Separated at Death (The Lakeland Murders)

by Salkeld, J J

  Still Carl Nelson said nothing.

  ‘You don’t have to help us Carl, why should you? No one loves a grass. But the thing is that Simon Hamilton’s not like you, is he? You’ve always known that, and that’s why he’s been useful to you. He’s never been a proper working criminal, not like you. He’s just a rich boy who’s been playing at it. But the problem is that he doesn’t know the rules, how the game’s played. And that’s how he came to kill a teenage girl. And that’s just not on, is it? Not by my code, not by yours.’

  Mann was sure that Nelson would keep silent, but he was wrong.

  ‘He told me about it.’

  Hall was holding his breath.

  ‘He told me he done it. The kid’d heard him trying to get cash out of her mum. She’s a user and he needed cash urgently for one of his property deals. The kid was going to tell her dad what she’d heard, and then it would all have come out. Simon told me he’d planted the kid’s phone on the dad after. Thought he’d been very fucking clever.’

  ‘Anything else?’

  ‘Said he was safe. His lawyer said that with no eye witness, no DNA and no proof that he’d planted the phone he’d have a high chance of getting off, but that you lot wouldn’t have the bottle or the money to bring it to trial anyway.’

  ‘And that’s it?’

  ‘Yeh. He made me sick. But then Ryan came along, and that changed everything.’

  ‘Why did you help Simon then? Why not just leave him to sort Ryan out on his own?’

  ‘I know kids like Ryan. Give ‘em an inch and they’ll take everything. He had to be dealt with.’

  ‘Murdered?’

  ‘Of course not. You know I’ve got nothing to say about tonight.’

  ‘But you have about Amy’s death.’

  ‘You’ve got it on tape.’

  ‘Yes, but we need you to sign a formal statement.’

  ‘What do I get out of it?’

  ‘You know how this works Carl. You help us and you’ll be helping the court, saving the taxpayer a lot of money I don’t doubt, and judges do like that. But we’re not offering you any inducements. If you make a statement it’ll be because it’s true, and because it’s the right thing to do.’

  Nelson smiled.

  ‘I’ll give you the statement. Me and my crew are nothing to do with what Simon Hamilton’s done. Nothing. He deserves to swing for it.’

  Twenty minutes later Mann had Nelson’s statement, and Hamilton’s lawyer had arrived. Jenny Baker from the CPS read a copy. To Hall’s surprise she pumped her fist when she’d finished. He knew exactly how she felt.

  ‘Charge him with the murder of Amy Hamilton. Simon didn’t say all this to Nelson while anyone else was present, did he?’

  ‘No’ said Mann.

  ‘Shame. You do know that we’re going to need to charge the wife with attempting to pervert, don’t you Andy? If you can turn her as well you’re home and dried. Given Hamilton’s history of violence we’d be very willing to listen to her on any coercion.’

  ‘We’ll get her nicked now’ said Hall. ‘She’s at their house. Do you want to talk to Simon’s lawyer about tonight’s events, show him Carl’s statement, and he can talk to her before we do too. I’m in a generous mood tonight.’

  Sarah Hamilton was well briefed by the time they saw her. She said that her husband had pressured her into saying that he’d been home by 9.30pm, and that it was actually almost certainly later.

  ‘How much later?’ Jane Francis asked.

  ‘I’d say at least fifteen minutes, maybe almost half an hour. But it can’t have been after ten, because I remember he was showering while I watched the news. That was true. I had to turn the volume up because you can hear the water draining away.’

  ‘But you’re quite sure about the times now?’

  ‘Yes. He told me that it would give him a problem if I said it was any later than half-nine. He made me say that.’

  ‘Made you how?’

  ‘My husband is a violent man.’ The line sounded rehearsed, and probably was.

  ‘How do you mean? Has your husband assaulted you?’

  ‘Not physically, but mentally he’s always been very dominant, very insistent on getting what he wanted. He’s very controlling.’

