“Thank you, constable. I appreciate your help,” Curtis said.
“I’m sickened at the way these women are being killed,” Constable Melvyn said. “They deserve justice the same as Humans do. Anyway, I don’t know how long I’ll be staying with the H-police. I don’t agree with some of their tactics. Guilty until proven innocent is a rubbish law.”
“You’re a good lad. Don’t let them crush you.”
Janux put her hand on his arm. “Thanks. You’ve got more heart than any of them.”
They drove in silence towards The Deer’s Antlers, both lost in their own thoughts.
“Why are we going to see Baxy?” Janux asked. Although Curtis had told her what happened at Eurwyn Nepase’s house, she still didn’t trust Baxy. “He could still be capable of murder.” She shivered at the flashback memory of him coming at her with his hunting knife. “After all, if it wasn’t for the storm that day, I might not be here now.”
“That’s one of the reasons I didn’t want to bring you along,” Curtis said. “But on the other hand you were quite right to point out that we still don’t know who the killer is, so potentially you three are all still in danger of being attacked by this unknown person.”
“Lodax is safe – she was going away today,” Janux said.
“Where did she go?” Curtis asked.
“To see her folks in Ireland, Eurwyn said. I can’t believe Eurwyn would volunteer to be her replacement with Baxy,” Janux said. “Why would any self-respecting woman sink so low?”
“She’s already admitted to him her real intentions – to kill him with his own knife after they made love. But things didn’t quite go that way and now the two of them are getting on rather well from the sound of it.”
“So now he’s a hero for rescuing the fair damsel in distress? Humph.” How ridiculous it was. Janux knew what Baxy was capable of.
“I’ll bet you he was planning on killing Eurwyn as well, until the other guy beat him to it,” Curtis said. “But somehow I don’t think Baxy has the makeup of a real killer. He’s trying to pretend he is, but he’s just following the orders of his master, Sly Onyx, who has some sort of hold over him and is incapable of doing it himself.”
“Sly Onyx has always been cruel and ruthless,” Janux said as Curtis pulled into a car park outside the hotel and switched off the engine.
“Maybe it’s just as well he’s out of action then.” Curtis turned and looked into Janux’s eyes. “I’m glad you’re with me,” he said and they both got out of the car and headed for the front door of the pub. “I wasn’t thinking straight when I said I was going out without you.”
The Deer’s Antlers was more crowded than Janux had ever seen it. Jack and Ixola were there – gazing adoringly at each other. Baxy and Eurwyn sat near the bar. On closer inspection, Janux thought she recognised Spryz Frurster and Vandy Legox, sitting in the far corner and in deep discussion of some sort.
Curtis went straight over and sat down next to Baxy and Eurwyn. He was smiling and they were smiling back. Janux hung back. She felt sickened by the nearness of Baxy Hurzy and his lustful eyes. She didn’t care if he had rescued Eurwyn; she simply didn’t trust him.
“Come on, Janux,” Curtis said. “Sit down and I’ll order us something to drink. What will you have?”
Janux reluctantly joined them and sat next to Eurwyn, with Curtis on the other side. She noticed how Baxy regarded her and from then on she averted her eyes from his direction.
When Curtis got up to order their drinks, Baxy spoke. “I don’t hate you, Janux Lennan. I don’t hate any of youse women. But my boss tells me what to do every day and I follow his orders. Unfortunately I have to follow him, even though at times I hate him more than I ever realised before.”
Baxy feasted his eyes on Eurwyn then and Janux could see he was smitten with her. Eurwyn did the same to Baxy and it was obvious she was conveying feelings of total rapture.
“He saved my life today, Janux,” Eurwyn said. “I’ll never forget how close I was to being pinned to the floor by the biggest knife I’ve ever seen – besides Baxy’s.”
“I love you, babe.” Baxy took Eurwyn’s hand and held it for a moment as he gazed into her tawny eyes.
Janux knew that it was probably inevitable they’d fallen for each other so suddenly. It was part of their intrinsic makeup.
Curtis came back with two large glasses of neat whisky. “Here, Janux, get some of this down your throat.” He lifted his own glass and took a large swallow. “There’s someone else coming in soon,” he said, putting his glass down on the table and glancing towards the door. “I’m hoping he’ll have something to tell me.”
Harry the barman saw Curtis’s signal and brought him another glass of whisky. “Here, mate, have this one on thuh house.”
As Harry went back to the other side of the bar, the pub doors opened and Uxxl Aogan entered. His face was thin and wasted looking and his whole physique appeared skeleton-like. When he saw Curtis he tried to smile, but his face seemed incapable of doing so, causing him to look corpselike instead.
Curtis got up and went to greet him taking his whisky with him. “Come and sit over here where it’s private.” He led Uxxl to an empty table away from everyone else.
Uxxl almost fell into the chair. “I wanted to tell you in person what she told me just before she was killed,” he said to Curtis.
“Can I get you something to drink, brother?” he asked him.
“I can only drink water,” Uxxl replied, “until my body is healed from the sacred sickness.”
