Hall ate the sandwich that he’d brought in. It was dull and dry, but it was his own fault because the bread was past its best. He’d hoped to grab ten minutes with Ian Mann before the de-brief, but an accident on the M6 meant that he didn’t arrive until five minutes before the meeting.
Val Gorham and Robinson were sitting side by side, each as immaculate as the other. It looked as if they’d made up. Ian Mann looked as if he’d been up half the night. It was clear that Val Gorham was in the chair, and she spoke first.
‘After the events of last night we thought that a prompt de-brief and re-assessment was in order.’ Hall wasn’t sure who the ‘we’ referred to, but he decided not to ask. ‘Now if I’m reading your email correctly Inspector, you have been unable to trace the stolen tractors.’
‘Not so far, that’s correct.’
‘And do you have hopes of locating them?’
‘Not really, no. We think that the artic they were loaded on didn’t move them far, and that the tractors have since been containerised for later export.’
Hall thought that Gorham looked pleased about that.
‘So all we know for certain after this is that Ben Brockbank is active, which we already knew anyway. We’re also going to have to explain to the garage owner, and his insurance company, why we allowed his property to be stolen from right under our noses.’
‘With respect, we have made progress’ said Hall. ‘First, we know that the theft from that same garage three months ago was almost certainly the work of Brockbank and his associates, and that he has a fairly sophisticated export mechanism in place. We also know who is doing at least the local haulage. The rig they used is registered to a small agricultural haulage business called A G Cartmel and Sons, and it’s run by David Cartmel. He’s new to us, other than a red diesel prosecution at the time of the foot-and-mouth outbreak. Hauliers had it tough then, for obvious reasons, so the courts were lenient with him.’
‘More fool them’ said Val Gorham firmly. ‘But what I want to clarify, Sergeant Mann, is whether we are making any progress in establishing the identities of other, more senior figures in this organisation. Who is the brains behind what Brockbank and Cartmel are doing?’
‘I’m not certain that there are any, ma’am. It’s possible that Brockbank is running the whole operation.’
‘Really Sergeant, you disappoint me. Are you seriously suggesting that a farm labourer from the back of beyond is organising a sophisticated criminal conspiracy and export operation?’
Hall answered before Mann could. Judging from Mann’s expression it was a good decision.
‘What Ian is saying, Val, is that it’s too early to say. Brockbank is clearly an intelligent individual, irrespective of where he lives or what he does, and we can see that from the cautious way that he has started to integrate Ian into the operation. We need to be cautious, and give Ian time to bed in with Brockbank.’
‘Even if that means that DS Mann is an active participant in further criminal activity?’
‘Within reason, yes. In my view we need to keep our eye on the prize here.’
‘Is that why you didn’t put a car on Sergeant Mann? Some would say that was reckless.’
‘I’d say just the opposite’ said Hall. Yet somehow his even tone suggested that he was agreeing with Gorham. ‘First, I would probably have put Ian at risk, especially if Brockbank hasn’t decided if he’s trustworthy as yet, and second what would we have done if we had been able to track that low-loader after the robbery? If we’d stopped it and recovered those tractors then Ian would have been blown for sure.’
Val Gorham was making notes. After a few seconds she looked up.
‘Moving on to another matter, I understand that you are intending to seek to infiltrate Spedding’s group using DEFRA stock-movement paperwork.’
‘That’s right ma’am’ said Mann. ‘I’ve developed a
Val Gorham and Robinson were sitting side by side, each as immaculate as the other. It looked as if they’d made up. Ian Mann looked as if he’d been up half the night. It was clear that Val Gorham was in the chair, and she spoke first.
‘After the events of last night we thought that a prompt de-brief and re-assessment was in order.’ Hall wasn’t sure who the ‘we’ referred to, but he decided not to ask. ‘Now if I’m reading your email correctly Inspector, you have been unable to trace the stolen tractors.’
‘Not so far, that’s correct.’
‘And do you have hopes of locating them?’
‘Not really, no. We think that the artic they were loaded on didn’t move them far, and that the tractors have since been containerised for later export.’
Hall thought that Gorham looked pleased about that.
‘So all we know for certain after this is that Ben Brockbank is active, which we already knew anyway. We’re also going to have to explain to the garage owner, and his insurance company, why we allowed his property to be stolen from right under our noses.’
‘With respect, we have made progress’ said Hall. ‘First, we know that the theft from that same garage three months ago was almost certainly the work of Brockbank and his associates, and that he has a fairly sophisticated export mechanism in place. We also know who is doing at least the local haulage. The rig they used is registered to a small agricultural haulage business called A G Cartmel and Sons, and it’s run by David Cartmel. He’s new to us, other than a red diesel prosecution at the time of the foot-and-mouth outbreak. Hauliers had it tough then, for obvious reasons, so the courts were lenient with him.’
‘More fool them’ said Val Gorham firmly. ‘But what I want to clarify, Sergeant Mann, is whether we are making any progress in establishing the identities of other, more senior figures in this organisation. Who is the brains behind what Brockbank and Cartmel are doing?’
‘I’m not certain that there are any, ma’am. It’s possible that Brockbank is running the whole operation.’
‘Really Sergeant, you disappoint me. Are you seriously suggesting that a farm labourer from the back of beyond is organising a sophisticated criminal conspiracy and export operation?’
Hall answered before Mann could. Judging from Mann’s expression it was a good decision.
‘What Ian is saying, Val, is that it’s too early to say. Brockbank is clearly an intelligent individual, irrespective of where he lives or what he does, and we can see that from the cautious way that he has started to integrate Ian into the operation. We need to be cautious, and give Ian time to bed in with Brockbank.’
‘Even if that means that DS Mann is an active participant in further criminal activity?’
‘Within reason, yes. In my view we need to keep our eye on the prize here.’
‘Is that why you didn’t put a car on Sergeant Mann? Some would say that was reckless.’
‘I’d say just the opposite’ said Hall. Yet somehow his even tone suggested that he was agreeing with Gorham. ‘First, I would probably have put Ian at risk, especially if Brockbank hasn’t decided if he’s trustworthy as yet, and second what would we have done if we had been able to track that low-loader after the robbery? If we’d stopped it and recovered those tractors then Ian would have been blown for sure.’
Val Gorham was making notes. After a few seconds she looked up.
‘Moving on to another matter, I understand that you are intending to seek to infiltrate Spedding’s group using DEFRA stock-movement paperwork.’
‘That’s right ma’am’ said Mann. ‘I’ve developed a
Similar Books
