by Mike Holden
Payne began “We have tracked Chen and White as far as Blackpool. They got there in a stolen Vectra, nicked from the Marriott Hotel at the airport and found abandoned in the resort. The local lads checked the nearby hotels and found that they had booked into the Imperial. The receptionist there recognised them from the photo that the locals had been supplied with from us, although they were using false names and addresses, and they were still registered there at the time we made our enquiries. The hotel was staked out but they did not return and when the bedrooms were checked last night, there was no sign of them and all their belongings had gone”
Including the bloody money, thought Kingsly
Payne continued, “The trail has apparently gone cold. The staff at the railway station claim not to have seen them board any train and likewise there have been no sightings on any express coach departures. The locals are still checking any likely car thefts”. He paused, “Sam Futcher kept surveillance on Neil Haslam and he behaved unusually. He drove to Derwent Street, got out of his car, got into an Astra that was parked there. Then a BMW turned up and two men hauled him into the car. I’ll come back to these men in a minute. It drove off and Sam followed it. The driver must have known he was being followed as he managed to lose Sam. He then went back to Derwent Street and kept an eye on Haslam’s car. After about an hour, Haslam returned in the BMW, got out and left in his own car. He then drove to the Red Lion and Sam followed him in. Haslam had a couple of drinks but made contact with no one. He then went home.” There was a pause.
“Sam recognised two of the men as Jimmy Reed and Brian Slater, Vic Davies’ men” continued Payne
“That’s ominous,” replied Kingsly “The big league are in this now. We have to find out just how Davies fits into the picture. Alan, find out if Haslam has any connections to Davies”
As the other three detectives left the room, Kingsly pondered on where this case was going and felt that, as the trail had gone cold, there was little else he could now do but to wait. His plans of an early comfortable retirement seemed to be going awry. But a phone call about to be made would change all that.
CHAPTER 18
The Haslam household was a tense place that morning and Pamela Haslam could not understand why. Her husband was extremely tense, not speaking, not eating. The two children had also noticed this before they left for work and college respectively. She dared not approach him as he was very moody and unresponsive at the moment. She would have to wait her time until Neil was in a better mood. Before she had the chance to clear the breakfast table, she noticed something very strange happening outside in the pathway. Two rough-looking characters were approaching the house and were accosted by her husband, who rushed out of the house like a bishop in a brothel raid, as soon as he saw them. It did not look very friendly. Neil attempted to attack one of the men who viciously pushed him to the ground. Pamela ran outside. The rough diamonds continued to approach the house, smiling, as Haslam picked himself up off the ground.
Jimmy Reed said very courteously “Good morning, Mrs Haslam. It is Mrs Haslam, isn’t it?”
“Yes” she replied somewhat indignantly
“Then I have something for you” he replied, still walking towards the house. By this time Haslam had caught up with him and Reed caught and held him by the arm, pressing it tightly, out of sight of Mrs Haslam. He said to Haslam,
“You had better behave, sunshine, or else I might have to inflict some serious damage on you and your lovely wife”
“Yeh” said the other thug “some real serious damage”
Haslam went quiet, as if acquiescing, and they all entered the house, ignoring Mrs Haslam, who followed them in. She wondered where on earth Neil had dug these characters up from. All this was getting beyond a joke and she would have it all out with him later this morning. They all made their way towards the lounge and without any invitation; Reed made himself comfortable and told Mr & Mrs Haslam to do the same.
“Yeh, sit down” said the other. He was seemingly capable of only repeating Reed
She replied indignantly, “I’ll do nothing of the sort and why are you in my house?”
Haslam interceded “Just do as he says, dear”
“I would take your husband’s advice if I were you, Mrs H.”
She sat down on the edge of the settee.
“Where’s your DVD player?” asked Reed. Neither of the Haslams moved. Reed stood up and bellowed at them
“I asked where your fucking DVD player is.” Reed’s intimidation succeeded on Pamela and she showed him where it was and how to work it.
“I want to you have a look at this DVD, Mrs Haslam. I’m afraid that it’s very X-rated and contains strong language and scenes of an explicit sexual nature, as they say on television. In other words, brace yourself.” Haslam sank back in his seat as the DVD started playing. Mrs Haslam stared at the screen without moving, her facial expression never showing any signs of emotion while she watched. When it had finished, she said to Reed,
“Have you any further business with us, Mr err ___?”
“Not with you, Mrs H, but your husband still has unfinished business with my boss”
“Then may I kindly ask you to leave”
Reed raised himself from his chair, smiled at them both and said
“I’ll see myself out” Talking to Haslam he said
“We’ll see you next week then” They both left.
*
Back at the police station, Hannah and Alan Payne were again discussing their boss. Hannah said
“On the basis of our discussions this morning, I can find no evidence, hunches or anything else that would suggest Terry Kingsly is anything other than an honest cop”
Payne responded “I know what you’re saying but I still think that there is something that is not quite right here. However, I shall not mention it again unless I can find you some further evidence to convince you with”
She smiled at him and asked if there was any fresh information. He told her that there was no further information had come through since the last discussion.
