Pale Horse, Dark Horse (The Lakeland Murders)

by Salkeld, J J

  When he walked into the incident room it looked half empty, and it was certainly quiet. Hall had expected a downbeat mood, and even the normally noisy Ray Dixon was staring intently at his laptop. Hall worked the room, making jokes and trying to project as much optimism and enthusiasm as his poker-face permitted, but after twenty minutes he was back in his office, his unusually optimistic mood dissipating before he even opened his email.

  Jane smiled at Hall’s lame jokes, because she knew why he was making them, but the truth was that she and her team had been going round in circles all day. ‘Follow the money’ sounded like a simple enough strategy, moving from one payment destination to the next, but achieving it was proving to be anything but straightforward. It wasn’t that the South African banks weren’t co-operating, because as far as Jane could tell they were, it was just that Rupert Plouvin’s affairs were so complex. Unnecessarily so, for sure, but that didn’t prove anything. But by the end of the shift one thing was quite clear to Jane: she could see money leaving David and Christopher’s bank accounts every month, destination South Africa, but so far she couldn’t see one single penny coming back.

  When she updated Hall on her progress, or lack of it, he said that it was frustrating, and she agreed. But in reality she wasn’t frustrated at all, and she had no intention of giving up. Maybe it was all those years in the lab, facing day after day of results that were either inconclusive or unhelpful that made her so equable in the face of disappointment. That experience had taught Jane a number of useful lessons, which she tried, not for the first time, to pass on to DCI Andy Hall.

  ‘Persistence pays off, Andy, and just because we’ve come up with nothing so far doesn’t mean that we won’t find that money funneling back to the UK somehow. It’s just as likely to be in the last place that we look as the first, you know that as well as I do.’

  Hall smiled. He was well used to the lecture. ‘I do know, Jane, but have you actually got anywhere left to look?’

  ‘Oh, absolutely, yes. I’m not giving up on this one, not by a long chalk. Sure, we can’t see the money coming back into the Plouvin’s own accounts, but was that ever really likely? If they’ve gone to all the trouble to build an elaborate fiction around Rupert’s disappearance they must have taken precautions when it came to the money. So anyone who looked, like we are now, would see the dough going out and nothing coming back.’

  ‘I agree, but there are limits to how far they’re likely to have gone, aren’t there? We all know that offenders, no matter how posh they might be, always get over-confident and idle. That’s why our basic recipe for success is simple: so as long as we work harder than them we usually get to win in the end. It’s just how it is.’

  Jane smiled. She’d heard this lecture before too. ‘Agreed, and like I say we’ll keep working at it. But where exactly do you think we should look next? We’re close to finishing all the obvious lines of enquiry.’

  Hall got up, and started pacing around his office. Jane waited until he spoke again.

  ‘OK, how’s this?’ said Hall. ‘Let’s assume that we won’t find the money coming back to them at all, no matter how hard we look.’

  ‘OK’ said Jane, uncertainly.

  ‘So, if that’s the case, the question we have to ask ourselves is this: how could they benefit from the money, without it ever reaching them at all?’

  Jane thought about it. ‘Pass.’

  ‘Well, how about if they used it to settle expenses, or bills, somehow?’

  ‘What kind of bills?’

  ‘I don’t know, and I’m not sure how it would work either. Maybe talk to the forensic accounts team, see what they suggest. But if I were you I’d work on the assumption that none of the cash is going back to the Plouvins, and take it from there.’

  ‘So that would mean trying to follow the cash all the way through the South African banking system, wouldn’t it? I’m not sure we’d get much joy asking for details of unrelated third-party accounts.’

  ‘In which case the Plouvins win, at least for now. But you might be able to short-circuit the whole thing a bit. Narrow the field, if you like.’

  ‘How do you mean?’

  ‘Well, maybe this isn’t possible, but how about seeing if any of the accounts that you can connect to Rupert Plouvin in South Africa have payments coming to the UK? They could be for anything, there’s no way of knowing, really. But if you find anything then it might be possible to connect it to the Plouvins. It might even be something that they’d obviously benefit from. How does that sound?’

