At High Shaw, spring sunshine flooded the room and fresh country air wafted in through the open front door. But the ambience of the place wasn’t lifting DS Robson’s foul mood. Daniels had left him alone there with a huge pile of statements to read – meaningless statements at that. He looked up as a dark shadow crossed his face. PC Hook was on the threshold with a farm labourer in tow.
‘This is Ronnie Raine, Sarge. Says he has something important to tell you. Is it OK if I leave him with you?’
Robson nodded.
Hook set off for the mobile unit, leaving Raine alone in the doorway. Casting his eye over the lad, Robson beckoned him inside. He was a giant, six four at least, with sandy-coloured hair, a ruddy complexion and bright eyes. At a guess, the DS figured he was around twenty years old and yet he looked as though he’d worked on the land for years. Unlike the detective, who was longing to get back to the city, he seemed entirely comfortable in his surroundings.
Raine stepped forward, stooping to get through the door. Robson offered him a seat but he declined, pointing down at mucky boots that smelled markedly of horse manure.
‘Suit yourself,’ Robson said. ‘What was it you thought I should know?’
‘It might not mean anything, sir.’
‘True. But I won’t know ’til you tell me, right?’
‘My cousin Billy is the local constable.’ Raine waited for some recognition from the detective but none was forthcoming. ‘He asked me and some other young farmers if we’d seen anything, anything out of the ordinary in the last few weeks.’
‘And have you?’
‘Maybe.’ Remembering his manners, Raine took off his cap. Crushing it in huge, dirty hands he continued. ‘Very early one morning – I mean really early – before the tourists usually arrive, I seen this car parked up at Housesteads with nobody in it.’
‘How long ago was this?’
‘’Bout three weeks.’
‘What were you doing up there?’
‘Going for the sheep, like I do every day. When I came down from the pasture I saw a man and a young blonde lass arguing. When they saw me, they hurried back to the car. This was very close to where Billy said you found the young girl’s body.’
‘Who’s Billy?’
‘My cousin, the polis!’ Raine frowned. ‘You listening to me?’
‘Last name?’
‘Raine! Same as me. Cousins, aren’t we?’
‘Of course, how stupid of me.’
‘You taking the piss? Cos if you are, I’ve got better things to do.’
Robson felt guilty and dropped the attitude. It wasn’t Raine’s fault that his police career was on a downward spiral, and he certainly couldn’t afford a complaint against him – especially now. Already mired in the kind of trouble that could cost him his job, the odds of him rescuing his good reputation were slim to say the least.
‘Sorry, it’s been a long day. No offence meant.’
Raine accepted the half-hearted apology and carried on. ‘I seen them again on Tuesday. Same pair. I think she must’ve hurt herself because he was helping her across the field. I was going to give them a hand, but the man waved me away so I left them to it. Didn’t want to stick my nose in. Wasn’t my business, was it?’
‘S’pose not,’ Robson said. ‘You sure it was Tuesday?’
‘Aye, it’s market day in Hexham. I was sellin’ stock at the mart later.’ Raine seemed in no doubt. ‘Like I said, it might be nothing. But Billy said I should let you know about it just in case. He said people should come forward and help in any way they can.’
‘He was right. I’ll need your address and a contact number.’
Robson picked up his pen. As Raine reeled off his details, he began writing them down, hoping he hadn’t sounded as hacked off as he felt. Being left alone at High Shaw when there was very little going on was not his idea of fun. One local smelling of horse shit was the only person he’d seen all day, apart from PC Hook, who was manning the caravan next door.
And he was an irritating prick!
Robson was a team player, not a one-man band. He’d been stewing all morning, aware that he alone was to blame for his predicament, for slipping spectacularly to the bottom of the pecking order in the murder investigation team. He’d made mistakes on their last enquiry. And when Daniels had given him a second chance, then a third, what had he done? Fucked her over good and proper, that’s what!
A one-time loyal member of her team, he’d disgraced himself by passing insider information to Assistant Chief Constable Martin, a hate figure within the Northumbria force. In return for very little – or so it seemed at the time – Martin had promised him the recognition he deserved both within the squad and beyond. Robson had only agreed to talk because his wife and new baby son deserved a bigger house, a new car, a holiday, none of which he could possibly provide having got into debt playing online poker. So when Martin offered ‘fast-track promotion’ he’d grabbed it with both hands.
Doddle.
End of problem.
Except Martin was now history, leaving Robson out on a limb, having to explain his behaviour, distrusted by his mates and the one boss he had any time for. His colleagues were good people. They didn’t deserve a grass in their midst, making their difficult job even more so. No matter how he dressed it up, he had to admit he’d made a complete mess of things. Borrowing heavily against his house in order to keep his wife from finding out had been the worst decision he’d ever made. And now it was payback time.
Daniels had every reason to be pissed off, but she’d taken it really well.
Jesus! She’d even offered to help.
‘When you’re on the bottom,’ she’d said, ‘the only way is up.’
Wasn’t that the truth?
Checking the statement over, Robson pushed it across his desk, asking Raine to read it through and sign the caption at the bottom certifying its accuracy. But the lad hadn’t heard him, or if he had he was too preoccupied with goings on outside the cottage to respond. Robson looked out of the window too. He could see nothing of interest, just miles and miles of boring bloody countryside and an angry grey sky to the south.
‘Mr Raine?’
Raine gave his attention.
Robson pointed at the statement. The big lad leaned over the desk. After a moment of scanning the document, he scribbled his name on a line marked with a blue cross. Then he stood up and asked if he could go; the beast in the field beyond required his attention.
‘We might need to talk to you again, sir.’ Robson thanked the lad for coming forward and smiled at him for the first time since he’d entered the room. ‘You’re not planning on going away on a holiday anytime soon, are you?’
The lad seemed baffled by the question.
Robson tapped the statement. ‘This could be very important or entirely innocent, but we’ll definitely check it out. You did right coming in.’
Raine put on his cap and turned to go.
‘Just one more thing,’ Robson said before the witness reached the door. ‘The man you saw? He was definitely helping the girl, not dragging her?’
‘Could’ve been doing either.’ Raine thought for a moment. ‘It was hard to tell. I was a good way off, wouldn’t like to say for sure.’