Shooting Season: A DCI Harry Grimm Novel

by David J Gatward

  ‘Gentlemen,’ Eric said, turning now to face Jim and Matt. ‘If it’s okay with you both, I think perhaps it’s best if we’re given a bit of time to think on this, to process it. In private.’

  Matt stood and Jim followed suit. ‘Yes, I understand,’ said Matt. ‘There’s no preparing for this kind of news. It takes time. If you have any questions, you just need to give us a call.’

  Eric breathed deep, shook his head in disbelief.

  ‘This whole week was planned around that man, you know?’ he said. ‘We have various events booked, there was the clay shooting, yes, but we had some more author signings, there was a photographer coming over as well, so that we can get some shots of Charlie in some suitable country attire, with a shotgun, that kind of thing, all for the launch of this book of his. And now look where we are?’

  ‘So, you’re here all week?’ Jim asked.

  Eric gave a nod. ‘Probably not now,’ Eric answered. ‘Not much point staying around when the main reason we’re here is dead. Though we’ll have things to cancel, and that’ll take a day or so, I assume.’

  As Jim and Matt made to say their farewells, the sound of a car engine broke the moment, as did the trilling sound of a phone.

  ‘That yours?’ Matt asked Jim, as Eric rushed out of the lounge.

  Jim checked it, answered.

  ‘Metcalf . . .’

  ‘Grimm,’ Harry answered.

  ‘Boss?’ Jim said. ‘You okay? What’s up?’

  ‘We’ve just finished interviewing the fan,’ Harry explained. ‘The one from the author event.’

  ‘Right, yes,’ Jim said. ‘So, how’d it go?’

  ‘That’s why I’m calling,’ Harry said. ‘You still at the lodge?’

  ‘Yes,’ Jim replied.

  ‘Is Anna there? Charlie’s agent? You need to bring her in for questioning. Immediately.’

  ‘Anna? Why?’ Jim asked. ‘What are you talking about?’

  ‘Because she wasn’t a fan at all,’ Harry said. ‘She’s an actor. Anna hired her and told her what to say. And we have reason to believe that this wasn’t a suicide at all, but murder.’

  Harry hung up as Eric ducked his head back into the lounge.

  ‘What’s wrong?’ Matt asked.

  Jim went to answer, but Eric got in there first.

  ‘Anna, that’s what,’ the old man hissed through his teeth. ‘She’s buggering off!’

  Jim and Matt jogged after Eric, through the hallway, and out the main door just in time to see Anna racing away from the house in her car, the dust kicked up by the wheels twisting in the wind, dancing down the track to chase the vehicle onwards towards the main road.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Harry stared at Rose as he hung up on Jim, leaving the PCSO to politely but firmly ask Anna to accompany him and Matt back to Hawes for a chat. And Harry was already looking forward to that. But first, he had Rose to deal with.

  His eyes were hard, his teeth clenched, and Harry was pretty sure that the look he was now giving the woman in front of him was the main reason she was staring back at him as though he was about to rip her throat out with his teeth. Though his face could have that effect even if he was the happiest person on earth. But a job? It just didn’t make any sense! What the hell was she on about?

  ‘You were hired,’ Harry repeated, and the words just felt wrong, like picking up a mug of tea only to discover on tasting it that it was actually coffee. ‘Why? What reason would Anna have to get you to do and say what you did?’

  ‘Don’t ask me,’ Rose said. ‘I’m an actor, I played a role, that’s all there is to it.’

  ‘I’m afraid it isn’t,’ Harry replied, but decided to say nothing more about what had happened to Charlie. Not yet, anyway. ‘Can you tell us how this all took place, how it was arranged?’

  Rose rubbed her head thoughtfully, running a hand through her hair.

  Harry went to pull out his own notebook only to see that Jadyn was already jotting things down. Good lad.

  ‘I was contacted a few months ago,’ she explained. ‘I have a website, you see. It’s not much, just a WordPress thing that I had a friend put together, but it works. Obviously, my agent has me on her website, too, but it’s always sensible to get as much exposure as possible, wouldn’t you agree?’

  ‘And Anna James contacted you through that?’ Jadyn asked.

  ‘Work’s been a little dry of late,’ Rose said. ‘My agent hasn’t been getting much to me, and the scripts she’s sent? Dear God, they’ve been awful!’

