by Salkeld, J J
‘No, I wasn’t.’
Hall nodded and looked at his notes.
‘Would you describe yourself as a caring sort of person, Lillian?’
‘I’m a Christian, so yes, of course I would.’
‘And yet you didn’t contact Vicky in any way, or even pop round to see her, after Tony’s death?’
‘Inspector, my client has already satisfied you fully on that point.’
Hall nodded.
‘And are you aware why we’ve asked you to come in, for a formal interview under caution?’
‘My client can’t answer as to the thought processes of Cumbria Constabulary.’
Hall smiled. He wasn’t sure that he could either. ‘We are treating Tony Harrison’s death as suspicious, which means that we think it might not have been an accident. And the things that you’ve told us, or more accurately haven’t told us, are among the reasons for our investigation. You didn’t tell us that you already knew the Harrisons, which we think is odd at the very least, but you didn’t mention something else that’s even more important than that.’
Lillian Hill knew exactly what Hall was referring to. ‘I’ve already told you, I was not having a relationship with Tony.’
‘We have evidence to the contrary, both that he was having an affair, and that he was a very frequent visitor at your house in the weeks before his death.’
‘Inspector, that is an entirely erroneous conclusion. Please do not insult either myself or my client by pursuing this line of questioning further.’
‘So you still deny that you were having a sexual relationship?’
‘Yes.’
Hall looked at Lillian for a long moment. ‘And you do understand that, as part of this investigation, we will investigate that assertion fully. We will look at both of your lives in great detail, talk to your friends and workmates, look at CCTV and other electronic records. Do you really think that you’ll be able to maintain your stated position, and have you thought about the implications if you can’t?’
‘Inspector, this borderline bullying of my client. I must ask you to desist.’
‘That’s not the intention, Ms. Smith. We’re aware that your client isn’t known to us and so may well be unaware of the thoroughness of our investigative procedures and processes. I thought it would be in her best interests to understand that a denial today will not prevent us from pursuing our investigation, no matter what indication to the contrary she might have received from other sources.’ Hall glanced across at the observation window as he finished. A second later he thought he heard a door slam, but he might have imagined it. He hoped he hadn’t.
‘I understand. I wasn’t having an affair with Tony. Do what you like.’
Hall opened his file, selected two pictures showing Tony Harrison’s head injuries, and slid them across the table towards Lillian. Marion Smith glanced at them, then looked sharply across the table at Hall. ‘Inspector, you’d better have a very good reason for showing my client such disturbing images.’
‘I am showing Ms. Hill two photographs, exhibits P7 and P9’ said Hall calmly. ‘You can see the horrific extent of the injuries, and you probably know that Mr. Harrison did not die immediately as a result of them. So if this was anything other than an accident we are looking at a charge of manslaughter, at a minimum. So I have to ask you Ms. Hill, and I must remind you that you are under caution, if you were involved in any way in the death of Tony Harrison?’
‘No, I was not.’
‘And do you have any knowledge, beyond what you’ve told us today, of the circumstances of his death?’
‘I do not.’
Hall and Jane Francis returned to his office for ten minutes before Vicky Harrison arrived. Hall half expected Robinson to be waiting, or at the very least an email to be sitting in his inbox, but neither proved to be the case. It was slightly unnerving, but Hall guessed the Super was keeping his powder dry. No point sticking his head above the political parapet if it turned out that the investigation was going nowhere. And that was certainly how it looked at the moment.
Vicky Harrison’s solicitor was called Jenkins, a man who Hall knew to be both very expensive and highly competent, a far from universal combination in Hall’s experience. Once again Hall took Vicky slowly and methodically through all of the events of the day, before and after the accident, despite the almost continuous interruptions from Jenkins. But if these irritated Hall there was no outward sign of it.
‘Lillian Hill has told us that she saw you and your husband earlier that morning. Did you see her?’
‘No. Where did she see us?’
‘Not long before Tony fell, she said you passed her while she was having her lunch.’
‘No, I didn’t notice. The visibility was very bad as I said. I hardly saw anyone once we were up on the tops.’
‘When we first spoke you didn’t mention that you knew Lillian.’
‘Is that a question or a statement Inspector?’ said Jenkins.
‘I’m asking your client to confirm or deny.’
‘That’s right, I didn’t mention it. She isn’t a close acquaintance, just someone I knew very slightly from church. It was just a co-incidence.’
‘And not much of one at that Inspector’ added Jenkins quickly, ‘as I’m quite sure you will agree. It isn’t as if they met half way up a Himalayan peak, now is it?’
‘But that isn’t the only co-incidence, because we now have reason to believe that your husband was having an affair with Ms. Hill.’
‘So you say’ said Vicky.
‘But you still don’t believe it?’
‘I don’t know, and it doesn’t really matter now, does it?’
‘So, at the time of your husband’s fall, you had no knowledge that he might have been involved with Lillian Hill?’
‘No, I didn’t know that he was having an affair with anyone.’
Hall nodded and looked down at his notes.
‘Since the accident you’ve had no contact with Ms. Hill.’ Hall glanced across at Jenkins, and beat him to it. ‘Is that the case?’
