Taunting the Dead (DS Allie Shenton)

by Sherratt, Mel

  ‘I couldn’t use it.’ Shaun flopped down on the sofa as he prepared to lie for his life. He tried not to notice Phil’s facial expressions becoming darker by the second. ‘I knew her too well to see her dying. If I stabbed her, I might miss and not kill her. If I didn’t get the right place, I – I might have bottled it and rung for an ambulance. Or run away while she was still alive.’

  ‘So you beat her head to a pulp?’ Phil’s fist curled into a ball.

  ‘It was quick and easy,’ Shaun guessed. ‘And it was over for her in no time. Better that way.’

  ‘What did you hit her with?’

  ‘What?’

  ‘What did you hit her with?’

  ‘Does it matter?’ Shaun stalled for time.

  ‘Of course it fucking MATTERS!’

  The atmosphere in the room changed to arctic cold.

  ‘I used a brick.’

  ‘A brick?’ Phil sounded amazed.

  ‘Yeah, it was easier for me to just hit her and hit her.’ Shaun had seen this on a recent episode of Silent Witness. The girl had run from the murderer and fallen to her knees, and he’d battered her a few times with half a house brick. At the time, Shaun had to look away at the sheer brutality caused by such an inanimate object. Now it served its purpose as a memory rather than a clip from a television program.

  ‘And what did you do with this brick? You didn’t lob it, I hope?’

  Shaun felt queasy as he imagined what the brick would be covered in. Imagining what would be on his hands, he wrung them hastily as if to rid himself of it. Finally, he gained his composure enough to continue.

  ‘I chucked it in the canal,’ he lied. ‘About two miles from the pub. Along with the knife you gave me.’

  Phil nodded. ‘But what happened to the cleanup crew?’

  ‘Hell, I don’t know. I rang but no one answered. I was shitting it in case someone came out and saw me.’ Shaun glanced up and back down quickly. ‘I kept trying the number for ages, but still no one answered so I legged it. I didn’t have your number and I didn’t want to hang around with – with. I – I didn’t know what to do.’

  Phil stepped nearer, his finger in Shaun’s face. ‘You should have come to see me, you stupid PRICK! Not leave her there for anyone to find. I would have sorted it!’

  ‘I didn’t know that!’ Shaun cried. ‘I’ve never done this kind of thing before. I panicked.’

  Phil took a deep breath to calm himself down. He wanted to kill Shaun so much right now. He had to get out of there before he did something he’d regret.

  ‘Your debt is cleared – for now,’ he told him, shoving his hands deep into his coat pockets to stop them lashing out. ‘But if I hear from Shane or Mitch that you didn’t ring them, then you’re fucking dead.’

  The more time Shaun and Phil spent upstairs the more Carole worked herself up into a frenzy, wondering what they were meeting about this time. Shaun was going on the other day about the bar bill that had come in and who they were going to fail to pay while they cleared that debt instead. He must have borrowed more money. She’d kill him once she got her hands on him.

  By the time she saw Phil come back downstairs ten minutes later, Carole was livid and no amount of reasoning by Shaun was going to make things better. She rushed upstairs but Shaun was already halfway down. She pushed him back up and into the living room again.

  ‘You’ve sold us out, haven’t you?’ she hissed, prodding him in the chest sharply.

  ‘No, I haven’t,’ Shaun replied.

  ‘So what was all the secrecy? And why wasn’t I included in the meeting this time?’

  ‘Relax,’ Shaun cajoled. ‘You have enough to worry about with Steph at the moment. Let’s just say that I’ve sorted things for now.’

  ‘But how?’ Carole didn’t understand. ‘How can you pay off twenty grand just like that?’

  ‘I haven’t. Phil wiped it out for me.’

  ‘Phil Kennedy wiped out our debt?’ She laughed. ‘You don’t expect me to fall for that, do you? Phil’s a loan shark. He wouldn’t let you off unless you had something on –’ She stopped suddenly, her hands starting to shake as a ripple of fear ran through her. ‘You don’t have anything on him, do you? He wasn’t involved with Steph’s murder?’

  ‘No! I don’t know why he did it,’ he continued. ‘I suppose he felt sorry for us and let me off with a warning.’

