“If Horton had anything to do with that Wakely getting killed it had nothing to do with us. And as for those fishermen, Tariq shot them on Horton’s orders because they knew too much. I just did the diving. I’m not going to prison for them!” Ahmed screamed.
“Quiet you fool,” shouted Horton. “They have no proof of any of that. Professor Chalmers is trying to trick us.”
“You killed Richard Wakely, Horton, just as surely as if you had shot him with a gun. And now that your smuggling operation has been found out, perhaps the authorities will be less likely to dismiss Jakes version of things as quickly as you might imagine.”
“Well you’re wrong there, Professor. Ahmed here will keep quiet for a price, and who will believe the testimony of a demented wife or that half-baked idiot, Jakes?”
“Aren’t you forgetting about Amanda Darant? Why would she dig a deeper hole than she is already in just to save your neck?” Ralph asked.
“She’s so deep in debt for that bloody horse place of hers that she’ll keep quiet as long as I pay her debts so she can keep her damned horses.”
“So you did kill Richard,” gasped Clarissa.
“Oh stop sniffling, Clarissa. This has nothing to do with you or your stupid affair with that sod. Somehow he found out that I was bringing gold bullion in from those wrecks around Lundy. After you snooped around and found those papers in my office that you gave to him and the skipper of the Mary Ann told him that they had seen my cruiser when they were bringing the stuff into Bideford, he must have put two and two together.
“What about the Harbour Police? Where were they when all of this was going on right under their noses?” Ralph asked, determined not to let that nasty piece of work Will Hartley get away with the part he played in the whole charade.
“Hartley turned a ‘Nelson’s eye’ once he realized what his silence was worth. And as for that Jakes idiot, he only cost me a couple of tenners to put that wire across the bridleway. Jakes thought I was just a jealous husband trying to scare Wakely off from my wife. He was practically willing to help me for nothing. Of course I didn’t think the fool would go and get himself killed.”
“But it didn’t just scare him off, did it?” Ralph said as Clarissa stood sobbing quietly as the reality of it all hit home.
“Unfortunately for you, Professor, those little revelations are just between us and these four walls.”
Ralph noticed that the mobile phone that Horton had knocked from his wife’s hand was lying in front of him and it still indicated that a call was in progress. Evidently Clarissa had not tapped the end call button after she used it to phone the police. Just then the wail of the police sirens could be heard and through the windows he saw the flashing blue lights of the squad cars.
As Ahmed made a dash for the door Ralph managed to push one of the boxes of bullion into his path and thwart his escape. One of the officers from the Devonshire Constabulary grabbed and handcuffed him and the other led Horton out to the police car while reading him his rights. Horton seemed to collapse as he realized that his attempts to get rich had failed.
“It’s too bad that you’re not a gentleman, Horton, as the mobile that you so brutally knocked out of your wife’s hand has been on and recording every word you said. Your confession will have been captured by the computers at police HQ,” Ralph said as he picked up the phone and handed it to the arresting officer.
The police told Ralph that they would take over from there and that he would be contacted by Inspector Fletcher in the morning to arrange to take his statement. A woman police officer took Clarissa back to the Manor House, and Ralph was relieved to see that she seemed to be taking things far better than he had expected. By the time Ralph got back to the Cottage dawn was starting to break through and the rain had eased off.
***
It had been an eventful night as well as a wet one. They dried off using some large white plush towels that Katie had been saving for company and as it was nearly daylight, they decided to have an early breakfast. Over tea and hot buttered toast they tried to put the events of the night into perspective.
“It looks like your plan worked,” said Katie as she reached for the jar of marmalade.
“Yes. Although I must admit it all went a bit blurred at the end. But what puzzles me is why on earth Amanda Durant got mixed up with Horton? He’s not only ruthless and self serving but dangerous,” said Ralph.
“I’m not sure. I know it’s always a struggle trying to run any sort of business that involves horses and practically everyone does it for the lifestyle and not the money. I can’t think she would have any personal interest in Horton, although one never knows about those things. Horses for courses, as they say,” replied Katie as she sipped her tea.
“And poor old Clarissa. If she could have simply divorced Horton and married Wakely then none of this would have happened,” said Ralph.
“You’re forgetting the three fishermen that got shot, Miles Willard’s untimely death and the contraband operation the Andersons were running. The trouble with you, Ralph, is that you assume everyone is like you. You always presume that people are basically honest. But perhaps that’s what I like about you.”
“I’m not sure if that’s a compliment or a criticism. I might take you more seriously if you could just wipe some of that marmalade off your chin.”
