Chapter 5

Monday morning brought them back to earth. The had breakfast, tidied up and both left the house. They kissed, and then Maria went west, towards the Aston station, while Andy went towards Coventry and the Police College. When he arrived, he walked to the swimming pool, a place he remembered with happiness.

When he walked into the pool area, he saw the dive leader, now known to be DCI Alex Anderson, who was checking over a wetsuit.

“Young Andy, welcome back. I looked at your record here, and it said that you were an excellent swimmer. Take this wetsuit and go into the changing rooms. Make sure it’s smooth without wrinkles, those will get hard to get rid of as you get wet.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Right! Before you go, there’s no sirs here. You’re Andy and I’m Alex. Successful diving depends on the two of us knowing what the other is thinking. Underwater, we’re equals and looking out for each other. By the time we finish getting you qualified, the gossip magazines will be calling us Alexandy, we’ll be that close. Now, the same goes with potholing and caving, which Sue has told me that you need to be trained in. If we go diving, underground, you will be in the second most dangerous place you could imagine. The most dangerous place is standing in front of a madman with a gun pointed at your head.”

“Aye, Aye, Alex,” grinned Andy as he went to the changing room.

When he came out, Alex checked him over and then grinned, as one of the back-up crew from the previous dives joined them.

“First up, we are going to swim until one of us calls it quits. This is a fifty-metre pool, so every 20 laps is a thousand metres. I brought Charlie with me as our spotter. He has lifesaving certificates, but, as you can see by his beard, you don’t want him to give you the kiss of life. Don’t go so far that you can’t do any more, because there will be more to do once we’ve finished that. Stop when you think that you’ve got close to the exhaustion point, this is to gauge your sensibility as well as your swimming prowess. OK, let’s do it.”

They both dived in and started doing laps. Andy called it quits at twelve hundred metres, with Alex doing two more laps at a slower pace. As he towelled off, he sat on a chair to get his breath back.

“What do you think, Charlie?”

“He’s good, boss. Nice consistent times, I reckon that he could have gone the full fifteen hundred metres, with a bit of training.”

“Right, then. Andy, you have five minutes to recuperate, then we put these fins and goggles on. We do the laps, scuba-style, but the difference is that we do the first lap above the water, and then each odd lap as far as you can go, underwater. This is to test your lung capacity.”

When the five minutes were up, they lowered themselves into the water and set off, much faster than they had swum before, thanks to the fins. At the far end, Andy saw Alex take a deep breath before submerging and pushing off the wall. He did the same and followed for as long as he could, coming up before Alex. This continued for more laps, Alex staying just in front of Andy, with Andy going further, underwater, with each hundred metres.

They had been swimming for some time, and were on an underwater lap, when Andy saw Alex lose all his air in front of him and start to sink to the bottom. Without even thinking about it, although he knew he was almost at the end of his last breath, he dived under Alex and pulled him towards the surface, arriving in time to take a big breath.

“Unhand me, you randy sod,” laughed Alex. “That, my boy, was a test and I think that you may have broken the record for reaction time. How did he go, Charlie?”

“He was going for you before your bubbles hit the surface, boss. I didn’t even have time to start the stopwatch.”

“How many laps, Charlie?”

“You were on the thirty-fourth, boss. Andy would have needed a few more before he could do the full fifty underwater, but he was getting there as he got the hang of the technique.”

They swam to the steps and got out, taking off the fins.

“I think, my friends, that it’s time for lunch. I hope the canteen does the food as good as it was when I was last here, lecturing.”

“You didn’t do any lectures while I was here, Alex.”

“That’s because they were for active constables, sergeants, and above. We do a course every couple of years to pick new recruits for the dive teams.”

The two of them went and put towelling robes over the wetsuits and they went into the canteen, getting a tray, each, and finding a secluded corner.

“Now, Andy. This is when you tell us why you’ve been sent for this training. If you had failed, this morning, you would have been heading home, by now. Seeing that you are good material to join the dive team, we need to know what it is that has brought you here, so we can plan future lessons.”

Andy, between mouthfuls, told them about the case that he was on, ending at the point where he thought that the victims had been kept, in a cavern, with water between them and the outside world.

