Driving to the ''first window'', he paid, as Lasser watched the slow-moving traffic to his left, for once the dual carriageway was running smoothly, though the drivers were all taking their time in the grim conditions.
When he saw the man drive by on the scooter, both booted feet skimming the snow, he frowned as Bannister moved to the ''second window''.
'Have you heard from Spenner?' he asked.
The DCI turned, his eyes widening slightly. 'Not a dicky bird,' he replied as the teenager handed the brown bag through the window.
'Have a nice day!' the lad spouted cheerfully and then swallowed when Bannister glared at him.
'Walk a mile in my shoes, sunshine, I never have a nice day,' he growled before pulling away and parking up in the first space he could find.
Pulling the burger from the bag Bannister scowled. 'Christ, it looks as if someone has run over it in a ten-ton truck.'
Lasser nibbled a nugget as he pulled his phone free.
'What are you doing?' Bannister asked.
'Ringing Odette,' he replied before going through the motions.
The phone started to ring, and she picked up on the fifth ring.
'What can I do for you, Lasser?' she asked in a dull, flat voice.
'I'm just seeing if you're feeling any better?'
'Not really.'
Lasser frowned at the two-word answer. 'Have you been to the doctor?'
'No, it's just a virus, I'll shake it off in a couple of days.'
'Well, if there's anything you need, we can…'
'I'll be fine, I just need to get some sleep.'
This time it was Bannister who scowled. 'Did Spenner call to see you?'
'Er, yeah, yeah he did.'
'What about Craig, is he still with you?' Lasser asked.
'No, he had to go back to the Lakes, something came up.'
'What came up?' Bannister asked, the bap in his hand flopped open spilling lettuce into his lap.
'One of his colleagues fell and broke his leg when they were out with a group of winter walkers, so Craig had to head back up there to cover.'
'Are you still coming over for Christmas dinner?'
'Probably not, the last thing I want to do is pass this on to everyone.'
'OK, one of us will ring later to check up on you and I'll save you some of the Christmas cake,' Bannister said.
'Yeah, that would be good. Look, I feel shattered so…'
'You get back to sleep and take it easy.'
'Will do.'
The call ended but Lasser looked pensive.
'Remind me to give Spenner a roasting for not letting us know how she was,' Bannister said as he picked the lettuce from his lap and popped it into his mouth then took a bite from the bun.
'She never asked about the case,' Lasser said.
Bannister swallowed the food before wiping his lips with the paper napkin. 'Come on, you heard her, she sounded knackered.'
'I know but…'
'The last thing you want to do when you've been throwing up for a couple of days is to talk about bloody work.'
'I get that but…'
'Plus, with lover boy gone, when she does feel a little easier, we can ask her more about the guy.'
'Fair point,' Lasser said, dipping a nugget into the small pot of red sauce.
'I really thought we were onto something with Shipley,' the DCI said before taking another bite of the bun.
'The question is, where did Dean vanish to and why?'
'OK, I think we can assume that Ashley was the one the killer was interested in,' Bannister said, dropping the remains of the bun into the bag with a splat.
Lasser nodded in agreement. 'But what made someone ambush them, leave the wife for dead and then drag the husband away?'
Taking a sip from the hot coffee, Bannister winced at the scorching liquid. 'Jealousy?'
'Or hatred,' Lasser offered.
'I know the Deans looked as if they had the perfect life – big house, successful business, nice car – but what if Ashley Dean had playing around behind his wife's back?' the DCI asked as he reached over and pinched one of the nuggets.
'So, we could be looking for a husband who found out and decided to make him pay.'
Bannister's face was with etched with concentration. 'Plausible, but why would he mess about with the head in the freezer, why not just target them like he did last night?'
'Maybe he wanted to scare them beforehand.'
'But what about the others he killed?'
