A Dedicated Man (13 page)

Hackett looked at him angrily. ‘You don’t give a damn, do you? Anyway, it’s nobody’s bloody business—’

‘It’s police business now, Mr Hackett,’ Banks interrupted. He put his pipe aside and drained the cold coffee left in his mug. ‘If it’s all the same to you, the
sooner we get it cleared up, the better.’

Hackett shuffled in his chair and smoothed his droopy moustache. ‘It was nothing,’ he said. ‘Just a minor disagreement over an acre or two of land, that’s all.’

‘Countries have been invaded for less,’ Banks remarked, and went on to give Hackett the details as he had heard them.

‘Yes,’ Hackett agreed, ‘that’s more or less it. But I wouldn’t kill anyone for that, let alone a close friend like Harry. Even if he did want to wrap up the whole
bloody dale and give it to the National Trust, I liked the man. I respected his principles, even though they weren’t the same as mine.’

‘But you did argue about the field?’ Banks persisted.

‘We argued about it, yes. But it was half in fun. The others will tell you. Harry liked a good argument as well as the next man. It wasn’t that important.’

‘Money is always important, Mr Hackett. How much did you expect to make from the land if you got it?’

‘That’s impossible to say. I wouldn’t stand to make anything for ages, of course. I’d be out of pocket, in fact. There’s the purchase price, construction, publicity
. . . It could have been years before I started showing a profit.’

‘So you were only in it for the fun?’

‘Not only that, no. I mean, I like business. It’s a way of life that suits me. I like doing deals. I like building things up. But of course I wouldn’t put out good money if I
didn’t think the eventual returns would be substantial.’

‘Can we agree,’ Banks asked, ‘that you did hope at some point to make a considerable amount from your investment?’

‘Hell, yes. Eventually.’

‘And now?’

‘What about now? I don’t understand.’

‘Oh, come on, Mr Hackett. Don’t play the innocent. The pitch is clear now, isn’t it? The field’s yours.’

Hackett laughed and relaxed in his chair. ‘That’s just where you’re wrong, I’m afraid. You see, I think Harry pulled it off. At least there’s a freeze on the place
right now. I suppose young Ramsden will carry on his master’s work and wrap it up. A bloody Roman camp! I ask you! What’s there but a few broken pots and stones? No wonder the bloody
economy’s in the state it’s in. No room for initiative anymore.’

‘Oh,’ said Banks, feigning surprise, ‘I thought our government wanted to encourage small businesses.’

Hackett glared at him; whether for the slight about his fiscal proportions or for picking up a throwaway comment, Banks wasn’t quite sure. ‘You know what I mean, Chief Inspector.
We’re hamstrung by these historical societies and tourist boards. They’re all a load of bloody romantics as far as I can see. It’s all a myth. The past wasn’t like that; it
wasn’t neat and tidy like they all seem to think, for Christ’s sake. Life was nasty, brutish and short, as the man said. Just because I never went to university, it doesn’t make
me an ignoramus, you know. I’ve read books, too. If you ask me, Harry walked around seeing the past through rose-coloured glasses. Penny Cartwright, too. In reality, life must have been
bloody misery back then. Imagine them poor Roman sods freezing their balls off up north when they could have been lounging around in the sun on the seven hills drinking vino and rogering the local
tarts. And as for the bloody Industrial Revolution, it was nothing but exploitation – hard, harsh work for most people. No, Chief Inspector, Harry hadn’t a bloody clue about the past,
for all his degrees.’

‘Maybe you should move somewhere else,’ Banks suggested. ‘I doubt they care much for local history in Wigan, for example, or Huddersfield.’

‘You’d be surprised,’ Hackett said. ‘It’s all over the bloody place. They call it civic pride. They’re even flogging Bradford as the “gateway to
Brontë country” now – and if they can get away with that they can do anything. Besides, I like it here. Don’t think just because I’m a businessman I lack a finer
appreciation of nature. I’m as much for the environment as the next man.’

‘What were you doing on Saturday night?’ Banks asked, renewing the attack on his pipe with a cleaner.

Hackett scratched his receding hairline. ‘After I left the Bridge I went to a new club in Darlington. I drove up there, had a couple of drinks in a local, then went on to the club. I know
the owner, like. We’ve done a bit of business together.’

‘So you left the Bridge at what time?’

‘About half nine.’

‘And drove straight to Darlington?’

