Hail and Farewell (The Lakeland Murders) (18 page)

‘OK. Point taken, Ian.’

‘So what do we do with this?’ asked Jane. ‘Tell the ACC Crime?’

‘You bet. We’re not sitting on this one. Not even for a day.’

‘But won’t that mean an internal investigation?’

‘Not if I position it properly, no. And remember that Bill Iredale isn’t a serving police officer.’

‘But we will talk to him?’

‘Absolutely we will. But not yet. The first job is to have a look at his arrest record, his whole personnel file in fact. Where did he work, what did he do? In short, how useful could he have been to Hayton?’

‘But you’re not taking Moffett’s word for it, are you, Andy?’ said Mann.

‘Christ, no. And that’s how I’ll position it to the ACC. Moffett’s the very definition of an unreliable witness. So we should proceed with caution.’

‘How about the boy? Are we going to tell him about this?’

‘No, certainly not. At least not for now. There’s absolutely nothing to be gained, is there? But if and when we talk to the dad then we should reconsider. I don’t want him to feel frozen out. And there’s no reason why the sins of this particular father, if any, should be visited on the son.’

‘He’s very close to his dad’ said Mann. ‘Often talks about the old man, he does. He’s the reason that Keith became a cop too, I’m sure of it.’

Hall nodded.

‘We can’t help that. Look, both of you. We’re not in the business of dragging the name of retired officers through the mud, of course we’re not. But it’s legitimate for us to investigate any past or ongoing criminal conspiracies that connect to George Hayton in particular. I’m not going to apologise for that, and nor should you. So this is what I suggest we do. Jane, why don’t you nip over to HQ, and have a discreet look at Bill Iredale’s records over there? We can talk about it again tomorrow.’

Tuesday, 29th April

The atmosphere in the CID room was quiet, and a bit tense. DCI Hall had been driven over to HQ by Jane Francis, and they got back at just after half-eleven. No-one knew why they’d gone, and they didn’t like that. At lunchtime Ian Mann asked Iredale if he wanted to nip out for a sandwich, and Iredale was putting on his jacket when Jenny Walker called out to him from across the room.

‘You’re not going to believe this, Keith, but one of the pay-as-you-go phones that was only ever used at the time of the burglary of Baker’s hotel room has just gone active again.’

‘Really? Can you see where it is?’

‘Yes. It’s been on for twenty minutes so I’ve got it triangulated. Come and have a look. You too, Ian. You’re really not going to believe this.’

Mann laughed when he saw the location.

‘Are you sure?’

‘Yes, and it hasn’t moved. It’s here, in this building. I’m certain of it.’

‘Can I use your phone?’ said Iredale. ‘Joe? Are you working on that phone I gave you? Do me a favour, and turn it off would you?’

They all looked at the screen, and a few seconds later the dot on the screen faded and disappeared.

‘Bloody hell. It’s the phone I found in that stuff that was fly-tipped. I had the tech team downstairs take a look at it for me.’

‘Were there any prints on it, Keith?’ asked Mann.

‘Shit, I didn’t ask. Come on, let’s get down there and find out.’

Half an hour later Mann would have been pretty hungry, if he’d had time to think about it. But he was sitting in Hall’s office with DS Jane Francis, DC Keith Iredale and Jenny Walker. She’d spent the last ten minutes running through the phone’s history, and Hall had been taking notes.

‘All right, Jenny, thanks. Let me just check that I’ve got this straight. This phone was found by Keith at a fly-tipping site near Maryport yesterday morning, and we have these images of the phone
in situ
. When examined by our SOCO team at this station today a set of unidentified prints was found, as well as three that have been identified as Matt Hayton’s. Furthermore, until it was turned on again by our techs this phone was only active briefly, on the evening of last Tuesday, when it made three calls, and received two, both from another pay-as-you-go that has also since dropped off the network. That’s a pattern that is suspicious, and is usually associated with devices being used in a criminal context. And the phone that we now have was in the area of central Workington for the whole time that it was turned on originally.’

‘Yes, Andy, that’s it.’ said Jenny.

‘OK, then. First of all, well done, Keith. I’m really impressed by the effort you went to in order to secure evidence, and to record the scene. That’s just excellent police work, and a lesson to me, that’s for sure. Two immediate action points occur. First, let’s get that fly-tipped load inspected properly. Keith, has it been uplifted yet?’

