Separated at Death (The Lakeland Murders)

by Salkeld, J J

  ‘Sheep-shagger, eh? What are you doing down in the big city?’

  ‘You’re Carl Nelson? If so I came to see you.’

  The big man was up on his hands and knees, and was loudly sick.

  ‘He might be concussed’ said Mann. ‘You might want to take him to casualty.’

  ‘Nah, you can only get concussed if you’ve got a brain, and Des doesn’t. Anyway, what is it you want? I’ll help if I can.’

  ‘It’s about Simon Hamilton. Can I come in to the office?’

  ‘No. What about Simon Hamilton?’

  ‘You gave one of my colleagues a statement that he was with you last Wednesday.’

  ‘That’s right. He turned up at about four, and left about six thirty.’

  ‘And that meeting was here I take it?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘And what did you talk about?’

  ‘That’s my business.’

  ‘And what is your business, Mr Nelson?’

  ‘All totally legit, I assure you.’

  The big man had got to his feet and was leaning against the wall, breathing heavily.

  ‘Look’ said Mann. ‘Since your colleague here likes to be so direct I’ll be the same. Your meeting with Simon Hamilton means that you know him, and since we’re very interested in him, and since you’re not giving me any answers that I find satisfactory, now you’re of interest to us too.’

  Nelson did not look intimidated.

  ‘What you going to do then? Send a sheepdog after me?’

  ‘You’re right of course, we’re short of cash and resources, but not so short that we can’t keep our noses in your business, and get every other agency interested in you too, whether it’s HMRC or the Customs, or even the DVLA.’

  Nelson didn’t have time to reply, because the big man stepped forward and kicked out hard at Mann. Mann grabbed his leg and flipped him over, so this time he went down face first.

  ‘Give over’ shouted Nelson. ‘You’re just embarrassing yourself now.’

  ‘You might want to get yourself a better guard-dog’ said Mann. ‘But before I leave you two love birds to it I’ll ask you once more Mr Nelson, what is the precise nature of your relationship with Mr Hamilton?’

  ‘Fuck off’ said Nelson, ‘and if you come back make sure you have a warrant, and a few dozen coppers.’

  ‘To deal with you two? That’s a laugh. You’re about as frightening as drizzle. I’ll tell you what I think Mr Nelson. I think you’re playing at being a big bad gangster and one day, quite soon, a real one is going to turn up and he’s going to feed you to the pigs. You mark my words.’

  Mann turned and started to walk slowly away. He could see the two men reflected in the side window of the Porsche, and he watched as Nelson closed the door, leaving his minder unconscious on the ground outside.

  On his way back to the front gates Mann clicked the padlock on the warehouse doors locked, and was just climbing back over the gates when the patrol car rolled up.

  ‘Everything all right?’ asked the driver, not getting out of the car.

  ‘Fine thanks, but you might want to call an ambulance.’

  ‘We can drive you round to casualty.’

  ‘It’s not for me, for a bloke in there. Last I saw of him he was spark out round the back.’

  ‘Fall down the stairs did he?’ asked the copper.

  ‘Something like that’ said Mann, tasting a little bit of blood in his mouth.

  Andy Hall noticed that Jane Francis had dressed smartly that morning, and he was wearing his best suit. One of the kids had even said how sharp he looked as he’d left the house.

  ‘We’ve got Simon coming in again this morning’ he said, ‘in fact he should be here now. Let’s hear how he handles the fact that his car was seen, before we talk to his wife.’

  ‘Why boss? Wouldn’t we be best talking to her first?’

  ‘No, because I want you to lead, and at some point you’re going to have to tell her exactly what we’ve got on the slippery bastard. But you’re right, we want it to come as a surprise to her, so we’ll get off over there as soon as we’ve finished with him. We’ll let someone else do his statement and take their time about it. That way he won’t be able to come up with some story for her before you talk to her.’

  ‘But did his wife not come in with him? She has done before.’

  ‘Really?’ said Hall. That was interesting. He called the front desk and checked. ‘No, just Hamilton and that lawyer Jenkins today.’

