Blood Sport: A Yorkshire Murder Mystery (DCI Harry Grimm Crime Thrillers 7)

by David J Gatward

  ‘And you know this how?’ Swift asked.

  ‘Because that’s what the evidence shows,’ came another voice new to the discussion.

  Harry looked up to see the pathologist standing at the office door.

  ‘Well,’ he said, ‘this is a surprise.’

  ‘A pleasant one, I hope,’ Sowerby replied.

  Harry didn’t know what to say to that, so said nothing as Sowerby made her way deeper into the room to join the rest of the team.

  ‘Now,’ she said, taking a seat, ‘before we go any further, I just need to know one thing…’

  ‘And what’s that?’ Harry asked.

  ‘Am I too late for a bacon butty?’

  Chapter Nineteen

  The unannounced arrival of Detective Superintendent Graham Swift was one thing, but having the pathologist turn up as well? It wasn’t exactly too much for Harry to deal with, but it was certainly something he could’ve done without. So, taking advantage of Sowerby’s announced requirement for food, he quickly sent an enthusiastic Detective Sergeant Dinsdale off to the top end of town to grab a round of bacon butties from the Penny Garth Café.

  ‘And take this,’ Harry said, handing the DS his card. ‘My shout.’

  ‘You sure, boss?’

  ‘Very,’ Harry said. ‘Just make sure mine’s double bacon, okay?’

  With Matt gone and the meeting paused for a moment, Harry had a little time to chat with both Swift and Sowerby about what was going on and to find out why they were there in the first place. He may not have been the biggest fan of having everything planned out in the minutest of detail, often preferring to go with gut instinct, but a heads-up now and again would certainly be appreciated.

  ‘I don’t always announce my visits ahead of time,’ Swift said, staring up at Grimm, and having just informed the DCI that he was there merely to observe. ‘I think it’s important that I see a team in the rough as it were. If I gave you a date and a time of a visit, I would never be entirely sure that you weren’t in some way performing for me, running through a well-rehearsed and polished sequence of points and actions.’

  Harry wanted to laugh at that, but somehow managed not to.

  ‘You do know this team, don’t you, sir?’ he asked. ‘Because I’m not sure that performing is one of their key skills, if you know what I mean. And certainly not in any polished fashion, that’s for sure.’

  ‘No, I’m not sure that I do know what you mean,’ Swift said.

  Harry thought for a moment as to how best to put what he was about to say next, and in such a way as to not offend, then just gave up and went with it.

  ‘This isn’t a bloody circus, sir!’ he said. ‘They’re not here to put on a show and do backflips and somersaults just because a superior officer has come over to watch them work!’

  Swift said nothing, just stared, lips so thin they were little more than thin red lines.

  ‘That isn’t what I’m suggesting, Grimm,’ he eventually said, and Harry noticed a twitch of annoyance in the man’s eyes. ‘At all.’

  ‘Well, to be frank, sir, I’m not sure a single one of them gives a rat’s arse about what you, or I, or anyone else thinks of their performance, if that’s what you want to call what they do. All they actually care about is doing a good job, for the community in which they live. And I, for one, think that’s exactly what they should care about, don’t you?’

  Swift opened his mouth to speak, but Harry didn’t give him the opportunity.

  ‘I’ve worked with too many people who have, for whatever reason, spent more of their working life trying to prove themselves to people like you and me, than actually getting on with the job in hand.’

  ‘Well, it’s important to be aware of what your colleagues think,’ Swift said, but Harry wasn’t listening.

  ‘But this lot?’ he said, gesturing at the team, who were all busy in their own conversations over mugs of tea. ‘They’re not like that, thank God. Not a single one of them. Even our newest and keenest member, PC Okri. He’s enthusiastic, I’ll give him that, a little too enthusiastic at times maybe, but he’s not trying to show off or make sure I see what he’s doing. He’s just trying to do the best job that he can.’

  ‘Sounds like things could very easily get a little sloppy with an attitude like that,’ Swift said, clearly not giving up his viewpoint or showing any indication of considering Harry’s own. ‘Police officers need to be kept on their toes, Grimm, otherwise, how can we, as a force, improve?’

