Death on Account (The Lakeland Murders)

by Salkeld, J J

  She dressed, and went down for breakfast. No one gave her a second glance, but she knew that she needed to move on quickly. When she’d paid her bill she asked if the receptionist would mind holding on to her bag for half an hour. Then she walked to the used car lot that she’d noticed from the bus on the way in. Her new shoes were really hurting by the time she got there. There was no one about so she looked at the cheapest cars, and noticed an old Renault at just under a thousand pounds. It was taxed, and didn’t look too bad. But Alison wasn’t bothered, because she wouldn’t be keeping it very long.

  ‘Nice little motor that’. Alison jumped, then turned. The man was six inches shorter than her, and scruffily dressed.

  ‘Is it? My car was involved in an accident the other day, and the garage says it’ll be a month at least before it gets fixed. Parts have to come from Germany or something. My insurance won’t pay for a hire car, so...’

  ‘You’re thinking of buying something as a stop-gap?’ The man looked satisfied with her story, or perhaps he just sensed a nice, quick sale. ‘That little car should do the job well. Tell you what, buy it off me now and I’ll give you £500 back for it in a month or two, if you don’t need it any more. How does that sound?’

  ‘Done.’

  ‘Don’t you want a test drive?’

  ‘I’m sure it will be fine.’

  ‘All right, let’s do the paperwork. How did you want to pay?’

  ‘Is cash OK?’

  ‘My favourite kind of currency.’

  Twenty minutes later Alison was driving away from the garage, and after she picked up her bags she drove north east, sticking to the little B-roads. She filled up with petrol at a small service station, bought a sandwich and a couple of drinks, and headed north. Eventually she reached the A6, but she crossed it and carried on working her way north and east on the little lanes and back roads. The little car was noisy, and it smelt a bit odd, but it seemed to be going all right. It had a couple of months MOT and tax left, so she didn’t see any reason why she should be stopped.

  For the first time since she’d left Kendal Alison started to feel better. But what if the garage owner called the cops? He didn’t look the type, but she knew that as soon as an ANPR camera picked her up they’d be on to her. Ten minutes later she was on the edge of Penrith, still thinking about the problem, and she noticed a big car accessory store in amongst the supermarkets and furniture retail sheds. She pulled in, and parked. Ten minutes later she walked out again with a number plate that she’d just made up, but for the same year as her Renault. The man behind the counter had said that they were self adhesive, and sure enough she had them stuck on the front and back in thirty seconds.

  Alison drove towards the motorway, turned north, and tried to get used to the little car’s noise. She started to think about what to do with it, and decided that her best bet was to leave the M74 somewhere south of Glasgow, Hamilton maybe, find an industrial estate or somewhere else where she could leave the car and it wouldn’t be noticed for days or weeks. From there she could catch a bus or train in to Glasgow. Surely that would do the trick and keep the cops off her trail?

  But, to her surprise, the fading fear of imminent arrest didn’t make her feel much better. Because another worry started crowding straight in to replace it, and it was one that she hadn’t had time to consider properly before. Because what if Billy Cafferty didn’t want to take the risk that she might talk if she was caught? Williams had been dead within a week of her passing on the details of his cover name and address, so Cafferty obviously wouldn’t think twice about having her killed too. And because he’d supplied her credit cards he would know exactly where every transaction was made.

  As she drove she thought about it, and tried to be calm, logical in her thinking. Cafferty didn’t have to be that much of a problem. All she had to do was never to buy anything near where she was staying, and always withdraw cash from machines a few miles apart. If she was careful he’d never find her that way, because he didn’t have anything like the resources that the Police had.

  But what if he stopped the cards, trying to flush her out, maybe even get her to go to him? There was absolutely no chance of that happening. As she drove, counting down the miles, she started to think about the future. Where would she be in six months, a year’s time? She had absolutely no idea. And then she thought about how she’d got involved in all this in the first place. And she wished, more than she’d ever wished for anything in her life, that she could go back six months, and that it would all be different.

