Hanging Valley ib-4

by Peter Robinson

  ‘Are you sure you’re not after her for something?’ Glen asked suspiciously.

  ‘Information. That’s all.’

  ‘All right,’ Glen agreed. ‘If it’s going to help catch Bernie’s killer, we’ll do whatever you want.’ He paused to pick up his pint glass and raise it for a toast. ‘There is one good thing in all this, you know. At least Bernie died in the place he wanted to live.’

  ‘Yes,’ Banks said. ‘There is that.’

  And they all drank to dying where they wanted to live.

  11

  ONE

  ‘John told me about Nick’s behaviour at the party the other night,’ Stephen Collier said. ‘I’m sorry. I warned you to stay away from him.’

  Katie looked down at the stony path and blushed. ‘I didn’t go seeking him,’ she said. ‘He’s an animal, a filthy animal.’

  ‘But he is my brother, Katie. He’s the only family I’ve got left. I know he acts outrageously sometimes, but… I promise it won’t happen again.’

  Katie remembered a phrase from the Bible: ‘Am I my brother’s keeper?’ Could Stephen keep Nicholas like an animal in a zoo? He looked strained, she thought. He poked at the stones and sods with his ashplant stick as they walked; his face was pale and the tic in his eye was getting worse.

  It was fine walking weather: warm but not hot, with a few high white clouds and no sign of rain. Sam was in Eastvale for the day - not that Katie’s walking out with Stephen would have mattered to him, she thought; he practically threw her at the Colliers as if she were his membership ticket to some exclusive club.

  They took the diagonal path up the side of Swainshead Fell, heading for the source of the river. The air was clear, and after a few minutes’ walking even Stephen’s pallid cheeks began to glow like embers.

  At last they reached their destination. The source of the River Swain was an unspectacular wet patch on the side of Swainshead Fell. All around it, the grass was greener and grew more abundantly than anywhere else. Only yards away was the source of another river, the Gaiel, which, when it reached the valley below, perversely turned north towards Cumbria.

  Stephen had brought a flask of coffee and some dark chocolate. They sat down to eat on the dry grass above the source and looked back on Swainshead. A lapwing went into his extended ‘pee-wit’ song as he wove through the air, plummeted and levelled out just before hitting the ground. His wings beat like sheets flapping in a gale.

  ‘He must be trying to attract a mate,’ Stephen said.

  ‘Or scare us away.’

  ‘Perhaps. Coffee? Chocolate?’

  Katie accepted the plastic cup of black coffee. She usually liked hers with plenty of milk and a spoonful of sugar, but she took it as it came without complaint. The dark bitter chocolate puckered her taste buds.

  ‘I shouldn’t be here, you know,’ she said, pushing back a stray wisp of fair hair behind her ear.

  ‘Relax,’ Stephen said. ‘Sam’s in Eastvale.’

  ‘I know. But that’s not the point. People will talk.’

  ‘Why should they? There’s nothing to talk about. Everybody knows we’re all friends. You’re so old-fashioned, Katie.’

  Katie flushed. ‘I can’t help it. I wish I could,’ she added in a whisper.

  ‘Look,’ Stephen went on in a soothing voice, ‘we’ve just gone for a short walk up the fell side, as many people do. Where’s the harm in that? We’re not hiding from anyone, we’re not sneaking off. You act as if we’re guilty of something terrible.’

  ‘It just feels wrong,’ Katie said, managing a brief smile. ‘Oh, don’t mind me. I’m trying, I really am. I’m just not very good with people.’

  ‘Don’t you feel comfortable with me?’

  Katie fidgeted with the silver paper from the chocolate wrapper, folding it into a neat shiny square. ‘I don’t know,’ she said. ‘I don’t feel afraid.’

  Stephen laughed. ‘At least that’s a start. But seriously, Katie, sometimes it’s necessary to talk. I told you the other night I’ve got nobody. Nick’s hardly the type to make a good listener, and the people at work are just that: employees, colleagues, not friends.’

