Death on Account (The Lakeland Murders) (3 page)

‘Tell me something I want to hear, Tonto’ said Hall, as Tonto strolled over. ‘I really could do with some good news before Robinson gets here.’

‘How about the killer’s initials scratched into the wood?’

‘That would be nice.’

‘Well, you’re in luck, because I can give you the next best thing. Pair of impressions from shoes right behind the victim. So we’ll be able to tell you more when the casts have been examined. But no sign of the ligature, although he may have thrown it into the river. Pretty sure there’s shallow water near the bank, so I could have a look now myself now if you like, before the divers arrive. But even if he did chuck it in here it’s probably half way to Morecambe Bay by now.’

‘Good idea Tonto, thanks. That’s above and beyond the call of duty. But it’s a nice afternoon for a paddle anyway.’

Superintendent Robinson never did turn up at the crime scene, but he did phone Hall and ask him what time he could be back at the station. Hall said he’d call him back with an ETA, then held an impromptu meeting with Jane Francis and Charlie Coward, the uniformed inspector at the scene and the only one who from Kendal station who Andy really rated. He was glad it was Coward who was on duty. When they’d agreed on how to deal with the potential witnesses that they’d already found, and who’d front the TV appeal for even more, Hall called Robinson and set off for the station. He’d suggested to Charlie that they have a proper meeting in the CID office at 8pm.

Hall hitched a ride back with a uniformed PC, who drove in awkward silence. So the lads already had this one marked down as a damaging cock-up, and Hall’s cock-up at that. Nevertheless, Hall thanked him as politely as if the ride had been a huge favour, and then stood on the station steps and phoned Ian Mann again. This time his call went straight to voice-mail.

Before he knocked and opened the door Hall already knew that Robinson wouldn’t be alone in his office. And sure enough Inspector Val Gorham, the Chief’s personal reputational bodyguard, was sitting next to him at the meeting table. As ever each of them was as immaculate as the other, and if their brains were half as bright as their buttons then Royal’s killer didn’t stand a chance. Hall brought them up to date on the investigation, but Robinson seemed more interested in the hour or so leading up to Royal’s death, and Hall had a pretty good idea why.

‘So you received this call from Royal at around twelve-thirty?’

‘Yes, it came via the switchboard, so it will have been logged and recorded.’

‘And what did you do then?’

‘I asked your secretary for the file.’

‘Why?’

‘I wanted to see what Royal looked like. All I knew was the name. Ian had been dealing with him. As you know we all kept to a need-to-know protocol on this one.’

‘So what did you do when you couldn’t get access to the file?’

‘I phoned Ian to get a description.’

‘From your office phone?’ asked Val Gorham.

‘No, from my mobile.’

She raised her eyebrows, but Hall didn’t respond. He didn’t need to justify his action. ‘And what did you tell him on your mobile?’ continued Gorham.

‘That I had to meet Royal, and needed a description.’

‘Did you mention where you were meeting?’

Hall had known this was coming.

‘I did.’

Gorham feigned a look of shock and surprise. She didn’t do it all that well either.

‘Let me get this straight, Inspector. You told a former officer, who may well be facing very serious criminal charges relating to the deaths of two people, where you were meeting an extremely high-value informant?’

‘What are you implying Val?’ said Hall. ‘If Ian had wanted to sell Royal out he could have done so at any time. He knew where he was living, everything about him. And Ian’s not a former officer, he’s suspended from duty, unless you know something that I don’t but should. And the two men who died were trying to kill Ian, not to mention myself and DC Dixon, when he was involved in a highly successful undercover operation. Those two men were engaged in serious criminality at the time too. It may have been an Abbey, but they were no choirboys I assure you.’

‘I’m sure Inspector Gorham isn’t implying anything Andy, merely trying to ascertain the facts’ said Robinson smoothly. ‘And the fact is that Ian Mann, Detective Sergeant Mann, did know where you were meeting Royal.’

‘Yes.’

‘And also that the meeting was imminent?’

‘Yes, I think that would have been obvious to him from the context.’

‘Did you mention why Royal had asked to meet?’

‘No, I wasn’t certain. And there wasn’t time. The call to Ian can’t have lasted longer than twenty seconds or so.’

‘Did he know where you were calling from?’ asked Gorham, looking up from her notes.

Hall looked at her with a new respect. He wondered if he’d have thought to ask the same question. He saw immediately why she had done so, and he rather doubted that he would have.

‘No, he didn’t ask, and I didn’t mention where I was. So for all he knew I might have already been there, waiting for Royal. So in fact there’s no way that he could have known that I wasn’t already at, or very close to, the rendezvous.’

Both Gorham and Robinson had been sitting bolt upright in their chairs, as if they only articulated at the hips, but now Gorham leant forward slightly.

‘You seem very keen to convince us that Ian Mann had nothing to do with Royal’s death.’

‘I don’t need to do that. Ian Mann had nothing to do with what happened to Royal.’

‘How often have you seen Ian since he was suspended?’

‘Not very often. I had a drink with him soon after, and it was awkward for both of us. We both saw that. So since then he’s been keeping his distance I think. But he knows that I’m totally behind him, and that won’t change.’

‘So you didn’t know that he was cautioned for a breach of the peace last weekend?’

‘No. Where?’

‘In Morecambe, so off our patch. But of course word soon got back.’

Hall was astonished, but he did his best not to show it. He recognised in Mann the same self-control that he knew he possessed, and which prevented him from ever becoming really drunk. His wife said he had no spontaneity in his soul, and she was right of course. But if she’d really wanted spontaneity then why had she left him for an accountant, even if he was Certified?