  ‘Like a lot of work, but we’ll make a start now. No overtime this weekend, I imagine?’

  ‘Christ, no. If the Super had her way we’d have backed off entirely, so Monday will be fine. Ian’s working this weekend, so he’ll carry on with the deep background on the Plouvins. One of those brothers must be connected to Cliff Morrow, the trick will be finding out how. I’m buggered if I can see it, though.

  ‘Is Ian the right man for that kind of thing?’

  Hall stopped pacing, and sat down again facing Jane.

  ‘Come on, Jane, you know better than to ask that, inside or outside work. Are you two still at daggers drawn over that business with his brother?’

  ‘Let’s say the atmosphere is a little tense.’

  Hall nodded. ‘Ian Mann has a long memory, I’m afraid. So I reckon he won’t start to thaw for about as long as it’ll be before we’re not regarded as offcomers any more.’

  ‘But that’s never, isn’t it?’

  ‘Yes, that’s about it. My advice, for what it’s worth, is to carry on as normal, as if nothing had happened. He’ll come round, eventually.’

  Jane briefed her team, sent a few emails to try to get the ball rolling over the weekend, and then made for the door. Andy’s door was closed, and she wasn’t sure who was with him, so she didn’t knock to check when he’d be home. In any case, she quite fancied a glass of white and a chat with Hall’s younger daughter.

  Jane enjoyed the drive back from HQ, on the outskirts of Penrith, back to Kendal, and as she drove she gradually found herself thinking less about the case, and the working week behind her, and more about the weekend that lay ahead. There was a time, not that long ago, when that wouldn’t have happened. As she pulled into Andy’s road, as she still thought of it, she was thinking about cooking, and wondering how many eggs they had left. She didn’t notice Tim Williams’ Astra as she passed it, but then he hadn’t expected her to.

  When Andy got home Jane had drunk three glasses of wine on an empty stomach, and was singing along to something that Andy Hall didn’t recognise on the radio. He sometimes wondered why some people, by which he meant himself, already found pop radio unlistenable by their twenties or thirties while some, like Jane, still seemed to know the words to even the latest hits. Jane kissed Andy as soon as he walked into the kitchen. He could smell burning, but he didn’t think he should mention it.

  For days Tim Williams had been telling himself that it didn’t matter that Jane Francis was a copper, and that was why he was parked just down from her house from soon after four that afternoon. He’d even taken some flexi-time so he could get away early. But, even as he sat there, he knew that he wasn’t going to be having any fun with her, not this evening, not ever in fact. He wasn’t frightened, not at all, she just wasn’t worth the effort.

  It had started to rain, and Williams was getting hungry. He thought about driving into town, picking up a take-away from somewhere, and then heading home. And that’s when he saw her. A dark haired woman had walked out of a house three doors down from Jane’s, jumped into her car and drove off. Williams didn’t get a good look at her face, but he’d seen enough to be sure that this one would certainly be worth waiting for. Suddenly he wasn’t remotely hungry anymore, and he felt the familiar flutters of excitement building. This would be the one, he was absolutely sure of it.

  Saturday, 22nd June

  Andy Hall was a light sleeper, and the sirens woke him at just before 2am
. He went downstairs, looked out of the window and saw two Police cars, with an ambulance just leaving. Its blue light was off. He ran upstairs and dressed. He didn’t wake Jane. He only knew the woman who lived in that house slightly, and as far as he knew she wasn’t married, although he was pretty sure he’d seen a tall, bald bloke about occasionally.

  It was probably a domestic, he thought, and whoever got punched was probably already telling some hollow-eyed Sergeant from Kendal nick that it was all a big misunderstanding. Either way, the chances of it being anything of the slightest interest to CID were about a thousand to one against. And, given that the house was twenty yards away from his own, that certainly suited Andy Hall.

  But as soon as PC Nobby Styles opened the door Hall knew that he was wrong.

  ‘Blimey, sir, that was quick. We only radioed it in two minutes ago.’

  ‘What’s happened?’

  ‘The lady who lives here got up in the night and disturbed a creeper, by the looks of it. He was in the bedroom when she woke up. She started screaming and rather than scarpering he went for her.’

