Heartless Reaction

by Dawn Marsanne

The two detectives looked at each other.

  ‘Have you contacted him recently?’

  ‘No, he’s not answering his phone.’

  ‘Mr Roberts, we can inform you that Vincent Hughes was found murdered the other day.’

  Wayne gasped. His mouth fell open.

  ‘So, perhaps you better tell us all you know, what do you think?’

  Wayne put his head in his hands. ‘I don’t feel well.’

  ‘Perhaps we’ll take a break. I’ll arrange for a cup of tea and you can have a chat with your solicitor. When we come back, I hope you’ll have something interesting to tell us.’

  ‘Interview terminated at 3.54 p.m.,’ said Andy Walters and the two detectives left the room.

  **

  Andy Walters gave the necessary introduction. ‘Interview resumes, for the tape, present are DS Andy Walters, DI Chris Mills, Mr Wayne Roberts and Mr James Bagshaw. The time is 4.30 p.m. on Friday 1st October.’

  ‘Mr Roberts, I understand you have some information for us?’ said Andy opening the interview.

  ‘I do. But I want protection, otherwise, I won’t testify.’

  ‘Well, that depends on what you tell us,’ replied Andy.

  ‘I don’t feel safe living in Persford any longer. I’ll need to go to a safe house. I want to make a fresh start.’

  ‘So you’ve had a vision, have you? A flash of light and your future was laid out before you?’ Andy was becoming impatient. Wayne was making himself out to be some sort of paragon of virtue.

  ‘There’s no need for sarcasm, my client has offered to be helpful,’ said the solicitor sternly. ‘He is entitled to be treated with respect.’

  ‘If you begin, we can make a decision based on the information,’ said Inspector Mills, tactfully.

  ‘Look, Vincent Hughes did have an arrangement to buy the stuff off Sean Bailey. Also, it wasn’t Sean’s gear he was a sort of agent.’

  ‘Go on,’ said Andy. He was beginning to get excited.

  ‘So, how much cocaine?’ asked Chris Mills.

  ‘About half a kilo.’

  ‘So, what, about forty, fifty grand value?’

  ‘Something like that.’

  ‘So where had this supply come from?’

  ‘No idea.’

  ‘OK, let’s carry on. So Sean Bailey thought he was meeting Vincent Hughes but he’d secretly sold out to the Kilburn Boys. Correct?’

  ‘That’s right.’

  ‘What about Jason Dawes who was with Sean Bailey? Why was he there?’

  ‘I don’t know any Jason Dawes, it was Jed who Sean took with him.’

  ‘Jed? J-E-D?’ spelled out Andy Walters. Jed, an acronym for Jason Edward Dawes he realised. ‘So, Jed could be a nickname for Jason Edward Dawes, the first letters of his three names.’

  They could see Wayne considering what had been proposed.

  ‘Yeah, assume so,’ he shrugged.

  ‘So, we assume Jed is Jason Dawes, what else can you tell us?’

  ‘Jed works for Ron Radford, has for ages.’

  ‘So, was the gear Ron Radford’s.’

  ‘Yes, Sean was Ron’s agent. He was selling it on behalf of him.’

  ‘How often has he done this before?’

  ‘I don’t know. A few times I think. But Vincent said something about Radford pulling out of the drug business. Something about it being the final time.’

  Andy punched the table which made everyone jump. His heart was racing and his armpits soaked in sweat due to the excitement. He had the information he wanted. All the years of being on the force in Persford and never being any nearer to nailing Radford and now the moment had arrived. He suddenly felt light-headed. Finally receiving the information he wanted after all these years was too much for him. He closed his eyes for a few moments before continuing.

  ‘So, you’ll testify?’

  ‘I will. But only if I get witness protection.’

  ‘Proof? We need proof. It’s your word against his at the moment.’

  ‘My client has been most helpful. He has told you what he knows,’ said James Bagshaw.

  ‘And we appreciate it, make no mistake,’ said Chris Mills. ‘Anything you can tell us is most helpful, please continue.’

  ‘Vincent got really pally with Jed at one time. Helped him out on some jobs, if you know what I mean.’

  ‘What sort of jobs?’ asked Andy.

