The Reluctant Villain

by James Williams

  To complete the betrayal of Kevin he had already withdrawn the £10,000 from the funds as agreed and banked it in a new account of his own.

  There was one other possible loophole to check and close if necessary but he had to wait for developments to unfold. It was several weeks later when he received a phone call from an agitated Andrew Phillips asking to see him urgently. Ernie obliged and called on the travel agent the next day. On his arrival he was ushered into the back office after Phillips instructed his assistant not to disturb him for any reason. He didn’t wait for any formalities to be carried out.

  Ernie, a trade magazine arrived yesterday with a request to any travel agents in this country to check if they have handled a certain ticket for a flight to Canada. It’s the ticket I issued to Robin Stockwell.”

  Ernie appeared to be deep in thought for several moments.

  “Perhaps someone broke in and started the fire in Robin’s flat, found the ticket and either sold it to another person or used it themselves, what’s the problem.”

  “But Ernie, the coroner’s verdict was accidental death. They think Robin left something burning in his lounge and that started the fire. If the ticket was stolen as you suggested then it was no accident.”

  Once again Ernie spent more time in thinking through his answer. He had to convince the travel agent to remain silent.

  “It could be possible your theory is correct Andrew. However, if this evidence of the ticket being used was not submitted at the inquest, the coroner was justified in coming to his verdict of an accident. Don’t mention this to anyone else until I’ve had a chance to look deeper into this matter.

  “Remember Andrew, if someone did start the fire and that person or persons are still in the area you could be in great danger if they found out you had this evidence. As I said, I can make more discreet enquiries than you and as soon as I know something I’ll tell you.”

  “But what if someone does find out I have this evidence and comes after me, shouldn’t I go to the police?”

  Ernie glared at him.

  “On no account should you tell the police. Not only would it make them look foolish, it could still reach the perpetrator’s ears and I might not be able to help you. So, Mum’s the word Andrew.”

  Ernie stood up to leave, noting his host’s hands were shaking and his face bathed in sweat. There would be no trouble from Andrew Phillips for now he surmised.

  After waiting in vain for contact from his brother, Mark checked with Ernie to make sure the money had been paid. He was shown notice of the withdrawal of the agreed amount but never saw details of where it was paid.

  “As you can see Mark, he’s received the money so maybe he’s fooled us and gone somewhere else. I don’t know. He’s your brother. Can’t you check with his friends up North?”

  Mark did just that and received the grim news of his brother’s death at the hands of the RCMP. He tried to blame everyone else and, at first Ernie gave him a wide berth to get over his initial grief. But when he started antagonising Gerry he gently, but firmly reminded him that it was he who insisted on going ahead with the transfer of the money while CI Gates was still questioning one of Kevin’s former associates in his home town.

  Mark then decided he would go back home to find and kill Gates. As a last desperate measure Ernie took Mark back to his house and got him so drunk he passed out and didn’t come around for nearly forty eight hours. Ernie heard raking sobs coming from the room where he had left his distraught colleague. Only when there was no further sound coming did he check to see that Mark had fallen into another sleep. It was a further twelve hours before he stumbled back into some sort of contact with the outside world.

  Ernie took him to a nearby café in Hereford Road for something to eat. Mark sat silently and sullenly while waiting for the light snack to arrive. There was no attempt at conversation between the two as they sat in the corner by a window. Ernie paid careful attention to Mark as he observed people walking past outside.

  There was very little reaction until a police car slowly cruised by and stopped a few doors away down the street. Mark never took his eyes off the car as the two occupants got out and went into a recently opened electrical store. Ernie gave him a kick under the table, just hard enough to draw his attention away from the two constables. He pointed at the food on his plate and then indicated that they would be leaving soon.

  While Mark finished his meal Ernie casually glanced around at a few of the other patrons of the cafe and noticed that a couple of them had been observing Mark in particular. When they realised Ernie was looking in their direction they quickly averted their gaze.

  Mark pushed his plate away and both men stood up, Ernie took the dishes back to the counter and earned a nod of thanks from the patron. Recognising Ernie, the woman spoke.

  “Thanks Mr Newsham. Did you hear about the break in at that new shop the other night?”

  Ernie shook his head.

  “No, I’ve been looking after my young colleague for the past couple of days. He’s just had some sad news and needed to sort himself out. Much taken was there?”

  “A few electrical items I believe, and a fire was started in an outside storeroom. The man who used to run the shop, Tony was well liked in the area but sacked about a month ago and a pompous man named Matthews took charge. He won’t get much sympathy from any locals with the attitude he had.”

  Ernie shook his head and simply said.

  “Some people never learn do they, thanks for the meal, bye.”

  As they left the café Ernie indicated to Mark to stay silent until nobody else was nearby. They walked in silence with Mark constantly looking around and if a police car passed by he would follow its progress until it disappeared from view. By the time they arrived back at Ernie’s house the angry look Mark received from his boss spoke volumes. Once indoors Ernie made his feelings known.

  “What was one of the early points I made to you about trying to appear invisible and not drawing attention to yourself? You might as well have been carrying a large sign with the words ‘I hate the police’ in bright colours and shouting out the message from a megaphone and you couldn’t have drawn any more attention to yourself.”