  ‘A warning?’ She frowned. ‘What kind of warning?’

  ‘Nothing sinister, if that’s what you mean.’

  ‘This is Phil Kennedy we’re talking about. He wouldn’t let you off paying back twenty grand.’ She shook her head. ‘He wouldn’t.’

  ‘He would and he did.’ Shaun took both her hands in his own. ‘Look, I don’t see what the big deal is. We’re debt free again. Don’t you think we should be celebrating instead of falling out?’

  ‘No.’ Carole snatched her hands away and walked over to the window. She looked down onto the street below, watching people walking by as if they hadn’t a care in the world. She kept her back to him as she tried to figure out what the heck was going on. No matter how many times Shaun would try to convince her otherwise, Phil Kennedy would never drop twenty grand as a favour.

  ‘It’s because of Steph,’ she said without turning back to face him. ‘Isn’t it?’

  ‘No!’ Shaun walked over and stood by her side. ‘It hasn’t got anything to do with her. Apart from that he feels sorry for what happened. He feels slightly responsible for her death.’

  ‘Oh?’ Carole turned to face him again.

  ‘Look, don’t say anything but he was in The Potter’s Wheel the night she died,’ Shaun chanced a lie. ‘He said he saw you two and –’

  ‘I never saw him,’ Carole lied too, knowing full well that he’d been standing at the bar before she’d left.

  ‘It was late on. He called in on his way home. Said he saw Steph but he didn’t –’

  ‘Did he see me?’ It was Carole’s turn to look guilty.

  ‘I don’t know. He told me about Steph as he felt bad about things. He said if he’d offered her a lift home, then maybe none of this would have happened. It has knocked him about, Carole. So he thought he’d help us out.’

  Carole stood in silence, staring at her husband. That was a pathetic excuse. She knew he was lying. She just hadn’t worked out why yet.

  Phil Kennedy knew that Shaun was lying too. He hadn’t worked out why yet, either. Collar drawn up against the sleet that had started an hour ago, he marched down to where he’d parked his car off Broad Street.

  It had taken all his strength not to jump the few strides across the room and ram his fist into Shaun’s face. Already, he could imagine returning with a hammer and using it to bash the brains out of him. Shaun must think he was stupid. He’d checked with Shane and Mitch before he’d visited The Orange Grove. They hadn’t received a phone call and he knew they wouldn’t back down on a job. Unless they were out to set him up too, which was quite feasible if they were in this with Terry.

  And what the hell had happened to the knife in his outhouse? Steve’s idea to hide it at The Gables would have been fine if it hadn’t gone missing. And if it turned up, Steve couldn’t look out for Phil while he was in prison. He should have got rid of it and kept his mouth shut.

  Phil began to panic. It was all sounding quite dangerous now. He had to get to the bottom of this business with Shaun and quick. He needed to figure out exactly who he was covering up for, before it cost him in more ways than one.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  Lee had rehearsed what he was going to say before going to see Shaun Morrison that evening. Yet still, he was as nervous as hell. This was one of the biggest challenges of his life and he wasn’t sure he could pull off a mature enough attitude.

  For starters, he’d never tried blackmail before. In his eighteen years, he’d tried almost everything else. At twelve, he’d been caught nicking at the local supermarket on numerous occasions and got away with cautions. At thirte
en, he’d been caught doing his first TWOC and cautioned again. At fourteen, he’d attacked another lad and ended up in juvie for six weeks. At fifteen, he’d gone down for three months for burglary. At sixteen, he’d been wiser and cottoned onto himself. He’d taken time to watch his dad and his uncle Steve and learn his trade. And despite not being as hard as he’d liked, at eighteen, he wasn’t about to go back inside for something he’d done but hadn’t yet got away with.

  Right now, he was hiding in the back alleyway behind The Orange Grove. He’d thought he’d wait until Shaun came outside and then collar him but his plan hadn’t included the rain lashing down. Not knowing the routine of the restaurant, he’d hid behind the stinking bins for over three hours. Soaked through and pissed off, eventually he heard the back door open. Some woman came running out with a load of black bags. Lee ducked out of sight as she threw them into the bins and then rushed back in out of the rain.

