‘I don’t know about that.’
‘Especially in the force. They like team bonding and all that, don’t they?’
Cooper shrugged. ‘I’ve managed to keep out of it so far. I prefer the individual sports. But I am in the Derbyshire Police Male Voice Choir.’
‘You are kidding.’
O
‘No. it’s good fun. We do a few concerts — for the old folks
‘ o
mostly, that kind of thing, especially around Christmas time. The old dears love it. It’s good PR.’
‘Do you sing soprano?’
‘Tenor.’
A couple of miles down the road towards Edendale, Cooper turned the Toyota off on to a side road and headed back out of the valley.
‘Where are you going?’ asked Fry.
y o o j
‘I’ve had an idea,’ he said. ‘Something that came to me when we were talking about DI Armstrong.’
‘What exactly do you mean?’ said Fry, with a warning note
J J J ‘ O
in her voice.
‘You remember I said she was “poached” by B Division?’
‘Are you still harping on that?’
‘No, no, you don’t understand. I was thinking about poaching.’
‘Come again?’
‘Just up here there’s a big estate, the Colishaw Estate. That’s an “estate” as in a large area of privately owned land. Not a housing estate.’
o
‘I think I’ve got that, thanks.’
‘The Colishaw Estate runs shoots. That means they breed a lot of pheasants. There are deer on the estate too. Not to mention rabbits and hare and partridge.’
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‘Is this a nature lesson? If so, could we possibly do it tomorrow?’
‘Obviously, it’s a big target for poachers,’ said Cooper patiently.
‘Right.’
‘The professional gangs used to be a big problem, but they don’t bother so much any more. There’s no money in it now. Rut the local men still get down there.’
o
‘Chasing the pheasants and rabbits.’
‘You don’t exactly chase them.’
Cooper pulled the Toyota on to the verge near a patch of woodland, where signs warned ‘Private Property’. There was little traffic on the road, and the night was totally black but for the stars in a clear sky. The Toyota’s sidelights illuminated
J J O
a wall and a length of barbed wire.
‘There’s an old hut down there,’ he said, pointing into the wood. ‘It’s always been a favourite for poachers to lie up in. It’s well away from where the keepers patrol, even when they bother. Jackie Sherratt was a notorious poacher. He used to use it all the time. He must often have taken his son Lee there. As part of his training.’
‘Sherratt? Hold on. You think ?’
‘It’s possible. I think Lee could have chosen the hut to lie up in. No one will have thought of checking this out. It’s too distant from Moorhay. But a lad like Lee wouldn’t think anything of
J Jo
moving this far.’
o
‘Don’t tell me — you want to check it out?’
‘Yes.’
‘Right here and now?’
‘Why not?’
‘Are you crazy? It’s the middle of the night!’
