He said, âWhat mob?â
âYork Fusiliers. I busted my leg on an exercise, mended fine but they were rationalizing, that means dumping bodies. Offered me a medical discharge. I offered them a fifty-mile yomp across the moors, my pension against their jobs. No takers.â
It was clearly a bitter memory.
âSo youâve ended up deskbound,â said Wield with provocative sympathy.
âYeah. Well, not all the time, and at least Iâm doing something useful.â
âGuarding this place is useful?â
âItâs important work they do and theyâve a right to do it in peace.â
âYou reckon? Bit of overkill that mess out there, isnât it?â
âYou reckon?â mimicked Patten. âListen, back last summer they had one watchman and locks you could fart open. Those mad buggers just walked in, smashed the place up and helped themselves to everything, including the watchmanâs so-called guard dog. So we got called in. I took one look and said, first thing you want here is a fire zone. Thatâs a piece of ground in clear view where if anything moves, you shoot it. No need to go too far. Nearer the house the better, as that keeps the circle nice and small and cuts down cost. Also it leaves enough of the outer woodland untouched to keep things from the road looking much the same as theyâve always done. Now if they come, theyâve got to cross the open. Weâve got lights and cameras, and thereâs an alarmed security fence itâll take more than a pair of ordinary wire cutters to get through. Installationâs expensive, I agree. But once itâs done theyâre secure forever, and thatâs worth more than money to a firm like ALBA.â
âI can see that,â said Wield pleasantly. âWhen they were clearing the wood, did the contractors say anything about hitting an old wall or something like that? Seem to be a lot of granite slabs lying around out there.â
âNot to me.â
âWhat about Dr Batty?â
âCouldnât say. But if they did, Iâm pretty damn sure heâd have said carry on regardless. Old stones can mean a lot of bearded wonders slapping a preservation order on you if youâre not careful.â
He gave Wield a conspiratorial all-mates-together grin which sat uneasily on his scarred and watchful face.
Wield said, âIâll need to talk with your men who were on duty when they brought those women in last night, especially those as chased them round the offices.â
âWhyâs that?â said Patten, matiness gone.
âIn case ALBA fancy bringing charges. Trespass is no good as far as the house goes, as technically they were invited in, so theyâd need to go for criminal damage, assault even. So weâll need statements.â
âSave you the bother,â said Patten delving into his desk. âWe got our system too. Full reports on any incident. Here, take a look, all signed and sealed.â
He handed a thin file across. Wield looked inside. The reports were all there, full of necessary detail of time, place, duration.
âEverything in order?â said Patten. âJimmy Howard keeps us straight on rules of evidence. Useful having an ex-cop around.â
âMust be,â said Wield. âFrom a quick glance, doesnât seem to have been any real damage either to person or property.â
âMore by luck than judgment,â growled Patten. âThat fat cow, the one called Cap, she belted one of my lads in the belly with them cutters and looked like she was going to have a swing at my head with them till that skinny lass caught a hold of her.â
âWalker?â
âAye. The one who found the bones in the first place. Got the impression your fat boss knew her. She been in trouble for this kind of thing before?â
âNo. Not animal rights. She was one of them Women Against Pit Closures lot that got going during the Strike.â
âIs that right?â Patten pulled at his lip and said, âDidnât think you lot, CID I mean, got mixed up with that. Thought it was all uniformed out there beating up the pickets.â
âPreserving the peace,â corrected Wield gently. âNo, we got involved because there was a murder, out at Burrthorpe, you might have read about it.â
âNo, I donât recall. 1984, itâd be? I was nobbut a lad, not long in the army, still pretty much a lily.â
âA what?â
âLily. What we called a sprog in our mob. So, this Walker woman, sheâs had a change of heart, has she? Moved from miners to monkeys?â
âSome folk need a cause,â said Wield. âAnd we like to keep a close eye on all of them. Perhaps Iâd better have a word with Jimmy Howard just to make sure Iâve got the full picture.â
âSorry, heâs gone off duty,â said Patten.
âWhenâs he back on?â
Patten swivelled round to examine a wall chart which wouldnât have disgraced the Pentagon. Next to it hung a photo of three men smiling into the camera. On the left was Patten, wearing TecSec uniform. The man on the right â small with a round smiling face beneath tightly packed blond curls â was similarly dressed. His name tag was too small to read except for the initial R. In the centre, elegant in a well-cut, dark grey pinstripe suit, was a lean handsome man who looked as if he might have a very good opinion of himself, not altogether unjustified.
âShould have gone off at six this morning in fact,â added Patten, âbut did an extra stag âcos of all the excitement, so I shouldnât bother him at home till heâs had time to catch up on his beauty sleep.â
âOh, shanât need to do that,â said Wield negligently. âLikely these reports youâve given me will do. Seems a well-organized firm, TecSec. Good mob to work for, are they?â
âI donât work for âem,â said Patten, âIâm a partner.â
âSorry. I thought seeing you out here in the uniform â¦â
âLike the army, guys who really run the show are out there in the field getting shot at. My partnerâs out most of the time drumming up business while Iâm out making sure the business weâve got gets done properly. Thereâs a girl back in the office knows where to get hold of us.â
âSounds good,â said Wield rising. âIf ever I need security Iâll know where to come. Thanks for the tea.â
âMy pleasure.â
At the door Wield paused and said, âYour security fence, the inner one, you say theyâd not have got through that with a pair of wire cutters. Why not use the same stuff for the first lot of wire?â
âExpense,â said Patten. âCosts a fortune that stuff, and youâd need a lot more âcos itâs a bigger circle. Also â¦â
âYes?â prompted Wield.
âNo use fighting people unless you let âem close enough to get shot,â said Patten, this time with no attempt at a grin.
xiii (#ulink_e85ff338-f76b-55f3-a5c7-b2917b4db7c0)
The atmosphere in the Pascoe household had remained definitely overcast with poor air quality till Rosie on her return from school burst in on it like the wild west wind. She flung herself on her father as if heâd been away for a decade not a day and gripped him in a stranglehold which would have won style points from a Thug, the whiles rattling off a stream-of-consciousness account of all that had happened to her during their long separation.
Also in there somewhere were expressions of gratitude for her prezzie which at first he took to be creatively predictive, and he was seeking a form of words which would explain why fathers after such a short absence on such a sad mission should be allowed to come home empty handed when it dawned on him that the thanks were for a present received not a gift anticipated.
He glanced at Ellie who mouthed, âThe secretaire.â
âEh?â