Paying the Ferryman

by Jane A. Adams

  Thea had been bright, intelligent, not what Naomi had come to think of as the victim type. Thea reminded her that anyone could become a victim; that there wasn’t a type or even a situation.

  How had Thea and Terry got together? Naomi wondered about that a lot. What had convinced this gorgeous, far from stupid woman to hook up with someone like Terry Baldwin? Phrasing it with a little more tact, she had asked her.

  ‘He was charming,’ Thea told her. ‘Kind of a bit exotic. I’d never dated anyone like him before and he took me out, bought me presents, made me laugh.’

  She had seen the scepticism in Naomi’s eyes. ‘Yes, really. Terry can be funny and kind and even gentle and that’s the trouble, isn’t it? If it was all pain and bruises and Terry when he’s being … well, not the Terry I first got to know, then it would be easier to walk away. Wouldn’t it?’

  Naomi, who had seen her fair share of women in Thea’s situation, wasn’t so sure. Only a scant handful ever seemed to make it out of the front door without looking back.

  ‘But he’d say he was sorry,’ Thea said. ‘And for a while it would be wonderful again, just like it had been, and then, of course, something would trigger it, set him off, and I’d be the punching bag.’

  ‘What sort of things set him off?’

  ‘Oh, he gets so jealous. You know, at first I found it flattering. This man was so proud of me, loved me so much he couldn’t bear to think of me going off with someone else. But then it got oppressive. It wasn’t because he cared about me; it was because he wanted to own me, you know. Like I was just his property and no one else could come anywhere near. I told myself he was just scared. Of losing me, but it wasn’t that. Even after Sarah was born and we really started to drift apart. He just didn’t want anyone else having what belonged to him, even if he’d lost interest. He liked having me around because he liked the way other men looked at me – just so long as I never looked back. It made him feel special. Successful, I suppose, and Terry liked to feel successful. Didn’t matter if it was business or personal.’

  ‘And is he successful? Business-wise, I mean?’ Naomi had asked her.

  Thea smiled at her. ‘Ah, now we’ve reached the crux of the matter,’ she said. ‘The real reason Inspector Naomi Blake is spending time with poor little Mrs Baldwin.’

  She held up a hand for silence when Naomi started to protest. ‘Please, don’t. We both want something out of this and hopefully we’ll both get it. Let’s not pretend. Truth is, I’m sick of games.’

  Naomi held her gaze. She wanted to deny what Thea said, but knew instinctively that if she did the woman would dismiss her. She’d lose the ground she felt she had gained in the past days. ‘So is he successful?’ she asked again.

  She remembered that Thea glanced out of the café window. Until that moment, Naomi, half asleep, had forgotten where the two of them had met up. Thea would leave soon, to get Sarah from school. These meetings, Naomi recalled, were always tense and hurried, never in the same location. Thea was careful to the point of paranoia, Naomi had thought then. But she had been proved right in the end, hadn’t she?

  ‘He is,’ Thea said. ‘He makes money. He could make more, but Terry is essentially lazy. I know that’s a strange thing for me to say. But you ask anyone, they’ll tell you the same. It’s changing, though. He has something planned, but I don’t know what it is. Just that it’s big.’

  ‘And how do you know that?’

  Thea looked at Naomi and smiled. ‘I’m not leading you on,’ she said. ‘I can get you proof of his involvement in at least three armed robberies and I can get you proof that he tried to murder Stevie Meehan.’

  ‘His partner in the robberies?’

  ‘Some of them, yes. There was Stevie Meehan, and Ray Tobias. You know what happened to him.’

  Naomi nodded. ‘Rumour is, Terry almost beat him to death. But the witnesses won’t talk.’

  ‘I kept his clothes,’ Thea told her. ‘And I kept the gun he used to shoot Stevie. His prints will be on it. And if Stevie knows he’s safe, he’ll give you all the evidence you need on the robberies.’ She shrugged. ‘Terry lost his phone a while ago, had to get himself another one. There were texts on the phone, between him and Tobias and Stevie.’

  ‘Lost it?’

  ‘I’ve got it safe,’ Thea said. ‘There’s other stuff too.’