  ‘I wonder if that’s significant?’

  ‘She might be feeling less supportive now you mean? Let’s hope so.’

  As they walked down to the interview room Jane asked Hall how he thought Hamilton would play it when they confronted him with the evidence about the car. ‘If it were me I’d just flat-out deny it, because we’ll have to disclose that we’ve only got a similar car with the same model bike rack as his. That’s not absolutely definitive, and he’s in too far to try to change his story again. Anyway, let’s see what he comes up with this time.’

  As they sat down Hall thought that Simon Hamilton looked a bit less confident this time. ‘Thanks for coming in again Mr Hamilton’ he said. ‘Tell you why we asked you to pop in. In your most recent statement you clearly stated that you didn’t stop anywhere in Kendal last Wednesday night.’

  ‘That’s right. Other than for traffic lights I didn’t stop.’

  ‘And you are absolutely, 100% sure of that are you?’

  ‘Inspector, my client has been very clear on this point already.’

  ‘He has, hasn’t he?’ agreed Hall pleasantly. He took a photograph out of the folder in front of him, and slid it slowly across the table to Hamilton. ‘Then how do you explain the fact that this car was seen parked and empty on Queen’s Road at around nine pm last Wednesday evening, and was gone by around nine-thirty?’

  For the first time Hamilton looked rattled, and before he could say anything Jenkins jumped in. ‘I’d like to consult with my client Inspector.’

  ‘And I’d like an answer please Mr Hamilton. Was your car parked on Queen’s Road last Wednesday evening? It’s a very simple question.’

  Again Jenkins cut in, and Hall could hear an edge to his voice.

  ‘Do you have the registration number of the vehicle that was seen? Do you have an identification of Mr Hamilton as the driver?’

  ‘We’re very confident that it was the same vehicle’ said Hall, looking straight at Hamilton.

  ‘I must insist on a few moments alone with my client, and until then I must insist that he only gives no comment responses.’

  ‘And what do you say to that, Mr Hamilton?’

  ‘No comment.’

  Hall sat back. ‘You’re very wise to take your lawyer’s excellent advice Mr Hamilton, and we’ll be happy to give you a few minutes together. And we’ll really look forward to hearing what you have to say. But you really are between a rock and a hard place you know, because you’re either about to deny the evidence of a very credible eye witness, or you’re going to have to change your story yet again.’ Hall smiled. ‘Still, I’ll leave that to the two of you to discuss.’

  Ten minutes later they were back in the interview room. It was obvious that Jenkins intended to do the talking. ‘My client did not stop on Queen’s Road that night. Your witness must have been mistaken in his or her identification of Mr Hamilton’s car. There must be thousands of similar models on our roads.’

  ‘And that’s what you’re saying is it?’ asked Hall, looking straight at Simon Hamilton.

  ‘Of course. I didn’t stop on Queen’s Road last Wednesday evening.’

  Hamilton was doing his best to sound convincing. Hall’s expression told him that it wasn’t working. ‘You see the thing is, the car that our witness saw wasn’t just the same make, model and colour as yours, but it also had a bike rack on it.’ Hall held his hand up to stop the solicitor from interrupting. ‘And it was the exact same model as yours Mr Hamilton, the very same
one. What are the chances of that, do you think?’

  ‘It wasn’t my car’ Hamilton paused, and then went on before his lawyer could stop him. ‘It might have been my car, but on another evening. Because I might have stopped and eaten a take-away up there, maybe Monday or Tuesday of last week. I’d forgotten about that.’

  ‘I see. So you think that your car might have been there at that time, but on a different evening? And this is something that you haven’t thought to mention before?’

  ‘Yes, that’s right. I’d forgotten. It didn’t seem important before.’

  ‘It didn’t seem important’ echoed Hall. ‘But what if I told you that our witness is certain that it was on Wednesday evening.’

  ‘I’d say that your witness is wrong. It definitely wasn’t Wednesday.’

