Hail and Farewell (The Lakeland Murders) (30 page)

‘The thing is that the CPS is going to have to decide what to charge you with. It might be murder, manslaughter or GBH, and then there’s the conspiracy on top. At worst you’re looking at doing ten years, and maybe more. And like DS Francis says, we’re going to put your mates anyway. You’ve admitted doing it now, so they’ve got nowhere to go. So why not help yourself here, by helping us? Save the poor bloody taxpayer a few quid. Just tell us who else was in on the conspiracy.’

‘No comment. I done the kid, like I said, and I’m sorry. But I never meant to kill anyone, and that’s the truth. Now take my statement and charge me, because I’m not saying another fucking word.’

An hour later Jane called Andy Hall, and put him on speakerphone so that Mann and Charlie West, at the CPS offices in Carlisle, could join in the conversation. Hall said that he’d read Hayton’s statement, and asked West what charges would be brought.

‘Well you can forget murder, Andy, and if he goes guilty I’d say that manslaughter would be a stretch.’

‘So you’re saying GBH with intent?’

‘I’d say so. It’d be a quick, clean result and would save the taxpayer Christ knows how much. He’d probably get eight years if it was manslaughter, and six for going guilty on GBH, and there’s a big risk that we might have to come down to GBH anyway, during a manslaughter trial. So it’s win-win going for the lesser charge.’

‘Not for the people of Workington’ said Mann. ‘The man’s a killer, and he’ll be out on the streets again in three years time.’

‘Point taken, Ian’ said Hall, ‘but that’s really out of our hands, isn’t it? At the very least the man who killed Chris Brown is going to have to stand up in court and admit that fact, and you should all be congratulated for that. It’s a great result.’ Hall paused. ‘Is the door closed, Jane?’

‘Yes. You’re thinking about the conspiracy?’

‘I am. Let’s get those other voices identified, especially the one with whom Matt Hayton clearly interacts. Charlie, are you happy to look at conspiracy?’

‘Absolutely. It would be an absolute pleasure. Again, we can forget murder, but if we start with affray we may well be able to work our way up the scale a bit, because a death did result.’

‘Good. So, Jane, that’s top priority. Get all of Hayton’s associates in, and get them recorded. I wouldn’t be surprised if another one, voice four I think, just grasses himself up, exactly the way that Matt Hayton did.’

‘You think they’re trying to insulate George Hayton?’ asked West.

‘I do. But will it work, Charlie?’

‘I’m afraid so, yes. Realistically we’re not going to be able to lay a glove on George Hayton over this, even if we can prove conspiracy. Not unless you can get some solid evidence linking him to the conspiracy itself. And at the moment you’ve not got a thing.’

‘Agreed, and I can’t see that happening, I’m afraid. But how about his number two, Lee ‘Stringer’ Bell? We do have him in the car that we know was used for the burglary of Alex Baker’s hotel room. It’s a start, surely?’

‘That’s tenuous at best, Andy’ said West. ‘You’ll need more than that, plenty more, if you want to draw anyone beyond the blokes in the scrum into this. And we all know that they’re just foot soldiers. The poor bloody infantry of the criminal classes.’

‘Absolutely true, but as Ian rightly says there’ll also violent criminals in their own right, and putting a couple away for a few years is always a proper bit of public service, as far as I’m concerned. But listen, Charlie, is there anything else we need to discuss?’

‘No, I’m done for now. Just let me know if you manage to get any of the others to admit to taking part in the assault. Like I say, it’s happy days if they do.’

West couldn’t help but notice Ian Mann’s scowl as he got up to leave.

‘Has he gone?’ said Hall.

‘Aye,’ said Mann.

‘Right then, let’s talk about our mole. I talked to the ACC as soon as you’d got the confession from Matt Hayton. Needless to say she was absolutely made up about it, so it seemed like the perfect time. And I really stressed how closely connected Waters is to the wider conspiracy case, and how dangerous it would be to let the vultures at him immediately.’

‘But you didn’t manage to convince her?’ said Jane.

‘Oh, ye of little faith. No, she went for it. I must admit that I was a bit surprised myself. Here’s the deal. So long as there’s a live conspiracy case involving George Hayton, or any of his people, then Waters is ours, and ours alone. So the question is, how do we use him? After all, we can’t try to turn him, can we?’

‘Why not?’ asked Mann. ‘Oh, aye, I see. You’ve already got George Hayton thinking about that possibility, because of what Bill Iredale has been feeding him.’

