Dancing With the Virgins (32 page)

*

By eight o'clock the next morning, it was already obvi
ous from the sky that it was going to be a good day for
a walk on the moors
.

The two women had a second cup of coffee together,
leaning their elbows comfortably on the kitchen table
among the toast crumbs and the cereal bowls. Karen
Tavisker's husband Nick had already gone off to work
and left them in their housecoats, still chatting, so
absorbed in each other's company that they had barely
noticed him go.

‘
We'd better get ready, if we're going,' said Karen.
'Of course. But not for a minute yet.'

‘
This is so decadent.'

‘
I don't care,' said Marilyn.

‘
Nor me.
’

Marilyn Robb and Karen Tavisker had been friends for years. Twelve months previously, Marilyn and her
husband had moved away to Herefordshire when Alan had been transferred to a new financial services centre
at Ludlow. Now Marilyn was back for a visit with her
old friend at Karen's home in Mickleover — and the first
thing she wanted to do was go for a walk in the Peak
District, as they always had done before she moved away.

‘
Where shall we go?'

‘
Have you still got the OS maps?'

‘
Of course. They're right here. Dark Peak or White Peak?'

‘
Hmm. Normally I might be feeling a bit dark. But today
.

She looked out of the kitchen window. A brisk wind
was tossing the dead leaves of the sycamores around
the garden. -

‘
Yes, you're right,' said Karen. 'It'll be pretty wild up
there today. Best to play safe.
’

It might seem bright and breezy now, here in the
leafy streets of Mickleover, but by the time they reached
Buxton they would have climbed fifteen hundred feet
and the climate would be totally different. On the
tops, anything could be waiting for unwary walkers. In
November, the hills of the Dark Peak could be merciless,
with wind, rain and sleet ripping furiously across the
shelterless stretches. Both women shivered as they contemplated it.

‘
Somewhere in the White Peak then. It's nearer, anyway.'

‘
Why don't we just set off and see where the car takes
us?'

‘
Why not? We're ladies of leisure, after all.
’

‘
And a nice pub for lunch.'

‘
Perfect.
’

Like everyone else, Karen had heard of the women
attacked on Ringham Moor. The Jenny Weston case had
been in the papers for a few days, but other stories had replaced it now. There were always other, more
newsworthy murders taking place somewhere around the country. Karen knew the police had been warning
lone women to stay off the moor. But time had passed,
and it had begun to feel safe again. And two women together? Surely they would be all right
.

By the time they were dressed and had collected their
boots and anoraks, they were becoming quite silly, like two schoolgirls on an outing. They found an old Bruce Springsteen tape at the back of the glove compartment
in Karen's car, and they sang along to the familiar tunes
from fifteen years before, when they had been much
younger and had enjoyed life together. They deafened
each other with the chorus of 'Dancing in the Dark'
.

Marilyn began to talk about the people they had both
known, years ago. Karen laughed, her spirits lifted by
the company of her friend. She hadn't decided con
sciously where they would go. But when they reached
Ashbourne, she indicated left and turned on to the A515
towards Ringham Moor.

23

Diane
Fry happened to be at Divisional Headquarters
in West Street when the
call came in. As soon as
DI Hitchens appeared in the door of the CID room, she
knew that something had happened. There was no mistaking that air of excitement that came when there had
at last been a breakthrough in a frustrating case.

‘
What is it?' she said.

‘
Another woman attacked,' said Hitchens. 'Near Ringham.
’

Fry stood up, ready to go. 'Dead?'

‘
Oh no,' said Hitchens, with the first hint of a smile.
'This one's very much alive. And shouting the place down.
’

E Division's problem had suddenly become a hot potato
that nobody wanted. For the meeting later that morning,
Detective Superintendent Prince made an appearance,
looking like a man who had been reminded by the
Assistant Chief Constable that he was supposed to be
in charge
.

Ben Cooper saw that even Owen Fox and Mark Roper
were there. Owen looked uncomfortable in the stifling
atmosphere. The heating had been turned up for the
winter, but there were too many people in the room
and there was no air conditioning. Away from the open
air, Owen seemed out of his element. He was a slow,
quietly-spoken middle-aged man among a crowd of younger people who were much noisier, more self-confident and aggressive. His untidy hair and beard made him look his age
.

