Time to Pay (15 page)

‘We'll go first, Gideon, then I can watch the others work. Keep Comet's nose level with Mojo's flank, if you can. We'll go steady along the bottom of the valley until we get just past that clump of bushes, then swing uphill and let them stretch out a little. Three-quarter speed will be quite fast enough, but don't worry if you can't hold him; he'll be blowing pretty much by the time he reaches the top. OK?'

‘Fine,' Gideon confirmed.

‘Right, you lot,' she called to the others. ‘Come on my whistle. Ivan's in charge, OK?'

She clicked her tongue at her mount and they were off, trotting at first, then easing into a canter. Keeping Comet's bobbing head roughly in line with Mojo's powerful quarters, Gideon leant forward over the chestnut's withers and revelled in the sensation of latent power.

As they approached the bushes, Tilly glanced back.

‘OK?'

‘Fine.'

‘Right, sit tight!'

Gideon had the fleeting impression of a figure standing in the lee of the bushes, but a split second later his concentration was fully on his riding as the two horses rounded the corner and surged forward up the hill, their heads lowering as they met the rising ground.

The misty valley fell away behind them as they powered diagonally across the slope of the twenty-acre field towards its boundary and then followed the post and rails to the summit, the speed of their passage snapping the fabric of Gideon's jacket and whipping tears to his eyes. For the time being, reality was the rhythm of thudding hooves, short snorting breaths, and the blur of the rails racing past.

At the top of the hill, the two horses swung away from the fence in perfect accord to run along the crest, both slowing appreciably now, and Tilly threw Gideon a look over her shoulder.

‘OK? Keep him going until we get to the clump of trees up ahead.'

When they eventually slowed to a trot and circled to a walk, she glanced at him again.

‘How was that?'

‘Incredible!' Gideon shook his head. ‘Absolutely amazing! Wow!'

Tilly laughed.

‘You did really well. I wish some of my lot followed instructions like that.'

‘Well, actually I think most of that was down to this fella,' Gideon admitted. ‘He was a perfect gentleman.'

‘Ah, “the Gideon factor”,' Tilly said.

‘Sorry?'

‘It's what Pippa calls it. Didn't you know? “The Gideon factor”. Comet's not always that well behaved.'

‘It's probably my great weight,' Gideon joked. ‘By the way, when we passed those bushes down in the valley, I thought I saw someone standing watching, did you?'

‘Oh, that was probably Reuben; he nearly always watches the horses being exercised.'

‘Reuben?'

‘Yes. He lives in an old charcoal burner's hut on the edge of the copse, and looks after the gallops for us. I don't know how old he is – could be anything from fifty to seventy – but he's been there since before I was born. Just turned up one day, apparently.'

‘Oh, yes, Ivan mentioned him. Lives on his own, he said.'

‘Yes. Well, he's got an old collie dog but he's a bit of a recluse, really. Dad takes him a box of groceries once a week and picks up a list for the next week. That's his wage. We don't pay him, as such. Nobody can remember his other name – if we ever knew it, which I doubt. I shouldn't imagine he exists on any electoral roll, because that old hut only appears on the map as a ruin, and I don't suppose he's been off the farm for the last twenty years or more. We don't often see him, he kind of blends into nature, but I think he watches the horses, most days. Melanie and Sue say he gives them the creeps but he doesn't bother me, and Damien used to visit him regularly when he was growing up.'

‘It's kind of comforting to think that you can
still slip through the net in this day and age,' Gideon said.

‘Absolutely. I agree.'

They drew up, facing down into the valley, and Gideon could see they'd travelled through a rough U-shape, ending up almost level with the horses that still circled below. Tilly took a teacher's whistle from her jacket pocket and blew strongly, and after a few moments two of the riders detached from the others and started along the valley bottom.

Well before they reached the bushes, the horses were travelling at a fierce pace, first one then the other getting its nose in front.

Tilly groaned out loud.

‘No, no, no, Gavin!' she said, even though they were too far away to hear. ‘Keep hold of him. Hands down, you idiot! Oh, for Pete's sake!'