  Harry noticed now just how expressive Rose was, more so than when she’d opened the door to them. She’s playing another role, he thought, though what that role was exactly, he wasn’t sure.

  ‘Can you take us back to when she approached you?’ Harry asked.

  ‘If it was through your website, I’m assuming there’s an email or two?’ Jadyn suggested.

  Rose pulled out her phone and a few seconds later, having tapped and swiped the screen a few times, she flipped it round and showed Harry.

  ‘She sent that,’ Rose said. ‘Doesn’t say much, but that was the first contact. After that, it was all phone calls.’

  Harry read the email. It said nothing, just that Anna had a job offer, and her phone number to contact her.

  ‘Was there a contract?’ Jadyn asked. ‘You’re an actress so I’m assuming there was. You wouldn’t want to be doing a job without knowing it was all above board, like, would you?’

  Rose smiled and rolled her eyes expressively.

  ‘Oh, how naïve you are!’ She smiled, reaching out to tap Jadyn’s knee with a hand.

  ‘So, no contract, then,’ Harry said. ‘Bit risky to take the job at all, then, wasn’t it?’

  Rose shook her head. ‘Not really,’ she replied. ‘I looked Anna up, she was legit. It sounded fun and it would look good on my CV.’

  ‘Why did you take the job?’ Jadyn asked. ‘I mean, you’ve just said that you didn’t want to take some of the scripts your agent was sending you. So why take this?’

  ‘It was improv,’ Rose said. ‘Improvisation? I had to invent a character, go into a live situation and be that character, really live it! I took it because it was a test of my skills as an actor. It was just me, on my own, convincing the general public I was someone else. Surely, you can see how exciting a prospect that was?’

  ‘What did Anna actually ask you to do?’ Harry asked.

  ‘I’ve just told you,’ Rose replied. ‘It was all down to me to come up with a character. That’s why I took the job. Bit of creative freedom.’

  ‘No, what I mean,’ Harry asked, ‘is what did she ask you to say, specifically? Because I’m assuming she gave some direction, yes?’

  Harry wanted to know if what Rose had said, about Charlie being ghostwritten, was all part of her act, or something Anna had asked for specifically. He was going to leave it to her to mention it first.

  ‘All she wanted me to do was to turn up at the event, accuse Charlie of using a ghostwriter, and then leave,’ Rose said. ‘The rest of it was left to me.’

  ‘And it didn’t strike you as odd to be asked to do something like that?’ Jadyn asked. ‘To accuse an author of that? Did she explain why?’

  Rose shook her head and shrugged. ‘She said it was a PR stunt and that Charlie was in on it.’

  At this, Harry glanced over to Jadyn, an eyebrow raised.

  ‘So, you thought that Charlie knew you were going to do and say what you did?’ asked Jadyn.

  ‘Of course,’ Rose said. ‘Why wouldn’t he? Is that why you’re here? Is something wrong?’

  ‘And were you surprised by his reaction?’ Harry asked, ignoring Rose’s questions.

  ‘No reason to be,’ Rose replied. ‘I just assumed it was all part of the stunt, you know? And it went rather well, didn’t it?’

  ‘When you realised why we were here,’ Jadyn asked, ‘why we’d come to speak to you, can you explain your reaction?’

  Harry watched as
Rose expertly changed her expression to one of deep, focused thought.

  ‘Well, it did all seem to go a bit wrong at the end, you see,’ she said through a thin smile. ‘I’d said my bit, and the reaction was good, and Charlie really played up to it well, I must say, better than I had expected, seeing as he isn’t trained, but then this other woman got involved, and I’m pretty sure she wasn’t part of the plan. Anna would’ve told me, I’m sure.’

  Harry guessed that the woman she was talking about was Gordy, remembering what the DI had told him about her interaction with Rose on the day.

  ‘What happened?’ Jadyn asked.

  ‘I was supposed to just make a bit of a scene and leave,’ Rose said. ‘Well, I was still making my scene, and I was very much inhabiting the role, I can tell you, when this woman just came over and started trying to calm me down! Can you imagine? I had to react, to stay in character, which was a challenge, but I managed it.’

  ‘What was Anna’s reaction?’ Harry asked.