  Jane Francis noticed the way that the lawyer was looking at his client. She had a strong feeling that Simon Hamilton was about to discover that his fees were about to go up.

  ‘You were right boss, he’s sticking to his story’, said Jane as they walked to Hall’s car.

  ‘He’s dug himself in even deeper though, hasn’t he? He’s now admitting that he was parked there, but claiming that we’ve got the wrong day. That’s going to be easy to break down, because all we’ll do is take the CCTV from town for both days from 6pm ‘til midnight, and unless we see him stop at a take-away and turn left at the town hall up the hill we’ve pretty much got him on that, even if it’s not enough to convict on its own. He should have kept his mouth firmly shut. I bet Jenkins is explaining that to him right now.’

  ‘But it gives us more to go at the wife with, anyway.’

  ‘It does indeed. And I’ve got a suggestion about how you like might to play it.’

  ‘I’m all ears, boss.’

  ‘Jane, I’ve been meaning to say that it’s fine to call me Andy when we’re on our own or with close colleagues like Ian Mann. Uniforms like all that saluting and stuff, but you’re in CID now. OK?’

  ‘Yes, fine. So, Andy, how do you suggest I play it?’

  ‘It’s a bit of a gamble, but why not base everything you say on the assumption that your idea about why Sarah is covering for him is right? So we know he’s a wrong-un, and that you understand that she’s covering for some other kind of criminality. But it’s actually more serious now, because what she’s actually doing is giving him an alibi for the murder of a young girl, who she must have known since she was a baby. I’d play that card hard.’

  Jane Francis looked at Hall as he drove.

  ‘You’re thinking about the fact that she’s childless, aren’t you?’

  ‘Yes, among other things.’

  ‘Don’t you think you’re making an assumption though Andy? That all women want to be mothers. I don’t see why that should be any truer than it is of men, do you?’

  ‘Sorry, Jane, that’s not really what I meant.’ Hall looked uncomfortable, and Jane Francis decided to go easy, for now at least. ‘I meant that Sarah must have known Amy really well.’

  ‘Don’t worry Andy, I do get your drift. Make her think about exactly what her husband has done, say we understand that she had no part in it, and maybe suggest that the courts will be kind to her if she helps us, even now.’

  ‘Be careful on that one Jane. By all means hint at a defence that she and her lawyers could use, like coercion and even physical fear of her husband, because they’ll use that anyway, but don’t imply that a deal is on offer. It just isn’t. If she wants to lie for him, then she needs to understand that there’s a price to be paid.’

  Jane nodded. For a moment she thought she could hear a bit more emotion in Hall’s voice than she was used to hearing.

  ‘Anything else you want to go through before we get there? asked Hall, sounding as calm as ever.

  ‘No Andy, I’m fine.’

  ‘You’ll do a great job, I know you will. And don’t worry if she doesn’t shift her position, it’s her own look-out. We’re giving her every chance to tell the truth. If she doesn’t take it then she’ll do some jail time if Simon’s convicted, I promise you that.’

  They fell silent and Hall drove slowly past Windermere golf course. The sun came out from behind a bank of grey cloud, the shower passed, and suddenly the fields were the extraordinarily vivid green that Hall always thought that you only ever saw in the Lakes. It looked as if the rain had washed the world.

  Sarah Hamilton came to the door, as Hall knew she would. Because he’d had an unmarked car at the end of the road since eight, so he knew for sure that she was at home.

  ‘Can we come in Mrs Hamilton?’ asked Jane.

  ‘It’s not convenient.’

  ‘That’s a shame, because the only alternative I can offer is for you to come down to the station with us. Now.’

  ‘I see, I’d better call our solicitor then.’

  ‘We’re here to help you, Mrs Hamilton. If you ask us in we can have an informal chat. It’s really in your best interests.’ Hall thought he heard a slight emphasis on the ‘your’ and sensed that Sarah Hamilton had picked it up too.

  ‘In that case, come in for a minute. I’m sorry about the state of the place.’

