Slur: The Riverhill Trilogy: Book 1

by Heather Burnside

  ‘I think the odds are on Les, Rita. It’s just too much of a coincidence. Besides, you’re bound to suspect Jacqueline; you’re not exactly her number one fan are you?’

  ‘We’ll see,’ said Rita, ‘…but just you be careful in the meantime.’

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  Friday 8th August – Tuesday 19th August 1986

  For the next couple of weeks Julie, Rita and Vinny observed Les’s flat, taking care that they weren’t spotted.

  One night they had taken up their usual spot behind the garden wall of a derelict house facing Les’s apartment. Although it was August, it had been a dull day, and as the evening drew on there was a chill in the air.

  Rita shivered. ‘How much longer do we have to stay crouched down here?’ she asked.

  ‘Not long now,’ Julie replied. ‘We can’t go rushing off yet; we might miss something.’

  ‘Like what?’ grumbled Rita. ‘There’s not much happened in the last hour. It’s worse than watching bleedin’ paint dry, and I can’t feel my feet they’re that bleedin’ cold.’

  ‘Sshh,’ Julie warned as a car approached the building.

  They watched in astonishment as the car pulled up outside Les’s apartment building and Jacqueline emerged from the back of it, carrying a package.

  ‘What the fuck is she doing here?’ exclaimed Rita, unable to contain herself.

  Julie touched her arm to silence her and they waited until Jacqueline had entered the building.

  ‘This is a turn up of events isn’t it?’ asked Julie.

  ‘I thought she didn’t know Les that well,’ Vinny commented.

  ‘So did we,’ said Rita, ‘…but it looks as though they had more in common than we realised. I bet they bumped Amanda off between them because they were having an illicit affair,’ she continued, letting her thoughts run away with her.

  ‘I doubt it,’ Julie replied. ‘Why would he be interested in that nasty cow when he’s got, I mean had Amanda.’

  ‘Search me.’

  ‘Let’s wait and see what happens,’ said Vinny.

  They remained behind the wall for what seemed like hours, but was in fact only a few minutes, before they were rewarded by the sight of Jacqueline exiting the building minus the package.

  ‘Whatever that package was, Les has got it now,’ said Vinny.

  ‘Right, can we go now?’ moaned Rita.

  Julie intuitively felt that the night wasn’t over and that perhaps there was more to see. ‘Just give it a couple more minutes.’

  ‘Why, what are you waiting for?’

  ‘I don’t know, I just want to see what happens.’

  Rita tutted and continued to bang her feet on the ground in an exaggerated manner in order to keep them warm. Eventually a man emerged from the building. He was small and wiry with an unkempt appearance, which seemed incongruous with the middle class surroundings. This made Julie think that he may have emerged from Les’s flat.

  ‘He looks a bit of a wimp, doesn’t he?’ whispered Vinny.

  ‘That’s just what I was thinking,’ Julie replied. ‘I bet he’s come from Les’s flat and I’d love to know what was going on in there that involved both Jacqueline and that man.’

  ‘Me too,’ said Vinny and Rita together.

  ‘There’s definitely something amiss going on there and I think the sooner we get to the bottom of it the better,’ said Julie.

  ‘I’ll second that,’ said Rita. ‘It beats being stuck out here nearly every bloody night freezing to death.’

  Julie and Rita looked at Vinny for his reaction.

  ‘How about this Friday then? Les has been out on a Friday for the last two weeks. There must be a lot of business in the clubs when they’re packed.’

  The girls consented.

  --------------------

  Wednesday 20th August 1986

  The next morning at work Julie watched for Jacqueline entering the building. Just before nine o’clock, she spotted the unmistakable lines of one of Jacqueline’s power suits emerging from behind a group of men from the third floor. Their eyes locked, Jacqueline’s full of the usual scorn for Julie but not revealing anything untoward. This time Julie did not look away in shame; she held Jacqueline’s gaze. After all, she wasn’t the one with anything to be ashamed of, she thought, as her eyes followed Jacqueline heading to the lift. Her intense stare seemed to unnerve Jacqueline, until she broke Julie’s gaze with a swift turn of her head before marching towards the elevator.

