Death on High (The Lakeland Murders) (31 page)

Every time he and Spedding loaded up the basket Mann had to force himself not to look at the lorry, or at the ticket office only a few yards further away. And by the time they’d loaded up five or six times he’d completely beaten the urge. He’d just concentrate on his job; that was enough to worry about.

‘Take a blow or push on?’ asked Spedding, who was breathing heavily, as they loaded up the basket again.

‘I’m fit if you are’ said Mann, trying to control his own breathing.

‘I need five minutes’ said Spedding. He leant over the edge, to signal to one of the guys below to send up the drinks and food. The moon was very bright now, and Mann saw Spedding give the thumbs up sign. Then he pointed and called out, and even as Spedding’s arm started to move Mann knew exactly what was wrong.

‘Behind the truck’ Spedding shouted, and Mann started moving towards him.

‘What is it?’ called Mann, hoping to distract Spedding. But it didn’t work.

It only took a glance over the edge for Mann to confirm that Ray Dixon had been spotted. He was on his feet, turning towards the door to the ticket office, which was opening. But two men were already running down the side of the lorry, and the driver had swung his door open too. Mann saw something glint in the moonlight. He looked across at Spedding again, and saw that he was about to clip back on to his ropes and abseil down.

‘Come on’ he shouted, and Mann didn’t need a second invitation. He ran straight into Spedding, and sent him sprawling, winded, on to the roof. Mann’s momentum carried him beyond Spedding, but he was back on his feet before Spedding had even started to get up. But as Mann turned his left foot caught in one of the ropes, which tightened and sent him sprawling. He heard Spedding shout, and as he tried to regain his balance Spedding was launching himself at him.

Mann acted on instinct, training and fear. He began to crouch, instinctively twisting his body away from the edge of the roof, just a couple of feet behind him. His foot was still caught in the rope, but getting low was the right decision, and Spedding came at him too high and too fast. Somehow Mann got his shoulder underneath Spedding’s centre of gravity, and managed to deflect him over his shoulder.

That only bought Mann a second or two, but it was enough for him to reach down and free his foot. But it wasn’t quite long enough to stop Spedding getting up and turning to face Mann, and he wasn’t about to make the same mistake twice. This time he came in low, and at the last minute swung his foot to try and trip Mann. It half worked, because Mann was thrown off balance, and he half fell, half stepped left, his shoulder crashing in to the hoist. It was the only thing that stopped him going over the edge.

Spedding knew it too, and he took a step to his right, cutting Mann off from getting onto the open roof. And then Mann saw the blade in Spedding’s right hand, arcing upwards in the moonlight as Spedding came forward. Mann moved smoothly inside the blow, came forward and caught Spedding’s arm before he could raise it again and hyper-extended the elbow. He heard it crack, but somehow Spedding kept coming, his head catching Mann full in the stomach and propelling him backwards.

Mann was convinced that his next step backwards would hit empty air, but it didn’t, and the lip of the gutter stopped his left foot sliding back any further. Over the next few weeks and months he’d often wonder if there was anything else that he could have done, and to understand why he did what he did next. Was it anger, fear, self-preservation or something else entirely? But the throw came easily, using Spedding’s momentum and body weight, and Spedding went straight over the edge of the roof, head first.

By the time Mann had turned and looked over the edge Spedding was on the ground, not moving, and he could see that Dixon was down as well. Hall had his stick out and was slashing from side to side at the men in front of him. He wouldn’t hold them off for more than another few seconds. In the distance Mann could hear the sirens clearly, but no headlights were visible yet. He clipped onto his rope, and abseiled down the side of the building.

By the time he’d unclipped at the bottom he could see that Hall was in serious trouble. One of the men was running back towards Spedding and had seen him, but the other two were concentrating on Hall. They’d disarmed him now and were closing in. Mann ran hard at the figure coming towards him, who must be the driver, and who seemed to be carrying a tyre lever or crow bar. Mann let him have a swing, and took the blow on his left forearm as he raised it above his head. The next blow was his though, a hard right into the driver’s gut. As he doubled up Mann hit him again with his left, as hard as he could, on the point of the chin. But there was no power in the punch, Mann felt the pain sear up his injured arm. and the driver started to straighten himself.

And it was Mann’s next decision, made in a split-second and executed almost as fast, which would be so critical. He could have subdued the driver easily, even with one arm, but it would have taken time, and he couldn’t see what was happening to Hall. So he chopped down hard on the driver’s neck. He heard his neck snap, and knew he was dead before he hit the ground. He knew because Ian Mann had heard that sound before.

Mann ran back towards Hall, and to his surprise Hall was still on his feet, and the other two men were backing off. Not because of Hall, but because they had seen the headlights in the distance and could hear the sirens becoming more insistent by the second. They made a run for the car and Ian Mann let them go. Hall was being sick, and looked as if he could collapse at any second, but at least he was still on his feet. But Ray Dixon was just a shadowed shape on the ground, and he wasn’t moving at all.

In ten minutes there were half a dozen Police cars on site. The two loaders, Tom Rigg and his mate Brian Thompson, hadn’t got far in the car. They’d been stopped by a stinger at the end of the drive, and both had been brought back.

Ambulances were well on their way, plus SOCO, full tactical support and dog teams, but only the first were really needed. Dixon was sitting up and talking already, and beyond a few cuts and bruises where he’d gone down he didn’t have any other visible injuries, although he had a big lump on the back of his head and was extremely pale. One of the cops had put a coat over Ray’s shoulders and kept him talking, but stopped him from getting up. Mann came over and crouched down next to him.

‘I’m sorry Ian, I did what you said. I don’t know how they saw me. They were all over by the hoist, looking up, I’m sure of it. The boss said I was good to go too.’

