Death on Account (The Lakeland Murders) (27 page)

‘Yes, and that’s certainly possible. Basically we’ve lost her on the timeline, and then the possibilities of where she’s gone start to multiply exponentially.’

‘You mean you haven’t got a clue where the hell she is.’

Jane and Ray laughed. ‘Yes Tony, that’s a fair summary of the situation. If we don’t get back on to her soon, today really, then I reckon she’s away. So it’s time to start to coming at this from the other end. Why did she do it, and who did she do it for?’

‘Agreed. I’m not surprised that she’s got away. A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing as they say, and it’s certainly true in this case. And if she stays off the grid we’ll struggle to find her. But what’s she doing for cash? You think Cafferty is bank-rolling her?’

‘Has to be. She’s probably carrying bank cards registered to one of his people, and if we can find who that is we’ll be able to get back on her trail. But if she’s got half a brain she’ll be very careful about using them, and will keep moving around.’

‘She’ll be worried about Cafferty finding her before we do, you mean?’

‘Absolutely. She must realise that she’s the weak link now, and that it would suit Murphy, Cafferty and whoever else if she was to meet the same fate as Williams. And since it was her who grassed him up I’m guessing that she’s in absolutely no doubt about how Billy Cafferty deals with problems like her.’

‘Well we’ve been looking carefully at her place of work while you’ve been chasing shadows. Clean as the proverbial whistle. Been established for twenty plus years, impeccable reputation, no NI fiddles, nothing. They even did security for our Benevolent Fund’s boxing night the other week, all free-of-charge, honest they did.’

‘I get the picture, and I’m not surprised. The likes of Cafferty know that they have to compartmentalise perfectly to survive, and they can’t afford any contact between their straight businesses and their criminal activity. But if we don’t get anywhere from our end in the next twenty four hours would it be OK if we popped down again?’

‘Sure thing. Happy to have your input, just let me know. Anything else?’

‘Just one thought. Have Alison’s bosses at Safe Security had their auditors in, the last couple of days I mean? Since they’ve known what she was up to, I mean.’

‘Not as far as I know. Her boss seemed relaxed about the money side. He said she was a model employee, or words to that effect.’

‘That’s what makes me nervous.’

‘I hear you Andy. OK, I’ll suggest it to them. At least it might help us eliminate fraud as a motive. At the moment we’re struggling to work out why she did it.’

‘No sign of extra cash? New car, mortgage paid off, anything like that?’

‘No, nothing.’

‘She’s an accountant, so she might just be good at keeping cash out of sight. But if it’s not financial, any signs that the motive might be something else?’

‘No sign that she was having an affair with anyone, least of all Murphy, if that’s what you mean. If she was they were being bloody careful, anyway.’

‘Well, her prints were on that file, and she’s running as hard as she can now, so there’s no doubt that she grassed on Williams, and she can’t have taken all that risk for nothing.’

‘The way I heard it your Super more or less handed the file to her on a plate.’

‘It wasn’t quite like that, Tony.’

‘Just make sure you don’t join him on the bridge of the Turdtanic, Andy, because from what I heard it’s going down with all hands.’

‘Do you mind, I’ve got my sandwich here. And it’s sausage.’ Hall winked at Jane and Ray. ‘I’ll email you later and let you know if we’re coming down. It’d be me and Jane again. I’m leaving Ray alone on the bridge. He’ll tell us what the band’s playing when she finally goes down, I’m sure.’

To her surprise Alison Thornton enjoyed her morning in Edinburgh. It almost felt like she was on holiday. She’d intended to stay in Glasgow, but when she got off the bus from Hamilton she saw a non-stop service to Edinburgh, and it looked as if it was about to leave. So she’d climbed aboard, and here she was.

She’d spent one night in a hotel in the centre of town, and she’d seen an advert for a flat share in Marchmont. She’d met the girl who owned it within an hour or two, and they got on well. Alison had told her that she was taking a sabbatical from her work as an accountant, and would be staying until the end of the Festival at least. And she’d paid a couple of month’s rent in advance too.

