Authors: Rhys Bowen
Evans Above (14 page)
They found Jimmy Marshall in his back garden, mowing the lawn. A toddler scooted around him on a tiny bike making race car noises over the drone of the lawn mower. Jimmy stopped mowing as his wife led the two men out through French doors and yelled his name. Evan noted the pretty back garden with its blooming flower beds and manicured lawn. What he had seen of the house had been attractive too. Jimmy Marshall had definitely done better for himself than the others since leaving the army.He came over to themâan amiable-looking man with sandy hair and freckles.
“Coppers, are you?” he asked, the smile fading as his wife introduced them. “Looking into Stew and Tommy's deaths?”
“You heard about them then?” Watkins asked.
Jimmy Marshall nodded. “Yeah. I couldn't believe it when I read it in the paper. What a shock! I suppose the silly buggers tried their hand at a spot of rock climbing when they were up there and pulled each other down, eh?”
“Does that sound like the kind of thing they would do?” Evan asked him.
Jimmy thought for a moment. “It sounds like the kind of thing Stew might have done. He was a right ladâalways ready for a dare when we were in the army. You should have seen the scrapes we got into because of him. We were always on KP duty peeling bloody potatoes. But it was good for a laugh, I suppose. You needed to break the monotony somehow.”
“You don't sound like you liked the army too much,” Watkins said.
Jimmy Marshall shook his head. “I couldn't wait to get out. I only went in because my dad said I wouldn't be able to hack it. I'd have done anything to prove him wrong back in those days. But I hated it from day one. I'd never have survived if I hadn't made friends with ⦔ His words drifted away and he shook his head. “I still can't believe it,” he said.
“You knew about this weekend get-together then?” Watkins asked.
“Yeah, I was invited too,” Jimmy Marshall said. “At least, I got this postcard with a picture of Mount Snowdon on it saying we were all going to meet for a memorial on the day Danny died.”
“But you didn't go?”
Jimmy shook his head. “Nah. Too busy. I had to attend a conference in Chester all weekend for my firm. We got taken over by an American company last year and now we're into all this effectiveness and productivity training. We have to go to a couple of sessions a year. Retreats, they call them. Waste of time, I call them, but they're mandatory.”
“And they can verify you were there all weekend?” Watkins asked.
“Oh yeah. They make sure you attend. We had to sign in
for each session,” Jimmy said. “I was there all right, sitting on one of those hard chairs and suffering.”
for each session,” Jimmy said. “I was there all right, sitting on one of those hard chairs and suffering.”
“Do you know who sent the invitation, Jimmy?” Watkins asked.
“I assumed it had to be Tommy Hatcher, because it had a London postmark.”
“Did that seem the sort of thing you'd expect him to do?”
“I guess so,” Jimmy said. “Tommy was the soft-hearted one. We used to tease him about it. But I never realized Danny's death had affected him so deeply. We never talked about it much, of course, but it was an accident after all, and accidents happen, especially in the army.”
“Did you stay in touch with Hatcher or any of your other buddies after you left the army?” Sergeant Watkins asked.
“I saw Stew Potts a couple of times because he lived close by,” Jimmy Marshall said. “In fact I've got a sympathy card on the table in there. I was in the middle of writing it to his wife, but I couldn't think what to say. What can you say?”
“And Tommy Hatcher?” Watkins asked. “Did you keep in touch with him?”
“No, I'd lost touch with him completely. That's why I was surprised he had my address.”
“Any other mates from army days that you think might have been invited to the reunion?”
Jimmy Marshall thought for a moment, leaning on his lawn mower and staring out across the line of back gardens. Then he shook his head. “It was the four of us, really. I can't think who else would have been there ⦠unless it was a bigger thing all together and they'd invited the whole intake, or even the whole hut.”
“Who might have done that?”
“I've no idea. If it came from the army, it would have been
at an army establishment, wouldn't it? Besides, why would they want to hold a memorial for him? Half the top brass from the base got in trouble over it. They'd wouldn't want it raked up again.”
at an army establishment, wouldn't it? Besides, why would they want to hold a memorial for him? Half the top brass from the base got in trouble over it. They'd wouldn't want it raked up again.”
“How about you,” Evan asked. “Would you have gone if you could?”
Jimmy shook his head right away. “Nah. Not me. I don't go in for this sentimental stuff. I felt sorry for poor Danny, but what's the sense in dragging it all up again? It couldn't bring him back. It didn't make sense to me. It wasn't like he'd died a hero or anything.”
“Tell me about that night on the mountain,” Evan said. “The night Danny died. Anything you can remember.”
“There's not much to tell,” Jimmy said. “It was bloody horrible. We all had to get from point A to point B, across the mountain and down again. We'd only just started when a storm came in. It was blowing a gale, we were soaked through, and we could hardly see our hands in front of our faces.”
“Wasn't it rather stupid to take people over the top of a mountain in weather like that?” Evan asked.
“We weren't supposed to go over the top. That was the funny thing,” Jimmy Marshall said. “More like round the foothills. Danny must have got off course somehow, although he must have known that he was climbing higher and higher.”
He glanced around. “Look, would you like to sit down? How about a beer, or a cup of tea?”
“Tea would be nice,” Watkins said.
“I suppose you have to say no to the beer when you're on duty,” Jimmy Marshall said with a grin. “Helen,” he called. “Can you make us a pot of tea, love?”