  Julie was tempted to shout something at Jacqueline before she disappeared. She would love to have asked what she was doing at Les’s flat, but she bit her tongue. “Mustn’t give the game away,” she thought. “If Les finds out we’re watching his flat, then we’ll never find the evidence we need.”

  Julie knew that Norma had been watching both of them but she didn’t confide in her. She remembered Rita’s reaction the last time she had confided in Norma and decided that it was best to keep her mouth shut. It wouldn’t be long now till everybody found out the full facts surrounding Amanda’s death. She just had to be patient for a bit longer.

  Chapter 26

  Friday 22nd August 1986

  It was 11 o’clock on Friday night. Julie and Rita were standing in the narrow, deserted street that ran along the side of the Victorian building in which Les’s flat was situated. As they had been watching Les for the last two weeks, they had learnt that his flat was at the rear of the building.

  ‘You watch the back and I’ll keep an eye on the front,’ ordered Rita.

  Julie walked down the side street, and stopped just past the end of the gable wall where she had a good view of Les’s bedroom. Her heart was pounding as she thought about Vinny breaking into the flat. She watched the window to see if she could spot any sign of him. A cold shiver ran up her spine and she had the eerie feeling that someone was watching her. She turned around but there was nobody there. She was alone, frightened and vulnerable. The memories of the police cell came flooding back but she tried to stifle them so that she could concentrate on the task in hand.

  Suddenly, she saw a shadow fall across the bedroom window. “Vinny,” she thought, and she peered around her once more to make sure nobody else had seen him.

  As she continued to wait she noticed the tension in her muscles. Although the night was again chilly for August, her hands had become clammy. Her breath escaped in sharp bursts.

  “Come on Vinny, what’s taking you so long?” she thought.

  A loud screech sounded in the darkness followed by a clatter of metal. She spun around. Her senses were on full alert as she scanned the back entry where the sound had come from. The sight of two large green eyes glaring at her caused her to gasp in alarm, until she realised that it was just a cat that had crashed into a dustbin.

  ‘Bloody cat!’ she cursed.

  She noticed Rita heading back towards her. ‘Will you be quiet Julie?’ she commanded as softly as she could. ‘I can hear you half a bleedin’ mile off. You’ll give the game away!’

  ‘It’s OK, it was just a cat,’ whispered Julie. ‘Vinny’s in, go back and cover the front.’

  Julie watched as Rita returned to the front of the building. She was just beginning to prepare herself for the ordeal of being alone once more when Rita dashed back towards her.

  ‘Fuck, Les is back!’ she announced. ‘His car’s out the front.’

  ‘Shit, what’s he doing back? The clubs don’t shut for hours yet.’

  ‘He’s with a girl,’ Rita replied. ‘I don’t think they’ve gone in yet. They were still in the car having a snog.’

  ‘Jesus Rita, we’ll have to warn Vinny before Les gets back in the flat!’

  ‘How; we can hardly go and knock on the fuckin’ front door, can we?’

  ‘I don’t know.’

  Julie searched around for something that might help. Instinctively she picked up a stone and launched it at the bedroom window. It missed. She tried again.

  Rita joined in, scanning th
e ground for more stones. A hit. The sound of striking glass. Then another. Rita dashed back up the side street. ‘I’ll see if Les is still there,’ she panted.

  Julie spotted Vinny at the window. She waved frantically. A bemused expression ensued. Her hands enacted a series of chaotic gestures. Then, recognition! He was trying to open the window. ‘Jesus, hurry up Vinny!’ she muttered to herself.

  Rita returned. ‘They’re still in the car!’

  Her eyes followed Julie’s up to the window. ‘Hurry up,’ they both mouthed. Eventually Vinny managed to open the window and scoured around for something to clamber onto. He spotted a drainpipe about three feet from the bedroom window.

  The girls let out a joint sigh of relief as he began to climb over the window-sill, but then watched with bated breath as he tried to bridge the gap between the far edge of the window and the drainpipe. The drainpipe was old and rickety. It juddered about as Vinny grabbed onto it, trying hard to cling on with his left hand and leg. Suddenly, he took the plunge and let go of the window surround with the rest of his body. He veered towards the pipe.