“That’s a long bow, Andy. I’ve potholed for years, and every cave that fits your description is visited regularly. You say that this guy has been operating for ten years, I can’t think of anywhere that would fit the bill, unless he’s found a new site that has never been explored.”

“There’s one site that has been locked for ten years, or more, and it’s in a secluded place where a night visit would not be noticed. It’s in Creswell Crags and is called the Boat House.”

“I know that one,” Charlie said. “It’s got a grill over the entrance and it’s just an empty space.”

“With a small door, off to one side, that has a danger notice on it. What I want to know is how a padlock that hasn’t been touched, in ten years, looks like it was used every week. Also, why the floor of an open space, that’s only visited by mice and birds, looks like it’s been swept.”

“You have a compelling argument there, Andy. Once we get you on track with the scuba gear, we’ll organise a dive in the lake. Then we can have a quiet look at the cave, ourselves. You will still have to do some potholing, and some underground diving, before I’ll allow you to go in, and I know that you’ll never let someone explore any unknown cave unless you’re there.”

That afternoon, Andy and Alex swam lengths, again, with flippers and goggles. This time they did two laps above water, then as much time as they could underwater, on the next two laps. By the end of the afternoon, Andy was closing in on Alex with his underwater times, although he did have the idea that Alex was holding back for him. Tuesday, he was told, they would start him on breathing from a tank and staying down for a lot longer.

When they had dried off and redressed, Charlie took the fins and goggles and hung the wetsuits to dry. Out, in the carpark, Alex told Andy to be back in the morning, and then he and Charlie got into the truck. As they watched as Andy drove away, Alex turned to Charlie.

“What do you think of that?”

“That’s one hell of a policeman, boss. I did some asking around and found out that he and another detective were going into the kitchen on that restaurant raid and the cook stabbed the other guy. Andy hit him in the head with a straight hand heel and knocked the guy into next week, then taped his mate with blue chefs tape and took him to the hospital at Burton, in that car. If you look closely, it’s got the lights and I’m told it has a two-tone fitted. His father was in traffic, something of a legend, and got the car from an auction up north. It’s a previous pursuit car. I’m told that the father had reflexes so quick that he could have driven Formula One.”

“That accounts for his reaction when I started sinking. I can remember experienced divers who had to think for five seconds before they decided to save me. We’ll put him through the full scuba introduction, tomorrow, and aim for a visit to the lake at the Crags on Thursday. See if you can round up some of the guys for a caving weekend, including some dive time. I think that our Andy is going be qualified by this time next week, any longer and he’ll be ready to bite someone. Also set up a full crew training session on Wednesday, in one of those pools we searched for those sacks.”

When Andy got home, he let himself in and went to have a shower. He made himself a cup of tea and went out to the attached garage, taking off the covers on the 6/80. He wiped over the bodywork and then opened it up to see if it would start. It took a few tries but fired up. He left it idling and opened the big door to ventilate the space. He was polishing the bell and spotlights when Maria arrived.

“Hello, darling, how was your day?”

“Don’t ask! Lee and I met with the detective in Sheffield, and we went to that mines place. What a bunch of bastards they are! First, they didn’t want to even answer our questions, and then, when we told them that refusing to help the police in a murder investigation would see them in court, the manager agreed to look up the records. It took nearly an hour before they found the records book for the right year, and then another fifteen minutes to find the line that noted that the Boat House had been sealed as dangerous. When Lee asked if they had the original report, the guy nearly shat himself. He told us to come back in an hour, or so, and we went off to have lunch. When we got back, he had found the folder where the report should have been. He was apologetic now, but it didn’t make the missing report reappear.”

“Did they give you permission to open the cave?”

“No, they told us that we would need a court order to do that, as once it has been deemed dangerous, it would take an official inspection team to be put together, and that would take six months. Nothing we could say would move him. It’s in the regulations. Phooey to the regulations.”

“So, if I want to get in, it will have to be as an official police raid, with agreement from the head office. I’ll be diving in that lake later in the week and we’ll have a quiet look. If I can get Alex on board, I think that we may stand a chance of getting permission to break in.”

“Alex?”

“DCI Alex Anderson, he’s the dive leader who we worked with on the diving for sacks.”

“Him! He’s a good guy, I never guessed he’s a DCI, he’s so approachable. So, you’re on a first-name basis with him?”

