads at his house. Pros, like’ said Mann. ‘Not local.’

‘So he’s worried about his own people?’ said Hall.

‘Oh, aye. And how. You know how it goes. Worse than this job. As soon as someone like Moffett starts to lose his grip, as soon as the fear even starts to fade, then one of his own will see him off. Retire him, like.’

Hall sat back and thought about it.

‘All right, I tell you what. This could actually work for us. Because if he’s still at home now we could have an initial chat, and then not be able to get a signed statement from him, if he buggers off to Spain or wherever. That could delay a formal investigation for days, weeks even.’

‘But you’d tell the ACC if you got something?’ asked Jane. ‘Even if it was just an initial statement.’

‘Absolutely. And even though she probably doesn’t really give a shit about what happened to our victim she’s bound to be interested in any hint of current or historic police corruption. At the very least it would undermine our other ACC, because he was the Super out here, back in the day.’

‘Did you learn that expression from one of the girls?’ said Jane, smiling.

‘Possibly’ said Hall. ‘Or maybe I’m just down with the kids. But look, does this sound like a decent plan?’

‘I’ve heard worse, I suppose’ said Mann, after a while.

‘All right. That settles it. Jane, would you find out if our bird has flown, and if not could you arrange an audience?’

‘At his place?’

‘Oh, yes. And drop a hint about what we’re interested in. That might get him thinking.’

Even when the meeting was over Ian Mann couldn’t shake a vague sense of unease, and it reminded him of when he was in the Marines. It was a familiar worry: that the actions that the team were about to take could have unintended and unexpected consequences. Maybe even dangerous ones. And while Ian Mann had no problem with risk, in fact he felt that there wasn’t enough of it about most of the time, he didn’t like being unable to scope the extent or even the type of risk that they might face. This could all go wrong in ways that even Andy Hall couldn’t imagine, let alone foresee.

So when Keith Iredale returned to the office Mann strolled out for a chat. He liked the lad. He seemed cheerful, uncomplicated, and not remotely cynical. The latter quality was vanishingly unusual in a copper, and while it might make Iredale a less effective detective Mann was willing to bet that it made him a much happier person.

‘So how did Sandy treat you?’ he asked.

‘Oh, you know.’

‘Bawled you out, did she? It’s all an act, Keith. She doesn’t mean a word of it. You did remember the coffee and cake?’

Iredale smiled. ‘I did, for what little bloody good it did me. ‘

‘Like I say, forget it. She just can’t stand it when she and her team aren’t able to help, that’s all. She takes it personal, like. And her budget is still being cut to buggery, which makes her extra irritable. I heard she’s got to lay one of her techs off next month, and they’re like children to her.’

‘I didn’t mind’ said Iredale. ‘Another hour here and I’m off until Monday. Unless I’m needed, that is.’

‘No, son, you take a bit of down-time. The boss is very keen on that. Getting away, clearing your head.’

‘I’ll be doing that all right. I’m off to Wasdale with one of my fell running mates. You can’t think about much else when you’re doing that, like.’

‘Good for you. I’m too fat for that sort of lark, these days.’

Iredale didn’t comment. He was already old enough to have friends whose only running was to fat, but he couldn’t imagine having a waist size larger than 32. And as for his colleagues, half of them were really overweight. He thought it was unprofessional. His dad had never put on a single pound, not in thirty years in the job.

‘Are you heading back down the road then?’ he asked Mann.

‘Aye, just for tomorrow. Back here again on Monday.’

‘And how do you like the place?’

‘Workington, you mean?’

‘Aye.’

‘Hard to say. When you turn up to investigate a possible murder you don’t exactly see the best of somewhere, do you?’

It took Jane some time, but eventually she was able to confirm that Moffett was still in residence in west Cumbria, though he said he was planning to leave later that evening, and five minutes could be spared. But this had increased to ten, when Jane mentioned what it was she and DCI Hall wanted to talk about.

One of the security guys looked at Hall’s crutch as if it might contain a weapon, and Hall asked him if he’d like to examine it. The man smiled, and opened the front door for them.

‘I’ve not got long’ said Moffett, before Jane had introduced DCI Hall. ‘Get that falling down in the cells, did you?’ he said, and Hall smiled. It didn’t cost anything.

‘Thanks for your time’ said Hall. ‘We know how busy you are.’

‘Aye, well. Anything for boys in blue. And the girls in blue, like.’

‘Look, Mr. Moffett, I’ll cut to the chase. I’m not currently interested in your activities, past or present, unless they relate to the death of Chris Brown. And I wanted to start by asking you a simple question. Do you think that Chris’s death could have been a case of mistaken identity? Because we believe that the intended target for the attack, though probably never intended to be a fatal one, was Tony Gambles.’

Moffett looked surprised. ‘Tony? What makes you think that?’

‘He and Chris Brown are of similar size and build, and were wearing similar clothing at the time of the attack.’

‘I see, aye, I see. Well, I suppose it is possible then. If you say so, like.’ He looked preoccupied.

‘And are you aware of any reason why Chris Brown would have been attacked? Any reason at all.’

‘No’ said Moffett firmly. ‘No way. The poor kid was completely clean, if that’s what you’re asking.’

‘Thank you, that’s helpful. Now, do you see where that takes us, in terms of the investigation?’

‘No, not really. You’re the coppers, like. Where?’

‘Well, if we can establish a gang connection with this death, even if the killing was accidental, then other aspects of possible gang activity become of interest to us.’

‘Oh, aye’ Moffett said cautiously.

