Evil Valley (23 page)

‘No, no, it’s not your stupid ankle,’ she trilled in her Scottish lilt. ‘There’s a message for you on the answer machine.’

He quickly limped over. It had never occurred to Dan that in this age of email and mobiles that Gibson could have left a message on the office answer machine. But then, why not? The newsroom wasn’t staffed between midnight and four in the morning, so he could dictate a message without having to talk to anyone. And he could withhold the number of the phone he was using.

He pressed play, heard the familiar voice. “My Dear Dan…”

Chapter Sixteen

T
HE CASETTE SPINDLES TURNED
, pulling Gibson’s voice from the thin metallic ribbon and out to the speaker. How did he sound? thought Dan, as he stared at the cassette. Not triumphant, as he’d expected. Not gloating, not even as though he were enjoying himself. Just flat, normal, everyday. His voice was singsong in a way that made it obvious he was reading from a script.

Four of them crowded around the tape machine in the CID office. Adam stood, hands on hips, glaring at it. Eleanor sat, eyes closed as though deep in thought. Michael looked down at his notepad, scribbled the odd sentence, offered an occasional nervous smile around the room. There was silence apart from Gibson’s voice, thin and tinny from the telephone line.

“My dear Dan,

“Hello again. I trust I find you well, although rather busy, I suspect. And all for me too! I’m flattered, and I thank you. You’re helping my little plan to go exactly as I wished.

“I watched you on Wessex Tonight …”

‘Yes!’ interrupted Adam, raising a fist, then hitting the pause button. ‘That’s his first mistake and our first real clue about where he is. He’s in your broadcast area somewhere. He’s in Devon or Cornwall. I knew it. I knew he wouldn’t have gone far.’

‘How can you tell that?’ asked Dan. ‘Wessex Tonight is broadcast on the internet. You could see it anywhere in the world.’

‘That’s what I was up to yesterday evening with your technical people. I asked them not to put it on the web until this morning. But Gibson won’t have known that. So he’s given us a clue and while it’s not a big one, it’s a start.’

Adam straightened his tie, pressed play again.

“A very fine report I would say, and a touching appeal,” continued Gibson’s voice. “But I’m afraid I can’t just let Nicola go, or our dance won’t be complete. So you will have to solve the riddle I’ve set you. How can you be so clueless so soon? You’ve hardly had time to study my letters. And I expect some effort here, Dan. You managed plenty with the Death Pictures riddle, and I expect the same, at the very least. Because this time the prize is much more important, isn’t it?”

Dan felt another involuntary shudder run across his shoulders, had that twitching urge to again spin around, to see who was behind him, watching. His imagination flashed up another vivid picture of Nicola, bound and gagged, face stained with tears, cold and terrified, her time running out because he couldn’t solve the riddle. She was begging, imploring him to try harder. He blinked hard to shift it from his mind but he knew it was there, just on the periphery, waiting, ready to attack again, any time he felt he was failing her.

“Time is the key here, isn’t it?” continued Gibson’s disembodied voice. “You only have limited time, so I imagine you want to know as much as possible as quickly as you can. Very well then, as I’m a fair man I’ll oblige you with another clue. But before that, there are a couple of other things I’d like to mention.

“Firstly, Nicola is quite safe. She’s warm, well fed and comfortable. I wouldn’t say she’s happy, but she’s not panicked and she doesn’t seem particularly frightened. I think that’s because she knows me so well, and trusts me. I’ve told her we’re playing a game, which is quite true of course, isn’t it? She’s accepted that and she’s calm. And rest assured, if you play your part, she will remain safe and be returned home to her mother. I thought her appeal very moving by the way, and a clever idea. One of yours I take it Adam? But I’m afraid I can’t let her go just yet. I have a point to make first.”

Adam let out a low growl and glared at the tape machine.

“You’ll have all my personal details by now, Dan. If you’re the man I think you are, you’ll be wondering about the contradictions in me. What can I say? Have your psychologists examined the letters and my background? Have they concluded I’m a sociopath? A psychopath? I wouldn’t blame them. It’s something I’ve wondered about myself, although I’ve never felt the need to visit a doctor to discuss it. I’m comfortable with what I’m doing. Someone needs to stand up for the little man who always gets trampled on, and this seems to me the only way. Anyway, I digress. Let me give you my explanation, for what it’s worth.