This last cry of despair came as the rider on the grey finally lost his struggle for control, just before the bushes, and his horse shot past his training partner and away up the hill, gaining lengths in no time at all. Left behind, the other horse fought unsuccessfully for its head then suddenly jinked right, tipping its rider over its shoulder, and galloped in pursuit of its stable companion, leaving the girl sitting on the turf.

‘Oh bugger!' Tilly said. ‘Poor old Melanie. She's brilliant in the yard, but she needs bloody superglue on her saddle. And that bloody Gavin . . . !'

‘That bloody Gavin' came thundering towards them along the brow of the hill, still travelling
strongly and looking as though he might well go straight past without stopping. The loose horse followed in his wake.

‘Hands down; sit down; turn him in a circle!' Tilly shouted, and eventually the grey slowed to a shambling trot.

‘Shall I try and catch the other one?' Gideon offered, his eyes on the approaching animal.

‘You can try, but she can be a bit of a devil. It wouldn't be the first time we've had to ride home and let her follow on behind.'

She sounded stressed and Gideon felt sorry for her.

The bay mare cantered towards them, eyes and nostrils wide with excitement. One stirrup lay across her saddle and she'd trodden on her reins, leaving the broken ends to trail in the grass. Fifteen or twenty yards away she came uncertainly to a halt, anxiously eyeing the waiting group and, without a word, Gideon slipped off Comet and handed his reins to Tilly.

Keeping his head and body inclined at forty-five degrees from the loose horse he walked quietly to within ten feet or so, and slightly out to one side.

She was tense; watching him. Head high and eyes wary.

Sensing she was on the point of whirling round and away, he stopped, crouched down, and gazed into the distance. Out of the corner of his eye he watched her and, after perhaps half a minute, she lowered her head and regarded him curiously, her nostrils flaring to the rhythm of her heaving flanks.

With his mind, he invited her; blanking everything else out; picturing her stepping closer; trying to radiate security and calm.

For a moment, he thought it wasn't going to work. He hadn't taken the time he normally would, knowing he couldn't expect Tilly to keep the other horses waiting in the chill air. But then he heard the mare's hooves swishing in the grass, and something bumped gently against his shoulder. Warm breath huffed in his ear and her whiskers tickled the side of his face.

‘Hello, sweetheart,' he murmured, and with a slow hand took hold of the rein that trailed from her bit. ‘There's a good girl.'

Rubbing her soft muzzle, he rose smoothly to his feet and patted her steaming neck, before leading her across to join the others.

‘I'd give you ten thousand pounds if you could teach me how to do that,' Tilly said frankly. ‘But I know you couldn't. That was way beyond technique.'

Gavin had dismounted from the grey and now stood sulkily beside it, viewing Gideon with disfavour.

‘Shall I take the mare down to Melanie?' Gideon asked.

‘No, that's all right. We'll be going round again, so she'll make her way back to the bottom. I'll just bring the last two up.'

The whistle was blown again, and Ivan's two set off, making the run in an orderly manner, much to Tilly's relief and Gavin's added humiliation.

With Ivan switched onto the grey, the whole process was repeated with no further drama, and
the cavalcade set off back down the lane to the yard, much to Gideon's relief. By the end of the second gallop, his calf and thigh muscles had been on fire with the strain of the unaccustomed position. The horses were quiet now, and Tilly dropped back to ride with him.

‘You said you wanted to ask me something? Is it about Nero?'

‘Well, not exactly. At least, I don't think so. Not directly. I had another look at that list . . .'

Tilly looked puzzled.

‘You know, the one we showed you, the other day. It's actually a list of names and phone numbers.'

‘Really? Whose?'

Gideon slowed the chestnut a little so that they dropped back from the pair in front.

‘Julian Norris; Sam Bentley; Robin Tate . . .'

Tilly was shaking her head slightly, lips pursed. ‘I know Julian, of course – I told you about that.'

‘Adam Tetley . . .'

‘Tetley.
Adam Tetley
.' Tilly turned sharply to look at Gideon, causing her mount to throw its head up and fidget sideways. ‘My God! I'd forgotten about him.'

‘Who is he?'