‘No, boss. I just called the council.’

‘Right, get Sandy or some of her cronies out their soonest, and see what they can find. And circulate those haulage company logs as well please. Let’s all have a look at them.’

‘Will do.’

‘Ian, it’s almost time for another chat with Matt Hayton.’

‘You want him brought in?’

‘Go and find him, and ask him to attend for an interview under caution in the morning.’

‘He’ll bring a brief if I do that, boss.’

‘I know. That’s what I want. Let’s make sure that George Hayton is aware of what’s happened, and the cock-up that his nephew has made.’

‘You are one sneaky old DCI, Andy Hall.’

‘Thanks, Ian. That’s the nicest thing that anyone has ever said to me. It really is.’

‘So what do you think?’ Hall asked Jane, when they were alone. ‘Does Keith turning up that phone change anything?’

‘Does it make it less likely that he’s on George Hayton’s payroll you mean? Yes, I’d say it does. What possible advantage could they hope to gain by incriminating one of their own like that? After all, Keith knew as well as anyone that we weren’t getting anywhere in trying to connect Hayton’s crew with the burglary and assault on Alex Baker. But this could just be the break we need. I always try to be cautious when it comes to second-guessing the decisions and thought processes of working criminals, because they can be almost whimsically random sometimes. But in this case I just can’t see what they could possibly have to gain by giving us this phone. Granted, this won’t be enough for us to charge Matt Hayton with anything, but it does allow us to keep looking, doesn’t it?’

‘It does. So do you want to talk about the elephant in the room, or not?’

‘You mean Bill Iredale? I thought we’d thrashed that one out pretty comprehensively with Val Gorham this morning. The man hardly had a stellar career, did he? So apart from possibly giving Hayton the odd bit of tactical help it’s hard to see what use he could have been. Not really.’

‘But that doesn’t mean he wasn’t dirty though, does it?’

‘No, and that’s why I’ve agreed with Val’s proposal. We order up background on Bill Iredale, have a look at it, and then we have an informal chat.’

‘And how informal it is depends on what the background throws up?’

‘Exactly. I was surprised that Val was willing to take such a pragmatic view, but it’s the sensible one. She isn’t committing us to a particular course of action, or anything that we couldn’t row back from, if we wanted to.’

‘And Keith doesn’t have to know?’

‘Absolutely not, no. It’s far too soon to even consider that. This stays strictly between us, so get the background done by HQ please, and don’t let anyone here see it. And I mean no-one except me, you and Ian.’

‘You’re worried about Smith and Hodgson?’

‘Possibly, but not only them, Jane. If we assume that Bill Iredale was Hayton’s man then presumably they recruited someone else before he retired. And how long has been out of the job? Five years, isn’t it?’

‘Just over.’

‘So there are plenty of candidates, aren’t there? And let’s remember that Jack Moffett is our source, and he’s provided no evidence to back up his claims.’

‘But why would he lie?’

Hall laughed. ‘He’s criminal, Jane. It’s just what they do.’

Keith Iredale took the precaution of buying a box of cream buns and four coffees on the way to the fly-tipping site.

‘Where will you bloody want us next?’ said Sandy, when she was sipping her coffee and surveying the scene. ‘The fucking sewage farm?’

‘I’m sorry, Sandy. Can I help?’

‘Of course not. You’re not qualified, are you?’

‘Have you found anything useful?’

‘Other than an old front door that I might put in the van for myself, no, nothing. But we’re searching methodically, looking for anything that doesn’t look like builder’s rubble and general rubbish. We’re about three quarters of the way there, I’d say.’

‘So it looks as if that phone might just have been tossed into the truck? When it was loaded and parked up somewhere, maybe?’

‘I’d say that’s favourite, if we don’t find owt else, that is.’

‘And there’s nothing to indicate where the rest of stuff comes from?’

‘No, not so far. They’ve been careful, like you said, and sorted the stuff first. My guess is that they go through the stuff somewhere, and anything that can be identified goes to a legitimate destination. I’m a bit surprised actually, because you do usually find something if you look hard enough.’

‘So you’ve looked at fly-tipping before?’

