‘This is the Lyth valley now. The farm we’re looking for is three or four miles along here on the right.’
‘It’s lovely, isn’t it?’
‘It is, and this is the sort of area I was talking about, really. You know, when I talked about the hidden places. We’re just a few miles from Windermere, but I bet that most visitors have never even heard of this place. But until well after the war this was the epicentre of the local damson growing industry.’
‘The epicentre?’ laughed Jane.
‘You can mock, but just wait until next spring, and you come back along this road then. The damson blossom is absolutely amazing. And the damson gin they make isn’t too shabby either.’
‘Now you’re selling it to me.’
‘There are nice walks, well strolls really, up there, on Whitbarrow Scar. It’s not Scafell, but it’s a nice place to walk off a Sunday lunch.’
‘I’ll remember that, thanks.’
The road undulated along the valley floor, and Hall said something about glacial features, but Jane was thinking about the boy. Back in the office this had seemed to her like the only place he could possibly be, but now she was anything but certain. What would a kid from the town be doing right out here, on a cold November morning and with the first flakes of early snow swirling in the air?
‘Not far now’ said Hall, ‘I think it’s the next farm on the right. Yes, look, there it is.’
Jane saw the little stall that Johnny had photographed, and nodded to Hall.
‘Yes, this is the place. No question about it.’
They parked in the yard, next to the house, and got out. Hall knocked on the old oak front door, and Jane stood back a little. The farmhouse seemed to be almost part of the landscape, its stone walls settling into the valley floor over the centuries. No-one came.
‘I’ve wasted our time, Andy’ she said. Jane was suddenly convinced that the boy was anywhere but here.
‘No’ said Hall firmly. ‘If that’s the case, and he’s not here, then it’s down to me. If we win, it’s down to you, but if not then it was my decision. It’s what they pay me for.’
He knocked again and, to both of their surprise, a red faced woman opened the door almost immediately. She looked friendly, and even smiled when Hall said that he was a police officer. That surprised him some more, but then it didn’t happen often. Not these days, anyway.
‘Is it those poachers again?’ the woman asked. ‘My husband said they’d been out lamping up the valley again last week, like.’
‘No, it’s not about that. Could we come in for a minute?’
‘Aye, of course. Come through to the kitchen. I was baking.’
Of course you were, thought Jane.
The two officers sat on rickety chairs at the kitchen tables and drank tea from John Deere mugs. Hall guessed that a rep had left them.
‘Have you seen a young lad around here, anytime in the last few days?’
‘No. Not in the last few years, come to that.’
‘How about your husband? Has he said anything?’
‘No, not that I remember. But I don’t always listen.’ She smiled at Jane. ‘He’s at the auction today, is Ted. Do you want me to ring him?’
‘Yes, please. And would you mind if we took a quick look around your outbuildings?’
‘Of course, aye. You help yourselves. Just watch yourselves, mind. Ted keeps all kinds of rusty old rubbish in those byres.’
Hall was already getting up before she’d even finished speaking, and Jane followed suit.
‘There’ll be scones in a minute.’
‘They smell fantastic’ said Hall, glancing at the old cream Aga, ‘so can we pop back in afterwards? We’ll only be ten minutes.’
Hall got his big, police issue torch out of his car boot and he and Jane checked the barn next to the house. There was no sign of anyone having been sleeping there. But there was another stone byre about fifty yard from the house, just on the edge of a damson orchard, and the two set off towards it. The ground was soft after the autumn rains, and both officers regretted not changing their shoes. Hall wondered if he’d look like a total prat if he hitched his trousers up a bit, and decided that he would. He’d just have to risk it.
They were very close to the barn when they saw the side door swing open, and a small figure dash out.
‘Johnny,’ Hall and Francis shouted at the same moment, and Jane ran hard after the boy. She left Hall behind in half a dozen steps, so he stopped and called out.