  ‘Just jobs.’

  ‘OK, we’ll come back to that later, carry on,’ said Andy Walters.

  ‘Well, Jed became worried that Radford might have him eliminated if he caused trouble.’

  ‘What sort of trouble?’

  ‘Got too big for his boots, that sort of thing.’

  ‘Try to be specific,’ said Chris Mills.

  ‘I mean, started to question what he was asked to do. Demanding more payment for his services, that sort of thing. You’ve no idea what that bloke is like.’

  ‘Which bloke, please be specific,’ said Chris Mills.

  ‘Radford. He lives in that manor house, controlling everything but recently he’s not been feeling so well. It’s made him a bit careless, also he’s been buying up all these other businesses, so he’s had a lot on his mind.’

  ‘So, what did Jed do?’

  ‘He made a recording on his mobile when they met a while ago. On it, Radford tells him to sell the gear. Snow is mentioned. Along with an amount. He also tells him to kill Sean Bailey after the deal was done.’

  ‘But he didn’t need to because someone did the job for him?’ added Andy. He exchanged a glance with his colleague. The interview was turning out to be better than they could ever have imagined.

  ‘So Radford trusts Jed then?’

  ‘Oh, yes, they’ve been connected for ages. He’s his sort of fixer.’

  ‘Fixer? You mean hit-man?’

  Wayne nodded.

  ‘For the benefit of the tape, Mr Roberts has just affirmed that Jason Edward Dawes is Ron Radford’s hit man,’ said Inspector Mills.

  ‘How do you know about this tape?’ continued Andy.

  ‘Vincent told me as he was also scared. There had been rumours for years about Radford and Jed. He’s evil. Cold and calculating. I made a copy of the recording. People think I’m just small time so they ignore me.’

  ‘Where is this recording?’ asked Andy.

  ‘On my phone which you confiscated when you arrested me.’

  The detectives smiled.

  ‘Wayne, you’ve been very helpful. We need to follow up on this information. I’ll get another officer to take a full statement from you,’ said Chris Mills.

  ‘Can you ask that lady detective, Sergeant Patel? I like her. She’s nice.’

  ‘Look, you aren’t in the position to dictate terms but on this occasion, we’ll see what we can do.’

  Wayne looked pleased. ‘What about taking me to a safe house? I’ll need to collect my stuff. I don’t have much.’

  ‘All in good time. It will take some time to organise. I take it you are happy to stay here until we can contact the appropriate agencies?’

  Wayne whispered to his legal counsel and then nodded.

  ‘Sure, but I’m getting rather hungry.’

  ‘We’ll see what we can do.’

  ‘And a beer would be nice.’

  ‘Don’t push it,’ said Chris Mills, otherwise we might turf you out on the streets.

  ‘For the tape, Chris Mills and Andy Walters are leaving the interview. The time is 5.03 p.m.,’ said Andy Walters.

  They closed the door and walked along the corridor. Andy felt like skipping and shouting.

  ‘I’m going to find Mike. We need to retrieve the recording. Then we need to collate all the information and make sure we don’t fuck up. The Super won’t be able to ignore this. I’m going to get all the facts and lay them before him.’

  ‘Well, good luck. My advice would be to get the Super’s agreement. Don’t do anything without his say so,’ said Chris Mills.

  ‘O
K, it’s all coming together, finally. There might be loads of cases we can revisit.’

  ‘Don’t get carried away. Just bear in mind that Jason Dawes might be out of the country by now,’ counselled the senior officer.

  ‘OK, but you’ve got to appreciate that I’ve been working towards this for ages. I never thought I’d say this but Radford is finally within my grasp.’

  Chapter 56

  Maureen didn’t return to Brensford Manor until after 5 p.m. as the shops had been busy and an accident on the road out of town had delayed her. She opened the front door and put the bags of food inside before collecting her handbag and jacket from the car. Upon hearing her arrival, Ron emerged from the lounge and went to pick up the shopping.

  ‘Hi, darling, good day? God, these are heavy!’

  ‘Yes, busy this morning but I had a good catch up with Sheila.’

  ‘Oh, that’s nice. Where did you go?’

  ‘Cafe Zero, we sat on the terrace, it was lovely in the sunshine. What did you have for lunch?’