  As his right hand grasped it a bracket broke away from the wall releasing a part of the drainpipe, which swung like a pendulum with Vinny grasping it desperately. Once the swinging had diminished and the pipe had stabilised, Vinny climbed down.

  Just at that moment, Julie heard a sound coming from the house that backed onto this one. She and Rita glanced in the direction of the noise and saw a man at the window.

  ‘What the bloody hell’s going on?’ he shouted.

  ‘Quick Vinny, we’ve been spotted!’ she warned him and he jumped the last few feet to the ground then appeared on top of the back gate. They ran from the house as fast as they could, and soon heard the sound of police sirens in the distance.

  --------------------

  Friday 22nd August 1986

  Les had persuaded the pretty, young girl to come inside his flat with him. “This could be my lucky night,” he thought as he ascended the stairs clutching the girl in a passionate embrace. She was a definite improvement on the other women he had been with since he’d lost Amanda. He knew deep down that there would never be a replacement for his Mandy. The trouble was that he was relying too much on drugs since Amanda had died and in his irrational state he couldn’t help trying to recapture what he had with her. This led to disappointment for him, which he would then take out on whichever unwitting girl he happened to be with.

  When he drew near to his flat he instinctively knew that something was amiss. This was affirmed when he spotted the front door and noticed that it was slightly ajar. He dashed towards the door and saw that the lock had been forced. In his rage he ran into the flat, examining each room for signs of an intruder.

  As Les opened the bedroom door he was shocked to find several bags of white powder strewn about the floor and bed. His first reaction was to stop the girl from seeing them. He met her in the hallway and dragged her into the living room ordering her to stay there and not move.

  ‘What’s the matter?’ she asked, alarmed.

  Ignoring her, Les returned to the bedroom and began to stuff the packages into the wardrobe. He could hear the sound of police sirens becoming closer, and he didn’t have time to think of an alternative hiding place.

  Once the bags were out of sight, he locked the window, shut the bedroom door and went back to the living room.

  ‘What the hell’s going on?’ asked the girl. ‘You frightened the life out of me.’

  Les sidled up to her and adopted his “Mr Charming” persona. ‘Sorry love, I didn’t mean to scare you but someone’s done my flat over and I almost caught them in the act. They escaped through the bedroom window and I didn’t want you in there in case you got hurt.’

  This seemed to reassure the girl and he began to fawn over her, bestowing her with kisses in preparation for the seduction that was to take place later, all the time aware of the imminent arrival of the police.

  By the time the doorbell rang Les was cool and calm, and had formulated his story in his mind.

  ‘Oh hello officer,’ he said, as he answered the door.

  The two policemen introduced themselves, produced their identity cards, and explained that they had received a call from a neighbour reporting that a man had been seen escaping from an upstairs window.

  ‘Really?’ asked Les, the surprise evident on his face as he enacted the role of aggrieved victim. ‘I must have just missed the bastard then! I knew someone had been in ’cos of the broken lock, and he left the bedroom window open, but I’ve had a quick look round and there doesn’t seem to be anything missing.’

  ‘Are you sure?’ asked one of the policemen.

  ‘Yeah, I reckon I must have disturbed him and the bugger’s ran off before he had a chance to take anything. I wish I could have got my hands on the bastard that did this though!’ and Les pointed towards the broken door jamb.

  ‘Do you mind if we take a quick look round sir?’ asked the police officer.

  ‘There’s no need. I told you, there’s nothing missing.’

  ‘Nevertheless, we’d like to take a look sir.’

  ‘OK, suit yourself, but would you make it snappy lads ’cos I’ve got something rather tasty cooking if you know what I mean.’

  The policemen nodded in recognition as Les imitated the shape of an hourglass figure with his hands. Then he stood aside to let them enter. Their visit was brief, especially when they spotted the vision of beauty that was sitting on Les’s sofa. One of the policemen smiled with envy at Les.

