Freda shook her head. ‘Riddled with the bastard disease, I am. Even spread to my liver now. Once it hits your vital organs, that’s it – curtains.’
Mary had tears streaming down her face. She’d first met Freda back in 1965. Freda had barged into the café in Whitechapel one day to warn her and Donald how dangerous the Butler family were. At the time, Mary and Donald had dismissed her as some nutty local scaremonger. But Freda had been spot on. Over the years she’d become a valued friend and she would be sorely missed.
‘Now stop all them tears. I’m no spring chicken, so I can’t complain. I’ve had a decent innings. Open that drawer, Nancy. I wrote a list out last night. The doctor reckons I ain’t got long left, so I need to get my affairs in order. You don’t mind helping me, do you? I’ve no one else I can trust.’
Nancy forced a smile. ‘Of course we’ll help you.’
Michael Butler had just ordered himself and the boys some breakfast when his mother and Auntie Vivian marched into the café like two bulls in a china shop.
‘There you are! I was ringing the club continuously last night and couldn’t bloody get hold of you. I rung Nancy twice and she didn’t know where you were. I wish some bastard would invent a phone you could carry around with you, else what’s the point of having sons,’ Queenie spat, completely ignoring her grandchildren.
Seeing a table full of workmen staring his way, Michael ordered his sons to stay put, then led his mum and aunt outside. ‘I went out with me old mate Kev. I haven’t seen him for yonks. What’s the problem?’
When Queenie and Viv explained word for word about their altercation with the neighbours, Michael lit up a cigarette and inhaled deeply to calm his temper. Nobody around here dared disrespect his family. The locals were all too aware of what happened to those who did. Terry Smart, Trevor Thomas, Kenny and Bobby Jackson had all either disappeared or met a grizzly end after falling foul of the Butlers. No one else wanted to meet the same fate.
‘Well? Don’t just stand there like a stuffed dummy. What ya gonna do about it? Vinny would’ve been round there first time I asked. So would my Roy, God rest his soul.’
Michael dropped his cigarette, then stamped on it and twisted his foot as if he were snuffing out the life of a tarantula. ‘Do you honestly still see me as your baby boy, Mum? Or that fresh-faced David Essex lookalike that birds used to chase down the road in the seventies? Or do you just see me as the weakest link of this family? Not up to Vinny’s standards perhaps?’
‘I didn’t mean it like that. It was you who sorted Pervy Pat, so I know you’re more than capable. I just meant that Vinny would’ve straightened them bastards out like a shot.’
Michael smirked. ‘Well, thanks for the vote of confidence, but seeing as Vinny is currently being detained at Her Majesty’s pleasure for his swift way of dealing with things, I shall sort out this problem in my own sweet time, Mum. It will be dealt with though, I can promise you that. Now, if you don’t mind, I must excuse myself as my breakfast is getting cold.’
Queenie looked at Vivian in sheer amazement as Michael sauntered back into the café. ‘Saucy bastard. Who the hell does he think he is, eh? I won’t be insulted like that, Viv, not by one of me own.’
When her sister went to march back inside the café, Vivian grabbed her arm. ‘Leave it, Queen. Michael does have a point and I trust him to deal with those bastards next door.’
‘But he totally disrespected me.’
‘You were very disrespectful to him. He proved himself good and proper when he chopped that pervert’s dingle-dangle off. Believe me, that boy has more brains and integrity than you give him credit for. He’s a better man than Vinny will ever be, and that’s a fact.’
Johnny Preston felt as sick as a dog as he queued up inside Feltham Borstal. His mother had wanted to accompany him, but Johnny had refused. He needed to do this alone.
Once searched, Johnny was led away from the other visitors and taken down the corridor. Because of who he was he’d been allowed to speak to his nephew away from the prying eyes and listening ears of other inmates and their families.
‘Here we are. There will be four prison officers in the room with you for security purposes.’
‘I would much rather speak to Jamie alone.’
‘I’m afraid that won’t be possible. The guvnor’s orders, not mine. Jamie has been involved in numerous violent altercations while in our care, so the boss didn’t want to take any chances. He doesn’t allow many visits of this kind, so you’re lucky you’ve got one.’
