Chapter 4

The Colonel left them. Jim Dutton looked at Marilyn.

“How on earth do you know that man! He has obvious links to the secret services.”

“He came to meetings with that double murder and cold case a little while ago. There were aspects of it that had national importance, although that was never brought out in the papers. Keith Russell, in Leeds, has a contact number for him. He wasn’t involved, that time, just an interested observer.”

“He’s certainly needed now; with the way this is going.”

“Right. John and Hannah have been talking to people in Long Marston. Some have sold their land and homes to this developer. They were told that some of the houses now have groups of men living in them. Can you get a few of the team looking up the sales records and trying to see if any of the houses have a shed big enough to use as a workshop. Those bollards at Coppergate would have had to have been doctored somewhere secluded. Also, get Ian and Joe to look at all the traffic cameras between Long Marston and York in the days before the Carnage event. It would be good if we can get a picture of the truck coming in. I’m heading upstairs to report to the boss.”

She rang Brenda, who told her to come straight up. In the Chief Superintendents’ office, she laid out the leads that they were now following. He was amazed.

“You’re telling me that he thought that you were Hogs’ widow, even before we’ve listed the dead!”

“Yes, sir. There are a couple of things that now worry me. One is the political aspect with the far right now in opposition. The other is knowing that there are houses in Long Marston with groups of men living in them. We don’t yet know how much land has been purchased, but that’s a secluded area, and gunfire in the daytime wouldn’t be commented on. I would like Tactical to drop a battery-powered microphone and transmitter somewhere in that area and monitor the sounds remotely. They could set up with a van in one of the Rufforth Park Market sheds. If we do hear gunfire that isn’t the odd shotgun blast, we may have to go to AFO mode.”

“I agree. I’ll set up a meeting between you and Leeds for tomorrow morning, say, around ten?”

“That will be good, sir. We may have more information by then, now we have somewhere to look.”

“As long as where you’re looking is the place that gives results.”

Back in the gym, she spoke to Mary and the others while she waited for her two assistants to get back. Mary was on top of things, with a full set of reports and paperwork to give to Leeds. She handed Marilyn a sheaf of papers.

“This came through from Thirsk while you were upstairs. It’s the report on the truck.”

“Thanks, Mary. A copy for our two inspectors, and another for me to give Leeds, please.”

“Already in that folder and on their desks.”

“Did I say that you’re an angel?”

“You did, but it does bear repeating.”

Marilyn was looking at the forensic report when John and Hannah came back, a large roll of paper under her arm. They stopped by the screens and cadged some tape off of Ian, then proceeded to unroll two big sheets that they proceeded to tape to the wall bars next to the screens. Everyone gathered around. Marilyn went over and saw that one was a layout of a housing development, while the other was a large copy of a section of a survey map with some areas shaded. Hannah looked to Marilyn, who went and stood in front of the maps, firstly talking to the whole team.

“Now, the inspectors have probably given you jobs around looking at a particular estate agent who wandered onto Hogs’ property yesterday. He told us that he had been in negotiation with ‘a local businessman with a hobby farm’. His words. Tell us what you have here, John.”

John had a pointer and stood by the OS map.

“This is the area that Taylor has been buying land. The council have been monitoring the development because it will mean a huge increase in rates and taxes. The shaded areas are already in his hands, the unshaded have still to sell. You will note that the main parcels unsold are in the north-eastern corner, which includes the O’Grady block. The reason for this is simple. I grew up in Long Marston and the ones who sold are older, without family to carry on. Blocks of land of that size are like flogging a dead horse when you’re up against multi-national suppliers, which is one of the reasons that I’m here and not driving a tractor.”

Hannah took the pointer from him.

“This is the development as offered to the council for preliminary planning. First stage consists of three hundred residences, either detached or in low-rise blocks. There is a school, set up in the area that O’Grady owned, a church and a small shopping centre with a doctors’ clinic. A few things are of special note. The closest building to any of the perimeter roads is the school, as I expect that there would be some outside the development to be employed there. Everything else is at least a hundred yards from the road. The only way in is through a planned road from Long Marston, or by a footpath gate to the school. There is, here in the centre, a bowling alley and a social club, next to the church. The floor plan of the bowling alley is wide enough for ten lanes, or, if you prefer, five lanes and a shooting range.”