  ‘What about all those guests at the party?’

  ‘Nick’s people, most of them. Or from work, business acquaintances. Don’t you ever need to talk to someone real, Katie? Don’t you ever have problems you want to let out and share?’

  Katie frowned and stared at him. ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘Yes, of course I do. But I’m no good at it. I don’t know where to start.’

  ‘Start with your life, Katie. Are you happy?’

  ‘I don’t know. Am I supposed to be?’

  ‘That’s what life’s for, isn’t it, to be enjoyed?’

  ‘Or suffered.’

  ‘Are you suffering?’

  ‘I don’t think I’m happy, if that’s what you mean.’

  ‘Why don’t you do something about it?’

  ‘There’s nothing I can do.’

  ‘But there must be. You must be able to change things if you want.’

  ‘I don’t see how. What would I do? Without the guest house I’ve got nothing. Where would I go? I don’t know anywhere outside Leeds and Swainsdale.’ She toyed with a stray tress of hair. ‘I could just see me down in London or somewhere like that. I wouldn’t last five minutes.’

  ‘Cities aren’t quite as bad as you think they are. You only see the worst on television. Many people live happy lives there.’

  ‘Still,’ Katie said, ‘I’d be lost.’ She finished the coffee and wiped her lips with the back of her hand.

  ‘Perhaps by yourself you would be.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  Suddenly Stephen seemed closer, and somehow he seemed to be holding her hand. Katie tensed. She didn’t want to upset him. If he wanted to touch her she would have to let him, but her stomach clenched and the wind roared in her ears. His touch was oddly chaste though; it didn’t seem to threaten her at all.

  ‘I don’t know, Katie,’ he said. ‘I’m not sure what I’m saying. But I’ve got to go away. I can’t stay around here any longer.’

  ‘But why not?’

  She felt him trembling as he moved even closer and his grip tightened on her hand. ‘There are things you don’t know anything about, Katie,’ he said. ‘Dear, sweet Katie.’ And he brushed his fingers down her cheek. They felt cold.

  Katie wanted to move away, but she didn’t dare struggle. ‘I don’t know what you mean,’ she burst out.

  ‘Sam’s always telling me I know nothing, too. What is it? Am I so blind or so stupid?’ There were tears in her eyes now, blurring her vision of the valley below and the water that bubbled relentlessly from the source.

  ‘No,’ Stephen said. ‘No, you’re not blind or stupid. But things aren’t always what they seem; people aren’t what they pretend to be. Listen, let me tell you…’

  TWO

  The woman who sat opposite Banks in the dining section of the Feathers had changed considerably from the one in Bernard Allen’s photograph, but it was definitely the same person. She wore her hair cut short and tinted blonde now, and was dressed in a cream business suit. When she sat down and fished in her bag for a cigarette, Banks also noticed that the carefree laughter in her eyes had hardened into a wary, suspicious look. Her long cigarette had a white filter which soon became blotched with lipstick; she had a habit of tapping it on the edge of the ashtray even when there was no ash, and she held it straight out between the V of her first two fingers like an actress in an old movie, pursing her lips to inhale. Her nails were long and painted red.

  She had turned up at six, as Glen had said, and she and Banks had left the others to go and talk privately over dinner. There wasn’t much separation between the two areas of the pub except for the way the seating was arranged, and they could still hear the conversations at the bar and the tables.

  The waitress, a petite brunette with a twinkle in her eye and a cheeky smile, came up and gave them menus. ‘Something
to drink?’ she asked.

  Julie ordered a White Russian and Banks a glass of red wine, just for a change.

  ‘I need to know why you left Swainshead in such a hurry,’ he said, when the waitress had gone for the drinks.

  ‘Can’t a woman do as she pleases? It’s not a police state, you know. Or it wasn’t when I was last there.’

  ‘Nor is it now. It was your timing that interested us.’