  Another twenty minutes and he’d had enough. Cursing himself for wasting time, he squelched around to the front, opened the door and stood dripping on the doorstep.

  Shaun was alone behind the bar, stocking up the shelves ready for the evening session, when he looked up to see him. His face dropped as he recognised Lee immediately. He hadn’t seen him in a while. What did he want? He went over to investigate.

  ‘Yeah?’ he spoke sharply.

  ‘We need to talk.’ Lee’s voice came out hoarse after he’d been quiet for so long. He coughed to clear his throat. ‘About Steph Ryder.’

  ‘Oh?’ Shaun tried to act nonchalant but Lee saw his hesitation. And when Shaun pushed him out onto the pavement, it gave him courage to continue. The road outside was fairly quiet, office and shop workers leaving for the day. There were a few people scattered in the distance, but the street would be pretty dead until the theatre show finished around ten thirty.

  ‘I know what you did,’ Lee told him. He threw his cigarette butt into the road.

  Shaun followed its path with his eyes before looking at him again. ‘And what would that be?’

  ‘Actually, I think you’ll find it’s more a case of what you didn’t do.’

  ‘So what didn’t I do?’

  Lee glared at Shaun underneath the street lights. He was medium build, not much to him, easy to handle with one punch. Shaun looked as though he was quaking in his boots. And he kept glancing into the restaurant. What a wuss.

  ‘You didn’t kill Steph Ryder, that’s for sure,’ he said.

  ‘Keep your voice down!’ Shaun barged into Lee’s shoulder as he pushed past. ‘I’m not discussing this here.’ Lee followed him to the back of the building and found himself where he had started five minutes earlier.

  ‘What do you want?’ Shaun turned abruptly, taking Lee by surprise.

  ‘Money.’ Lee took a step backwards and then gained his composure. ‘Five grand to keep my mouth shut.’

  Shaun nibbled his bottom lip before replying. ‘Keep your mouth shut about what?’

  Lee made a big deal out of sighing. ‘Look, man. You were told to knock off Steph. You didn’t. Then –’

  ‘Do you know who did?’

  ‘I might do. But –’

  ‘I need to know!’

  ‘Shut the fuck up, will you? All I know is that you didn’t kill her and you told my old man you did.’

  ‘That’s got nothing to do with you!’

  ‘I think you’ll find it has everything to do with me. Because if he found out that you were lying?’ Lee made a cutting motion at his neck. Shaun paused long enough for Lee to gain a little more confidence. ‘You’re deep in it, my friend.’

  Shaun knew how deep he was in it without some teenage thug thinking he could get the better of him. He wondered what his game was and exactly how much he really knew.

  ‘Your old man know you’re here, then?’ he asked.

  Lee laughed snidely. ‘Don’t fucking play me.’

  ‘Get out of here.’ Shaun walked away, then took a few steps back and looked Lee straight in the eye. ‘I killed her. That’s all you need to know.’

  ‘No, you didn’t.’ Lee stayed firm. ‘I saw you in your car on Leek New Road. You were puking up on the pavement. I drove past you.’

  Shaun gulped. ‘That wasn’t me. You must have been mistaken.’

  ‘It was you. I –’

  Lee didn’t anticipate the fist that came tearing up towards his chin in a flash. He staggered back at its force. The next punch knocked him to his knees, the kick following it connecting with his ribs. He curled up into a ball to protect himself as another kick caught his back.

  Fuck, he hadn’t been expecting this. Once down, he couldn’t get up. Shaun wasn’t supposed to be a fighter. He’d heard his dad talking to Terry, who’d called him a teddy bear. This was more like being attacked by a grizzly bear. There was nothing he could do but cover up as much as possible and ride out the storm. Then he’d get the fucker later.

  He felt one more kick and then it stopped as quickly as it had started.

  Shaun grabbed the back of his jacket and pulled him up to his knees. ‘Don’t you ever threaten me again, do you hear?’ he seethed. ‘What I did or didn’t do is no concern of yours. Now, fuck off and don’t come back.’ He pushed him away roughly.

  Lee struggled to his feet and walked off, his steps laboured and shuffling. A few feet away, he turned back.

  ‘You’re dead, mate,’ he told Shaun, holding on to his ribs. He tasted blood, spat it out. ‘Either you get my money or you’re fucking dead.’