Lasser tried to think, but it made no sense. On the one hand you had a madman, responsible for the death of three men and yet he had chosen to place one of the victim's heads in the Dean's chest freezer. Having a burning hatred for Ashley Dean was one thing but why kill others in the process?
'This is scrambling my brain,' he said.
Bannister risked another sip from the cup. 'Let's go with the facts. We agree that the killer deliberately placed Shaw's head in the freezer to terrify the Deans?'
Lasser grunted around the nugget in agreement.
'But that doesn't mean the bastard has only one axe to grind, until we can find links between the three dead men we go on the theory that the killings are random, all right?'
'OK, so far,' Lasser granted.
'Which means Ashley Dean isn't the reason he kills, he does it because he feels he has to.'
'Go on?' Lasser said, sucking at the straw.
Bannister tried to continue but suddenly the ideas seemed to dry up, his face twitched with frustration.
Sensing Bannister's building anger, Lasser closed his eyes, desperately trying to add to the thread.
When the thought bolted into his mind his eyes snapped open. 'Lambert and Shaw were out walking when they were killed, right?'
'You know they were,' the DCI replied darkly.
'But Bernard Marsh wasn't.'
'What are you getting at?'
'To get to Marsh's farm you have to search it out, it isn't the sort of place you would just pass, the nearest road is a quarter of a mile away. Unless you knew the place was there then you would simply drive past.'
'You're saying the killer knew Marsh and targeted the man?'
Placing the milkshake in the cup holder Lasser fished out his cigarettes. 'Dorothy Marsh said no one had been near the farm for years, her husband didn't want anyone seeing the way he treated his wife, the way he forced her to live. He had even made sure they had a post-box placed at the end of the lane…'
'Plus he wouldn't have wanted anyone from the Royal Mail to see him prancing around in his flowery dress like Mrs Bloody Brown,' Bannister snarled in disgust.
'We need to go and see Dorothy,' Lasser suddenly said.
'Why…?'
'Look, I know it's been years since anyone went there, but the killer could have borne a grudge for something that Marsh did to him in the past.'
'But what grudge?'
'Christ knows, but Dorothy might, I know she's getting on a bit, but considering the things she been through there's bugger all wrong with her mind.'
Bannister paused in thought for a moment, checked the mirrors and backed out of the parking bay before heading for the exit. 'OK, let's go and see what she has to say, you never know, we might get lucky.'
Lasser crossed his fingers and prayed for a break.
80
Kath Brunswick looked at her sister, a frown of concern on her face as she took a sip from the cup. 'Are you really sure about this, Beth?'
'Positive. It's over.'
'But I always thought you two were happy?'
They were sitting in the kitchen, the French doors closed, the kids outside wrapped up in their snowsuits as they played in the garden making a family of snowmen.
Beth shook her head and sighed. 'I just hate being stuck out there in the middle of nowhere, and…'
'But you used to love it, so what's changed?'
Beth glanced at her older sister, there was five years between them and somehow those
five years had always felt like a chasm.
Kath seemed to sail through life, oh she worked hard enough, but things just seemed to fall in her lap. Lovely home, a husband who worshipped her, two kids who were always so well-behaved, their futures being planned for by their loving parents.
'Come on, Beth, you must have more of a reason for wanting to walk away. I mean, I like living here, but sometimes it would be nice not to have neighbours living so close.'
Beth felt the frustration grow inside as she tried to find more to back up her reasons for wanting to end the marriage.
'Has he hit you?' Kath asked.
'Of course not.'
'Cheated on you?'
Again, Beth shook her head, suddenly feeling like some spoilt brat.
'So, what is it?'
'I worry about Sam,' she said lamely.
As if on cue, her son appeared at the French doors, a huge smile on his face, cheeks rosy-red, eyes alight with joy as he smeared snow on the glass doors.
Kath looked at him and waved before turning back to her sister, her eyebrow raised questioningly. 'He looks fine to me.'
'But he's missing out on so much being stuck out in the middle of nowhere.'
