seconds. Dixon could feel tears streaming down his cheeks.
By 9.00am he had watched the video footage four more times. Jake’s weight had been off the rope for 2 minutes and 30 seconds before it fell from the top of High Rock. This would have offered plenty of time for the knot to have been undone. Something else had struck Dixon as a bit odd although it hadn’t occurred to him until his last look at the film. There was no shout or cry for help from Jake at all. Not even when he fell. Dixon wondered whether the camera microphone had not picked it up but no doubt the High Tech Unit could confirm.
He made himself a coffee and sat down to watch the last sequence frame by frame.
Each click of the mouse advanced the film one frame at a time. He had scrolled forward to the point just before the rope came down and looked at each frame intently from that point onwards. He could see Jake resting his left leg, no doubt trying to fight the shakes. Otherwise, the exercise revealed nothing of interest except the fact that Jake never once looked down. The fall, when it came, appeared graceful. Dixon suspected that Jake had reached the point when he knew that he could hang on no longer and gave up the fight. He had experienced that for himself on more than one occasion.
Dixon watched as the cameraman turned away from High Rock. He kept clicking, taking the film forward frame by frame, as the camera panned sharply to the right taking in the top of Priest Rock, then blue sky until finally the cliffs on the north side of the gorge came into view. Dixon froze. He wound the film back 10 or so seconds and then began to take it forward again frame by frame. He could not be sure what it was that he had seen but he needed a closer look.
There it was. A figure standing at the right hand end of the terrace at the foot of Heart Leaf Bluff, the top tier of three on the north side of the gorge. Dixon could just make out a blue top and then, thirty feet above, a climber. They appeared to be doing a route called Dinner Date, which he knew well. It had been his first lead.
Dixon would need to get this frame blown up by the High Tech Unit but the significance of it was clear. He would need to check, of course, but as far as he could recall anyone standing on the terrace below Heart Leaf Bluff would have a clear view of the top of High Rock.
Dixon wondered what efforts PC Cole had made to trace any other witnesses in the gorge that day and immediately left a message at Cheddar Police Station for him to ring straightaway. Those climbers had to be traced.
Dixon looked again at the witness statements. None made reference to any climbers on the north side of the gorge. He made a note that those witnesses would need to be spoken to again. He was just about to telephone Cheddar Police Station again when DCI Lewis appeared in the doorway.
‘A good result yesterday.’
‘It was, Sir, thank you.’
‘I gather that Gorman was the hero of the hour?’
‘He was. I certainly wouldn’t want to have been opposite him in the scrum.’
‘It must be the low centre of gravity. It was excellent work though, Nick, well done.’
‘Thank you, Sir.’
‘Any progress on the Cheddar incident?’
‘It turns out that Jake Fayter had been dealing ecstasy, Sir. Gorman was just about to arrest him for supplying the ecstasy that killed the Williams girl.’
‘Fuck me.’
‘Not only that but the film footage taken on the day shows climbers high up on the north side of the gorge. They would have had a clear view of the top of High Rock at precisely the time Jake’s rope failed.’
‘You need to find those witnesses sharpish.’
‘I do.’
‘Anything else?’
‘The film also shows Jake’s weight off the rope for 2 minutes and 30 seconds at the critical time. That’s plenty of time for the knot to have been undone.’
‘And you have a possible motive if he killed Jenna Williams.’
‘I do, Sir, yes. I need access to the Williams file in the first
By 9.00am he had watched the video footage four more times. Jake’s weight had been off the rope for 2 minutes and 30 seconds before it fell from the top of High Rock. This would have offered plenty of time for the knot to have been undone. Something else had struck Dixon as a bit odd although it hadn’t occurred to him until his last look at the film. There was no shout or cry for help from Jake at all. Not even when he fell. Dixon wondered whether the camera microphone had not picked it up but no doubt the High Tech Unit could confirm.
He made himself a coffee and sat down to watch the last sequence frame by frame.
Each click of the mouse advanced the film one frame at a time. He had scrolled forward to the point just before the rope came down and looked at each frame intently from that point onwards. He could see Jake resting his left leg, no doubt trying to fight the shakes. Otherwise, the exercise revealed nothing of interest except the fact that Jake never once looked down. The fall, when it came, appeared graceful. Dixon suspected that Jake had reached the point when he knew that he could hang on no longer and gave up the fight. He had experienced that for himself on more than one occasion.
Dixon watched as the cameraman turned away from High Rock. He kept clicking, taking the film forward frame by frame, as the camera panned sharply to the right taking in the top of Priest Rock, then blue sky until finally the cliffs on the north side of the gorge came into view. Dixon froze. He wound the film back 10 or so seconds and then began to take it forward again frame by frame. He could not be sure what it was that he had seen but he needed a closer look.
There it was. A figure standing at the right hand end of the terrace at the foot of Heart Leaf Bluff, the top tier of three on the north side of the gorge. Dixon could just make out a blue top and then, thirty feet above, a climber. They appeared to be doing a route called Dinner Date, which he knew well. It had been his first lead.
Dixon would need to get this frame blown up by the High Tech Unit but the significance of it was clear. He would need to check, of course, but as far as he could recall anyone standing on the terrace below Heart Leaf Bluff would have a clear view of the top of High Rock.
Dixon wondered what efforts PC Cole had made to trace any other witnesses in the gorge that day and immediately left a message at Cheddar Police Station for him to ring straightaway. Those climbers had to be traced.
Dixon looked again at the witness statements. None made reference to any climbers on the north side of the gorge. He made a note that those witnesses would need to be spoken to again. He was just about to telephone Cheddar Police Station again when DCI Lewis appeared in the doorway.
‘A good result yesterday.’
‘It was, Sir, thank you.’
‘I gather that Gorman was the hero of the hour?’
‘He was. I certainly wouldn’t want to have been opposite him in the scrum.’
‘It must be the low centre of gravity. It was excellent work though, Nick, well done.’
‘Thank you, Sir.’
‘Any progress on the Cheddar incident?’
‘It turns out that Jake Fayter had been dealing ecstasy, Sir. Gorman was just about to arrest him for supplying the ecstasy that killed the Williams girl.’
‘Fuck me.’
‘Not only that but the film footage taken on the day shows climbers high up on the north side of the gorge. They would have had a clear view of the top of High Rock at precisely the time Jake’s rope failed.’
‘You need to find those witnesses sharpish.’
‘I do.’
‘Anything else?’
‘The film also shows Jake’s weight off the rope for 2 minutes and 30 seconds at the critical time. That’s plenty of time for the knot to have been undone.’
‘And you have a possible motive if he killed Jenna Williams.’
‘I do, Sir, yes. I need access to the Williams file in the first
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