‘Ian has been under a lot of stress, quite understandably’ said Hall cautiously, ‘so no-one can blame him for letting off a little steam now and again.’

Val Gorham looked doubtful, and convincingly so this time. Hall didn’t blame her; he wasn’t convinced either.

‘He’s been seen with Ben Brockbank too’ she added.

This time Hall was annoyed. That was more than unwise. Brockbank was awaiting reports after pleading guilty to a variety of charges concerning the theft of machinery and animals, and Mann should have kept his distance.

‘Val, you can’t seriously think that someone like Brockbank is mixed up in the killing of an organised crime informant from Liverpool? His idea of the underworld is his nearest rabbit warren. And why would Ian get mixed up in something like this anyway? It would go against absolutely everything he’s ever worked for.’

‘The Caffertys would have someone paid a great deal of money to carry out this killing, and a good deal more just for the information about where Royal was. The Merseyside force hasn’t stopped shouting at us yet, but I did gather from what I could understand of what they said that there was half a million in it for the person who told them where Royal was. And that’s a lot of money to give up someone like Royal.’

‘Ian’s not remotely interested in money.’

‘He might be, when he loses his job.’

‘If he loses his job, Val. You don’t know the man, and I do. I can tell you now that the chances of me being wrong about this are precisely zero.’

Val Gorham looked at him shrewdly. ‘Zero, really? I’d have thought that an experienced detective like you would know better than to think that you could ever know anyone so perfectly.’

Was that a veiled reference to his personal life? If it was Hall had no intention whatever of rising to the bait.  ‘Look, I’m sure you’ll be talking to Ian, so unless you want me for anything else I have a team briefing to go to. Unless you intend to relieve me of responsibility for this investigation, that is?’

‘Oh no, Andy’ said Robinson quickly, ‘there’s no question of that. But yes, we will be talking to Ian Mann, immediately after this interview in fact.’

Hall walked slowly back to his office, trying to re-engage with the case, and not think about Ian Mann, sitting in an interview room and being treated as a suspect, and someone suspected of conspiracy to murder at that. Like most coppers Hall couldn’t remember if he’d ever believed that life was fair, but north of twenty years in the job he certainly didn’t anymore. Still, Ian deserved better than this, and even the likes of Val Gorham should acknowledge that. But he knew that wasn’t about to happen, so all he could do to help Ian in the short term was to make progress quickly, and to prove that the information about Royal’s true identity hadn’t come from Ian Mann.

As soon as he walked into the CID room he could sense that everyone was tense, the room was a bit too quiet, and energy levels seemed low. At this time in the investigation everyone should be buzzing. So there was absolutely no need to check if they knew that Ian Mann was being interviewed, because they’d all know already, and they wouldn’t be happy about it. And if they didn’t know then they had no business being cops.

The room was crowded, because the back-shift were just in and the day shift were all still there, and Hall took updates from everyone. Charlie Coward and Jane had come up with a handful of potential eye-witnesses already, and the provisional PM results were already in.

‘It wasn’t natural causes’ said Hall dryly, holding up the report. ‘A knotted ligature, and it broke his neck. No defence wounds, and we’re already pretty sure that the killer came up behind our victim. And we know it’s a man already. SOCO should be able to give us an idea of his weight and an estimate of height tomorrow, based on the casts of his footprints. And I assume that everyone knows that our victim, Royal, was actually anything but. His real name was Neil Williams, and he was the star witness in the Tom Cafferty double murder trial last year, and was due to take the stand in the re-trial later this week. If you want any background on the Caffertys just read the press reports, but they’re what the tabloids like to call a crime dynasty, and for once the comics are not exaggerating. They’ve controlled organised crime in Liverpool for over forty years now, and even the IRA kept clear of them back in the day. Tom’s the youngest of the clan, and his older brother badly wants him out of prison.’

‘So we’ll be talking to the brother?’ asked Charlie Coward.

‘Yes. I’ll do it, with a Merseyside DI acting as interpreter. We’ll get nothing obviously, but I’ll let him know that despite the fact that no-one will miss Williams we’ll treat this case as if he was one of our own. And I don’t have to tell any of you why that is, do I? A brother officer is being interviewed at this very moment, and unless we find our killer, and the person or persons who discovered Royal’s real identity, then Ian Mann may not be the last of us to come under suspicion. So how about CCTV, Ray? Anything helpful for us so far?’

‘There’s masses of it of course, so I’m still trying to get it all together. Do you want me to look at the ANPR data from all the cameras around town, see what registrations came in during the hour before or something? That might help us short-circuit it a bit. Talk about a surveillance society, but I’ve got more footage than you could shake a shitty stick at, boss.’

‘Thank you, Ray, and yes, try the ANPR files in the morning. I’m sure Jane will help you automate it somehow. Look for any vehicles owned by people with convictions for violence, and for any stolen vehicles. My guess is that our killer is far too experienced to use a vehicle that could be traced back to him, but you never know. So if you get any hire cars look and see if they were collected in Merseyside. And everyone from the day shift, do your hand-overs and get off home in the next hour. I need everyone to be totally fresh in the morning.’

Wednesday, 24th April

It took Ian Mann a few seconds to work out where he was, and he knew from recent experience that his head was going to hurt like hell when he turned his head to look at the digital alarm clock. So he decided not to bother. The alarm had been switched off since he’d been suspended, and he really had nothing to get up for anyway.

Instead he lay very still and thought back over the events of the previous night. Julie had wanted to come over after Val ‘Gory’ Gorham and Robinson had finished interviewing him, but he’d knocked her back, and he was glad he had. He had been in no mood to see anyone, and he still wasn’t. But all that whisky when he got home had definitely been a bad idea.