by David Lowe
‘Thanks George,’ the commander said, ‘David and Steve, if you could make your way to the farm now. George will fill you in on the details as you make your way out.’
David and Steve got up from their seats. As David picked up his jacket from the back of his chair, he put his hand into the pocket to see how many clips he had left for his Glock and began to walk out of the room. As George walked over to the two officers he said, ‘Have you both got enough ammunition?’
‘I’ve got one in the Glock and three clips in my pocket,’ David said.
‘Same here,’ Steve said, ‘only I’ve got four clips.’
‘I’m sorry it’s you two,’ George said, ‘but I needed to fall back on your experience and I know both of you can use those weapons if you have to.’
‘Always the smooth talker,’ Steve said.
Giving a wry smile, George said, ‘I want you to go to the scene, look for anything that could indicate what they’ve got with them and what they’re up to. We’re convinced more than ever it’s the Royal visit they’re targeting and we need to stop them getting anywhere near Chester.’ He handed Steve a sheet of paper, ‘Here’s directions to the farm and it’s also got the details of the green Astra Maguire and Mahoney’s been using. It’s not at the farm now, so they must still be using it, but for how long is anyone’s guess. Do what you can as quickly as you can and keep me posted every step of the way.’
Steve took the paper from George and said, ‘Thanks George. We’ll be careful.’
‘Make sure you are,’ George said. As they made their way out of the main door, George watched the two officers walk up to the Special Branch car Steve had been using. Seeing the officers get into the car, George made his way back to the main briefing.
* * *
In the Vauxhall Astra, Mahoney drove back from Leafield Farm onto the A41 and turned off by Chowley in an attempt to throw the police off their scent. Passing through Chowley, sitting in the front passenger seat, Maguire saw a secluded farmhouse and said, ‘Dave, we could be in luck with that farmhouse up there on the right. We might be able to steal a car there. I could drive it and you follow me in this, then we’ll ditch the Astra and burn it out. See if you can find a side road that leads to the farm.’
Mahoney slowed down as both men looked at the farm entrance. Travelling only a few hundred yards further along the road, they saw a sign for Foxglove Farm. ‘That’s got to be it,’ Maguire said. Mahoney turned into the driveway and slowly drove towards the farm. As they approached the farm buildings Mahoney stopped the car. The two men gave a cursory look round the buildings from inside the car. No-one was in the immediate vicinity and a Ford Mondeo was parked up by a large barn. So as not to alert anyone that could be in the farmhouse, Mahoney drove slowly up to the Mondeo. Parking next to it, both got out of the Astra.
Mahoney tried the driver’s door of the Mondeo, but strangely for someone living in the countryside, it was locked. As he looked for an easy way to break into the car a woman walked round from the rear of the barn. Seeing the two Irishmen, she shouted, ‘Hey you two! What are doing with our car?’
Mahoney and Maguire stopped what they were doing and looked up at the woman. Maguire walked up to her. With a steely look, he stared straight at her. ‘I asked you what you are doing with our car?’ the woman said with a slight tremble in her voice, feeling intimidated by the stocky Irishman’s approach. Maguire said nothing. As he kept walking towards her, the woman sensed danger. She looked towards the farmhouse. Maguire was too close for her to make a run for it.
Maguire stopped walking and stood a couple of feet from her. Producing a pistol from the back of his trousers, he pointed it at her and said, ‘Is there anyone else in the house?’
Petrified, the woman stuttered out, ‘What, what are you doing? Why have you got a gun?’
‘Just answer the fucking question. Is there anyone else in the house?’ Maguire said pointing the pistol at her.
‘No, no, they’re out gathering the hay,’ the woman sobbed.
Maguire glanced up at the sky. It was a clear evening and the heat of the summer’s day had not abated. Knowing about farming from his youth in Ireland, he realised what she said rang true. ‘Good,’ he said as he shot her in the chest at point blank range. As she fell to the floor he placed the pistol at the back of her head and pulled the trigger a second time to ensure she was dead. Looking up at Mahoney, he shouted over to him, ‘Come on, we haven’t much time. Get into that Mondeo and get it started. With luck, it’ll be an hour or two before the husband finds out the bitch is dead.’
