The Legacy (29 page)

‘Be quiet Mr Highworth,' said Harry, ‘or we will kill both you and Caroline.'

Caroline woke up more slowly but was equally surprised. ‘Who the hell are you? What do you want?' she asked.

‘If you do as I say, you will not be harmed,' said Harry in a quiet and menacing voice. ‘Get out of bed, slowly.' They did as they were told. Both were naked and clearly terrified. Hemraj threw two dressing gowns on the bed. ‘Put those on,' said Harry. ‘Do it slowly. If you try anything, I will kill your wife. Do you understand Highworth.'

‘Yes,' croaked Highworth. ‘There's money and valuables downstairs in the safe,' he said. ‘Take it all, just don't harm my wife.'

‘Very touching,' said Harry. ‘But that's not why I'm here.' They kept the torches aimed at their faces. ‘Stand still and put your hands behind your backs,' he directed. They did as they were told. Lucy went behind them and fastened their hands together with plasti-cuffs. Hemraj then took hold of Caroline by the arm and led her into the bathroom, leaving Highworth alone with Lucy and Harry.

‘What are you going to do with her?' asked Highworth.

‘Shut up,' said Harry. ‘You will only speak when I ask you a question. Sit down,' he said, dragging a chair over from the dressing table and putting it in front of Highworth. Highworth did as he was told. ‘I am going to tell you a story and you are going to fill in the blanks for me. If you don't, my friend will start to hurt your wife. Do you understand me?'

Highworth stared at him. As if on cue, Caroline screamed from the bathroom. It was short and sharp, as though someone had covered her mouth as she screamed. ‘What the hell is he doing to her?' shouted Highworth. ‘I'll cooperate, just don't hurt her.'

Harry started at the beginning. He gave the impression that it was Richards who had told them everything in exchange for his life. He showed Highworth a few pictures of Richards trussed up in the cellar to encourage him.

‘Where is the bastard now?' asked Highworth.

‘I don't know,' lied Harry. ‘He escaped. I'm surprised he didn't try and warn you.'

‘I'm not,' spat Highworth. ‘Self-serving bastard doesn't do loyalty.'

Harry spent an hour questioning Highworth. He was careful not to give any indication as to which of Highworth's many victims he was connected to, referring only to ‘an interested party' who had cause to be upset with Highworth. Highworth gained in confidence as the questioning continued. ‘Was it Knowles who put you up to this?' he asked. ‘I knew Briggs would never be able to shut the old bastard up.'

‘What do you know about Knowles?' asked Harry, trying to give the impression that he knew more than he did. ‘Why do you think he would do this to you?' Highworth's answer was short and to the point.

‘Because I screwed him and he didn't like it,' he answered.

‘Surely there's more to it than that?' asked Harry. Highworth just stared at him.

‘Aba!' shouted Harry. Hemraj heard the Nepali word for ‘now' and pushed Caroline into the bedroom. Her face was covered in blood. The front of her dressing gown was open and there was blood at the top of her thighs.

‘You bastard,' shouted Highworth. ‘I'm telling you everything I know.' He strained at the hand-cuffs and started to stand up. Highworth was a big man and Harry was taking no chances. He hit him hard on the side of his head, knocking him back into the chair.

‘Sit down,' ordered Harry. ‘If I don't think you're telling me the truth, my friend will cut your wife into little pieces whilst you watch.'

Carline screamed again as Hemraj pushed her back into the bathroom. ‘You've got to believe me, I'm telling you everything I know,' said Highworth. ‘Please don't hurt her, she knows nothing about any of this.'

‘OK,' replied Harry. ‘Tell me about Fairweather and the artist girl,' asked Harry.

Highworth started talking. He explained at length about Bubble.com and his plan to start buying when the share price hit 300 pence. ‘Fairweather deserved to die,' said Highworth. ‘He was a nasty little self publicist who took all the credit for everything his team ever did.'

Harry continued asking questions until he was satisfied that Highworth had nothing further to tell him. He called to Hemraj who brought Caroline back into the bedroom. She was still covered in blood but this time also had a gag in her mouth. He sat her in another chair and used a roll of duct tape to fasten her to it with her arms behind her back. Highworth was about to protest when a gag was stuffed in his mouth and he was also taped to the chair he was sitting in.

