Free Death on Account (The Lakeland Murders) by J J Salkeld

rats surely?’
    ‘No, ‘course not. I’m talking about that Terry Walker. You know him?’
    ‘And I thought you said it wasn’t a rat. Yes, I know Terry, worse luck. What’s he been up to now? Not gnawing through electrical cables?’
    His dad laughed. ‘Jean at number 57 told me that your lot were round there yesterday, and he and his mates had only been pelting Eleanor and young Gemma with burning coals off a barbecue, or the fire or something. And believe it or not Nobby didn’t even nick him for it. That’s just not right, that’s not.’
    ‘Gemma’s the severely disabled kid, the one you see being pushed along round here?’
    ‘That’s her. Sixteen years old and never said a word. Not one. Her poor mum can’t even know how she feels, what she needs, poor kid.’
    ‘It can’t be easy.’ Mann drained his tea. ‘But listen, dad, what Jean said can’t be right. Terry is an absolute dick-head, but if he’d done something like that we’d have him for it, I promise you. It would have been Nobby who’d have been round, like she said, and he’s a good lad. He’s old school is Nobby, and he wouldn’t take any shit from the likes of Terry. If push came to shove he’d get suck in and mix it with Terry, and his mates, not like some of our young PCs. They’d want back up if they spotted a bit of dog-dirt. So I don’t think that can be right, Nobby would have nicked him on the spot, I guarantee it.’
    ‘You’re probably right, son, but it’s what Jean said, and she’s usually a sight more reliable than this rag.’ Mann’s dad dropped his paper on to the side table. ‘But you have to admit that the likes of Terry Walker gets away with murder round here.’
    ‘Not murder, dad, but far too much. I’ll certainly grant you that.’
     
     
    Andy Hall was also drinking tea, rather weak and too milky, in Superintendent Robinson’s office. They’d agreed to have a daily, informal debrief on the Williams killing, and since Hall always imagined that Robinson slept in starched Cumbria Constabulary pyjamas the only ‘informal’ aspect that Hall could see was that Val Gorham hadn’t actually been told that the meeting was taking place. So the two men were alone.
    ‘Well done for finding the vehicle so quickly, and for piecing so much of the timeline together, Andy. We must have a good chance of catching the killer.’
    ‘Thanks, I’ll pass that on to the team. And I agree we’ve got a decent chance of identifying him, but as to catching him, I’m not so sure.’
    ‘You’re thinking that he flew out of Liverpool? A foreigner then?’
    Hall tried not to smile. He’d often thought that Superintendent Robinson had a little bit of UKIP about him.
    ‘Yes, probably on Tuesday evening. I know it sounds a bit far-fetched to have a professional hit-man plying his trade on Gooseholme, but you can see why Billy Cafferty would want someone from overseas for this one.’
    ‘To make sure we can’t prove a connection between him and the killer.’
    ‘Absolutely. I’m sure Billy has a pretty low opinion of us, not least because we’ve never put him away for anything worth talking about, but he must know that we’ll be absolutely certain that he was behind this. So it makes sense to get as much distance as possible, in every sense, between himself and the killer.’
    ‘Look, Andy, it would probably be a decent result for us if you can identify this man with certainty, even if we can’t put him away. I’d settle for that, especially if we can get there quickly.’
    Hall nodded. What Robinson meant was that it would be a decent result for Superintendent Robinson, current front runner for the Deputy Chief’s chair that would be vacant when the current Deputy ‘retired’ on the end of the new Chief’s boot. And word was that the booting was imminent.
    ‘Understood, Sir. And I think we may know who he is pretty soon.’
    Robinson smiled. ‘Soon would be good, Andy. And then there’s the other issue,