  ‘Like what?’

  ‘Like that’ll have to be it. For now. You get me out and we’ll talk again. Maybe.’

  Naomi opened her eyes. They hadn’t spoken again and, so far as she knew, no one had ever isolated what the ‘something big’ might have been. She’d put it in her report, but the consensus had been that Thea Baldwin was scared, she just wanted to keep Naomi on the hook. The evidence she had promised had been handed over on the day Thea had left and for Naomi that had been an end to it. Naomi’s days on the force had soon been ended too.

  She turned over and tried to get back to sleep, but the thought nagged. What if Thea Baldwin had been telling the truth about Terry’s plans and what if that truth, even after all this time, had been what killed her?

  SIXTEEN

  Joey left the house before his father arrived home the next morning, his mother already up and dressed and getting ready to feed her man when he came in from work.

  ‘Stay and see him,’ she pleaded. ‘It just makes him worse when you avoid him.’

  ‘Worse than when I don’t? I don’t think so, Mum. Yeah, we could both go out today with matching bruises; would that make it better?’

  She looked away, staring out of the window, blinking as though defying the tears. Joey sighed. ‘I’m sorry, Mum, but the truth is there is no better. You’ve got to do something. Like not be here when he comes home. That’s the only way there’s going to be any better.’

  As he walked down the street Joey could feel the tears pricking his own eyes as the slow realization that Maggie was right and there was nothing he, alone, could do to help his mother resurfaced once again. It hadn’t really gone away these past weeks, since he’d overheard that conversation. Maggie, he knew, felt terribly sorry for Joey’s mum and even more sorry for Joey himself, and for a while he’d resented what he read as pity. As time went on he realized that what Maggie was offering was simply friendship. Joey was her son’s best friend and, fortunately, Maggie liked him. That made Maggie an automatic ally and he knew she’d do anything she could to make things better for him, just because that was the right thing to do. He wished fervently that there were more Tels and Maggies in the world. Come to that, even Tel’s dad was OK, though you could see, just watching him and Maggie together, that they weren’t in love any more. They seemed like good friends, Joey thought, but Tel had once told him that they had made a pact to stay married and sort of living together until Tel was old enough to understand – that had made them both laugh; like Tel didn’t understand already.

  He knocked on Maggie’s door. Tel opened it, and to his surprise Evie was there too. She looked as if she’d been crying.

  Joey’s immediate thought was that Evie somehow knew something bad that he didn’t.

  ‘My mum’s sending me away,’ Evie said. ‘She’s been scared by the shooting so we’re going to my gran’s.’

  Immediate relief flooded Joey, followed by pity and then annoyance at her mum. ‘He’s not going to come back,’ he said. ‘Why would he come back?’

  Maggie poured water into the teapot and then put an arm around Evie’s shoulders. ‘It won’t be for long, love, and we’ll all keep in touch, make sure you know what’s going on. The boys have your mobile number, don’t they, and if you text me your gran’s number when you get there I’ll let them use the landline to call you. Or you could Skype?’

  Evie nodded but she wasn’t really consoled. Maggie had cooked scrambled eggs and streaky bacon. Tel was buttering toast and Joey was grateful to see that a place had been laid for him too. Evie agreed to a cup of tea and she nibbled a slice of buttered toast. Maggie left them to it and went off to ge
t ready for work.

  ‘Mum dropped me off so I could say goodbye,’ Evie told Joey. ‘I hoped you’d show up too. She wouldn’t let me come to your house.’

  Joey nodded. He was past being offended by that sort of thing. ‘Is she coming to collect you?’

  ‘Yeah, soon as she’s finished packing. She was up all night, said she couldn’t sleep, not with a violent criminal around.’

  Tel laughed. ‘She seen how many coppers there are in town, has she? Probably the safest place in the world right now.’

  Maybe he could divert a few of them round to his house, Joey thought.

  ‘Mum called that Inspector Steel this morning,’ Tel said. ‘He said the hospital told him that Sarah had a comfortable night, which Mum says probably means she was drugged up to the eyeballs.’

  ‘She’s getting better, though?’ It was agony, not being able to find anything out for himself.