  Les accompanied them around the flat and tried to remain calm while they searched the bedroom. The first police officer headed towards the bedroom window to look at the burglar’s escape route, while the second officer hovered perilously close to the wardrobe. He glanced around the room and was just about to open the wardrobe door when Les diverted him. ‘The bedside cabinet!’ he announced. ‘I’m sure there’s something missing from it.’

  Once he was satisfied that the officer had moved away from the wardrobe and towards the bedside cabinet, he continued his charade, holding the officer’s attention. ‘I can’t for the life of me think what it was though.’

  After a plausible few seconds spent in deep thought, he added, ‘Ah yes, that was it; I had a gold chain on there. I’d not been wearing it ’cos the fastener had broken but don’t worry, it’s not been taken. I remember now, I took it in to be repaired a few days ago. In fact, that reminds me; I must remember to pick it up.’

  The policemen looked at him. For a moment they seemed hesitant. Les decided to steer them into action.

  ‘No officers, there’s definitely nothing missing but thanks for your concern. He held the bedroom door ajar, beckoning them towards it. They rewarded his quick thinking by stepping in the direction of the door, taking a last glance around the room as they made their exit.

  --------------------

  Friday 22nd August 1986

  Ten minutes earlier Julie, Rita and Vinny had made the frantic dash from Les’s apartment so they could be out of sight by the time the police arrived.

  ‘That was a fuckin’ close shave!’ yelled Rita as they stopped to catch breath.

  ‘You can say that again,’ Julie agreed, clutching her chest. ‘Are you all right Vinny?’

  ‘Yeah,’ he replied as he examined the grazes on his hands. ‘I’m just glad we got away in time.’

  ‘Me too. That was a bit too close for comfort. Did you get a chance to do it?’

  ‘I didn’t do the fire, but there’s drugs all over the bedroom. There was a box full of them, so I emptied it out everywhere.’

  ‘Oh good,’ said Julie. ‘Let’s hope the police see them when they arrive.’

  ‘Shshsh,’ shouted Rita. ‘Listen.’

  ‘Shit,’ said Vinny. ‘They’re nearly here. Quick, over there.’

  They dashed into a nearby garden, ducking down behind the low surrounding wall. They were now a few streets away from Les’s flat and they li
stened as they heard the police car speeding up the street.

  ‘Jesus, that was another close shave,’ said Vinny.

  ‘Let’s get home now,’ said Rita. ‘I’ve had enough for one night. We’ve done the job now anyway.’

  ‘We’re not going anywhere,’ Julie challenged. ‘Let’s stay put. I want to make sure they arrest the bastard. I wouldn’t put it past him to wangle his way out of this one.’

  Rita and Vinny reluctantly agreed, and after a few minutes they heard a vehicle coming up the street again.

  ‘Quick,’ said Vinny. ‘Get your heads down,’ but Julie couldn’t resist a quick peek over the wall as the vehicle passed.

  Once they had heard it round the bend at the end of the street, Julie sat down on the grass and let out a hiss of disappointment. ‘It was the police car,’ she said.

  ‘So?’ asked Rita.

  ‘Les wasn’t in it. That bastard’s squirmed his way out of it again!’

  ‘He must have heard the sirens and knew they were coming,’ said Vinny.

  Julie began to hammer her fists against the wall. ‘I’m not giving up!’ she yelled. ‘I’ll get that drug-pushing, murdering bastard if it’s the last thing I do. If he thinks he can get away with killing Amanda and then taking some tart up to his flat with Amanda only just cold, he’s got another think coming!’

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  Early Saturday morning 23rd August 1986

  It took Julie a while to calm down after the attempted break-in. Vinny had suggested going back to his place so that they could talk without fear of being watched. Julie had taken some persuading due to her paranoia of being spotted by Clare’s school friend, Melanie Butterworth, but they had managed to convince her that it wasn’t a problem. It was more important to get out of the present vicinity. If anybody saw them hanging about the streets near to Les’s flat, then it was inevitable that they would be linked to the break-in.

  The three of them talked inexorably and before they knew it, it was half past two in the morning. Julie surprised both Vinny and Rita by her strength of feeling about Amanda’s death, and no matter how much they tried to dissuade her, she was adamant that they should repeat their attempt to prove Les guilty.