Down Among the Dead Men

29

Back on solid ground — the beach at Selsey — they dragged the inflatable clear of the water and removed their waterproofs, still barely exchanging a word. A staggering sense of shock gripped them all. These officers were used to dealing close-up with death, but none had experienced anything on this scale. The young diver had counted eleven body bags and thought more might be concealed in the mud that partially filled the hold. Little else was said after he surfaced. Everyone needed some silent reflection to come to terms with the gruesome discovery.

Diamond respected the dead as sincerely as anyone else, but things needed to be said, so he gave a briefing of sorts, there on the pebble bank. ‘Listen up, all of you. This is going to be huge, obviously, but there’s work to be done before the media get hold of it. For one thing, we need to nick the toerag who put them down there before he knows we’re on to him. And as soon as the story breaks, the ordeal for the victims’ families will be horrendous. They must told in advance. It’s essential we leak nothing to anyone and that includes your wives, girlfriends, close mates, even other officers. Silence rules — is that understood?’

Dave Albison looked down and shifted some stones with his shoe. ‘Two days’ work, I reckon, recovering that lot. They’ll fill the mortuary — and some.’

‘So?’

The big team leader raised his eyes. ‘We can keep it to ourselves, no problem, but that’s no guarantee it won’t go public. You can bet your life as soon as we start bringing them ashore, someone from round here is going to see us. There’s sure to be some gawper. People get suspicious, take pictures, and then we’ll have the TV, press and sightseers camped here watching every trip we make.’

The defeatist tone infuriated Diamond. ‘For Christ’s sake, you’re the locals, not me. You don’t have to bring them ashore here. You must know which beaches aren’t much visited. If you can’t stage a secure recovery operation you don’t deserve to be called a specialist unit, or whatever is on the side of your van. When you get the go-ahead from Chichester CID — which I expect to be this afternoon — you need to have your plan in place.’

‘This afternoon?’

‘What are you about to tell me — that it’s a day of rest?’

‘It’s a complicated operation, sir. We’ll need a bigger boat and more divers.’

‘So get them.’

‘Ah, but you just said we don’t want to alert the scumbag responsible for this.’

‘Is that a threat? Are you saying you can’t organise yourselves without leaking information?’

‘That’s not what I meant. Isn’t it a question of priorities? Nicking this guy comes first, right?’

‘I’m confident of an arrest in the next two hours.’

After a stunned silence, Albison said, ‘Christ. Do you know who he is?’

‘We do.’

A stifled sound of surprise came from Georgina.

Diamond brought the briefing to a close. ‘So call up your reinforcements, make your plan and stand by for further orders.’

As he and Georgina toiled up the shingle bank, he expected a blasting, but she surprised him. ‘I endorse everything you said, Peter. It would be calamitous if this got out prematurely. You and I must decide who needs to know.’

‘Montacute,’ he said.

She rolled her eyes. Clearly she had someone more senior in mind. ‘Can we trust him with it?’

‘We have to. He’s the senior investigating officer.’

‘He’ll hate being told, particularly by you and me. He was pretty dismissive about the missing persons, wasn’t he?’

‘He told me the inquiry was on the back burner now Hen is suspended. But this is Montacute’s patch. He’s running the CID, so he must deal with it.’

‘I’m not impressed by the man.’

They had reached the narrow walkway above the beach. The car was a short walk away, in the parking area beside the fishermen’s huts.

‘I’ve had a few dealings with Montacute,’ Diamond said. ‘I wouldn’t want him in my CID, but he’s doing his best in a stressful situation. I sensed hostility when we first met him. I actually suspected him of sending the anonymous letter that got Hen into trouble at headquarters. I don’t think so anymore. He was resentful of us because his cushy existence had come to a sudden stop. He’s a natural second-in-command. It suited him to have Hen as the boss. So I don’t believe he undermined her.’

‘But is he capable of dealing with this new emergency?’

‘Not in the long term. If Hen was right, and it involves other police forces like Hampshire and Dorset, they’ll need someone of higher rank.’

‘Exactly. I’m thinking we should go straight to headquarters with this.’

Not if I have anything to do with it, Diamond thought. ‘They’d just about shut down for the weekend when I tried calling them. We need immediate action, a swift arrest. I’d sooner work with Montacute. I can pull his strings. Headquarters will get to hear soon enough.’

A small sigh escaped from Georgina’s lips. ‘I suppose you’re right. The arrest is more of an operational matter than an executive one. I was thinking Commander Hahn ought to be informed.’

Give me strength, Georgina, he almost said aloud.

But she wasn’t quite such a lost cause. A smile tiptoed over her lips. ‘It will come as a massive shock to him. He wasn’t at all keen on DI Mallin’s inquiry.’

‘You’re right,’ Diamond said, grinning back. ‘He won’t be pleased. So let’s spare him today.’

He called Chichester CID and arranged to meet DI Montacute at the police station in twenty minutes.

Beside the car park was a children’s playground. Children off school today were enjoying the slides and swings while their parents drank coffee at the tables in front of the refreshment stall, untouched by the horror out at sea.

As soon as they were back in the car, he could sense Georgina preparing to broach the question they had not touched on. ‘Were you bluffing when you said you know who put the bodies down there?’

‘No, ma’am.’

After a pause, she said, ‘I thought we were a team.’

‘We are. You said so.’

‘You haven’t shared your reasoning with me.’

‘There isn’t any reasoning. It was handed to me. Jim Bentley’s friend Norman took a photo.’ He dug into his jacket pocket and took out the print he’d been given.

She said, ‘Him? Oh, my word.’

The man pictured in the diving suit was Davy the model.