Fireflies

by Menon, David

  ‘You need to get out there more, Andrea’ said Tina. ‘Mr. Right won’t come knocking on your door’.

  ‘You have no shame’.

  ‘You have no regular dick and that’s why you get so bad tempered sometimes’.

  ‘I do not!’

  ‘Oh you do’ said Tina. ‘Usually when you’ve run out of batteries for that vibrator’.

  ‘I don’t have a vibrator’.

  ‘I rest my case’ said Tina. ‘I’ll get you one at the weekend. Do you want white or black, large or painful?’

  Andrea laughed more out of embarrassment than anything else. ‘I wouldn’t ... well I wouldn’t know how to use it’.

  ‘You’re serious?’

  ‘Absolutely’ said Andrea. ‘I’ve led a sheltered life, Tina, you know that’.

  ‘Well I’m not going to give you a demonstration, love! You plug it in, open your legs, stick it up there, switch it on and then imagine it’s Matt Baker on the end of it’.

  ‘I quite like Matt Baker actually’ Andrea admitted. ‘But he’s spoken for and anyway he’d never look at the likes of me’.

  Tina walked over and put her arms round her friend. ‘Andrea, you’re doing what a lot of women do when they’ve been alone for a long time. You’re putting all your energy into some fantasy man who you know you’ll never have. Now I wet myself over Matt Baker too but I prefer to get the most out of real life and I really want you to be happy and fulfilled’.

  ‘Do you think I will find it?’

  ‘I don’t know, love. I hope so’.

  ‘Thanks, Tina’ said Andrea. ‘You’re a great listener and you don’t bullshit me’.

  ‘It’s what a best friend is for. Well that and telling you how to use a vibrator’.

  ‘What would you do with me, eh?’

  ‘Nothing love, sorry. You know I love you to bits but I’m not licking your fanny’.

  ‘Tina!’

  ‘Well I’ll try most things but I’ve never fancied the lezzy side of life’.

  Andrea pulled a face. ‘Me neither. All those hairs and veins’.

  ‘I’ve got a gay male friend who got drunk one night and tried it with a woman. You know, Bruce the dog groomer?’

  ‘Yeah, course I know Bruce. I’ve often wished he was straight’.

  ‘We all have sweetheart but his only dive into that particular river was the first and last. He was on the phone last night for two hours. He was in a right state’.

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Well the girl he slept with ended up pregnant and ... ‘

  ‘ ... you’re joking. I never knew’.

  ‘He doesn’t talk about it much, to be fair’ said Tina. ‘But anyway, she had a little girl who’ll be ten now. I mean, would you believe it? The only time he’d ever slept with a woman and she got pregnant. I’ve got straight male friends who try for years with their wives to start a family and there goes Bruce sending his fish onto the right hook first time when he usually shops round the corner’.

  ‘Does he still see his daughter?’

  ‘He used to. But then her Mum got married to a bloke in the army and moved down to Windsor. It broke Bruce’s heart. He and Chloe had got quite close, you see. They used to have loads of fun together and she was a real Daddy’s girl. But her Mum put Bruce under pressure to back off when she got married and moved although she has said that when Chloe gets older and is able to understand everything then she won’t stand in her way if Chloe wants to re-establish contact with him. He’d love it if she did. He really misses her and that’s why every now and then, like last night, he gets really upset’.

  ‘But it sounds like her mother didn’t give him much choice if she put him under pressure to back off?’

  ‘Well that’s right she didn’t. But it would’ve been hard to maintain regular access when Chloe is living two hundred and fifty miles away. He could’ve gone to court to fight it but in the end what good would that have done? It certainly wouldn’t have done Chloe any good and she’s the main consideration here. And he did understand that Sally, that’s Chloe’s Mum, had a right to be happy and start a new life with her husband who Chloe does get on with so there’s no problem there. Sally sends Bruce pictures and regular updates on what Chloe’s doing which believe me is a lot more than some men in his position get when they’re an absentee father, gay or straight. So he is lucky in a way’.