  ‘How do you mean?’

  ‘Tried to grab her, and they ended up wrestling on the floor. And what he didn’t know, apparently, is that as a teenager she was a Judo player, on the edge of the British team, apparently. Anyway, it all came back to her, she said, and after a few seconds he decided he was going to come second so he legged it, down the stairs and away. She called it in at just before one this morning.’

  ‘Have you called SOCO out?’

  ‘No, that’s your call, sir. It just sounds like aggravated burglary to me. She’s screaming rape, or attempted rape, but they all do that, don’t they?’

  Hall was glad that Jane wasn’t there.

  ‘Anything missing?’ he asked.

  ‘No, the victim doesn’t think so. She’s fine, by the way. Sent the ambo away, and she’s sitting in there chatting to WPC Sharp like nothing has happened.’

  ‘How did he get in?’

  ‘That’s an odd one. The victim, her name is Hilary Baker, says that she doesn’t lock the back door if she’s in during the day, but that she locked it and checked everywhere before she went to bed. The boyfriend is away on business, apparently, so she’s careful. But there are no signs of forced entry that I can see, though maybe SOCO would say different.’

  ‘So you’re thinking that our man was inside the house for hours before it all kicked off, are you, Nobby?’

  ‘I’m not paid to think, sir, but aye, that seems favourite.’

  ‘Funny kind of burglary, in that case. Wouldn’t you say so?’

  ‘Aye, I suppose I would. Plus our man was an adult, and didn’t reek of booze, which eliminates two thirds of our regulars right from the off. You look round yourself, sir, but I’d say the pickings were pretty good. This is a decent neighborhood, I’d say. Not the best, like, but very decent.’

  Hall smiled. He always knew when he was being wound-up, which the uniformed lads agreed was one of the very few things that stopped DCI Hall from being a total pain-in-the-arse.

  ‘All right, Nobby, do me a favour and get SOCOs out of bed. Keep everyone else out of the house until they’ve had a look. I want the back door and garden looked at, plus the bedroom, obviously. Was the man wearing gloves, did Mrs. Baker say?’

  ‘I forgot to ask. Hang on a sec, sir.’ Nobby walked to the front door and shouted inside for WPC Sharp. Hall could see lights coming on in houses up and down the road. They exchanged a few words on the doorstep and Nobby walked heavily back to Hall.

  ‘Aye, he was, and some sort of hat. It was so dark that Mrs. Baker couldn’t really make it out, but she felt the gloves on her skin. She said it was the cold that really freaked her out, and made her fight so hard.’

  ‘Thank God she did.’

  ‘Aye, that’s right. Could have been very nasty. Look out behind, sir.’

  Hall turned and Jane was running towards them. She was wearing his dressing gown, and seemed to have pulled on a pair of his trainers too. Styles tried, but not very hard, to suppress a smile. Hall held is hands downwards, and she slowed down.

  ‘I saw the ambo leaving’ she said, ‘it didn’t look like it was in a hurry.’

  ‘Nothing like that’ said Hall, ‘it was empty, that’s all. The victim refused, and SOCO is on its way. They’ll check the victim’s fingernails for DNA.’

  ‘What was it then? An attempted rape?’

  ‘Maybe’ said Hall cautiously, and then told Jane what had happened.

  ‘Can I see her? I want to take her statement myself’ said Jane when he’d finished.

  Hall looked uncertain. ‘OK, fine. Nobby, when SOCO is here why don’t you get WPC Sharp to knock for Jane, and the three of them can go down to the station together? That should give Jane half an hour to get herself sorted out.’

  Hall made a cup of tea while Jane showered. He sat on the edge of the bed while she got dressed.

  ‘So you reckon it’s the same bloke?’ he asked.

  ‘Come on, Andy, of course it is.’

  ‘Which means you think it’s this Williams guy?’

  ‘Damn right I do. I’ll bring him in as soon as I’ve taken the victim’s statement.’

  ‘OK, but nothing heavy. Just get his alibi and check it out for now, OK? You never know, SOCO might get you something to work with.’