‘I suggest you don't move for an hour or so,' said Harry, pointing the torch in his face. ‘I will phone the police tomorrow morning to come and release you in case you haven't managed to work yourself free by then. You can decide what you tell them.' Harry motioned for Hemraj and Lucy to go out through the window. Neither Highworth nor his wife could see anything other than the torches that shone in their faces. When these were turned off, it took several minutes for their eyes to become accustomed to the darkness. They heard the intruders go out through the bathroom window.

After an hour of struggling, Highworth managed to work his gag free. ‘Don't worry darling,' he called out to Caroline, ‘we'll soon be free.' Caroline grunted through her tears. The red sauce that had been smeared over her face to look like blood tasted awful and she could feel it drying on her thighs.

Chapter 57

Harry, Lucy and Hemraj were in the Range Rover heading back towards Dartmoor. It had gone far better than they had expected. Hemraj had been right. The trick was to go in hard and frighten the life out of the victims from the outset. It was the same approach he had taken with Richards and it had worked equally as well the second time round. Using tomato sauce to look like blood had been a masterstroke. Whilst they would have had no compunction killing Highworth given what he had done to others, they were reluctant to hurt his wife. Simple though it was, the ruse allowed them to deceive Highworth into thinking that they had tried to rape his wife and broken her nose. Not very pleasant but they had needed to persuade Highworth that they were serious. Her arms might ache from Hemraj pushing them up her back to make her scream but, beyond that, she was physically unharmed.

They had to decide what to do next. Richards was still in the cellar. Harry had called the police to report a break-in at the Highworth's house. He didn't like Highworth but he recognised that someone needed to release them. He wasn't worried about Highworth working out who had attacked him. They had been very careful not to use names and to keep the torches aimed at Highworth and his wife at all times. Harry would be surprised if they could describe their assailants at all other than to confirm that there had been two or three people wearing dark clothes and balaclavas. Harry was far more interested in what Highworth would say to the police when they arrived. He certainly wouldn't tell them what he'd told Harry.

They stopped for coffee mid morning at a service station. They had dumped their black combats and the rope in a skip in Aldershot. They had the weapons still with them but they were hidden underneath the spare wheel in the back of the car. There was nothing suspicious in the vehicle. Harry didn't expect to be searched but, ever cautious, he didn't want a routine police check, perhaps for speeding or a defective light, to be their undoing. They drank their coffee and ate a light breakfast of croissants and Danish pastries whilst they considered what to do about Richards.

‘We can't just release him,' said Harry. ‘He'll come after us and, as Lucy said, we don't want to spend the rest of the year looking over our shoulders.'

‘What about just handing him over to the police with a copy of the two films?' asked Lucy. She had filmed the whole of Highworth's interrogation, standing behind Harry as he'd shone the torch in Highworth's face. Harry had done the same during Richards' interrogation

‘We could but they would then know that your father had been involved,' replied Harry. ‘We were careful not to name him in the Highworth interview but Richards knew him well and he would no doubt try and do some sort of deal with the police to reduce his sentence.'

‘Why don't we just kill him?' suggested Hemraj. ‘He is not a nice man. I suspect that he's killed a great many people in addition to your father,' he said, pointing at Lucy with his chin. ‘I am very happy to see that Richards has a nasty accident.'

Lucy looked at Hemraj. She wasn't sure whether to be appalled or grateful.

‘What about the body?' asked Harry, not sure that he liked the idea of killing someone in cold blood, even a man like Richards.

‘There are plenty of ways to dispose of bodies,' said Hemraj slowly. Harry looked at his face as he said this. It was devoid of emotion. Hemraj saw Richards as the scum of the earth. He would have no hesitation in killing him, even with his bare hands if necessary.

They continued to discuss what to do with Richards. Eventually, Harry had an idea which he explained to the others.

‘It might work,' said Lucy hesitantly.

Hemraj wasn't so sure. ‘If it doesn't, then I will kill him for taking your father's life and for what he will do to us if we don't,' said Hemraj, looking Lucy in the eye.

She met his gaze. ‘Thank you,' she said simply.