“Yes, he insists that as we watch each other’s backs in the water, we have to be equals as we work. If you remember, all of those divers were like a bunch of pals, rather than a crack squad.”

Andy turned the car off, recovered it, and closed the door. They made some dinner, then walked to the retirement home to see how Auntie was. Tuesday, Maria was scheduled to see Sue and the CS, about getting tacit agreement to open the cave grill, if they had any more reason.

In the morning, Andy was introduced to modern scuba diving. He had expected a tank and mouthpiece, but was shown a full-face diving mask, with inbuilt radio, and a lightweight tank that fed the mask. He, and Alex, spent twenty minutes just sitting by the pool with the gear on, passing the time with Alex asking Andy about his time as a Special.

They changed the tanks to new ones and added weight belts before getting in the water. Andy had the experience of weightlessness for the first time. Then Alex told him that they were going to sit on the bottom for a little while. Then he told Andy that they would take it easy doing a couple of laps, with one hand touching the bottom of the pool. As they went along, Alex started asking him maths questions, to ensure that he didn’t go into a sort of trance, something that Alex told him was a danger when you are floating without any idea of which way you’re up.

In the afternoon, Andy was shown how to change tanks, and then repeat the operation sitting on the bottom. Wednesday, they met at the paddleboats where the last sack search had occurred. They had the full crew with them, and Andy was welcomed as part of the team. Charlie had been there, first thing, and thrown six weighted sacks out as far as he could. On this dive, they all had two tanks and Andy experienced diving in restricted visibility, with plants and debris laying on the bottom.

It took two hours to find all the sacks, Andy finding one. The new thing that he learned was how to attach a marker buoy and fill it with the expelled air from his mask. They all washed off and changed in the truck, then going to a local pub for lunch. Last time he had eaten with these men, he had been a total outsider. This time he was part of the group and accepted as an equal. They were all going to be meeting at the beginning of the track to the Boat House, just off the Crags Road. The team was looking forward to it, all hoping that real work didn’t intervene.

Next morning, Andy parked next to the truck at the end furthest from the Boat House. There was a barrier around them with a ‘Police – Training in Progress’ sign. They decided on a line search, the length of the lake, just marking anything that looked out of place. They entered the water with Andy between two of the crew and kept in contact as they swam along the bottom. The thing that Andy learned, today, was to keep a slow, but steady pace, and to call out when he found something that needed marking. Charlie and another support member were by the truck, monitoring the radio. Whenever anything was found, the diver would call his name, and a description of his find, before releasing the marker.

About two-thirds of the distance to the Boat House, the diver to the right of Andy called out that he was marking what looked like an old scuba tank. Some way further on, the same diver called that he was marking another one. Andy was elated, this was something that could prove positive. When they reached the top end of the lake, Alex called for them to surface and head for the cave with the grill. They all got out of the water and took the scuba gear off. The last thing that Alex had called was for Charlie to pull down the barrier and reverse up the track to collect them.

They stood and talked about what had been discovered during the session. Most of the finds along the main roadside were the usual bikes and rubbish. They had found two old cars, and Alex told Andy that he would contact the Sheffield dive squad to run a training session for the recoveries. When Charlie backed the truck to them, most of the crew hosed off and got changed, before loading up their kit. Alex took a large flashlight from the toolbox and motioned Andy to join him looking in the cave.

With them hidden from general view, by the crew and the truck, Alex slowly panned the light around the cave, taking pictures on his phone, especially the safety door. He also took a picture of the padlock, noticing a serial number.

“I think that you have something here, Andy. That floor is far too clean, the thing is that if it was as it should be, you would be able to see tracks, and just brushing the tracks out would show up. I’m starting to lean towards going in, but first you need the potholing qualification, and we do need to lift those tanks.”

Turning to the crew, he asked for attention.

“Guys; today has been more than a training session, one which you all scored highly. It was also part of an ongoing investigation. Andy and I are going to recover those two scuba tanks, and they have to be brought ashore with full FSI protocols. This is not a drill; this could be very important.”

The two of then put new tanks on and refitted their masks, testing the air and the radio. The truck moved forward, slowly, with the crew all walking beside it. At the first tank, the two donned their fins and went into the water, with Andy pulling a line. Alex talked him through attaching the line and then called for the crew to pull it in, with the two of them lifting it to stop it dragging through the mud.