Marilyn carefully took pictures of both plans so that she could share them with Leeds in the morning. She took note of some of the names on the development plan. Overall, it was to be called the Divine Journey Tract. The church was the Divine Journey Testamentary Church. Some roads were named after apostles, while others were named after people she had heard of, mostly spoken about with scorn. The entrance road was to be DJT Boulevard, the perimeter road was the Vance Circle. The social club was to be called the DJT Kennedy Centre. For her, the whole thing looked like a blackhead on a pristine cheek. She gave John and Hannah a pat on the arms.

“Well done, you two. John, we have a ten ‘o’clock visit with DCI Russell and CI Harrison in Leeds. Be ready to be picked up. I’ve taken pictures of these, so leave them up for the others to look at. I think that we’ve done enough for one day. See you in the morning, John. Hannah, grab this file, it has what we need for the morning. There’s the report on the truck in there as well. I’ve had a look at it, and it makes interesting reading.”

Before she left, she rang Brenda to get the CS to pop into the gym and have a look at the development plan. That evening she sat in her home office, with Hannah, going through the CSI report.

In the morning, John was waiting as they arrived, and he got in the vehicle. Hannah drove them to Leeds. They were taken to the meeting room that John and Marilyn had been in before, with Pam Nottage there to take notes. The Colonel walked in before they started.

“Good morning, folks. I’ve been instructed to stick to this case like glue. Those in high towers are getting worried that this may blow up into an international incident.”

Keith got them all seated.

“Now, Marilyn, what’s the situation?”

“If I can Bluetooth my camera to your screen, there’s things to show you.”

A few minutes later, she was able to bring up the OS view.

“We are now concentrating on a developer, pretending to be an estate agent. He is buying up land in a well-defined area. The property to the upper right was Hogs’. When we were there, the other day, the developer turned up, thinking that I was Hogs’ widow. That’s before we’ve released the victim names. His name is Derrick Taylor and flew in from Boston two years ago. Now, this is the plan that has been submitted to the local council for preliminary planning.”

The other picture was shown, and she took them through the development highlights. Both the Colonel and CI Harrison wanted her to Bluetooth to their phones and share the pictures.

“Now. We have the report in from Thirsk on the truck. The interior was well destroyed from an incendiary device. However, there were a couple of things of note. The space under the front bumper was strengthened to allow the bollards to be knocked down. The VIN was not removed, which allowed Jacob to track it back to its original owner in 2026. He sold it in 2029 as being too expensive to run and has the paperwork to prove the sale. The truck, however, was never transferred to another owner. The purchaser was an offshore shell company. The back section of the truck was mostly undamaged. Jacob found one full set of prints on the edge of the body. He thinks that a woman put their hand there when pulling the flight bag out of the tray. The outer panels were wiped over before it was in Coppergate, however, Jacob has lifted a number of prints from the inside of the tailgate. He hasn’t found any matches on our systems, but they may come up if overseas is looked at. We have that report for you to take back to your contacts, Colonel.”

“Thank you, Marilyn. This is getting more interesting by the minute.”

“Right. Now, we know that there are some who have sold their land, and also sold Taylor their houses in Long Marston. We have been told that they are now homes to groups of men whose main job seems to be keeping the fields that they now own looking like normal. I’m certain that when we get to look at those places, there’s at least one with a shed big enough to take the truck and work on it, as well as reworking the bollards. They did belong to farming families, after all. What I would like, before we rush in, is to put a microphone into, or near, one of those shaded areas, probably some way from the houses. I’m wondering if those groups of men are doing weapons training during the day.”

CI Harrison looked up.

“We can do that. We have a couple of drones that we can install during the night, with enough power to send back information for a week. Where can we set up to monitor?”

“The Rufforth Park Market sheds aren’t far away.”

“Right. I’ll see about putting it in place tonight. It will be excellent training.”

“Colonel, there’s something that you and your contacts can contribute. The developer operates out of a private house. You have a copy of his business card. Can you organise surveillance of his house, interception of his phone calls and a tracker on his car. It would be interesting if the girl that acted as the spotter is seen around him. I think that your people could get that going a lot quicker than us, seeing that we would have to get a court order to mount that kind of operation. CI Harrison, I can tell you that my team have been on the range, catching up on their certificates. About half of them can be given temporary AFO status if needed. Hannah and I also have completed carbine training. If this gets deadly, we’ll be ready to back up your own AFOs, under your command.”

Keith Russell looked thoughtful.

“How do you plan to draw Taylor out. If he does nothing more, this is all circumstantial.”

