Hail and Farewell (The Lakeland Murders) (34 page)

Wednesday, May 14th

Superintendent Skinner was a contented man. His conversation that morning with the ACC Crime had been more than satisfactory, and he was looking forward to an even more agreeable and profitable lunch. It had been a long drive, up into the Borders, but he’d enjoyed every last mile. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt so relaxed, so in command.

When Lee Bell walked in to the restaurant, about ten minutes late, no-one turned round and looked, nor were the two men commented on by any of the other diners. Perhaps they were a father and son, both prosperous, although maybe the lad had already done a little better than the dad. They ordered, and both passed on wine. Skinner told Bell his good news. Promotion to a senior job at HQ, running the intelligence unit.

‘Well now, that’s a bonus’ said Bell, ‘by which I mean there’ll be another little bonus coming your way. The boss will be absolutely delighted.’

‘Yes, it’s all worked out rather well, hasn’t it?’

‘Exactly as we planned.’

‘As you planned, you mean.’

‘Perhaps. And you know that this will be the last time that we meet?’

‘So you are retiring? That’s actually true then?’

‘I am. In fact I already have. My immunity only extends to past offences, I’m afraid. And this was always my agreement with Mr. Moffett. My working life is officially over.’

‘What will you do?’

‘For work, you mean? Nothing. I don’t need to do a thing, not for the rest of my life.’

‘But what if your income dried up? What if Mr. Moffett was displaced somehow?’

‘That wouldn’t matter to me. I have unfettered access to the full value of my pension, as it were. My business with Mr. Moffett is over, as of our next and final meeting.’

They ate in silence for a few minutes. Skinner wasn’t sure why, but he badly wanted to rattle the little bastard. Wipe the smile off his face.

‘I hope you don’t mind me asking, but can you be sure that you’ll live to enjoy a lengthy retirement?’

Bell put down his fork, and grinned.

‘Insurance. It’s the finest word in the English language. I have it, and Mr. Moffett knows it. I do hope that you do, too.’

Skinner was starting to feel a little uncomfortable now. Out of his depth. He felt like there was something else here that he wasn’t quite seeing.

‘Did you really plan it to go like this, right from the very start?’

‘I did. Well, maybe not the very start, but soon enough. I just understood how it all worked, see. George would sacrifice me, when he had to, and if I tried to pre-empt that and take over then I’d be dead. Simple as that. So I approached Mr. Moffett, years ago, and made a deal. I wasn’t greedy.’ Bell smiled. ‘Well, not that greedy. Considering what good old Jack Moffett gets out of it now.’

‘I see that. And you’re really not tempted to take over yourself? Or try to, anyway?’

‘What, drugs, prostitution, loan sharking? No thank you. It’s a bloody dangerous way of making a living, and that’s a fact.’

‘You could do what Moffett does, maybe. Keep your distance, like.’

‘Run it from abroad? No, that won’t work. He’s a fool really, no better than Hayton. I give Moffett six months from now, maximum. You watch, someone will come along and help themselves to the lot, and he won’t be able to do a bloody thing. That kind of business needs hands-on management, if you get my meaning. The lads need to feel the fear. There’s just no other way.’

‘So there’ll soon be a new game in town?’

‘Aye, and when there is I’ll tell you what I know. One thing I’ve learned from Moffett and Hayton is that a bloke always needs a friend in the force. And I’ve always got you, haven’t I? Because like I said before, I do have insurance. Lovely, lovely insurance.’

Ian Mann was driving, and Jane was doing most of the talking. She was looking forward to getting home, having a few days off, and spending some time with Andy.

‘His knee’s got much better he says. Apparently he might not need an op now.’

‘Good news. I expect you’ll have a lot to catch up on, like.’

Jane laughed.

‘We’re not teenagers.’

‘Worse luck.’

‘You don’t mean that. I was bloody miserable, most of the time.’

‘Aye. I suppose I was too. I can barely remember it now, to tell you the truth.’

‘Come on, Ian. You’re in the prime of life. And you’ll soon have another medal pinned on your chest for yesterdays’s heroics.’

‘Nothing heroic about it. I just didn’t want one of our trigger-happy twats to shoot me instead of Hayton. I kept telling them that when it was all over, but they wouldn’t listen.’

‘You did really well. There’s no denying it. No one died either, so that’s a bonus. And we’ve helped put away a proper organised crime boss, and half a dozen of his thugs. And that’s an achievement in itself, no matter what Andy says.’

‘What do you mean? He told me he thought we’d done a bloody great job. More to the point he said he told the ACC that too.’

‘Oh, he did. It’s just something he said to me, that’s all. I think it’s a quote from one of those crappy old rock songs he loves so much. ‘Meet the new boss, same as the old boss’. I think that’s how it went.’

Mann laughed. ‘Not so much of the crappy, if you don’t mind. That’s The Who, that is.’

It was a sunny afternoon, and Jane reached in to her handbag for her sunglasses.

‘Would you mind if we stopped for a minute?’ said Mann, as they approached Cockermouth.

Jane smiled.

‘You dirty old man. She’s young enough to be your daughter.’

‘Niece, maybe. If I had a much older brother or sister, like.’

‘Do you really think you’d be welcome, Ian? After all, it’s you who’s made sure that her old man’s going to spend the next fifteen years inside. And the business she runs is going to get seized, isn’t it? All the assets will get sold off. She’ll be out on her bloody ear, mate.’

‘Aye, that’s true enough. Quite right, and all. But I spoke to her earlier, and she’s planning to buy a couple of the trucks off us like, when they’ve been seized, and start up on her own. The money will be borrowed, but it’ll be completely clean.’

Jane turned and looked across at Mann.

‘Good for her. I like her plan. It sounds like she’s got her head screwed on, business-wise. It’s just a shame that she’s got such shit taste in men though, isn’t it?’

Mann punched her playfully, but Jane still had to make an effort not to rub it.

‘Go on then,’ she said. ‘You can stop. There’s no bloody fool like an old bloody fool, I suppose.’