  ‘Oh? Why?’

  ‘We tend to be suspicious of someone who disappears without a trace the day after a murder.’

  ‘That was nothing to do with me.’

  ‘Don’t play the innocent. What did you expect us to think? You could have been in danger yourself, or you could have been the killer. For all we knew you could have been buried down a disused mineshaft. You didn’t stop to let anyone know what had happened to you.’

  ‘Well, I’m telling you now. That killing had nothing to do with me.’

  ‘How do you know about it? You don’t seem at all surprised at my mentioning it, but the body wasn’t discovered until after you’d left.’

  Julie ground her cigarette into the ashtray. ‘Don’t try your tricks on me,’ she said. ‘I read the papers. I know what happened.’

  The waitress arrived with the drinks and asked if they were ready to order. Banks asked for a few more minutes and she smiled and went away. Julie turned to her menu.

  ‘What would you recommend?’ Banks asked.

  She shrugged. ‘The food’s always good here. It depends what you fancy. The prime-rib roast and Yorkshire pudding on special is excellent, if you don’t mind being reminded too much of home.’

  Banks looked around at the decor and the photos on the walls. ‘Not at all,’ he said, smiling.

  This time a different waitress came for their orders, an attractive woman with reddish blonde hair and a warm manner. Banks hoped he hadn’t offended the other.

  ‘Where did you go?’ he asked Julie, as soon as they’d ordered their meals.

  ‘None of your damn business.’ She sipped her White Russian.

  ‘A week after you left,’ Banks pressed on, ‘the body of a London private detective called Raymond Addison was discovered in Swainshead. He’d been murdered. Did you know anything about that?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘We’ve got good reason to think you did. Listen, if you want to make things difficult, Miss Ralston-’

  ‘It’s Culver, Mrs. Mrs Julie Culver. And it’s quite legal. Julie’s my middle name and Culver is my husband’s. Ex-husband’s, I should say.’

  ‘Why change your name if you’ve nothing to hide?’

  She shrugged. ‘It was a new start. Why not a new name?’

  ‘Not very convincing. But Mrs Culver it is. We’re on good terms with the Canadian government. We have extradition arrangements and a mutual help policy. If I wanted to, I could make enough fuss to have you sent back to England to answer my questions. This is the easy way.’

  Julie lit another cigarette. ‘I don’t believe you. I’m a Canadian citizen now. You can’t touch me at all.’

  ‘That doesn’t matter,’ Banks said. ‘You’re connected to a murder in England. Don’t expect your government to protect you from that.’

  ‘But you can’t prove I had anything to do with it. It’s just a coincidence I went away then.’

  ‘Is it? What about your involvement with Stephen Collier?’

  Julie paled. ‘What about it? What’s he been telling you?’

  ‘Nothing. What does he know?’

  ‘How should I know?’

  Banks sighed. ‘A few weeks ago a friend of yours, Bernard Allen, was murdered in the hanging valley just over Swainshead Fell.’

  ‘I know the place,’ Julie said sadly. ‘I’ve been there with him. It always looked like autumn. But what makes you think his death had anything to do with me? I wasn’t even in the country. I was here. It could have been a thief or a psycho… or a…’

  There was something in her tone that let Banks know she was interested now, no longer so hostile. ‘In the first place,’ he said, ‘we know that you told him not to let anyone know he’d met you here, which is suspicious enough in itself. And in the second place, he did tell someone: a woman called Katie Greenock.

  Her heart seems to be in the right place, but she told her husband, Sam, who soon broadcasted it to the whole White Rose crowd. In the third place, Bernard had been talking about going home to stay, and there’s no evidence he had a job lined up. Then Bernard got killed before he had a chance to leave the dale.

  What does all that indicate to you?’

  ‘You’re the sleuth. You tell me.’ Julie blew cigarette smoke down her nose.