  ‘And you didn’t lie because you knew that your husband was involved in a drug deal, and asked you to provide an alibi for that?’

  ‘No. I’ve told you. I’m frightened of him. And I was even more frightened when I knew that he’d probably killed Amy.’

  ‘What makes you say that?’

  ‘When you said that his car had been seen parked by Serpentine Woods I knew it had to be him. That’s when I saw why it was so important that I said he was home earlier than he was, because he must have known exactly what time Amy died. So he needed me to say that he was at home then, didn’t he?’

  ‘You do understand that, if you make a new statement saying that your husband did not arrive until after nine thirty, but was home by soon after ten pm, then you will probably face criminal charges?’

  ‘I have explained the position to my client.’

  ‘And you still want to make that statement?’ asked Jane.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘And has your husband admitted to you that he killed Amy?’

  ‘No. What do you take me for?’

  Jane Francis didn’t answer. She was glad that what she thought didn’t count for anything.

  Simon Hamilton’s solicitor asked to consult with his client when Sarah’s statement had been signed. It was past midnight, but Hall had never felt more awake. Robinson was still there, looking as immaculate as ever.

  ‘Will you get a confession?’

  ‘I expect so’ said Hall. In a way he was hoping that Hamilton would stick to his story. It would be nice to be able to lay it all out for him piece by piece, and to let him see his wife’s statement. After what he’d done he was going to be alone for the rest of his natural life.

  But as soon as he walked into the room Hall knew how it was going to go. Simon Hamilton was crying. But Hall wasn’t feeling judgmental about that, and in Hamilton’s position he was sure that he’d have done much the same. It took Hamilton a couple of minutes to compose himself. Hall was his usual self; quiet, almost solicitous.

  ‘Did you kill Amy Hamilton last Wednesday night?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘How did it happen?’

  ‘I called her on my way back to Kendal, because Carl had wound me up about what would happen if what I was doing came out. He said I’d lose everything, and go to jail as well. Amy had overheard me talking to her mum, because I needed money and I told her that if she didn’t loan it to me then I’d tell John that she was a user. Anyway, when I called Amy she said that she’d been thinking and she was going to tell her dad what she’d heard, because she was worried about her mum, and I asked to meet her. She called back and said she’d meet me for a minute on Queens Road, because she was on her way to a friend’s house.’

  ‘How did you get her to go up into the woods?’

  ‘I never planned it, but there was no-one about, so I told her that I was being followed, and I more or less pushed her up the first bit of the path. When we got to the top it was very dark, and when she said she was scared and that she wanted to go back down I just grabbed her to stop her. I never meant to kill her, just to quieten her down.’

  ‘You strangled Amy.’

  ‘I never meant to, I swear.’

  ‘And then what?’

  ‘I tried to make it look as if she’d been molested, you know, but then I panicked and went back to the car. I watched a couple of dog walkers go by from the path, and then I slipped down to the car and drove away. I was lucky. I was sure no-one noticed me.’

  ‘And Amy’s phone?’

  ‘I took it from her bag. It was silly because I used a pay-as-you-go SIM in my carphone when I called, and I chucked it away the next day, but when I got the phone home I realised that it might be useful.’<
br />
  ‘How do you mean?’

  ‘I could plant it on my brother. So I took it with me when I went round there the next day, and there was so much going on it was easy. Everyone was out of their minds with the shock. If anyone had seen me coming downstairs after I would have just gone back and got it, and disposed of it properly.’

  ‘So you killed your niece to stop her from telling your brother that his ex-wife was using drugs, and that you were supplying them, and trying to blackmail her over it?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘But what made you so certain that he would tell us about what you were doing? That doesn’t sound all that brotherly. I’m not sure it sounds like your brother anyway.’

  Hamilton looked up. He looked angry, and he looked certain.

  ‘You don’t know him. You don’t know what he’s like. He’ll love this.’