‘I’ll go into the house, and see if I can find the keys,’ Mahoney said running off to the farmhouse.
‘Hurry the fuck up,’ Maguire said, ‘I’ll make sure no one else is around that may have seen us.’
A few minutes later, Mahoney came out of the farmhouse and ran over to Maguire who was standing by the Mondeo with the pistol still in his hand. ‘I’ve found the car keys and some food to keep us going,’ he said, chewing the remnants of a slice of a freshly baked meat pie, ‘She was a good cook. This pie’s fucking lovely.’ With the keys he found on the kitchen table, Mahoney unlocked the car doors of the Mondeo. As he got into the car Maguire went back to the Astra saying, ‘Follow me and we’ll dump the Astra, then find a remote place to lie low for the evening.’
* * *
At Leafield Farm, David and Steve were studying the murder scene with the forensic pathologist. As a forensic tent had been placed over each of the officers’ bodies, they were out of view. Looking at the body of the female officer, David shook his head and said, ‘It’s those two bastards alright. It’s a trademark PIRA shooting. He’s put one through the chest, followed by one through the head to make sure. I think we should send out a public safety warning via the media for observations for the Astra as well as Maguire and Mahoney. So as not to cause a panic the IRA are back wreaking havoc on the British mainland again, we can say they’re linked to a series of armed robberies. We’ll have to stress they’re armed and dangerous and not to be approached.’
‘You’re right,’ Steve said holding aside the entrance flap to the tent over the female officer to allow David to walk through, ‘We can’t keep this under wraps. It won’t take long for news to get out two police officers have been killed. While you speak with the pathologist, I’ll call George and see if he can set up a press release.’
As they walked out of the tent, David said, ‘It doesn’t look like the male officer would have suffered much when he got shot, but the female, fuck me they’re hard hearted bastards.’
‘Seeing how the pathologist found salt deposits by her eyes and cheeks consistent with crying, she must have been pleading for her life,’ Steve said.
‘But the fucker still took it,’ David said as anger swelled inside him on seeing the dead colleague.
As Steve was about to ring George to arrange the press release, one of the forensic science officers came out of the house and called out to the officers. Walking up to them she removed her white mask that blended in with the white, all-in-one forensic science suit she was wearing. ‘I’ve got some good news,’ she said, ‘if you can say there’s any good news at this scene.’
‘What is it?’ David asked.
‘I’ve found explosive reside in the kitchen and it looks like plastic explosives,’ she said with a cautious tone in her voice, ‘It not much and I’m not committing myself until I’ve done extensive tests, but I’d say it’s semtex.’
‘That’s confirmed they’re planning to blow something up,’ David said, ‘Did you find anything else?’
‘We’ve got plenty of fingerprints that we’ve been able to match up to Maguire and Mahoney, so we know they were here,’ the forensic scientist said, ‘and as well as the gunshot residue on the walls in the hallway, we’ve got the empty cartridges. They contained rifle slug ammunition,
the same that looks like that which killed the officers.’
‘Fuck me,’ David said, his lips tightening at the realisation that as well as explosives, Maguire and Mahoney had heavy weaponry, ‘that sounds like they’ve got a pump action shotgun. Thanks for that, I’ll report back to my DI and I’ll let you know what he decides.’ David took out his mobile phone and rang George, telling him what was found at the scene and requested the press release.
‘I’ll box off the press release. I’m on my way to the farm as you speak and I’ll be there in about five minutes,’ George said, ‘Tell the uniform officers not to allow anyone else on the scene until I get there and you two can get off and search the area for Maguire and Mahoney. If you find them, take no chances, report back straight away and wait until you get support from Cheshire’s firearms unit.’
