Hail and Farewell (The Lakeland Murders) (24 page)

They turned back towards the office.

‘What was it?’ said Iredale to Debbie, when they’d almost reached the car. ‘What was it that you wanted to say about the fly-tipping?’ He didn’t look at Mann.

‘I’m sure it was nothing. Especially now you’ve caught the person who was doing that dumping.’

‘No one has been arrested, let alone convicted’ said Iredale. ‘So I’d like to hear it, anyway.’

Debbie looked at Mann, who nodded.

‘It’s just that when I came in this morning I went in to the shed where we keep the historic collection. I’ve been doing that, this past day or two. Early, like, before the lads are in. And I thought that the tipper was in a different position than last night, that’s all.’

‘Did you check the log?’

‘I did, as it happens. The mileage tied up exactly with the odometer reading. You can check, if you like.’

‘That would be great’ said Iredale, before Mann could reply. ‘There’s just something I’d like to look at.’

Debbie led them back across the yard, and unlocked the historic vehicle collection. The tipper was in the front row of vehicles, neatly parked alongside an old single-decker bus.

‘The keys should be in it’ Debbie said, as Iredale climbed into the cab.

‘It’s OK, I just want to check something.’ Mann and Debbie watched him as he lay across the driver’s seat, keeping the door open with his feet. They both smiled at the sight. ‘Aye, the speedo’s disconnected. Ian, do you want to take a look?’

‘No, you’re all right.’

‘Let me look’ said Debbie, climbing nimbly up on the tyre and into the cab. ‘That’s not supposed to be like that.’

‘So it is disconnected?’ said Mann.

‘Yes, definitely.’ She climbed back down, and for the first time since they’d met Mann sensed that she was uncertain, maybe even frightened. And he was pleased about that, in a way.

‘I don’t understand that at all’ she said. ‘Honestly, that should never happen. Shall I get Jim, the maintenance fitter? Maybe he knows why it’s like this.’

‘Aye, that would be helpful’ said Mann.

Quarter of an hour later Mann and Iredale were on their way back to Workington. Mann turned on the radio, and started whistling along. He was a terrible, but enthusiastic, whistler.

‘Well done, Keith’ he said, when his lips were dry. ‘That was bloody good work back there. And best of all Debbie is happy to provide a statement, saying that the truck was moved. I didn’t even have to push her, did I?’

‘No, marrer, you didn’t. She’s as pure as the driven snow, and isn’t that what you’re so made up about?’

Mann smiled. ‘Of course not. I’m just pleased to have made progress. That we’ve made progress, I mean.’

‘But aren’t you forgetting something? I’ve already linked the fly-tipping to Mike Gambles. So how come it’s down to Hayton’s boys now?’

‘I dunno, Keith. Above my pay grade, that kind of thinking. Maybe your brother-in-law is in with Hayton.’

‘No way. Jack Moffett I could believe, just about, but not Hayton.’

‘All right then, so how about this? What if Gambles had stuff to dump, saw that Hayton’s truck had already dumped a load, so thought he’d just add to it?’

‘No, that doesn’t work either. The wrapper I found was under loads of stuff. I don’t think it was dumped on top.’

‘Are you certain though?’

‘No, not absolutely.’

‘Well it’s still a possibility then. Like Andy says, never close your options down too quickly. Tell you what, why don’t I give him a ring, and hear what he’s got to say?’

Iredale listened to Mann’s half of the conversation, as he explained about the two conflicting pieces of evidence.

‘So you think that there could be another load out there somewhere then? Aye, OK, I’ll get all the recent sites checked. But what if there is only one load?’ There was a pause while Hall asked something. ‘No, sorry, but Keith says that won’t fly. This Mike Gambles character is an associate of Moffett, not Hayton, and a distant one at that.’ Mann went quiet again and then he turned to Iredale. ‘Aye, Andy, that is an idea. A devious one, like, but I’ll run it past young Keith and see if he thinks the locals cons are up to that level of misdirection. Meanwhile you want us to bring in Gambles? OK, aye, we’ll pick him up now.’

‘What did he say?’ asked Iredale, when Mann had rung off.

‘He said well done, Keith, that’s what he said. And Andy did have another idea that he wanted me to run by you, like. He wondered if you thought that George Hayton was bright enough to get a bit of identifiable material from someone who he knew had fly-tipped in the past and stick that in the load, just to throw us off the scent like.’

