Стивен Бут - Blind to the Bones

Ben Cooper watched through his rearview mirror as a bus pulled up near the Pepper Pot Inn in the village of Midhopestones. Only three people got off the bus. Two of them looked at the threatening sky and went into the pub. The third one waited until the bus had set off again and began to walk slowly up the road.

Cooper hadn’t felt the need to tell Angie Fry what sort of car he drove. She probably knew that already, along with its registration number. And maybe his date of birth, his mother’s maiden name and his National Insurance number.

As Angie got into the Toyota, he continued looking at his mirror, expecting to see a car turning into the road or manoeuvring to leave the pub car park. But there was nothing. He started the engine.

‘Where are we going?’ said Angie.

‘Somewhere quiet.’

‘Embarrassed to be seen with me, Ben?’

Cooper didn’t answer, but continued to drive back towards the Flouch crossroads. They passed through Langsett, and soon the surrounding landscape began to look suitably remote. He felt confident that Angie would not be familiar with this area and would have no idea where they were heading.

‘Angie, I take it you know what happened to Diane there before she transferred to Derbyshire?’ he said.

‘Yes.’

‘In fact, you’re remarkably well informed for someone who hasn’t been in touch with her sister for so long.’

Angie hesitated. ‘There are ways of finding these things out.’

‘I’m sure there are. Especially with the help of your friend who drives the dark blue BMW with a blocked registration.’

‘Blocked registration?’ she repeated, dumbly seizing on the part of his sentence she didn’t understand.

‘What is he? National Crime Squad? Special Branch? Who are you working with who doesn’t want some long-lost sister blundering on to his pitch?’

‘Ben, you don’t understand the situation.’

‘No, I don’t,’ said Cooper.

And for the first time he began to feel angry about the way he had been treated. He had known from the start that he was being lied to. There was no way that Angie Fry could have obtained the information that she had without inside help, without someone with exactly the right contacts and the means of asking. Being lied to was bad enough. But it was the underlying contempt that really angered him, the assumption that he was just some stupid bumpkin copper who would go along with anything he was asked to do.

Cooper had no idea what bigger cause he was expected to become a minor sacrifice for. Probably an undercover operation against major drug dealers, or some other large-scale organized crime. For himself, he didn’t really care. But Diane was expected to be an unwitting sacrifice, too.

And worst of all was the fact that the whole plan seemed to have been put together with such casual arrogance. He was appalled and infuriated by the utter cynicism of the idea that he would willingly be the means of destroying someone’s hope — someone who apparently considered him a friend.

‘Angie, you should tell your friend that he ought to have trained you to lie better,’ he said, and put his foot down to drive a little faster as he hit the A628.

Angie slumped back against the headrest of her seat. ‘I’m sure there’s a way out of this situation,’ she said.

‘Yes, there is.’

She rolled her head wearily and looked at him sideways.

‘What do you suggest?’

‘There’s always a way out of situations like this,’ said Cooper. ‘It takes a bit of courage, but it’s the only way.’

‘I’ve a feeling it might be something I don’t want to hear about.’

As the white turbines of the wind farm appeared to the north and the air shaft for the railway tunnels came into view on the face of the opposite hill, Cooper began to feel more and more in control of the situation. It was the first time he’d felt in control since he’d visited Withens.

‘This way involves telling the truth,’ he said.

Angie sighed. ‘That’s what I was afraid you’d say.’

Most of the visitors to Withens were carrying umbrellas or wearing nylon cagoules with hoods turned up against the gentle rain. At least Eric Oxley wouldn’t have to water the well dressing much today.

Ben Cooper had taken up a position on the edge of the small crowd surrounding the well dressing. The sight of the tourists had just reminded him that he’d made another date with Peggy Check for this afternoon, and he had let her down again. He hoped she would understand. There was already too much in his life that was going to be hard to explain.

Cooper didn’t have to wait long before Diane Fry came to stand at his side.

‘So how were the Renshaws?’ he said.

Fry hunched her shoulders in a characteristically tense gesture. ‘Sarah Renshaw forced me to watch a video of Emma. A selection of memories, specially edited. One sequence showed Emma in black make-up, playing the recorder for the Border Rats.’

‘I’m sorry.’

‘Funnily enough, Neil Granger was in it, too.’

Cooper hadn’t brought an umbrella, or a waterproof. He could feel drops of the Withens rain starting to trickle down his collar.

‘What’s the progress on Philip Granger?’ he said.

‘We think he’s pretty well tied down for the killing of his brother. It’ll be up to the lawyers whether they go for a murder charge or manslaughter. We can’t prove his intention.’

‘Did any of the Oxleys know that it was Philip who killed his brother?’

‘They say not. And do you know, Ben, I think I actually believe them.’

‘Maybe it just wouldn’t occur to them — he was a member of the family, after all.’

‘We can all be wrong about our family.’

‘Yes.’

‘But there isn’t enough evidence to charge Philip Granger with the murder of Emma Renshaw. Not unless Emma’s body turns up. We did trace the phone thief through his prints — they were all over it, but they were left in the blood after it had dried. He was picked up at Matlock, and he’s told us where he found the phone.’

‘It was Emma’s blood?’

‘They matched the DNA.’

‘So he picked up the phone, found it didn’t work, and dumped it. Or noticed the blood and panicked.’

‘Yes.’

Cooper began to move away, but Fry held him back by putting her hand on his arm. He wished she wouldn’t touch him. The way it made him feel didn’t help him to be sure in his own mind that he was doing the right thing. He could only hope that she wasn’t going to ruin it completely and be nice to him.

‘And while we’re on the subject, Ben, asking the National Grid maintenance man to check the tunnel under the air shaft was a very good thought.’

‘Thanks.’

‘It’s a pity you completely forgot to mention it to me.’

‘Right. Sorry.’

They began to walk across the road together towards their cars. Gradually, the crowd of people began to thin out in front of them.

‘Anyway, I’m sure we’ll find Emma’s body soon,’ said Fry. ‘Granger says he hid it behind a wall, but he was in such a panic that he can’t remember where it was, or even what road he was on. He was genuinely lost. But the search teams are working their way through all the likely areas.’

‘I suppose it’s only a matter of time.’

‘Let’s hope to God it’s soon. The Renshaws can’t stand this much longer. It will overturn their lives completely. But nobody can go for ever without knowing the truth.’

‘That’s what I think,’ said Cooper.

Fry stopped suddenly in the middle of the road, oblivious to the mud that splashed on to her shoes from a puddle. Cooper walked on, bending his head into the rain. He was moving towards the sound of the water that streamed through Withens, washing away the ash and eroding the surfaces down to the bedrock.