  Mark stood stock still, trying to emit a defiant air but failing miserably. Ernie continued.

  “You drew attention to yourself in the café. Patrons were watching you staring at the two police officers. And do you think those officers didn’t see you watching them, or the ones in the police car that passed us on the street? That’s part of their basic training Mark. It’s called Observation! If you carry on like that you’ll be picked up and taken in for questioning.”

  He mellowed his tone slightly.

  “I’m sure you heard the café owner talking about the break in those officers were investigating. Well, that was Gerry and me at work and tonight you two are going to complete the job.”

  Mark looked Ernie straight in the face and asked,

  “Why?”

  “That shop belongs to Percy Matthews who used to be Gerry’s boss and he worked there a few times before he joined us. Gerry got on well with the manager but Matthews sacked him for no real reason and he’s upset a few other locals as well with his style of dealing. A decent fire should show Matthews he’s not wanted in this town and also be a timely reminder to other traders who think they don’t need protection.”

  “What’s wrong with you and me doing the job instead?”

  “The Market Man finally comes home today and we’ve arranged a meeting for tomorrow morning, so it’s you and Gerry I’m afraid.”

  Mark gave a resigned nod and seemed to accept his boss’s instructions but he would be the one who was going to decide on how they would tackle the night’s work. Ernie had not said anything about confining the fire to just the one building.

  Ernie dropped Mark off at the flat and then continued to the Centre to relieve Gerry of his duties and to enable him to have a rest before their night’s work.

  On arri
ving back at the shared flat, Gerry had a surprise for his partner in crime. He knocked on Mark’s room, when there was no response he placed a carrier bag on the end of the bed as Mark slept and quietly left the room.

  Mark did not have the courtesy to knock before entering Gerry’s room a few hours later and nudged his companion until he woke up.

  “Where did these come from Gerry?” he said, holding up a new pair of trainers. Gerry sighed, rubbed the sleep from his eyes and said drowsily,

  “Matthews’ shop on Hereford Road that me and Ernie turned over the other night. They were the only ones in your size.”

  But there’s no buckle on the left shoe. I notice your pair has one on each heel.”

  Gerry was now fully awake thanks to this interruption.

  “As I said, the only pair in your size. Serves you right for having big feet.”

  Mark was about to throw the footwear at his friend but had a sudden thought. He couldn’t remember the last time anyone, including Kevin, had given him a present, apart from the guns. Instead he turned around and as he left the room he said quietly,

  “Thanks mate.”

  In the darkness and thankful silence Gerry lay on his bed thinking about how his life had changed over the last few months. He had gone from being a hardworking, honest man to a thief and murderer.

  As he tried to put this last thought out of his mind he started to doze off when the image of an elderly woman appeared and he heard the words “If you continue using these hands with their natural skills you will become very successful, take care of them, my dear. But a word of caution, do not let others distract you from this path you have chosen, or the success you deserve will elude you”

  These words took his mind back to the meeting with Stella Stockwell in his old but safe workplace in David Evans’ shop.

  A few tears ran down his cheeks and he quietly cried himself to sleep, knowing it had all been taken away from him.

  28

  For the next several months Ernie Newsham, Gerry and Mark continued their mini crime wave, evading all attempts by the police to apprehend them.

  There were both arrivals and departures at Clapfield Police Authority. One notable arrival was PC Vic Holland, although his first 6 months did not leave a lasting impression on his superiors.

  Inspector Stevens opened the personal file on his desk and started reading the career details of P.C Victor Holland. Sergeant Proudfoot sat across the desk from him, waiting for his superior to complete his detailed examination in order to come to a decision. Finally, Stevens sat back in his chair.

  “Up until the tragic death of his wife Holland had an exemplary record, having satisfied the promotion board that he was ready to take on the position of Sergeant. Then he blots his copybook with that damned assault on the lorry driver. Mind you, who in all honesty could say they wouldn’t have reacted in similar circumstances.

  Yet since he was transferred to this station he’s just seemed to want to hide in the background."

  Proudfoot added his own observation.

  “And he didn’t exactly enhance his standing with his performance on recovering that body from the river. But to be fair, something had made a right mess of Bishop’s corpse.”

  Stevens nodded and added,

  “Hmm, perhaps we should have put him on indefinite sick leave then, but we were well below on our numbers. No Sergeant, as you have mentioned a number of times before, he looks in poor shape and the medical route is the only real option open to us. Give me five minutes and then send him in.”

  Proudfoot stood up and left the room. He was back within two minutes.

  “I’m sorry sir. Holland went off duty over five minutes ago.”

  Stevens swore under his breath and said,

  “When is he back on duty?”

  The Sergeant looked at his staff duty roster before replying.

  “He’s on nights until next Monday. Do you want me to leave a message for him sir?”

  Stevens let out a sigh.

  “Yes, do that Sergeant but I still need to talk to him about it anyway. Arrange that please. In the meantime, I will contact the Medical Examination Board to arrange a suitable date and time”

  Meanwhile, unaware of this pending appointment Vic Holland continued his search for the new chip shop he had been told about, not knowing that shadows from the past were about to change the course of his life.