‘Well, not exactly. I went home first to get changed.’

‘What time did you leave for Darlington?’

‘About ten to ten.’

‘And arrived?’

‘About half past, twenty to eleven.’

‘And you went to the club when?’

‘Half eleven, quarter to twelve.’

‘What’s it called?’

‘The KitKat Klub. Only been open a few weeks. It’s a sort of disco place, but not too loud. Caters for the more mature crowd.’

‘I suppose you knew people there, people who can corroborate your story?’

‘I talked to a few people, yes. And there’s Andy Shaw, the owner.’

Banks took down the details, including the name of the pub, and noticed how anxious Hackett looked throughout the process.

‘Anything else you can tell us, Mr Hackett?’

Hackett chewed on his lower lip and frowned. ‘No, nothing.’

‘Right then, off you go,’ Banks said. He stood up and walked over to open the door.

As soon as Hackett was out of the building, Banks called Sergeant Hatchley in and asked if he’d found anything in his search of Steadman’s study.

‘Nowt much of interest, no,’ Hatchley said. ‘A few manuscripts, letters to historical preservation societies – they’re on my desk if you want to look at
them.’

‘Later.’

‘And he had one of those fancy computers – a word processor. I suppose he had to spend his brass on something. Remember how much wheeling and dealing it took us to get central admin
to let us have one downstairs?’

Banks nodded.

‘And now they send bloody Richmond off t’ seaside to learn how to use the bugger.’ Hatchley shook his head slowly and left the office.

It was about six thirty, after what passed for rush hour in that part of the country, when Banks pulled into Helmthorpe’s main car park. He had attended the brief
inquest, given the press a snippet or two of information, and managed a quick dinner at home with Sandra and the kids.

Penny Cartwright was washing up the dinner dishes and enjoying the play of evening sunlight as it reflected from the shiny surfaces and skittered about the walls. When she heard a knock at the
front door she quickly wiped her hands on her apron and went to answer it. She knew immediately that the dark-haired wiry man standing there was the policeman Barker had told her about. She
hadn’t expected him to be so good-looking, though, and immediately felt unattractive in her apron with her hair tied back in a long ponytail.

‘You’d better come in,’ she said. ‘We wouldn’t want to give the neighbours too much to talk about.’ She pointed him to a worn armchair and slipped into the
kitchen, where she quickly divested herself of the stained apron, untied her hair and brushed it swiftly so that it fell around her face and spilled over her shoulders.

If Banks was struck by the abrupt casual manner of his hostess, he was also struck by her beauty. She looked good in close-fitting jeans, and her striking hair framed a proud, high-cheekboned
face without a trace of make-up. The combination of jet-black hair and sharp blue eyes added to the stunning effect.

Penny sat in a straight-backed chair by a writing table and asked Banks what she could do for him.

He began casually, trying to establish a friendly tone: ‘Maybe nothing, Miss Cartwright. I’m just talking to Mr Steadman’s friends, trying to get some idea of what he was
like.’

‘Do you really need to know?’ Penny asked. ‘I mean, do you care?’

‘Perhaps not in the way that you do,’ Banks admitted. ‘After all, I didn’t know him. But it might help me to find out who killed him. And I care about that. Obviously
somebody did, but all I’ve heard so far is how wonderful he was – the kind of man who didn’t have an enemy in the whole wide world.’

‘What makes you think you’ll get anything different out of me?’ Penny asked. Her lips curved slightly in a mocking smile.

‘Just fishing.’

‘Well, you won’t catch anything, Inspector. Not from me. It’s all absolutely true. I can’t imagine for the life of me who’d want to do a thing like that to
him.’

Banks sighed. It was going to be a difficult evening. ‘Fortunately, Miss Cartwright,’ he said, ‘it’s not your life we’re concerned about, it’s Mr
Steadman’s. And somebody brought that to an abrupt and cruel end. Do you know anything about his business affairs?’

‘Do you mean that fuss over Crabtree’s Field? Really, Inspector, does Teddy Hackett strike you as the murdering kind? He wouldn’t have the guts to kill a worm if his life
depended on it. He might be a ruthless businessman – though the competition around here isn’t much cop and, if you ask me, he’s got by more on good luck than good management
– but a killer? Hackett? Never.’

‘Stranger things have happened.’

‘Oh, I know. “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy,”’ she quoted.

