The Anita Waller Collection

by Anita Waller

  ‘But—’

  ‘I know! One of them is Daryl. So now do you see why I’m panicking to find these bleedin’ drugs?’

  ‘Shit.’

  There was silence between them. A long silence, while they digested what they knew.

  ‘How big, how powerful, are they?’

  ‘Think of the Krays… I would say, the main difference is, they stay in the background. Don’t brag it off, like the Krays did.’

  ‘So, why you?’

  ‘Got talking in the pub one night to a bloke. No idea he was the top man’s right-hand man. Ended up doing a couple of jobs for them, debt collections, and I was in. Introduced to the boss, welcomed aboard, here’s ten grand to get you started sort of thing, but now, I’m fucking scared, Aileen. So scared, I actually thought about telling him Daryl’s name.’

  She gasped. ‘He’s your son!’

  He covered his face with his hands. ‘I know. We don’t get on, but he’s still my lad.’

  ‘You’re not going to dob him in, are you?’

  ‘Course not. But I don’t know what to do. Do you?’

  ‘Doing nowt isn’t an option.’ She picked up her cup and sipped at it thoughtfully. ‘Does Megan know?’

  ‘Nah. It must be best part of three years since I had any sort of conversation with her. We don’t like each other. And Daryl’s all for her. We don’t get on. I’m well out of it.’ He stood and carried his cup over to the sink. ‘Thanks for listening, but I’ve got to go and find somewhere to sleep tonight. You have my number, if you want to ring.’

  ‘Sit down, Carl,’ she said tiredly. ‘Sit down and stop being a prat. You can stay here. We need to work things out, and we can’t do that over a phone.’

  ‘But why? Why would you want to help me?’

  ‘It’s not all about helping you. If I can’t have proper justice for my Vinnie, then I’ll take what I can get. I want to see this big boss dead. So, I need his name. Are you in or out?’

  Carl came back to the table, sat down once again, and took her hand. ‘In. He’s a German called Nicolas Grausohn, and he’s a proper shit. He’s the one who ordered Johanna Fleischer to be killed.’

  ‘More,’ Aileen demanded.

  ‘What?’

  She crossed to the fridge to a magnetic shopping list. She tore off the top sheet, picked up a pen and sat down again. ‘Right. Nicolas… what did you say?’

  Carl spelt it out for her and then repeated Johanna’s name.

  ‘Who else?’

  ‘Tommy Raines – he actually killed her, and there’s another one, assists Tommy in everything, Kenny Lancaster.’

  ‘Kenny Lancaster? I think I know him. He’s gay?’

  Carl laughed. ‘I wouldn’t have thought so. He’s never said anything that would make me think he was.’

  ‘Was he the one who recruited you in the pub that night?’

  ‘Oh my God, he was!’

  ‘I rest my case.’

  She wanted to laugh at his face, but she was still feeling a bit at odds with him. ‘So, you’re staying, then?’

  ‘If it’s okay with you. I feel safe here, ’cos nobody knows we’re connected.’

  She nodded. ‘Then get upstairs, superstud. I fancy a good seeing to, calm me down after seeing my lad this morning.’

  Carl didn’t argue.

  Daryl had been quiet most of the day, and the others noticed it, but didn’t comment. They assumed he was worrying about disposing of the drugs where they wouldn’t hurt wild life or humans, and as the clever one in the group, he was the one who usually came up with solutions.

  It was only as home time arrived that he apologised and said he’d a lot on his mind. ‘My dad’s left. Really, it’s more my mum’s chucked him out, but either way, he’s gone. It’s a bit strange at home, it’s quiet. I’m worrying about her, I don’t want him coming back and giving her a beating.’

  The others looked at him. ‘Why didn’t you say earlier?’

  The ever-practical Sammy said, ‘We could have gone to yours for the day. We’d have been there if he did show up. He wouldn’t touch her if he knew he had witnesses.’

  ‘And I’m sorry you’re sad,’ Freya said. ‘I would hate my dad to go.’

  Mark nodded.

  ‘Oh, don’t get me wrong,’ Daryl continued. ‘I’m kinda glad he’s gone. It’s more of a worry that he might come back. I’ve told Mum to ring me if he does, and I’ll go straight home.’