‘Don’t worry, it’s not you I’m interested in. You’re going away, aren’t you? Retiring, if you like. You see, Mr. Moffett, what we’re wondering is this. Could it be that other local gang leaders either have, or had, police connections?’

‘You mean someone on the inside?’

‘That’s right.’

‘It has been known.’

Hall smiled. ‘Could you be more specific?’

Moffett thought about it.

‘What’s in it for me? If I did tell you what I know, like?’

‘Well I can’t say we’d be in your debt, now can I? Then we’d be corrupt as well, wouldn’t we? You’d be helping the police with our enquiries into the death of an innocent young lad. Isn’t that reward enough?’

‘I suppose it would be, aye. Tell you what, leave it with me. If I remember anything I’ll let you know, how’s that?’

‘It would be really useful if you could help us now, Mr. Moffett. Time is of the essence in this enquiry.’

‘The lad is still dead though, right?’

‘He is, but every day that goes by reduces our chances of catching his killer or killers. It’s just a fact of life, I’m afraid.’

‘Like I said, let me think about it. One thing I’ve learned, over the years, is never to rush an important decision. I even take my time in restaurants. Drives my wife bloody mad, that does.’

Jane had put their bags in the car that morning, so when she’d slid Hall’s crutch into the rear footwell and got him comfortable they set off for home.

‘Will we get anything out of him, do you reckon?’ she said, as she pulled out onto the main road.

‘Probably not, I suppose. He’s finished of course, but maybe he doesn’t know that, or at least hasn’t accepted it yet. If that’s the case then no, I doubt he’d help us. But if he really wants to settle the score with Hayton then maybe he will. I didn’t need to spell it out to him, I’m certain of that. He can see the possibilities, just the same as we can. But either way we tried, anyway.’

‘Have you ever worked with a corrupt cop, Andy?’

‘That depends what you mean. If you mean have I worked with someone who's gone away for taking money from criminals then no, I haven’t. Not as far as I know, anyway. But if you’re talking about someone who’s used their job, their connections, then which of us isn’t just a little bit corrupt?’

‘Well I’m not, Andy. And don’t tell me you are.’

‘Are you really telling me that you’ve never badged a parking warden when you’ve been five minutes late back to the car?’

‘When I’m on duty, of course I have.’

‘How about when you’re off duty?’

‘Well, maybe once or twice. But it’s not the same thing is it? It’s nothing at all like being paid off by a bloody thug like Moffett.’

‘I agree, it isn’t. Of course not. All I’m saying is that there’s a continuum, and you can see how it happens. Coppers don’t start off with any intention of going bent, but a free drink in someone’s bar turns into a meal, a bit of entertaining, whatever. Then a laugh and a chat crosses the line, and privileged information is revealed by the cop. And then it’s game over. Simple as that.’

‘Because the criminal has leverage?’

‘Exactly. I think we sometimes underestimate career criminals, and that’s mainly because we only usually see the crap ones. The ones we actually catch. But the likes of Moffett and Hayton are clever and manipulative, as well as intimidating. They’ll really know how to turn the screw, believe me.’

They drove in silence for a while.

‘You’re thinking that’s what might have happened to DI Smith, or DS Hodgson? Or maybe both of them?’

‘No, I’m not saying that. All I’m saying is that we’ve got two long-established, widely diversified and no doubt highly profitable criminal enterprises operating largely in one divisional police area. That does raise my level of concern, and what happened to Baker only makes that worry a bit more pressing. Of course it’s perfectly possible that Hayton’s people worked out for themselves that Baker might have filmed something that should concern them, but it’s also possible that they had inside info.’

‘Are you going to look at Smith and Hodgson then?’

‘As things stand, no. There’s not a shred of evidence against either of them, and let’s be honest here, Jane. Maybe all I’m doing, all we’re doing, is looking for someone or something to blame for the fact that we’re not making any progress. Because we have to look at the worst case scenario here. Someone could be about to get away with murder here.’

‘That’s not like you,’ said Jane, laughing. ‘You’re usually so cheerful and optimistic.’

‘Be that as it may’ said Hall, smiling at her little joke, ‘but look at it this way. What if we did look at Smith and Hodgson, and it turns out that Chris Brown’s death was accidental, or rather that we can’t prove otherwise? Mud sticks, Jane, especially in this job. We could end up trashing two officers’ reputations, and their careers, for nothing. And, for what it’s worth, I’d be willing to bet that those two are clean anyway.’

‘Point taken. And then there’s loyalty, isn’t there? You’re such an old-fashioned bloke sometimes, Andy.’

‘Again, it’s all relative, isn’t it? Of course I’m loyal to colleagues, and especially my team, because if they make an error then I expect to be given, and accept, at least part of the blame. And if they were acting on my instructions then I expect to carry the can, not them. That’s never going to change. And I hate the sloping shoulders of some of our senior colleagues, you know that. But if someone on my team was on the take then I’d grass them up. Of course I would.’

‘What if it was me?’

Hall laughed. ‘Is there something you wanted to tell me?’

‘Only that I think the milk has gone off while you’ve been away.’

Jane had unpacked the bags, put the washing on and was well on with supper by the time that the last Uppies and Downies game of the year began. They were in bed by the time that the ball was hailed by a young Uppie, at the gates of Workington Hall, at a little after eleven thirty. There weren’t many onlookers, but Mr. and Mrs. Brown were there, holding hands and watching the young lads laughing and joking as they passed by afterwards. But almost all of them stopped, mumbled something that they hoped would give some comfort, and then walked on in silence.