by Mel Sherratt
‘Jacob?’
‘I might be.’
Craig pulled him to his feet and flung him up against the wall. A picture of a kitten and a bull terrier began to wobble but hung on to its hook for dear life. The coffee table upended, the contents of the ashtray spewing over the carpet.
‘Hey, be careful!’ Sandra complained. ‘I’m the one who’ll have to clean it all up afterwards.’ She flounced off into the kitchen, slamming the door behind her.
‘Do you want to tell me what happened last night?’ Craig’s face was an inch from Jacob’s.
‘I didn’t do anything!’ He pushed at Craig’s hands. ‘I swear.’
‘He’s telling the truth!’ His twin brother, Tommy, appeared in the doorway. ‘I was with him.’
‘I’m warning you. If you had anything –’ Craig drew back his fist.
Tommy grabbed it but Craig shrugged him off.
‘I swear, we had nothing to do with it,’ said Jacob.
Craig loosened his grip on Jacob, his eyes flitting from one to the other. It was a really strange experience, making him feel a little giddy. Tommy and Jacob were identical twins. They’d even had the same tattoo inked in the same place so that no one could tell them apart.
‘Where did you go last night?’ Craig kept his eyes on Jacob.
‘We walked in to Burslem – to The Leopard for a few pints,’ said Tommy. ‘Then we went for a kebab before piling in our mate’s place off Moorland Road for a couple more drinks.’
‘What time were you back?’
‘About half one, I think?’ Tommy looked to his brother for confirmation.
Jacob nodded, still looking at Craig.
Craig looked from one to the other again. He didn’t trust Jacob at all but decided to use the opportunity to get a bit more information from him. He dropped his guard.
‘Do either of you want to earn some cash?’ he asked them.
‘Doing what?’ asked Jacob.
‘Someone in these flats knows something. I need a pair of eyes and ears.’
‘Not me.’ Tommy held up his hands. ‘I’m in enough trouble with my lady already. If I end up inside again, she’ll swing for me.’
Jacob was quiet for a moment. Then, ‘How much?’
‘Fifty quid.’
‘That’s less than minimum wage,’ he protested.
‘Take it or leave it.’ Craig shrugged.
‘Seventy-five sounds better to me.’
‘Don’t push your luck.’
‘Okay.’ Jacob grinned.
Craig pushed him towards the door. ‘If you see anything, come and give me the information as you get it.’
‘Wait!’ Jacob shouted after him. ‘What time do you want me here until?’
‘All day and night if necessary.’
‘But . . . When will I get paid?’
Craig raised a hand. ‘Don’t worry about that. You just find out what you can.’
As soon as Craig had disappeared out of sight, Jacob went out onto the walkway. He lit a cigarette and took a puff, waited for the hit to get him and sighed as he blew out the smoke.
He glanced at the media van that was parked in the background next to a Ford Fiesta with the local BBC radio motif across its door. A cluster of people were chatting, holding mugs of tea that had been brought out on a tray by some woman. A camera had been set up on a tripod by their side.
He wondered if it would be better to go downstairs and sniff things out in the heart of the action, but then again he could see everything from here. He didn’t have to hear everything to get his cash. Craig couldn’t have it both ways – or else he’d have to pay him double.
Tommy came out to join him a few minutes later. ‘Do you know who it is?’
Jacob nodded, watched his brother’s face lose its colour.
‘Yeah,’ he said. ‘It’s Jordan Johnson.’
‘Fuck, no way!’ Tommy gasped. Then his eyes narrowed. ‘How the hell do you know?’
‘It’s not what you think. I heard someone say downstairs.’
‘You’ve been out first thing?’ Tommy’s tone was dubious.
‘Yeah, went to fetch some cigs. I ran out last night.’ Jacob rested his chin on his arms, watching what was going on below. ‘Someone is looking sick when they find out who did it.’
‘I don’t think anyone round here has the bottle. Do you?’