'My God, Beth, you make it sound like the frozen north. OK, I will admit with this weather it can take you a while to get to town, but normally it's a ten-minute drive from your house to here.'
Beth felt another avenue of complaint come to a dead end. 'It's OK for you, your kids can go out and play anytime they want, Sam can't do that, he…'
'Hang on,' Kath raised a hand and her sister fell silent. 'Last summer you were out of the house at least four times a week, you went to the gym twice, and then Zumba with your girlfriends. You left Sam at home with his dad while you got out, if you were that concerned with Sam missing out then you could have come here or to the park and sat there while he played.'
Beth felt the familiar anger start to surface, Kath had always been the same, always finding fault with the way she lived her life.
'Oh, so you begrudge me some time to do the things I like to do.'
'Don't be ridiculous, you've always done exactly what you wanted to do. You never consider anyone else, you just go ahead and see to yourself. I mean, loads of people would love to have your life, you have a lovely home, a wonderful son, you have a job you like, but even then, you don't need to work if you don't want to, and yet you're still not satisfied.'
Beth tried to keep her anger in check but looking at her sister's supercilious face made it an impossibility. 'Jealous are you,' she spat before she had time to think.
Kath eased back in the chair, her arms now folded, any hint of compassion vanished from her eyes. 'You need to grow up, Beth, otherwise you are going to find yourself with nothing.'
'What are you talking about, I'm entitled to half of the house and…'
'Is that what all this is about, you want a divorce, just so you can force the house to be sold and get the money?'
Beth felt her face flood with colour. 'No,' she muttered petulantly.
Kath shook her head in disgust. 'You are unbelievable, absolutely unbelievable.'
Before she could continue, her sister bolted from the chair and stormed from the room.
Kath watched her go, when she heard the front door slam the look of disgust faded from her face, replaced by one of abject sadness.
81
The bread wagon had got stuck in the snow on the way out of town, blocking the road and causing a snarl-up of vehicles. Bannister had sat in the queue for over ten minutes before turning around and heading back into the town centre, taking the long way around. The Range Rover coping with the conditions with ease, Bannister sitting high behind the wheel, a slight smile of satisfaction on his face as he watched other vehicles struggling in the snow.
'This had better not turn out to be a wasted journey,' he warned as he barrelled along.
Lasser sat with his arms folded, watching the snow-white world pass by. 'There are no guarantees, but we couldn't sit at McDonald's all day feeding our faces.'
Bannister scowled at the reply as he eased around the roundabout.
'You should have gone straight on,' Lasser said.
'That would take even longer.'
'Yeah, I know, but you would have avoided Red Rock.'
'Behave yourself, Sergeant, you're in a real car now with an advanced driver behind the wheel.'
Lasser kept his mouth closed as the road looped its way between the fields, Bannister whistling behind the wheel, seemingly unconcerned as the snow began to grow deeper.
By the time they approached the canal bridge, the whistling had stopped, and Bannister looked edgy.
Lasser glanced to the right as they went over the bridge, seeing Jackie's boat frozen in thick ice.
'Shit,' Bannister said as he came to a halt, the road suddenly dropping away before them, coated in white, the surface rutted with glittering, frozen snow.
'Told you,' Lasser said.
Bannister's jaw jutted out, his hands flexing on the wheel as if he were revving a motorcycle. 'Piece of cake,' he said before moving forwards.
Lasser planted his feet in the footwell and waited for the inevitable.
As soon as Bannister feathered the brakes, the car started to slide to the right, forcing him to ease off the pedal, which only made the car pick up speed the automatic gearbox whining as it tried to find the right gear.
Making quick adjustments to the wheel, he managed to straighten the vehicle, but as soon as he tried to slow down the wheels locked again, thumping in and out of the deep tracks as any semblance of control vanished.
'Don't worry, I've got it,' Bannister gasped.