‘That’s right. She may have been at the funeral, but I’m not sure. She probably was though. There were hundreds of people from that bloody church. They love giving their own a good send off.’
‘Doesn’t it surprise you that she hasn’t been in touch? If I’d been with someone immediately after a horrific incident, especially if I already knew them slightly, then I’d certainly want to check up on them later.’
‘Well maybe we’re not all as nice as you’ said Vicky, and Hall and Jane both heard the edge in her voice. Jenkins must have heard it too. ‘Inspector, please. You’re just inviting my client to speculate with you now. And I’m afraid it has to stop, it really does.’
Once again Hall opened the file, and pushed two photos across the table. Jane found that she was holding her breath. Vicky Harrison looked at both without flinching, and to Jane’s surprise Jenkins didn’t intervene.
‘Did you push Tony over that cliff edge?’
‘No, of course not.’
Hall took his time, and he left the pictures on the table between them.
‘People would understand you know. More to the point the courts would understand.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘We have a pretty good idea what your husband was like. And we think his behaviour had been getting worse in the weeks leading up to his death. Much worse.’
Vicky Harrison said nothing. She was still looking at the pictures, so Hall picked them up and put them back into his folder.
‘Do I have to spell it out Mrs. Harrison? Your husband was abusive, and we know that you called a domestic violence helpline in the weeks before his death.’
‘Inspector, please’ said Jenkins. ‘You can’t possibly have any knowledge of the content of that call.’ But Vicky held up her hand, and Jenkins didn’t continue. She looked up at Hall.
‘I very much doubt that Tony would ever have been convicted of any offence, wha
tever I’d done or said. He never once hit me, he barely even raised his voice, not in over twenty years. But Tony controlled every aspect of my life. He even decided which God I should worship, for Christ’s sake. But I didn’t kill Tony, I didn’t want to and I didn’t need to. I’m not some poor housewife who depends on her husband for everything, I have a career. In fact I bring in far more money than my husband ever did, especially in the last few years.’
‘And he resented that?’
‘Yes, he did, and I admit that did make things worse, especially in the last few months. The less he earned, the less busy he was, the worse it got, especially when Peter went away to university.’
‘So you did call that helpline?’
‘Oh, that. I’d been drinking, I was feeling sorry for myself I suppose. But I didn’t kill my husband.’
‘Did you love him?’
‘No’ Vicky replied before Jenkins could intervene. ‘But if not loving your husband was a crime your cells would be full to bursting with middle aged women. I’ve come to believe that people only really love each other when they’re very young and very old. In between it’s just kids and work.’
Hall nodded.
‘So you weren’t planning to leave your husband?’
‘No. Do all the digging you want, but I wasn’t. I’m not sure what I would have done if things hadn’t got better. Nothing probably.’
‘Had you talked to him about his behaviour?’
Vicky laughed briefly. ‘No I hadn’t. But then we never talked about anything that mattered, not for years at least. Everything was all about Tony anyway, and as he ran out of ideas, dreams I suppose, then he talked to me less. And towards the end I don’t think he liked me very much at all.’
‘Can I suggest we call a halt to this interview, and I use the term loosely, at this point Inspector?’ said Jenkins. ‘I’m not qualified to judge, but I very much doubt that you have a bright future in the world of counseling. But what I am entitled to say is this. I do not expect to see either my esteemed client or yourself again, unless or until you have some real evidence that any crime has been committed here, and further that my client was in some way involved. Do I make myself quite clear? This is a fishing expedition of the very worst kind. If I make speak metaphorically for a moment, you appear to lack not only bait but also a fishing rod.’
Hall replied that Jenkins had indeed been clear, and he got up. Jenkins did the same, and Jane reached across to turn off the recorder. But Vicky didn’t move for a long moment.
‘We’re done for now Mrs. Harrison, you’re free to go’ said Hall.
Vicky got up slowly, moved towards the door, and stopped next to Jane.
‘You’re wasting your time. You really are.’
DI Andy Hall’s day didn’t get any better. When he returned to his office and opened his email there was an appointment with Robinson for 2pm. Hall knew that the best thing to do was just to carry on with his work until the appointed hour, and he certainly had plenty to do, and then just deal with Robinson when they met. But that just wasn’t how his mind worked, and he spent half of the intervening time coming up with a range of possible scenarios. It didn’t stop there, because by the time 2pm came round Hall had expanded all of the possible scenarios into full blown conversations.
As was often the case he shouldn’t have bothered, because what Robinson had to say took Hall completely by surprise. ‘I’ve just come back from HQ. I met with the Chief on this Ian Mann business. He suggested that we need to inform other agencies of what’s going on, including the County Council, who own the Abbey, plus English Heritage and a number of other institutions, both locally and nationally.’
‘I thought we’d agreed that we needed to protect Ian, and inform as few people as possible?’
‘You don’t need to lecture me Inspector. Since Mann isn’t actively involved in any rustling activities we’re not going to inform any of the agricultural agencies, especially because Mann got a sense that Fraser might have a source inside DEFRA. But when it comes to all these heritage types, I can’t really see them being involved with organised crime, can you?’
