‘Oh, you think I’m just making it up, don’t you? Well, check their records. You’ll find that two of them were convicted for a
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burglary at this property eighteen months ago. It didn’t stop them. But that was the only one they were ever caught for. And that’s because they tried to sell an electric drill they stole, and it was traced.’
‘Which two were they, Mr Dearden?’
‘Ryan and Sean. A right couple of teenage tearaways.’
‘But since then?’
‘We’ve never managed to catch them.’
‘Mmm.’
Dearden started to go red when he detected Cooper’s tone of scepticism.
‘Have you been into Withens? Have you seen Waterloo Terrace?’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘Well, you’ll have an idea what they’re like/ said Dearden. ‘I mean, look at the mess they leave. There’s mud and rubbish all over the place. They’re always dropping bits of broken pallet right the way along the road into Withens. One day I nearly hit a pile of roof tiles that had fallen off their lorry. They’ve even churned up the edge of the road by their houses, because they had a JCB parked there for a while. I never saw them actually do anything with it, either. It was just in the way for a week or two, then it was gone again. But it left the damage to the road, and all the water collects there now when it rains. You can bet the council won’t make the Oxleys pay for the repairs, though. It’ll come out of our Council Tax.’
‘Is that why you started driving out of Withens via the old quarry track?’ said Cooper. ‘Because of the state of the road?’
Dearden hesitated. ‘It’s quicker sometimes.’
‘You have a four-wheel-drive Mitsubishi pickup?’
‘That’s right.’
‘But even so, I would have thought it was pretty tough on your tyres and suspension.’
‘Perhaps that’s cheaper than ripping up my chassis on a pile of roof slates.’
‘Perhaps. But you’re taking a big risk of getting stuck.’
Dearden shrugged.
‘Do you know Neil Granger, Mr Dearden?’ said Cooper.
‘Yes, I do. He’s one of the Oxleys. Related, anyway. One day, somebody ought to look into just how closely some of those Oxleys are related. They’re a bit too reluctant to share their gene pool, if you ask me.’
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‘Did you ever see Neil Granger on the old quarry track when you drove over that way, Mr Dearden?’
‘I don’t believe so. Well, no, I’m sure I didn’t.’
‘Anybody hanging around the air shaft?’
‘I saw a couple of the Oxley lads trying to climb it once/ said Dearden.
‘Oh? When was this?’
‘A few weeks ago. God knows what they were up to. It’s not as if they could steal anything. Even if they got down into the tunnel, they wouldn’t be able to get out again.’
‘No. Did you say anything to them?’
‘Not likely. I’d only have got a mouthful of abuse.’
‘Which of the Oxleys did you see?’
That I’m not sure about. They’re much of a muchness, unless you actually see them standing next to each other. And every one of them should be in jail, in my opinion. Not that you want my opinion. The police have made that clear enough. The laws of the outside world will never come near the Oxleys.’
In the lay-by on the A628, Ben Cooper could see that a cordon had been taped off around a light blue Volkswagen Beetle. He recognized Liz Petty pulling on her white suit, getting ready to approach the vehicle.
‘They’ve asked me to do the car, to avoid cross-contamination,’ said Petty. ‘So let’s hope that Locard’s Principle is working in our favour today. Every contact leaves a trace. If the perpetrator travelled in this vehicle with the victim, he’ll have left traces of himself for us to find, and carried others away with him. It’s quite an old vehicle, which is good, because there are more likely to be distinctive traces on the seats and the floor.’
‘It’s been standing here overnight at least/ said Cooper.
‘Yes, I noticed the spider’s web. It’s been spun from the hawthorn shrub to the wing mirror.’
‘The doctor says the body’s been lying up there over twenty four hours/
‘Don’t come any closer/ said Petty, reminding Cooper of Lucas Oxley and his dog.
‘Why?’
‘Be really careful of where you tread. There look to be some interesting traces on the ground here. Anyone getting into or out of this vehicle will most likely have got something on the soles of
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their shoes. Or anyone using another vehicle, for that matter.’
Cooper studied the surface of the lay-by. ‘All I can see are chocolate wrappers, sweet papers and the remains of a burger and fries.’