The crew had a big evidence bag, and, with gloves on, sealed the tank. Charlie gave Andy the line and they went along a little further to recover the second tank. When that was safely in the truck, Andy and Alex got hosed and changed. They agreed to meet in a pub in Creswell, for lunch, and Andy walked the rest of the way to his car, then followed the truck into the village.

After the meal, he was surprised by the crew declaring him a team member and giving him a patch, which adorned all their uniforms, whenever they needed to wear one. After lunch, the crew headed back to their station, and Alex joined Andy, in his car, to go to a store in Sheffield, where Andy would be kitted out with all the kit that he would need to go potholing. After that, Alex guided him to a house, where he got out.

“Tomorrow, you wear what you just bought. Pick me up, here, at eight-thirty, and I’ll take you to some holes in the ground that will test your determination to see this through. On the weekend, pack a case with enough for an overnight stay, as we’ll be going into caves where you’ll learn how to dive, underground. Don’t get too worried, the places where we’re going are large enough to hold a party. Have a good evening and I’ll see you, in the morning.”

The next day, Andy picked up Alex and they went north, beyond Sheffield, into the Yorkshire moors, where they went down holes that Andy thought could be too small to squeeze into. Underground, he was amazed at the size of the spaces, the big ones, and the small ones. Alex talked him through each traverse and insertion, until Andy became happy with the places that he was putting his body. Alex seemed to know where to go and each time they arrived back in the open air, asked Andy if he knew how far and how deep he thought they had been.

As far as Andy was concerned, the day was too short. They sat in a pub, late afternoon, and Alex went through all the things he had got right, and the few things where he was about to go wrong. Alex went through what they would be doing over the weekend. Andy was to be at his house by eight-thirty, again, and he would be able to park his car off the road. The crew would pick the two of them up a little after that and they were off for a weekend of caving, something Alex told him that they all enjoyed.

“I’ve booked the weekend in as another training session. We need to keep up our proficiency so it will be on overtime, including you. When you go home, again, I expect that you’ll be the fastest trainee to get qualifications in both caving and diving. You keep going the way that you are, and you’ll be matching, if not exceeding, my rank. When you get there, I know, from the times we have spent together, that you won’t allow that to spoil you.”

At home, Andy showed Maria a few pictures that he had taken, and caught up with what had been happening at the station. Maria told him that the Super was leaning towards allowing them entry to the cave but needed more proof. Andy had told her about the air tanks that they had recovered, but these did not prove anything, yet. They went out for dinner and then to bed.

Saturday morning, Andy was up early and making breakfast when Maria came down. He put his things in the Audi, kissed her and the left for a day that he knew he had never experienced before. On the way, he thought about the past week. He had never been truly adventurous as a young lad, even though his father loved sports. He thought about some of the spaces he had squeezed through, yesterday, and grinned as he thought of his large parent trying to insert himself into the space.

After they had been picked up by the crew, the trip north was an adventure in itself. Squeezed in between the divers, he could hardly move, as well as hardly being able to breathe. That, though, may have been from laughing at the bawdy jokes. They arrived at a gate to a field, with a ‘Danger, potholes!’ sign. Charlie assured him that they had permission to be here, as Alex got out and opened the gate so the truck could park. The ‘Police Training’ sign was put next to the gate and the dive team got suited up.

Wearing runners, they walked into the field, to a fenced area. From the approach, Andy couldn’t see anything unusual, but, at the fence, he looked into a big dip with a hole in the side of it. Opening the gate, Alex led them, carefully, down to the hole, and then addressed the group.

“Guys, this is the first underground dive for Andy, and I don’t want any monkey business on his first dive. Andy, with this cave, we have to walk in, then negotiate some tunnels and fissures before we arrive at the lake. We all carry our tanks and fins to the water’s edge. The flashlights are waterproof, and you will consider it as part of your body, never drop it. You’ll only need the one tank and, although we can use the radio down there, Charlie will find it hard to hear us once we’re in the water. If we get into trouble, and you’re able to, get back here and alert Charlie. The local cave rescue team has been told that we’re here. Remember, this is good fun but also life threatening, which these guys consider as part of the fun. Let’s get our act together and get inside.”

Marianne Gregory © 2023