Dutch pornography. Nosiness rewarded. I had an image of the huddled bunch of them, sheepdogs included, all agog and aghast, the world of dildos, butt plugs and bondage gear having just been revealed to them.
He took a deep breath. ‘But that’s not the worst.’
‘Go on,’ I prompted
‘He shot my dog.’
I pulled an appropriate face, grunted sympathetic noises and retreated to my end of the bar. ‘What do you know about Gerald Evans from Pentre Fawr?’ I asked David as I climbed onto a stool.
‘I’ve barred him from here.’
I looked at him with surprise. ‘Why?’
‘He shot Blackie’s dog.’ He shrugged. ‘I’ve got to show solidarity with my regulars.’
I was almost taken in. ‘Come on, David,’ I protested, ‘that’s too altruistic for you.’
‘The bastard cheated me once. He sold me a Land Rover that had sawdust in the sump to stop it knocking.’
‘Couldn’t you take it back?’
‘I couldn’t afford the stress of the ensuing vendetta.’
‘He’s like that?’
‘He’s a mean fucker, Glyn, amoral and totally ruthless.’
‘Sergeant …’
We both looked round. Jeff Talbot was standing in the archway between the two bars with Tessa MacLean.
How long had they been in here? An irrational surge of social panic gripped me. Had they seen me hunkered over there with Blackie? Thinking that he was my buddy? Maybe even my only buddy?
Jeff held up his mobile phone. He looked wearily grim. ‘Sergeant, I don’t know whether this is going to involve you, but I’ve just had a call from Donnie at the site. He’s scared someone off who was messing around with our machinery.’
‘Any damage?’ I asked.
‘He’s still checking, but it looks like they’ve managed to screw-up the hydraulics on one of the diggers.’
I thought quickly. It could be saboteurs. The wind-farm protestors that Mrs Jones had mentioned. Or it could be something richer. I pushed my beer away virtually untouched. ‘I’ll follow you up there.’
I caught David smiling at me as I got into my coat. ‘My hero,’ he pouted mockingly.
I shot him the finger, and followed Jeff and Tessa to the door. Then I realized why them thinking that I might be associated with Blackie had stung so much. I was jealous. And it was only partially sexual. The rest of it was to do with the company they had found with one another. They were outsiders in Dinas, they had bonded together to share a common experience. But I was an outsider here too, and it rankled that they hadn’t thought to include me in the party.
They hadn’t recognized my kindred spark. It was more than depressing, it was a shock to my system. Was I now beginning to be mistaken for a local in the eyes of the outside world?
It was going to be a cold night. The light cloud cover was fragmenting, there was already a light dusting of stars, Venus low and bright in the west, and the fluorescent promise, behind a far ridge, of a rising moon.
The construction site was lit up. As we drove closer I saw that it was one of the company pickups, its headlights full-on, illuminating a parked row of assorted earth-moving machinery.
I parked behind Jeff. Tessa didn’t get out. I followed Jeff to the pickup. Donnie Raikes got out as we approached.
‘What happened?’ Jeff asked.
‘Someone’s had a go at one of the diggers.’ Donnie led us towards the line of machinery.
‘What kind of a go?’ I asked.
‘Watch your feet there,’ Donnie said, taking my arm as we stopped beside a mechanical digger, nodding at the ground. A thick, viscous liquid that, in the dark, looked like treacle, was pooling in a rut in the mud. ‘Hydraulic fluid. Someone’s cut the hoses,’ he explained.
Jeff bent down to inspect the damage.
‘Did you see anyone?’ I asked Donnie.
‘I heard him, that’s what brought me out of the hut. I think he must have accidentally banged the side of the machine. By the time I was outside he was storming off down the gully.’
‘Him?’ I asked.
He smiled indulgently. ‘It’s usually blokes.’
‘You’ve checked the rest of the plant?’ Jeff asked.
‘Yes. It looked like he was starting with this one, but got careless.’
‘Has it happened before?’ I asked them.
‘Not here,’ Jeff said.
‘And it’s not usually damage,’ Donnie explained, ‘its usually shunted onto a low-loader and then off on a long haul to Romania or other such points.’
‘Could this be the work of protestors?’ I asked.
They exchanged glances. Donnie shrugged. ‘I don’t know,’ Jeff said, ‘but why bother, the site’s already shut down.’
‘Is the damage fixable?’ I asked.
‘New hydraulic hoses. It’s a question of waiting for parts and a fitter. Which will not be a company priority up here at the moment,’ Jeff said, smiling wryly.
I turned to Donnie. ‘Can you show me which way he ran off ?’
He looked surprised. ‘It’s night, Sergeant.’
‘Humour me.’
We walked to the edge of the light-spill and Donnie pointed out the direction the figure had taken. He had kept off the track, knowing that a vehicle could have outrun him, and instead used the gully that the stream ran down.
I walked forward slowly, shining my torch ahead. It was rough, shelving terrain with irregular banks and terraces.
‘You looking for footprints?’ Donnie shouted after me.
‘No, the shape of the ground. You say he just kept on running?’
‘Yes, as much as I could see.’
The guy had known what he was doing. Keeping up a pace in the dark over rough terrain like this. He knew this place, exactly where he was, and how to get out.
I felt it then. A prickle at the back of my neck. Someone watching?
I turned around and quartered the side of the hill slowly. But it was useless. Too many vast patches of dense shadow. He went down the hill, I reminded myself. No one could be watching me from up there.
Unless there was more than one of them?
Jeff banged on the side of the pickup to catch our attention. ‘I’m going to take Tessa back up the hill now,’ he shouted.
‘Wait for me, I’m coming with you,’ I called up. I saw him flash a look at Tessa, still inside the car.
‘I’m just taking Dr MacLean back to her camp,’ he explained as I approached, not doing too much to disguise his annoyance. ‘I’ll be back soon.’
‘Good, I’ll tag along for the ride.’ I grabbed my binoculars from my car, and got into the back seat of the crew cab before he could launch another objection.
‘It’s dark, Sergeant, you won’t be able to see anything.’ Tessa spoke from the front seat without turning round. I wondered if I had just imagined a touch of intentional ambiguity in her voice.
‘It’s the company I crave, Dr MacLean,’ I announced cheerfully.
I was conscious of her eyes on me in