Curtis went to the bar and brought him back a glass of water. Uxxl lifted it with a shaky hand and drank a few mouthfuls. He stared intensely at Curtis. “I kept going over and over Nayxana’s last message to me. Does the name Claude mean anything to you? Someone she was at school with.”
After taking another large swallow of whisky, Curtis tried to focus on what Uxxl had said while at the same time silently cursing him for not telling them sooner.
“Nayxana was trying to tell me who her murderer was, or maybe one of her murderers.”
Curtis tried to picture the scene on the day Nayxana died. The van driver had someone to help him - a woman. Then Curtis realised with a sense of shock that the woman Nayxana had remembered from school days had to have been Claudette.
Spryz and Vandy were still huddled over their drinks, talking earnestly. Curtis had deliberately sat facing their way so he could watch them. Vandy got up and began walking over to the bar with two empty glasses in one hand. Yes, he did have large if not extra large, hands. He also had a pronounced limp.
“What about that man walking to the bar?” Curtis said to Uxxl. “Do you recognise him?”
Uxxl studied Vandy, who was now talking to Harry. “No,” he said.
Vandy and Harry were both laughing at something they must have found amusing. Curtis felt his blood start to chill as if someone had just poured ice into one of his veins. He thought of the limp, the dark, greasy hair, the facial stubble. Vandy Legox displayed all these traits. Why couldn’t Curtis go right over there now and arrest him on behalf of the Ryxin Justice Department? This time it was murder, perhaps multiple murders.
Curtis resorted to his half-full glass of whisky, pain and angst eating away at his insides as he watched Vandy sit down again and take a swig of his drink. He even touched glasses with Spryz Frurster, his mate from way back. What were they celebrating? Curtis felt paralysed with uncertainty. He knew he needed more evidence.
Later that night, with Janux nestled in beside him in the gigantic bed, Curtis thought of Luxinda again. Her large belly holding their child – the one they had made together when she was number 17.
Janux, the one he hoped would always be there was beside him now, sleeping peacefully, and he was lying next to her wondering about his unborn child. But did Luxinda also carry a love for him? He didn’t know that, he only hoped she did.
Perhaps he too had been her drug.
“We’re going to see Mrs B
rown today,” he said during their breakfast of toast and marmalade at the kitchen table. “I want to find out who Oonagh Brown was going out with before she married Sam Bleyis.”
Janux was tired, having been shaken awake early by Curtis. They hadn’t arrived home until after midnight, after staying until Spryz Frurster and Vandy Legox left. Curtis told her he wanted to keep an eye on them the whole time they were there.
“Where does she live?” Janux asked.
“I’ve done some digging and found out she’s divorced from her husband and is living with one of her married sons at Seal Bay.”
Janux had always known there was no welfare for Ryxins who couldn’t work. If these people didn’t have children who could care for them they often ended up living in poor quality boarding houses that provided meagre food. These places were called Houses for the Destitute Alien Elderly and received no financial aid from the H-government. Those who were unfortunate enough to end up in one of these homes usually spent their days begging in the streets in order to survive as they were fed only leftover food donated by restaurants, cafes and bakeries. Because of their paucity of care, elderly aliens often became sick and frail, and died a lot younger than their Human counterparts. These fortunate Humans were showered with the full amount of care the H-government could offer them. Not only were they supplied with money, which was paid into their bank accounts every week, but they could also access carers whenever they needed them to help with housework, shopping or running errands, or simply keep the elderly Humans from being lonely in their old age.
At 9 a.m. Janux and Curtis were on their way. After stopping outside a large, blue and green weatherboard home, Curtis told Janux to stay in the car. He walked up the concrete path and knocked loudly on the door. Janux soon saw a small, bent-over woman in the doorway talking to Curtis. He turned and signalled for Janux to join them.
“I’m kept busy all day,” Mrs Brown told them as she bustled around, filling the electric kettle and getting out cups for their morning tea. “My son and his wife have no children and they told me I must do the cooking and cleaning for them to help pay for my keep. They said if a baby were to come along I’d have to go to one of the houses for the destitute alien elderly - probably on the mainland. The ones on Muritai Island are too small and nearly always full to overflowing. Anyway, enough about me. You want to know about Oonagh, don’t you?”
“Yes,” Curtis said in a gentle voice. “We’re trying to find her killer, you see. Did she have a boyfriend before she married Sam Bleyis?”
“Of course she did. Oonagh was an attractive girl. She’d been going out with one of her own kind for years – ever since school really. But she knew nothing would come of it. She wanted children, you see, and she couldn’t marry Vandemon. The law wouldn’t allow him to father her children.”
“Vandemon, you say - a Ryxin like herself?”
Mrs Brown paused in pouring the tea. “Yes, Vandemon loved Oonagh very much. He didn’t want to break up with her. Even after Oonagh insisted he stay away, he used to come round to the house just to talk to her. I was very fond of Vandemon. He was heartbroken when she married Sam. I told him he could come round and talk to me any time he wanted.”
“And did he do that? Come round and talk to you?” Curtis asked her.
“Yes, he did, until he had his accident. After that I didn’t see him much - poor boy.”
“What happened?”
