by Michael Wood
Her children were staying at Jenny’s house for the time being; both sisters thinking this was the safer option, but it couldn’t be a permanent one. They needed their mother now more than ever since the murder of their father. She needed to get a grip, and take control of her life.
‘The kids are asking for you,’ Jenny said. ‘They’re scared. They want to know what’s going on.’
‘I’d like to know what’s going on myself.’
‘Alice, you need to snap out of this. You need to get up, have a shower, have something to eat, sort your house out and get your kids back in their own bedrooms at night.’
‘Jenny, I can’t have them back here. Not yet.’
‘Why not?’
‘What if he comes back?’
‘The burglar?’
Alice nodded.
‘Why would he come back?’
‘Oh for Christ’s sake, look around you. Haven’t you noticed yet?’
‘Noticed what?’
‘What’s missing?’
Jenny looked around the large living room. The TV was still there, as was the DVD player and several games consoles. ‘Nothing that I can think of.’
‘Exactly.’
‘What are you talking about?’
‘He didn’t steal anything. He trashed the place but he didn’t take anything. He’s coming back.’
‘You don’t know that.’
‘Yes I do,’ she said with stern determination.
‘How?’
‘He asked me for money. He said he’d come for his ten grand.’
‘What?’ Jenny asked, confusion written all over her face. ‘Was he a loan shark?’
‘No! He said he’d come for his money. He seemed pretty sure I owed him money. When I said I didn’t know what he was talking about he kicked right off.’
‘But you don’t owe anyone any money, do you?’
‘Of course not.’
‘And Kevin didn’t?’
‘No.’
‘Maybe he got the wrong house.’
‘No. He knew my name. Jenny, do you think Lucas might owe someone money and they’ve come here for it?’
‘Oh God. I don’t know.’
‘Have you seen him lately?’
‘I’ve not seen him for ages. You?’
‘No.’
‘Oh shit. What’s he got into?’
‘I’ve no idea, but if it is to do with Lucas we’d both better watch our backs. This is a nasty piece of work. If he knows I’m related to Lucas, then he’ll know you are too. He could be watching us.’
‘Oh my God, Alice, don’t say that.’ She wiped a tear from her face before it could roll down her podgy cheek. ‘What about your kids?’
‘I don’t know. I thought they’d be safer with you but now I’ve had time to think about it all I don’t know if there’s anywhere they’d be safe.’
‘Maybe we should—’
The doorbell rang. Under the tension in the house it sounded louder than usual and both Jenny and Alice jumped. Jenny gave a yelp and clamped a clammy hand firmly over her mouth.
‘Do you think that’s him?’ Jenny asked in a muffled whisper.
‘I doubt he’d come to the front door and ring the bell.’
Alice leaned over to the window and angled her head slowly around the curtain. When she saw Aaron and Rory standing on the doorstep she visibly relaxed, then suddenly fear overtook her once more.
‘Shit, it’s the police. Look, Jenny, don’t tell them anything about the burglar. Don’t mention Lucas, the ten grand, or anything. Do you understand? He may be a pain in the backside but he’s still our brother. We protect each other. Like Mum and Dad taught us.’
‘But they could help. They could move you and the kids to a safe house or something.’
‘It doesn’t work like that, Jenny. Just say nothing, OK?’
‘I don’t like this.’
‘Neither do I.’ The doorbell rang again. ‘I’d better answer it.’
Walking slowly to the front door, Alice smoothed down her tracksuit and ran her fingers through her knotted hair. A brief glance in the hallway mirror told her she looked completely different to the glamorous Alice Hardaker she usually presented to the world. Right now though, a made-up face and designer clothes were the last thing on her mind.
‘Mrs Hardaker, I’m DS Connolly and this is DC Fleming. Do you remember us from last night?’
‘Of course I do. What can I do for you?’
‘We need you to come with us to the station.’
‘What for?’
