Death on Account (The Lakeland Murders) (25 page)

‘I’m not sure. Years ago he worked with my dad, but I think he’s some sort of businessman now. Always has a flash car, and he always gave me fantastic presents at Christmas. He tried to give me a pony when I was ten. Look, until a few days ago I didn’t know that any of my family had ever had so such as a parking fine, so I probably don’t know the real story about Uncle Pat. I accept that.’

‘OK, Gill, that’s fine, don’t worry. Now, tell me more about Alison.’

‘What exactly? I didn’t know her that well.’

‘Did you see anything of each other when you were off duty as it were?’

‘Once or twice. We had a drink. We were both new to the area, on our own. But that’s going back a month or two.’

‘Did you ever go back to her house?’

‘No.’

‘Do you know where it is?’

‘No, she did say but I’ve forgotten. I’m still not really used to the street names here, sorry.’

‘That’s OK. I’ve lived here for years and I still forget. When did you last see her, then?’

‘When we were on duty together, a few nights ago.’

‘And where were you this morning, between seven thirty and nine?’

‘I was at work from about eight, maybe ten past. Before that I was cycling to the office. That takes about fifteen minutes.’

‘And were you the first in?’

‘No, there were a couple of other people in. We’ve got a big job on at the moment, and it’s behind schedule, so some people are working mad hours.’

‘And were you logged on to your computer?’

‘Yes, I was, so every keystroke will be recorded, and every website I visited. You’ll even be able to see the online dating site I visited in my coffee break. It’s not easy for us nerds to meet people, you know Andy.’

Wednesday, 15th May

When Alison Thornton woke up it took her a few seconds to realise where she was, and she felt the fear rising immediately. Then she remembered that she was in a hotel in Grange, and looked across at the digital clock. It was almost eight, so she’d been asleep for almost twelve hours. And the question that she’d asked herself so often the previous evening came back to her: had she made a terrible mistake by not getting right away while she had the chance?

She turned on the TV and waited for the local news. Sure enough her picture was shown, and there was an appeal to contact the Police if anyone had seen her. Alison felt the panic rising in her throat again, but then tried to calm down. She gone to a hairdresser in Grange the previous afternoon and had her hair cut and died blonde, and she’d shoplifted a pair of glasses with plain lenses in from an opticians too. Then she’d found a clothes shop selling business clothes, and bought herself a suit and a briefcase.

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 did 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?’