‘I fucking have. Don’t bloody remind me. About two years ago some knob-end dumped a load of medical waste on a footpath about half a mile from the Chief’s house. Turned out he used to walk his dog along there. You can imagine the rest.’

‘It became top priority.’

‘Aye, and fortunately we did help build a case against the wanker who was behind it. A right charmer he was, if I remember rightly. Seeing him sent down made wading through the soiled sheets almost worthwhile, like. But I’m not hopeful this time, I’m sorry to say. So it may well be back over to you again. But haven’t you got some trucking firm in the frame?’

‘Aye, and they also have a connection with the phone we found.’

‘There we are then. Case closed. Let’s give this up and all go down the pub.’

‘It’s not quite that easy, I’m afraid. We’ve also got the relevant vehicle logs and tachographs, and I can’t see any irregularities at all.’

‘That doesn’t mean anything though, does it? There are ways round all that.’

‘Like what?’

‘Let me see. Old trucks don’t need them, and there are other exemptions as well. Maybe they’re using another vehicle. Not the ones they’ve given you the data for, like. Have you checked all of their vehicles?’

‘No, and maybe it doesn’t matter anyway. The key thing was getting the phone. We’ve got prints off it, so we know that Matt Hayton had been handling it. That’s the main thing, and it ties him to the burglary that we’re linking to Chris Brown’s death.’

‘There we are then. You could look a bit happier about it though, lad. I hear Andy Hall burnished your buttons in public, and told everyone what a very clever young copper you are.’

Iredale looked embarrassed, and Sandy Smith smiled. She just liked the lad. She couldn’t help herself.

‘You’re right, I suppose’ he said, ‘but I wanted to nick someone for this lot. And the rest, come to that. It’s just so disrespectful, somehow. You know what I mean?’

‘I do. That’s the thing about criminals though, isn’t it? They just don’t give a shit.’

When Sandy and her team had gone Iredale watched the council digger load the last of the rubbish into a lorry. He felt a bit better when it was done. He looked at his watch, and saw that his shift had been over for half an hour. So he drove back to the station, and signed his car keys back in. He was at the bike shed, just tightening the velcro on his cycling shoes, when he felt a tap on his shoulder. It was DI Smith.

‘Well done, son. I hear you’re the bloody blue-eyed boy.’

‘It probably won’t last, boss.’

‘Rubbish, lad. I wouldn’t be surprised if Andy Hall doesn’t find something for you at HQ, or maybe down at south division.’

‘I wouldn’t want to move. Not out of the west division, like.’

‘Where’s your ambition, Keith? I sometimes think that you’re just like your old man, I really do.’

Iredale nodded. He’d heard that said before, and he didn’t mind one bit.

‘That wouldn’t be such a bad thing though, would it, boss?’

‘No, of course not. I just meant; never mind. Anyway, I mustn’t keep you, Keith.’

But DI Smith didn’t turn away. He just stood there.

‘Was there anything else, boss?’

‘No, no. I was just thinking about George Hayton, that’s all.’

‘Oh, aye? What about him, like?’

‘Just that it would be ironic if he finally got his collar felt by a bloody offcomer, after all these years we’ve been after him.’

Iredale shrugged noncommittally.

‘Closing in, are you lad? He’s the real target now, isn’t he? DCI bloody high-and-mighty Hall isn’t really interested in some poor kid who drowned in Cloffocks Beck, now is he? He’s looking to link it to George Hayton, and bring his whole bloody empire crashing down. Now that would be a proper result, like, wouldn’t it?’

‘I wouldn’t know about that, boss’ said Iredale, bending down to check his shoe again. He hated it when one felt loose in its cleat as he rode.

‘Just the oily rag then, are you, lad? And Andy Hall is the engine driver, dodgy knee and all?’

Wednesday, 30th April

Andy Hall had been awake for hours. He tried to get back to his sleep, but couldn’t. His knee hurt, and he needed the loo and a painkiller, in that order. Jane didn’t wake up when he levered himself out of bed, nor when we returned, in instalments, to a horizontal position. He knew that there was no need to keep going through it all again in his head. Because there were still active lines of enquiry and he knew that he should be patient. Trust in the investigative method, keep an open mind, and always pursue each line of enquiry right to the end. He told himself all that, twice, but he still couldn’t get back to sleep. He had a bad feeling, nagging away like his knee, and he just couldn’t quite shake it off.