“I won’t try to do the Freud stuff, but I had a happy childhood. No one stepped on my favourite toy train when I was five. I can’t point to any eternally echoing moment like that, which made me what I am. I didn’t see my father a great deal – he was in the army as you know, and quite senior– but I was an only child and close to my mother. I did well at school. I was content.

“I think the trouble began when I came to consider a career. The problem was I simply didn’t know what to do. I wasn’t driven or sure of my direction, unlike many of my fellows. Nothing particularly appealed and it worried me. That was when my father began to bring his influence to bear.

“It started off subtly – ‘there are fine careers in the forces you know’ – that sort of thing. But the problem with being a military man is that subtlety is a concept long beaten out of you. It doesn’t exactly equate with barking out orders to shoot to kill, does it? The pressure became more overt, and so when I was working on my A levels and still without a desire for a direction, I agreed to be sponsored at University by the army. It was the easy way out of the arguments.

“I often look back and wonder whether I knew at the time that it was a mistake. I think I must have felt unease, but that was about all. I was reassured that if I didn’t want to join up at the end of university, I didn’t have to. I could still find that elusive career in my three college years. At the very least, it bought me time. But nothing came and so, in the absence of an alternative, I joined the army.

“I began training to be an officer, but I quickly realised it was an error. Everyone was bigger, tougher, more determined and more driven. And I … well, I just didn’t really care. So, unsurprisingly, I failed. I won’t bore you with the reaction of my father, but you can imagine it. All I can say is that no matter what you come up with, it can never be as hurtful as the quiet but choking weight of disappointment I felt came to rest upon me. I was his only son, and a failure.

“I resolved not to waste my training completely, so I looked around for other possibilities. I’ve never been talented at forming relationships with people – I suspect you’ve guessed that and no doubt your psychologists have something to say on the matter – and I’ve never had a girlfriend, but I have always loved animals. We had a pet dog when I was young, a border collie. I loved him greatly. Smudge was his name. But he died when I was five and my father didn’t want a replacement. Pets were too much trouble, he said. But I missed that dog and the memory of Smudge made me think perhaps I could work with animals. There were vacancies at the time for dog handlers, so that was what I did.

“It was a revelation. For the first time in my life I found something I wanted to do. For the first time, I had a place where I felt comfortable. I felt valued. I belonged. That had never happened to me before. Not only did I want to be a dog handler, I enjoyed it. You’ll see from my record how I trained and was paired up with Sam. And you’ll see how his love and loyalty saved my life, how we retired together and then how he was taken from me.”

Gibson’s words trailed off into silence. Dan and Adam exchanged glances. The detective stepped forward to check the tape machine, but its spindles were still turning, a soft hiss of the phone line leaking from the speaker.

“I’m sorry, Dan,” came Gibson’s voice again. “The memory still hurts. He was my one true friend. It took a few seconds to compose myself again. It’s important for all our destinies – yours, mine and Nicola’s – that I get this clear and right.

“Anyway, I was explaining myself. You now have the background to what I’ve done. But again, Dan, knowing you, I imagine you would have guessed much of this anyway. I expect it’s a familiar enough story. What’s important now is the more recent past.

“My employment as the shell-shocked Security Guard you met dates back to a couple of weeks after an infamous moment in the recent history of Greater Wessex Police. It is, if you like, the catalyst. It is what set this sequence of events in motion.”

Adam reached out and pressed pause on the machine. ‘Any guesses before we go on?’ he asked. The two code-breakers shook their heads.

‘Dan? He’s talking to you here. Any idea what he’s going to say? The more you can get into his head and guess what he’s thinking, the better chance we have of finding him.’

Images of guns were filling Dan’s mind. Guns in Bosnia, guns back in Britain, guns wielded by policemen, used to shoot dogs and more recently people. But then he had the advantage. Despite what Adam had told him on the phone, not to listen to the tape back at the office, to wait until they were together, he had. And not just him either, but Lizzie too.

He’d had to tell her, she was his boss and this was an extraordinary story gifted to them. For once she’d been silent as she listened, her eyebrow hitting a sharp peak of delight at the calm insanity they heard. And then her masterstroke, not just listening to the tape, but making a copy which she intended to use in tonight’s programme. He’d thought about it and would probably have suggested it, but wanted her to do it, wanted to be detached from that decision which he knew would enrage Adam.

‘A Wessex Tonight world exclusive,’ she’d imagined the headline aloud, her voice breathless. ‘We can bring you the man who abducted Nicola talking about why he did it.’