“I made one, just in case,” came the answering shout from the house, and Jimmy's wife appeared with a tray. There were
china tea cups on a lace cloth and a plate of assorted biscuits. “Here you are. You can pour for yourselves,” she said, putting the tray on a small table.
china tea cups on a lace cloth and a plate of assorted biscuits. “Here you are. You can pour for yourselves,” she said, putting the tray on a small table.
Jimmy led them over and unfolded some plastic garden chairs. The toddler propelled himself over to them and immediately climbed onto Jimmy's knee. “Can I have a biscuit, daddy?” he asked.
“You'll spoil your lunch,” Jimmy said, smoothing back the boy's unruly hair, “and mummy will be mad at me.”
“Please?” the little boy draped his arms around the man's neck.
“Just one then,” Jimmy said, giving him the only chocolate-covered one. The boy slid down and went running back to his bike.
“You've got a fine-looking little boy there,” Evan commented.
Jimmy smiled, never taking his eyes off the boy. “He's a grand little chap,” he said. “It's worth working your guts out for someone like him.”
“They make you work hard then at your firm, do they?” Evan asked.
Jimmy nodded. “They want blood. It's like you're married to the bloody company. Helen gets right teed off about it. I'm away so much, you see.”
“What kind of business are you in?”
“Computer marketing. I learned computer skills in the army and they've come in very useful, I must say. I got a job right out of the army, which is unusual up here. Twenty percent unemployment, we've got in these parts.”
“It looks like you've done very well for yourself,” Watkins commented.
“I can't complain,” Jimmy Marshall said. He poured tea and handed each of them a cup.
“You were telling us about that night on the mountain,” Evan said, taking the cup from him. “Were you supposed to be all together?”
“No. It was survival training. They sent us off at one-minute intervals. We were supposed to be using our compass and map-reading skills. Danny went ahead of me. I never saw him again. We didn't even know he was missing until the next day.”
“Tell me about Danny,” Evan said. “What was he like?”
“He was a nice kid,” Jimmy Marshall said. “He was younger than the rest of us, but a real nice kid. He came from a rotten home, but he was determined to make something of himself. He used to tease us and say, âWhen I get to be commander of this bloody camp, you're going to be sorry.' He was always joking that he'd be a general some day. I think he might have made it too. He certainly tried hard. The sergeants could never catch Danny slacking off. That's why I was surprised that it was him when they said a man was missing. I would have thought Danny had the smarts to get himself safely down again.”
“So he got along well with everyone, did he?” Evan asked.
“It's funny you should say that,” Jimmy Marshall said. “Normally he was always good for a laugh, but right before we went to Wales, he got all moody and he got into a fight with Stew one night.”
“Over what?” Watkins asked.
“Stew made some joke about his family, I think. Usually Danny would have laughed it off, but he leaped on Stew like a wild thing. We had to drag them apart. It wasn't like him at all.”
“And you say it was right before you went on the training exercises?”
Marshall nodded. “Funny, that. Almost as if he had a premonition of what was going to happen to him. He was that jumpy on the way there too. I remember the driver got really annoyed because Danny had to stop at God knows how many bathrooms. We were late in because of it.” He paused, looking down at his tea cup. “Poor Danny. Now I think of it, maybe he wasn't well and he was hiding it. Maybe he should never have gone to Wales in the first place. Still, what good is it talking about that now? He's gone and nothing will bring him back.”
Sergeant Watkins drained his tea cup and got to his feet. “Nice cup of tea, that,” he said. “Thanks for all the information. You've been very helpful, Mr. Marshall. If you'd just give us the address of the place where you had this weekend seminar, we'd be grateful.” He started to head back into the house. Evan followed him, his brain racing desperately to think if there was any other question they should have asked.
“Checking up on me, are you?” Jimmy Marshall looked half-amused. “I don't see what my being at a seminar has to do with a couple of blokes falling off a mountain.” He stopped and Evan could almost see his mind making connections. “Hey, you suspect their deaths weren't accidents, don't you?”
“We're examining that possibility,” Sergeant Watkins said.
“But who'd want toâ” He broke off, then shook his head. “It doesn't make sense,” he said. “They were both nice blokes.”
“So you can't think of anybody who might want to give them a little shove off a cliff?” Evan asked. “No old enemies from army days?”
“Old enemies? The only enemy we had was that drill sergeant. What was his name? Stinks, that's what we used to call
him. Bad Ham Stinks! Apart from that we got along with everyone, I think. They used to like us because we were always in trouble. They used to say we broke the monotony.”
him. Bad Ham Stinks! Apart from that we got along with everyone, I think. They used to like us because we were always in trouble. They used to say we broke the monotony.”
They reached the front door and Jimmy opened it for them.
“What do you know about a man called Simon Herries?” Watkins asked suddenly.
“Simon?” Jimmy Marshall looked confused. “I don't know anyone called Simon. Posh kind of name, isn't it?”
“So you don't think he had anything to do with this reunion?”
“There was nobody at Caterick called Simon,” Marshall said. “If there was, he'd have had the stuffing knocked out of him for having such a fairy kind of name.”
“Thanks again, Mr. Marshall,” Watkins said, extending his hand.
Jimmy Marshall shook it solemnly. “If someone did push Stew and Tommy off that mountain, I hope you hurry up and catch him,” he said.
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