The Secret Hangman

38

T he tunnel Diamond had picked was one of the main arteries of the system, so at least it wasn’t as back-breaking as the previous stretch. Harry Lang could well have chosen the same way believing it offered the best chance of putting distance between himself and his pursuers. They were moving at the best speed they could, a brisk walk. One hunted individual will generally travel faster than the pack, but there would surely come a point when they would corner him — if this was where he’d headed.

Maybe it was a promising sign, Diamond thought, that he could feel particles of grit in his mouth and nose. If Lang had come this way he must have disturbed some dust.

‘Let’s have another listen.’

The team stopped. There was definitely a sound, but it was from behind them, a distant voice from one of the other teams.

Diamond looked to his left. The caver now at his side wasn’t the senior man.

‘Do you know this mine?’

‘Most of it.’

‘How far does this tunnel run?’

‘I’d say another quarter mile, no more.’

‘Is there any way he can get out?’

‘Not without climbing gear.’

One of the bobbies said, ‘Plenty of places to hide, though.’

‘Thanks a bunch — just what I wanted to hear,’ Diamond said.

About half a minute on, they stopped again, this time because a piece of stone the size of a dinner plate crashed down in front of them and broke into pieces. The caver spread his arms to stop anyone going forward. He shone his flashlight on the section of roof the slab had come from. ‘This is the problem. See the hairline cracks? There’s more to come.’

‘We can’t stop now,’ Diamond said.

‘I’m saying this part is unstable.’

‘Let’s get past, then.’

‘I don’t advise it.’

‘I wasn’t asking for advice. What are hard hats for?’

He didn’t check to see if they were following. This wasn’t a boy scout trip. They were hot on the trail of a man who’d killed five people. You don’t give up when you’re that close. He pressed on, dipping the flashlight beam at intervals to check for footprints.

Then there was a sound from up ahead. Unlike anything they’d heard up to now, it was certainly not the rumble of traffic. This was a cracking sound followed immediately by a five-second boom.

They barely had time to react before a cloud of dust surged along the tunnel towards them. The force pitched Diamond against the man behind and they both fell backwards. Fine sand whipped their faces and invaded their eyes and noses. The flashlight had fallen and gone out.

‘What the hell was that?’

‘Roof collapse,’ the caver said. ‘We’re out of here.’ He’d managed to get his light going and it was pointing the way they had come.

If Diamond had remained, he would have been alone. The team was already in flight. Even he wasn’t that stubborn. He remembered the image that local man had conjured of half a garden disappearing down a huge crater. He got up and staggered after the others. They didn’t stop until they reached the end of the tunnel at the place where everyone had agreed to meet.

‘Didn’t I warn you?’ the caver said. He was red-eyed, but so were they all. ‘We could have been buried alive.’

‘Maybe someone is,’ one of the officers said. ‘He must have triggered the fall.’

‘If it’s a rescue situation, we won’t have you lot buggering it up,’ the caver said. ‘The rest of my team will be here soon. They must have heard it. They’re not that far away.’

Diamond said nothing. He was shaken. The young caver was right. Four lives had been put at risk and he was mainly responsible. Even the probable capture of a serial killer wasn’t worth so much.

The two other groups weren’t long in returning to the main area. It was agreed that the roof fall had almost certainly been caused by the suspect running through an unstable stretch of tunnel. The cavers were rescue experts and it was their duty to get the man out alive if at all possible. Diamond said the police, too, had an interest in saving the life of Harry Lang.

‘The best help you can give,’ the cavers’ team leader said, ‘is to get out and let us get on with our job.’

‘You might need to shift some heavy stuff.’

‘We’ll deal with that.’

‘He’s a dangerous man.’

‘If he’s under a ton of rock he won’t give any trouble. Go to the top and get them organised up there. We need picks and spades, a phone line, stretcher, paramedics and ambulance waiting. And more cavers to work from the other side of the fall.’

This was an expert speaking and Diamond knew he was right.

A bunch of untrained policemen would be a hindrance. The priorities had changed.

‘You don’t have to go all the way back into Firs,’ the team leader said. ‘There’s a way out which is quicker.’

They took it, a short walk, a steep climb up a ramp into the bliss of fresh air. Daylight, too, unreal after the darkness underground.

With mobiles working again, he put out the necessary calls. Soon ambulances would be waiting at two of the mine entrances and a second team of cavers lowered by rope through an airshaft. The theory was that Lang might be alive on the other side of the roof fall. This would be the only way to reach him.

Someone saw the state of them and offered the use of a shower. Kettles were boiled and tea provided. Crowds were gathering now. Most of Combe Down seemed to know that a wanted man was underground.

John Leaman drove up to the house where the police had freshened up. He wanted to be updated. Diamond said like a veteran caver, ‘These things take time. Safety considerations.’

‘I’ll radio the CAD room. Do we need more help?’

‘We’ll cope. Get Lang’s car transported for a full forensic check.’

‘Already in hand, guv.’

More than half an hour had passed since Diamond and his dusty team had emerged from the mine. A scratchy phone line was in place underground. The original team of cavers had found the tunnel totally blocked by a fall about two hundred yards beyond the point Diamond had reached. The second team, working from the other side, had located the site of the collapse without yet finding Lang.

‘Doesn’t look good for him,’ Leaman said.

‘Doesn’t look good for any of us if he’s dead meat,’ Diamond said. ‘We know sod all about him.’

Another twenty minutes passed before a message came from underground. The original team had reached a man under the rubble. He was out cold, but they’d found a pulse. A doctor was in attendance.

Harry Lang was stretchered to the surface and driven to the Royal United Hospital to be put into intensive care. He hadn’t recovered consciousness.