‘We need you to make a formal statement about your husband.’
‘It’s not really convenient right now,’ she said, looking back over her shoulder.
‘I’m afraid DCI Darke insists that you come with us right now.’
‘Am I under arrest?’
‘No you’re not.’
‘So I don’t have to come if I don’t want to.’
‘DCI Darke could issue a warrant for your arrest if she believes you’re obstructing an investigation.’
Alice stared into Aaron’s eyes. She tried to remain stoic and icy but after everything that had happened over the past few days her emotions were all over the place. She blinked and turned away first.
‘Fine. I’ll get my coat.’
She slammed the door on the waiting officers and went back into the living room. Jenny looked a bundle of nerves. She’d obviously heard everything that had been said on the doorstep.
‘Oh Jesus Christ, Alice. Do you think they’ve arrested Lucas? Maybe they think he’s killed Kevin. Maybe he has. Shit, Alice, what if Lucas has actually killed someone?’ Her voice was no louder than a whisper but she was in full panic mode.
‘Jenny, you need to calm down. It’s probably to do with Kevin. Look, take care of my kids and I’ll come straight over to yours as soon as I’m finished.’
‘What if they want to question me?’
‘So what? You don’t know anything.’
‘Look at me though, I’m shaking. If they put me in one of those interview rooms, I’ll break down. I’ll probably say that Lucas is really Lord Lucan or something. You know what I’m like Alice.’
‘There’s no reason to interview you, Jenny. You told that DC Glass everything you know the other night.’
Alice took her younger sister by the shoulders and pulled her close. She kissed her on top of her head and released her. ‘Tell Warren and Milly that I love them and they can come home tonight when I’ve tidied up. That’s a promise.’
With that, she turned and left the room. She picked up her coat and bag from the hallway and opened the front door where Aaron and Rory were still in the same position she’d left them in.
‘After you then, gentlemen,’ she said, slamming the door firmly behind her.
Back in the house, Jenny helped herself to a small whisky from the decanter in the living room. She hated the stuff, the smell alone made her want to heave, but she needed something to settle her nerves. She threw the golden liquid to the back of her throat and quickly swallowed. It tasted nasty but she felt the effects immediately. She took a larger measure from the decanter and necked that too.
Taking a deep breath, Jenny looked around the room at the broken furniture and discarded cushions. It would be nice for Alice to return home to a neat and tidy house. Then the kids could come straight here from school. She had just begun when the landline started ringing.
It took a while for Jenny to locate the handset. ‘Hello,’ she answered, running her fingers through her hair.
‘Alice Hardaker.’ The voice was muffled and deep.
‘She’s not in at the moment. I’m her sister. Can I take a message?’
‘Yes. You can tell her I’ll be back for my money later. If she hasn’t got it, then it’ll go up to fifteen grand.’
Jenny hung up and threw the handset down on the floor. The tears came. What the hell had Lucas got them all mixed up in?
THIRTY-ONE
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‘I’m being watched. I know it sounds stupid and I know you’ll think I’m being paranoid, at first I thought I was too, but when Scott was run off the road I knew that I was right.’
‘Matilda, you’re not making any sense. What are you talking about?’ the ACC asked from behind her desk.
‘I’ve noticed a black BMW following me lately. It’s everywhere I go. The car that ran Scott off the road was also a black BMW. It can’t be a coincidence.’
‘You think someone is out there targeting the police?’
‘I didn’t want to think so but it seems like it.’
Matilda was determined to tell the ACC about her being followed, but with every step up to her office she went off the idea more and more, putting it down to her overactive imagination. If these incidents were solely aimed at her she would have dismissed them herself, but not with Scott being hurt.
When she entered the ACC’s office she couldn’t get the words out quickly enough. She had refused the offer of a seat and launched into her rehearsed tirade.
‘Have you got the registration number of the one following you?’
Matilda looked to the floor. She felt guilty. ‘No. To be honest, I wasn’t taking it seriously.’
