Crook's Hollow

by Rob Parker

  ‘I believe they’ve got Roisin hidden away. She’s their daughter… Well, she’s gone missing is all I know… No, I know she has gone missing. You have to find her.’

  The family looked at one another in increasing confusion. Wilkes Sr. took a step back to the countertop behind him, listening intently.

  ‘Yes, she was at her caravan above Crook’s Hollow. I was staying with her when we were attacked. They tried to make it look like a suicide in the woods, but I escaped and when I got back to the caravan they had taken Roisin—they must have, otherwise she would not have left me. I tried to get her back, but that’s when they started shooting. And I need an ambulance because I think my wrist is broken… No, I’m not going to hospital, so you’ll have to send it up to Loxley Farm. Yes, I’ll wait here. OK, I’ll see you then.’

  When Thor hung up, the room was thick with atmosphere. A moment hung between them while all that could be heard were Thor’s ragged breaths.

  ‘Was that all true?’ asked Crewe, standing at the head of the table with his fists balled at his sides.

  ‘Every word,’ said Thor. ‘They tried to kill me on Saturday night, too, and it was them at church on Sunday. They want me dead because they believe my portion of land is the only thing stopping them getting paid.’

  Silence, full and deadly.

  Thor caught his mother’s eye. She was regarding him with what looked like deep sadness: there was so much they could all have done differently over the years—different decisions could have avoided this turn of events.

  ‘We need to get to them,’ said Mercy with grit.

  ‘The police are bringing them in,’ said Thor. ‘That was the DCI, he’s going for them personally, then he’s coming here.’

  Hollis sat down again, and dipped a finger of toast into a boiled egg. ‘Bloody hell, Thor,’ he muttered with a small grin. ‘You know just how to stir it.’

  The room seemed to cool, but Wilkes Sr. suddenly appeared at Thor’s side. He stood looking fixedly at the floor, avoiding Thor’s eyes.

  ‘Roisin, the young Crook girl,’ he said. ‘What were you doing there?’

  Thor couldn’t believe it. He’d nearly been killed and all his father was interested in was the same old Loxley–Crook rubbish, the same rubbish that had plagued the families for generations.

  ‘What do you think Dad? Jesus, want me to spell it out?’

  Wilkes Sr was silent, intent: he seemed to be picking his words as carefully as he could. ‘You can’t,’ he finally said.

  ‘Bloody hell, give over. Same old rubbish.’ ‘You can’t, Thor.’

  ‘Yeah, well, you might be in luck if she’s dead. That make you any happier?’

  Thor got up and went to the sink and washed his face. ‘You want a cup of tea?’ Hollis asked.

  ‘That’s the most sensible thing you’ve ever said to me,’ said Thor, nodding.

  33

  Fifteen minutes later, an ambulance arrived. No sirens, to Thor’s gratitude. The heavens had opened once more, soaking the drive into a swamp again, and as the ambulance pulled in, mud sprayed up onto its flanks.

  The paramedics tended to Thor in the kitchen, which had become a kind of Loxley war room. The siblings sat around the table, swapping plans which sounded like grim fantasies of what they would do if they got their hands on the Crooks again. Wilkes Jr. came over after Hollis gave him the heads-up. It was as if the attempts on Thor’s life were just the thing they had been waiting for to go after the Crooks.

  In contrast, Wilkes Sr. simply stared out of the window, looking morose, as if he had always known it might come to this and wished it hadn’t.

  Thor sat by the door, on a chair his mother had dragged over, and let the medics do their job. Three broken ribs, they said. One broken wrist with a damaged tendon in his forearm, which they thought had been torn. A badly bruised hip, and kidney bruising. A neck strain, not to mention a badly cut neck that might well be infected. In short, a hospital trip was badly needed.

  Thor refused, remembering how easily Clyne appeared at his bedside. ‘I was promised protection last time, and that didn’t happen. You’ll have to patch me up here.’

  The two medics looked at each other, and resignedly got to work. They started with morphine injections, and a drip. The kitchen began to now look part war room, part emergency triage.