  Jane pulled up her jeans, and did up her belt.

  ‘What about the location for this one?’ said Hall, after he’d taken a sip of tea.

  Jane looked up sharply. ‘How do you mean? He’s attacked in public places before, I grant you, but we’re only aware of two offences, Andy. That’s hardly a pattern.’

  ‘I know. That’s not really what I meant.’

  ‘Then what did you mean?’ Hall watched the penny drop. ‘You mean because it’s near us, a neighbour of ours?’

  ‘Exactly.’

  ‘Shit, Andy, you think he was after me?’

  ‘I’m not willing to take any chances, Jane, let’s just say that. So here’s what we’ll do. You go and pick up the victim and check that there’s not an obvious suspect, ex-boyfriend, stalker, all that. It could easily be a co-incidence, and let’s hope it is. But I’ll phone Gorham at home in a couple of hours, just to be on the safe side, and tell her of my concerns. So as of now, you’re either at work, with other coppers, or you’re with me. No exceptions. And I’ll get Nobby to get started on the house-to-house first thing. I reckon Ian will want to help, so I’ll call him in the morning too. I’m sure he’ll help out for an hour before his shift begins.’

  ‘Ian? After our little falling out? I doubt he’d cross the road to piss on me if I was on fire.’

  ‘That’s harsh, Jane, and unfair. It really is. I know Ian, and you’re a mate as well as a colleague. If you were in any kind of trouble he’d be racing me to get to you to help.’

  ‘Well I know who’d win that particular race’ said Jane, prodding Hall in the stomach. He tried to tense his muscles, and he thought he’d managed it, but her balled first still sank right in.

  ‘On your way, DS Francis’ he said. ‘And remember, take it easy with Williams, until and unless you’ve got something solid. Keep the high ground, let him know that you fancy him for all these attacks, but don’t overplay your hand, OK?’

  DCI Andy Hall was right, and Ian Mann spent most of his morning helping with the door-to-door enquiries in Hall’s street.

  ‘Do your bloody neighbours walk around with their eyes shut?’ Mann asked Jane, when they met at Kendal station. ‘Or do they think it’s rude to look at their neighbours or something?’

  Jane laughed. ‘I assume you got nowt then? I’m surprised, to be honest. It was a bit different when I moved in with Andy, I can tell you that. The curtains over the road were twitching so hard I’m surprised they didn’t fall down. It would have treated that old bag right if they had.’

  ‘What did you expect though, Jane? You two are living over the brush, and in a respectable
neighborhood too.’

  ‘Living in sin is what my old granny would have called it. But anyway, none of the neighbours reported seeing any strange cars, a blue Astra for example?’

  ‘No, and we’ve done the whole road now. Nobby stayed on for four hours after the end of the shift, by the way. He’s a good lad, is Nobby.’

  ‘Beers will be on me next time we go out’ said Jane. ‘Will you mention that to him if you see him before I do?’

  ‘Aye, I will. So has this Tim Williams been picked up then? I saw someone being taken into room 1 a minute ago.’

  ‘That’s him.’

  ‘Shall I sit in with you?’ Mann smiled. ‘Just in case any protection is required.’

  ‘He’s not that stupid.’

  ‘No, I meant to protect him from you.’

  Jane smiled. ‘Andy’s already told me to play it safe, and I expect you’ve got lots to do.’

  ‘I’ve got lots to do that can wait. That’s what I’ve got.’

  ‘All right, you’re on. I’ll stand WPC Sharp down, and we can make a start.’

  Ian Mann shook hands with Tim Williams, and gripped hard. Williams didn’t react, but Mann was sure he’d got the message. And when he sat down Mann had to move his chair a little further away from Jane, just to get a bit of extra shoulder room. He reckoned that Williams had clocked that too. Jane went through the usual formalities.

  ‘Do you know why you’re here, Mr. Williams?’

  ‘Not really.’

  ‘Not really. So it wasn’t explained to you that you’d be spoken to, under caution, concerning a string of sexual assaults?’

  ‘Aye, the copper said something about that. But I’ve done nothing wrong.’