‘I don’t know sir. We don’t even know the extent of the conspiracy here. And I can’t see any practical advantage of informing all of these people about what’s going on. Aren’t they just going to want us to nick them all now, before Spedding and his boys get a chance to do more damage to a historic building?’
‘There is that viewpoint, of course, but the Chief is confident that everyone concerned will appreciate that we have the opportunity to smash a major conspiracy here. If we can catch the individual or company that is processing the stolen metals then we’ll have gone a long way to preserving much of what our heritage friends seem to call ‘the built environment’.’
‘Even if it means putting Ian Mann at risk?’
‘Don’t be dramatic Inspector, it’s not like you. So can I assume that you’ll update Sergeant Mann? In any case this operation will be over in just a few days.’
‘We hope.’
‘We know. The Chief was very firm on that point. Now, moving on to another matter. I understand that you’ve interviewed both Ms. Hill and Mrs. Harrison today?’
Hall had mentally rehearsed for this exchange, and it played out much in the way that he had expected.
‘Yes, sir, I have.’
‘Any progress?’
‘Modest. Vicky Harrison admits that she did call a domestic abuse helpline, and that the situation had escalated recently, but she denies having anything to do with Tony’s death as, of course, does Lillian Hill.’
‘That’s not modest progress Inspector, that’s no progress at all. You haven’t even got the beginnings of a case against anyone here.’
‘I’m afraid I disagree sir. Both women attempted to conceal the fact that they knew each other, Lillian Hill denies that she was having an affair with the dead man, but we believe otherwise.’
‘You believe otherwise.’
‘All right sir, I believe otherwise. But I’m confident that I can prove it, if we make further enquiries. And also we now know that Tony Harrison was regarded as being abusive by his wife, which does suggest a motive for Vicky Harrison too.’
‘So what are your next steps?’
‘Deep background on both women. If Lillian Hill wasn’t seeing Tony Harrison then who was her regular caller, and is Vicky Harrison telling the truth about her relationship with her husband in those last months? She admits that she knew he was having an affair. Was she actively preparing to fly solo perhaps?’
Robinson groaned.
‘I see what this is Inspector. This is personal for you now, isn’t it? You’re so angry about what’s happening to DC Francis that you’re looking to take it out on me. You think that my concern for my church and my fellow parishioners makes me vulnerable to this kind of willful continuation of a case that is entirely without merit. I bet you’re an atheist too, aren’t you?’
‘That’s not the case at all sir’ said Hall, his manner as outwardly relaxed as if he’d just refused the offer of a cup of tea, ‘I’m pursuing this investigation because we have reasonable grounds to do so. Do you know how many people have fallen to their deaths in the last twenty five years from anywhere near that spot sir?’
‘No, but I’m sure you’ll enlighten me.’
‘Just one, Tony Harrison. And that’s pretty remarkable, when you consider that it’s one of the most popular circular walks in the Lakes.’
‘That means absolutely nothing at all, and you know it.’ Robinson’s tone was getting heated.
‘On its own, you’re right of course. But we do have a clear opportunity, and one of those women, and arguably both, had a motive.’
‘How so, both women had a motive?’
‘Lillian Hill may be the woman scorned sir.’
‘But even if that’s the case, and she pushed Tony Harrison over the edge, then why hasn’t Vicky Harrison told us about it long since?’
�
�Yes, and we could equally ask the same question the other way around, couldn’t we sir? If Vicky pushed Tony over then why hasn’t Lillian come forward?’
‘So what’s your answer?’ Robinson’s voice had risen slightly, and his immaculate white shirt seemed to be digging slightly into his reddening neck.
‘I don’t have one sir. Not yet. And that’s why the investigation continues. Unless you’re ordering me to close the file. Are you doing that sir?’
Robinson was silent for a long moment.
‘No, I’m not doing that. If I didn’t have a personal interest, which I declared right at the very start of the case, then I would do so, because you’ve nothing to justify further expenditure and effort. But since I do have a very modest personal interest in the matter I’m going to allow you to continue. But I will be sending you a note of this meeting, and making it very clear that my firm recommendation is that you pursue this matter no further. Is that clear?’
‘Absolutely sir. In return I’ll drop you a note asking for details of exactly who at any other agencies has been informed both of Ian Mann’s identity and of his activities. I will need that on file in case Ian’s cover should be blown.’
Robinson’s shirt looked tighter than ever as he curtly nodded agreement.
Sunday, 24th March
‘It’s really kind of you to come out today Sally’ said Jane, as the two women laced up their boots behind Jane’s car, parked at the end of the road three quarters of the way up the Kentmere valley. ‘I know you were supposed to be seeing Bill’s mum today.’
Sally pulled a face. ‘Don’t be daft. I’m glad of the excuse. She’s an interfering old boot. When I married Bill I thought she’d soon peg out, she smoked like a lung back then, but I swear she looks younger now than she did then. It’s terrifying. I blame the health lobby.’
‘You told Bill I was having problems?’
‘I said things weren’t going well at work. He understands, or at least he says he does. And he should do, he moans on about his place often enough. Not that you’re moaning on Jane, that’s not what I meant.’