‘We’re the police. Don’t worry, you’re not in any trouble. We know why you ran away. Stop, Johnny, we just want to talk, that’s all.’
He didn’t stop, but he did slow down, and Jane caught up with him quite quickly.
‘It’s OK. My name is Jane, and I’m a police officer too. You’re safe now, Johnny. No one can hurt you, I promise.’
The kid looked hungry, dog-tired, and far from convinced. But then he’d probably heard promises like these before. And they certainly hadn’t been true then.
‘Will you take me home? Do I have to go home?’
‘Let’s talk about that, shall we? I bet you’re hungry, aren’t you? How about we all have something to eat?’
‘Now?’
‘Yes, right now. Before we do anything else.’
As they drove Hall called Mann, and stood the search team down. He could hear Ray Dixon shouting something in the background. Hall stopped at the cafe and farm shop on the way into Kendal, and asked Jane to take the lad inside and order food for them all. He phoned social services, spoke to someone who he knew slightly, and explained the situation. He was told to take the boy home, and that a visit would be arranged in due course. So Hall explained the situation again. ‘I’m not sure you understand. His older brother, with the tacit and possibly active support of his mum, has been attempting to coerce this boy into becoming involved in serious criminality. I believe that the boy would be at very real risk if we simply return him to his mother.’
‘I heard you the first time, DI Hall. You’ll have to do what you can, because it will be a few days at least before a home visit can be arranged, and an assessment made.’
‘So what do you suggest I do then?’
‘I really couldn’t say. But you shouldn’t expect that the boy will be taken into care. On the basis of what you’ve told me that sounds like a very unlikely outcome.’
Hall rang off, and walked into the cafe. He sat and watched, amused, as the boy ate his own breakfast and then most of his and Jane’s. And Hall had already decided exactly what he was going to do about Sally and Pete Graham.
‘We’re taking you home now’ said Hall, watching the boy in the rear-view mirror as they drove, ‘but don’t worry, we’re going to talk to your mum and brother. You’ll be there, so you can hear exactly what we say.’
‘Pete will go mental. He’ll say I grassed him up.’
‘But you didn’t, did you?’ said Jane. ‘And it was Pete himself who told us why you’d run away. So you’ve got nothing to worry about.’
‘Aye. We’ll see. But thanks for the breakfast. It was ace, was that.’
‘What were you eating all this time?’ asked Jane. ‘Stuff you took with you?’
‘Aye, but it ran out yesterday.’
‘What were you going to do next?’
‘I dunno.’
‘Go back home?’
‘Aye, probably. I’ve been thinking about it, like. I don’t want to miss school.’
‘Very sensible. Do you want to tell us about what your brother said to you?’
‘Will it get him into trouble?’
‘That depends.’
‘Then no, I don’t.’
Hall was about to intervene, in case Jane pressed the lad, but she didn’t. They both knew that they’d get nothing admissible, and in any case Hall was far from sure that it was in the lad’s best interests to grass his brother up, and it seemed that Jane agreed.
‘Would you like to get
straight back to school then? Today, I mean.’
‘Aye. I need to catch up. But I’ll want a shower first, like.’
‘You certainly will. We can wait and run you round, after we’ve spoken to your brother and your mum.’
‘No, you’re all right. It’s only social studies this morning.’
Hall smiled, and drove on. His own kids seemed to take much the same view of the elements of the curriculum that hadn’t even existed when he was at school.
PC Nobby Styles, the beat bobby for the estate that the Grahams lived on, was waiting in a patrol car outside the house. Hall got out of his car, asked Jane and Johnny to hang on for a minute, and he slipped into the passenger seat alongside Nobby.
‘Nice one, Andy’ said Styles, reaching over and shaking Hall’s hand. ‘That kid’s the only member of that whole bloody family who’s actually worth finding, I’ll tell you that for nowt.’
‘It was Jane, the new DC, who guessed where he was. Or rather worked out where he might be. All I did was drive the car and buy the kid breakfast. So Pete and the mum, Sally isn’t it, are they inside?’