“I was thinking that he may get back to me to see if I’ve passed his card on to the widow. She, of course, knew nothing of the farmland. He has my card, so will probably call me first. Can we set up a number that I can give him, of a fictitious Police Property Holdings office, which co-ordinates the sale of seized property, after a considerable wait due to red tape. It may make him frustrated enough to make another mistake; he’s already made three.”

The Colonel grinned.

“I’ll email you with a number, email, and even the best person to talk to. I know a local girl who can stonewall for England. The idea of a religious enclave isn’t new. The far right in America have been setting them up since ’25. I’m told that there are more bibles and guns per square metre than anywhere else in the US.”

They went through what else they knew, and the meeting broke up. Marilyn was driven back to York in time for lunch in the canteen. That afternoon, she had Mary in her office and got up to speed with the contents of the crime book. She had an email for her to attend a press event, in the drill hall, to announce the names of the dead and the worst of the injured, now that all families have been spoken to.

Towards the end of the afternoon, Marilyn and Hannah went to talk to Mrs. O’Grady. Sitting in her kitchen with steaming cups in front of them, Marilyn broached what she had come to say.

“Mrs. O’Grady, we are going to hold a press conference in the morning. We will be giving the press the list of names and pictures of the dead and badly injured from Coppergate. After that, you may get a call from a gentleman called Derrick Taylor. He will tell you that he’s a developer, or estate agent, and was in the process of buying the land that your husband owned.”

“What land?”

“It’s a number of fields out Rufforth way. It’s currently being combed by a police team for evidence in your husbands’ criminal past.”

“But he was just a businessman!”

“I’m sorry to say that he was the leader of a gang, involved in every nasty crime you can think of. They were into robbery, prostitution, gambling, hijacking liquor deliveries. There wasn’t much that your husband wouldn’t do.”

“I never knew. He hid all that from me. He would tell me that he was just making deals.”

“Look, you stay that way, if anyone asks. There may be press come and see you. If it gets too bad, give me a call and I’ll get a uniformed officer to tell them to leave. This developer has to deal through me to buy the land. He may have been the one to organise the murder of your husband and his two bodyguards. If he does buy the land, you will get the proceeds. If he doesn’t, you will get the deeds and sell it yourself. If he buys it, the return will be better than selling it as just a rural plot. School yourself to act dumb. Here’s my card. If he gets strident, just refer him to me. He already has my contact details.”

“All right, detective. I’ve been dumb for years, a little while longer won’t be a hardship. I’ve had a look at our finances. He has left me well off, with the house paid for.”

“When we’ve gone through the accounts that we know about, there may be more, but the gang will be carrying on and using the cash reserves that he had squirrelled away. I believe that the support officer has one of your pictures of him. Expect to see it in the papers after tomorrow. We do have mug shots of him and his friends but will hold those back. Make sure that you don’t tell your children about his criminality, let them remember their father as a good man for as long as they can.”

On the way to Old Village, Hannah waited until they were stopped at traffic lights.

“The press will be onto Hog and his past within a couple of days, won’t they?”

“They will, but it will be their own investigations, not ours. Who knows, someone from Leeds Robbery may give them the news, but we’re staying away from that sort of thing.”

The next morning, Marilyn stood up in front of the press and the cameras.

“Ladies and gentlemen. It is now a week since the events on Coppergate Walk. We have folders to hand out, with the names of all the dead and badly injured. Please, I beg you, treat the families with care and compassion. Some were from out of York. Now, on the matter of the ongoing case. We are pursuing some leads that were brought about through the business dealings of one of the dead, the one that we think was the main target. Everyone else were innocent victims. Please remember that! If we get reports of the families being hounded, we will prosecute, you can be certain of that. Thank you. The officers have the folders to my right.”

Back in the gym, she saw that she had an email from Carruthers, with a name and contact details of the fictitious property office. She made sure that Mary and the Inspectors knew to refer any questions about the property to her, or the name on the paper. After that, Hannah took her, and John, to Long Marston to talk to the other property owners who hadn’t yet sold.

That was an interesting experience. There were three others, all of whom were very cagey until Marilyn laid it on the line. Then, they all said that they had been pressured to sell, with vague threats of a sudden death. With all of them, Marilyn told them to hold out for the best price, and that it was possible that they would all have their properties returned in the future, but to keep that under their hats.

