Extract:
I HADN’T been on the heath at night for many years, and probably no more than a dozen times in my life. For all that I wasn’t quite the heath rookie that Grant seemed to think. As I mentioned before, I know the place pretty well. In the whole of my adult life I don’t suppose a month has gone by without my visiting the heath in some capacity or other. When I was a lad I spent even more time there, if anything. I learnt a bit about animal tracks, and used to try following their spoor with varying success, imagining myself as a sort of latter-day Tarzan of the Apes. In fact over the years I picked up quite a lot of bushcraft, both by experience and learning from others. I could still remember most of it, and the heath doesn’t change much.
‘I was wondering if we might try separating,’ I said.
‘Count me out of that,’ said Judy.
‘Grant can look after you. I rather fancy mooching about on my own for a bit.’
‘Try if you like, by all means,’ said Grant. ‘But will you be able to find your way back? It’s not easy at night, you know.’
I pointed to the sky in the appropriate directions. ‘North, south, east, west. And yes, I do know that the moon will move a few degrees if I’m out there long enough. But Polaris won’t. And I know the main constellations, enough to get by even if it clouds over here and there. Besides knowing the heath better than you think.’ Again I indicated the various horizons. ‘Bantock, Churchfield, Sandford, Castletown.’
‘Okay, I’ll take your word for it. You’d better take the torch. Try not to make too much row. Your young lady and I might go for a walk on our own, for that matter. But not far. I still reckon here’s as good a place as any.’
I didn’t tell him, but I’d had an idea. One of my juvenile fantasies had cast me in the role of an heroic guerrilla leader operating from Sandford Heath, defending this country with a handful of picked men against the vast invading hordes with snow on their boots. I’d used my knowledge of the heath to earmark various places as impregnable hideouts, and even gone so far as to construct myself a command HQ in the woods near Blackstone Ring.
The projected Soviet invasion had never come, and the smouldering corpses of Russian tanks had never littered Sandford Heath except in my imagination. But the place was little changed, and the sites of my dozen or so spectral strongholds remained the same. There were a couple within a mile of here; an overgrown cavern near the abandoned quarry, and what I called my Eagle’s Nest in the dense pine forest near the Polish memorial. They were both well chosen. They’d be difficult to find if you didn’t know where they were. Like myself, Betteridge knew the heath. As a lone twitcher he might have hideouts known only to himself. But my own would be as good a place to start as any.
There’d been a fairly recent rockfall, a miniature avalanche, at the quarry, which I found had all but destroyed my first choice. Next I’d try the Eagle’s Nest.
Which I did, but he wasn’t there either. A long shot, of course.
And then I saw the footprint. A trainer. Or part of one. There were scuff marks nearby where he’d tried to obliterate his prints, but this one, indistinct and half-hidden by a bush, had been missed. I knelt to examine it in the dim light cast by the shaded torch. Unlike Holmes I haven’t written monographs about the minutiae of detective work, nor could I recognize the precise pattern, but it was a trainer, no doubt of that. I placed my foot alongside. The same size: nine, or thereabouts. Which in all probability meant a man between five-eight and five-ten, like me. Or Betteridge.
The chance of actually finding him remained poor none the less. For all I knew he could be watching me from the shadows. Amidst the trees, from the branches above, hidden in a bush in the undergrowth. Even in daytime it wouldn’t have been easy to find him; at night it was well-nigh impossible. I decided to gamble.
‘Joe?’ I called quietly but distinctly. ‘I know you’re there, Joe. Just want a word with you, that’s all.’
It was a still night. Softly but swiftly my words made their way out across the heath. Nothing stirred. If he was anywhere in the vicinity, he’d have been sure to hear.
‘I know you helped in the kidnap, Joe. But that’s all. I know you didn’t have anything to do with the other business. As long as the horse comes to no harm, that’s the main thing.’
I don’t think I actually heard anything. But I had the impression that someone was listening. Maybe below the surface of my conscious mind I could hear him breathing, holding his breath now and again for fear of betraying his position.
‘I’m nothing to do with the police, Joe. Like I say, all I’m worried about is the horse. But if you don’t show yourself now, I’ll have to go and tell them you’re here. You’re the only lead I have, you see. I just want a word with you, that’s all. After that I’ll disappear, and you won’t hear from me again.’
There was another long pause, and I thought I’d failed. I was just about to speak again, when there came a rustling in the undergrowth, and he stood before me. A dark medium-sized figure, standing in the moonlit glade between the trees, maybe thirty yards away.
‘What do you want?’
‘Only a word with you, Joe. Is the horse okay?’
I kept emphasizing the horse. It was our one piece of common ground. And partly a lie. Because I knew the horse was already dead. Or rather, I didn’t know, because it wasn’t certain yet. Anyway, if he thought I was as concerned about the animal as he was, he’d be more co-operative.
I should have felt guilty. And yet it wasn’t entirely a pretence. If I’d had to choose between losing the horse and another human casualty, I’d have chosen the latter. Odd.
‘The King’s fine. He’s being looked after.’
That was confusing, to say the least. I supposed his information was out of date. ‘Good,’ I managed to say. ‘That’s the main thing.’
‘How did you know where I was?’
‘I didn’t, not for sure. But when I was a kid I used to hide out on the heath, and round here was one of my main stamping grounds. Then I saw your footprint, and knew. I’d scrub it out if I were you.’
‘Thanks. Perhaps you can do it for me. You’re nearer.’
I did. ‘Who’s behind this, Joe? Who set it up?’
‘I’m no squealer,’ he said shortly.
‘Just as you like. But you ought to give yourself up, you know. You can’t hide out here for ever.’
‘I know that. I just need time to think.’
‘I know you’ve got yourself in deeper than you intended, Joe. But you can still dig yourself out. The police would welcome help. And you could blow the lid off the whole thing if you wanted to.’
‘No, I can’t. Maybe I could have done to start with, but I can’t now. That Straughan business. I had nothing to do with that.’
‘I know you hadn’t, Joe. Do you know who did?’
‘If I did I’d tell you. Murder wasn’t part of the plan.’
‘Anything else you’d like to tell me?’
‘No. What would there be?’ A pause. ‘Are you going to the police?’
‘I’ve already said I won’t. I’ve no quarrel with you, Joe, despite the crack on the head. Not unless you do anything really bad.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I know you’re not a violent man, Joe. Make sure you keep it that way. I know it wasn’t you who did for Straughan. There are plenty of other suspects for that, anyway. And don’t harm the King.’
‘You know I wouldn’t do that.’
‘I know. And there’s one favour you might do for me.’
‘What’s that?’
‘If you go to the police, or they find you, I’d rather you didn’t mention this conversation.’
‘I shan’t. And, er, I’m sorry about your head.’
‘I’ve been bashed on the head before. And since, come to that.’ I raised a hand in farewell. ‘See you, Joe.’
I turned my back and made my way slowly down the game trail whence I’d come. In my mind’s eye I could still see him standing there, watching me suspiciously till I was out of sight. When I reached the gravelled track I turned to look back, but the trees had closed around him. Nothing but the forest, dark and silent.
On my way to the car I did some thinking. What Betteridge knew seemed significant. And what he didn’t know. He knew Straughan was dead, despite the fact that he’d gone on the run before the body on the A51 had been identified. But he hadn’t known about the horse. How did that fit in with things?
Within a quarter of an hour I was back with Grant and Judy. ‘About time,’ he grunted. ‘We gave up ages ago. Find anything?’
‘No.’ I shook my head. ‘Nothing.’