  ‘I doubt that very much’ said Hall mildly. ‘But moving on to tonight, you and Carl and the others intended to kill Ryan Wilson did you?’ Hall made it sound like something that people did most days.

  ‘I didn’t, but they probably did. Carl said that he knew people like Ryan and they had to be sorted out, just like they killed that kid out west last year.’

  ‘Do you know who they meant?’

  ‘I don’t remember his name now, but they drugged him and chucked him into the harbour.’

  ‘How do you know this?’

  ‘Carl told me. He said there’d been others as well.’

  ‘You mean other killings?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘And you’re willing to make a statement to that effect?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘OK Mr Hamilton, you’ve been very helpful. I do understand how stressful this must be for you, so why don’t we get a statement of the main facts relating to Amy sorted out now, then we can arrange for you to go through everything else in detail in the morning. How’s that?’

  When it was over Hall sat in his office. He was surprised at how many people were still in the station, and they all seemed to want to congratulate him. He felt drained, and the last person he wanted to see was Robinson.

  ‘I thought you’d want to know Andy, but the Chief is delighted. Delighted. A confession, a possible conviction for an unsolved murder out in the wild west, and some nice associated conspiracy convictions. All in all that’s a very satisfactory return on our investment.’

  ‘Thanks, sir.’

  ‘You look exhausted. Get yourself home, and I don’t want you back in here tomorrow. The CPS is happy that we’ve got him, and that he’ll go guilty at trial, and all the rest can wait.’

  ‘It’s the funeral tomorrow, I mean this morning, at noon.’

  ‘I didn’t know that funerals could be held on Sundays.’

  ‘Nor did I sir. Special circumstances. Apparently the flu that’s going around has carried off so many old folks this week that they’ve had to put an extra shift on at the Crem.’

  ‘I see, well don’t come in here after. And make sure your team gets off as well. I hate to think how many hours they’ve done during this investigation. We’re paid to do it, they’re not.’

  ‘I don’t think it’s just the money that brings them to work sir.’

  Hall almost sounded irritable, but Robinson let it pass.

  ‘Come on, off home with you now’ he said. And, as usual, Hall followed orders, pausing only to tell Ian Mann and Jane Francis to get home too, and that he’d see them both at the funeral.

  Sunday, 20th December

  Hall was so tired that in the morning he couldn’t remember driving home, and he slept until after nine. His last dream was swirling and confused, but he remembered seeing human hearts beating on a filigree web of silver. He tried, but he couldn’t remember any of the context, just that one image.

  He took a long shower, and was surprised to see his wife sitting in the kitchen when he went down. She’d been waiting to talk to him.

  ‘I’m moving out today. I’ve got some stuff in the car, and will come back for the rest later. Is that OK?’

  ‘Yes, whatever you want.’

  ‘I’m surprised you’re up so late. Is the case over?’

  ‘As good as. The funeral is this morning, and I’m not going in to work first.’

  Carol wasn’t surprised that he wasn’t more forthcoming. She didn’t expect him to trust her, and she didn’t much mind that he didn’t.

  ‘That’s good, you must be delighted.’

  Hall didn’t look delighted. He looked exhausted.

  ‘So you’re happy if I get a separation agreement drawn up?’ she asked. ‘You have custody of the girls, I have unlimited access, and we split our assets, including your pension, fifty-fifty.’

  Over half a lifetime together, and it boiled down to arithmetic. Andy Hall didn’t need any lessons in the unknowability of others, but it still shocked him. He could still remember standing in the delivery room, holding his first daughter, and feeling a tsunami of love for his new family. He did his best to banish the image. It would do him no good.

  ‘How are the girls?’ he asked. ‘I really haven’t seen much of them since all this kicked off.’

  ‘A bit quiet. I heard from one of the mums that they haven’t said anything about us splitting up at school, neither of them.’

  Hall nodded. He wasn’t surprised. Hadn’t John Hamilton said much the same about his kids? Hall started clearing away the breakfast things.