Chapter 58

Harry, Lucy and Hemraj arrived back on Dartmoor towards midday. It had stopped snowing and the snow ploughs had obviously been out clearing the major roads. Unfortunately, this didn't include the road from Moretonhampstead to North Bovey and they found themselves making slow progress for the final few miles. The Range Rover's traction control, which shifted power to whichever wheels could benefit most from it, had to work hard to get them up the last hill.

Sarah waved to them as they pulled up outside the house. ‘Welcome back,' she said, shovelling snow off the path in front of the kitchen door. ‘How did it go?'

‘Fine,' said Harry, kissing her on both cheeks. ‘We did what we needed to do. How's Richards?'

‘He's been very quiet. I haven't seen him and Ganesh has only made the odd appearance upstairs to use the toilet and make tea. What are you going to do with him now,' she asked.

‘We're going to try and do a deal with him. We have a lot of evidence against him, including a tape of his interrogation. We're going to suggest that we will let him go and keep quiet about his role in all of this on condition he leaves us well alone and forgets he's ever heard of Lucy or Camilla.'

‘Are you sure that's a good idea?' asked Sarah, clearly concerned. ‘You don't think he'll just wait until all this has passed over and then try and kill us to cover his tracks?'

‘He might but we can give the evidence to someone and tell them to open it if anything happens to us.'

Sarah looked at Harry with genuine concern. ‘You'll forgive me saying this but that is a crap plan. It will be no comfort to me as I take my last breath to know that my killer might, and I emphasise might, one day be held to account for murdering me. Can't we do better than that?'

‘I'm open to ideas,' said Harry, irritated that Sarah was being so dismissive of his plan.

They followed Sarah inside. Ellie had made tea and they all sat around the kitchen table to discuss the next steps. Harry outlined his plan. Ellie and Camilla looked equally as surprised as Sarah had been.

‘I don't think it will work Fish,' said Camilla after several minutes of silence. ‘We have no guarantee that he won't just take us out one by one once we've released him. We know he's resourceful as well as ruthless. Even with the evidence we have, there would be nothing to stop him from killing us and then leaving the country and living somewhere that doesn't have an extradition treaty with the UK. We need to do better.' They sat in silence until Lucy suggested that they bribe him with some of the money that her father had left her. They kicked the idea around but decided that it could be the thin end of a wedge.

‘There's nothing to stop him coming back for more,' suggested Camilla. The others nodded.

‘I'm going to replace Ganesh,' said Hemraj, standing up and leaving the table. They watched him as he disappeared down the cellar stairs.

‘Why don't we just let Hemraj kill him?' asked Lucy quietly.

‘Because that would make us no better than him,' said Harry, surprised that Lucy seemed to have got over whatever reservations she had had earlier about killing Richards. Harry looked at her. ‘Anyway, I thought you were against that?' he asked.

‘I was. I've been thinking about it,' she replied. ‘But the alternative doesn't appeal either if it means never knowing whether he's after me, waiting for an opportunity to kill me in some dark alley when I'm least expecting it, just as he did my father.'

‘So what do you suggest?' asked Ellie.

‘Well,' she said, ‘my father is dead. Nothing will change that and what he did was wrong. I can't condone his actions. He took peoples' lives for money. I know he said that they deserved to die but did they? All of them? We recorded both Richards' and Highworth's interrogations. I know we considered this earlier but what if we sent both of the films to the police? I know my father's part in all of this will come out eventually but it can't harm him now. His reputation will take a few knocks and I might lose the money but so be it. It's better than the alternative: a lifetime of looking over our shoulders.'

They discussed Lucy's proposition for over an hour. The infor-mation in the films would be sufficient for the police to launch their own investigations. It couldn't be used as evidence because it was clear that both Richards and Highworth were under duress when they had been questioned. But equally, the police would want to act on the detailed descriptions of the murders and other illegal activities that both men had confessed to being involved in. It would take time but their own investigations would eventually corroborate what was in the films, allowing them to prosecute both men.

‘What about Knowles and Briggs whoever they are?' asked Camilla.

‘I think we can leave that to the police to work out,' said Harry. ‘I don't think we want to get any more involved than we have to. We know who killed Lucy's Dad and we now know why. I think we let the police take the lead from here on in. Do we all agree to Lucy's idea?' asked Harry, looking at them each in turn. They nodded.