He still had no idea how he was going to tell Adam. Don’t worry, Lizzie had said, a stiletto grating the carpet tiles. Just tell them we’re doing it. The police need us. This guy wants to talk to you and that means we can squeeze the cops for stories. You can negotiate exactly what we use, but we’re going to use it. It’s the exclusive of the year.

She was right, but Adam was going to go mad, and mad at him, not her. But not for now, that. Later.

‘I’d guess it’s something to do with firearms,’ said Dan finally, trying to sound as though he was thinking it through. ‘We know he’s got a grudge against the police for killing his dog. I’m wondering if the first shooting of that guy in Bodmin was the catalyst for all this.’

‘My thoughts exactly,’ said Adam, straightening his already impeccable tie. He reached out and hit the play button. ‘Let’s see.’

“Do you remember Bodmin and the police shooting a man dead there?’ continued Gibson’s tinny voice. “That was what woke me. Up until then, my thoughts of revenge had been simmering, but they were only thoughts, vague fantasies. Then I saw the poor man’s family on television, crying, saying the police didn’t need to shoot him. It was that which made me snap. They shot Sam. They shot this man. They had no need to do either. But they did need to be taught a lesson. I’d been mulling over a plan for quite a while, and I was suddenly sure it was time to put it into action.

“I needed a job where I could meet people and get to know them. I needed to have access to their names and addresses. That security guard position couldn’t have come at a better time. I got the job and I waited, built up my little plan, piece by piece. I thought I’d have plenty of time, but that wasn’t to be the case.

“Your police force, Adam, was almost too keen for me. I thought it would be years before your trigger-happy, unaccountable marksmen despatched another unfortunate to their grave with their usual impunity. But no. It was only a few months. So I had to act. It came sooner than I expected, but I had the necessary information and so my work began.

“Which brings us to where we are today. We’re not at the endgame yet, but we’re approaching it. We’re almost there. And everything is going beautifully. It won’t be long now.

“That’s almost all I have to say, Dan, and Adam too. I know you’ll be listening in and I hope you don’t mind if I call you Adam now? It seems we’re getting to know each other very well. We will talk again, but I fear it will be briefly and, as I’ve said, the circumstances won’t permit a detailed conversation.”

Adam swore under his breath.

“So I’ll sign off now. But don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten that I promised you another clue. What can I say? All you need to find Nicola and myself is in the letters I have already sent. Look again at what I said about where I might visit. You’ll have guessed by now that I’m not there, but it could help you nonetheless. I haven’t taken a plane either. And remember what I asked you about the rose. That too could be important. Goodnight for now then, Dan and Adam and whoever else is listening in. Until the next time. Goodnight.”

Adam stopped the tape. ‘A copy’s gone to the labs for urgent analysis,’ he said. ‘Their preliminary thoughts are already here. It was a mobile he used to call. He withheld the number and it’s untraceable. There’s not much in the background to help us. The main point they make is that it’s quiet, very quiet indeed. There’s no hint of cars or planes or mobile phones, or even noise from houses.’

‘He’s out in the countryside somewhere,’ said Dan. ‘Somewhere remote.’

‘Yep. And that’s consistent with his military background. He can go out somewhere he won’t be noticed and survive for a few days quite easily.’

Dan thought about what he’d heard on the tape. ‘But probably not in a tent from the sound of that. I don’t know why but it just felt like he was in a house or building of some kind. It had that kind of hollow sound to it.’

‘Agreed,’ replied Adam. ‘And that’s what the labs’ analysis says too. But where? We’ve checked all his bank accounts. There’s no payment to anything that might help us. No holiday cottage, nothing like that. We’ve checked on bookings in case he paid cash and there’s anything suspicious, but we’ve come up with nothing. So what does that leave us?’

‘The usual places,’ said Dan thoughtfully. ‘Dartmoor, Exmoor, Bodmin moor. The more secluded parts of the coast. In other words, a very big area. Huge in fact.’

‘Yep. I’m getting the helicopter in again to help us. It’s got a thermal imaging camera so it can spot people on the ground. The Tactical Aid Search Groups are ready to go. All force leave is cancelled. We’ve got as many cops as we can raise ready to go looking. There are also volunteers like the Dartmoor Rescue Team offering their services and we’re going to use them. They’re good. But we desperately need to narrow down the area we’re searching. So, Eleanor and Michael, this is where you come in. He’s teasing us with his riddle. Taunting us in fact. Any ideas?’