Knowing it was now or never, Johnny took some deep breaths to try to calm himself. He couldn’t lose it in there, because if he did and got himself arrested, Deborah would probably divorce him.
‘You OK?’ the screw asked.
Johnny leaned against the wall and nodded. ‘Just give me a minute.’ The last time he could remember his heart beating at such a frantic pace was when he’d been plotted up outside that club waiting to shoot Vinny, and that hadn’t turned out too well. He’d drunk Scotch to calm his nerves and had accidentally shot Roy Butler instead. ‘I’m ready now.’
The first thing that struck Johnny as he entered the room was how different Jamie looked. He was eighteen now, full of muscle and had the body of a man rather than a teenager. His dark hair was cropped, and he had a big scar that ran diagonally from his right ear to the corner of his mouth.
‘Thanks for coming, Uncle Johnny. I had doubts you’d show up.’
Johnny was sure that, had he not been in prison when she was born, had he met his granddaughter, held her in his arms, read her bedtime stories and got to know her little personality, no way could he have stomached this visit. Perhaps the reason he was able to face Jamie was because the only memory he had of Molly was a couple of photographs.
Pulling the chair out from under the table, Johnny sat down opposite his nephew. Jamie had the same piercing green eyes as Vinny, which was no surprise seeing as it was now common knowledge they were half-brothers. ‘Cut the “Uncle Johnny” bollocks, and say what you gotta say. I don’t wanna be anywhere fucking near you, so the quicker you spill your guts and I can get out of here, the better.’
Jamie stared directly into his uncle’s eyes. ‘I asked Nan to speak to you because I wanted you to hear my side of the story. I’ve been framed, Johnny, and you are the only one who can help me. I am so sorry about what happened to Molly. You and your family must have been to hell and back, but I didn’t kill her. I swear to God, I never.’
‘Pull the other leg, it’s got fucking bells on,’ Johnny hissed.
‘What type of monster do you think I am, eh? I could never hurt a little kid. I promise you, if I’d been guilty of such a despicable act, I’d have killed myself by now. What type of cunt could live with themselves after murdering a three-year-old? Not me, that’s for fucking sure.’
If it hadn’t been for the four prison officers standing guard, Johnny would have lunged across the table and beaten his nephew black and blue. How dare he have the front to do what he’d done and then blatantly lie about it?
‘I want to speak to the police and urge them to re-open the case. Molly’s killer needs to be caught.’
Johnny looked at Jamie in disbelief. ‘As if the Old Bill are gonna do that. You were caught with a bedroom full of newspaper cuttings, you’d been ripping missing posters off walls and fucking lampposts, you even rung up the cunting police station and told them you had taken Molly. You were seen sat opposite the club on the day she went missing. Have you hit your head since you’ve been in here? The police got you bang to rights, boy, and you know it. Now why don’t you do me a favour and just admit it. It’s upsetting your nan the way you keep pleading your innocence. You’re making her ill.’
Eyes brimming with tears, Jamie shook his head furiously. ‘No way would I ever admit to something I didn’t do. It’s bad enough that the whole world sees me as a child-killer when I’m fucking innocent. I’ll hold my hands up to the newspaper cuttings, ripping the post
ers down and phone calls. That was wrong – bang out of order, in fact – and there isn’t a day goes by when I don’t regret it. But I was fourteen years old, for fuck’s sake. And I only did that shit because I hated Vinny so much. He tried to make my mother abort me – as you well know – and I blamed him for Mark’s death. That night we started the fire at Vinny’s club, Mark was climbing out the window when some evil cunt pulled him back in that storeroom. It had to be Vinny or a member of his staff. I can still hear Mark’s screams now as he burned to death. I could even smell his flesh being cooked,’ Jamie wept. Mark had been his older half-brother and they’d been so very close.
‘So you killed Molly to get back at Vinny. Is that what you’re trying to say?’
‘How many more times have I got to tell you, Johnny? I didn’t fucking touch Molly. I never even met her, let alone strangled her. The police found not one shred of evidence connecting me to Molly’s body or the area where she was found. I’d never even heard of that place, let alone been there.’
‘But you admitted you were sat opposite the club on the day she went missing.’