Also, Cooper now realized that it was only Owen's
fleece jacket that was red. The jacket was so distinctive
that he hadn't really noticed the rest of the Ranger's
uniform before. Apart from the red fleece, everything
else that he wore was grey — the shirt, the trousers, the sweater. Without the jacket, the Ranger would be a grey
man
.

*

'Well, if this was our assailant again, he made a big
mistake,' said Tailby, with more than a trace of satisfac
tion. 'This time the woman he chose turned out not to
be alone. If this lady, Karen Tavisker, had not walked
on ahead when her friend stopped to rest, he would have realized there were two of them. I believe he would have left them alone and gone elsewhere. We
have the lack of fitness of a thirty-five-year-old woman
to thank for this breakthrough.
’

Tailby pointed to the map of the Ringham area show
ing the sites of the previous attacks. He indicated a path
above the village of Ringham Lees, which disappeared
into a patch of green representing woodland before
emerging among grey angular shapes that meant rocks.

‘
Karen Tavisker wanted to reach the top of Ringham
Edge,' he said. 'But the path was too steep for her friend,
Marilyn Robb. She stopped to rest about here while
Tavisker went on. We believe our man was waiting in the trees. He must have thought Tavisker was alone, but he got a shock. Robb was only a few yards away.
Everything went wrong for him at that point.'

‘
Did they both see him?' asked Cooper.

‘
Robb came running when her friend screamed.
Unfortunately, the assailant was wearing a mask. But,
yes, we now have two new witnesses.' Tailby beamed
proudly, as if he had just created the witnesses himself
out of a washing-up liquid bottle and a few bits of string.

‘
We've traced his approach route and
we
have some tyre tracks, plus reported sightings of a red Renault in
the vicinity. Progress. It's progress at last.
’

Tailby indicated a photograph of Karen Tavisker, and
they all looked at it as if she were their latest pin-up.
'The other point is that Karen Tavisker lives out of
the area and was on a passing visit. There seems little
doubt that, in this case at least, the victim was chosen at random. Now DI Hitchens has a bit of news to share
with you that may or may not be related.'

‘
This morning we've heard from Greater Manchester
Police,' said Hitchens. 'They inform us that they are
seeking a suspect who could be in our area. His name's
Darren Howsley. They badly want to interview him
about a series of attacks on women in the Oldham area.
They say he has family connections in Derbyshire, hav
ing lived with an aunt at Chelmorton for a few years as a teenager. We've had his photo and details faxed over, and they'll be in your files shortly.'

‘
Is this particularly relevant?' asked someone.

‘
It is if you look at the nature of the incidents. These
women were attacked while walking in the hills outside
Oldham. The Saddleworth area.'

‘
Just like our man.'

‘
Right.'

‘
The other thing is that he seems to have been missing
from their patch for at least three weeks.'

‘
Great.'

‘
Apart from that little tidbit, it's a question of going
over old ground again, I'm afraid,' said Tailby. 'Road
side stops, questionnaires, appeals in the media. We need to involve the community. We're getting serious
pressure now. So we have to put pressure on in return,
let people see we're doing something. We revisit every
one who hasn't been eliminated. If they were in the area
and can't account for their movements, then coincidence
is abolished as far as I'm concerned.'

‘
I can think straight away of two who won't have alibis, except for each other,' said Hitchens.

‘
You mean the travellers in the quarry, Paul.'

‘
It's time we did something about them. Bring them
both in. Their initial statements are useless. We should
make them go through everything again and let HOLMES sniff out some inconsistencies.'

‘
What's the relationship between those two?' asked
Tailby. 'Is there a sexual liaison?'

‘
Possibly, sir. There's certainly something not quite
right there,' said Fry.

‘
No,' said Cooper.

‘
Ah? Why do you sound so sure, Cooper?'

‘
It isn't in their philosophy. They have different beliefs to us.'

‘
Well, that sounds interesting, Cooper. Could you explain what these beliefs are? Might they just have
some bearing on the enquiry, by any chance?
’

‘
I don't think so, sir.'