  Banks leaned forward. ‘The way I read it,’ he said, ‘is that you knew something about Raymond Addison’s murder. Something incriminating. I’m not sure who else was involved, or why, but it had to be someone with money. I’d guess that Stephen Collier played a large part. I think you told Bernard what you knew and he intended to use that knowledge to blackmail his way to what he wanted most - his return to Swainshead.’

  ‘My God! I… Are you trying to say I’m responsible for Bernie’s death?’

  ‘I’m not placing any blame, Mrs Culver. I simply want to know what happened. I want to nail Bernie’s killer.’

  Julie seemed to be thinking fast. Conflicting emotions flashed across her face. ‘I’m not guilty of anything,’

  she said finally. ‘I’ve nothing to be afraid of. And I don’t believe you. Bernie could never have been a blackmailer.’

  The waitress brought their food. Before she left, they ordered another round of drinks, then Banks tucked into his roast while Julie picked at a Caesar salad. They remained silent while they ate. It wasn’t until they both pushed their plates aside and reached for their cigarettes that Julie started to talk again.

  ‘It’s been such a long time, you know,’ she began. ‘A lot’s happened. There’ve been long stretches when I haven’t thought about Swainshead at all.’

  ‘Not homesick?’

  ‘Me? I’m at home anywhere. Almost anywhere. Though I can’t say I cared for the Middle East much.’

  ‘Bernie was homesick.’

  ‘He was the type though, wasn’t he? If you’d known him you’d have understood. The place was in his blood. He couldn’t even really settle down in Leeds. Yes, Bernie wanted to go back. Which was a shame.

  I’d kind of been hoping…’

  ‘You and Bernie? Again?’

  She raised a thin dark-pencilled eyebrow. ‘You know about that?’

  ‘It was hardly a state secret.’

  ‘True. Anyway, why not? We were both free agents again.’

  ‘Tell me what happened five years ago that sent you running off around the world.’

  The waitress came to pick up their plates. Banks ordered a pint of Creemore this time and Julie asked for a coffee and a double cognac. All the spaces were occupied now. Next to them, a group of eight people had pulled two tables together.

  ‘It seems more like a million years ago,’ Julie said when she got her drink. ‘I suppose I was a naive young thing back then. My education really began after I left.’

  She was stalling for time, Banks thought, telling the story her own way. Perhaps she wasn’t sure yet whether she was going to tell him the truth or not. The best thing for now, he decided, was to let her go with it and subtly steer her in the right direction. ‘Where did you go?’ he asked.

  ‘First I went to Europe. I’d been saving up for quite a long time - kept my money under the mattress, believe it or not - just waiting for the day when I knew I would take off and never come back. I took a boat over to Holland and ended up in Amsterdam for a while. Then I bummed around France, Italy, Germany.

  To cut a long story short, I met a man. A Canadian. This’d be about a year later. He took me back to Vancouver with him and we got married.’ Julie blew out a steady stream of smoke. ‘Life was fine for a while… then he decided I
wasn’t enough for him. Two can play at that game, I thought… Anyway, it ended.’

  ‘When did you first get in touch with Bernie?’

  ‘About eighteen months ago. That was after I split up with Charles. Bernie was having marriage problems of his own, I soon found out, and he seemed happy enough to hear from me. I might have got in touch with him earlier, but I’d been wary about doing so. I knew he was here, of course. He left Swainshead before I did. But I felt that I’d burned all my bridges.’

  ‘What made you contact him, then?’

  ‘Circumstances, really. I’m a freelance publicity agent. I started the business in Vancouver because I liked the idea and it gave me something to do while my husband was… not around.’ She tapped her cigarette against the glass ashtray. ‘It turned out I had a knack, a flair, so I decided to open an office in Toronto as well. I don’t know how much you understand about Canada, but Toronto is pretty much the centre of the universe here. I knew Bernie lived in the city, so I thought what the hell. Any trouble I might have caused would have blown over by now anyway.’