  Rue appeared at the front door, her hood pulled up against the rain. ‘What’s happening? I saw the ambulance and—oh my God, Thor…’ Her features crumpled on seeing Thor and she came to his side. He smiled sleepily, the morphine doing its job.

  ‘Hello sis,’ he said.

  ‘Thor, what happened this time?’ she said, casting her eyes about him, taking in the extent of his injuries, tears brimming more as she counted each one.

  ‘The Crooks. But it’s OK, they are going after them. The police, I mean.’ He waved his hand in the general direction of Crook’s Farm.

  ‘The Crooks did this?’ Rue said, looking at their siblings around the table, knowing full well the chain of events that this could start. She was met with stern faces, and a grim nod from Mercy.

  ‘They’ve got Roisin,’ said Thor. ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘They tried to kill me, make it look like a suicide, and they took Roisin.’

  ‘Oh my God, I can’t believe any of this.’

  ‘Then you’ll have to catch up. They’ll find her though. They have to. I need her.’

  Thor looked as if he might fall asleep, so Rue stood and took her little brother’s head against her hip.

  ‘It’s alright, they’ll find her. Rest now, it’ll be OK. Rue’s here.’ She patted his head like she used to when they were children.

  Thor smiled dreamily. He hadn’t heard that since he was a child, and it made him feel better than any morphine in the world.

  34

  The day laboured along in one of those maternity ward pauses, where there is so much ready to happen, but you can’t start yet. When he’d settled, and Rue had gone home to her kids, Thor spent a lot of it in the family room on the couch, in and out of sleep, using a dog he’d never met before as a duvet. The dog, Lily, was only too happy to oblige, and watched the rain plink the window. Wilkes Sr. had made a fire for Thor and every now and then he checked on both the hearth and his son.

  Bunny sat opposite in an armchair, knitting and tutting to herself. She managed to knit two full scarves and a woolly hat before Hollis came in to announce that DCI Okpara had arrived.

  ‘Bring him into the family room,’ said Wilkes Sr. ‘And offer him a hot drink.’

  Thor tried to sit up, but it was almost too much of an effort. He was drowned by exhaustion and the blissful opiates, and he slumped. He was lucid, but subdued. Okpara came in, along with a constable, and Bunny showed them to the other armchair. Wilkes Sr. loitered by the door, his nervous energy holding him ramrod straight.

  ‘Thor, how are you feeling?’ Okpara asked. He was dressed in a grey suit, shirt and tie, no shoes just socks. As he put his raincoat down, Thor caught sight of a brightly coloured belt made of small beads around his waist. It looked traditional, and stood at odds with the rest of his otherwise formal attire.

  ‘I’m OK,’ said Thor. ‘I would say I’ve been worse, but that would be a flat-out lie. Tell me you found her.’

  ‘Thor, there are various formalities to address now, but the first is we need a full and proper statement.’ His calming manner threatened to join the dregs of the opiates in forcing Thor into compliance, but he dragged himself back.

  ‘Why are you avoiding the question? Have you found her?’

  ‘No, Thor, we haven’t. That is not to say she isn’t missing, but she wasn’t at home when we called.’

  ‘I know she’s not home, I told you that. Her brothers took her.’ ‘Thor, they couldn’t have. That’s what I’m trying to tell you. The Crook family have taken nobody.’ He spread his hands in a gesture of open fairness.

  ‘What do you mean? Didn’t you listen to what I told
you before? They need me dead for the land deal with COMUDEV to go through, they’ve been trying to kill me and make it look like an accident for days now. Didn’t you hear any of that?’

  ‘Thor, they came in voluntarily for questioning this morning. They gave a full account of their movements over the last few days, last night included. I’ve personally checked their alibis—they are all good. They didn’t attack you last night. What they did admit to was defending themselves from a man who entered their property threatening them with a kettle of boiling water. What do you know about that?’

  Wilkes Sr. couldn’t pull his eyes from the rug in front of the hearth, while Bunny click-clacked through her knitting. However, Thor knew from the expression on her face that she was living every word of the conversation.

  ‘You’ve got a missing girl and you want to talk about this? You’re joking, aren’t you? Tell me you’re joking.’