  ‘Right,’ Mark said. ‘We still can’t go back to the den, so tomorrow, check with your mum that it’s okay, and we’ll all come up to yours. Don’t let on why we’re doing it. She’s an adult, and she’ll not want to feel like we’re baby-sitting her, but we are. Everybody agreed?’

  They all gave the thumbs-up sign, and got ready to go to their homes, gathering together the assortment of things they had arrived with earlier.

  Before they left the bedroom, Daryl spoke. ‘Thanks, you lot. Thanks for understanding. You’re the best. And now, we’ve got to find the answer to getting rid of the packet. We can’t take it to the police, we’ve had it too long.’

  ‘No, but we can do what we did when we kind of found Vinnie’s body. We can pretend to find the packet.’ Dom looked thoughtful as he spoke. ‘We can’t say we found it in the woods, that’s been searched, but we could find it near the recycling point. There’s loads of packages around the area, when people can’t get them into the bins.’

  ‘We could, but I don’t believe they’ve searched the woods properly. No mention’s been made of our den. And they would have asked us about it, if they’d found it. They’ve assumed somebody’s had it away with whatever was in the hole, and I think it’s made the search a bit sloppy. If we find it down the bottom end, we might get away with it. It’s a fair way from the crime scene, and a fair way from our den. We don’t want them doing a second search and finding our place. We’ll not have a vote on this yet, have a think about it. We’ll talk more tomorrow at Daryl’s.’

  They trooped downstairs, and Sally waved as they passed her kitchen door. Freya went into the kitchen and gave her mum a hug, then stepped back. ‘Love you, Mum,’ she whispered. ‘Dad wouldn’t leave us, would he?’

  Sally laughed. ‘Of course he wouldn’t. What’s brought that on?’

  ‘Daryl’s dad’s left him and his mum.’

  ‘Really? Oh my. I need to give Megan a ring, let her know we’re here for her. No, your dad won’t be going anywhere.’

  The front door closed, and Mark and Dom came into the kitchen. ‘Is Daryl okay?’

  ‘A bit quiet. He’ll be fine.’

  ‘You’re good kids. Don’t let him be sad. Make him talk about it. Now go upstairs and wash your hands, tea won’t be long. Chicken dippers and rice?’

  The three children groaned. ‘Can’t we have chips?’

  ‘You had chips yesterday.’

  ‘We like chips. We like vinegar. We like tomato ketchup. Just do us chips, Mum, please.’ With Freya in this mood, she was hard to resist.

  Sally sighed. ‘Chicken dippers and chips, it is, then. Fifteen minutes and I want you sitting at that table with clean hands. Think you can do it?’

  They nodded, and she grinned. She hoped Daryl would one day be able to laugh and joke again, when he’d got over the initial shock of his dad leaving.

  Daryl was feeling fine, now he’d told the others why he was a bit down. He walked up the main road with Sammy and Ella, dropping Ella off first at her front door. Sammy then split off to pass by Vinnie’s house, leaving Daryl to finish off the journey alone.

  Daryl walked quickly, eager to check that his mum was doing okay. He had received no phone call, but if his dad had returned and hurt her, she maybe wouldn’t be able to ring. His imagination was causing chaos in his brain, and, in the end, he was running towards his front door. He burst through, and she turned to smile at him.

  ‘Hello, sweetheart. Chips and egg for tea?’

  ‘Brilliant.’ He stared at her, searching for a
ny signs of injury, but there were none. Maybe he had really gone then. There were no sounds from upstairs, no music playing – his dad liked Billy Joel, and it seemed to be on all the time. He had noticed that morning that his dad’s coat had disappeared from the hall; it was still missing, and Daryl could only assume it meant his dad hadn’t come back.

  ‘Mum, will it be okay if the others come up here tomorrow? We feel a bit guilty about being down at the Brownlow’s every day. She always feeds us, must be costing her a fortune.’

  Megan laughed. ‘Of course you can all come here. Tell you what, we’ll nip down to Asda later, get some snacks and stuff in for lunch tomorrow. How does that sound?’

  ‘Sounds brilliant. I’ll phone the others in a bit and tell them it’s on.’