  ‘I have no idea,’ Rose replied. ‘I was far too focused on staying in character. So, I just rolled with it, you know? Allowed her to guide me out of the shop, and then I was gone. But it rather took me by surprise, I must say. Did she report me? Is that why you’re here? Though surely you’ve spoken to Anna about this, yes?’

  ‘We will be speaking to Anna shortly,’ Harry replied.

  ‘What about the contact details you gave?’ Jadyn said. ‘We were only able to trace you because we tracked down your car’s number plate.’

  ‘Again, that was all a part of it,’ Rose replied. ‘Part of the story, you see? I was supposed to just turn up, do my turn, then disappear. It would add to the mystery of it, really get people talking. Obviously, Charlie was in on it, but only Anna knew who I was, how to contact me. That’s why I reacted as I did when you turned up because it meant my cover had been blown somehow.’

  Harry glanced at Jadyn. ‘Anything else you think we need to ask?’

  He saw Jadyn’s eyes widen at being asked this by a superior officer.

  ‘No, I think we’re all good,’ he replied.

  Harry pushed himself up onto his feet, Jadyn and Rose following.

  ‘Something’s wrong, isn’t it?’ Rose asked. ‘You didn’t just come out here because that woman reported me, did you? That wouldn’t make sense. What happened?’

  She would find out anyway, Harry thought. ‘I’m sorry to tell you this but we are now investigating Charlie Baker’s death.’

  ‘Death? Dear God, what happened?’

  ‘That’s all I can tell you for now,’ Harry said, then looked at Jadyn. ‘We have Ms White’s contact details?’

  Jadyn gave a nod.

  ‘Then, we’ll be in touch if we have any further questions,’ Harry said. ‘Thank you for your time.’

  ‘What happened?’ Rose asked. ‘It was just an author event! How can Charlie be dead? It doesn’t make sense! And I was just hired to do a job. How can that have anything to do with it?’

  ‘As I said,’ Harry then repeated, ‘we’ve told you all that we can. If we need to talk to you again, we will.’

  Outside the house, and walking back over to their car, Harry was trying to process what they’d just learned, but none of it sat well in his mind. It was one thing to hire someone as part of a PR stunt, but linking it to Charlie’s death seemed a stretch.

  Harry opened the car and got in, Jadyn thumping down beside him.

  ‘What do you make of all that, then?’ Harry asked.

  ‘Haven’t the faintest idea,’ Jadyn replied. ‘And why didn’t Anna tell us immediately that what had happened at the event was something she’d planned?’

  ‘Not only that,’ Harry said, ‘it’s pretty clear that Charlie didn’t know about it. So just what the hell was she playing at?’

  ‘Only one way to find out,’ Jadyn said.

  ‘Indeed there is,’ Harry said, starting the engine and rolling them forward into what was left of the day, which looking at his watch, wasn’t much.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  ‘She did what?’

  Harry was staring at the road ahead, willing it to just disappear so he could be back in Hawes.

  ‘Drove off, Boss,’ Jim said. ‘Just as you rang. Jumped in her car and buggered off.’

  ‘And where is she now?’

  ‘We’re pulling her over now,’ Jim said. ‘She didn’t get far. Think she just panicked.’

  ‘I bet she did,’ Harry said. ‘You going to be okay getting her back to Hawes? I need to have a chat with her sooner than later. I’m assuming you told the rest of the party that Charlie’s death is no longer being viewed as a suicide?’

  ‘We did,’ Jim replied. ‘Can’t say they took it all that well or believed it.’

  ‘Understandable.’

  ‘This going to be a late one, Boss?’ Jim asked.

  ‘Looks that way, yes,’ Harry said.

  ‘Do you want us to arrest her, then, Ms James, I mean?’

  ‘No,’ Harry said. ‘For a start, there’s no charge, and anyway, if we do that, we’ll be heading off to Harrogate, won’t we? Let’s just get her back to Hawes and see what’s what.’

  ‘Do you think she did it?’ Jim asked.

  ‘All I know right now,’ Harry said, ‘is that we know nothing. So, I need her to explain a few things, then we can see where we are after that.’

  ‘See you in Hawes, then,’ Jim said.

  The call over, Jadyn, who was holding Harry’s phone for him while he was driving, turned it off.

  ‘You do know you can connect your phone to the car by Bluetooth, don’t you?’ Jadyn asked.

