When Cooper came round the next bend, he saw the green Mercedes stopped fifty yards ahead. The driver was out of the car and wrestling with a gate that had been closed across the road. He’d stopped at the gate, only to discover that it swung towards him and his car was in the way, preventing it from opening. The outer bar of the gate was now wedged against his bumper. Cooper could see his mouth moving as he cursed and gesticulated.

The driver turned round and was about get back in to his car to reverse when he saw Cooper’s Toyota approaching. His shoulders sagged and he clung to the door of his car with a disgusted look at the bonnet, as if it had let him down somehow.

‘The first gate opened away from me,’ he said. ‘How was I to know this one would be any different? If they’re going to put gates across roads like this, there should be a proper system.’

‘It isn’t fair. Is it, sir?’

‘No.’

‘Would you be Mr Everett?’

‘I suppose so. Who’s asking?’

Cooper showed Everett his ID. ‘Shall we go back to the house for a while, sir?’

Once inside the house he could see that the group had definitely tried to leave in a hurry. The main lounge was in a state of disarray, with cushions knocked off the sofa and drawers left open. It looked as though the house had been searched by a fairly incompetent burglar.

As they were passing down the hall Cooper stopped and looked into the kitchen, where he could see washing-up left piled in the sink. A silver tray stood out from the rest of the dirty pans and used plates. He turned it over and saw faint traces of a white residue on the smooth base.

‘Are you coming, Ben?’ said Irvine.

‘In a second.’

Cooper pressed the pedal on a bin next to the kitchen units. Among the waste he saw some tiny clear bags, a set of discarded drinking straws and a small plastic rectangle carrying the name of a nightclub in Manchester.

Marcus Everett was leaning against a marble fireplace, trying to look casual and relaxed. He was lean and well groomed, and as Cooper entered he ran a hand over his blond hair to smooth it back.

‘Is this your first visit to the area, sir?’ asked Cooper.

‘No, we were here in September and we really loved it. That’s why we came back with a few friends.’

‘What did you do in September?’

‘We went out with our guns and shot some pheasant.’

‘Did you? What day was this?’

‘It was the second week in September.’ Everett smiled at his expression. ‘Oh, don’t worry. The Glorious Twelfth was well past.’

‘Yes, it might have been,’ said Cooper. ‘But the twelfth of August is the start of grouse shooting season. It isn’t open season for pheasant until October first. So your shooting expedition was still illegal.’

Everett opened his mouth to laugh and seemed to be about to make a smart reply. Then he remembered who he was speaking to.

‘Well … you know,’ he said, ‘it was just a few brace of pheasant. They won’t make any difference. Everyone takes a bird for the pot here or there.’

Cooper didn’t smile, though he’d shot a few brace of pheasant himself. Once October first had passed, those birds lived in jeopardy every minute of their lives.

‘I thought perhaps you didn’t like the Peak District,’ he said.

‘No, it’s great. You have a beautiful area here, Detective Sergeant Cooper. We all love it. We tell our friends how great it is.’

‘So why were you leaving so early, sir? I understand you had the property booked for a few more days yet.’

‘Oh, the weather hasn’t been too good, you know. A bit disappointing. And business to do back in Manchester…’

‘And perhaps the stash ran out?’ said Cooper.

‘I beg your pardon?’

‘You and your friends were in such a hurry that you didn’t spend enough time cleaning up,’ said Cooper. ‘You’ve left some paraphernalia in the kitchen. It’s funny. I would have expected you to use a credit card and rolled-up fifty-pound notes for snorting the coke. That would have been more in keeping with the image. But the silver tray for cutting the lines is a nice touch.’

‘I don’t know what you mean.’

Cooper shrugged. ‘Shall I make a call? Then we can just sit here and chat while we wait for the sniffer dog to arrive. They’re very good at locating traces of drugs.’

Everett went pale and smoothed his hair again. ‘Is all this really necessary, Detective Sergeant? I have a good job, a nice house, a family. I’m a law-abiding citizen.’

‘Then perhaps you’d like to cooperate a bit more.’

Everett sighed. ‘Look, I’m sorry we decided to leave in a hurry. I realise it might have looked a bit suspicious. But my friends were freaked out by the sight of all the police cars. We had a quick conference and decided to call it a day. I suppose some of the locals have been talking about us. We just came here to have a bit of fun, though. We weren’t doing any harm.’

‘I’m interested in what you were doing late at night,’ said Cooper. ‘I hear you were outside into the early hours of the morning. Is that right? Even in November?’

‘We’re a hardy bunch in Manchester.’ Everett laughed. ‘You ought to see the kids out clubbing in Deansgate, dressed as if they’re going to the beach with six inches of snow on the ground.’

‘Were you out every night?’

Everett reached for a cigarette case in his pocket, looked at Cooper and pushed it back.

‘Pretty much,’ he said.

‘Did you and your friends happen to go up as far as the castle?’

‘Castle? Oh, up there on the mounds? No, it was too much of a climb for us when … I mean, in the dark. We liked it down by the river, just sitting in the dark watching the stars. You don’t see the stars much in the city.’

‘Do you know anybody in this area?’

‘No. Why would we?’

Everett was starting to look a bit more confident now. He’d decided that Cooper wasn’t going to do anything about the drugs paraphernalia or call in the sniffer dog.

‘Anyway,’ he said, ‘there are other people out at night around here. You might want to wonder what they’re up to, rather than persecuting people who are just having a good time.’

‘What people?’

‘We saw them going up there one night,’ said Everett. ‘To the castle.’

‘How many of them?’

‘At least two. There were two cars, so it must have been at least a couple of people. Now, you can bet they were up to no good.’

‘What night was this?’ asked Cooper.

‘Er, I couldn’t say exactly. It was a few days ago.’

‘Could it have been last Thursday?’

‘Yes, I suppose it could have been.’

‘You saw at least two people going up? But how many coming down?’

Everett looked blank. ‘It was probably too late for us by then.’

‘Oh, I see,’ said Cooper. ‘Too late for you to remember anything.’

25

Diane Fry had found herself in Taddington, without really knowing where she was. She’d followed Luke Irvine’s advice and taken the Flagg road. It was the sort of back road she would normally avoid, but it seemed to have worked.

Several officers were already in Taddington at the Redfearns’ house and knocking on doors. A family liaison officer was in the house with George Redfearn’s daughter, waiting for the wife to arrive. DC Becky Hurst and DC Gavin Murfin were both here too. They looked unsure what do when they saw Fry arrive.

‘Anything useful so far?’ she said.

Murfin shrugged and grunted. But Hurst seemed to make a different decision.

‘The daughter has no idea what her father might have been doing or who he was meeting,’ she said. ‘But there’s a lady across the road worth speaking to. The house with the blue door. She has an interesting bit of information. Gavin has spoken to her already.’

‘Thank you, Becky.’

Fry walked across the road. The neighbour was agog with curiosity at all the activity. Some people got impatient when they were asked to repeat a story they’d already told, but this lady was only too eager.