‘The stink, more like. But I suppose it’s possible, aye. After all, the boss thinks that Hayton deliberately put his boy Bell in the frame, and if that’s true he’s a good bit cleverer than he looks.’ Iredale was silent for a moment. ‘No, Ian, scratch that. Mike’s our man, got to be. I know him, see, and this is just his bloody speed. I know that times are tough and all that, and he’s got my sister and the kids to think about, but he’s never been above this sort of shit. Pound to a penny he’s our man.’

‘All right. Let’s go and pick him up. And make the poor bloody duty inspector’s day, Keith. Get one of his people off the clock for an hour or two while they drive round all the fly-tipping sites in the area. I assume you know where they all are? What with it being your particular area of interest, and everything.’

Iredale smiled. ‘If there was a Mastermind for bobbies it would my specialist subject. That or the great fell runners, like.’

Jane Francis was driving back to Workington too. She’d been on the phone to Andy for most of the journey. He sounded upbeat.

‘We’re moving again, Jane. I can feel it.’

‘Thanks to you.’

‘Rubbish, and you know it. This is a team game. Always has been, always will be. It’s our main advantage over the other side, because in the end they’re all just looking out for themselves, aren’t they?’

‘And we’re not?’

Hall laughed. ‘You’re much too young for that kind of cynicism, love.’

‘Not that young, Andy. Not that young at all.’

He let the comment pass, as she knew he would.

‘So how are we looking on the video analysis?’ he asked.

‘Fine. I talked to the external consultants, and they seem to know what they’re doing. They certainly should, for the rates they charge.’

‘Reassuringly expensive, eh? Not sure I’ve ever bought into that particular marketing man’s concept. Anyway, how long will they need?’

‘A few days, and they may well need to come back to us several times.’

‘But you told them we need the audio cleaned up as a priority?’

‘Yes. They said that they can’t promise that every second will be audible, but they reckon that there’s a lot that they can do with it. Alex Baker was using really good gear apparently, so that’s a big help.’

‘That’s good. But we mustn’t lose momentum here. The ACC agrees too, somewhat to my surprise. So can you go and talk to Bill Iredale as soon as, and tell him that we’re on? One of the senior CPS staff from out of area is going to be in touch with him, just to confirm the deal he’s getting. Subject to a few conditions that’s full immunity, and he doesn’t have to testify against either Hayton, any of his people, or against any serving or retired police officers.’

‘Lucky bloke.’

‘He is. But in fairness to him he did more or less ask us to slap the cuffs on him, didn’t he? And for what it’s worth I still believe him. His whole story, I mean. I think he got suckered in, and George Hayton is turning out to be a rather more subtle character than we might have expected.’

‘Or maybe he’s just got good people around him.’

‘Lee Bell? Maybe, but he’s not been around anything like long enough to have set up the move on Bill Iredale. It was very clever, getting him to do that PNC in advance of a serious offence taking place. Tell the truth, I’m almost starting to enjoy this case.’

Jane laughed, and Hall, sitting on the bed at home, smiled too.

‘Bollocks, Andy. There’s not a moment of this that you don’t enjoy. And if a con uses his brain as well as his fists, then all the better as far as you’re concerned. Anyhow, you want me to get straight round to Iredale now? Get him on with it?’

‘There’s no time like the present. Just tell him to make sure that doesn’t come over as too needy, too keen. I’ve persuaded Val that if Hayton doesn’t bite then Bill still gets his free pass anyway, so long as we don’t find out that he’s lied to us about the nature of his relationship with Hayton. So he mustn’t over-press, and he mustn’t rush it.’

‘Got you. I’ll tell him that. And you take care of yourself. I’ll be home tomorrow night.’

‘I can’t wait.’

It didn’t take DC Iredale very long to find his brother-in-law, and even less time for DS Mann to persuade Gambles that he really did need to come with them to the station.

‘What’s this all about, Keith?’ he asked as they drove.

‘You’ll find out soon enough. Just try to behave like a grown-up, for once. DS Mann will be conducting the interview. Do you want me to call Tina, and let her know where you are?’

‘Christ, no. It’ll only help prove your old man right about me.’

The folder with Gambles’ previous was waiting for Mann at reception. It didn’t tell him anything that Iredale hadn’t already laid out for him. He’d been antisocial as a youth, and dishonest as a young man. But nothing in his record suggested any organised crime connection at all.