‘Exactly. It was one of the downsides of that strategy, and in retrospect it was an error. But at the time it looked as if we’d get nowhere with the Brown killing.’

‘Isn’t the first step to get Waters in, and have him admit it?’ said Jane.

‘It’s too soon, isn’t it?’ said Mann. ‘The man’s a copper, so he’ll soon know we’ve got nowt of any real value. Last time I checked it wasn’t an offence to walk into a taxi office during the hours of daylight, like.’

‘Exactly’ said Hall, ‘he’s a copper. So he knows how this goes from here. He knows as well as we do that if he denies it every aspect of his life will be gone into in minute detail, and if he’s dirty then we’ll know soon enough anyway. Meanwhile his family will be drawn right into the whole bloody mess. So I think there’s a fair chance that he might just spare us all the trouble.’

‘Blimey’ said Jane, ‘is this the Andy Hall we know and love? Suddenly you’re the eternal optimist.’

‘I’m just saying that I think it’s worth a try. And I won’t be able to keep Val Gorham off our backs indefinitely, remember.’

‘All right’ said Mann, a hint of uncertainty in his voice. ‘What could we offer him? Something for full co-operation?’

‘Yes, certainly. You know the score here. The one thing he’ll really fear is going to prison. We all know what it’s like inside for ex-coppers. He’ll have zero confidence that he’d be protected properly, and maybe not without reason. So that’s your pressure point. Co-operate now, and we’ll do everything in our power to either keep him out of jail, or else get him sent to a nice open prison.’

‘Our pressure point?’ said Jane. ‘Don’t you want to handle this one personally?’

‘I don’t think there’s any need, is there? I can’t see any reason why I should be there. He’s either going to go for it, or he’s not. Plus I’ve been warned off by Val, and I do need to at least look as if I do what she says.’

‘And if he doesn’t? Go for it, I mean. I have to say that I agree with Ian. I can’t really see it happening.’

‘Then Val will unleash the dogs on him. It’s as simple as that. So I suggest that you two get the interviews and recordings with the Hayton associates who were in that scrum set up right now, and then talk to Waters.’

‘Here?’ said Mann.

‘No’ said Jane, before Hall could reply. ‘Don’t worry, Andy. We’ll get it sorted.’

Keith Iredale was still buzzing after the briefing. He couldn’t remember so many smiles among a gathering of coppers since the day the last Super had retired. An old PC, who’d been off sick for most of the time that Iredale had been at Workington nick, did a kind of slow war dance, to laughter and applause, when Jane announced that Matt Hayton was in the bag for the killing of Chris Brown.

‘But listen up, everyone. What he gets isn’t up to us. What matters is that we got him. Every one of us played our part, and we can all be very proud of what we’ve achieved. But we’re not done yet, not by a long way, so let’s push on and get everyone who was involved in this killing nicked. So keep it down for a minute, and DS Mann will divvy up the tasks.’

Iredale was pleased to have drawn Gary Thomas.

‘You know him, I assume?’ Mann had said, when he walked over to Iredale’s desk after the meeting had broken up.

‘Oh, aye. If this was a coffee shop he’d get a free cappuccino.’ A couple of passing officers laughed.

‘Off you go then. Or hang on two minutes and I’ll come with you. You never know, he might decide to give us a bit of sport, like.’

Iredale doubted that even Barry Thomas was quite stupid enough to take a swing at DS Mann. But he lived in hope.

Two hours later he was still hoping, because Thomas was nowhere to be found.

‘Has he done a runner?’ asked Mann.

‘I doubt it. I tell you what, his gran lives up at the top of town. She might know where he is. He lived with her for a bit, when his mum went away for stabbing her boyfriend.’

‘What about the dad?’

‘Pissed off before he was born. Probably a good job, given the mum’s taste for a carvery, like.’

‘Go on then, let’s give her a try. Which sort of granny is she though? The toxic methadone kind, or the sweet, cats and biscuits type?’

‘She’s all right, considering.’

‘Considering what?’

‘That Gary Thomas is her grandson. I wouldn’t wish that waste of space on anyone. If he was just a bit brighter then he’d be a really dangerous man.’

Granny Thomas made tea, and then asked after each member of Iredale’s family in turn. She was moving on to friends and acquaintances when Mann intervened. He needed to get back to meet Jane at shift change time, and it was less than an hour away now. And at this rate Granny Thomas would only be about a third of the way through the entire population of Workington by then.