  Sammy split from Daryl, whistling quietly to himself. He no longer felt afraid of passing the Walmsley house; it was an unexpected bonus to finding the body. No longer could Vinnie hold the threat of a good hiding over him. Sammy looked at the front of the house as he passed it and saw someone at the bedroom window, about to close the curtains. A naked man. His first irrational reaction was that it was Vinnie, but then he saw quite clearly who it really was.

  Carl Clarkson.

  Chapter 9

  Sammy didn’t know what to do. Should he ring Daryl? Should he wait until tomorrow? How should he tell him? I saw your dad at the bedroom window of Aileen Walmsley’s house, and he had no clothes on.

  Or shouldn’t he say anything at all? Carl Clarkson was a bad man, he had been horrible at the police station, and maybe Daryl wanted to forget all about him. He’d leave it ’til the morning and then make the decision whether to tell or not.

  The phone rang, and his mum answered it. He was heading upstairs when she called his name.

  ‘Sammy! It’s Daryl for you.’

  Decision time. Was this meant as a sign? He had ten seconds to decide.

  ‘Yo, dude. Mum says fine for tomorrow. We’re going to Asda to get some stuff for lunch. She wants to get some flowers or something, to take to Mrs Walmsley. She’s okay, Dad hasn’t been back.’

  Sammy could hear the relief in Daryl’s voice. He was about to kill that relief with his next few words.

  ‘Daryl, you can’t let her go to the Walmsley house.’ He looked around to make sure his mum had gone into the kitchen. He didn’t want anybody hearing what he had to say.

  ‘What? Why not? Has summat else happened?’

  Sammy hunted for the right way to say it. ‘Daryl, your dad’s there.’

  Daryl sat down on the floor with a thud. He could feel his hands shaking, and he clung tightly to the receiver. ‘What d’you mean, Dad’s there?’

  ‘I saw him, no clothes on, at the bedroom window. He was closing the curtains. Ten seconds later and I wouldn’t have seen him.’

  There was a long silence as if Daryl were thinking through what Sammy was telling him.

  ‘I can’t tell my mum that!’ Sammy could hear the difference as the relief turned to anguish in Daryl’s voice.

  ‘There’s not much you can do about it. Unless you text your dad as you leave Asda and warn him to stay out of the way. That might work.’

  ‘You’re sure it was him?’

  ‘Certain. Saw that tattoo on his arm clear as anything. He’s definitely there, Daryl.’

  ‘Shit, dude. This is bad news. Perhaps I should tell her…’

  ‘Tell me what?’ Megan Clarkson leaned against the kitchen doorjamb.

  ‘Sammy, I’ll see you in the morning, bye.’ Daryl ended the call abruptly and looked at his mum. He was still on the floor, feeling at a disadvantage.

  ‘What’s your father done now?’ Megan had obviously heard part, if not all, of the conversation.

  ‘Nothing.’ Daryl stood and faced her.

  ‘Daryl… what’s your father done that you feel you can’t tell me? And don’t bullshit me.’

  ‘He’s down at the Walmsley house. With no clothes on,’ Daryl blurted out the words. He’d never been on the winning side against his mother – she knew when he was lying.

  She took in the words then spoke. ‘That didn’t take him long, did it?’

  She turned and walked back into the kitchen, leaving Daryl with an open mouth, and a new respect for his mother.

  Once away from her son, Megan gave rein to her thoughts. She wondered if he was with Aileen Walmsley for the sex, or if he was there to pick up the business in which Vinnie Walmsley had been involved. Or both.

  Megan felt nothing. The man was a born loser, and she had put up with him for too long; his behaviour towards his son at the police station had been the final straw, and she was glad to be rid. Good luck to Aileen Walmsley, she’d need it.

  The sun was already baking the earth when the six of them met at Daryl’s house the next day. It put paid to any thoughts of the Shire Brook filling up, with or without the added problem of the swans and ducks, and they sat to talk through the issue once again.

  Daryl handed around a packet of biscuits. ‘Okay, has anybody come up with a good idea, instead of all the bad ones we’ve had so far?’

  Ella smiled. ‘I have.’

  Even Freya looked shocked. Ella was their quiet member, although the noisiest when playing Uno.

  ‘What? Is it a good one?’

  ‘I think so,’ she said. ‘The police will have gone soon, and we can start going back to the den. Why can’t we put the stuff back where it came from? Nobody will look there again, ’cos it’s not there. Except it will be. We need to clean our fingerprints off the plastic bag that it’s in, then wear gloves when we bury it.’