Terry Kingsly had just received a phone call from a young constable, Ryan Baker from the Cumbria Police who had informed him that two persons matching the description of Mei-Zing Chen and Ned White were seen entering a car hire location in Kendal. Was he certain that they were the same people whom Kingsly was seeking? The constable was quite certain as he had seen their photos in the police station, and how could he forget such a beauty as Mei-Zing. Kingsly wrote down the details and thanked the constable before ending the call. This is just what he had needed, a break in the case and more importantly, a vital piece of information that only he knew. He called Hannah into the office.
“I’m going to leave you in charge the rest of the day. We can’t go around the city chasing and arresting anybody just yet. I want you and Alan and that other chap to stay here for the rest of the day collate as much new information as you can. We all report again first thing in the morning”
He intended to leave right away but was prevented by an urgent phone call for him. He would soon use this call and the caller to his own advantage
CHAPTER 19
The atmosphere in the Haslam household was electric to say the least, in spite of the unnatural calmness of Pamela Haslam. After Reed had left, she turned round to her husband and said to him in a very quiet yet unnaturally firm voice
“You are going to leave straightaway, aren’t you? This is not a question. Take with you just enough to see you for the next twenty four hours. I shall be out most of the day tomorrow. You can collect the rest of your stuff then.”
Haslam looked at her pleadingly, “Please let me explain.”
“What!” she shouted back at him. “You’re trying to explain what you’ve being doing in front of that camera. I am fully aware of the mechanics of the actions and the
deviant and perverted sexual practices that you apparently enjoy so much. So I don’t think I need any explanations. Just get out now!”
She left the lounge and went into the kitchen, trying very hard to hold back her anger. He really had no alternative so he went upstairs and began to pack a suitcase with as much stuff as he could. His thoughts were all over the place, between being thankful that he had an apartment in town he could move into which was not known to anyone and thinking dark and vicious thoughts about what he was going to do to the old guy and his Chinese girlfriend if and when he caught up with them.
Pamela Haslam stayed in the kitchen, listening to him moving around upstairs and finally coming down the stairs. He came into the kitchen to say his goodbye but she ignored him. She heard the front door slam and the engine of his car start up. Tears welled up in her eyes as she heard the car go down the drive. In truth she had known or more accurately suspected his dalliances with young girls but until she saw the DVD she had no real proof, nor did she realise just how young the girls were. She decided that she would take him for every penny she could in the divorce settlement, but first, she had to tell the children.
Haslam drove only around the corner before he stopped. His prime aim was to still retrieve his money and that dumb policeman would help in get it. He knew just how to handle him. He called Detective Sergeant Kingsly and when he was through he asked him very forthrightly what the developments were and how could he retrieve his money. He was surprised at the equally forthright and blunt way that the sergeant responded to him. He would formally report him when his quest was concluded.
Terry Kingsly pondered the call from Neil Haslam and whist he told him to “go forth and procreate” because he was the last person he wanted around him now, constantly whinging on about his money. He gradually came round to the idea that Haslam could well be the scapegoat. Haslam was desperate to get his hands on the money. He wondered if this had something to do with Davies. It would explain why he was panicking and also why he saw Davies yesterday, albeit somewhat reluctantly. If this was indeed an alliance of some sort, it would be even harder to imagine that Chen and White were part of it. But it still didn’t explain why they decided to go on the run. Events were now shifting to the Lake District and that would be his next port of call. If Haslam were to be a scapegoat, he would have to be placed in the same location. He rang Haslam back.
Haslam took the call on his hands-free in the car and was surprised to see that it was that idiot policeman again, no doubt to apologise for his rudeness.
“Mr Haslam” said Kingsly, “I thought that you might like to know that there has been a sighting of Miss Chen and Mr White in Kendal, in Cumbria. I’m trying to go there myself but have got bogged down with another matter at the station but I shall hope to be there in the next few days and I shall keep in touch”
Haslam could hardly believe his luck “Whereabouts were they seen in the town?” he asked
“Not sure, but I’ll keep you informed once I have anything definite.” He put the phone down. He hoped now that Haslam would take the bait and head to the Lake District as soon as he could. He was unaware that there was an eavesdropper outside his door who heard almost every word he said.
Now that Haslam did not have to account for any of his movements anymore to any of his family, he decided to head for Kendal.
CHAPTER 20
The detective constable left the building unobserved by any of his colleagues and went to the staff car park. Once inside his car, he pulled his mobile phone out of his pocket and dialled the number he was given
“Mr Davies” he grunted into the phone, “It’s Ben”
After a while he was put through
“Mr Davies, I have some information for you. The people who stole Haslam’s money have been sighted in Kendal.”
“Do you know their names?”
“Yes, the Chinese girl is Chen Mei-Zing or maybe it’s the other way round and the bloke is called Ned White”
“What do you think they are doing there?”
