‘Your behaviour can be a bit... unpredictable.’
‘I see we’re going for the full-frontal honesty tonight,’ she said.
‘Well, if you want my help, it’s best to have these things out in the open.’
She breathed quietly for a moment, and he was reassured when she refused to turn away but continued to meet his eyes.
‘I’m not taking anything,’ she said. ‘Does that satisfy you?’
‘Yes,’ said Cooper.
‘You believe me?’
‘Absolutely.’
The tension dropped away. Fry even managed a smile.
‘Have you been wondering about it all this time?’
‘Not really,’ said Cooper. ‘Besides, it’s not something you can go ahead and ask.’
‘But you just did.’
‘This is different.’
A group of young men passed them, talking loudly as they headed for the pubs around Market Square. Fry unlocked her car and paused with her hand on the door.
‘Ben,’ she said.
He turned. ‘Yes?’
‘You know this could get you into trouble, don’t you?’
Cooper looked at her for a moment, saw in that one second everything he’d gone through with her, the times she’d been a thorn in his side and the occasions when she’d saved his life, or saved him from himself.
‘You’ve always caused me trouble, Diane,’ he said. ‘But you know that, don’t you?’
23
Wednesday
Detective Superintendent Branagh was based at North Division headquarters in Chesterfield now. Since Edendale was relegated to a Local Policing Unit, most of Ben Cooper’s direct access to his boss was limited to phone calls.
It took a couple of attempts before he could get through to her that morning. Meetings, he supposed. One of the penalties of rank.
‘This death on Kinder Scout,’ she said when he was able to get through. ‘Is it a murder inquiry, DI Cooper, or a suspicious death?’
Cooper hesitated. ‘We’re not entirely sure, ma’am. The post-mortem results are inconclusive.’
‘Well, if and when you are sure, it’ll have to be passed to the Major Crime Unit to lead the inquiry.’
‘I don’t think that’s necessary.’
‘We’ll make sure you’re involved. But there has to be a qualified SIO in a murder case — you know that.’
‘Of course,’ said Cooper. ‘I’ll keep everyone informed. But there’s something I wanted to ask you.’
‘Yes?’
‘Do you know what’s happening with regard to DS Fry? I understand there’s an internal investigation under way.’
‘There isn’t much I can say about it, I’m afraid. The Professional Standards Department are handling it. They do things in their own fashion. Why does it concern you, Ben? I know you’ve worked with her, but—’
‘I was wondering how serious it is, that’s all.’
‘I’m not privy to the details at this stage. In fact, I’m not sure they’ll include me, even if it comes to a case conference. I’m not currently DS Fry’s divisional commander.’
‘No, I understand.’
‘I’m sorry I can’t help any more than that,’ said Branagh. ‘I shouldn’t say this, Ben, but you could probably find out more by unofficial means.’
‘I’ll bear that in mind,’ said Cooper. ‘Thank you, ma’am.’
When Cooper had finished the call, he reflected for a moment that he was glad Detective Superintendent Branagh hadn’t asked more about Faith Matthew’s death. He was reluctant to let it go, and it was an advantage to have an inconclusive post-mortem result. Branagh had probably realised that. She’d covered herself but allowed him some rope. He hoped he wasn’t about to hang himself with it.
Then Dev Sharma knocked on his office door. He didn’t look happy.
‘Ben, we’ve got a problem with the Atherton inquiry,’ said Sharma. ‘The files have been flagged up with a query.’
Cooper looked at him in surprise. ‘A query from the CPS or from EMSOU?’
‘Major Crime Unit have kicked some of the statements back to us. They say they’re contradictory.’
‘What’s wrong? I thought it was an open-and-shut case.’
‘Apparently not.’
‘Show me what you’ve got again, Dev.’
‘Well, the statement that causes the problem is from the next-door neighbour. She says she saw Gary Atherton arriving home at ten thirty-eight a.m. She was sure of the time because she was waiting for a taxi to take her for a hospital appointment and it was due at ten thirty-five. She heard Mr Atherton’s car pull up and thought it was the taxi, so she looked at her watch. It was ten thirty-eight.’
‘And?’
‘The 999 call was recorded at ten thirty-two.’
‘From a mobile phone.’
‘Yes. But its location was shown as the Athertons’ address. The call was made from that house. And it was Mrs Atherton’s phone, not her husband’s. His own phone was still in his pocket when he was detained.’
‘You’re telling me someone else made the call, claiming to be Gary Atherton?’
‘That appears to be what the evidence suggests. The CPS would say it’s enough to weaken the prosecution case.’
‘Who took the statement from the neighbour?’ asked Cooper.
‘Luke Irvine.’
‘Send Becky Hurst to talk to her again. No pressure. Just let her explain it all again. She must have got something wrong.’
Sharma looked dubious. ‘We could extend our door-to-door inquiries. Talk to more neighbours. They might have a different account.’
‘Yes, you’re right, Dev. Do that too.’
‘All right.’
‘And can you send DC Villiers in, please?’
Sharma disappeared, and Carol Villiers came in a few moments later.
‘Dev is panicking a bit,’ she said.
‘He’ll be OK. He just needs to get through this. He thought he had it all tied up, but something always catches you out. DS Sharma will be able to deal with it.’
‘Isn’t it a bit of a risk giving him so much responsibility?’ said Villiers.
Cooper shook his head. ‘It’s what he’s here for. Trust me.’
‘So what have you got for me?’
‘Here’s a nugget from Darius Roth’s past history,’ said Cooper. ‘According to his wife, he suffered appendicitis eight years ago. He was admitted to a private hospital, presumably for an appendectomy.’
‘Was he in Meadow Park Hospital, by any chance?’
‘Right. Can you find out if Faith Matthew was employed there at the time? And whether she worked on the same ward? I’m looking for alternative connections between these people.’
‘I’ll try, Ben, but you know—’
‘Yes. Medical practitioners are notoriously difficult to get information out of, and not just about their patients.’
Villiers placed an interview report on his desk.
‘What’s this?’
‘I talked to Jonathan Matthew again first thing this morning and went over his statement in detail,’ she said. ‘He’s no clearer about where he was on Kinder Scout — except lost. He’s insistent that he never saw his sister after the party split up. He says he kept his distance from both groups because he thought they were being foolhardy.’
‘He had a point,’ said Cooper. ‘But he’s managed to draw suspicion on himself nevertheless.’
Cooper had decided to talk to Sam and Pat Warburton together. He saw no reason to separate them. They didn’t feature high on his list of potential suspects, and if they’d wanted to come up with a consistent story together, they’d already been given plenty of time to do it.