  ‘I’m afraid I’m not. We have spent the afternoon at the Crooks’ property assessing the validity of their claims, and every word of it tallies up. I know you think they are responsible for your current problems, but after interviewing them extensively, I am forced to conclude that they are not.’

  ‘How do you fathom that? How?’

  ‘Like I said Thor, their alibis are sound. Right through every occasion you say there was an attempt on your life.’

  ‘So where is Roisin? Where the hell is she? If they didn’t take her, who did?’

  Thor was becoming doubly furious now, feeling that Okpara had wasted a whole day instead of looking for her. She could be long dead by now.

  ‘Thor, it is getting to the point where I think the authorities have every right to ask you that same question. Do you know where Roisin Crook is?’

  ‘No, you idiot, no.’ Thor began to pull himself to his feet, but his balance was far from perfect. ‘If you’re not doing anything to find her, then I’m wasting no more time here.’

  ‘Sit down, Mr. Loxley,’ said Okpara, rising himself. ‘You will wait until we’ve finished and you will kindly answer the question.’

  Thor slowly sat down, and Okpara continued.

  ‘I don’t doubt that there have been some very difficult moments for you in the past few days, Thor, and we will continue to look into them—I will continue to look into them personally. But the avenue you suggested isn’t correct. Furthermore, it has led to another crime that I’m afraid I have to continue investigating, namely the unlawful entry of Crook’s Farm last night, and the threats and assaults that followed.’

  Thor was speechless, but only for a second.

  ‘Roisin could be lying in the fucking gutter somewhere, or chained to a pipe in some basement, or lying long dead in a field getting her eyes pecked out by magpies, and this is what you want to talk about.’

  Okpara spoke quietly and with authority. ‘Mr. Loxley, you will settle down and assist in my enquiries. Your assertion that Roisin Crook is missing has been duly noted, and already been followed up. We have visited her place of residence, and are satisfied that nothing untoward appears to have happened to her.’

  ‘The door, what about the door? And the broken lamp?’ ‘We saw no such things.’

  ‘What the fuck are you talking about? They were there! I saw them!’

  ‘To be classed as missing, usually the next of kin alerts the police that someone is in fact missing. The Crooks have done no such thing. They are not concerned in any way about Roisin’s whereabouts. Apparently unannounced absences are a regular thing with her. Her mother referred to her as free-spirited, which I thought was an exceptionally understanding way for a mother to view things. They are convinced she will turn up in due course.’

  ‘Of course they’d bloody say that. That’s what serial killers say when they’ve got a body hidden somewhere.’

  ‘Mr Loxley, did you enter the Crooks’ property last night?’ ‘You know I did.’

  ‘Did you throw boiling water around by way of intimidation?’

  Thor took a second, but he knew somehow, despite everything that had happened, that he was cornered. ‘I did, but I was trying to find Roisin.’

  ‘Then I’m very sorry, Thor, but you leave me very little choice. Thor Loxley, I’m arresting you for unlawful entry and attempted assault. You do not have to say anything. But, it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence.’

  ‘You’re kidding. You are fucking kidding.’

  Okpara nodded to the constable. ‘Are we about to have a problem, Thor? You can come with me quietly and avoid any dramas.’

  ‘You know someone has been trying to kill me, why can’t you see that? Why aren’t you helping me?’

  ‘I do see that, Thor. There is no doubt in my mind that someone has committed criminal acts against you. One can tell that just from looking at you. But I’m equally concerned with protecting you and others from yourself. Let’s go.’

  Wilkes Sr. finally spoke up. ‘Should I arrange a visit from the family solicitor?’

  ‘That’s up to Thor, Mr Loxley,’ replied Okpara. ‘Between the four of us I’d suggest that would be a good idea.’

  ‘I don’t need one.’

  The constable took Thor’s arm and they started walking to the door of the family room. His mother stopped them. She placed the woollen hat she had just knitted on his head.

  ‘It’s cold out,’ she said. ‘Call us when you can.’ She looked more confused than anything, as if the moment was so beyond her comprehension all she could do was cling to whatever familiarity felt right, which in this case was her knitting.