  ‘Oh, just a cheese sandwich. I wasn’t hungry. And my pills, before you ask!’

  Maureen kissed him on the cheek. ‘Did you have a nap?’

  ‘I did indeed. I could get used to that. I feel a bit better although my head’s still bad. Do you think I should take some painkillers?’

  ‘Why not. Sit down and I’ll bring them to you.’

  ‘OK, I’ll go into the lounge.’

  She saw Ron rubbing his chest as he wandered off. The effort of carrying the shopping bags had been too much for him. No doubt he would be using his spray soon.

  ‘Here you are,’ she said. Giving him the pills and a small glass of white wine.

  ‘Oh, very nice. It might help me relax a bit. I think I’ve been a bit tense with everything happening at the moment. Sidney phoned by the way. He’s sending through the paperwork for the loan. It’s all in hand.’

  ‘OK, we are sure about this are we?’

  Ron sighed, ‘Maureen, I thought we’d discussed this to death. Sometimes you just have to go with your gut instinct. Seize an opportunity.’

  ‘I know, it’s just such a huge outlay, I’m more cautious than you.’

  ‘I know and it’s a good quality to have. I’m very grateful to you, I hope you realise that. We couldn’t really afford to borrow the full amount, well we could at a pinch but it’s better this way.’

  ‘Yes, I understand that,’ said Maureen. Didn’t she just. It was much better for Ron that he was taking a considerable chunk of the money from her. At least he’d acknowledged that fact, she was surprised.

  ‘So, what’s for dinner?’

  ‘Steak Diane. We’ve not had it for ages. A special treat.’

  ‘Really. Gosh, I’ve not had red meat for a while.’

  ‘And for dessert, profiteroles!’

  ‘Goodness, that’s lovely. You could open a restaurant.’

  ‘I don’t think so. I bought the profiteroles and the vegetables are prepared. I’ve been out all day.’

  ‘It will still be lovely I’m sure.’

  ‘Half an hour, then we can eat.’

  ‘Shit, I forgot my other pills. God, I’m like a walking pharmacy.’

  ‘I’ll get them. No more wine though until we eat. I’ll bring you some water.’

  **

  Jed was still lodging with Brandon and with the money from Salisbury Street he had enough to tide him over for a couple of weeks. There was still the final handover of money to Radford and then their relationship would be at an end. The car he’d been using for the past few weeks was now abandoned on the Lensfield estate waiting to be returned to its rightful owner, or not.

  Vincent’s car had proved a treasure trove. The drugs Jed had removed from the boot had now been sold on to an old contact out of the area. Several calls had come through on Vincent’s phone, so Jed now had the number of the Kilburn Boys and was planning a rendezvous in the near future.

  He was also waiting for a call about a job up in London. Since deciding to break free from Radford, he’d been in touch with some old contacts. Jed’s services would always be in demand by certain sections of society and he was confident it wouldn’t be long before he was back in circulation.

  **

  ‘That was an amazing meal,’ said Ron. ‘Thank you.’

  ‘Glad you liked it. More wine?’

  ‘Why not. Shall we take it into the lounge?’

  ‘You go through, I’ll just clear this up. Are you OK, Ron? You look a bit flushed?’

  ‘It’s probably the wine. I’ll watch the news until you come through.’

  Maureen cleared away the plates and dishes. She needed some time to herself just to steady her nerves and her resolve. Since this morning she had been going over and over the things she planned to say to Ron. The moment had now arrived when she had to show Ron what she was made of. During their short time together, Ron had given the impression that he thought he had all the answers and up until now had been unchallenged. Tonight he was going to realise that his third wife was a match for him.

  **

  Wayne Roberts had been moved out of police custody and was now in a safe house under the care of the UK Protected Persons Service, the body which organised protection for key witnesses or victims of crime who were deemed to be at risk of further attacks or retribution.