‘So do you know where Gary is, Mrs. Thomas?’

‘You mean now, dear?’

‘Yes, now.’

‘No, sorry, I don’t.’

‘When did you last see him?’

‘At lunchtime. I cooked us a nice bit of fish.’

‘And where did he go after that? Did he say?’

‘No, sorry, love.’

Mann and Iredale heard a key in the lock, but Mrs. Thomas didn’t. She was surprised at the speed at which both men got up.

‘I’m home’ Gary called out from the hall. Iredale made it through the doorway first, and made a grab for Thomas’s arm. But the young man’s reactions were surprisingly quick, and his footwork nimble, so Iredale and Mann ended up chasing him down the street. Mann arrived, breathless, just as Iredale was strolling back with Thomas alongside.

‘He says he was surprised, that’s all.’

‘Then why did you run, you prat?’ said Mann.

‘I dunno. And you’d have never caught me, would you, marrer? Big lad like you.’

‘He’s got a point’ said Iredale, laughing.

‘So I’m nicked, like?’

‘No. You’re just coming down to the station to listen to a recording, that’s all.’

‘I’m happy to help, like. I really am. I’ll do all I can.’

Jane stood alone in the observation room.

‘Have I died and gone to copper’s heaven?’ she said out loud, because Gary Thomas was as good as his word. He immediately identified himself as voice four, and admitted that he’d seen Chris Brown go down, face first, into the beck.

‘I could tell he were dead, like, straight off.’

‘How did you know?’ asked Ian Mann.

‘Because he was face down in the water. And he didn’t get up. That’s usually a sign, like.’

‘Mightn’t he have just been unconscious?’

‘But he was dead. I was there, see. No-one could help him.’

‘That was a few minutes later. Why didn’t you raise the alarm as soon as it happened?’

Thomas shrugged.

‘No point. Like I say, he was already dead. Definitely.’

‘So how many of you were involved?’

‘Me and Matt.’

‘That’s all?’

Thomas looked across at his lawyer for confirmation.

‘Aye, that’s all.’

‘And whose instructions were you working to?’

‘No comment.’

‘Come on. Who told you to do it?’

‘Do what?’

‘Assault Chris Brown.’

‘No-one. Like I told you, Matt thought it was the Gambles lad.’

‘So who told you to attack him?’

‘Who?’

‘Tony Gambles.’

‘No-one. Me and Matt were just settling an old score, that’s all.’

‘And what was this old score?’ Mann didn’t bother to wait for an answer. He could tell from Thomas’s expression that his question hadn’t yet been translated from sound into any actual meaning. ‘Why did you want to give Gambles a doing?’

‘Oh, aye, I see. Don’t remember, to tell the truth. Money, I expect. It usually is, isn’t it? But it’ll have been something and nothing, like.’

‘So you intended to kill Gambles because of some kind of disagreement, but you’re not sure what?’

‘No, we never intended to kill anyone. Christ, what do you think I am? It was just a bit of a bundle that went too far, that’s all.’

Mann looked down at his notes.

‘So what is it that you do, Mr. Thomas? What’s your job?’

‘I’m on the sick.’

‘Really? What’s wrong with you? Because it’s obviously not your legs.’

‘How did you know that?’

‘Because you ran away from us earlier.’

‘Oh, right, aye.’

‘So you don’t work for anyone?’

‘That’s right.’

‘Not George Hayton?’

‘Who?’

Thomas was smiling until the lawyer leaned over and whispered something to him.

‘I was only joking. I know George Hayton, of course I do. Everyone does. Lovely bloke, he is. But I don’t work for him. No way, Jose.’

‘So what you’re saying is that you and Matt Hayton were trying to settle a score with Tony Gambles, but you don’t recall what it was about, and that Chris Brown was attacked by mistake.’

‘Aye, by mistake. I’m very sorry about what happened, like. It was just a bit of horse-play that went wrong. That’s all it was. Honest.’

Ian Mann wondered, just for a second, if he’d ever seen anyone look less sorry for taking the life of an innocent young man, but he knew that it was a pointless, and depressing, question to ask himself. Because he certainly had, and more than once at that. It was simply par for the course with people like Gary Thomas, and all he could do was try to keep him off the streets for a year or two. What had made him act like that Mann couldn’t understand. He never had, and he knew that he never would.