“Where’s that harpoon gun you bugger,” she shouted swiping at him with a tea towel.
***
Later that morning the storm of the previous night had blown away and Ralph was clearing up some small branches that had fallen on the driveway when a police car pulled up. It was the first time that he had seen Hans Clim in a suit and Inspector Fletcher had obviously spruced himself up so as to not be outdone. Ralph felt a bit nervous as he anticipated that there would be a lot of questions to be answered and wondered how far he and Katie had been operating on the wrong side of the law. After the usual exchange of pleasantries they were soon all seated somewhat awkwardly around the kitchen table. The blue checkered tablecloth seemed to add a bizarre touch to such a gathering. The Inspector obviously wanted to put things on an official footing from the start.
“I think you both know Commander Clim, from Europol. He is the senior officer but has asked me to fill in a few blanks concerning our enquiries. We thought it would be easier if we had a chat before I ask you both to come in and make a formal statement down at police headquarters.”
If this was just a chat then an interview must be pretty grim, thought Ralph. He was surprised to learn that Hans held the rank of Commander. He must have done something right to be promoted to that position at such a young age. He had never mentioned this when they were out on the Gypsy Lady, although he looked the part now, sitting stiff backed in the kitchen chair in his grey suit. Inspector Fletcher cleared his throat and began.
“Thanks to your fortuitous action in getting a full confession from Max Horton about Richard Wakely’s murder onto our computer recording system, he has been charged along with Robin Jakes in connection with that investigation. Also, we found a gun in the possession of your intruder, Tariq Alman, and we are certain that forensics will confirm that the bullets will match those that killed the crew of the Mary Ann. That along with the recording from the cell phone should nail Horton as well for his involvement in the murder of the skipper and crew of the Mary Ann; that is in addition to his activities involving the processing and selling of gold bullion. We have also charged Ahmed Tourifa with being involved in all of these affairs. The two Turkish nationals have both made full confessions that also confirm that Horton was the mastermind behind all of these illegal activities.” Ralph looked at Katie. Both realized how close they had come to receiving the same treatment from Tariq as the three fishermen.
“And about those documents we found on Tariq Alman, which he tells us Horton had paid him to search for in your barn. I was wondering if you had seen the article about them in the Bideford Weekly or was that pure coincidence?”
The
Inspector’s approach caught Ralph off guard. The last thing he wanted was to get Bob Wyman in trouble and if he told the truth then it would look as though he and Katie had set up a trap for Tariq and Amanda. He was not sure about what constituted entrapment but thought it best to simply sidestep the question.
“We don’t get the papers delivered Inspector, so I’m afraid we haven’t seen the article.” The Inspector nodded.
Ralph was not sure how much information Hans had given to the local police about the terrorist network he hoped to expose, so he decided it was best to keep quiet about that. He was finding it a bit of a minefield as the interrogation continued, although he noticed that Katie seemed to have no qualms about engaging with the Inspector’s questions.
“Did Amanda Darant say why she was helping Horton to break into our property or if she was involved in Wakely’s murder?” Katie asked the Inspector.
“Well Mrs. Chalmers, you understand that this is slightly off the record, but suffice it to say that she has admitted that Jakes told her what happened and then she confronted Horton about it. It seems that Horton made her an offer she couldn’t – or wouldn’t – refuse. Apparently Bay View Farm was mortgaged up to the hilt and he told her that in exchange for her silence about the Wakely affair and help with the break-in here at Rose Cottage, he would pay off all of her debts. Funny how some women will do anything to protect something they love; especially where horses are involved.” He gave an embarrassed cough at having divulged much more than was proper.
Ralph followed Katie’s lead. “When we stopped by the Harbourmaster’s office and found Will Hartley talking with Horton, we thought they must be in cahoots. That recording you have of Horton’s inadvertent confession just confirms that Hartley was being paid to turn a blind eye to the smuggling,” said Ralph.”He must have known about that high speed boat that fired on us as well, Hans. You recall that we left word at the marina to inform Hartley about our change of plan when we called in on the ship to shore radio.”
The Inspector looked even more uncomfortable, but the Commander stepped in to regain control.
“We are looking into all movements of shipping at that time and we’ll be interviewing Captain Hartley this afternoon. I think that we have all that we need for now, Inspector Fletcher. Thank you both for all of your help.” He looked at the Inspector to signal that he was ready to leave.