  Hall asked Jane Francis to lead the noon briefing. Robinson was there, as Hall had expected, and if Ian Mann decided not to come back there’d be a vacancy for a keen DS on the team. And no-one could say that Jane Francis was any less than keen.

  Before their relationship began he’d been very happy for her to do all the hours she wanted, but now he wasn’t quite so certain about that. If and when it came to it, would she put him or the job first? He dismissed the thought as unworthy, and concentrated on what Jane was saying.

  ‘As we expected Alison has done everything she can to slow us down. It’s taken us almost twenty four hours to establish where she was the night before last, so she’s well ahead of us. But let’s just re-cap on what we know so far. She was collected by cab a couple of streets from the house, and went to Lancaster. We have her on CCTV boarding a bus for Grange. We don’t know why. Was she meeting someone there? We’d still be checking all the stops along the route if the receptionist at the Old Bay Hotel hadn’t called in, because she spotted Alison last night, but didn’t call it in until this morning.’

  ‘Sighting confirmed by SOCO?’ asked Hall.

  ‘Yes, about five minutes ago, there are her prints everywhere in the room she had. But that’s where it ends. A different receptionist was on this morning, and she said that Alison looked different when she checked out. She had shorter, blonde hair she thinks. But we don’t know how Alison left yet, assuming she has left Grange. There are only five hairdressers in the town, and we’ve got uniform looking for the person who cut Alison’s hair. At least that way we’ll have a better idea of exactly what she looks like now.’

  ‘OK, Jane, thanks. Ray, how about CCTV?’

  ‘Now we know that she was in Grange we’ve given up on everything before she probably turned up there. Coverage isn’t brilliant, but we’re hoping to pick her up again. The hotel doesn’t seem to have much, incidentally.’

  ‘OK’ said Hall, ‘great work everyone. We’re still right on her tail. So let’s assume that she left Grange this morning, sometime after half-eight, which is when she checked out of the hotel. A few obvious choices. Collected by an accomplice perhaps, if not by train, bus, taxi, what?’

  ‘Not train, I don’t think’ said Jane. ‘She’s pretty switched on when it comes to CCTV. But that’s not to say that she didn’t take a cab back to Oxenholme or somewhere.’

  ‘How about bus?’ asked Dixon. ‘We know she’s used them before, as well as a cab.’

  ‘Let’s start with those two then’ said Hall. ‘Jane, every cab firm in Grange and nearby needs to be contacted, even the little one-man-bands. Maybe especially those. We’re looking for a woman leaving the Grange area between half-eight and ten. Ray, have all the CCTV in the town checked out from the time she left the hotel, there’s a timed receipt in the file. You know the drill, try to pick her up near the hotel and take it from there. And let’s put uniform on the buses. I want every driver who was in Grange between half eight and ten shown that photo of Gill, and as soon as, please. Right, what have we missed?’

  ‘How about an accomplice?’ said someone from the back.

  ‘Good point. We can’t rule that out, although on the balance of probability it seems unlikely now, because there’s been no sign to date. Was that receptionist asked if Alison had any callers, by phone or in person, or if she met anyone, either this morning or last night?’

  ‘I’ll check’ said Jane.

  ‘Good, and d
id she eat in the hotel last night and this morning? Get someone to talk to the waiting-on and bar staff too please. Let’s try to be as sure as we can be that she’s on her own.’

  ‘Anything else?’

  ‘How about car hire?’ said a young DS from HQ who Hall had met once or twice.

  ‘Yes Matt, check that too please. National chains and local ones too. Unless she’s turned into a master criminal and nicked someone’s license she’ll probably be using her own identity, but I suppose it’s not impossible that she might have risked it. At least it’s a change of tactic, which would be a smart call. OK everyone, meet back here at 4pm sharp and remember, more haste, less speed. Take as long as you need to be sure of everything that you do. One person, acting alone, only needs a small hole in the net to wriggle through, so let’s be super, super thorough.’

  Superintendent Robinson followed Hall in to his office.

