Superintendent Thornton instantly regretted his generosity in lending his office to DI Robinson. As soon as he had received the complaints from the Lord Lieutenant and the Chief Constable he’d resolved to distance himself from DI Yates as much as he could, in case the whole damned farm vehicle thing blew up into a row. If someone’s head was going to roll, he’d do his best to make sure it wasn’t his own. He’d therefore have preferred it if he’d been sitting behind his own desk preserving an official gulf between them when considering Tim’s revised plan of action. As it was, he was obliged to sit alongside Tim in the open-plan area in a manner which, from his present perspective, might be considered overly egalitarian.
Tim sensed his mood and became correspondingly deferential.
‘Should I begin, sir?’
‘Well, I’m not sitting here for the good of my health,’ Thornton snapped.
Tim swallowed.
‘Picking up on what we said yesterday, we can find no pattern to the vehicle thefts, in terms of location, the types of machinery stolen – except that more quads have disappeared than any other kind of vehicle – or victims. As you know, sir, some of the victims have been quite wealthy farmers, others just small-holders or amateur gardeners who use quads when working on their allotments.’
‘The last lot are just boys playing with expensive toys, if you ask me,’ Superintendent Thornton commented severely.
‘I’m inclined to agree, sir,’ said Tim carefully, ‘or girls, in some cases. But that doesn’t make those thefts any less culpable.’
‘You don’t need to tell me that,’ said Thornton belligerently. ‘Carry on.’
‘I’ve been thinking of the cases of car theft I’ve had to deal with over the years. I’d say there are four broad groups: kids twocking for kicks, who will as often as not set fire to the vehicle after a joy ride, criminals, who steal cars to commit specific crimes and then abandon them, and then what you might call the professionals: two kinds of organised gang, the ones who disguise stolen cars, often of the same marque, by respraying, removing engine serial numbers, etc. and sell them on; and those who steal to order, for prearranged clients. We can forget about the first group: these crimes are not being committed by kids; not a single one of the vehicles has been found, either intact or burnt out. Theft to support crime is unlikely – I can’t think of a more conspicuous or inept getaway vehicle than a quad, unless it’s a tractor. That leaves the two more organised types. Given the wide geographical spread of the thefts, I think that stealing to order is more likely than stealing for resale to punters.’
‘In other words, you don’t think the criminals are using a makeover garage or some kind of remodelling facility?’
‘No. It’s more likely that the stuff is being nicked to order and moved out of the county quickly, perhaps to somewhere else in the UK, perhaps abroad.’
Superintendent Thornton spent a few moments letting Tim’s ideas sink in. He’d converted his supercilious air to something approaching enthusiasm.
‘Okay. Well, assuming you’re right about all this, Yates – and I suppose your hypotheses are as good as any – who are the culprits? That’s what I want to know. No more beating about the bush.’
‘If I could tell you that with certainty, we wouldn’t be sitting here talking about them. If you’re asking whether I can come up with some names of suspects, the answer, unfortunately, is no. But I’ve thought a lot about generic suspects...’
‘“Generic suspects”, Yates? What are they?’
‘I mean, the kinds of background the suspects are likely to come from. The more I think about it, the more likely I believe it is that they are travellers...’
‘Not very original, that, is it, Yates? Most coppers latch on to the travelling community when they’re casting around for someone to blame. And you’ll have to tread carefully: as you’re aware, Romanies are quite respected in this area. They’ve been working on the land here for a long time.’
‘I’d say there was a world of difference between the kind of Romanies you’re talking about and some of the travelling families who pass through here. But hear me out: if my theory that we’re looking for a small organised gang operating a much larger web of thieves is correct, travellers would fit the profile exactly. They keep on the move, so are hard to pin down, and have a huge network of contacts, both of other travellers and others who work with them as they’re passing through.’
‘Are you aware of any travelling families ‘passing through’, as you put it?’
‘I hadn’t been until yesterday, when Ricky MacFadyen said that the man who attacked him and Jack Fovargue was probably a traveller. Which reminds me, when Ricky and I visited Fovargue’s place today, I saw a purple quad disappearing into the distance.’
‘How is that significant, Yates? Are any of the missing quads purple?’
‘Certainly none when they were stolen – and I didn’t really think this was one of the stolen vehicles. What did strike me was the size of the enterprise Fovargue runs out there. He has fingers in all sorts of pies and it’s quite a slick operation. He can’t have been short of cash when he set it all up.’
‘Pillar of society, though, isn’t he, Yates? A lover of the Earth, local philanthropist and all that?’
‘So we’ve been told.’
‘How did your interview with him go?’
‘He was out, according to his wife, though we had a suspicion that he was hiding in the house and had told her to say so.’
‘Why would he do that?’
‘I don’t know, but yesterday, as you are aware, he was very reluctant to discuss the incident in Red Lion Street. It was almost as if he was afraid of something.’
‘You’re arranging to go back, make an appointment or something?’
‘Yes. I’ve asked him to call me before the end of the day. If he doesn’t, we’ll call him. I’d like permission to investigate all his activities while I’m there, sir.’
‘Are you asking me for a warrant?’
‘I suppose I am.’
‘Well, the answer is no, Yates, at least not on this first occasion. You may ask him to show you round, if you like, and see whether he co-operates. But don’t lose sight of the fact that, first and foremost, you’re visiting him as the victim of a crime. You’ll have to keep that entirely separate from any other investigations you may see fit to pursue. Otherwise, he might have grounds for complaint.’
Tim tried not to sigh.
‘And we appear to have got a bit sidetracked, don’t we, Yates? Since I assume you’re not suggesting that Fovargue is the mastermind of this network you’ve conjured up, I advise you to deal with him as quickly as possible and get back to focusing on the job in hand.’