  ‘Dad, please,’ Thor said, as the officer led him through the kitchen and out to the yard, while his siblings turned and watched. ‘I don’t care about me, but Roisin is in trouble. You have to find her. Dad, please. You have to help Roisin.’

  Wilkes Sr. looked at him with resignation. The sad story of Thor, his youngest son, was taking an unexpected and even sadder turn than he had ever imagined.

  35

  Thor was driven to the station by a particularly lippy local bobby, who seemed thrilled to be involved in the big local case. Thor, however, was so despondent and confused he could only watch the rain, and try to work out how on earth it had got to this. Deep down he knew that it was his hot-headedness, anger, and poor judgement which had put him here. And it seemed more likely than ever that he had put Roisin in even greater danger.

  ‘Raining cats and dogs is an understatement,’ said the constable. ‘More like raining tigers and wolves.’

  Thor wondered how many times the PC had cracked that appalling gag over the past couple of days. All he could say was: ‘The village is fucked, mate. In more ways than one.’

  ‘That’s one way of looking at it. DCI Okpara is waiting for you at the station in Windle Heath, you can tell him all about it.’

  Thor looked through to the front seats of the police car. The PC was in his late twenties, short back’n’sided and positively electrified with what he was doing. He had introduced himself as PC Chesters.

  ‘Interesting place, Crook’s Hollow,’ Chesters continued, eyeing Thor in the rearview mirror. ‘Must have been mad growing up in it, ’specially in your position. I’m from Windle Heath myself.’

  ‘They sound pretty similar on the face of it,’ Thor said laconically. ‘Hmm, not sure about that.’ Chesters whipped through the

  available radio stations, looking for a signal. ‘Weather’s even buggered the radio.’

  Thor was in a cynical mood. ‘Even the coke from Windle Heath’s

  ended up down here. Place is turning into a cesspool.’

  ‘Wouldn’t be so sure. Word on the street is that them Crook twins were the first to start peddling anything into the Heath, never mind the Hollow. The higher-ups have had an eye on them for years, but never anything to go on. Farmers—hard to pin down the lot of you. Having said that, even I was surprised with last night, what them brothers we
re up to.’

  Thor was suddenly attentive. ‘Sorry?’

  ‘Yeah, them Crook brothers. Like the DCI told you, their alibi.’

  Thor wanted Chesters to keep spilling, but didn’t want to suggest that he was revealing things Okpara hadn’t mentioned. ‘Yeah, bloody hell. Who’d have thought,’ he said, without having a clue.

  ‘It’s always the quiet ones, and it’s always right under your nose.

  That’s probably the most important thing I’ve learned doing the job.’ ‘I can imagine,’ said Thor. ‘Where was it again?’

  ‘Just round the corner from Sainsbury’s—little two-up two-downer at bottom of Belsey Avenue. Why, are you thinking of popping down there after your chat with Okpara?’ Chesters smiled laddishly.

  ‘I wish,’ said Thor.

  ‘I wouldn’t worry. Grannies, apparently that’s all they had. Well, all that were on last night. Don’t know whether they up their game at the weekend. Hey, could be your thing for all I know.’

  Thor couldn’t put his finger on it but a particular dirty picture was appearing in his mind.

  ‘I promise you though, if you admit to that as your alibi, then God’s honest truth, you definitely didn’t do that crime. No chance.’

  Another unexpected layer was peeling away from the brothers, one of lurid nighttime visits and secret lives begrudgingly dragged into the light.

  ‘What do places like that get called these days?’

  ‘Oh, all sorts. Nunnery’s one. Cathouse’s another. Bordello’s a bit old now, I always thought it sounded quite continental and cosmopolitan, that. I’m a big fan of “meat locker” myself.’

  A brothel.

  ‘Did the ladies there confirm the alibi?’

  ‘Oh, did they ever. The brothers said that’s where they were, and when the hookers were interviewed, three of them confirmed it, and said they were with them. At the same time. As in the three whores, the two brothers. All at it. Together. In the same room. Kinky buggers.’

  ‘Jesus.’