  ‘So, Andy, what are our chances?’

  ‘Well, so far she’s done some things well, but some badly. Getting spotted in the hotel undid all the rest of her work. And I’m curious about why she doubled back, and ended up in Grange, back on our patch. She must have known that the local media would pick up on our appeal. If I was I her place I’d probably had made straight for a big city, somewhere with a nice big transient population, or a tourist centre maybe.’

  ‘So you’re thinking that she was meeting someone? Is that why she came back to Grange?’

  ‘I still think it is possible, even though I’ve got nothing to base it on, because the place is such an odd choice. Other than relatively low CCTV coverage I can’t see what it’s got going for it from her point-of-view. But to answer your question it all comes down to the time-line, and her choices. If we get too far behind her, more than a day say, then I think there’s a good chance we’ll lose her for good and all. And I just have a feeling she’s a quick learner. By the way we know she’s dealing in cash, and there’s no action on her own bank account in the last day or two, so someone is probably funding her. And no prizes for guessing who that is.’

  ‘Do you have a plan B then?’

  ‘Yes, and unless I feel we’re close again when we meet again this afternoon I’m going to start at the other end. Not just where is Alison Thornton, but who is she, and why did she get involved in this in the first place?’

  ‘Money?’

  ‘Possibly, but according to what Tony Sheridan says that’s not especially likely. I think his summary of her lifestyle was ‘typical boring accountant’. She wasn’t in debt, didn’t live the high life.’

  ‘So what about this Pat Murphy character? Did he coerce her?’

  ‘That seems to be the most likely explanation, yes, but I wonder what leverage he had? Why didn’t she just go straight to the boys down in Merseyside if she’d been intimidated?’

  ‘Too frightened? Maybe he threatened her family. Maybe Murphy told her that he had friends on the force. Could be anything.’

  ‘Yes, but I doubt she even knew that Murphy was a villain to begin with. As far as Merseyside can tell that business is 100% straight, and she’d only been there for eighteen months. She went there as a temp originally, then stayed on.’

  ‘Well look, let’s hope we don’t have to try to track her down the hard way. All being well we’ll find her today.’

  ‘Or she might give herself up.’

  ‘You think that’s a possibility?’

  ‘Yes, even if she gets away from us for now, and has a source of ready cash. She’ll know we’re watching her home, her family, everything. She can’t tell them she’s safe, where she is, nothing. If she had kids I bet we’d have her within the next day or two, tops, to be honest.’

  ‘You’re a romantic, Andy.’

  ‘How do you mean?’

  ‘Just that perhaps you over-estimate the maternal instinct. We certainly see enough terrible mothers in here.’

  ‘Maybe, but it’s just biology isn’t it?’

  ‘Some might argue that there’s another explanation to explain why people do the right thing in their lives.’

  It took Hall a moment to realise that Robinson was talking about God. He hadn’t thought of that, so he changed the subject.

  ‘Have you been contacted by internal affairs about Alison’s recruitment as a Special?’

  ‘I have. Why do you ask? My understanding was that they were keeping you abreast of relevant developments.’

  ‘That’s the plan, but I’ve heard nothing from them as yet. It may well be that there’s nothing relevant to this investigation.’

  ‘I’m not part of this conspiracy’ said Robinson firmly, catching Hall by surprise. “I’m as shocked about this as you are.’

  ‘Of course, sir. You think we’d be having this discussion if I had the slightest concern in that regard? Absolutely not. And the Chief would have made sure you were kept out of the way if anyone had any worries about anything like that.’

  Robinson shook his head. ‘They’re talking about possible suspension if you must know’ said Robinson glumly. ‘At the very least it’s disciplinary charges. I’ve never had so much as a black mark against me before, not one. But how could I have predicted that a Special could get hold of that file?’

  ‘That’s the bit I’m really interested in, to be honest. Do we know how it happened?’

  ‘Not for certain, but I invited her in for a coffee at the end of a shift, a week before Williams was killed. I got called away for five minutes, no more than that.’

