Restless Dead (Harry Grimm Book 5)

by David J Gatward

  ‘He’s pleased with my progress,’ Ben said, wiping his mouth free of grease. ‘Not much else to say, really.’

  ‘And you’re keeping up with your end of things?’ Harry asked. ‘All that paperwork and whatnot. It’s important.’

  ‘You don’t need to check up on me so much,’ Ben said, his bacon butty now finished. ‘But yes, I am.’

  ‘I do and I will,’ Harry said. ‘The prison service may have someone employed to keep an eye on you, true, but you’ve an extra pair of eyes on you: mine. So, you’d better accept it.’

  ‘I’m not a teenager.’

  ‘No, you’re not,’ Harry said. ‘But neither are you someone who’s had an easy time of it. And I’ll be seeing to it that you don’t put a step wrong.’

  Harry saw then a darkness flicker behind his brother’s eyes. And it was because of it that he was laying it on thick. Happy and relaxed though Ben seemed, he knew it wouldn’t take much of a push to have him back down where he was.

  Ben rose to his feet, draining his mug.

  ‘Work?’ Harry asked.

  Ben gave a nod. ‘I know Mike has to give me time off to see the offender manager, but I don’t like to take the piss too much.’

  ‘Or at all,’ Harry said. ‘And supervisor is a lot easier to say than that offender manager nonsense, don’t you think?’

  ‘They don’t like the idea of us thinking we’re being “supervised,”’ Ben said, shooting out air quotes with his fingers around that last word. ‘Even though we know we are. Apparently, it’s more motivational if we have a manager, and less like still being seen as someone who’s been in prison.’

  ‘Whatever floats your boat, I suppose,’ Harry said. ‘It’ll probably change again in a year or so to something like offender motivator or some such bollocks.’

  Ben laughed. It was a sound Harry loved and would never grow tired of.

  ‘Sometimes,’ Ben said, ‘you talk and act like you’re in your mid-sixties, not your mid-forties, you know that, right?’

  ‘Old and wise before my time,’ Harry said, stretching and standing up to face Ben.

  Ben made to walk to the café door.

  ‘Oi!’ Harry said.

  Ben stopped. ‘Really? Here? Come on, Harry . . .’

  ‘Something else you need to get used to,’ Harry said, and he reached out and pulled his younger brother into a hug.

  Ben groaned, not so much out of embarrassment as from having his ribcage crushed.

  ‘Right, off you go then,’ Harry said, sitting back down to finish his food and drink. ‘And I’ll see you back home at around six, right?’

  Ben nodded and made to leave, but paused, then turned back to face his brother.

  ‘What is it?’ Harry asked. ‘Something you forgot to tell me that your supervisor, sorry, I mean your manager, mentioned?’

  ‘No, it’s not that,’ Ben said.

  ‘Then what?’

  ‘You said home,’ Ben explained. ‘And it’s not, is it? I mean, not really.’

  ‘It’s not Bristol, no,’ Harry said, then his mind was back to that conversation he’d had with Firbank and Swift, and to that decision he was going to have to make sooner rather than later. ‘But would it be so bad if it was? Home, I mean.’

  Ben shrugged. ‘I’ll see you later, Harry . . .’ but he paused again.

  ‘Are you leaving or what?’ Harry asked.

  ‘I am. It’s just that, there’s the other thing, you know? The thing we don’t talk about?’

  Harry saw a dark shadow flicker behind his brother’s eyes. ‘You don’t need to worry about him,’ he said. ‘That’s dealt with. It’s done. Trust me.’

  ‘You sure, Harry?’ Ben said. ‘I mean, Dad isn’t someone who just backs off, is he?’

  ‘I’m no longer a threat,’ Harry said. ‘There’s plenty of others out there who are, so he’s got other things to worry about now. And anyway, I’ve wasted too much time on him as it is. You’re my priority now. You and me, Ben. Family.’

  Ben gave an uncertain nod.

  ‘If you say so.’

  ‘I do.’

  And Ben was gone.

  Harry slumped back down to finish off his food then ordered another mug of tea. He had seen the team first thing that morning, and there wasn’t anything urgent to be going on with, so a few extra minutes to himself seemed only fair.

