On Beulah Height. Reginald Hill

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      ‘Come on!’ said Pascoe. ‘You reach any further and you’ll be in the X-files. In any case, I’d say Mrs Coe’s colour comes straight out of a bottle.’

      ‘So he married dark but let her know he preferred blondes. OK, stop flaring your nostrils else you’ll get house martins building. One thing you can’t argue with, he’s Lorraine’s uncle, and uncles rate high in the statistics for this kind of thing.’

      Pascoe shook his head and said dully, ‘Mrs Coe said she’d not have our job for a thousand pounds. She’s way out. Sometimes a million’s not enough for the way we have to look at things.’

      ‘Talking of looking, what’s yon?’

      The Fat Man was staring north. Over the distant horizon the heat haze had coalesced into something thicker.

      ‘Never a cloud, is it?’ said Dalziel.

      ‘Not of rain,’ said Pascoe. ‘I’d say smoke. Slightest spark starts a grass fire this weather.’

      ‘Best make sure some other bugger’s noticed,’ said Dalziel.

      He pulled out his mobile, dialled, spoke and listened.

      ‘Aye,’ he said, switching off. ‘They know. It’s a big one. And not the only one either. Brigade’s on full alert and they’re using our uniformed too, which isn’t good news for us if we have to hit the red button.’

      ‘When?’ said Pascoe. ‘You don’t think that there’s …’

      He was interrupted by Sergeant Clark from the doorway.

      ‘Excuse me, sir, but Mr Douglas the vet’s here. We got him on his mobile coming back from a farm call.’

      ‘Vet?’ said Dalziel to Pascoe. ‘What’s up? Feeling badly?’

      In the kitchen they found a broad-built grey-bearded man kneeling down by the dog basket. His examination of the mongrel produced the odd rumbling growl but nothing as menacing as the snarl provoked by Pascoe’s inexpert probe.

      Finally he stood up and turned his attention to the humans.

      ‘Peter Pascoe, DCI,’ said Pascoe, offering his hand. ‘And this is Superintendent Dalziel.’

      ‘We’ve met,’ said Douglas shortly. His voice had a Scots burr.

      ‘Aye, what fettle, Dixie?’ said Dalziel. ‘So, what’s the damage?’

      ‘Shoulder and ribcage badly bruised. I don’t think there’s a fracture, but he needs an X-ray to be sure. Possibility of internal injury. I think it’s best in all the circumstances if I take him back to the surgery with me. Any news of the wee lassie?’

      ‘Not yet,’ said Pascoe. ‘These injuries, what do you think caused them?’

      ‘No accident, that’s for sure,’ said the vet flatly. ‘If I had to guess, I’d say someone had given the poor beast a good kicking. Good day to you.’

      Gently he lifted the dog from the basket and went out of the kitchen.

      ‘Good man, that,’ said Sergeant Clark approvingly. ‘Really worries about sick animals.’

      ‘Aye, well, he supports Raith Rovers,’ said Dalziel. ‘So someone gave the dog a kicking. That’s enough to get the show on the road. Good thinking to have the beast checked out.’

      Pascoe said, ‘Yes. Well done, Sergeant Clark. So what do you want me to do, sir? Call in the troops and set up an incident room?’

      ‘Aye, best go by the book,’ said Dalziel without enthusiasm. ‘Any suggestions, Sergeant? As far as I recall, your Section Office isn’t big enough to swing a punch in.’

      ‘St Michael’s Hall, sir,’ said Clark with brisk efficiency. ‘Doubles as assembly hall and gym for the primary school and as a community centre. I’ve spoken on the phone with Mrs Shimmings the school head. You’ll likely remember her, sir. She were in Dendale, like me. Miss Lavery, she was then. She’s really upset. Says she’ll go to the school now to be on hand in case we need her help, talking about the little girl and such.’

      Dalziel looked at him reflectively and said, ‘Well done, Sergeant. You’re thinking so far ahead, you’ll end up telling fortunes. OK, Peter, off you go. Tell ’em I want someone from uniformed who knows left from right to head up the search team. Maggie Burroughs’ll do nicely. And we’ll need a canteen van. It’ll be thirsty work tramping round them fells. And an information caravan for the Common. I’ll be here to see they get themselves sorted. Any questions?’

      ‘No, sir,’ said Pascoe. ‘Lead on, Sergeant.’

      Clark went out. As Pascoe followed, Dalziel’s voice brought him to a halt.

      ‘Word of advice, lad,’ he said.

      ‘Always welcome,’ said Pascoe.

      ‘Glad to hear it. So listen in. You do Nobby Clark a favour, don’t let him pay you back in beer. Make sure you work the bugger’s arse off. All right?’

      Not just a conjuring trick, thought Pascoe. He really does know everything.

      ‘Yes, sir,’ he said. ‘Right off its haunches.’

       SIX

      St Michael’s Primary, like Danby itself, had grown.

      The original stone building, apparently modelled on the old church from which it took its name, had sprouted several unbecoming modern extensions which compensated in airiness for what they lacked in beauty. The Hall, standing between the church and the school, was clearly designed by the same hand and even had a belfry and stained-glass windows through which filtered a dim religious light to illumine a spacious lofty interior with a stage at one end and a small gallery at the other.

      Pascoe wrinkled his nose as the musty smell set up resonances both of lessons in the gym and of amateur dramatics in draughty village halls. Not that the entertainments on offer here were totally amateur. Among the notice board’s ‘Forthcoming Attractions’ he saw a poster for the opening concert of the eighteenth Mid-Yorkshire Dales Music Festival due to take place the following Wednesday and consisting of a song recital by Elizabeth Wulfstan, mezzo-soprano, and Arne Krog, baritone.

      That name again. He recalled the strong young voice singing mournfully, And now the sun will rise as bright/As though no horror had touched the night …

      The heat wave looked set for many more days, perhaps weeks, but he doubted if there’d be any more bright dawning for the Dacres.

      For Christ’s sake! he admonished himself. Don’t rush to embrace the worst.

      ‘This will do nicely,’ he said to Clark, and got on his mobile. He’d already set the operation in motion back at Liggside and this was merely to confirm the location. ETA of the first reinforcements was given as thirty minutes.

      ‘I’ll СКАЧАТЬ