Down Among the Dead Men

26

His legs were starting to feel as if they didn’t belong to him, but the steep descent helped him run the final stretch to the wooded area where the van was parked.

Already the dive team had a small inflatable on the lake. The sergeant driver he’d spoken to earlier was alone on the bank, smoking. Georgina wasn’t in view.

Strong as he told himself he was from his rugby-playing days, he had to take several gulps of air before saying, ‘Seen my boss?’

The cigarette was taken from between the lips and put to use as a pointer. ‘She spotted someone and went after them.’

Georgina in pursuit?

‘Did you get a sight?’

A shake of the head.

‘Could it be one of your people?’

‘They’re all here. I was told to give you a message.’ The driver took another long drag.

‘Tell me, for Christ’s sake.’

‘She said go the other way round and head them off.’

Suddenly the lake looked ten times as large it had before. And the superfit legs were stiffening up. There wasn’t much more running in them. ‘I’ve got a better idea. You go instead.’

A slow shake of the head. ‘It may not look like it, but I’m on duty here.’

‘No problem.’ Diamond pulled rank. The man was only a sergeant. ‘I’ll take over.’

‘With respect, sir, it has to be someone who’s done the course. Dive team protocol.’

Strongly tempted to tell the sergeant what to do with his dive team protocol, he took out his phone.

At first he thought Georgina wasn’t going to take the call.

‘You took your time.’ There was a pause for breath. She was obviously jogging or at least striding out as she spoke. ‘Did you get my instruction?’ Pause. ‘I’m almost at the opposite side now.’ Pause. ‘Can you see me?’

He shielded his eyes and stared across the water. ‘From where I am, no, ma’am.’

‘You can’t be looking in the right direction.’

‘I think I see you now.’ There was a speck of blue moving steadily in a clockwise direction along the path on the far side. The colour showed up well against the red bricks of the boundary wall. He assumed it was Georgina. Deplorably for a detective, he couldn’t recall the clothes she was wearing.

‘Don’t hang about, then. Go to your right, round the other side,’ she told him in short bursts of words. ‘We’ll catch them in a pincer movement. But hurry.’

Them? ‘More than one?’

‘Just the one. I don’t know if they’re male or female. I’m not even certain what colour they’re wearing.’

You and me both, Georgie, he thought, as he forced his aching legs into action again. The boss was right. This had to be done. This person needed to be identified. Presumably it was the same individual he’d spotted before lunch going in the other direction.

The path was an obstacle course. There was a choice between thick mud at the water’s edge and exposed roots on the more solid ground. He was in danger of tripping every yard of the way. With eyes down for safety’s sake, he noticed the occasional footprint, but didn’t celebrate it as a Man Friday discovery. The owner and his guests no doubt took an occasional walk here.

Cursing every few seconds, Diamond picked his way through the mud at the best speed he could. His head ached and his throat was dry.

So who could the lone walker be? All the artists were at work in the studio and Ferdie was in the house clearing up after the meal. There shouldn’t have been anyone at large on the estate.

He forced himself forward, wishing he were fitter. If Georgina could keep going, so would he. But it was damned hard work.

Ten minutes in, he was startled by the shriek of a moorhen and saw it take flight from the reeds beside the bank and skim across the water. Something must have disturbed it.

He froze.

Then a twig snapped.

Someone was definitely coming towards him.

He stepped behind a tree.

Now he could hear dog-like panting and it wasn’t his own. This person wasn’t in condition.

No need to tackle them physically, he decided. It was reasonable to have a few civilised words with someone you met out walking in the country. He waited for them to draw level.

As they did, he had a sense of solid physique, shorter than himself. But a woman. Definitely a woman. At the moment he stepped into view, she made a sound like a train going through a station.

His ‘Good afternoon’ — completely inaudible — came out feebly in the instant he realised who she was.

Georgina.

‘You?’ she said with disgust.

‘I thought you were—’

‘You could have given me a heart attack, leaping out like that.’

He hadn’t leapt. He’d appeared unexpectedly, that was all, but there was nothing to be gained by pointing it out. All he could do was wait for Georgina to stop hyperventilating. She reached for the trunk of the tree and grasped it.