  As he waited for his drink, Harry thought over what Ben was on with now, and how much his brother’s life had changed. And it only served to emphasise to him how important it was to keep him where they were, in Hawes, and not to head back in Bristol. Yes, it was good to have him living with him, and yes, Ben was working hard to move on from his past, even keeping down a proper job with Mike the mechanic, who had very kindly offered to take Ben on in an apprenticeship role.

  The thing was, Harry was becoming increasingly sure that the bigger part in what was happening was being played out by the place itself, by Wensleydale. He knew that if he said these thoughts out loud they would sound idiotic, and he wasn’t one for seeing things where there weren’t, or for that matter, attributing anything good to any kind of supposed spiritual force, but to him, there was no denying the fact that Ben was far better off up here, in the dales, than he would ever be back down in Bristol. Here, he was free of all those old influences, the old connections, the old friends. He not only had no choice but to change, he was in a place that pretty much helped him along the way. But still, his brother had a point, Harry thought; this wasn’t home. Not yet, anyway. But that could soon change, couldn’t it? But there were hoops to jump through first, and Harry had never been much of a fan of that. Which brought him back to that conversation he’d been having with Firbank and Swift. And as for that stuff about their godawful father? He was still wary, and would be so for a long time yet, he was sure, but that wasn’t something Harry was worried about anymore.

  The mug of tea arrived and Harry took a sip, the blisteringly hot liquid burning his mouth. The café door opened and Harry noticed that the air which gusted in was damp and he saw that the pavement outside was wet.

  ‘Thought I’d find you here.’

  Harry looked up into Detective Sergeant Matt Dinsdale’s face, which he was attempting to wipe dry with his large hands.

  ‘Raining, then?’ Harry asked, as Matt sat down in front of him.

  ‘No,’ Matt replied, flicking water from his hands onto the floor. ‘I just throw water over myself now and then for fun, and sometimes, if I’m feeling really crazy, I throw myself in the beck. How’s Ben?’

  ‘Good,’ Harry replied. ‘How’s the rest of the team?’

  ‘Busy,’ Matt said. ‘Liz is manning the office, Jen’s down dale at something or other. I think a couple of kids have done a runner from school or something, so she’s best for that.’

  ‘You didn’t fancy having to chase after teenagers, then.’ Harry smiled.

  ‘Always good to let the younger ones have a go,’ Matt said. ‘Doing her a favour I think.’

  ‘Anything else on that RTA?’ Harry asked, remembering Matt’s update earlier that morning.

  Matt shook his head. ‘Terrible thing, that,’ he said. ‘As you know, Gordy is out there this morning, chatting to the family. Don’t know what I’d do if I lost Joan.’

  ‘It was headlights caused it, you said?’

  ‘Looks that way.’ Matt nodded. ‘Halogen bulbs on some of these new cars now are proper bright, like. I’ve been near blinded by them myself. And if it was a 4x4 with a rack of lights on a roll cage or across the bumper, then it’s like someone’s switched on the sun.’

  ‘No chance of finding the driver of the other car, I suppose?’ Harry asked.

  ‘Can’t see how,’ Matt said. ‘No dashcam on the car, and no cameras or anything else along that road. And I dare say the driver just didn’t realise their lights were on full beam and drove on, no idea of what had happened at all.’

  ‘Tyre marks on the road?’

  Matt shook his head
. ‘Like I said, I doubt the other driver even noticed.’

  For a moment, the two men sat in silence, until Matt broke it, saying, ‘Mike tells me Ben’s doing fine, by the way. And you know why he took him on, don’t you?’

  Harry gave a nod. ‘Did time himself, apparently. No idea what for, mind.’

  ‘Doesn’t talk about it, that’s why,’ Matt said. ‘And if he ever wants you to know, he’ll tell you himself.’

  ‘It’s a good thing he’s done,’ Harry said, asking then if Matt wanted a mug of tea himself. ‘Ben seems to be getting on well enough.’

  Matt refused the tea, which surprised Harry immensely. ‘And yet,’ Matt said, ‘using my not inconsiderable powers of deduction, I detect an air of concern.’

  ‘Me too, having just heard you mutter that sentence,’ Harry said.

  ‘Well, what is it?’ Matt asked.

  ‘It’s nothing,’ Harry said.

  Matt leaned forward. ‘You sure about that, Boss?’