  He had been moved up to London and was in a large block where he had his own en-suite room, more comfortably furnished than any of his previous accommodation. The communal areas were well-equipped and he was provided with three meals a day. Wayne felt it was like being on holiday, not that he’d had many holidays and as a child, he’d been lucky to go camping for a few days. However, his recent meeting with his enthusiastic caseworker had depressed him somewhat as his plans for the future appeared to be taking shape. They were planning to move Wayne to a halfway house as it was called, where he would receive help to find a job whilst assuming a new identity. Wayne intended to do all he could to postpone that eventuality and for the time being, he was making the most of his luxury environment.

  ‘Wayne, fancy a game of pool?’ said one of his fellow residents.

  ‘OK, Leroy, why not?’ he replied.

  They wandered off to the games room. After that, they could enjoy the huge TV with satellite channels or play some video games. Finally, for Wayne, life was good. He could sleep soundly in his bed each night and had come to realise he didn’t miss Persford one little bit.

  Chapter 57

  Ron switched off the TV as Maureen came into the lounge. She sat down opposite him.

  ‘Ron, we need to chat.’

  ‘OK, fine, what about? You look serious.’

  ‘Well, it is a bit serious and I don’t want any distractions. Give me your mobiles. I’m going to put our phones in the kitchen.’

  ‘They’re on silent, there’s no need.’

  ‘Oh, yes there is. You are like a teenager. Always checking to see whether you’ve had any messages and glancing each time the screen lights up. It’s annoying.’

  ‘OK, you win. I just like to keep on top of things but it’s Friday evening so there shouldn’t be much. Here you are.’

  ‘Thank you, it won’t be for long. There’s no need to panic!’

  Maureen took the phones and took them out of the room. She heard Ron belching. Clearly, the food had been a bit heavy for him.

  ‘Are you OK?’

  ‘Just a touch of indigestion, that’s all.’

  ‘Do you need something? ‘

  ‘No, it should pass. So, what’s the matter, I’m getting worried?’

  ‘Ron, what I have to say, isn’t easy, please believe me,’ she paused. Ron was staring at her, his face and demeanour had changed. She thought she noticed a vein in his temple starting to throb. He rubbed his forehead which was now shining with a fine sheen of sweat. He leaned forward in his seat and placed his arms on his knees.

  ‘Go on, spit it out.’

  ‘I’ve changed my
mind. About the money.’

  The shock was apparent on Ron’s face. Maureen’s non-compliance was clearly not a scenario he had imagined. She remained calm, looking at him directly.

  ‘What do you mean? We agreed, didn’t we? Sidney has gone ahead based on the numbers we discussed. God, what’s caused this?’

  ‘Because I feel railroaded into it. I think it’s too risky.’

  ‘Too risky? It’s a bit late to tell me that. I’ve told Brett Chandler. I’m going to look a complete idiot! I don’t like to look as though I can’t afford something.’

  Ron stood up and started pacing around.

  ‘I know you must feel disappointed but I have to tell you. I’m entitled to tell you, I’m your wife.’

  ‘Disappointed! Ha! That’s an understatement. We had a deal! You’ve reneged on it. So the nice meal was to butter me up so you could drop this bombshell!’

  ‘Please stop shouting! We should be able to discuss things without getting annoyed.’

  ‘Oh, really. Well, it’s a bit difficult not to get annoyed when someone lets you down like this.’ Ron was sweating profusely now and pacing around the lounge.

  ‘Sit down, you’ll make yourself ill,’ said Maureen, raising her voice but managing to refrain from shouting.

  ‘Ill? I am fucking ill, I’ve spent the last few weeks going backwards and forwards to hospital appointments. Now I’m angry as well as ill!’

  He sat down, with his eyes closed and his head in his hands, fuming silently and trying to calm himself.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ said Maureen.

  ‘Sorry, are you? Really?’ He sat shaking his head, unable to believe what Maureen was saying. ‘So this is the way you repay me, is it? For sharing all this with you? Giving you a lifestyle you could only dream of? I didn’t hear you complaining when I took you out and wined and dined you and told you to buy anything you wanted. That was OK, wasn’t it?’

  ‘I’m not exactly poor, I’ve got money of my own. Don’t treat me like I’m Cinderella!’

  ‘Ha, yes, you’ve got money of your own because you inherited it from Hubert, didn’t you. Pathetic, controlling Hubert. Have you forgotten that I rescued you from him?’ spat Ron.

  ‘You rescued me, did you? How?’