'I'm not worried it's not my wife's car, but I'm ready to bale.'
'Frigging ''bale''!?'
Lasser grabbed hold of the door handle ready to do just that if the need arose.
'You'd better not jump, you bugger,' the DCI warned.
The car continued to pick up speed, the road swept left and then dropped away even further. 'Why didn't you tell me it was this bad?' Bannister squawked as the car sped down the drop.
'I did bloody tell you, but you never listen,' Lasser replied through clenched teeth, his eyes narrowed as they were bounced about in their seats.
Bannister wrestled with the wheel, his right foot hovering over the brake pedal, sweat coating his face. 'Suzanne will kill me if I wreck her car.'
The road started to straighten out, but by now the car was thundering forwards, the roundabout at the bottom of the hill approaching at an alarming rate, warning lights flashing on the dash as Bannister planted his foot on the brake in desperation. The wheels locked scudding over the snow and ice, throwing them left and right, Lasser planted his hands on the dash as he glanced to his right, seeing Bannister his eyes goggling in fear, sweat running freely down his face.
Then the DCI twisted the wheel to the right, but the car carried on going straight, though the steering started to judder and miraculously the Range Rover started to slow down. Lasser heaved a sigh of relief as Bannister's face was suddenly lit by a look of pride as the engine started to take control.
They arrived at the roundabout and came to a halt.
Bannister's chin jutted out his chest puffed. 'Now, that is how you drive in difficult conditions,' he proclaimed before turning right, his face burning red as he quickly wiped the sweat from his rigid brow.
When Lasser handed him the lit cigarette, Bannister took it and grunted in thanks before taking a drag, the smoke blasting from his nostrils in relief as he took the next left and headed out past The Owls restaurant, the car park deserted, the ducks sitting on the frozen pond in the grounds of the building.
By the time they had smoked the cigarettes in silence, Bannister was pulling onto the lane that led to Marsh farm.
Parking up, the DCI looked at the ramshackle house. 'Imagine spending your life in a place like this, it beggars belief,' he said, his voice jam-packed with disgust.
Lasser knocked and they waited, the snow started to fall again, half a minute later, the door opened, and Dorothy beamed when she saw Lasser.
'Oh, you're back again!' she cried in delight as she ushered them inside.
Bannister closed the door and they followed her into the lounge, Lasser could see that Dorothy had done her best to tidy the place up, the carpet looked cleaner, the air tinged with freshener, a bunch of colourful blooms stood in a vase on top of a rickety-looking sideboard.
Turning, she continued to smile at them both.
'How are you, Dot?' Lasser asked.
'Oh, I'm fine, I've got a pie in the oven if you want to stay and have something to eat?'
'I'm sorry, we haven't the time, but I do have a couple of things you might be able to help us with.' Lasser said.
'Is it about my husband?' she asked, the smile slipping a little.
'We're really struggling here, Dot,' Lasser admitted. 'We have a madman out there that we think could have kidnapped someone and we have to get the man back before…'
'If I can help then I will,' she said, sitting down.
Bannister and Lasser sat on the battered sofa facing her, their knees almost at eye level as they sank further down.
'I know you've not had visitors for a long time, but…'
'It's been ten years since anyone called at the house.'
Bannister gawped at her in astonishment. 'Ten years?'
Dot sighed. 'The gas board were laying new pipes and they had to go across a couple of our fields.'
'I see.'
She smiled, and Bannister found himself smiling back.
'Can you tell us if your husband had any enemies?' Lasser asked.
Dot sat with her arthritic hands in her lap. 'Nobody liked Bernard,' she replied. 'And the truth is he seemed to hate everyone he came into contact with.'
'Did you ever see him have a fall out with anyone on the farm?'
'Oh God yes, in nineteen seventy-four he came to blows with…'
'What about more recently?' Bannister asked.
Dot thought for a moment. 'Well, the last time was just after the gas board had finished their work.'
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