by John Dean
‘That’s DCI Blizzard to you.’
McGarrity sighed.
‘Yes,’ he said, ‘I guess it is.’
‘So, explain what was happening,’ said Colley.
‘We were on strike. There was lot of strong emotions stirred up. Friend set against friend.’
‘What were you striking over?’ asked Blizzard.
‘It was a local dispute over changes in shift patterns. We were in the thick of it. I was the branch secretary, George Haywood was the treasurer and Tommy Rafferty was one of the leading lights on the committee. He were a right rabble-rouser in them days.’
‘And you were out how long?’
‘Nine weeks. They had to bring in scab labour to keep the railways running. You should have seen the picket lines when they bussed these lads in.’ McGarrity shook his head. ‘It was scary.’
‘But Matthew Hargreaves did not go out with your members, I think?’ said Blizzard.
‘He did at first but then he said he was not prepared to countenance all the violence. He was a good Christian lad was Matty Hargreaves.’
‘What violence?’
‘A couple of the scabs were beaten up one night. Ended up in hospital. Nowt to do with us, it was down to a gang of flying pickets from Donny, spotted them in a pub on their way home.’
‘So Hargreaves went back on principle?’
‘Yeah. Madness, he knew what would happen.’
‘I was talking to an old friend of mine, works with the Transport Police. He reckons that Hargreaves had his windows put out.’
‘Happened on the first night after he went back to work,’ said McGarrity. ‘He had to move his wife and kid in with her mother but that were nothing to do with us, honest.’
‘But what happened next was?’
‘More Tommy really. The strike was getting more bitter by the day – management were taking a hard line – and we became so angry seeing Matty Hargreaves walking into work every day that, well, you know how it is.’
‘So you approached Billy Guthrie?’
‘Yeah, he’d only just been sacked by the railways for nicking so he bore them a grudge anyway. Not that he needed much of an excuse to beat someone up. Anyway, when I told him that Hargreaves had taken the side of the bosses, that was enough. You know what happened next.’
‘Guthrie attacked Hargreaves in the yard.’
‘Yeah. Just to rough him up, you know, put the frighteners on. Stop him from going back to work.’ McGarrity looked hopefully at Blizzard. ‘You have to believe that. We never meant for him to die. Besides, it worked: when he came out of hospital, Hargreaves didn’t go back to work. And he never told no one who attacked him. Then not longer after, Guthrie did his vanishing act.’
‘I bet you were delighted,’ grunted Blizzard.
‘It didn’t really change much. We spent years waiting for the knock on the door from your lot then last week up pops Billy Guthrie like a bad penny, talking soft about wanting to say sorry to folks. Came to see me Thursday night. Said he did not want to do it but his partner had insisted on it otherwise she would put him in a home when he became too ill. Said she had a sister in Hafton so she would know if he didn’t go through with it. I tell you, it was the first time I ever saw Billy Guthrie afeared of anything.’
‘What did he want with you?’
‘Said he was looking for Joe Hargreaves. Would I help him find him?’
‘So you decided to silence him?’
‘What could we do?’ McGarrity looked helplessly at Blizzard. ‘Guthrie knew he was taking a risk but he hadn’t changed, he was sure that you’d never get a case to stick after all these years. But we were terrified. Folks were already talking about Guthrie being back and we reckoned it was only a matter of time before word got back to you and we got dragged into it. None of us would have lasted a week in prison.’
‘But you didn’t do the actual killing?’
‘What, at our age?’ McGarrity allowed himself a slight smile. ‘No. Tommy had a word with Terry Roberts and he sorted it. Got some lads from the estate.’
‘We’ve got one of them already,’ said Colley. ‘Bloke called Jacobs. He’s named three others as well.’
‘No honour among thieves, eh?’ murmured McGarrity.
‘So where does Megan Rees fit in with it?’ asked Blizzard.
‘Guthrie had been banging on about wanting to say sorry to her about what happened to her dad. We told him that she would be at the wasteland, said she worked in a pub nearby and she got off late. Guthrie turned up at midnight and Terry Robert’s lads did the rest. Then we told Megan where she could find his body.’