‘OK. For now, let’s not panic. If you see the car again, get the number and run a check. Also, try and get more information out of Scott about the type of BMW that ran him off the road.’
‘Will do.’
‘Keep me informed on this, Matilda. And for now, it’s just between us, OK?’
When Matilda left the office she leaned against the wall and let out a massive sigh. At least now if anyone else was hurt she wouldn’t feel as guilty. Who was she kidding? She’d feel guilty regardless. She was heading back to the Murder Room when Aaron accosted her.
‘I’ve been looking for you. We’ve got Alice Hardaker in interview room two.’
‘Good. Did she mind coming in?’
‘Well she wasn’t happy about it.’
Matilda had to walk faster to keep up with the lengthy strides of the towering Aaron Connolly. As they made their way to the interview room Aaron filled Matilda in on Alice’s behaviour. She then informed Aaron of how she wanted the interview to go, what she wanted to know, and which roles they would both play. Before entering, Matilda stopped a passing uniformed officer and asked him to bring them three teas. She took a deep breath and opened the door.
Alice had transformed completely since the night Matilda first met her. She had answered the door looking neat and tidy, hair nicely combed back, skin freshly moisturized and looking elegant. Now, she was wearing old clothes that were covered in heavy creases and stains, her hair was knotted; there were bags under her eyes and her dehydrated skin gave the impression she had a slow puncture.
‘Mrs Hardaker, thank you for coming in,’ Matilda said, sitting down opposite her.
‘It was hardly an invitation. I don’t feel like I had much choice,’ she replied, glaring at Aaron.
‘We need to discover what happened to your husband. In order to do that we need to question everyone involved. Sometimes on more than one occasion.’
‘I told DC Glass everything I know. Look, I had no idea Kevin was having an affair. Do you honestly think I would have put up with it if I had? He would have been out on his ear. My parents divorced when I was five. My dad cheated on my mum. It tore us all apart. I swore that I wouldn’t put up with it when I married. Kevin knew all this too.’
‘Did you know he had stopped playing tennis?’
‘Not until you came to my house and shattered my world, no.’ She sounded angry, as if all of this was Matilda’s fault.
‘Does the name Lois Craven mean anything to you?’
‘Yes. She’s the slag who stole my husband.’
‘You know her then?’
‘Only from what I’ve read about in the papers. No, I don’t know the Craven family at all. I’ve been through everything of Kevin’s in the house to try and find something about his secret life. He was obviously very careful because I’ve not turned up anything, the bastard.’
There was a knock on the door and Matilda was glad of the interruption. She needed Alice to calm down, to start thinking rationally about the questions she answered rather than saying the first thing that came into her head. The uniformed officer brought in three mugs on a tray and placed it down in the centre of the table. He left without making eye contact with anyone.
Matilda handed a cup to Alice. She looked at it and wrinkled her nose. Was it the colour of the tea or the fact it was a chipped mug and not a china cup that irked Alice? Matilda wondered.
She took a sip and a small smile appeared on her face. It obviously tasted better than it looked.
‘Alice, how are the children coping with all this?’
‘I’ve not told them,’ she shrugged. ‘They’re too young. DC Glass helped me with that. He told them Kevin had been in a small car accident and that he was in hospital. They keep asking but I honestly don’t know what to say to them.’ She turned away to hide her tears. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘Don’t be.’
‘I’ve no idea why I’m crying. The man betrayed me. He lied to me and his children. I can’t forgive that. I certainly can’t forget it.’
‘Alice, Detective Sergeant Connolly here tells me you were burgled.’
She nodded. ‘That’s right.’
‘But we have no record of that.’
‘That’s because I didn’t report it.’
‘Why not?’