‘They are.’
‘What have you told them?’
‘That you were bringing him home, and that you wanted a word.’
‘Right, let’s get on with it.’
‘You want me to join you?’
‘Is there anywhere else you need to be?’
‘No. I’m off shift now.’
‘There’s no need to come in then. You should get off.’
‘I’d like to, boss.’
‘Come on then. The more the merrier. And feel free to chip in. I want those two cretins to understand exactly what will happen if they don’t do what we tell them.’
‘Bastards like that, they won’t change. They’re beyond it, like.’
‘Maybe, but Johnny isn’t. And I want him to know that we will do everything we can to protect him, not just now but every day until he finally escapes from his bloody family.’
Sally Graham was dressed, and she even offered the officers a hot drink. They all said no. Jane pulled the living room curtains open, and Hall was glad. It showed up all the dust in the room.
‘You get off and shower’ said Sally. ‘Leave the grown-ups to talk.’
‘Not yet’ said Hall, firmly. ‘I need Johnny to hear what we have to say to you both.’
‘Well, straight after then’ said Sally, picking a pack of cigarettes up off the table.
‘If you wouldn’t mind not smoking while we’re here’ said Hall.
She looked as if she was about to say something, but she didn’t. She put the carton and the lighter back down with a heavy sigh and shrugged. Pete stood in the doorway, as if he was planning a quick getaway.
‘Be quick then’ she said.
‘This won’t take long, but I need both of you to listen carefully. You two put Johnny at very real risk, and we all know why. So let me tell you this. If either of you ever asks Johnny to get involved in any of your illegal activities, and that includes sending him to the corner shop to buy fags, then I promise you that we won’t just nick you, but we’ll never let you alone. As of today you are among Kendal nick’s target criminals, which means that we’ll be watching you all the time. There’ll be pictures of you both in the muster room, so no-one will ever forget who you are. And that’s not just PC Styles and his uniformed colleagues, but me and my team as well. Drugs too, I wouldn’t wonder. So Pete, if you were thinking of making a living as a career criminal then I’d suggest you move out of the county, because you’re a marked man here.’
‘All right, I get it’ said Pete Graham.
‘Good. And as for you, Sally. I’m going to expect to see you supporting Johnny properly, and I’ll tell you what I’m going to do. And this is nothing to do with social services, this is me talking now. I’m going to visit that school, once every term, and I’m going to find out how Johnny is doing. And if I find out that there have been any problems, anything at all, then we’re going to give you our undivided attention until we find out what the cause is. And you wouldn’t enjoy that attention, I promise you. Do you understand what I’m saying?’
‘Aye. Johnny’s the fucking golden boy and we’re just shit. We get it.’
‘He should be your golden boy, Sally. That’s all I’m saying. And you two had better do the right thing by Johnny, because he’s done the right thing by you. He didn’t grass you up to us, even though he should have, and he kipped in a bloody barn in the freezing cold for days. He did that for you two. He just couldn’t see any other way of not getting involved in your doings, without grassing on you. He’s a brave lad, and he’s too bloody loyal for his own good. You both need to remember that, and if you don’t I will remember it for you. PC Styles, is there anything you’d like to add?’
‘No, sir. I think you’ve been very clear. Personally I’d like nothing better than to nick the bloody pair of you here and now, but I’m just a front-line bobby. So all I can tell you is that I’ll be listening for any whispers on the street about either of you, and if I hear anything I don’t like then I’ll be all over you both like a rash.’
On the way back to the station Hall stopped at bakers and cleared their stock of cream cakes.
‘Tradition’ he explained to Jane, as he placed the box carefully on the back seat. ‘I’ll need to buy Ian a bloody apple or something, because he won’t touch a cream cake. And he complains like buggery if he’s left out.’
‘Well I will partake, and I approve of that tradition. But do you honestly think the lad will be all right, Andy?’
