Constable by the Sea

by Nicholas Rhea

  He did his own shopping during the afternoons when the pub was shut, and on Sunday his routine varied slightly to accommodate the change in the licensing hours. But he never missed a day at the Lobster, and his routine never altered, day in, day out, year in, year out.

  That is, until one day that summer.

  It was a Saturday morning, and I was making my point at a telephone kiosk on the New Quay, just around the corner from the Lobster Inn. I knew that Edwin would be walking past at that time, for he left home prompt at 10.30 a.m. and arrived at the pub at 10.40 a.m. That was his weekday routine and it never varied.

  When he failed to walk past, I grew a little worried. After all, he was well into his seventies and he did live alone, and so I wondered if he might have suffered some illness during the night. I walked to the door of the bar, which always stood open during the summer months, and peeped in. Edwin was not in his usual corner, and so I decided I should visit his little cottage, just to check on his welfare.

  I climbed through the town via the steep steps which riddled the knots of red-roofed cottages as they clung so precariously to the cliffs which overlooked the harbour. High among the cluster of houses, I found his pretty little home. It was a one-up and one-down cottage and it was sandwiched between others of similar style. I knocked, but there was no reply and so I peered inside. It’s very neat and tidy appearance suggested it was unoccupied. I hammered again, in case he was in bed, and then a door opened at the adjoining house.

  ‘Yes?’ said a lady in a flowered apron. ‘Is it him you’re after?’

  ‘Yes. I’m just checking. I haven’t seen Edwin this morning,’ I explained. ‘I wondered if he was all right.’

  ‘Aye, he’s fine,’ she said, wiping her hands on the apron. ‘He’s gone on his holidays. Took a taxi at half eight this morning, loaded down with two suitcases, he was. He’s gone for a fortnight.’

  ‘Well, that’s a relief. Where’s he gone?’

  ‘Dunno,’ she said. ‘He just went off with all his stuff.’

  I thanked her for her help and returned to my beat. I must admit I was very relieved, and I thought no more about Edwin for some five or six days.

  It was a hot Friday night, the town was very busy, and I was performing a half-night shift, that is from 5 p.m. until 1 a.m. I was working a harbourside beat, and the place was thronged with people enjoying the balmy air. Some time after nine o’clock, a group of youngsters in one of the pubs started a fight in which several glasses were broken, and I managed to quell that; then two other fights started at another pub, and it was evident it was going to be one of those nights. It threatened to be a duty interspersed with many minor scuffles. This sort of thing wasn’t regarded as serious trouble, it was just a nuisance, and I coped. A lot of credit must go to the good humour of all concerned, including the local people. We, and the landlords, knew that the heavy hand of the law, or swift, hard retaliation from the locals, could stir up real bother. We humoured our visitors, we jollied them along, and nothing serious broke out.

  Then Sergeant Blaketon met me at half-past ten. I was patrolling the quayside when I noticed his impressive figure in the light of a street lamp.

  ‘Now, Rhea, anything doing?’ he asked.

  I told him about the scuffles in the various pubs and said that things were now under control.

  ‘Right,’ he said. ‘Then we’ll do a few pub visits.’ He checked his watch. ‘It’s closing time now, so we’ll clear them quickly and show our uniforms at the same time, just to prevent any bother later on.’

  Together we patrolled all the quayside inns, checked a few youngsters’ ages and cleared the bars of late drinkers. In most cases the landlords were pleased to see us, and we did get all the drinkers out. One or two continued to sing in the streets, and most of them wended their way home in an alcoholic haze. For them, life was wonderful – until morning!

  The last inn on our tour was the Lobster. By that time it was almost eleven o’clock, and obviously word of our presence had got around because, when we entered, the bar was empty – except for one man. He was sitting there with a large pint in his fist.

  I looked, and looked again. It was Edwin.

  But Sergeant Blaketon spoke first.

  ‘You!’ he almost shouted at the little fellow. ‘It’s closing time, and you are drinking after hours! Give me that drink. Landlord!’