“He was run over while crossing the road. Not far from where Oonagh lived with Sam. I don’t know how it happened but one of his legs was crushed. He’s got a bad limp now, has Vandy. He told me they couldn’t repair it properly and it gives him pain. He’s never stopped loving Oonagh, you know, never - such a lovely boy.”
CHAPTER 28
Janux hunched over her laptop, tapping out another report for Curtis. This one had to be finished well before the evening analysis session.
She hated these sessions because by then she was tired but Curtis never let her off the hook. He reckoned this was the only way she could hope to become a fully fledged Assistant PI. Also it stopped her relying totally on him to find the answers. She had to think and think fast.
“I’ve read your report,” Curtis said later. “It is very thorough and well presented. Well done.”
“Thank you,” Janux replied, wishing she could have a whisky.
He caught her looking over towards where the drinks were kept. “So you’re implying in your report that Vandy Legox is the killer?” he said.
“I think he definitely has something to do with the killings,” she answered.
“All three of them?”
Janux hesitated. “Maybe he killed Oonagh Bleyis because she’d left him for Sam – a Human – and was pregnant with his child. Vandy was jealous and couldn’t stand to see her with this guy.”
“That’s a good motive,” Curtis said. “What about the other two women?”
“I reckon he kidnapped Nayxana in the fishmonger’s van and took her back to her home and killed her there, hoping to frame the husband. It worked. Simple.” Janux longed to drink some whisky and then go to bed and sleep.
“It sounds like you’re convinced enough to go and arrest Vandy? We can do that, you know.”
“I’m not a hundred percent convinced yet,” she answered.
“Then what action are you going to take now, Trainee Assistant? How are you going to get more evidence?”
Janux had thought of all this beforehand when she was typing up the report, knowing she wouldn’t be allowed to rest and have a drink until she’d come up with some action plan.
“I think we should try and break into Spryz Frurster’s place on Cliffside Drive and find out if they’ve left anything lying around. The Controller is probably staying there too as well as Vandy, so we’ll have to watch the house and make sure they’re all out first.”
“Who’s going to go into the house, Janux?”
“We are.”
“Let’s have a drink, Janux. I like your plan.”
“Wait a minute. Maybe you have one or two ideas yourself?” she asked him.
“Not right now, Janux. I’m focussing mainly on your training so that you can learn how to solve these tricky problems for yourself. I know you’re finding it tough but you’re going to be a great PI one day.”
“Okay, but right now I need a nightcap.”
Curtis didn’t object and she noticed he was looking at her hungrily. She poured them both a glass of neat, golden whisky. Perhaps they’d make love tonight.
By nine the next morning Curtis and Janux were on their way to Cliffside Drive. Curtis parked his car in the next street and they walked towards an empty section just down the road from No. 9 that had a privet hedge facing the road. It was behind this that they both hid to watch the comings and goings at 9B. The hedge also blocked the view from the next-door properties so no one could see them.
Janux grabbed her binoculars and found enough space through the leaves to spot the driveway. Cliffside Drive wasn’t busy and Janux was soon bored, and also tired at having to get up early once again. She secretly hoped Curtis wouldn’t ask her to write up another report. She was fed up and convinced she was the one doing all the work - and all the thinking, come to that. After an hour she put down the binoculars. It must be time for some tea from the thermos she had prepared.
Curtis had been silent all this time, and appeared to be studying a small notebook he carried everywhere with him. He also did some writing every now and then.
“Here, I’ve poured you some tea,” she said, passing him one of the tin mugs she’d thrown into her pack.
“Thanks.” He reached out his hand, barely looking at her. “Have you seen anything yet, Trainee Assistant?”
Janux was very aware that while they were on the job he always referred to her in this way, but once they were not working he called her Janux. It was like he saw her as two different people. Last night when they kissed he’d called her darling. In fact his words had been be
autiful darling. She was like putty in his hands at those times. But when they were working together she found it hard to return to her trainee status.
“Nothing yet, boss. No one’s either arrived or left the property. But the car they drove away in last time is still there.”
“What do you suggest we do, Trainee Assistant?” He put the notebook into his jacket pocket and took a sip of his tea.
“Why do I have to keep thinking of ideas?” She sat down with her own mug and took a slurp.
“Because as I said last night you’re in training, but don’t worry, I’m also thinking about our next move.”
Just then they heard the sound of a car entering the street. Janux grabbed the binoculars and took up her position again. “It’s a taxi,” she whispered. “The Controller’s getting into it.”
“Good, that’s one out of the way. He’s probably going to the ferry terminal to take a trip to Xlesky Street. Ixola told us he likes the women.”
Curtis remembered how he’d fallen in love with Luxinda at the same address. This brought anxious thoughts about the birth of their baby. Of course the RBP authorities didn’t give ownership rights to either parent, but he had enough Human blood in him to have fatherly feelings towards his own flesh and blood.
“He’s nothing but a creep, that one,” she said, watching as the taxi drove back up the street and disappeared out of sight, “besides being a murderer.”
Within a few minutes, Spryz Frurster and Vandy Legox both came out of the house and climbed into their car and sped away.
“Must be going down to the fish shop,” Curtis said. “Why are they opening so late, I wonder.”
Nayxana Alien Woman Page 17