After some time she said, ‘Where the devil did he go? I was in pursuit. Has he passed you?’

‘No chance. Was it definitely a man, then?’

‘Definitely? Can’t say, but that’s the impression I got. I assure you I wasn’t chasing a shadow.’ She stepped away from the tree, closer to the water, and looked along the bank in both directions. ‘I can’t understand it.’

‘Did he know you were following?’

‘Unlikely. I was never that close. Are you certain he didn’t get past without you noticing?’

‘Not if he kept to the path.’

‘There’s no rule that says he should,’ Georgina said. ‘He must have gone off at a tangent, turned away from the lake and made a getaway through the wood.’

‘Seems so,’ he said, ready to admit defeat.

But Georgina wasn’t. She had that implacable look he knew from Bath Central whenever she demanded to see his budget report. ‘He wouldn’t get far on this side. There’s a nine-foot wall. He’s in the area still. He must be.’ She turned away from the lake and started striding through the wood, with Diamond following. ‘I’ve ruined a good pair of shoes. I’ll be damned if it’s all for nothing.’

They hadn’t gone more than a few steps before a patch of red brick showed ahead in the autumn sunshine. ‘You see?’ Georgina said. ‘There’s a wall. There’s no escape. He’s got to be here somewhere.’

It was the boundary wall marking the limit of the estate.

‘Shall we split up again?’

‘No,’ she said. ‘We stay together now.’ Already she was marching off to the left, following the course of the wall. The ground here was soft and moist, but the grass wasn’t so thick. Brown-capped fungi sprouted in profusion.

‘Mind you don’t slip,’ he said. ‘I came a cropper this morning.’

She didn’t answer. She had more on her mind than slippery mushrooms.

‘Ha!’ she said when they’d gone another two minutes. ‘We might have guessed.’ They had come to a wooden door set into the wall. ‘This has got to be the way our elusive friend went.’

‘Is it bolted?’

She tried the handle and the door opened.

They both went through and found themselves in an overgrown, neglected garden. Waist-high grass the colour of hay. Looping brambles. A roof in the distance covered in moss and with a number of tiles missing.

‘Familiar?’ Diamond said.

‘Not to me.’

‘You didn’t come this far in. It’s Mrs Shah’s garden.’ He was sure of it. He forced his way forward a few steps and spotted the top of the trellis and the garden shed.

‘Holly Blue Cottage?’ Georgina said, as if they’d landed on the moon.

‘How dumb is that?’ he said. ‘I knew both places were in this area, but I didn’t appreciate they were either side of the same wall.’

‘Didn’t you notice that door in the wall this morning?’

He shook his head. ‘There wasn’t much time and I was more interested in what was in the shed. Shows how easily you can miss things.’

Georgina looked right and left across the tall grass. ‘Where’s our fugitive, then? If he came in the way we did, he can’t have gone far. I’m no Indian scout, but hasn’t someone forced his way through this?’

She was right. Some of the long stalks were bent and broken — and it wasn’t the track Diamond himself had made earlier in the day.

He went ahead. Not that he was any more of a scout than Georgina, but it was pretty obvious where they were heading. The garden shed.

The lone walker could be inside.

They reached the mould-scarred building, stood for a second in front and exchanged glances, saying nothing. Then Diamond kicked the door. It swung inwards and revealed Hen Mallin, seated in the chair, holding a cigarillo to her lips.

‘Manners,’ she said. ‘Always knock before entering.’

For once even Diamond was lost for words. Not for one moment had he thought they’d been pursuing his old colleague.

Georgina was already in a foul mood. These two would never hit it off, but she couldn’t be blamed for the fury she put into the word, ‘You?’

Hen shrugged.

‘Just what are you doing here?’

‘What does it look like?’ Hen said. She reached down and picked up a transparent bag containing a few fresh mushrooms. ‘Resting my limbs after a forage around the lake... ma’am. It’s the mushroom season, in case you hadn’t noticed, but I’ll be checking my Observer book of fungi before I sample them. You can’t be too careful with these little varmints.’

‘You’re under suspension.’

‘Not under house arrest. No one said I can’t go out.’