‘He was a friend of Damien's from way back; I think from his pony-club days. We didn't hear anything of him for ages, and then, soon after Damien started training, Adam called and asked if we'd train a couple of horses for him. He was one of our first owners. Actually, strangely enough, Comet was one of his.'

‘Was . . .'

‘Yes. It was all rather messy, really. He bought the horses in his company's name, and when they ran it was good advertising – you know the kind of thing. Only, after a while, he became very unreliable. The training fees began to come through weeks late and then stopped altogether. Adam always had an excuse – you know – cash-flow problems; just waiting to finalise such-and-such a deal and then he'd be fine. I think Damien gave him more leeway than normal because of old times, but eventually he had to put his foot down. He told Adam that if he didn't pay, we'd have to sell one of the horses to cover the debt.'

‘So is that what happened?'

‘More or less. But, when the chips were down, it turned out that Adam didn't actually own the company, after all. He was only the financial director, and the first his boss knew about the horses was when our solicitors contacted him direct, with our ultimatum.'

‘Ah . . .'

‘Yes. As you can imagine, he was given his marching orders like a shot, and the horses came to us in settlement.'

‘But you didn't sell them.'

‘We sold one, but we'd just got this sponsorship deal from Skyglaze, so Damien decided to keep Comet. This all happened five or six years ago. He was a good horse in his day, but he's getting a little long in the tooth now.'

‘Well, that explains the ex-wife's attitude, anyway.'

‘Did you ring him, then?'

‘Yeah, I did. You see, I only had initials until
then. When I mentioned Damien, the former Mrs Adam Tetley was hostile, to say the least.'

‘I'm not surprised. Adam must have been creaming the company profits for some time, because the two of them were living the life of Riley. The horses were just part of it. When it all came apart – it came apart big-time! He lost his job, his five-bedroomed house, and three cars. And then his wife walked out on him. He was lucky the company didn't take him to court, but it was all a fearful mess and I suppose they didn't want that kind of publicity.'

‘It's hard to believe Tetley thought he'd get away with it,' Gideon said. ‘Surely he must have known he'd be found out eventually.'

‘Damien reckoned he had a gambling habit. You know, convinced the big win was just around the corner and he'd be able to pay the money back, with no-one any the wiser.'

‘So, does Rockley know all this?'

‘I don't know.
I
didn't tell him. I'd forgotten all about it,' Tilly said. ‘Oh, my God! You don't mean . . .? No – Adam would never have done something like that.'

‘Someone did,' he reminded her. ‘And it sounds as though this guy had ample motive.'

‘Oh, my God!' she said again.

‘You ought to tell Rockley.'

‘Yes, I will. But I still can't believe he did it. Adam hit rock bottom, that's for sure, but I never heard that he blamed Damien – even if his wife did.'

‘If he's in the clear, he's got nothing to worry about,' Gideon pointed out.

They'd dropped well behind the others by now, and the front pair had reached the gate and gone through into the yard. As they covered the last hundred yards or so Tilly seemed lost in her thoughts, and Gideon reflected that this new twist had blown his racing-syndicate theory right out of the water. There was no way that Damien would have wanted to do business with Tetley again after what had happened, old friend or not. In fact, it made it very unlikely that he'd have wanted to contact the man at all.

Did that mean the list was an old one? Compiled before he'd known Tetley for what he was? But that didn't really fit because Julian Norris' name had been crossed out and – according to Tilly – he'd only died the previous year.

Back to square one. The difference now was that in place of mild interest, Gideon had a burning curiosity.

‘Er – Tilly. Could I ask a favour?'

‘Yes – sure.' She raised her eyebrows questioningly.

‘When you talk to Rockley, could you not mention the list just yet?'

‘Well, OK. I suppose I could say I just remembered about Adam. I could say you asked about Comet and that reminded me. But why?'

Gideon hesitated, realising he had no choice but to confide in Tilly. It wasn't fair to expect her to withhold information from the police without offering an explanation.

‘I just want a little bit more time to try and work out what the list is all about. I mean, it's not
as if it can have anything to do with what happened to Damien anyway, because Julian Norris' name is on there.' He paused, seeing that she still didn't look convinced. ‘The thing is, Lloyd's name is on there, too. Or his wife's, I'm not sure which – their initials are the same.'