Now it was time to shop. She’d decided that the best strategy was to hit one of the cards hard, then leave it alone, so she bought clothes, a top of the range mobile and a laptop, and managed to get a couple of thousand in cash before one of the cards was declined. From now on her plan was to use cash whenever she could, and make cash withdrawals on the other card in some of the Scottish towns that she’d never really heard of, like Dunfermline, or Livingston, or Kirkaldy. They all seemed to be just a short train ride away.

When she’d finished shopping she called a cab, loaded up her stuff, and made her way round to the flat.

‘I wanted a fresh start’ she said to her new flatmate when she’d finished climbing the stairs with all her bags and boxes. ‘Now, do you fancy going somewhere for lunch? I could eat a scabby horse.’

‘In that case I know just the place.’

They walked across the Meadows in the sunshine, and when a police car came past, with its siren blaring and its lights flashing, Alison didn’t even jump. She knew this feeling was temporary, that it was all just a holiday from her real life, but it was searching for permanence that had got her in to this situation in the first place. She decided to enjoy the moment for as long as it lasted.

Friday, 17th May

‘This isn’t the end of the matter’ Hall said to the team, ‘but we have to accept that Alison Thornton is away, at least for now. Either she’s hidden the car in Penrith, possibly with the help of an accomplice, or she left via a route that isn’t covered by ANPR perhaps, and then abandoned the car later. It will be found, but even if we found it today the chances of us picking up her trail again are low. So, we’re scaling back the team, to the five of you here this morning, and we need to revisit our strategy. So let’s talk to every other mainland UK force, and send them pictures of the car, plus the modified version of the picture of Alison, with her hair as it is now. Or at least as it was when she was last seen.’

‘What about an accomplice then, boss?’ asked Ray Dixon.

‘There’s nothing to suggest that she had one, and if I were her I’d have done this on my own, much safer. I might be wrong.’

‘It’s happened before’ called out Dixon, and Hall stopped and smiled.

‘It has indeed, Ray, and I’ve noted that remark for your next appraisal. When is it again?’

‘Next week, boss’ said Dixon, and the rest laughed. Superintendent Robinson was conspicuous by his absence today, and that made everyone that bit more relaxed.

‘Timing is everything, Ray. Now look, I know this isn’t ideal, but it’s the way of the world. So we have to concentrate on what we can do cost-effectively. So let’s try to get Alison Thornton on every coppers’ mind, at least for a day or two, and we might get lucky. And myself and Jane are going to head down this morning and liaise with the Merseyside lot, see if we can get a lead on where Alison has gone from what they’re doing. And by the way, a bit of good news for everyone. I have it on very good authority that Ian Mann will be back with us on Monday, and I’m pleased to say that the external investigation has recommended no disciplinary action. And I’m still hoping he’ll get a medal.’

There was a ripple of applause. Hall held up his hand.

‘And remember that there’s always a chance that Alison will decide to give herself up. She knows the calibre of detectives we have here, after all. Seriously, when she’s had the chance to think about it Alison might decide that she’s better off taking her chances with us then she is waiting for Cafferty’s lot to find her. She might have the strength to start again from nothing, and fabricate a new identity, but does she really have the strength, the will to do that and stick with it for the rest of her life? Usually they don’t. So don’t be astonished if she gets in touch, OK?’

Hall was looking forward to the drive down with Jane. He’d cleaned out the car, and chosen his CDs with care. He had to resist the feeling that they were going away for the weekend, and in any case he needed to get back home before tea-time on Saturday, because of Alice’s exams next week. And he wanted to make a proper Sunday dinner, with all the trimmings.

As they’d walked to the car Hall had guessed that Jane would want to talk about work at first, and personal stuff later. He was right. It wasn’t just criminals who could compartmentalise their lives.