  Harry wondered then about talking things through with Matt. He was a colleague, yes, but as was the way with the whole of the team, it seemed, he had also become a friend. Which had taken Harry rather by surprise, as he’d never really been one for having friends at all. He’d known plenty of people he could regard as acquaintances, yes, but that was about it. And he’d had good mates in the Paras, but friends? People he could share things with? Never. He was pretty sure that he was the problem himself. It didn’t help being the kind of person who generally regarded people as a collective pack of bastards, and who was, in the main, fairly happy and content with his own company.

  Matt was still staring at him, expectation in his eyes.

  Harry leaned forward, ready to say what was on his mind, when once again the door to the café opened and there, blocking the wind, was Police Constable Jadyn Okri.

  ‘Let me guess,’ Matt said, turning to the PC, ‘you’ve left your lunch money at home.’

  ‘You’re a funny man,’ Jadyn said.

  ‘I am that,’ Matt replied. ‘Among other things, but I doubt we’ve got the time to talk about my dashing good looks, swashbuckling approach to life, and thirst for justice.’

  ‘Well, anyway, it’s not that,’ Jadyn said, and Harry could see that Matt’s reply had only served to confuse Jadyn. ‘I mean, that’s not why I’m here, though it’s funny you should say it, because I did leave my wallet at home and—’

  Harry rubbed his eyes wearily. ‘Get to the point, Constable. Please.’

  ‘It’s Jim,’ Jadyn said.

  ‘What is?’ Harry asked, he and Matt now alert to whatever it was Jadyn was here to tell them.

  ‘He seemed fine this morning,’ Matt said. ‘Obviously, I expected him to be a bit hungover, really, seeing as he’d been out with an old mate of his from back at school, so that was a little disappointing. I mean, what’s the point of a reunion if you don’t have to recover from it?’

  ‘Has Fly run off?’ Harry asked, shocked then by how bothered he was at the thought that Jim’s dog could be missing, because it was just a dog, and he’d never really been into dogs or pets of any kind. But Fly? Well, Fly was different.

  ‘Well, it’s not Jim, as such,’ Jadyn said. ‘It’s his dad. I mean, it’s not him either like, except that it is, but it’s the sheep mainly, and—’

  ‘Good grief, lad, what’s wrong with you?’ Matt said, then he slapped a hand down hard on the table. ‘Spit it out! Come on!’

  ‘They’ve had fifty go missing,’ Jadyn said. ‘Nicked.’

  ‘You what?’ Harry said.

  ‘Jim’s dad found one of their barns empty this morning,’ Jadyn explained. ‘He collapsed, probably from the shock of it. Jim’s on his way over there now to sort things out, see what’s been going on.’

  Harry paid up and was out the door so quickly, with Matt and Jadyn at his heels, that it wasn’t until he was halfway back along the marketplace that he realised he hadn’t even finished his bacon butty.

  Chapter Three

  The speed at which Matt raced them out of Hawes and then on and up through Burtersett had Harry hanging on to the handle above the passenger door, the bones of his knuckles threatening to break through his skin. The rain was fairly coming down now, crashing into the windscreen as though the road was lined with people just lobbing buckets of water at them, and the wipers were working full pelt to just keep it clear.

  ‘Nice to see that you’re taking the road conditions into consideration,’ Harry observed, as they zipped past the old Methodist chapel on their right, then up and round the left-hand bend in the lane, then on towards Jim’s farm.

  ‘I know the roads, we’re fine,’ Matt said, his eyes staring hard through the now-awful weather. ‘Anyway, this isn’t proper rain, is it? Nowt but a shower!’

  An ambulance swept past them going the other direction, spraying them with a thick, grey wave of water, its edges laced with diamonds. Hard to believe the day had started so bright and sunny, Harry thought.

  ‘Well, I’d rather not get to know them too personally,’ Harry said.

  Matt hung a left, then immediately after, drifted them just a little sideways into the farmyard on their left, past the house Jim had grown up in, which he still shared with his parents.

  ‘Nicely driven, Sarge,’ Jadyn said. ‘Learn to drive on the bumper cars, did you?’

  Harry was up and out of the car in a beat, Matt and Jadyn following close behind, the rain crashing down to ping off the roof of Matt’s car like jumping beans, the farmyard an explosion of tiny crowns of dirty water as the drops slammed down into new and rapidly growing puddles.