‘Because there was no point. Nothing was taken. I disturbed him before he could steal anything. Besides, it was in the papers the other week that the police are too understaffed to always come out. South Yorkshire Police are fourth from bottom when it comes to solving burglaries. You only catch about nine per cent of them. What’s the point in reporting it? You lot wouldn’t have even bothered once you’d found out nothing was stolen.’
‘You still should have called us.’
‘Why? It would have been another unsolved crime on your statistics. I doubt you need anymore more of those.’
Was that a dig? Was she talking about Carl Meagan?
‘Alice, don’t you think it’s a coincidence that you happen to be burgled around the same time your husband is murdered?’
‘No. I read the papers. I watch the news. There’s a whole spate of robberies going on in Sheffield at the moment. And what are you doing about them? Bugger all.’
‘A dedicated unit has been set up to deal with those.’ Matilda found herself defending DI Brady and his team.
Alice leaned back in her chair and folded her arms. ‘Yes, you’re good at that aren’t you? Something happens so you form a unit or a team or a committee. Just like the government: a member of the cabinet gives himself a paper cut and the Prime Minister holds a COBRA meeting. God knows why, for all the good it does.’
‘I think we’re getting away from the matter in hand here,’ Matilda said. ‘Do you know where your brother is, Alice?’
‘Oh here we go. I wondered how long it would be before you brought him into it. Yes, he’s been in the nick for burglaries in the past but he’s put it all behind him now. He’s got himself a flat, he’s got himself a legit job. Can’t you lot just leave—?’
‘Alice, your brother assaulted one of our police officers yesterday.’
‘What?’ That stopped her dead. Her eyes widened and she felt around her collar. ‘No. I … no. Lucas isn’t like that.’
‘Two members of my team went to his place of work. As soon as he found out they were detectives he fled, not before throwing a carjack at one of them and hitting him on the head.’
Alice didn’t say anything. She looked straight ahead, yet her eyes were moving from side to side.
‘It was DC Joseph Glass who your brother injured.’
‘Is he going to be all right?’ She sounded genuinely concerned.
‘We don’t know yet. He’s still unconscious. I need to know wher
e he is, Alice.’
‘I’ve no idea. Honestly, I don’t. Look, if I knew, I’d tell you. I don’t want a cop killer in my family.’
As soon as she mentioned a cop killer, Matilda and Aaron exchanged glances. It was the first time the possibility Joseph could die had been mentioned. The atmosphere in the room changed dramatically.
‘Lucas only really comes round when he wants something. Months can go by without me seeing him.’
‘What kind of things does he want?’
‘Money usually.’
‘What about a place to hide if the police were after him?’
‘No. Well, I mean he might come round and ask but I wouldn’t let him in. I don’t want my kids seeing that. Look, I’m sorry about DC Glass I really am. He’s a lovely young man. If I knew where Lucas was I’d tell you.’
‘Let’s get back to your husband,’ Matilda said, swallowing the bile of grief that was slowly rising. ‘Can you think of anyone who would want to kill him?’
‘No. At the moment I hate him, that’ll pass, I know that. However, he was a good man. He didn’t have any enemies. He was hard-working, he provided for us, especially recently when I was made redundant. He looked after the kids, took them out. Every time Sheffield United played at home, or locally, he and Sam three doors down took the lads, whatever the weather. He was everything you’d want in a husband and father. The fact that he turned out to be a lying, cheating, waste of a fu—’
‘Alice,’ Matilda interrupted. ‘Moving on to the burglary, can you describe the person who broke in?’
‘No. It was dark. It happened so fast.’
‘Surely you must have noticed something.’
‘No. He was tall, broad shoulders, dressed in black. That’s all I can say. I know it’s not much but I was scared. You can hardly expect me to grab my mobile and ask him to pose for a selfie. Look, why are you asking me about a burglary where nothing was taken? It’s not important. Someone is out there who killed the father of my children. I’m not bothered for me but they’ll want to know who killed him and why. You should be looking for him not interrogating me.’
‘Alice, we’re not interrogating you. We just need to—’