  The surprised landlord emerged from the back of the bar, wiping a glass as he came towards us.

  ‘Landlord, it is half-an-hour past closing time, and this man is still drinking. That is an offence,’ Sergeant Blaketon began to lay down the law. ‘It is an offence to serve after time, an offence to drink after time, and an offence …’

  ‘No, it isn’t, sergeant.’ The landlord spoke softly, not flinching an inch before the might of Oscar Blaketon. ‘Not in this case. Edwin is a resident. The licensing hours do not apply to residents.’

  ‘What’s your name?’ barked Sergeant Blaketon to Edwin.

  Edwin told him.

  ‘Address?’

  And Edwin gave his address, a matter of ten minutes from the pub.

  ‘No, he’s not, landlord,’ said Blaketon in triumph upon learning Edwin’s home address. ‘That is the oldest trick in the world – you can’t trick old stagers like me, you know. Oh no! Getting late drinkers to sign in as residents and get their names in the register. You ought to know better.’

  ‘I am staying here,’ piped up Edwin. ‘I’ve booked in for two weeks.’

  And he had. Blaketon insisted on seeing his room, but Edwin was right. This was his holiday. Because all his friends were here and because he liked the food, Edwin had simply come down to his favourite inn for two weeks holiday, when his food and bed would be provided, his washing-up and cleaning done for him, and his bed made every day. For Edwin, this was bliss.

  ‘There’s no point in going somewhere that’s strange, is there, constable?’ he looked up at me. ‘I mean, what’s the good of going on holiday where you don’t know anybody? Besides,’ he added, with a twinkle in his eye. ‘I can drink late, can’t I?’

  It would be only two weeks later when a party from a Working Men’s Club at Sunderland descended on the town. They came in two coach-loads, which meant there was around eighty of them, and they had consumed several crates of beer on the way to Strensford. Their mission in Strensford that Saturday evening appeared to be to consume as much local ale as they could, and this was to be achieved by visiting as many pubs as possible. Afterwards, they would catch their buses home. Those who could not walk to the buses would be carried by their pals. They would not see much of Strensford’s quaint beauty and historic features, but that did not appear to bother them. They poured out of their buses at seven o’clock and marched purposefully towards the nearest pub. And so their mammoth binge began.

  We were alerted and all the duty constables kept a discreet eye on their activities, knowing that after closing time we would have to act rather like sheepdogs as we shepherded them all safely to their waiting coaches.

  And so we did. By the end of their marathon boozing session, they had split into little groups, and so by closing time all the pubs were evicting specimens of the working men of Sunderland. They were in various stages of intoxication, ranging from the merry to the legless, but they were no trouble. They were a happy, cheerful lot who couldn’t remember where their buses had been parked, and so we, as expected, guided them to the coach-park.

  I was one of the constables who had been allocated this task, and it was a laugh a minute getting them all into their seats.

  When almost all were on board, I saw two men, both exceedingly merry, wending their way towards us.

  ‘Howway, Jack, Eddie, man. We’re waiting – get a move on!’ called someone from one of the buses.

  The one called Eddie was legless, speechless and clueless and was being stoutly supported by his pal.

  ‘Eddie was on the other bus!’ said his pal Jack with difficulty as he approached the
open door.

  ‘Never mind which bus he came on, man, get him on this yan, and you. It’s time we were moving – an’ we’ve ten crates of ale to finish afore we get yam.’

  I stepped forward to help the near-unconscious Eddie on board. He was a huge man with a loud-checked jacket which was obviously new. We had difficulty getting him up the stairs and along the narrow aisle, but we succeeded, and he flopped onto a seat, where he promptly fell asleep.

  It was with considerable relief that we watched those coaches depart from our area.

  When I went into the police station to book off duty at a few minutes before one o’clock, Sergeant Blaketon was at the counter dealing with a distraught woman. I did not hear what she was saying, but as I walked in, he hailed me.

  ‘Ah, PC Rhea,’ he addressed me by my rank in the presence of a member of the public. ‘You’ve been on the quayside and thereabouts all evening, haven’t you?’