* * *
As they were sat on their own in the kitchen of his home, Murphy said to his wife, ‘We’re going to have to move out tonight.’ Annoyed his plans had gone wrong, he was frantically wringing his hands as he said, ‘They’ve arrested the six I brought over to Liverpool, Danny and Michael are still in the cells after the botched kidnap of that Special Branch detective’s sister and I can’t raise Michael McCullagh. Rory’s still on the run and they’ll know by now that I arranged for their tout in Manchester to be killed. Then to top it all off, I see Jimmy and Dave’s photo’s on the news, along with the appeal for information of their whereabouts. That tells me it’s time we got out of here.’
‘It might not be that bad,’ his wife said sitting opposite Murphy. She reached across the kitchen table and reassuringly held his hands. ‘They haven’t arrested you yet. They might not have enough on you and that could give us a couple of days to make arrangements to get out of here rather than make a quick run for it now.’
Murphy squeezed his wife hands and smiled. ‘I wish I had your confidence, but when I saw Jimmy and Dave’s pictures on the news there was a reporter standing outside the entrance to the Leafield Farm holiday let they were supposed to be staying the night in. The soft bastards have only gone and murdered two unarmed uniform peelers at the farm. It’ll be only a matter of time before they trace it back to one of my companies. The reporter said Jimmy and Dave are wanted for a number of armed robberies, but the police are lying. They obviously don’t want it known there’s Irish terrorists operating on the British mainland again. And that, my love, means the peelers are hurting right now. You know they’ve been watching us for the last few days. I reckon they’ve got enough on me for us to expect the knock anytime now.’
‘What do you plan to do?’
‘Ring Sheila in Liverpool. Tell her the dress you made for her is ready and you’re leaving now for a final fitting. I told her that if you say this, she’ll know the shit’s hit the fan. Take the suitcase in the hallway. It’s got some clothes for us two. Once you’re at Sheila’s wait until you hear from me. They’ll be following you, so stay calm and do what you would normally do if you were going to Sheila’s. When you leave, I’ll make it obvious that I’m still in the house, so you shouldn’t get stopped to see if I’m hiding in the back of the car. I’ll bring whatever else we need with me later.’
‘What about the kids?’
‘They’re eighteen and twenty, so they can look after themselves. Once it’s safe, we can make arrangements for them to join us later. As they know nothing of our affairs they can’t tell the peelers anything if they’re questioned. Just in case they do bring you in, ask for Gerry Daley. He’s the solicitor who works in Liverpool. Play dumb and say nothing until Gerry gets there.’
* * *
David and Steve were methodically widening the area of their search of Maguire and Mahoney around Leafield Farm. The more they searched, the more they drew blanks. With time ticking away, David was getting frustrated, a frustration that was enhanced by the tiredness he was feeling. Sat in their car ready to set off for the next farm on the list they had drawn up from the Ordnance Survey map of the area, David looked at Steve who was sat in the driver’s seat and said, ‘Knowing it’s likely we’d check every farm in the immediate area of the shooting, I think they’ve changed direction and tried to get a car in another area.’ Looking at the map, David checked the satellite navigation to see what their exact position was and said, ‘Put yourself in their shoes. If we want to steal another car, I wouldn’t do it where we are now. I’d get as far away as I could to another area, but one that’s close enough to Chester to find a place to lay low until tomorrow.’
‘That makes sense,’ Steve said getting out his cigarettes and offering David one, ‘What are you thinking?’
David took the cigarette, and lit it. Pointing to the map he said, ‘I suggest we head back to the A41 and check the farms in the Chowley area.’
‘We’ve got no other leads to go on, so there’s no harm in trying,’ Steve said looking at his watch, ‘Although it’s still light, it’s getting late. It’s half eight and they’ll want to get their heads down.’ Steve switched on the ignition and began to drive off.
Having rejoined the A41, they were heading slowly towards Chester. Having to keep turning off the A41 to check the farms in the area made frustratingly slow progress and still there was no sight of the two Irishmen. After half an hour of searching the area, they got a call from George to attend the report of a murder at Foxglove Farm just outside Chowley.
Arriving at the farm, Steve stopped the Special Branch car next to the uniform mobile parked by the farmhouse. Even though it was a sultry evening, David was putting on his jacket to cover the pistol he had in the shoulder holster when a uniform officer come out of the front door of the farmhouse and walked towards them. David and Steve stayed by their car as the officer approached, when he said, ‘Are you DS Hurst and DC Adams from Special Branch?’