‘OK,' said Harry. ‘I'll tell Richards that we're going to release him as we said we would. I won't tell him about the plan to send the films to the police. I'll just tell him that, as far as we are concerned, we've got what we wanted. If he doesn't bother us, then we won't bother him.'

‘What if he skips the country before the police get to him?' asked Camilla.

‘It's a risk we have to take,' replied Lucy. ‘They'll find him eventually.'

Harry went down into the cellar to talk to Richards. He pulled up a chair and sat opposite him, looking him squarely in the eye. He explained that they were going to release him on the condition that he forgot about them.

‘Why are you doing this?' asked Richards, clearly suspicious.

‘Because there has been enough bloodshed and we have the answers we were looking for. But make no mistake,' said Harry, ‘my two balaclava wearing friends know exactly who you are. They will find you and kill you if anything happens to the girls or to me once we've let you go.'

Richards nodded. He wasn't stupid. He was taking it one step at a time. Once he was free, what he did was up to him. And if he could find out who the two men in combats were, then he could take them out at his leisure before killing the rest of them. None of this showed in his face. Instead, he feigned relief and thanked Harry.

‘We'll cut you free and give you some clothes. We'll even drive you to your car. But then you go,' said Harry. Richards nodded.

‘Cover him,' said Harry to Ganesh as he cut through the tape that held Richards to the chair. Richards stood up slowly, stretching his arms and legs. He winced as the blood started to flow back into his limbs. ‘Put these on,' ordered Harry, passing him a set of the black fatigues. Richards held up his handcuffed hands. Harry gave him the key and stepped back as Richards unlocked them. ‘Watch him,' he said to Ganesh, ‘I'll turn the car round. Put the blindfold on him and bring him up when he's dressed.' Ganesh nodded, aiming his pistol squarely at Richards' chest.

Harry sat in the car waiting. Eventually, Richards appeared in the doorway. He was wearing the blindfold and his hands had been handcuffed in front of him. Hemraj led him to the Range Rover whilst Ganesh followed on behind with his pistol aimed on Richards' back.

‘Get in the car,' ordered Hemraj. Richards climbed into the front passenger seat. ‘Just so you know,' said Hemraj. ‘I'm sat behind you and I have a pistol. Try anything and I will enjoy putting a bullet in you.' Richards nodded.

Harry eased the car down the drive and onto the main road. Richards had told them where he had parked his car and Harry drove slowly through the village, heading out towards Hay Tor rather than into Morton Hamsptead. Ganesh had remained with the girls. He'd been up for twenty-our hours watching Richards and was dead on his feet. He needed to rest.

Five minutes later, they arrived in the village of Manaton. Harry could see Richards' Subaru parked near the church at the edge of the village green. He pulled in about twenty metres away from it. It was early evening and the deep snow was keeping people indoors.

‘We're here,' he said to Richards, removing the blindfold. ‘As my friend said, try anything and we'll kill you.'

‘I won't,' said Richards. He was playing along but he was still suspicious. He couldn't believe that they were going to let him go. It just didn't make sense.

They got out of the Range Rover and moved slowly through the snow towards the Subaru. Richards held up his hands. Harry passed him the keys to the handcuffs. Richards undid them and then stumbled. Instinctively, Harry went towards him to help him to his feet. As he did so, Richards lunged at him. He caught Harry off balance and wrapped an arm tightly round his neck. He quickly removed the knife that Harry had strapped to his leg with his other hand and held it to Harry's throat.

‘Drop the gun or I'll slit his throat,' snarled Richards.

‘We've let you go, you don't need to do this,' said Hemraj.

‘I don't trust you. I don't know what but you were going to do something,' said Richards, pushing the edge of the knife deeper into Harry's throat. ‘Drop it now.'

Hemraj did as he was told, throwing the Glock over the hedge into the church garden. There was no way he was going to make this easy for Richards. Richards watched the pistol fly through the air. Harry seized his opportunity, forcing his head back, trying to smash it into Richards' nose. At the same time, he grabbed Richards' knife arm with both hands and pushed it away from his body. Richards reacted quickly, stepping back to avoid Harry's head and punching Harry hard in the temple with his free hand. Harry dropped to the floor, stunned by the force of the blow.