‘
It doesn't do to be too credulous, Cooper. For a start, are we supposed to believe they live just on the benefits
claimed by Calvin Lawrence?'

‘
They hardly have an extravagant lifestyle.'
Hitchens interrupted. 'I can show you fifteen or six
teen reports of stuff being nicked from cars parked on
the roadsides around Ringham Moor. Radios, cameras
— you name it. Somebody's cleaning up from the tourists
round there.'

‘
You think it's Cal and Stride? But what would they
do with that sort of stuff ?'

‘
Well — sell it, right? That's the usual idea, as far as
I understand it.'

‘
Sell it to who?' said Cooper, starting to get agitated.
'These aren't your average local yobbos who can flog
it in the pub. If these two had stuff they wanted to sell, they'd have to take it on the bus with them to Bakewell
or Edendale. Or hitch with it by the roadside. Can you
see that? And neither of them is local anyway, so who is there they would know? We'd have picked them up
straight off if they'd been trying that. And Stride never
leaves the van anyway, except to go on the moor.'

‘
Do we have sufficient grounds to turn over the van?'
asked Fry
.

Tailby looked around. 'Not unless someone can give
me any evidence that puts them under suspicion of a
crime. Something that would justify a warrant.'

‘
Unfortunately, we can't even move them on, unless the quarry owners get their injunction,' said Hitchens.

‘
We'd need a tow truck to get the van out, anyway.'

‘
More than that. The van hasn't moved for months.
We'd have to winch it on to a flatbed.'

‘
Mmm.' Tailby looked round at the officers. 'Nobody's offering me anything.'

‘
Drugs,' said Hitchens.

‘
Grounds for suspicion?'

‘
Strange behaviour — they're uncoordinated, incoher
ent. I say we take a dog down and we sniff 'em out.
’

‘
I've been in the van,' said Cooper.

‘
What?' Hitchens stared at him. 'What the hell did you think you were doing? Any defence lawyer will have a field day.'

‘
I was invited.'

‘
Oh, did they throw a party? Sorry I missed it. I mustn't have got my invitation.'

‘
I was with Mr Fox.
’

Some officers looked around, unfamiliar with the
name. Attention settled on the Ranger, whose face went
a shade of pink that clashed horribly with his jacket.

‘
Mr Fox?' said Tailby.

‘
I've known Cal and Stride since they arrived,' said
Owen. 'They talk to me.'

‘
What's your view on this drugs issue? Are they users?'

‘
No, I'm sure they're not.'

‘
Cooper?'

‘
I agree. There was no evidence that I saw. And there
aren't many places to hide the stuff. They stick to beer
and tobacco, I think. Addictive, but legal.
’

Tailby looked unimpressed. 'Check up on the pro
gress of Peakstone's injunction, Paul. It would be ironic
if they got moved on before we've finished with them.
’

Cooper raised his hand tentatively. He could feel that
Todd Weenink was staring at him. More than that, he
was using his famous glower. He managed to avoid Weenink's eye.

‘
Yes, Cooper?'

‘
There's Warren Leach as well,' he said. 'He
does
have
a link to Maggie Crew. We shouldn't forget that.
’

‘
We could put that surveillance on him for a while,
I suppose,' said Tailby. 'We can spare the resources.
’

‘
How do we put surveillance on that farm?' asked
Fry. 'There's nowhere we can position somebody where
he won't see them.
’

Tailby considered it. 'It doesn't matter. In fact, it
might be better if they do show out. It'll put some pres
sure on him. Fry, Cooper — you know the ground.'

‘
But surveillance? Are you sure? There's nothing to
see up there, except cows.'

‘
In that case,' said Tailby, 'watch every cow that moves.'

‘
Meanwhile, we've got Wayne Sugden coming in
again,' said Hitchens. 'In fact, he should be downstairs
now.'

‘
Why?'

‘
That burglary at the Westons' cottage. It isn't so
simple. When we looked at the files, it turned out that
the officers dealing with the incident report called out
a key-holder, because the Westons themselves were
away in Cyprus. And the key-holder wasn't their neigh
bour. It was Jenny Weston.
’