  ‘Over here, Boss!’

  Harry looked over to the house to see Jim at the back door, waving at them through the rain. Fly was at his feet. As Harry jogged over the dog raced to meet him, ignoring Jim’s calls for it to stay. Harry dropped to his heels as Fly skidded into him, his teeth bared in what they had all started to refer to as Fly’s Happy Face, flipping over onto his back and into a puddle, his tummy to the sky. Harry gave it a rub, then stood up and quickly closed the distance to Jim, Fly at his heels, ducking inside out of the rain.

  ‘So, what have we got, then?’ he asked. ‘How’s your dad? What happened?’

  ‘He’s okay,’ Jim said. ‘He’s away to the hospital now, over in Northallerton. You just missed the ambulance.’

  ‘So that was your dad, then?’ Harry said.

  ‘Mum’s with him,’ Jim said. ‘He’s fine, I’m sure. Tough old sod, he is. Didn’t like that we were all making such a fuss. Good luck to them getting him to stay overnight if he needs to.’

  Matt and Jadyn were with Harry now and Jim led the three of them into the house. It was the first time Harry had ever been inside, and it, like the rest of the farm he’d seen on the way in, told him that when it came to farming, Jim’s parents were the kind of people who liked things just so. Outside in the yard, the tractors and other machinery he had seen were parked away nicely under shelter, the barns and other outbuildings all in good repair. In the small field adjacent to the yard, a haybarn stood, its contents stacked neat and dry. In the house, that same sense of order prevailed and as they walked through the hall and into the kitchen, Harry saw nothing out of place. Even the small number of pictures on the wall, which comprised of either prints of views of the dales, or photographs of Jim at various stages of his life, were, Harry was sure, dead level. He also noticed on the walls, both in the hall and the kitchen, numerous rosettes and certificates, and whatever they were for, they were clearly held onto and regarded with pride.

  ‘Right then, I’ll be mother and get the kettle on,’ Matt said, striding across the kitchen and over to the sink. ‘Because, as we all know, a decent brew solves most of life’s problems and helps you think clearly. Jim, get yourself sat down and fill us in on what’s been going on.’

  ‘There’s cake in the cupboard, just above the toaster,’ Jim said. ‘Mum made it last week.’

  ‘Homemade cake?’ Matt said.
‘Seriously? Does she take orders?’

  Jim laughed. ‘I’ll ask,’ he said. ‘I’m sure she would, for you anyway.’

  Harry sat down at the large, worn kitchen table which took up most of the central area of the kitchen. Jadyn joined him.

  The room was warm, Harry noticed, and he put this down to the fact that instead of a normal cooker, a huge Aga was standing proud against one wall. Fly was already curled up in a basket in front of it.

  ‘Come on then, Jim,’ Harry said. ‘Have yourself a seat and tell us exactly what’s happened.’

  Jim sat down and Harry saw that despite the smile the young PCSO had greeted them with, there was a weariness in his eyes. But there was something else there, too, Harry thought, a steely look which told him that anger was bubbling just beneath the surface. He understood that completely. Dealing with crime when it happened to others was one thing, but when it sneaks through your own front door to do its worst to you and yours? Well, that was something entirely different.

  Matt came over with mugs of tea all round and some of Jim’s mum’s cake, which Harry saw was a sponge covered in light brown icing.

  ‘It’s a coffee cake,’ Jim said, reaching for a piece himself. ‘It’s my favourite and absolutely bloody delicious!’

  Harry reached for a piece and took a bite and discovered that Jim wasn’t lying. ‘That’s amazing!’

  ‘Mum’s a pretty excellent cook,’ Jim said with a nod. ‘She does this millionaire’s shortbread that’s so sweet, I swear that after a slice of it, you can feel the sugar at the back of your eyeballs.’

  ‘Details then, Jim,’ Harry said. ‘And I don’t mean about your mum’s amazing baking.’

  ‘Oh, I don’t know,’ said Matt. ‘Could be useful.’

  ‘Right,’ Jim said, brushing away a few crumbs and ignoring Matt. ‘First off, I’ve no idea what time they came, or anything like that.’ He leant forward, his elbows on the table, hands clasped together just in front of his mug. ‘I was out last night with Neil.’