Jim gave a nod, brandishing his notebook and pencil.
‘And Detective Constable Dinsdale and I just want to get an idea of what you found, that’s all. Then if you can pop down to the office in Hawes later on today and give a statement, that would be very much appreciated.’
‘I’m not due to go to Hawes today, though,’ the man said. ‘Mart’s not on, is it? And there’s nowt I’m wanting from the supplies shop.’
‘Supplies shop?’ Harry asked.
‘It’s like a supermarket for farmers,’ Matt explained. ‘Imagine a place where you can buy anything from a chainsaw to chicken feed. Worth a look if you get a chance.’
‘I don’t have much need for either of those,’ Harry said.
‘Come on, everyone needs a chainsaw,’ Matt said.
Harry looked back to the farmer. ‘I didn’t catch your name.’
‘I didn’t give it.’
‘Come on, Pat,’ Jim said. ‘We’re here to help, you know that.’
Harry caught a look between Jim and the farmer, who then seemed to relax a little.
‘Sorry,’ he said. ‘It’s just that it’s set me off a bit, if you know what I mean? I’m Pat. Patrick Coates.’
Harry recognised the name. ‘Isn’t Liz a Coates?’ He asked, looking at Matt and Jim.
‘Probably a very, very, very distant relative,’ Matt said. ‘There’s names around here that have been around for centuries, Dinsdale, Metcalf, Coates, to name a few.’
Harry pondered on this briefly, then was back to Pat. ‘So, Pat,’ he said, ‘if you could just run through what happened, that would be really helpful. And don’t worry if you think the details aren’t important, that’s for us to decide, okay?’
Pat took a deep breath then started to talk, his thick, Yorkshire accent dancing around his words like children around a maypole. ‘Well, I was up at five,’ he said. ‘Bit early for me, to be honest, but there we are. Got up anyway and decided I may as well just head on out and do something with my time. No point lying around in bed, is there?’
Harry wasn’t exactly of the same opinion and asked, ‘Why were you up so early, then?’
Pat shrugged. ‘I think it was a fox that woke me. Heard a scrabbling sound outside. That’s why I went out, really. They can’t half scare the animals. And little Gracie, she’s my youngest, she’s got these two rabbits you see, and that’s a tasty meal for any fox for sure, and I can’t be doing with seeing her all upset.’
‘You didn’t hear a car?’
‘Oh, there’s always cars,’ Pat said. ‘It’s a busy road, that.’
Harry turned to look briefly at the road behind them. Busy wasn’t a word that immediately sprang to mind, and particularly not so in the middle of the night. ‘So, you heard a car as well?’
‘No, I said there’s always cars,’ Pat replied. ‘But there were one or two I’m sure, yes.’
‘And then you went outside?’
‘Not immediately, no,’ Pat said. ‘I grabbed my gun and then I went out.’
‘Gun?’
‘For the fox,’ Pat said. ‘At least it would scare the bugger off, sending a couple of barrels off in the air. Can’t shoot a fox with a shotgun. Well, you can, but I don’t think it’s right, myself. Need a rifle for that. So I don’t.’
Harry was beginning to wonder just how many households in the dales held their own private little armouries.
‘And what did you find?’ Matt asked.
‘Nowt much,’ Pat shrugged. ‘I mean, I wasn’t expecting to find anything, was I? I was just wandering around outside, checking for a fox, and then decided to go and have a look in on the animals, wish them good morning, like. They spook easily, but they were fine. And that’s when I saw it. The body. In the slurry, if you know what I mean? And I shouldn’t have been able to see it, should I?’
Harry tried to imagine what it must have been like, up early in the morning, surrounded by the countryside, to then find a body in your own backyard. ‘Why not?’
‘Why not?’ Pat asked, more than a little incredulously. ‘I’ve got kids, that’s why not! You think I’d have a slurry pit uncovered when I’ve got kids? Of course not! And there it is as plain as the nose on my face, a body, just floating in the shit, and the cover has been all pulled back! Doesn’t make sense! It’s never uncovered! Never!’
‘How did you spot it?’ asked Harry.
‘With my own bloody eyes, that’s how!’ Pat said. ‘What kind of question is that?’
Harry was used to people being bristly so reworded his question. ‘What I mean is, what drew your attention to it in the first place? It wouldn’t have been easy to see.’
‘It was a bloody great lump sticking out of the muck,’ Pat explained. ‘That, and the fact that the cover had been pulled back. Thought it might be a deer or a sheep, perhaps even a badger, and I knew I’d have to clear it out later, because you can’t leave something like that just floating there, can you? So I went over to check, which was when I realised what it actually was. Bit of a shock, if I’m honest.’
‘I’m sure it was,’ Matt said. ‘Any idea who it is?’
‘You’re having a laugh, aren’t you? How the hell do you expect me to know that?’
Harry jumped in with, ‘I think what DC Metcalf is asking is, if there was anything about the body, something it was wearing perhaps, that you recognised? Anything at all?’
‘Not a thing,’ Pat said. ‘All I know is that I’ve got some poor bugger floating dead in an uncovered slurry pit, police traipsing all over my farm, and I’ve a business to run. Can’t stop just because of this, you know. I’m a busy man!’
‘And there’s nothing else you can tell us?’ Harry asked. ‘Nothing else you saw which was strange or out of place? Nothing else you heard or noticed?’
Pat shook his head and shrugged. ‘Just the uncovered pit. And the body. That’s