  ‘Yes, sergeant,’ I said.

  ‘Well, this is Mrs Turnbull, and her husband has gone missing. She tells me they arrived at Strensford only this afternoon for a week’s holiday, and this evening her husband went out for a drink. She didn’t go with him because she was tired, and so she stayed behind at her lodgings …’

  ‘He likes his drink, ye see, officer, but he canna swim a stroke,’ she said in her strong Geordie accent. ‘Man, he’s so daft, ye knaw. Ah’ve never got him away on holiday before. Not the once. Ah had neea end of bother getting him doon here, he disna like leaving his mates, you knaw. And I bought him a lovely new jacket for the trip …’

  ‘Where are you from, Mrs Turnbull?’ I asked.

  ‘Whey, Sunderland, man.’

  ‘And your husband’s name and description?’

  ‘It’s Eddie, and he’s a big man, bigger than any of youse polis.’

  ‘Is he a member of the Working Men’s Club in Sunderland?’ I asked.

  ‘Whey, aye, man. They’re all his pals. How is it you knaw all this then?’

  ‘He’s gone back to Sunderland,’ I said. I tried to explain that the men wouldn’t realize Eddie was here with his wife; when they encountered him in one of the pubs, they’d naturally think he was on their outing and, being mates, they’d made sure he got home safely.

  ‘Ah canna win wi’ that feller, can Ah?’ she was in tears. ‘When Ah think of all the bother Ah had to get him here, and now he’s forgotten he was here with me! By, lad, Ah’ll knock the living daylights out of him when Ah get back …’

  ‘He is safe,’ I said gingerly. ‘At least he’s not come to any harm.’

  ‘Not for this week!’ she growled as she stalked out of the station. ‘He can stew at home. I’ll stay here and enjoy myself without that silly bugger. Ah’ll deal with him when Ah get back!’

  ‘You know, Rhea,’ said Sergeant Blaketon when she’d gone, ‘Maybe that Eddie wasn’t so drunk after all.’

  Thinking about it later, I tended to agree. He would probably have a very happy holiday in Sunderland.

  My most enduring memory of those weeks involved the most traditional of seaside sights – a small child playing with a bucket and spade on the sands.

  It began when I was working a 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. shift in the town centre, a rare treat for any policeman because it meant he did not have to rise at the crack of dawn, neither did he have to work until late at night. It was a pleasure to be on duty. I walked slowly from the police station, savouring the warmth of the sunny day and the pleasing sight of casually dressed holiday-makers, especially the lovely girls.

  As I passed the railway station, I noticed that one of the seaside-special trains had just pulled in. It was disgorging its complement of passengers into the town, and they were spilling out across the roads and pavements. I stood and watched, not for any particular reason, although it was nice to see their happy faces and relaxed behaviour. I was not studying the crowd, nor indeed observing them in the police sense, but I did notice a tiny girl with her blonde hair neatly plaited in two long tails. At the time, I did not know why she caught my attention, but she did. Maybe it was her demeanour or her long plaits? There was no reason to observe her. Nonetheless, I watched her walking beside several other people, and she was clutching a red bucket and a tiny spade with a blue blade. Together with the others, she crossed the road outside the railway station and followed the crowd towards the beach, a good ten minutes walk away.

  Having seen the dispersal of that train-load, I went about my daily task of keeping traffic on the move, acting as unofficial guide and instant information service and generally attending to the multiplicity of minor tasks that came my way. My beat took me down to the harbourside, where I enjoyed the sunshine, the scent of the sea air and the eternal cry of wheeling gulls. If all police duty was like this, I could be very content.

  Then a pretty, tanned woman in a suntop and shorts hailed me.

  ‘Oh, thank goodness I’ve found you,’ she said. ‘I’ve found a little girl. I think she’s lost.’

  ‘Where is she?’ I asked, for the woman was alone.

  ‘I left her in the souvenir shop just around the corner.’

  ‘I’ll see to her,’ I promised and hurried along to the shop in question.