  Shaun bent over in the silence of the alleyway. Soaked through, he took a few moments to catch his breath before looking up again. But Lee was nowhere to be seen. The little fucker had scarpered.

  He leant on the wall. His right hand was throbbing; already he could feel it beginning to swell. What the fuck had he got himself into? Shaun admired the lad for having the audacity to try something like blackmail but he’d just got rid of one debt. He sure as hell wasn’t going to create another.

  He stared into the shadows, his familiar surroundings so alien, shrouded in darkness. In the distance he could hear traffic, the odd shout, but here in the alley there was nothing but a ringing in his ears. And stillness, making it all the more sinister. Anything could be lurking in there. He shivered. Fuck, what a mess.

  Still breathless, he wondered what to do next. He couldn’t go back into the restaurant like this without Carole suspecting something. She was bound to have come downstairs by now to find the front door unlocked with no one in the restaurant. He checked his watch. Some of the staff were due to start the five-thirty shift in minutes.

  Slowly, he walked around to the front, wary of the cameras tracking his every move once back on the street. To his relief, Carole was upstairs. But it took one cry from Stacey and she was downstairs in a flash.

  ‘What a bloody mess,’ Carole said as Shaun concocted a story about an intruder coming in through the kitchen as he was behind the bar. ‘I didn’t even know you’d gone outside.’

  ‘It all happened so quickly.’ Shaun winced as she placed his hand under the cold water. Underneath the blood, there was some nasty swelling.

  ‘We’ll have to call the police and report this.’ Carole shook her head in disbelief. What was happening to them lately?

  ‘No, I’ll be okay.’

  ‘But –’

  ‘I said no!’ Shaun lowered his voice when he saw the hurt expression on Carole’s face. ‘I don’t want any retaliation. He could have been on something. You know what some of the druggies are like around here. And he might come back.’ He tried to make light of the situation. ‘Besides, you should see the other guy. He didn’t get a look in.’

  Carole took his hand in hers and ran a finger over his knuckles. She knew he was putting on a brave front. It was the first time she’d seen him hit out at anyone. She ought to be proud of him but instead she felt annoyed that he’d been so stupid as to put himself in danger. She shuddered as her mind went into overdrive.

&nb
sp; The alleyway at the back of their property was a haven for layabouts hanging around. The property next door but one had been empty for a few months now, and since a group of squatters had moved in they’d had nothing but trouble. Cars had been damaged and broken into, one of the neighbouring businesses had been burgled and they’d had to upgrade their security alarm system. This incident could have been much worse, especially if the attacker had pulled a knife.

  ‘He was stealing the stock.’ Shaun covered Carole’s hand with his own to reassure her. ‘It was an opportunist. I saw red and he got the brunt of it. It’s a good job he scarpered when he did or else I’d have walloped him again. It was my fault. I nipped out to the bins with a cardboard box I’d crushed. We need to be more careful about locking the back door.’

  Carole still wasn’t convinced. ‘I still think we should report it,’ she said.

  ‘For fuck’s sake,’ Shaun snapped. ‘Don’t keep going on about it. He got away with nothing; that’s all that matters!’

  Carole’s eyes filled with tears. She held up her hands in resignation before walking out of the kitchen.

  Shaun swore silently. Now he’d upset her as well. He dabbed at a cut he’d noticed, hoping it wouldn’t become too prominent over the next few days. He was bound to see those police officers again and they’d want to know what he’d been up. And he could hardly tell them that without landing himself in it too.

  ‘Fuck!’ He spoke aloud this time. He’d have to sort something out soon or that frigging Kennedy family would be the death of him.

  Later that evening, Allie took a call from the coroner. The post-mortem had been completed yesterday but there were several things to finalise before the report came through. There was only her and Nick left on the floor so she headed over to his office.

  She knocked on the DI’s open door. Nick sat at his desk, shirt sleeves rolled up by now. Even this late on, the faint tang of his aftershave caught her nose. Nick was always well presented. He wasn’t one of those men who got out of bed ten minutes before they had to leave the house, not even bothering to clean their teeth. She admired this in a man. Likewise in… Damn, she was thinking of Terry Ryder again.