  ‘Poor Bruce’ said Andrea who had what she could best describe as a troubled relationship with her father and was envious of a little girl called Chloe who she didn’t know but who had a dedicated father like Bruce who would always be there for her no matter what. And she hated Chloe’s mother for keeping Chloe’s father away from her. Andrea knew how painful that felt too. ‘It doesn’t seem fair’.

  ‘Well no, it isn’t fair’ said Tina. ‘But whoever said life was fair needs a bullet through their head’.

  Jeff had gathered his steadily increasing number of officers in his MIT to a briefing in the squad room. In the front of the group were DS Rebecca Stockton and DC Ollie Wright. Jeff stuck a photograph onto the clear plastic board he was stood in front of.

  ‘We’ve been able to identify our disembowelled friend found at the Mayfair hotel. During a search of the hotel car park his wallet was found and we were able to match some of the pictures inside with his bank and credit cards. His name is James Clifton, aged twenty-seven and he worked for the BBC at the Media City complex at Salford Quays as a stage manager. He was originally from Preston. Over to you, DC Wright’.

  Ollie cleared his throat and went and stood in the space Jeff vacated. Jeff folded his arms and perched his bottom on the edge of one of the desks.

  ‘Clifton lived at 27 Cumberland Terrace in West Didsbury with his fiancée Sophie Cooper who is an air stewardess based at Manchester airport. She got in around seven on Sunday morning from a night return to Tenerife. She didn’t think it was unusual that he wasn’t home yet because she assumed he’d just passed out and slept at one of his mates like he sometimes does and was probably too pissed to even send a text. But then when he didn’t turn up later in the day and none of his friends could tell her where he was she got worried. Now, he was with ten other blokes on a stag night for their friend Alan Travers. Miss Cooper said they were planning to end up at the Paradise Club at the lower end of Deansgate and across the road from Deansgate station. We’ve checked the CCTV and Clifton and his mates are seen going in there at 1.37. We’re still going through the footage to try and see if we can spot him with anyone in particular. Meanwhile, we’ve been down at the hotel interviewing all the staff and we did manage to speak to everyone, including those who weren’t on duty that night, and none of them claim to know anything. The two that were on duty that night didn’t see or hear anything untoward. There’s CCTV camera coverage of the car park but it points away from where the body was dumped. The monitors are in the office behind the reception desk. We’ve been through it all, sir, for that night, and absolutely nothing’.

  ‘But surely something would’ve shown up on there?’ asked Jeff who was rolling the name Sophie Cooper over and over in his mind. He knew her. He didn’t know where from but he knew that name and it was going to drive him crazy until his memory caught up. ‘We’re talking about a grown man’s body dumped behind those rubbish carts. How the hell could it have got there without some bastard noticing?’

  ‘At the moment we can’t tell, sir’ said Ollie. ‘There are no pictures of him from the public areas entering the hotel either alone or with anyone so perhaps we can say he wasn’t murdered actually at the hotel. We’ve checked the hotel records too and are now about halfway through contacting every guest from that night. None of them so far admit to having had any connection with James Clifton and some of them are business executives living as far away as Germany and Portugal who were in town for weekend trade fairs and meetings. There was also a large wedding party in. The hotel only have a skeleton staff on during the night and on Saturday it was the night manager Julian
Fowler plus a receptionist who also acted as a waitress for whoever wanted room service in the early hours. On that night the honour went to Anita Patel’.

  ‘And that’s it?’ Rebecca questioned. ‘Just the two of them on duty all night in a hotel that size?’

  ‘That’s it’ Ollie confirmed.

  ‘But who cooks the food if someone does want room service in the early hours?’ Jeff asked.

  ‘It’s all put in the microwave by either the night manager or receptionist apparently’ said Ollie

  ‘And how did Mr Fowler and Miss Patel seem to you, Ollie?’