  We operated a well-oiled routine for dealing with lost children – dozens became separated from their parents during the season, and we never failed to re-unite any of them. More often than not, the child would be placed in the beach superintendent’s hut, and in time an anxious parent would arrive to claim him or her. Those found wandering nearer the town centre were usually taken to the police station, where we kept a store of toys and games to amuse them until the worried parents turned up. So a lost child was not a real problem; some were a positive delight.

  With the tanned woman at my side, I went into the shop and found the child seated on a high stool. She was sucking an iced lolly and I recognized her as the little girl I’d noticed leaving the railway station.

  ‘Hello,’ I said. ‘And who are you?’

  ‘Janice,’ she said, sucking the lolly without any show of concern.

  ‘And where do you live?’

  ‘Number 42 Tayforth Street.’

  ‘Which town is that?’ I continued.

  ‘Don’t know,’ she told me disarmingly.

  ‘And where did you lose your mummy and daddy?’ I said.

  ‘I didn’t lose them,’ she sucked happily. ‘I didn’t have them.’

  ‘You didn’t have them?’ I puzzled. ‘What do you mean, Janice?’

  ‘They never came. I came by myself.’

  I halted in my questioning and now realized why she had been so prominent during my initial sighting of her. She had been walking alone; she had not been with anyone, not holding hands or being bustled along by anxious parents. She’d simply attached herself to some adults and children and had followed them … I could see it all now. It had meant nothing to me at that first sighting; now it meant everything.

  ‘Janice, where do your mummy and daddy live?’

  ‘With me, at home,’ she said.

  ‘No, I mean which town. You must know which town you live in.’

  She merely shrugged her shoulders. At this the woman at my side attempted to gain this information.

  ‘Janice, how old are you?’

  ‘6¾,’ she said.

  ‘And which school do you go to?’

  ‘Roseberry Road Infants,’ she said without hesitation.

  ‘That’s in Middlesbrough,’ the woman told me. ‘I’m from Middlesbrough, but I’ve never heard of Tayforth Street. I wonder if it’s on that new council estate?’

  ‘What’s your other name, Janice?’ I asked.

  ‘Massey,’ she said. ‘Janice Massey.’

  ‘And you came to Strensford all by yourself?’

  ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘I want to see the sands and the sea and dig sand castles.’

  ‘Do your mummy and daddy know you’ve come?’

  She shook her head. ‘They couldn’t bring me, so
I came by myself. I’m all right.’

  My heart sank.

  ‘What about your money?’ I put to her. ‘How did you pay the man for coming on the train?’

  ‘No, he never asked. I walked near other children.’

  ‘And you walked near other children when you got here?’ I asked.

  She nodded. ‘Then I got lost. I’m looking for the sands, so I can dig my castles.’

  ‘You nearly got there,’ I smiled. ‘But look, I’ll have to take you to the police station, and we’ll have to tell your mummy and daddy where you are. They’ll be very worried. Then I’m sure they will come and take you to see the sea and to dig castles on the sands.’

  ‘All right,’ and I helped her off the high stool. She was so light and fragile; she looked almost undernourished, but she was a pretty child with blue eyes and that long blonde hair. But at close quarters she needed a good bath; her hair was full of dirt and needed a thorough washing. Her pale skin was grimy too. Her cheap, thin little dress was crumpled and poor, and on her feet were a pair of sandals which were almost worn out. I began to wonder about her background.

  I thanked the shopkeeper for taking care of her and also the woman who’d found her, and told them both that I’d take her to the police station. There she would be fed, and there were those games we kept for such occasions, and while she was there, we would ask Middlesbrough Police to locate the parents and ensure they collected her.

  Janice held my hand tightly as we walked through the town, and she kept asking me where the sea was and which way she would have to go to find it. I told her but said that first we had to tell her parents. As a small consolation, I took her along the harbourside and showed her the fishing boats and pleasure cruisers, and she loved the gulls which settled on the pavements and roads, seeking titbits from visitors.