“Don’t know that yet”
Davies shouted down the phone “Then fucking find out!” He slammed the phone down.
As he was returning to the station, Cresswell noticed Kingsly leaving in a hurry. He caught up with him and asked him the latest information on the case.
“Go and see Hannah. She’ll update you. I’m off for the rest of the day”
Cresswell knew exactly where he was going and was not surprised that Kingsly did not confide in him. He believed that he would have made an extremely good copper as his powers of observation and investigation were second to none. If only he could have kept off the drugs, then Davies would have not been able to get his claws into him. He smelled a rat here and his intuition told him to follow Kingsly as what he was doing was not “kosher”. As he followed his boss, he telephoned Davies again.
“Found out anything yet?” he asked gruffly
“The boss is keeping this to himself and I think that, as we speak he is going after Chen and White. I’m following him at the moment but I don’t think I can tail him all the way to the Lake District”
“What car is he driving and the registration?”
Cresswell told him. Davies then said
“Follow him until I tell you otherwise and ring me back in 15 minutes”. The phone went dead. Cresswell knew that Davies would be following Kingsly.
*
Kingsly chose to drive through Salford, along the M602, and M60 to reach the M61. He was conscious of his speed and kept well within the limit so it was little trouble to follow him. As instructed Cresswell kept in touch with Davies and it wasn’t until he had joined the M61 that he received the call saying that he was no longer required. He pulled off at the next junction and returned to the station, in the knowledge that Davies would now have Kingsly in his sights.
*
As Kingsly, Haslam and Davies were all heading north on the M61 and M6, Hannah Beaumont and Alan Payne were musing over the case and had come to the same conclusion that they had gone as far as they could with the information they had in hand. They decided to look at all the evidence once more to see if they could find anything at all that would help them move the case on. They had been sifting through the information for only a few minutes when a call was put through. Hannah answered the call
“It’s Constable Ryan Baker here from Kendal. May I speak to Sergeant Kingsly Please?”
“He’s not here at the moment. Can I help?” asked Hannah. “I work with him”
“It’s about the phone call I made earlier to him. I’ve made some enquiries of my own, I hope that’s OK, and I have details of the car that Mr White and Miss Chen is driving”
Hannah looked up incredulously at Alan Payne and gestured for him to pick up his phone. He did this gently so that caller could not hear the click.
“Can you please start from scratch, Ryan, as Sergeant Kingsly has not had the opportunity to brief us yet”
“Certainly” he replied and he reiterated his conversation. Once he had repeated himself almost word for word, he continued,
“I’m ringing you now because I have made some further inquiries”. He described the Ford Focus that was hired to Ned White but the hire company did not know where they were going. Hannah thanked the constable for this information, turned round to Payne and said,
“Put out a call in that part of the world for the car to be observed and report to me as soon as it is spotted” She looked at Payne with a knowing look.
“One more phone call” she said “and I might be convinced that you are right about Kingsly”
She picked up the phone again, dialled out and indicated to Payne that he should pick up his phone. Terry Kingsly answered.
“Hello”
“Sorry to trouble you, boss” she said, “but you left quite suddenly.
Is there any further developments on the Chen-stroke-White case?”
He hesitated slightly, and the trait was not lost upon Hannah and Payne.
“No. None at all.”
“Can I ask where you are, boss? I am assuming that from the sound I’m hearing that you are in your car.”
He sounded agitated “If you must know I am on my way to the supermarket”
“Thanks, boss. Sorry to have bothered you”. She put the phone down.
“I’m now convinced that there is something wrong” She said to Payne. “Let’s go and talk to the gaffer”. They left the office.
CHAPTER 21
In the Lake District, the weather was sunny and unusually warm for this time of year. When booking the house it surprised them, to learn that there that the small boat moored on the jetty was available for their use and they were additionally informed that the engine was in the garage adjacent to the house. They noticed that there was an island not too far away in the middle of the lake and as it was a beautiful afternoon, they decided to go out in the boat and take a picnic to the island. Ned found the outboard motor from the garage and filled it with petrol from the can that was next to it. He fixed it onto the boat and it fired away at the first attempt. With picnic packed they boarded the boat, made themselves comfortable and were soon heading towards the island. Kim, being quite an adventurous person these days, decided that she wanted to take control of the boat and Ned was pleased to let her. It would do her good to take her mind off their predicament. Her silhouette against the blue sky reminded him of Lucy, Lucy in the sky with diamonds.
There was still three inches of water to negotiate as the boat came to a halt a short distance from the shore. The water was very shallow around the island and Ned removed his shoes and socks and jumped in. He pulled the boat ashore or as near as he could to allow Kim to step off on dry land. Once the boat was secured they found a grassy area beneath some trees. The setting was idyllic, perfect weather, clear blue water, lush green fields, interspaced with woodland and behind that, in the distance were the high majestic peaks of the fells.