  ‘By giving the people in it the space and support to do their job, to ask questions, use their initiative, and to learn from their mistakes,’ said Harry, working hard to stay calm in the face of Swift’s mean-spirited and suspicious small-mindedness. ‘If they’re being kept on their toes, if they’re always worried about being pulled up on something that didn’t go well, or something they did that didn’t quite follow this policy or that procedure, then what chance have they got?’

  ‘Well, policies and procedures are there for a reason, Grimm. You know that as well as I do. And though I am loathed to remind you why you’re here in the first place, I suggest you cast your mind back to that right now!’

  The breath Harry then sucked in was long and deep enough to rid the room of all its oxygen. Then, with a voice as still and calm as the eye of a storm, he said, ‘You leave them be, sir. They’re a good team. Arguably the best I’ve ever worked with. They don’t need spying on. They don’t need box-ticking exercises. They just need to be allowed to get on with what they do best, and that’s the job they’re all doing right now.’

  Then, as if on cue, Detective Sergeant Matt Dinsdale bounced through the office door and dropped a heavy carrier bag onto a table.

  ‘Right then, everyone!’ he bellowed, as though announcing the best news he’d ever had to impart in his life. ‘Get that lot inside you before it goes cold!’

  Both Swift and Grimm stopped talking and in the momentary pause in the discussion, as the team tucked into Matt’s delivery, Sowerby stepped forwards and spoke.

  ‘You’re actually both right, you know,’ she said. ‘A team needs to be given the space to breathe, but it needs policies and procedures as a solid foundation to build on.’

  Harry watched his team as Matt dished out white, grease-spotted paper bags, then walked over and took one for himself and another for Sowerby.

  ‘I’ll be honest,’ Harry said, handing Sowerby her bacon butty, ‘it’s a little early for these kinds of professional development discussions. Just so long as we don’t stray into person development plan territory, then I think I can just about handle it.’

  ‘PDPs are essential, Grimm,’ Swift began, but Harry wasn’t listening and the DSup’s voice faded, as did whatever point he was about to make. The man had bowed out of ordering a butty and instead stood there nibbling on a Rich Tea biscuit. Harry thought how that said an awful lot about the man in front of him.

  ‘I really needed this,’ Sowerby said, biting into her butty.

  ‘Be warned, though,’ Harry advised, tucking into his own. ‘They’re addictive. Before you know it, you’ve had one every day for the past month and put on a stone.’

  ‘Not sure I care right now,’ Sowerby said.

  ‘Next time I’ll get them to throw an egg in as well for you,’ Harry said

  He couldn’t help but notice that over the past few months, he and Sowerby’s usually frosty working relationship had thawed a little. And now here she was, eating an unhealthy breakfast with his team. Did they have this effect on everyone? he thought. Then he saw Swift finishing off his bland biscuit and thought, perhaps not. Which was a shame, really.

  ‘I stayed over at my mum’s in Askrigg,’ Sowerby said. ‘In case you’re wondering why I’m here. Which I’m sure you are. You’ve that look in your eye.’

  ‘Look?’ Harry said. ‘I don’t have a look.’

  ‘Oh, you do,’ Sowerby said. ‘You have quite a few, actually. And most of them seem designed to put someone ill at ease.’r />
  Deciding to not follow that observation up, and remembering that the pathologist’s larger than life mother was also the district surgeon, he said, ‘What made you stay over, then?’

  ‘Exhaustion mainly,’ Sowerby said, finishing off her food. ‘And I’d been meaning to come over for a visit anyway. So I brought some work with me before I came over. I’ll be around over the weekend, trying to catch up on some bits and bobs, and to have a bit of a rest. And mum’s a great cook. Always likes to feed me up.’

  ‘Fair enough,’ Harry said.

  ‘When I woke up this morning I thought that I may as well come down here and go through our findings with you first-hand. Hope that’s okay. I didn’t want to interrupt your meeting, but there was no point in me just walking around the marketplace until you were finished.’

  ‘Not a problem at all,’ Harry said. ‘And to be honest, with how this is all developing already, getting your thoughts can only be a good thing.’

  ‘I hope so,’ Sowerby said. ‘You sound concerned.’