Harry was conscious but dazed. Realising that he needed to distract Richards before he used the knife on Harry, Hemraj shouted at him and ran towards him. Richards stepped quickly away from Harry and dropped into a crouch, the knife held out in front of him. He smiled thinly. He was a master at unarmed combat and he didn't doubt his ability to take the big Gurkha. He lunged at Hemraj. Hemraj twisted his body, the knife missing him by millimetres.

‘Fuck this,' said Hemraj, taking off his Balaclava and throwing it to the ground. He adopted a similar crouch to Richards and the two men circled each other, looking for an opportunity. Richards darted in. Hemraj pivoted to avoid the knife and smashed the edge of his hand into Richards' outstretched arm. The knife fell into the snow but Richards recovered quickly. Amazed at how fast the big Gurkha had moved, he feinted with his right hand and then launched a rabbit punch at the Gurkha's neck. Rather than moving back to avoid it, Hemraj stepped in towards Richards, pushing the outstretched hand away and turning to land a powerful elbow strike in Richards' midriff. Winded, Richards stepped back. Hemraj's black eyes were locked onto his and, for the first time in many years, Richards started to feel afraid. He realised that, yet again, he might have underestimated his opponent. Hemraj launched a kick at Richards' groin. Richards jumped back but, as soon as he landed, Hemraj launched another kick, this time at his head. Again, Richards stepped back to avoid the blow. Recovering his balance, he charged at Hemraj. The two men fell to the floor, grappling for a hold. Hemraj managed to wrap a thick arm round Richards' neck. Richards struggled to break free but the Gurkha was too powerful. He wrapped his legs round Richards' thighs and then used every ounce of his immense strength to pull Richards' neck back. Harry heard a loud snap and saw Richards go limp. Hemraj had broken his neck.

Hemraj relaxed his grip, releasing Richards. He pushed the body away and then stood up, going over to Harry and helping him to his feet. ‘Are you OK?' he asked.

‘Yes,' said Harry. ‘You?'

‘Fine,' replied Hemraj. ‘What shall we do about him?' he asked, pointing at Richards with his chin. ‘We can't really leave him here.'

‘No,' replied Harry thoughtfully. ‘But I have an idea. Let's put him in the car out of the way and then I'll tell you what I think we should do.'

Hemraj did as he was told, easily lifting Richards' body and putting it in the rear of the Range Rover. Harry found the Subaru's keys hidden just inside the exhaust pipe. He cleared the worst of the snow off the car and started it up. He then got out of the car and explained his idea to Hemraj. Hemraj agreed the plan and got into the Subaru. Harry climbed into the Range Rover and led the way out of Manaton and towards the town of Bovey Tracy, a bustling market town that lies at the foot of the Moor. The roads were still covered in snow but there were a number of vehicle tracks that showed the line of the road.

It was dark when they stopped on the top of Trendlebere Down. They got out of their cars and looked down the steep hill in front of them. The road ran straight down towards the valley bottom before disappearing round a sharp corner. There were some vehicle tracks but it would be treacherous to try the descent without snow chains. Even then, trying it at night would be verging on suicidal given the ice that had formed in the vehicle ruts.

‘Ready?' asked Harry. Hemraj nodded. He opened the boot of the Range Rover and took Richards' body out, carrying it over to the Subaru. They had dressed it in Harry's clothes and Harry, now wearing the black combats that Richards had worn, reversed the Range Rover and pulled in behind the Subaru. Hemraj positioned Richards' body behind the Subaru's steering wheel, turned the car's lights on and leaned over Richards to release the hand brake. The car started to move forwards slowly. It gathered momentum as they watched. It followed the line of the road but instead of going round the corner, it climbed the slight verge and disappeared straight down the hillside. Harry and Hemraj listened. They couldn't see the car but a few minutes later they heard a loud bang. The car had obviously stopped abruptly, smashing into the rocks at the bottom of the valley. ‘With any luck,' said Harry, ‘they won't find it until tomorrow. If it thaws overnight and the tracks melt away, they might not even find it for a few weeks.'