‘Yeah, I was. It would have been Mark’s eighteenth that day. I was upset, which is why I bought some cider and drowned my sorrows. If I had planned to snatch Molly you don’t honestly think I would be sitting opposite the club so the whole world could see me, do you?’
Johnny shrugged. ‘Well, you was silly enough to do all the other stuff, so why not? Hardly fucking Einstein, are you?’
‘No. But I’m no Ian Brady either!’ Jamie banged his fist on the table and all four prison guards instantly took a step forward. He raised his hands in apology, took a couple of deep breaths to bring his temper under control and then continued: ‘Listen, I found out something recently which I want you to tell the Old Bill. They won’t listen to me, but they might you.’
‘What?’
Jamie put his elbows on the table and leaned towards his uncle. ‘There’s a lad from Whitechapel in here. Good pal of mine. Did you know that Little Vinny’s best mate topped himself around the time of Molly’s funeral?’
Johnny shook his head.
‘Don’t you find that odd? Why would a young lad with his whole life in front of him want to hang himself down Hainault forest for no reason, eh? Guilt maybe? Word is, he was a right oddball, into glue-sniffing and all sorts. Perhaps the little weirdo couldn’t live with something bad he’d done? You get my drift?’
Johnny shrugged. He was feeling more uneasy by the second, truth be told. Jamie certainly did not have the demeanour of a guilty person. Quite the opposite, in fact.
‘Do you mind if I tell you what it was like in here at the beginning for me, Johnny?’
Johnny stared deep into Jamie’s eyes. ‘Go on.’
‘Every single day I got tortured. Word got round very quickly what I was in here for, and I wasn’t just branded a child-killer but also a fucking nonce-case. I was actually glad when I got stabbed in the gut then beaten so badly that I was unconscious for hours and had glass put in my food, because each time something like that happened it meant I got to stay in hospital for a bit. That was the only break I got from the bullying. Somebody even tried to set me alight while I was sleeping – got the burns on my back to prove it. And do you know the only thing that stopped me taking my own life?’
His complexion now drained of colour, Johnny shook his head.
‘No way did I wanna die without clearing my name first. To kill myself would’ve been the easy way out and, like yourself, I’m a fighter. However, I’m off to big boys’ prison soon and you can guarantee that, once I’m in there, Vinny will see to it my life comes to an end. That’s why I’m so glad you came today. I wanted you to know the score, and if I’m not around to tell the tale, get justice on my behalf. Not just for me, but for Nan’s sake, your family’s, and most of all poor little Molly’s. If Little Vinny’s mate didn’t do it, then Molly’s killer is still walking the streets and is bound to strike again one day. Once evil, always evil, Johnny.’
CHAPTER TEN
Vinny Butler was doing some one-armed press-ups when Frank unlocked his cell. Vinny had a decent relationship with most of the screws on his wing. He caused them no grief, and they caused him no grief. With Frank, however, it was different. Frank was the one that Vinny had well and truly in his grasp.
The old screw stepped inside the doorway, put his hand down his trousers and fished out a carrier bag which he handed to Vinny. ‘I’ll have to bring you the Scotch later,’ he said apologetically. ‘My balls would’ve looked like King Kong’s otherwise.’
Vinny chuckled. Frank was a comical and wily old bastard. That was why Vinny had chosen him to be his link to the outside world. Every week Frank would receive an envelope through the post via Michael. It covered the cost of anything Vinny required, plus fifty quid on top for services rendered. ‘Cheers, pal. You’re a diamond.’
‘And you’re a bleedin’ pest. You’ll get me hung, drawn and quartered one day, Butler.’
‘Good. Then you can get out of this shithole and come and work for me at the club.’
Frank gave him a wink then ducked back out into the corridor. Once he was alone, Vinny studied his new gadget. Since Jay Boy’s release, Vinny had been bored shitless. He put the earphones on and flicked through the radio stations. Stopping on one that was playing the Kinks ‘You Really Got Me’, Vinny grinned. ‘Whoever invented this Sony Walkman, I fucking love you,’ he mumbled.
‘What’s up, boss?’ Paul asked, as he and Pete sat down in Michael’s office.
‘I need a favour. I want you to follow a geezer for me, keep an eye on his movements. You know the score: find out if there’s a regular pattern that he follows, which local he drinks in, which pals or lady friends he drops in on.’