  ‘I am,’ Harry nodded. ‘A dog fight, that’s one thing. But when something escalates like this, and so quickly?’ He shook his head. ‘I don’t want to think about where it all might lead.’

  ‘Could be you’re joining up all the wrong dots, though,’ suggested Swift, his appetite clearly sated by the solitary biscuit. ‘It does happen. We’ve all done it.’

  ‘Maybe,’ Harry said, his eyes falling to where Molly was fast asleep on the floor. ‘But then that would mean what happened last night was just a coincidence. And if that’s the case, then we’ve got a problem.’

  ‘Have we?’ Swift said. ‘And what’s that?’

  ‘He doesn’t believe in coincidences,’ Sowerby said, then looked up at Grimm. ‘And neither do I.’

  Harry took centre stage again, over by the board, the movement enough to get the attention of the rest of the team. They all fell quiet and took their seats.

  ‘Jadyn?’ he said.

  ‘Yes, boss?’

  ‘Get your pens ready. You’re going to need them.’

  Chapter Twenty

  With the meeting over, and everyone set on with their tasks for what was left of the day, Harry popped back home to drop off Molly, on the way giving Ben a quick call to tell him to give the dog a run that evening if he wasn’t back in time. Then he nipped back into the office just to make sure everyone was clear with what they were doing before he headed off to see Arthur and Grace. Sowerby and Swift had already gone by the time he returned, and everyone else was in the process of leaving to make the most of what was left of the day. They’d found several local construction sites to check up on, so that was something. And then there was the case of the mysterious missing Eric Haygarth, which Harry had given to Matt.

  ‘And take someone with you,’ Harry said. ‘Just in case.’

  ‘Just in case of what?’ Matt asked.

  ‘Because this Eric bloke is the kind of person who enjoys stuffing dogs,’ Harry replied. ‘Although I’m sure there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation for it, I’m not entirely convinced that someone who does that shouldn’t be someone we’re wary of.’

  ‘I actually rather like a bit of taxidermy,’ Matt said.

  ‘If only I could stand here and say I was surprised.’

  ‘I’ll take Liz,’ Matt suggested. ‘She’s just popped out but will be back in a few minutes.’

  ‘Worth starting at his house, I suppose,’ Harry suggested. ‘I know he wasn’t there last night, but he might have gone home, you never know. Whatever, it’s all a bit odd that Grace saw him and now he’s vanished. See what you can find, knock on some doors, the usual.’

  ‘Police work always boils down to this, doesn’t it?’ Matt said. ‘You can have all that fancy science stuff, forensics, even the occasional exciting car chase and shoot-out at an abandoned warehouse, but most times, it’s all down to knocking on doors.’

  ‘I can agree with most of what you said,’ Harry said.

  Matt looked at Harry, an eyebrow raised in question.

  ‘Most, boss? How do you mean?’

  ‘Well, for a start, you’ve never had an exciting car chase and shoot out,’ Harry said. ‘And my advice is, you don’t want to, either.’

  ‘You mean it’s not like it is in the movies? All near-misses and jumping through the air and shooting the bad guys?’

  ‘Not even in the slightest,’ said Harry.

  With Matt tasked, and happy with what the rest of the team were on with, Harry was soon behind the wheel of his Rav4 and heading down dale, this time all the way through to Northallerton, the hospital where Arthur had been taken. Grace was still there with him. She hadn’t left his side. And with it now being the afternoon, Harry was concerned that her exhaustion was soon going to be an issue. He also needed to speak with the doctors who had dealt with Arthur, just in case they had any insight into what had happened after patching him up.

  The journey over to the hospital was probably very beautiful and full of the most striking scenery, as was pretty much every journey in the dales, but Harry remembered none of it. His mind was only on the investigation, what had happened to Arthur’s dog and then to Arthur himself. He couldn’t think of a connection, but he would, and when he did, the person responsible was going to be in a very bad place indeed.

  Once at the hospital, Harry quickly found his way to where Arthur was recovering, only to find Grace standing outside the ward waiting for him.

  ‘You really didn’t have to visit,’ Grace said as Harry walked over.

  ‘There are a lot of things in my life I’ve not had to do but have done anyway,’ Harry replied. ‘Too many, probably.’