‘So Alison is away then’ said Jane.

‘Yes, and unaided too. She’s a smart operator. I wonder how she did it?’

‘I taught her everything she knows.’

Hall smiled. ‘Not your fault Jane. But of course having that insight into how we work probably did help her drop out of sight like that. But I still reckon we’ll find her again, dead or alive.’

‘You think Cafferty’s people will kill her if they find her?’

‘Yes, and they might have already of course. Her body might be in a shallow grave in the Eden Valley somewhere. But I really doubt that. My guess is that her first priority was to lose us, and then do the same with Cafferty. If she’s got any sense she’ll stop using any cash cards they gave her, or at least use them infrequently and in different places. But that’s her problem. Our problem is trying to work out where she’s gone.’

‘And why she did it in the first place.’

‘Absolutely. I’ve read the bloody file that Tony Sheridan’s mob has put together, every single word, twice, and I still don’t have a clue. Don’t get me wrong, they’ve done a decent job, but I can’t see anything that tells us why she got mixed up with Cafferty’s people.’

‘People do change, Andy. They do irrational things sometime.’

Hall smiled slightly, and Jane noticed. She knew that he’d keep thinking about why his marriage had broken down, and worrying away at it, but not everything was about him.

‘Of course, but usually within limits. That’s why most of our regulars keep on offending, isn’t it? I’d just have Alison down as someone logical and sensible, to the point of being dull, imaginative even.’

‘How do you mean?’

Hall picked up the edge in Jane’s voice. He would have to choose his words more carefully. ‘She is an accountant, for a start. It’s not a job that’s normally chosen by people who crave a life of unbridled excitement, is it?’

‘Don’t you think you’re stereotyping?’

‘Maybe just a bit, but there’s other things too. Never moved far from where she was brought up, never married. Plenty of boyfriends apparently, but never got across the line.’

‘Would you be saying the same about a bloke? I bet you’d think he was just playing the field.’

‘Come on, you know me better than that. Of course I would. I’m just talking about risk-aversion, a desire to be in control of your world, even if it shrinks round you because of that. I’m not drawing any comparisons, Jane, honestly. I didn’t know the woman. Maybe she’s an absolute raver on the quiet.’

Jane laughed, and Hall was relieved. ‘An absolute raver? what is this, 1968?’

‘You know what I mean. The things about still waters running deep and all that is usually just crap. It’s just that the people over in the white water, whether they’re enjoying it or not, think that something interesting must be going on in the calm bit. But for lots of people it isn’t.’

‘The wit and wisdom of Andy Hall, eh?’

‘And there’s plenty more where that came from. Talking of wit, I nearly choked on my breakfast this morning. Did you hear that brilliant story about those WI ladies who dressed up as pirates because they had a chap coming to talk about piracy?’

‘No, what’s so funny about that?’

‘They thought he was a historian, coming to talk about Blackbeard and parrots and maps with Xs on, but in fact the poor bloke had been held hostage by Somali pirates, and had come to talk about his experiences.’

‘Sounds like it must have happened in Cumbria.’

‘That’s what I thought, but it was in Cornwall I think. Anyway, apparently the poor bloke saw the funny side.’

‘So he didn’t batter them all to death with their own wooden legs?’

‘No, can you imagine the crime report if he had? Some poor PC making an inventory of pieces of eight and bottles of rum.’

‘Sounds like a good night out where I come from.’

‘Talking of which, have you got any plans for Sunday night?’

‘No, I’m out walking through the day, why?’

‘I wondered if you fancied supper round with us, then maybe a film at The Brewery.’

‘Sounds lovely, but is it some art house thing?’

‘Yes.’

‘You do know that at this stage in our relationship it’s normal to watch a rom-com together. And then, in a few years time, I’ll be watching that sort of thing on my own, curled up alone on the sofa with a bottle of Viognier and a box of tissues.’