  ‘Both of them seemed reluctant to talk to us but I think for different reasons, sir’ said Ollie. ‘Fowler is a reformed alcoholic. He’s been dry now for ten years and doesn’t seem to take much interest in anything other than not thinking about alcohol. As for Miss Patel, she shares a basement flat in the hotel with four other members of staff who are also all from India or Bangladesh. The gym and swimming pool are managed separately to the hotel but our interviews there have drawn a blank too in terms of James Clifton. We did get some of the hotel staff to open up eventually and they told us that they all get paid weekly, cash in hand, but if not enough cash has been taken across reception and the bar and the restaurant, if most customers have paid their bill by card in other words, then nobody gets paid and the wages are held over till the next week’.

  ‘What?’ said Rebecca. ‘The rotten bastards. Is that legal?’

  ‘Well even if it is legal it’s not moral’ said Jeff. ‘But it doesn’t surprise me given the attitude we got from Helen Curzon’.

  ‘And they pay just on the minimum wage’ Ollie went on. ‘Not a penny more and the staff are all on zero hours contracts. The Curzon’s have cut everything in the hotel down to the bone. The staff are told that if a guest complains about something not working in their room they have to move them to another room and keep on moving people to another room and not do anything to fix the original problem until it’s absolutely necessary’.

  ‘What a way to run a hotel’ said Jeff.

  ‘Sounds a bit to me like they’re deliberately running it down for some reason’ said Rebecca.

  ‘Did we confirm that the manager on duty that night, Julian Fowler, did have a dentist’s appointment the same day the body was discovered?’

  ‘Yes, sir’ Ollie confirmed. ‘For eleven o’clock that morning at a local dental surgery in Marple. But it also means that the receptionist Anita Patel was alone on duty for an hour before the morning staff started at six’.

  ‘But she said she didn’t see or hear anything?’ said Jeff.

  ‘That’s right, sir’ Ollie confirmed.

  ‘Do you think she could be hiding something?’

  ‘Let me say that it wouldn’t surprise me but how significant it would be I don’t know’ said Ollie. ‘Like I said before she’s nervous about talking to us but I’ve checked her immigration status and she’s not here illegally so she has no reason to be nervous of us. She’s doing a business studies degree at Manchester University and working at the hotel to help pay her way’.

  ‘Some of these young people from across the world are so industrious’ said Jeff. ‘They put some of our own people to shame’.

  ‘They do so’ said Ollie.

  ‘Could we be dealing with a grudge against the hotel here?’ Rebecca wondered. ‘Someone who used to work there for instance? I think it’s highly possible given the appalling way the Curzons seem to treat their staff’.

  ‘But a grudge against them that’s strong enough to lead to murder?’ Jeff questioned. ‘Why didn’t they murder one of the Curzons in that case?’

  ‘Or maybe there’s a connection between Clifton and a former member of staff?’ Rebecca pursued. ‘They’ll have their own reason for murdering Clifton but inconveniencing the hotel by dumping the body there comes as a bonus if they have a grudge against the owners’.

  ‘All of the hotel workers, except for Fowler, are foreign with some from the Indian sub-continent and some from Eastern Europe’ said Ollie.

  ‘And all easy to bully’ said Rebecca. ‘That’s why they employ them’.

  ‘Exactly, ma’am’ said Ollie.

  ‘Like I said, the rotten bastards’ said Rebecca.

  ‘Coming back to the grudge theory though’ said Jeff. ‘There could be an outside chance so I think it may be worth checking. DC Wright, go through the statements you’ve gathered from the staff and see if you can make anything from reading between the lines’.

  ‘Will do, sir’ said Ollie.

  ‘DS Stockton and I will go and see Alan Travers whose stag party it was’ said Jeff. ‘And Ollie, see if you can chase up June Hawkins and the forensics report, please. That could give us some tangible clues’.

  ‘Sir, if I may?’ said Rebecca. ‘When are we, and really I mean when is Ollie here going to get some help with all the computer research donkey work we expect him to do? It isn’t fair how much we put on him’.

  ‘Oh I can cope, ma’am’ said Ollie.

  ‘I know you can, Ollie, but you shouldn’t have to’.

  Jeff would have to concede that Rebecca had a point. Ollie had been in need of support for a while but Jeff had a surprise for him and couldn’t help grinning rather self-satisfyingly at the news he was about to bestow.