  ‘Why am I not surprised?’

  ‘So, how is he?’ Harry asked.

  ‘Asleep,’ Grace said. ‘And stable. So, that’s something.’

  ‘It is,’ Harry agreed. ‘And I know I hardly know him, but your dad strikes me as someone strong enough to come through this.’

  Grace nodded, a weak smile on her face and a tiredness in her eyes that betrayed the fact she’d clearly had no sleep other than the worst kind in a hospital waiting room.

  ‘Fancy getting a coffee?’ Harry asked. ‘I passed a café on the way up here. Looked okay, too.’

  ‘Sounds good,’ Grace said.

  ‘I just need to chat with the doctors who’ve been sorting out your dad,’ Harry said. ‘Here…’

  Harry handed Grace some cash from his wallet.

  ‘I’m not that kind of girl,’ Grace said, and Harry was impressed that her sense of humour somehow still managed to break through her tiredness and stress.

  ‘Grab us both a drink and a snack and I’ll be down in five,’ Harry said.

  Grace walked off and Harry pushed through to the ward Arthur was on. At the reception desk, a quick chat and a show of his ID was enough to have a doctor to him within minutes.

  ‘I’m Doctor Kelly,’ said the woman in front of Harry. It was clear from her body language that she was in a hurry and that this distraction was one that, although she understood, she didn’t necessarily have the time for. She was tall, dark-haired, and had bright, piercing eyes.

  ‘I won’t keep you long,’ Harry said. ‘I was just wondering if you were able to tell me anything about Mr Black’s injuries, how he is, that kind of thing.’

  ‘Well, he took a hell of a beating, that’s for sure,’ Doctor Kelly said. ‘Though, it looked considerably worse than it was. That doesn’t detract from the fact that he’s bouncing back very quickly. He’s clearly made of tough stuff. His daughter told me he was attacked in his own home?’

  ‘That’s correct,’ Harry said.

  ‘What actually happened to him? Was it a burglar?’

  ‘Right now we don’t know all that much, but we’re investigating a number of lines of enquiry.’

  ‘I understand,’ said the doctor. ‘You know, you police, you talk a little like us doctors. You’re very good at saying just enough without giving too
much away.’

  ‘And we’ll only give something away if and when we know, as well as we can anyway, that we’ve got the facts straight.’

  ‘Exactly that,’ Doctor Kelly said.

  Harry noticed that the doctor’s expression had changed a little, as though she was thinking about something and not sure what to say.

  ‘Something bothering you?’ Harry asked.

  ‘The injuries,’ the doctor said with a nod. ‘I’m trying to work out the sense of them.’

  ‘How do you mean?’

  ‘He’s been hit and punched and kicked everywhere,’ she explained. ‘The attack was thorough, there’s no doubt about that. But it doesn’t strike me as something someone would do if they were discovered mid-robbery and they wanted to just put him out of action and run away before the police arrived.’

  ‘A fair point,’ Harry agreed. ‘What else?’

  ‘He’s bruised everywhere,’ the doctor said. ‘He was unconscious when he was brought in, but I think that was more shock from the attack than anything, his body just shutting down to protect itself and repair.’

  ‘I’m not sure I follow,’ Harry said.

  ‘It’s like the attack was restrained,’ the doctor said. ‘I know that sounds a bit mad, seeing as he was actually beaten up, and quite badly, but it could’ve been a lot worse.’

  ‘Any broken bones?’

  ‘None!’ the doctor said, clearly surprised by the fact that she was giving such an answer. ‘You see what I mean? There’s plenty of bruises, scratches, and cuts, a few burns from being on the carpet, but he’s actually okay, all things considered.’

  ‘Like you said, he’s tough,’ Harry said.

  ‘Particularly so, considering his age,’ the doctor agreed. ‘But I can’t help thinking it could’ve been a lot worse.’

  ‘He was lucky, then.’

  ‘Well, I wouldn’t go that far,’ said the doctor. ‘No one who’s been kicked and punched like that is in any way, shape, or form lucky. He’s in a lot of pain and we need to keep him in for observation, but he’ll be out in a day or so I should think.’