‘Anyone we know?’ Pete asked.
Michael explained the situation with his mother’s new neighbours. ‘Nobody gets away with disrespecting my family, lads. Don’t worry, I’m not going to do anything too severe. But I need to let this Karl Baker know exactly what and who he is dealing with.’
‘When do you want us to start following him?’ Paul asked.
‘Tonight. Take it in turns, if you want, but you’re probably better to work together, otherwise you’ll be bored as fuck. Don’t worry about the club. Me and Little Vinny can manage that. We never get any trouble on grab-a-granny night anyway.’
Pete nodded. ‘OK boss. We’ll park up near your mum’s house about six-ish.’
Hearing the scrape of chairs signalling the end of the meeting, Daniel, Lee and Adam stopped earwigging at the door and scarpered in the direction of the toilets. All three had clearly heard their father say that Shell Baker’s two sons had insulted their nan.
‘Right, this is the plan,’ Daniel told his brothers. ‘Soon as Dad comes out of his office we’re gonna tell him we’re bored and we want to go out to play. Then we’ll head round Nan’s and see if we can spot those boys.’
Still only nine years old, Adam wasn’t quite as clued up as his older brother. ‘What we gonna do when we find them?’ he asked innocently.
Daniel gave Adam a gentle tap around the head. ‘Beat ’em up, you div, what else?’
Nancy had hoped that a bite of lunch in the pub would lift their mood, but it wasn’t doing the trick.
‘I can’t eat, love. I’m really not hungry,’ Mary said, putting her knife and fork down and pushing the plate away.
‘Freda would hate us to be moping about, Mum. And think how pleased she will be when we pop back to the hospital and tell her what Mrs Bullock said.’
Mary forced a smile. One of Freda’s main concerns had been the welfare of her two cats. Mrs Bullock, who lived opposite Freda, had been taking care of them since she’d been in hospital and had now agreed that the cats could live with her permanently.
Freda’s other main concern was Dean. She was adamant that her grandson must not attend her funeral. If he did, there was every likelihood that the Butlers would be there wa
iting for him. They’d never forgiven him for running out on Brenda; the fact she was an absolute cow and had made his life hell was no excuse in their eyes. When you married a Butler, you were stuck with them until they decided they’d had enough of you.
‘I’m dreading ringing Dean, Mum. How do you word something like this?’
‘He already knows about the cancer, love. Freda said she’d told him.’
‘Yeah, I know that. But it’s still awkward, isn’t it?’
‘Just try to be upbeat. Tell Dean that we went to see his nan and she was her usual bubbly self. Say she’s in no pain, that type of thing. Whatever you do, don’t tell him she looks yellow and we’ve been asked to carry out her final wishes, ’cos then he’ll be round like a shot. The whole point of your calling him is to make sure he doesn’t visit her or turn up at the funeral. Freda knows what good friends you and Dean were and she feels he’ll listen to you.’
‘I’m not very good at lying though, Mum.’
Mary squeezed her daughter’s hand. Nancy was soft and took after her, whereas Christopher was very much like his father. ‘You won’t be lying, darling, just playing down the truth a bit. And you’ll be doing it for a very good reason: it’s the dying wish of a lovely lady who has been good to us.’ There was a tremble in her voice as she added, ‘I only hope you can convince Dean to stay away. Because if you don’t, I’m afraid the Butlers will see to it we’ll be burying him too.’
‘What’s up, boy? You seem quiet today.’ Albie was worried about his eldest grandson; it wasn’t like him to be moping around the place.
‘Sammi-Lou is being really off with me. I’ve got a feeling she’s going to pack me in.’
Albie put an arm around Little Vinny’s shoulders. Since they’d lived together, they’d become close. ‘Perhaps it’s for the best, lad. A handsome boy like you could have your pick of the ladies, and you want to play the field before you even think of settling down.’
‘How old was you and me nan when you met?’
‘I was twenty-three, your nan sixteen. We were married within a year, and then your dad was born the year after. It was all too much too soon, Vin. Times have changed and people don’t settle down so young. Back in the olden days you had to get wed just to get your end away.’
The Wronged Page 10