  ‘I do,’ Harry replied.

  ‘So, why don’t you, then?’

  Harry didn’t answer with words, just a stare.

  ‘Right. Okay, then,’ Jadyn said, and slipped Harry’s phone into the glove box.

  For the rest of the journey, both police officers sat in silence, pondering over what Rose had told them. At least, that’s what Harry assumed Jadyn was thinking about, but it was hard to tell, as he fell asleep barely minutes after the little chat with Jim, and spent the rest of the journey with his head ricocheting off the passenger window and snoring. Even a poke in the leg didn’t do much, so Harry left him to it. At least he was alone with his own thoughts. Trouble was, those thoughts weren’t really getting him anywhere. He’d seen the state of Charlie’s body, what had been done to it, and he just couldn’t see Anna doing such a thing. Though he knew full well that what people did and were capable of, had nothing at all to do with what they looked like. Monsters didn’t look like monsters, they looked like next-door neighbours, friends, relatives.

  So, why had she hired Rose, then? It was a strange thing to do, and it clearly hadn’t been done as a PR stunt, because no one had known about it. Certainly not Charlie, and he’d been hugely affected by it. So why do it at all? Charlie was volatile, that much was clear from what they’d learned about him, and surely such a stunt would have put the whole week, the book launch, at risk.

  Harry was baffled by it. Anna had booked Rose to accuse Charlie of using a ghostwriter. Whether there was truth in that or not, Harry needed to know, but regardless, it had clearly upset and angered Charlie. But why was he now dead? Why had he driven off to the woods and been shot in the head? Had someone arranged to meet him there, his killer, and if so, who was it? Just what the hell was going on? But then there was the fact that it was Charlie’s own gun that had been used, so how had that played out?

  Harry was rather relieved when they coasted into Hawes and pulled up in the Marketplace. Jadyn stirred and Harry checked the time.

  ‘We back already?’ Jadyn asked.

  ‘We are that,’ Harry said. ‘How was your nap?’

  ‘You should’ve woken me,’ Jadyn said.

  Harry was pretty sure that he heard the sound of relief in Jadyn’s voice that he hadn’t done that.

  ‘It’s coming up to half four,’ Harry said. ‘I’m goin
g to go and have a word or two with Anna James. I think you should head home, get yourself fresh for tomorrow.’

  ‘No, I’ll be fine,’ Jadyn said.

  ‘It’s got nothing to do with being fine or not,’ Harry said. ‘I can do this. I’ll have Matt in with me as well. You get off home. And I’ll see you tomorrow, first thing.’

  With Jadyn gone, Harry made his way over to the community centre. Inside, he found Jim in the main room that they used, boiling the kettle. Fly wasn’t with him.

  ‘Where’s the dog?’ Harry asked.

  ‘Matt’s got him,’ Jim said. ‘Having him around seemed to calm her down, Ms James I mean.’

  ‘So she’s through with Matt, then,’ Harry said.

  ‘She is,’ Jim replied, then held up Harry’s huge mug, the one Matt had bought him from a caving café a couple of months ago. It held a full pint of tea. ‘Want one?’

  Harry gave a nod. ‘How is she, then?’

  ‘Bit of a mess, like,’ Jim said. ‘Matt’s just doing what he can to keep her calm, and she’s been making a right fuss of Fly. I’ll bring this in, okay?’

  ‘Heard anything from Liz and Jen?’ Harry asked. ‘Gordy at all?’

  ‘Still out and about,’ Jim replied. ‘Oh, and Jen asked me to remind you that you promised her you’d be getting back into your running again this week.’

  Harry made a grumbling sound with his throat.

  ‘Yeah, I said that would be your response,’ Jim said.

  ‘I’ve just got out of the habit a bit, that’s all,’ Harry said. ‘Is she spying on me or what?’

  ‘This is Hawes,’ Jim said. ‘She doesn’t need to. Oh, we got these through as well. I printed them off as I figured you’d prefer that.’

  Jim handed over a stack of photographs, all from the crime scene. Harry then left the room and had a quick flick through the photos as he made his way through to where Matt was sitting with Anna James, and Jim strolled in just a few moments after. Fly was leaning up against Anna’s legs and she was stroking his head gently. The dog’s eyes were closed, so at least someone was happy, Harry thought.