‘Why on earth do that?’
‘George had known her dad – reckoned Megan would want to see Guthrie’s body.’
‘But wasn’t that taking a risk?’ asked Blizzard. ‘What if she had turned you in?’
‘She wouldn’t have done that.’
‘How do you know?’
McGarrity paused. ‘I just know,’ he said.
‘But why on earth did she dial 999? Surely that would only draw attention to herself?’
‘She wasn’t meant to report the body but a young couple saw her in the signal box. She had no option. It would have attracted more suspicion if you had had to trace her.’
‘And why place the death notice in the paper?’ asked Blizzard.
‘We thought if it read like someone out for revenge, you wouldn’t even look at us. Besides, we never thought you’d trace it back to us. The credit card had been nicked by one of the lads on The Spur and Jacobs got his girlfriend to use it to place the notice with the paper. She pretended to be a relative of Guthrie. The niece or something.’
‘One thing I don’t understand,’ said Colley. ‘If Megan Rees was in on what you were doing, why on earth did you frame her?’
‘We didn’t.’
‘What about the credit card we found on the wasteland?’
‘Jacobs dropped it, the daft bastard,’ said McGarrity with a shake of the head. ‘Then when he realised it must be on the wasteland, it was too late and he dared not go back to look for it in case someone saw him.’
‘So Megan Rees was innocent?’ said Colley.
‘She had nowt to do with it,’ said McGarrity firmly.
Blizzard said nothing.
‘And these lads who killed Guthrie,’ asked Colley. ‘How did you persuade them to get involved?’
‘Paid them two hundred quid each and we told Terry Roberts about the Old Lady. Tommy knew that Roberts was nicking stuff for his uncle to fence over in Sheffield. Roberts loved the idea of nicking stuff from the locomotive – think of the newspaper headlines, he said. He kept all his newspaper cuttings, did Terry Roberts. Said he’d love to see your face.’
‘How could you?’ murmured Blizzard. ‘I mean, all those hours we spent working on her?’
‘Like I always said,’ said McGarrity, ‘only you got carried away with all that romance stuff. To the rest of us, it was just a job and not a very good one at that. That’s why we went on strike.’
‘And all that guff about Lawrie Gaines?’
‘Guthrie had banged on about him as well, said he had arranged to see him on the Friday night. It all fitted beautifully. I knew that Eddie Gayle has been involved in fixing fights on the night Archie got hurt and I reckoned you would love that. Thought it would keep you busy for a long time. Never reckoned you would suspect us and, let’s be fair, we’d have got away with it if Joe Hargreaves had kept his trap shut.’
‘And he might have done if you hadn’t had Roly Turner killed,’ said Blizzard.
‘We didn’t mean for him to die.’
‘Who attacked him?’
‘The same lads as did for Guthrie, I assume. Jacobs sorted it. We heard that Roly had been to see Joe and guessed what it was about – he’d mentioned to one or two people that he wondered if Guthrie’s death was linked to the attack on Matty. The idea was for the boys to persuade him to keep quiet and tell Joe the same
. We didn’t know he had a bad heart.’ McGarrity paused then looked at the detectives, his eyes moist with tears as his composure broke. ‘He was a good man was Roly.’
‘Jesus Christ,’ said Blizzard, the pain in his arm suddenly intensifying. ‘What a mess.’
McGarrity shrugged. ‘Sorry,’ he said.
The inspector stood up and walked from the room followed by the sergeant. Once outside in the corridor, Blizzard leaned against the wall and closed his eyes.
‘I’ve been such a fool,’ he groaned. ‘All that rubbish about how wonderful railmen are.’
‘Maybe,’ said Colley, looking at him sympathetically, ‘all you did was forget that they were real people.’
Blizzard looked at him for a moment then nodded his head.
‘Maybe you’re right,’ he said. ‘Maybe you’re right.’