Fletcher stood up and reminded them that they needed to come to the station to make formal statements about the break-in. To their surprise, and probably in some way to counteract the stiffness being shown by his superior officer, he thanked them for having helped the police in clearing up a complicated and important case. “I think that the people of North Devon will be able to feel a lot safer when they go to bed tonight, largely due to you two,” he said as the two officers took their leave.
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Chapter 17
A few idyllic few weeks passed without further intrigue. Ralph worked steadily on his report and Katie was a regular visitor to Bay View Farm. The place was being looked after by Melissa Freeman, one of Amanda Durant’s friends, and she seemed to be doing a great job with the place. Katie rode Majestic almost every day. She had made an offer to buy the horse, but with a return to London just over the horizon she was not sure this was the time to make that sort of commitment, especially as she had received an email from the Sorbonne inviting her for a final interview in Paris later that month. If she got the job then she wasn’t sure how much time she’d be able to spend in Devon.
Ralph had finished his report and they were packing for the trip home when they had a surprise visitor. It was Samantha Tulle, the GP they had met at the Vicar’s garden party. Over a cup of tea Samantha came straight to the point.
“I heard that you two were packing up and going back to London and as I will be homeless in a couple of weeks’ time, I wondered if you would rent me your cottage on a short let.”
They had made no definite plans yet about the cottage and had considered seeing if any of their friends were interested in renting it for the occasional month or putting it with a holiday letting agent. The suggestion was ideal.
“Well, yes,” said Ralph, “but we want to use the place ourselves from time to time so we wouldn’t want it tied up for too long at a stretch.”
“That’s not a problem. I’ll be away from here during the summer months to keep clear of those blasted tourists. My sister lives in Oslo and I intend to escape to quieter climes for at least a few weeks out of the year. And once I get my bearings I will probably buy a place nearer my children and grandchildren, but it would be nice to have a bit of a bolt hole to come to for the odd week or two when I get fed up with the city and want to smell the salt sea air and visit some of my friends here.”
“We’ll be leaving next week, so if you’d like to take it for the month of September, that would be fine. We just need to work out the details about rents and that sort of thing,” Ralph explained.
“That should work out perfectly,” Samantha said. “That’s just about when the new chap wants to close on the practice.”
The conversation moved to recent events and to the Hortons and Amanda Durant at Bay View Farm. The Doctor told them that Clarissa had been in the surgery and declared that she was going to buy Bay View Farm. It was likely to go into bankruptcy otherwise, and as she kept a couple of horses there, it was the last thing she wanted to see happen.
“Of course she’ll keep that woman Melissa on to run the place. I understand she’s doing a great job, and honestly, I can’t see Clarissa in a pair of overalls mucking out on a winter’s day.” They all laughed at the unlikely image. “Now that that bunch headed up by Max Horton has been caught in the wheels of justice we might see things returning to normal around here.” Samantha downed the last dregs of her tea. Ralph was happy to note that her beverage of choice had become more civilized since their last meeting at the garden party. He thought that all the pressures of giving up a career, moving house and the myriad of decisions that go along with those sorts of life style changes had put her under a great deal of stress which explained her behavior before. Hopefully the Samantha he was now seeing would make an ideal regular tenant at the cottage; one thing less to worry about.
“If Elizabeth Willard gets off with a slap on the wrist, then with Clarissa on board we might even be able to scrounge a fourth for bridge when I’m in town,” Samantha said, obviously relieved that it looked as though she would have a foothold in the area now that she knew the cottage was a possibility. “Perhaps we can commandeer Rachel, assuming she can keep her clothes on long enough to join us. Otherwise we’ll have to switch to strip poker!” she laughed. With that she bade them farewell and with a crunch of gears and a cloud of blue smoke from the exhaust of her ancient car, disappeared down the lane.
“Our first letting,” said Ralph. “I’m beginning to think your idea of turning the cottage
into a holiday let to make it pay for itself was a stroke of genius, Katie Eggerton. One minute we’re stuck with a cottage which was going to be empty for most of the year and now we’ve become West Country slum lords.”
“And don’t forget, we’ve also gained a bit of celebrity, Ralph, what with you rounding up Max Horton and his band of villains almost single handedly.”
“Well let’s celebrate over lunch down at The Pack Horse. After all, that’s where this all started.”
“No more heroics for this year, Ralph,” cried Katie as she ran ahead of him along the overgrown pathway. “If we hurry we will be at the pub before high tide.”
The sea gulls were wheeling over the cliffs and the sky had turned the sea a perfect shade of green with the crest of the incoming waves breaking white as they hit the rocks. It was another perfect day in North Devon.
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Murder at High Tide (The Ralph Chalmers Mysteries Book 4) Page 16