“The buyer is probably the organiser of the Carnage in York last week. One of the dead owned a plot of this land. He is well able to carry out his threats. Do not, under any circumstances, tell any of those new men that are living in the village. They are his gang. We will arrest them all, as soon as we can get enough evidence to make it stick. I have the feeling that it will be about another week.”

On the way back to York, John swivelled in the front seat.

“If those farmers let anything slip, it will warn Taylor.”

“That’s right, John. If Taylor finds out that we’re after him, he may try to eliminate me to stop the investigation. He may even do a runner, which will be an admission of guilt. We will have a tail on him, and he won’t get very far. I think that we need to load this car with some defensive artillery.”

The next morning, Carruthers came into the gym with a box.

“These are radios, set to the frequency of the surveillance team. The girl that you picked as the spotter is living with him. Keep these with you and you’ll get a running commentary of what he’s doing. Don’t say anything unless it’s really important. Harrison had immediate results from the drones. He is certain that those guys are using handguns and assault rifles. They didn’t spend a lot of time firing, just keeping their skills up. Harrisons’ team managed to record their side of a phone call, with them agreeing to be ready for drastic action when he asks for it. I spoke to your boss to approve weapons.”

“I was about to go upstairs to ask that. Thank you for all this, Colonel. Will your friends take part if it all goes to hell?”

“Friends? I have no friends, Marilyn. The ones in the field are ghosts. They don’t have the authority to operate in this country, so you can’t rely on them.”

After he left, Marilyn went upstairs to get written authority for the ones in the team to carry firearms. Down in the gym, she called for a gathering.

“OK, we have come to a point which I had thought may happen but hoped that it wouldn’t. I have some friends keeping an eye on Taylor, and the girl who we picked as the spotter is living with him. There are some men living in the houses in Long Marston that he has bought, and we now have proof that they have been working with guns in the far fields and are prepared to use them. The boss has authorised the issue of firearms. Those who have current certification will be issued with sidearms, which must be carried out of sight. When we have the gang in the cells, your temporary permit will be withdrawn. Make sure that you all wear your bullet-proof vests during the time you’re outside. This means to and from the office and stay away from windows. Make sure that your families are aware of the danger. Someone who can create the carnage in Coppergate is liable to do anything.”

There was a surge of talk and she waited for it to die down.

“Look, I think that if anyone is targeted, it will be me but take every precaution. The only ones from the team that he’s met are me, Hannah and John. They will be travelling with me in a car from Tactical, and both Hannah and I have carbine certification. You good people may well be safe but treat this as a real situation, just in case they get stupid.”

That afternoon, it was John driving the car, with Hannah beside him with a Heckler and Koch on her lap, Marilyn in the back with another one on the seat beside her. They went to Johns’ home, where he packed for a week, and they went to Old Village, where he was settled into one of the units. Anton saw the weapons that they kept with them and blanched. That night, Marilyn assured him that it was purely just in case things went bad.

The next morning, many of the team were carrying guns in holsters and trying to learn how to move around with the extra weight. Mid-morning, Marilyns’ phone rang.

“DCI Houseman.”

“It’s Derrick Taylor. I spoke to Mrs. O’Grady this morning and she referred me back to you. Can you tell me what the situation is with that property?”

“The situation is that I believe that the team that has been combing through the buildings has finished. The property will be overseen by the Police Property Unit until I, or a superior, give the permission for sale. I can give you contact details for them. They’ll have the papers in a couple of days.”

“When will the property go for sale?”

“When I’m convinced that it isn’t part of our ongoing investigations. O’Grady may have appeared to just be a businessman, but he was a vicious gang leader, with evidence already taken from those sheds. That side of it is handled by the normal crime teams, while my job is to catch his killer.”

“From what I read in the paper; the killer has left the country.”

“Correct. The thing is that there are cases, like this, where we can ask for extradition so that they face trial in the UK, along with all those who were involved. The number of deaths means that just about every associate will be in prison for the rest of their life. Long enough to wish that we still hanged murderers.”

“Yes, well. Give me those contacts and I’ll get back to you if I have any problems.”

“Very good Mister Taylor. I’ll email them to your website admin. Have a nice day.”

She emailed the details to him, then sent Keith an email to let him know of the development. She then sat in her chair and closed her eyes, only opening them when Mary tapped on her door.

“Sorry to disturb your nap, Marilyn.”

“No nap, Mary. I was just thinking about things. I’ve just been talking to Taylor, and I may not have painted a cross on my back, but I may have given him an idea that one should be there.”

Marianne Gregory © 2026