Chapter twenty-one
After lunch, and suddenly starting to feel weary as the events of the past 24 hours caught up with him and his arm started to throb incessantly, Blizzard decided to go home early. He was about to leave the office when a call came through from reception.
‘Sorry, sir,’ said a girl’s voice, ‘but Eddie Gayle is here with his lawyer. Says he wants to see you to demand an apology.’
‘Tell him to wait,’ said the inspector.
With a slight smile on his face, he headed down the corridor. He walked slightly unsteadily out into the back yard of the station, supported by Fee’s arm. As they approached the constable’s car, Fee looked up and noticed a figure in jeans and a green jacket standing in the belt of trees behind the barrier.
‘Megan Rees,’ said Fee. ‘I’ll go and see what she wants.’
‘We’ll both go.’
The detectives walked over and ducked beneath the barrier.
‘Megan?’ said Blizzard, noticing the strange expression on her face. ‘Are you OK?’
‘The radio said you got them,’ she said. ‘The men who killed Billy Guthrie.’
‘It would seem so. I’m sorry for what you had to go through.’
‘Maybe I’m as guilty as them.’
‘How come?’ said Blizzard, moving a couple of steps further away and motioning for Fee to do the same, the constable having also sensed the sudden tension in the atmosphere.
‘Like I said, there was not a day gone past when I did not think of murdering Billy Guthrie.’
‘Yes, but there’s a big difference between thinking it and doing it, Megan.’
‘Who do you think put the idea into their heads?’ she said with a slight smile. ‘Do you really think they are bright enough to think of it by themselves?’
The detectives stared at her.
‘Are you saying…?’ began Blizzard.
‘That I planned it all? Yes. Billy Guthrie rang me and said he wanted to apologise. I agreed to meet him at the signal box. Getting McGarrity and the others involved was easy. They’d have done anything to keep themselves out of prison for what they did to Matty Hargreaves.’
‘But how did you know about that?’
‘My dad – found it in his papers after he died. He’d been a good friend of George Haywood when they worked on the railways. One night, they got drunk and Haywood told him what had happened. I don’t know why, but Dad wrote it all down. Put it in a sealed envelope in the dresser.’
‘So how come nobody has mentioned you in their interviews?’ asked Blizzard.
‘Perhaps they don’t think that prison is a suitable place for a nice girl like me,’ she said with a slight smile. ‘Salt of the earth, these old railmen, you know.’
‘Are you sure this is not just some delusion? I mean, you do have a history of mental illness.’
‘Now that,’ said Megan, ‘is for you to find out.’
Fee suddenly noticed that she was clutching the newspaper cutting out of which smiled the constable’s face.
‘What have you got this for?’ she asked sharply.
‘I was going to kill him.’
‘Kill who?’ asked the inspector.
‘I was going to kill you.’ Megan delivered the line in a matter-of-fact way.
‘Why would you do that?’ exclaimed Blizzard.
‘My dog died.’ Megan looked at the appalled expression on Fee’s face. ‘I wanted your little girlfriend here to know what it was like to lose someone as well.’
She reached into her jacket and produced a kitchen knife which she handed to the inspector handle-first.
‘But I don’t think I’ll bother now,’ she said.
Megan Rees turned and walked back through the trees. Fee made to go after her but Blizzard reached out a restraining hand.
‘There’s plenty of time for that,’ he said.
‘But…’
‘Besides, I’m in no hurry to tell Myra Randolph that she was right, that Megan Rees really is as mad as a hatter. Get Colley to pick her up.’
He started walking back towards the car.
‘Or better still,’ he said, ‘get Arthur to sort it. Myra Randolph likes him.’