  None of them could remember such a long speech from her before.

  ‘Wow!’ Mark said.

  Ella looked around at the others. ‘Well? What do you think?’

  Slowly, one by one, they gave the thumbs up sign.

  ‘What if a fox, or a dog, digs it up?’

  ‘It won’t matter. It can’t be traced back to us if our fingerprints aren’t on it, and they’ll have to assume they missed it first time around.’ Ella had obviously given a lot of thought to it.

  Daryl looked pensive. ‘I like it; it’s a brilliant idea. Well done, Ella. I suggest we go down the beginning of next week and have a scout around. There’s a possibility they’ve found our den, you know. To them, it would just be that, a den. Something kids have always done. It’s only to us it’s special, so they wouldn’t bother telling us if they’d come across it, or even knocked it down.’

  ‘Knocked it down?’ Freya looked aghast. ‘Don’t say that.’

  ‘Freya, if they have, we can build it again. So, don’t worry. It’s agreed, then? We’ll go across to the woods, first thing Monday morning.’

  Six thumbs went up. Business was finished.

  ‘I’m not hearing anything much, boss. I’ve put out the word that I want to know who the kids are, but so far, nothing. I’ve told people I want a result by tonight.’

  Nicolas Grausohn looked at the man recruited into his organisation by Kenny and wondered why Kenny had settled on him. He didn’t seem to be the brightest button, although he was easy on the eye. Could that have been the attraction for Kenny?

  ‘I want results, Carl.’

  ‘I know, boss. You’ll get them. Somebody must know who they are. Unless, they’re not from our area…’

  Kenny interrupted. ‘Why would they be from a different area? It’s a bloody tiny wooded bit. Nobody would travel to go to it.’

  ‘Yeah, you’re right,’ Carl conceded. ‘Leave it with me, boss. I’ll lean on a couple of people. See what they know.’

  ‘That should have been done already,’ Grausohn said drily. ‘Results, Carl, results.’

  Carl was shaking when he reached the ground floor. There had been something stronger than merely an implied threat. He had no idea how to get out of it; even Aileen hadn’t been able to come up with an answer.

  A taxi pulled into the turning circle outside the impressive apartment building, and he f
lagged it down. He needed a car; he didn’t think for a minute that Megan would let him have the car they had shared, and did he really want a bright yellow Astra? It was now a priority, even if it was to make his escape when he couldn’t come up with the goods. And that was a definite possibility.

  An hour later, he was the owner of a Renault Megane, a conservatively coloured silver, that he hoped would last him longer than the price suggested it might. He drove back to Aileen’s, parking on the road that ran around the back of her rear garden. He slipped through the opening in her broken-down fence and up to her back door.

  ‘Well?’

  He shook his head. ‘He wants results. The thing is, he’ll find some way of getting what he wants, and then, he’ll see Daryl’s name. And if he doesn’t click it’s my lad, Kenny will. Kenny’s seen Daryl with me.’

  ‘You’re stuffed.’ Aileen said it very simply, and very succinctly.

  ‘Thanks,’ he said. ‘That’s a comfort to know. I’ve bought a car, in case I have to leg it a bit sharpish. It’s parked on that road round the back.’

  ‘You think it’ll come to that?’

  ‘Deffo. I’ve got to take him the answers by tomorrow, or else I’ve got to go.’ He grinned. ‘Come with me?’

  She snorted. ‘I hope you’re joking, Carl. You work for the man who shagged the woman who killed my Vinnie. We were never gonna work in the long term. No, I’m going nowhere. I’ll be sorry you’re gone, though.’

  ‘I’m not gone yet.’ He glanced upstairs, and her eyes followed his.

  ‘Half an hour. I’ve an appointment with the hairdresser later.’ She took his hand and led him upstairs.

  The hairdresser understood that Aileen couldn’t make it. The circumstances were tragic. ‘I’ll book you in for next week, Aileen. You take care now.’

  Aileen grinned at Carl. ‘Sorted.’

  Kenny drove down to the Asda car park and parked as close to the crime scene as he could get. He lit a cigarette and strolled across the short strip of tarmac to the woods. The tape had been taken down, and there was no longer a police presence.