‘It might not be a serious possibility,’ Banks went on, ‘but it’s the only one we’ve got so far.’

‘Typical bloody police, that is,’ Penny mocked. ‘Crucify the first poor bastard that comes out less than squeaky clean. Still,’ she added, ‘Hackett’s no great
loss to society. Not like Harry.’

‘How long had you known Mr Steadman?’ Banks asked.

‘Depends on what you mean by “know”.’ Penny lit a long filter cigarette and went on. ‘I first met him years ago when I was a teenager and he and Emma came up to
Gratly for their holidays. They’d been two or three times before I got to know them through Michael. That’s Michael Ramsden. They stayed at his parents’ bed-and-breakfast place,
the house they live in now. I was about sixteen, and Michael and I were sweethearts at that time, so, naturally, I saw them quite often.’

Banks nodded and sucked on his pipe. That archaic word ‘sweethearts’ sounded wonderfully erotic coming from Penny’s lips. It seemed unselfconscious, at odds with her tight and
aggressive manner.

‘We went on walks together,’ she continued. ‘Harry knew a lot about the countryside and its history. That was his real love. And then . . . well. It was a beautiful summer, but
it passed, as all summers do.’

‘Ah, yes. “But where are the snows of yesteryear?” ’ Banks quoted back at her.

‘It was summer; there wasn’t much snow.’

Again Banks noticed that tiny twitch of a smile at the corners of her pale lips. ‘That would be about ten years ago, wouldn’t it?’ he asked.

Penny nodded slowly. ‘Ten years, almost exactly. Yes. But things changed. Michael went to university. He was eighteen. I went away. Years passed. Harry came into some money and bought the
house. I’d been back about eight months then – sort of return of the prodigal daughter. Black sheep. Most people had no time for me, but Harry always did.’

‘What do you mean they had no time for you? Where had you been? Why did you come back?’

‘That’s a long story, Inspector,’ Penny said, ‘and I’m not sure it comes under the heading of relevant information. Briefly though, I spent about eight or nine
years away, in the music business. Mostly I was homesick, despite all the fun and a moderate amount of acclaim. Finally, I got very cynical, and I decided it was time to come home. People
weren’t friendly because they can’t accept anything modern around here and they no longer knew how to behave towards me. I’m sure they made up stories to suit their opinions. They
didn’t know who or what I was, so they made a lot of assumptions based on what they read in the Sunday papers about the music business – and I don’t mean the
Sunday Times
,
either. To them I became a degenerate, a scarlet woman. In fact, I always had been – they couldn’t admit they’d ever been wrong about me. Does that answer your
questions?’

She paused but didn’t look at Banks for a response. ‘It was very hard for my father, but he took me back. Why don’t I live with him? Is that what you were going to ask next?
For my sanity, Inspector, my mental health. He’s just a bit too solicitous of my welfare, shall we say. And I think I’m a big girl now. It seemed best for both of us if I took this
little cottage. Surely you can understand that?’

‘Of course. There were rumours, too, weren’t there?’

Penny laughed. ‘Oh, you know about that as well, do you? See what a nice close little community our village is? Well, don’t be embarrassed, Inspector, ask me. Go on, ask
me.’

Her bright blue eyes glittered with anger. Banks said nothing. Finally, Penny gave him a scornful look and turned away to pull another cigarette from her packet.

‘So only your father and Harold Steadman were kind to you?’

‘Yes.’ Penny hesitated. ‘And Jack Barker, too. He’d been here a year or so by then, but he knew nothing of what had happened. Not that it would have mattered to him.
He’s a friend, too.’

‘And now?’

‘Oh, now?’ Penny laughed. ‘People are beginning to say hello again.’

‘Do you still see Michael Ramsden?’

‘Not much. Only when he calls in at the Bridge or drops by with Harry. Sometimes when you drift apart you never really drift back together.’

‘And you can’t think of any reason why anyone would want to harm Mr Steadman?’

‘None at all. I’ve told you.’ Penny’s smooth brow creased in thought and she shook her head sadly. ‘He wasn’t greedy or scheming. He never cheated or
lied.’

‘What did his wife think of your relationship?’

‘Emma? Nothing much, I should imagine. Probably glad to get him out of the way.’

‘Why do you say that? Were they unhappy together?’

Penny looked at him as if he’d just crawled out from under a stone and blew her smoke out angrily. ‘How should I know? Ask her.’