Chapter twenty-two
It was just after lunchtime on Saturday when Blizzard arrived at the old shed on the wasteland close to the Railway Hotel. The inspector, his arm still in a sling but with movement rapidly returning, had been dropped off by Fee who had promised to come back for him after she had been shopping in the city centre. The inspector stood in the gloom cast by the naked light bulb and surveyed the sight before him – the oil-stained floor where the Old Lady had once stood, the tools hanging up on hooks, the cluttered workbenches, the kettle and the box of teabags. Blizzard smiled. After the tumult of the previous week, he felt at peace as he set about preparing the shed for the arrival of the railway appreciation society’s new locomotive, using his one good arm to tidy up benches and clear away rubbish.
The inspector had only been there a few minutes when the door creaked open and he turned to see Colley carrying Laura, who was dressed all in green apart from a bright red sunhat.
‘Fee said I’d find you here,’ said the sergeant, glancing round the empty shed. ‘Hey, looks a bit sad, doesn’t it?’
‘Not for long,’ said Blizzard, grinning even more as Laura reached out a chubby hand towards him.
‘I kinda assumed the association would fold after all that’s happened.’
‘No way,’ said the inspector as he and the baby playfully intertwined fingers. ‘There’s still plenty of us up for some work and yesterday I got a call confirming that we can take an old tank engine which needs doing up.’
‘What,’ said Colley, looking at the baby and grinning, ‘like Thomas? A blue one?’
‘Er, yeah, something like that. Anyway, that’s what I came down here for, make sure everything is OK for when it arrives. They’re due to deliver it on Thursday.’
‘Does this mean we can look forward to more tripe about romantic railways then?’
‘Ah, no, think I’ll keep off that theme for a while, David.’
‘Wise strategy, guv.’
There was silence for a moment and Blizzard noticed the sergeant looking at him.
‘What’s wrong?’ asked the inspector.
‘Can I ask you a question?’
‘Of course.’
Colley looked uncomfortable.
‘Come on, spit it out,’ said Blizzard.
‘OK, it’s just that some of the guys have been talking, you know how they do, and we kinda wondered if you were thinking of taking early retirement?’
Blizzard stared at him.
‘Retiring?’ he said. ‘Whatever gave you that idea?’
‘You’ve been talking about it quite a bit lately. Folks have noticed.’
‘OK,’ said Blizzard after a few moments, ‘I have been thinking about it, I’m not getting any younger, but it was only an idle thought and the past three days has put the idea out of my head again. I tell you, I’ve been so bored. I’d much rather be filling in forms for HR. That should please Arthur.’
‘And me.’
There was an awkward silence then Blizzard looked closer at the motif of a beaming purple dinosaur on the front of Laura’s romper suit.
‘Is that…?’ he began.
‘Yeah, that’s Barnie,’ said Colley. ‘Wondered when you’d notice.’
‘Cheerful looking bastard, isn’t he?’ said Blizzard as Laura looked down at the dinosaur. ‘Mind, despite what you had to say about him, I don’t reckon he could have killed Terry Roberts really.’
‘Probably not,’ said Colley. ‘Hey, how’s the arm?’
‘Getting better,’ said the inspector, waggling it round to prove the point.
‘Can it throw bread?’
‘What?’
‘Well, it’s a nice summer’s afternoon and Jay has kicked us out of the house, so I wondered if you fancied coming to the park and feeding some ducks? If you’re lucky, I’ll buy you an ice cream.’
‘Do you know,’ said Blizzard with a smile. ‘I think I might just do that.’
And the two detectives walked out into the afternoon sunshine.
THE END
List of Characters
Hafton Police Officers
CID:
Det Supt Arthur Ronald – head of CID in the southern half of the force
DCI John Blizzard – head of Western Division CID
DI Graham Ross – head of forensics in Western Division
DI Chris Ramsey
DS David Colley
DC Fee Ellis
DC David Tulley
Uniform:
Supt Jerry Hart
Sgt Brian Robertshaw
PC Gary Canham
Other officers:
DCI Wendy Talbot – head of the Regional Organised Crime Unit
Mick Evans – British Transport Police Officer
Railwaymen
Steve McGarrity
Joe Hargreaves
Matty Hargreaves – his brother
George Haywood
Tommy Rafferty
Others
Paul D’Arcy – a lawyer