Both officers took out their warrant cards and showed them to the uniform officer. After checking them, he said, ‘Thanks, I’m Ian Pointon the neighbourhood bobby for this patch.’ He started to walk off to the cowsheds followed by the two detectives. Pointing to a spot close to the cowsheds the young officer said, ‘The dead woman’s body is over here. It’s a bit messy I’m afraid. She’s taken a bullet to the head. Her husband and teenage son are in the house comforting each other. The son found the body and, as you can imagine, he’s really distraught at the moment. The dead woman is a Mary Clancy. She was forty years of age and a farmer’s wife. A lovely woman, in fact they’re a lovely family, just like most around here and she did a lot for the local community. I’m assuming it must be those Irish bastards that you’re looking for that did it. I’ve requested SOCO, the forensic pathologist as well as more uniform officers to attend to help seal off the crime scene. As most of them are tied up with the other shooting, I’ve got no ETA for them at the moment.’
‘Thanks Ian,’ David said, ‘Could you do me a favour? While me and Steve look around the scene ask the family if they heard or saw anything and if so, what time they did. Also, see if they’ve had a car stolen. Let me know as soon as you can, especially about the car. We reckon they’ll have dumped the Astra by now and they’ll be using the Clancy’s car. We need to get the car’s details circulated ASAP.’
‘Yeah sure, will do Sarge.’
As Ian Pointon walked back into the farmhouse, David and Steve carefully approached Mary Clancy’s body so as not to disturb any potential forensic evidence. Both looked at her body. ‘It’s them alright,’ Steve said studying the body of the dead woman, ‘It’s another classic PIRA shooting.’
‘I agree and there’s no sign of the Astra. I reckon they’ve dumped the Astra and using the Clancy’s car.’
‘If they’ve dumped the Astra, it won’t be far from here,’ Steve said standing by the body looking around the immediate area for any hard evidence. Studying the ground, Steve walked slowly away from the body. ‘The trouble is these baking hot sunny days are making everything as dry a
s a bone. It’s going to be hard to pickup any tyre tracks or foot prints.’ Pointing to the area around the body, he said, ‘You can’t make any out.’
‘You’re right,’ David said, ‘you never get wet and muddy weather when you want it. Once the circus arrives and an SIO’s in attendance, I suggest we go and look for the Astra.’
Interrupting their thoughts, Ian Pointon ran up to them shouting, ‘Sarge you were right, they’ve stolen Mister Clancy’s silver Ford Mondeo. The reg number’s Yankee nine four seven Kilo Delta Charlie. They’ve taken the keys as well.’
‘Thanks Ian. Contact your control room and circulate the vehicle’s details, but warn other patrols to relay observations only. On no account are they to approach if seen,’ David said.
‘Will do Sarge. I’ll go and rejoin Mister Clancy and his son.’
‘Good idea,’ David said, ‘Apologise to Mister Clancy on my behalf and tell him we’re not ignoring him. I just need to have a quick reccie over the crime scene.’
‘No problem Sarge,’ Ian said as he began to run back into the farmhouse.
Steve looked at David who was deep in thought as he looked around him. Taking out two cigarettes out from his packet, he offered one to David and said, ‘Here, have one of these and a penny for them.’
‘Cheers mate,’ David said as Steve flicked open his Zippo lighter and offered David a light. David lit his cigarette and blew out the smoke in a long thoughtful manner. ‘If we’re not careful we’ll be chasing our own tails with these murders and lose sight of Maguire and Mahoney. Both are experienced. They’ll know if they create enough mayhem, it’ll stretch our resources. If they carry on at this rate, all that’ll be left for Tuesday’s Royal visit will be handful of specials and community support officers along with a handful of SO15 officers from the Met who’ll know this area worse than us two. As they’ve shown us they’re prepared to use their weapons, they’ll also know unarmed uniform officers won’t approach them. On top of that, we don’t know where the fucking hell they are. They’ve still got a strong hand.’