  ‘Yeah. She’ll be fine. She’s got to be.’

  A knock on the door announced the arrival of Evie’s mother. Maggie ran down the stairs to let her in and Joey was glad to be concealed from view behind the kitchen door. Evie’s mum didn’t exactly approve of his friendship with her daughter and he was pretty sure she’d find a way of blaming his family for the shooting if she could. Evie came round and hugged him quickly, torn between friendship and parental disapproval. Tel, in full view of the front door, got a longer, more tearful hug. Evie’s mother approved of him. Joey listened as the goodbyes were said, scooping up the last of his eggs and helping himself to the last slice of bacon. He sometimes wondered what he’d do if Maggie didn’t feed him. He felt bad about it, but felt even worse those odd times that he dared to acknowledge that he loved Maggie maybe more than he loved his own mother.

  The front door closed and Maggie, dressed for work, returned to the kitchen. She always looked so different in her work clothes, Joey thought. Today she wore a dark blue suit and deep red lipstick. Joey wasn’t sure what she did. Tel had said she was a PA, which meant she organized things for some big boss. Occasionally she worked late and then Tel did the cooking.

  ‘Got to go,’ she said. ‘Tel, did you pack your lunch yet? Joey, if you didn’t get time to do yours you’ll find bread in the usual place, and I think there’s some ham left in the fridge.’

  If I’d not had time, Joey thought. Like there had been opportunity – or anything to pack up anyway – but Maggie always tried to help out in ways that didn’t make him uncomfortable – which in one way made it worse; it highlighted just how bad things really were.

  ‘I should be home usual time. If I’m going to be late, I’ll text you. Carol said she wasn’t the only one sending her kids away,’ she added. ‘So there might be a few missing from your classes today. I’m not at all sure that’s a good thing to be doing. Friends need one another at a time like this.’

  She gave Tel a quick kiss and headed for the door.

  Steel returned to the Dog and Gun for a breakfast conference with Naomi and Alec before going on to the church hall to speak to his team. News from the hospital was mixed. Sarah had had a good night and the prognosis for her physical recovery was good but doctors were worried that she was shutting down emotionally. The police officer he’d left with Sarah had been relieved in the late evening and sent home, but she’d been back before Sarah awoke though even she had been unable to get a word out of the girl for most of the time.

  ‘I’m going back to see her later today,’ he said. ‘I want to take a couple of her friends in with me but I’m having a tough time getting that past the consultant at the moment. It might call for a few underhand tactics. I think I’ll just have to be sneaky.’

  ‘You’re too big to sneak anywhere,’ Naomi observed.

  ‘And you know that, how?’ He was intrigued.

  Naomi laughed. ‘Well, for starters, your voice comes from high up, like Alec’s does, but I’m guessing you’re taller than Alec. And you block out all the light when you come into a room. You create a very large, very solid shadow.’

  ‘You can see light and dark?’

  ‘Just a little. The light has to be very bright, but yes, there’s just a bit of light perception left.’

  ‘And I’m a big shadow. I shall have to remember that. You still up for our trip today?’

  ‘I am, yes. But I’m not quite sure what you think it will achieve.’

  ‘Maybe nothing,’ he admitted. ‘But you know Terry Baldwin, I don’t. You might have a better chance of pressing his buttons than me. I think it’s worth giving it a go.’

  Naomi nodded.

  ‘Can I say I’m not happy about this?’ Alec asked.

  ‘You can say it,’ his wife told him. ‘In fact I think you have, several times already.’

  ‘Just so everyone knows. And what can I do?’ he asked.

  It was Sophie Willis who replied. ‘I’ve sent for all the records from the Baldwin cases. They should be here sometime mid morning. Douggie’s said we can use the second guest room as an office. It’s secure and private, so you and I, if you agree, will be reprising the old case files.’

  Alec nodded. ‘From what I recall, it’s going to take more than two of us.’

  ‘Three of us,’ Naomi said. ‘I may not be able to read them but I can add detail. I lived and breathed Terry Baldwin for close on a year.’