‘This is private land. You’re trespassing.’

‘Aren’t we all?’

Georgina had all the fire power, but was coming off the worse. ‘Here — of all places — where there’s an investigation going on. You were instructed to stop doing police work of any description.’

‘I have,’ Hen said. ‘I’m collecting mushrooms. Haven’t interfered. Haven’t spoken to a soul. I’m not obstructing you in your duties.’

‘There’s a major alert, a child gone missing. We should be hunting for her, not you.’

Diamond agreed with that. Much as he admired Hen, this had been a fool’s errand. All their efforts should have been geared to finding Mel.

‘Your choice,’ Hen said. ‘There was no need.’

‘We know that now,’ Georgina said. ‘What possessed you to come here?’

‘Family loyalty,’ Hen said. ‘It’s no secret that the investigation has shifted here. All your interest has shifted to the missing schoolgirl, but I’m still worried sick about Joss. Are they diving for bodies in the lake?’

‘We’re not discussing the case with you.’

‘As you wish,’ Hen said. ‘I’ll shut up, then.’

Georgina may have taken this as a small victory, but Diamond didn’t. He’d noticed a gleam in Hen’s eyes suggesting she’d been on the point of sharing something. For the present, he didn’t take it up. Georgina was calling the shots.

‘You’d better leave,’ she told Hen. ‘Did you come by car?’

‘It’s in the lane in front of the cottage. I wasn’t going to park it in front of Fortiman House.’

‘So you knew about this place?’

‘Came here when I was on the Joe Rigden murder, didn’t I?’ She reached for a flower pot and flicked ash into it. ‘I’ll be on my way, then. Leave you serving officers to get on with your vital work.’

They had to step out of the shed to make room. Holding her mushrooms in front of her like a trophy, Hen stepped outside and waded through the long grass without looking back but with a definite swagger, a small, defiant figure in no way contrite.

‘I’ve lost all sympathy,’ Georgina said to Diamond.

He was under the impression she hadn’t any to lose, but didn’t say so. ‘We’ve solved the mystery of the solitary walker.’

‘But at what cost?’ she said. ‘You’re a physical wreck. I feel like a scarecrow. We’re senior officers. It’s degrading.’

‘We found the connecting door. That’s progress.’

Georgina wasn’t consoled. ‘I’ve had enough. I shall tell Commander Hahn we’ve gone beyond the call of duty to examine that loathsome woman’s misconduct and I’m recommending her immediate dismissal. I know you’re sympathetic, but in my book there’s nothing to be said for her.’

He didn’t take the bait. ‘Shall we return to the real action, then?’

‘Certainly.’

‘Want me to call our driver to pick us up?’

‘No. We walk.’

‘As you wish.’

They closed the shed and returned through the connecting door to the Fortiman estate. At once it became obvious that Georgina expected more from him on her hard-line decision. ‘I mean, isn’t it transparently clear, Peter, that she’s not fit to lead a criminal investigation department?’

‘The jury’s out on that one, ma’am.’ He was speaking to her back as he trailed after her along the path beside the lake.

‘You don’t have to “ma’am” me now we’re alone. It’s beginning to sound more like a term of derision — especially the way she uses it.’

‘I won’t, then. If we’re talking about Hen Mallin’s fitness to lead, I have to speak up for her. Having seen her at work, I have a lot of respect.’

‘More than she ever demonstrates.’

‘That’s her style. She’s not employed to show respect. She was upfront and honest about what she did wrong, failing to investigate her niece. The question we should be asking is whether that disbars her from ever working again. I don’t know of any other failings.’

‘Oh, for God’s sake! She’s insubordinate.’

‘Under strain — and she’s under plenty at the moment. She’s a good investigator, a whole lot more likely to succeed than Montacute, who is trying to do her job now.’

‘That’s beside the point. I don’t care for him either.’

‘As I said to you before, I believe Hen Mallin was suspended because she rocked the boat.’

She stopped and wheeled round. ‘Tell me, Peter. Is there something going on that you haven’t shared with me?’

It would have been so easy to tell her about Archie Hahn’s memo, but it would break her. Difficult as she was, he couldn’t do that to her.