‘If you mean will Pete take it out on him, or try to get him involved in his criminal enterprise, if you can call his type of gutter-level hustling an enterprise, then I’d say no. God knows those two are stupid, selfish and greedy, but I don’t think they’re quite that stupid. They’ll know that we weren’t pissing about.’
‘And will you really do what you said? Go round and visit the school every term?’
‘You bet I will. Tell you what, why don’t we take turns? It was you who found the lad, after all.’
‘I’d like that, cheers.’
‘It’s a good feeling, isn’t it?’
‘Aye, it is.’
‘Well remember it, really savour this moment, because you’ll have enough crap days. And I wouldn’t mind if they were only caused by the bloody cons, because it’s in their job description to be shit to us. I quite like it, actually. It proves that we’re causing them some minor inconvenience at least. But what gets me is when it’s our own bloody bosses giving us grief. Take my tip Jane, avoid promotion at all costs. Ray Dixon may be a pension-obsessed clock-watcher, but he’s a shrewd old copper. He’ll finish his time as a DC, and with a bit of luck he’ll even have a few more days of feeling like this. You just can’t beat a good result, and that’s a fact.’
By the time she was ready to knock off for the night Jane had spoken to nearly everyone in the station, including the Superintendent, because Hall had insisted that she take the cakes round to everyone, including the civilian staff. And he’d obviously put the word out that it had been Jane who’d found the lad, because Superintendent Robinson had spent ten minutes burnishing Jane’s metaphorical tunic buttons, and saying that he expected great things of her in future. Even Ian Mann had insisted on a handshake, and he’d taken a bun as well.
‘Just this once, like. Seeing as it’s a special occasion. And well done again, Jane. Bloody good work, lass.’
But Jane still had one more thing to do, so she called Sarah Walker. When she answered Jane introduced herself, and asked how she could help.
‘Oh, hi mum’ said Sarah, ‘I’m just with Phil at the moment. Can I call you a bit later? About nine?’
Jane said that was fine, and rang off. She thought about mentioning the call to Andy Hall, but he had some people in his office that she didn’t recognise, and his door was closed. And, anyway, she didn’t really have anything to say. Not yet, at lea
st. So she set an alarm on her phone for nine o’clock, even though she knew that she certainly wouldn’t need it. Because come 8:59:30 she’d be dialling.
Thursday, 10th November
DS Ian Mann and DC Ray Dixon were in the meeting room, drinking tea and chatting while Will, the posh lad from tech support, was making the projector work. It didn’t take him long at all.
‘What was wrong?’ said Dixon, as he was going. ‘On second thoughts, don’t tell me.’
The two officers were looking at a projected map of the town, and Dixon overlaid a pattern of coloured dots.
‘The blue is for domestic burglaries, green is for business premises, and red is for repeat offences. This is the last six months, and this is the last three years, excluding the past six months.’
Mann looked closely as Dixon flicked backwards and forwards between the two maps.
‘You’re right’ said Mann. ‘The Lakes View estate has definitely seen a big increase in break-ins recently. There must be ten at least in the last few months, and that’s more than in the whole previous couple of years.’
‘It’s twelve, versus five before.’
‘And you know who it is who’s doing them?’
‘Aye, I do. A lad called Billy Bartlett.’
‘Steve’s boy, is it? I wouldn’t have thought he’d be old enough.’
‘The lad’s fifteen.’
‘So we’ve nicked him recently, have we, this Billy?’
‘No. He’s never even had a caution. But it’s him, all right.’
‘Blimey, Ray, I thought I was the one who specialised in giving a dog a bad name.’
‘It’s a sensible policy in this job, is that. But I’ve got proper evidence, Ian.’
‘Amaze me.’
‘Here’s two lists of addresses of the domestic burglaries, and you’ll see that eight of the twelve are on both lists.’
‘Aye. So what?’
The Two Towns (The Lakeland Murders) Page 7