  It looked immaculate to Hall, but then Sarah Hamilton didn’t have teenagers to tidy up after. Hall volunteered to make coffee for them all, and said that he’d find the cups. ‘I’m not a detective for nothing.’

  It wasn’t his best ever effort, but it seemed to help relax the atmosphere slightly, so he took his time making the coffee, knowing that Jane wouldn’t get on to any substantive issues until he was in the room with her.

  ‘Here we are’ he said, handing out the drinks and looking around for coasters.

  ‘We’ve just been talking about the house, and what a lovely spot this is’ said Jane.

  Hall nodded and smiled. He wanted to stay in the background, so he sat back on the big leather sofa and slipped his notebook from his pocket. Jane took the hint. ‘So Sarah, you know that your husband has been helping us again this morning. Do you know what we’ve been asking him about?’

  ‘No, he didn’t know.’

  ‘We have a witness who saw a car, just like your Mercedes and with exactly the same type of bike rack on it, parked very near to where Amy’s body was found, and it was certainly there just before she was killed.’

  ‘No, it can’t have been his car. He didn’t stop in Kendal last Wednesday. He told me that, and he told you too.’

  ‘Yes, he certainly did.’ Jane paused, then changed tack. ‘You never believed that John killed his own daughter, did you?’

  Sarah looked surprised.

  ‘But you charged him with it. Simon said you found Amy’s phone, and so it must have been him.’

  ‘That’s right, we did find Amy’s phone. Except we don’t think that John brought the phone home at all. We think that someone else planted it, to make it look as if it was John. And you see what that means, do you?’

  Sarah Hamilton shook her head.

  ‘It means that whoever it was who strangled Amy to death, when she was all alone in that dark wood, hates John too. You can see that?’

  This time Sarah Hamilton nodded slowly, and just once.

  ‘And it also means that the person who murdered Amy had access to John’s house. And you see how that narrows the field of suspects?’

  This time it was Sarah who changed the subject.

  ‘I always knew it wasn’t John, it couldn’t be. He’s a good man, and he loves his girls more than anything. I always knew that.’

  Jane reached out, and took hold of Sarah’s hand. She had started to sob, quietly. ‘You see Sarah, I don’t think you know anything about murder, but you do know about something else, something that Simon has been doing. Something that maybe he doesn’t want the taxman to know about, and maybe even something that he doesn’t want us to know about. And I think you’ve said that he was home by half nine last Wednesday because you wanted to help him with an alibi for something else, and certainly not the murder of y
our own niece. Am I right?’

  Sarah sat, hands clasped on her lap, with her head down. She seemed to have stopped crying. Hall realised that he was holding his breath, hoping that Jane would stay quiet. She did, and they sat silently for fully a minute. Eventually Sarah looked up. ‘What I told you was true. He was home by nine thirty at the very latest.’

  ‘And you can’t even have been a few minutes out? Perhaps he didn’t get back until quarter to ten, or a little bit later?’

  ‘I’ve told you, no.’

  Jane paused again, and glanced briefly at Hall. He was quite still. ‘You do understand that if your husband is charged with murder then you’ll probably be charged with one or more very serious offences, because we don’t believe he could have been back when he said. You do understand that?’

  Sarah Hamilton didn’t reply.

  ‘This is probably your very last chance to change your statement Sarah. It’s up to you, but do think about it. Imagine standing in the dock next to the man who stands accused of killing a young girl in cold blood.’

  Sarah looked straight at Jane Francis. Her voice was stronger now.

  ‘I love my husband.’

  Ryan didn’t wake until nine, and by then the cafe in the yard was open. He went in, used the loo, then ordered breakfast. He was down to his last twenty, plus whatever fuel was left in the car. If he ran for it he’d be lucky to make it past Preston.

  He still couldn’t see a solution. Taking on Simon, Carl and whoever else they had in their crew wasn’t an option, and grassing them up wouldn’t get him anywhere, except dead. The chances of some kind of witness protection were, he knew, nil. The old lady two doors down couldn’t even get the cops to stop the local kids from pinching her pension on the way back from town, and she deserved to be looked after.