  ‘And was your safe open?’

  ‘It might have been.’

  ‘You’re not sure?’

  ‘No. Satisfied, Inspector?’

  ‘Sorry sir, I didn’t mean to interrogate you. I’m sorry that she’s landed you in trouble like this. I just wanted to be quite sure that Alison Thornton is the source of the information.’

  ‘I’m afraid so, absolutely no question about it. They’re going to hang me out to dry over this, you wait and see. I’m just a scapegoat here, Andy.’

  The phrase ‘as ye sow, so shall ye reap’ popped, unbidden, into Hall’s head. He made quite sure that it stayed there. ‘It’s the way of the world now, isn’t it, sir? But I’ll do what I can to help, obviously.’

  ‘Thanks Andy, your loyalty is appreciated. And, speaking of which, I have got news on Ian Mann. Have you got a minute?’

  ‘Of course, especially if it’s good news.’

  ‘I think you’ll see it that way. The DPP is definitely not pressing charges, and by co-incidence he’s contacted personnel, asking when he’ll be returned to duty.’

  ‘And what’s the answer going to be?’

  ‘I’m going to recommend that he undergo a psychological evaluation, just to check that we’re not dealing with PTSD here, but if he’s OK then I think you’ll have him back in a week or two.’

  Hall was delighted, and unusually for him it showed.

  ‘Could I have him back sooner, pending the evaluation? We could all use him, that’s for sure.’

  ‘Yes, under the circumstances you can. But tell me something, Andy’ said Robinson, as he got up. ‘Would you have gone all the way in support of Ian Mann?’

  ‘Of course. The man’s a hero, he saved my life, or at least he saved me from serious injury. Plus he’s a good copper, and he’s a great friend.’

  ‘What if you’d lost your job as a result?’

  ‘I can’t see how it would come to that, but honestly, it’s not the worst thing in life that can happen.’

  ‘You’re only saying that because your job’s not at risk.’

  Hall looked up at him. It was unusual for Robinson to say anything that truly engaged Hall’s interest. He’d always thought of him as a bit of an empty uniform, but now he reconsidered that view. He thought for a few seconds before he replied.

  ‘I agree that genuine empathy is pretty much absent in many of us, and that selfishness is at the centre of who we all are. If it was the other way round this place would be empty, wouldn’t
it? There’d be precious little need for coppers. But no, I’m trying to be objective in my answer.’

  ‘So you could live with losing your job?’ asked Robinson from the doorway, his hand poised on the handle.

  ‘I think so, yes. But I’m just going through a divorce, as you know, and it’s actually much more painful than I could have imagined, so maybe you’re right. Perhaps I would be bereft if I lost my job, I really don’t know. Maybe we’re all much too defined by what we do. We probably are. But look Eric, you’re not like me, you’ve got friends in high places, or at least in HQ. You’ve cultivated them for years, haven’t you? So maybe start working your network, call in a few favours, and make the internal affairs lot go away. I bet you can do it.’

  Robinson nodded, drew himself up tall, and opened Hall’s office door.

  ‘I’m not dead yet’ he said.

  Unlike Neil Williams, thought Hall rather unkindly, as Robinson closed the door behind him.

  By one o’clock Hall had a bad feeling. There hadn’t been a single new sighting of Alison reported all morning. He grabbed his coat, and walked out to Jane’s desk.

  ‘Jane, I’m taking a quick ride out to Grange. Is there anything you can’t leave for an hour?’

  ‘No. But we can’t get there and back in an hour. You drive like an old woman.’

  Hall smiled. It was true, his driving had become more cautious in the last few years. ‘Don’t worry, we’re getting a lift with Joe Crawford. He’s got to take a couple of lads to take out for shift change, and he’s promised me a lift if I’m out at the front in five. He says he’ll put the blues and twos on.’

  ‘You’re such a child, boss.’

  ‘Maybe, but let’s see if we can find something out there to get this investigation moving forward again. If we lose her leaving Grange then we’re in big trouble.’