23
Diane Fry happened to be at Divisional Headquarters in West Street when the call came in. As soon as DI Hitchens appeared in the door of the CID room, she knew that something had happened. There was no mistaking that air of excitement that came when there had at last been a breakthrough in a frustrating case.
‘What is it?’ she said.
‘Another woman attacked,’ said Hitchens. ‘Near Ringham.’
Fry stood up, ready to go. ‘Dead?’
‘Oh no,’ said Hitchens, with the first hint of a smile. ‘This one’s very much alive. And shouting the place down.’
E Division’s problem had suddenly become a hot potato that nobody wanted. For the meeting later that morning, Detective Superintendent Prince made an appearance, looking like a man who had been reminded by the Assistant Chief Constable that he was supposed to be in charge.
Ben Cooper saw that even Owen Fox and Mark Roper were there. Owen looked uncomfortable in the stifling
325
atmosphere. The heating had been turned up for the winter, but there were too many people in the room and there was no air conditioning. Away from the open air, Owen seemed out of his element. He was a slow, quietly-spoken middleaged man among a crowd of younger people who were much noisier, more selfconfident and aggressive. His untidy hair and beard made him look his age. Also, Cooper now realized that it was only Owen ‘s fleece jacket that was red. The jacket was so distinctive that he hadn’t really noticed the rest of the Ranger’s uniform before. Apart from the red fleece, everything else that he wore was grey - the shirt, the trousers, the sweater. Without the jacket, the Ranger would be a grey man. ‘Well, if this was our assailant again, he made a big mistake,’ said Tailby, with more than a trace of satisfaction. ‘This time the woman he chose turned out not to be alone. If this lady, Karen Tavisker, had not walked on ahead when her friend stopped to rest, he would have realized there were two of them. I believe he would have left them alone and gone elsewhere. We have the lack of fitness of a thirty-five-year-old woman to thank for this breakthrough.’ Tailby pointed to the map of the Ringham area showing the sites of the previous attacks. He indicated a path above the village of Ringham Lees, which disappeared into a patch of green representing woodland before emerging among grey angular shapes that meant rocks. ‘Karen Tavisker wanted to reach the top of Ringham
326
Edge,’ he said. ‘But the path was too steep for her friend, Marilyn Robb. She stopped to rest about here while Tavisker went on. We believe our man was waiting in the trees. He must have thought Tavisker was alone, but he got a shock. Robb was only a few yards away. Everything went wrong for him at that point.’ ‘Did they both see him?’ asked Cooper. ‘Robb came running when her friend screamed. Unfortunately, the assailant was wearing a mask. But, yes, we now have two new witnesses.’ Tailby beamed proudly, as if he had just created the witnesses himself out of a washing-up liquid bottle and a few bits of string. ‘We’ve traced his approach route and we have some tyre tracks, plus reported sightings of a red Renault in the vicinity. Progress. It’s progress at last.’ Tailby indicated a photograph of Karen Tavisker, and they all looked at it as if she were their latest pinup. ‘The other point is that Karen Tavisker lives out of the area and was on a passing visit. There seems little doubt that, in this case at least, the victim was chosen at random. Now DI Hitchens has a bit of news to share with you that may or may not be related.’ ‘This morning we’ve heard from Greater Manchester Police,’ said Hitchens. ‘They inform us that they are seeking a suspect who could be in our area. His name’s Darren Howsley. They badly want to interview him about a series of attacks on women in the Oldham area. They say he has family connections in Derbyshire, having lived with an aunt at Chelmorton for a few years as a teenager. We’ve had his photo and details faxed over, and they’ll be in your files shortly.’
327
‘Is this particularly relevant?’ asked someone.
‘It is if you look at the nature of the incidents. These women were attacked while walking in the hills outside Oldham. The Saddleworth area.’
‘Just like our man.’ ‘Right.’
‘The other thing is that he seems to have been missing from their patch for at least three weeks.’
‘Great.’ ‘Apart from that little tidbit, it’s a question of going over old ground again, I’m afraid,’ said Tailby. ‘Roadside stops, questionnaires, appeals in the media. We need to involve the community. We’re getting serious pressure now. So we have to put pressure on in return, let people see we’re doing something. We revisit everyone who hasn’t been eliminated. If they were in the area and can’t account for their movements, then coincidence is abolished as far as I’m concerned.’
‘I can think straight away of two who won’t have alibis, except for each other,’ said Hitchens.
‘You mean the travellers in the quarry, Paul.’
‘It’s time we did something about them. Bring them both in. Their initial statements are useless. We should make them go through everything again and let HOLMES sniff out some inconsistencies.’
‘What’s the relationship between those two?’ asked Tailby. ‘Is there a sexual liaison?’
‘Possibly, sir. There’s certainly something not quite right there,’ said Fry.
‘No,’ said Cooper.
‘Ah? Why do you sound so sure, Cooper?’
328
‘It isn’t in their philosophy. They have different beliefs to us.’
‘Well, that sounds interesting, Cooper. Could you explain what these beliefs are? Might they just have some bearing on the enquiry, by any chance?’
‘I don’t think so, sir.’
‘It doesn’t do to be too credulous, Cooper. For a start, are we supposed to believe they live just on the benefits claimed by Calvin Lawrence?’
‘They hardly have an extravagant lifestyle.’ Hitchens interrupted. ‘I can show you fifteen or sixteen reports of stuff being nicked from cars parked on the roadsides around Ringham Moor. Radios, cameras - you name it. Somebody’s cleaning up from the tourists round there.’
‘You think it’s Cal and Stride? But what would they do with that sort of stuff?’
‘Well - sell it, right? That’s the usual idea, as far as I understand it.’