‘How well do you know George Hayton?’ asked Mann, when the tape was running.

‘I know who he is like. Everyone does round the town, like.’

‘But you’ve never met him?’

‘No. Don’t think so, anyway.’

‘And you’ve never done any work for him?’

‘What kind of work?’

‘Any kind of work.’

‘No. Not that I remember.’

‘And you’re a builder. That’s right, isn’t it?’

‘Aye. Why, do you need something doing, like?’

‘Now, you listen to me, son. We are investigating the death of a young man, who was beaten and drowned in Cloffocks beck on Good Friday. You may think that’s a laughing matter, but I don’t. Is that clear?’

‘Aye. Sorry.’

‘Good. Now, you’re also a fly-tipper. Isn’t that right?’

‘No. Keith, what have you been saying? You’re bloody obsessed you are, mate.’

Mann put the evidence bag down on the table.

‘Do you recognise this label?’

‘No. It’s off a kitchen cabinet. It could be anyone’s.’

‘The range is called Wensleydale. Isn’t it the type of kitchen that you’re fitting at present?’

‘Aye, it is. Popular range is that, though. Solid wood doors you see.’

‘It also has your fingerprints on it, Mr. Gambles.’

‘Really? Bugger me. Well, I don’t know where you got it from, but we chucked all the stuff from that job in a skip that I hired. You can check, if you like.’

‘We will. What’s the name of the company you use, and the address and date of the hire?’

Gambles told them.

‘You check, go on. Now, if there’s nothing else, I’ve got a half-installed bathroom and a half-arsed plumber to get back to.’

‘No, I’m not finished yet. Do you always use a skip to clear away the rubbish from jobs?’

‘Usually, aye. But if there’s not much we just take it away in the van.’

‘And what do you do with it?’

‘You know, take it to the tip. Get rid of it, like.’

‘When we phone up your skip supplier how many times will they tell us that you’ve hired from them?’

‘This was the first time, as a matter of fact.’

‘Really?’ Now Mann was smiling. ‘And who did you hire from before?’

‘I don’t remember.’

‘You must have paperwork. For your books.’

‘Tina takes care of all that. My wife, Keith’s sister that is.’

‘I know who she is. So you’re going to pop back, later today, with a sheaf of invoices relating to all your previous skip hires? Just ask your wife to go back 12 months.’

‘Aye, I’ll try.’

‘You’re really going to have to do much better than that. I also need to know how many jobs you’ve done in the last year. Ones where stuff was coming out of a house or which generated spoil, rubbish, anything like that.’

‘It’s been quiet, like.’

‘You’ll give me a list? We’ll need the names and addresses of everyone you’ve worked for.’

Gambles nodded, and glanced at Iredale.

‘Look, this isn’t my business, but isn’t this all a bit strong? Just for a bit of tipping, like?’

‘As I explained, we’re interested in you in connection with another investigation. A very serious one. But you could make it all very much easier for us, and yourself, if you decided to tell the truth.’

‘But I already have, honest.’

‘If I had a pound for every time I’ve heard that I wouldn’t have to be sitting here now. I don’t think you’re telling the truth, and I don’t think you’re going to be able to provide any evidence to back-up your claims. Shall I tell you what I think?’

‘I expect you’re going to anyway.’

Mann smiled again, and looked across at Iredale, sitting alongside him.

‘I’m starting to like your brother-in-law, Keith. He’s very, what’s the word? Perceptive. Aye, that’s the one.’ He turned back to Gambles, and every trace of the smile had vanished. ‘So here’s what I think happened. You fly-tip lots of your waste, always have done, and you only ordered the skip for this job because you knew that Keith here was well and truly on to you. That’s right, isn’t it?’

‘No. Like I told you. I don’t fly-tip.’

Mann sat back.

‘Look, son. If you tell us the truth now we’ll nick you for the fly-tipping. You’ll go to court, get a fine, and we can all get on with our lives. But if you don’t, and we find out you’re lying, then you go right to the top of a list that you really don’t want to be top off. It’s our list of murder suspects.’

‘I haven’t killed anyone.’

‘But you have been fly-tipping.’

‘No. Like I told you, I haven’t.’

‘All right. We’re almost done, for now anyway. But a couple more questions before you go. When was the skip delivered to your current job, and when was it uplifted?’