They were standing toe to toe like boxers, so he sparred with her, just as he had the day before in the school dining room. ‘We’ve been over this, but I don’t think you believed me. Hen started getting interested in missing persons, contacting police stations all along the south coast to see if there was a trend — if someone was disposing of bodies on an industrial scale. The figures bore it out. She proposed coordinated action. This was the development that alarmed the high-ups. The murder rate in Sussex and Hampshire was about to rocket. By sacking Hen, they snuff out the problem.’

‘I can’t accept this.’

‘They want you to rubber-stamp her dismissal, so everything goes back to normal.’

‘Peter, that can’t be true. Don’t forget I was invited personally by my old colleague Commander Hahn. Archie, of all people, knows I wouldn’t be a party to anything dishonourable.’

He swallowed hard. ‘That goes without saying.’

‘Well, then.’

‘Commander Hahn asked you to investigate Hen Mallin’s behaviour, and no more. Hen shot our fox by admitting straight off that she’d favoured her niece.’

‘She did.’

‘That’s all they need from us. Job done.’

She frowned. ‘It isn’t as simple as that... is it?’

‘I’m glad we agree on that. Blame me for throwing it open and asking awkward questions. Bad things have been happening here and you and I are rooting them out. If we give up now, they may never see the light of day.’

She tilted her chin higher, always a promising sign. ‘That is possible.’

Encouraged, he went on, ‘From all I know of you, Assistant Chief Constable Dallymore, you’re not going to turn your back on serious malpractice. You’ll get to the truth, however inconvenient it may be.’

‘We’ll see it through, the two of us,’ she said, quite fired up. And then she turned her back and continued the trek around the lake, brisk and business-like.

Plodding in her wake, Diamond thought about Paloma and home and Raffles the cat, and tried to reconcile himself to at least one more night away.

They continued as far as the dive team and stopped to ask if anything of importance had been found.

The van driver shook his head. ‘This could be a long job,’ he said, lighting another cigarette.

Up at the house, DI Montacute had finished interviewing the artists. ‘Waste of my bloody time,’ he said, when Diamond asked. ‘Not one of them saw Melanie. I’m starting to ask myself if she was ever here. Just because one of the schoolgirls decided to gatecrash the party, it doesn’t mean her friend did. Out of all those people, someone would have noticed, wouldn’t they?’

‘Is your information reliable, the sighting of the girl on the scooter?’

‘You put your finger on it. We’ve had dozens of possible sightings since I put out the appeal. This one had to be followed up because of the scooter. We know she owned one, a 125cc sports scooter, very distinctive, purple, and she certainly went out on it that night.’

‘Did the witness see the colour of the thing?’

‘You don’t get that lucky.’

‘What time was this?’

‘He reckoned about ten thirty. This rider was only five minutes away from here and the party was still going. But nobody from here saw the girl or her scooter.’

‘You interviewed the artists. Have you spoken to the owner, Ferdie Standforth?’

‘Saw him first, with his son. Another blank.’

‘There’s someone you won’t have questioned.’

‘Who’s that?’

‘Davy the model. He was at the party.’

‘You’re right,’ Montacute said, wide-eyed. ‘He’s been in the studio all afternoon. Easy to miss. I’d better catch him before he leaves.’

‘Have you searched the lane where the girl on the scooter was seen?’

‘Of course. Nothing.’

‘But your informant was reliable?’

‘He wasn’t an attention-seeker, if that’s what you mean. We’ve had a few of them. Pathetic, aren’t they? Want to be part of the action, so they call you up and tell you a load of bullshit.’

‘How do you know they’re making it up?’

‘The same people call every time. And they’re generally the first to get in touch. Fantasists. They convince themselves they’re helping. My team are good at spotting them, thank Christ. The calls that come in later are more likely to be genuine. We’re still getting them. I’ve got a guy coming to the nick at five thirty, reckons she may been dumped in the sea off Selsey Bill.’

‘That’s a lot of sea.’

‘He took a GPS reading. I’ll have to put him off till tomorrow. Got to see the model while he’s still here.’

‘I can interview your Selsey Bill man,’ Diamond said.