  ‘Would you help me put a couple of heavy boxes in the car? I’ve rented a little place in town, just for now. I’ll email you the address later.’

  Hall carried the last boxes to his wife’s car, and re-arranged the load to get it all in. He didn’t hug her, but stood back as she climbed in and drove off. She didn’t wave. He just stood there until the car was out of sight and felt the pain build. He knew that it was something that he’d just have to get used to.

  Back in the house he had to search for his black tie, but eventually he found it. He switched on his Blackberry, checked his email and sat in the sitting room. He found himself thinking about where everything in it had come from. It was like a physical record of a marriage. Each item told a story of a time, a place, a feeling.

  He sat for a long time, remembering. Odd moments were like vivid snapshots in his head, but he found himself wondering where all the other moments had gone, the ones that might help explain to him why his wife had chosen another life. If he could only see those too. To his surprise he found himself sobbing, the sound harsh, loud and brief. He went upstairs, washed his face and put on the tie. Crying hadn’t made him feel remotely better, so he decided to do what his daughters had done and keep it all inside. Maybe just for now, maybe for always.

  Hall hadn’t been to a funeral in years, and he was glad to see Ian Mann parking as he arrived at the Crematorium.

  ‘Morning boss. I’m glad we caught him before the funeral. It would have stuck in my craw if he’d been here today, giving it the big boo-hoo no doubt, and us knowing he’d done it, but not being able to do the bastard.’

  ‘Yes, I know what you mean. By the way, did you get Ryan back to his place last night?’

  ‘No, actually he stayed with my dad at his house.’

  ‘Your dad?’ Hall was surprised.

  ‘Yes. I wasn’t sure that it would be safe to send him straight back home, so he’s staying at my dad’s, just for a couple of days like.’

  ‘And your dad is OK with that?’

  ‘Don’t worry about him. He’s used to lads like Ryan. After all, he did bring me up.’

  ‘I wouldn’t have thought Ryan Wilson and you have all that much in common.’

  ‘I wouldn’t be so sure. If he’d had a better start, a bit of structure at home, I think he’d have been fine.’ Mann paused. ‘While we were in that cottage he asked me about the Marines actually, he seemed genuinely interested.’

  ‘Really? He’d probably nick the regimental silver’ laughed Hall.

  ‘Maybe. Maybe not.
I’ve got a mate who works in the recruitment office for the local regiment, so I’ve fixed up a chat for Ryan, and put in a good word.’

  ‘Blimey, that is a turn-up’ said Hall, trying not to look surprised. But for once even his poker face let him down.

  They left the cars and walked towards the Crematorium. One of the things that the two men had in common was that they hated to be late, even for funerals, so the people from the previous service were just coming out, some stopping to look at the flowers.

  ‘Some trades are recession proof’ said Mann.

  ‘Ours too’ said Hall, ‘I just wish our resources were holding up as well as business. Still, I’ll leave the Super to worry about that, and I’ll just carry on being a humble working copper.’

  ‘Not really that humble, Andy’ said Mann.

  Hall tried not to smile, and failed.

  ‘I assume Robinson is coming?’ asked Mann.

  ‘Perfect opportunity to show off his best uniform.’

  ‘I bet he wouldn’t have been near-nor-by today if we hadn’t charged Simon Hamilton. He’d have been back at the station polishing his crime statistics.’

  The other funeral party was splitting up into smaller groups. The undertakers’ car engines were running, throwing clouds of condensation out behind them. It had started to drizzle lightly.

  Hall’s phone buzzed, and he reached into his pocket to turn it off. But before he did he had a look at the text he’d received. It was from Jane, saying that she was feeling poorly, and wouldn’t be coming. Hall couldn’t blame her one bit, but he felt very slightly disappointed all the same.

  As the funeral cars pulled away the Hamilton’s cars arrived. Hall and Mann stood together and watched John and Amanda Hamilton get out of their car, and walk towards the door with their other daughter.