  ‘Funny you should mention that, DS Stockton, because along with the officers being assigned to our MIT we’re also getting ourselves our very own computer geek who will be able to do all the boring stuff that I’m sure Ollie will be happy to dump’.

  ‘When do they start, sir?’ asked Ollie, his face full of eagerness. He’d love to be able to pass on to someone else some of the computer trawling for information that he found so fucking tedious.

  There was a knock at the door and Jeff said. ‘Just about now I’d say. Come in!’

  Jonathan Freeman came in and greeted everyone.

  Except for Ollie who he ignored.

  ‘Sit yourself down, Jonathan’ said Jeff.

  ‘Thank you, sir’ said Jonathan who’d never had a problem walking into a room full of strangers, especially now he was in such great shape. He’d been to the gym that morning and for a run last night. There were plenty of areas around his flat to exercise and he felt good about his body. He also felt good about starting his new job.

  ‘Punctuality and manners’ said Jeff. ‘That’s a very good start’.

  ‘It’s good to see you again, sir’ said Jonathan who sat down beside Rebecca.

  Rebecca took quite a shine to the fit looking young man. He was hot. He had the kind of cheeky smile you’d forgive anything of. Big hands too, short fair hair and the kind soft blue eyes that really made an impact. A most worthwhile addition to the team in more ways than one and the thought occurred to her that a woman could allow herself a little diversion on her journey to the heart of the one she really wanted. Jeff was still giving off the vibe that he wasn’t ready for another relationship yet and Rebecca thought that Jonathan would look very nice inside her whilst she waited. She had no qualms about sleeping with someone just for sex whilst being in love with someone else. This was the twenty-first century after all.

  ‘You’ll be reporting to DC Wright here, Jonathan’ said Jeff. ‘He’ll tell you what he needs you to do. And you join us at a frenetic time with a major investigation just started. Think you can handle it?’

  ‘I’ll do more than my best, sir’ said Jonathan, confidently.

  Ollie Wright wondered if Barton or Stockton or any of the others noticed that Jonathan Freeman hadn’t shaken his hand in what appeared to be a deliberate act of avoiding him. Ollie tried offering his hand but Freeman took no notice and didn’t even make any kind of eye contact with him. It was as if he was pretending that Ollie wasn’t there and there were no other black men in the room. He didn’t want to jump to conclusions but what was that all about?

  FIREFLIES FOUR

  Alan Travers shared a house in the Timperley area of Sale in south Manche
ster with his fiancée and their two kids. Jeff and Rebecca sat with Travers at his kitchen table. His fiancée and the kids who were both under five, were in the living room.

  ‘Lucy just can’t get over it’ said Alan. ‘She’s been in a right state. I think we’ll postpone the wedding. It just wouldn’t feel right to go ahead under the circumstances’.

  ‘How long had you known James Clifton?’ asked Rebecca who’d already taken in Alan’s physical appearance. He was one of those men who’d begun to lose his hair fairly early and compensated by having it cropped all over so it looked tidy. It made him look a bit like Ross Kemp and he was tall and broad shouldered like him too.

  Alan rubbed the stubble on his face. ‘We grew up together in Preston’ he said softly. He could feel that lump in his throat. ‘He was my closest friend. I’ve got two sisters and he was like the brother I never had. I’m absolutely devastated. We had a great night on the stag do. We were going to fly out to Barcelona or Prague but one or two of them couldn’t afford it so we kept local which was fine, like I said, we had a great night. Different girls came and went and all I can remember is that James was there one minute and gone the next’.

  ‘That’s what all your friends say too, Alan’.

  ‘Yes, because that’s what happened. We all knew James could be a bit of a one with the ladies. God knows he was a good looking bastard and didn’t have to try very hard if he was on the pull. But whenever we do all get together we have an agreement that what happens on the night stays on the night if you get my meaning’.

  ‘So you all played away?’ Rebecca questioned.

  Alan looked round at the door to the room where his fiancée was with the kids. ‘No and I don’t want you to get that impression. I just meant it’s what we’d always agreed but it didn’t mean we all took advantage of it’.