  ‘Then it’s agreed,’ Steel said. ‘Naomi, I’m going to get the morning briefing done and then I’ll be back to pick you up. It’s a couple of hours’ drive so we’ll grab some lunch before we come back, should be here by mid afternoon. Sophie, anything comes up you can’t handle, DI Rubin is on standby – and when I say can’t handle I’m thinking media and politics rather than investigation, OK.’

  Sophie laughed. ‘Thanks, boss,’ she said. ‘I’ll be sure to send all media queries his way. He can do the midday statements.’

  ‘Oh, he’ll enjoy that,’ Steel said.

  Naomi smiled. The banter reminded her of her days in the force. She missed the camaraderie more than anything else; that sense of belonging was a hard thing to replace. She and Alec went up to their room so she could get ready to go with Steel.

  ‘Are you sure you’re OK with this?’

  ‘I’m sure. If you’d asked me a year ago if I was ready to face that man again I’d have told you no, but things have changed since then. I’ve changed. I’ll be fine, Alec.’

  He clasped her hand. And then kissed her gently. ‘I am so very proud of you,’ he said.

  SEVENTEEN

  ‘Whoohoo.’ Terry Baldwin, sitting across the table, waved a hand in front of Naomi’s face. ‘Oh, sorry. Can’t see me, can you? Couldn’t see me in court, could you? One thing that really made my day, that was, knowing you’d got yours.’

  Steel frowned, started to intervene, but Naomi interrupted him. ‘And you’re still locked up, Terry. Now that really does make my day.’

  The chair creaked as Terry Baldwin sat back and crossed his arms. Somehow, Steel thought, his body language and demeanour were those of a rather immature teenager, not a man who would not see thirty again.

  ‘You’ve heard about your wife and her family, I suppose.’

  ‘I’ve been informed. Can’t say I’m surprised. She pissed me off enough times, looks like she did it to someone else.’

  ‘Someone else? You sure you didn’t have a hand in this, Terry?’

  ‘Like you said. I’m in here. She’s out there – oh, but sorry, she’s not any more, is she?’

  ‘Her partner and her child were shot too, Terry. Though I don’t suppose you know anything about that either. Your daughter survived, though. Lucky, that.’

  ‘I wouldn’t know. I don’t care. That it? You got anything more to ask me?’

  ‘You might have known her husband. A man by the name of Victor Griffin.’

  ‘Never heard of him.’

  ‘You sure, Terry? Well, we’ve got a picture or two to show you.’ Steel laid out several photographs on the table top. They had been taken at
the crime scene. In them Lisanne and Victor Griffin were very obviously very dead.

  ‘Your ex.’ Steel slid the photograph across the table towards Terry.

  ‘Well, she certainly is now,’ he laughed. ‘Pity about the kid. My kid, I mean. Pity they missed, whoever it was.’

  ‘And Victor Griffin. Take a good look. See if you recognize him.’

  ‘Why should I?’

  Steel slid the picture across and placed it in front of Terry Baldwin.

  ‘Never seen him before. But he don’t look well.’

  ‘You sure, Terry? Take a second look.’

  But Terry Baldwin was in no mood to cooperate. He shoved the pictures back across the table and leaned his chair rearward, staring at the ceiling.

  He’s rattled, Naomi thought. Something got to him.

  They got little more out of Terry Baldwin after that, beyond a few mean comments about his ex wife and their child, but Naomi could not shake the sense that he was less sanguine about events than he’d have liked them to think.

  A few minutes later he demanded to be taken back to his cell and they let him go, Naomi certain that they would learn no more.

  They stopped off at the governor’s office before leaving. Terry had few visitors, they were told. But he regularly spoke to his elder brother by phone and received visits from a member of his legal team about once a month.

  ‘Why?’ Naomi asked. ‘Are there charges still pending? New charges?’

  The governor shook his head. ‘Nothing,’ he said. ‘But he has the right to legal advice as and when he requests it. We, on the other hand, have no right to deny him access.’

  ‘But you suspect that not all lawyers are equal,’ Steel said. ‘That some, shall we say, have less experience of the courtroom.’

  ‘I can suspect what I like but it changes nothing. They have been cleared to visit and that’s that, so far as the prison bureaucracy is concerned.’