‘You did right Ray. It wasn’t your fault.’

‘What about Spedding?’

‘Dead.’

‘And the other one? The driver.’

‘Same.’

Dixon winced, and Mann knew that it wasn’t just because of the pain.

‘How are you?’ said Ray.

‘All right. Busted arm I think, but I’ll live.’

The first two ambulances left with Dixon and Mann. The next two were in no hurry, because SOCO and the pathologist needed to do their work. One of the paramedics had given Hall some painkillers, and the Police surgeon gave him a quick examination in the back of an ambulance before passing him fit for duty. ‘But only half an hour mind, and get someone to drive you home.’

Within half an hour there were fifty people on site, including the Chief and Val Gorham, both of whom lived fairly nearby. Hall was talking to the civilian rope access specialists who were going to get the search team and SOCO onto the roof as soon as it was light, and a team of uniformed cops had set up the generator and floodlights near the truck. It’s door was still open and the courtesy light was on, as if the driver was just about to get back in.

‘I hear we’ve got two dead’ said the Chief, ‘and two of ours in hospital. What’s their condition?’

‘Mild concussion, cuts and bruises for Ray Dixon we think sir, and a suspected broken arm for Ian Mann. But they’ll both be fine we think, no permanent damage.’

‘And you?’

‘Not a scratch sir.’

The dried blood under Hall’s nose, his lopsided posture and slow step said otherwise, but the Chief let it pass.

‘So what happened?’

‘Ray was spotted from the roof, just a thousand to one chance. Spedding attacked Sergeant Mann, and fell from the roof during the ensuing struggle, and the lorry driver then tried to stop Ian from aiding DC Dixon.’

‘And what happened to him?’

‘Unfortunately he died in the fight.’

‘Is that him?’ The Chief walked over to where one of the pathologists from Carlisle, who Hall didn’t know, was examining the body, while one of the SOCO team finished taking photographs.

‘Well?’ said the Chief.

‘Single blow to the neck, pin-point accuracy and a high degree of force. Possibly a karate chop, maybe a weapon. But one of them was a pro if they did this. Who is this man?’

‘One of the suspects’ said Hall quickly, ‘and it was one of our officers who did this, while trying to subdue him.’

‘I see’ said the pathologist slowly. ‘Well he certainly subdued him all right.’

The Chief turned away, and Hall followed as quickly as he could manage.

‘Do we have any witnesses to what happened on the roof, or when Mann tangled with that fellow with the broken neck back there?’

‘No sir. Ray Dixon was out cold for most of it, and I didn’t see much after Ray was attacked. I just went out and did what I could, which wasn’t much. I used my pepper spray and my stick, but the training went straight out of my head and I was just concentrating on survival really.’

‘Who called in back-up?’

‘I did, as soon as I saw that Ray had been spotted. There was no good outcome from then on.’

‘You did well Inspector, so did DC Dixon. You’re coppers, not martial arts experts. But as for Sergeant Mann, well that’s different. I’m going to suspend him, and he will be interviewed under caution tomorrow.’

‘But sir...’

‘No buts, Inspector. He’s killed two men tonight. The faller, Spedding, can probably be accounted for, although it would cause a bad smell, but to kill a man with a karate chop to the neck, that’s different. It’s just got excessive force written all over it.’

‘Sergeant Mann was partly incapacitated sir, and his life was in danger.’

‘I’m sorry Inspector, but it just won’t wash. We haven’t even got any really serious injuries on our side’ the Chief sounded almost disappointed, ‘and we’ve got two stone dead suspects. And Val Gorham tells me that Ian Mann was warned as to his conduct.’

‘I wouldn’t say warned sir.’

The Chief waved to Gorham to come over. She was talking to the pathologist, and Hall saw him making a sharp chopping motion.

‘What do you know of Ian Mann’s record Inspector?’ the Chief asked Hall, as she approached.

‘Just what’s in the file, sir. He has an excellent record in the force.’

‘What about before?’

‘He was a Royal Marine, he did twelve years if I recall rightly. He came to us with their blessing.’

‘Did you know that his file has been redacted? There’s nothing about his last six years in the Marines.’

‘I hadn’t noticed sir. You don’t think he was in a military jail do you sir?’

‘Of course not Hall, don’t be obtuse. It means he was either serving in, or attached to, a special forces unit. Surely he told you about it?’

‘No, he hardly ever talks about those days, and I’ve never asked. As far as I know he hasn’t spoken to anyone in the job about it. But if you think he is some kind of Rambo type you can forget it sir. I don’t care what is or isn’t on file, Ian Mann has a high level of self-control, and I am absolutely, totally certain that he would only have used minimum force at all times.’

Val Gorham nodded a greeting to Hall, then drew the Chief aside. They spoke quietly for a minute. The Chief nodded, turned on his heel and walked away. Hall had a good idea what was coming next.

‘Inspector, you’re to go to hospital for a check-up, right now. You can give a formal statement when you’re fit to return to work. But I think I should tell you that, based on what the pathologist has just told me, Sergeant Mann will be arrested later tonight on a charge of manslaughter. And I will be taking over this investigation. This is what happens when you have a loose cannon on the team, Inspector.’

For the first time since he’d argued, briefly, with his wife soon after she’d told him that she was leaving DI Andy Hall raised his voice. A couple of officers looked round in surprise.

‘No Val, what Ian Mann did tonight was save two lives, mine and Ray Dixon’s. Ian is a hero in the eyes of every single right-thinking police officer here, and I will stand behind him every step of the way. And let’s not forget that Ian has also been responsible for breaking two sophisticated criminal conspiracies.’

‘Save it for your statement Inspector. Now get into that ambulance and away from my crime scene, or I’ll have you arrested for obstruction.’