‘Naw. It’ll be someone come from outside. It’ll be a setup or something.’
‘You mean a hit?’
Jacob nodded.
‘Shit.’ Tommy ran a hand over his chin. ‘Are you sure he won’t think we had anything to do with it?’
Jacob shook his head. ‘Why would he?’
‘Oh, maybe the fact that I didn’t go out with you last night, so I was lying.’
Jacob grinned. ‘Yeah, cheers for covering for me.’
‘Landing myself in the shit, more like it.’ Tommy looked down onto the ground for a moment too. ‘So where were you?’
‘Stayed over at Diane’s.’
‘Yeah, right.’
‘I was – you can ask her. Where were you?’
‘Over at Kayleigh’s.’
‘Cool. At least I know.’
‘How about Flynn’s? Have you been there lately?’
Jacob looked sheepish. ‘I was thrown out of there last week.’
‘For fuck’s sake.’ Tommy sighed. ‘What for this time?’
‘Someone knocked their pint over me and wouldn’t say sorry. So I lamped him one.’
Tommy shook his head in disbelief.
‘I was tanked up! Bouncers threw me out. I told one of them that I’d have him if I saw him on his own too. And I would. He thinks he’s hard but he’s an old-timer. I could take him down easy.’
‘What if they have it on camera or something? The police are bound to check out all CCTV there. When exactly was it last week?’
‘Last Saturday night. But they won’t link it to this, will they?’
‘I don’t know how far they’ll look back!’
‘I was drunk!’
‘You were fucking stupid.’
They were quiet for a moment.
‘It will blow over,’ Jacob tried to reassure his brother.
‘What if the bouncer grasses you up when they find out where Jordan was murdered?’
‘Why would he do that? It’s nothing to do with what’s going on down there.’ He pointed to the ground. ‘Besides, they probably won’t remember me. They must be knocking back punches all the time in their job.’
‘They might!’ Tommy prodded him in the chest. ‘Have you any idea what will happen to you – to us – if Ryan Johnson does think you’re involved? He’ll be after your fucking blood.’
‘I’m telling the truth!’
‘Yeah.’ Tommy wouldn’t meet his eye. ‘Look, we just need to get our story straight, that’s all.’
‘But I didn’t do anything.’ Jacob stared at his brother. ‘We have to look out for each other, bro. You’re either with me or I’ll do this on my own.’
Steve didn’t know how he’d managed to keep his temper under control when he’d first seen Craig that morning. He’d wanted to rip out his eyes for losing some of the money. But he had a bigger problem on his hands now that Jordan was dead. He needed to figure out a way of keeping the truth from the police.
If everyone kept their mouth shut, things would be fine, but he knew only too well that the more people were involved, the more risky the operation would be, and the harder it would be for everyone to keep quiet. Unless he was a good actor, Craig didn’t seem to know anything about there being less money. But Steve knew him from old and he wasn’t going to trust him. If Craig was fearful of what could happen, he might do a runner before even attempting to locate the money.
He had to take a chance.
More importantly, though, he needed to figure out for himself who was likely to have their money. He had to have it back in his hands by the end of the day. He didn’t want to disappoint Terry now, not after all this time waiting for a chance to prove that he was trustworthy.
His phone went. ‘Yes?’ he barked down it.
‘Mr Burgess. My name is DS Shenton from Staffordshire Police.’
Steve sat up straight in his chair. ‘What can I do for you, Sergeant?’ he asked.
‘I’m at a crime scene at the moment and wondered if there was anyone I could talk to at Flynn’s.’
‘Crime scene?’
‘There’s been a suspicious death this morning. We believe the victim was at the club last night.’
‘Oh, right. I see.’ Steve played ignorant. ‘I could meet you there in, say, an hour, if I leave now?’
‘That would be great. Thanks.’
Steve disconnected the call and grabbed his jacket. He made his way across the city from Longton to Hanley, parked his car and unlocked the doors to Flynn’s. After a quick look around to see whether any staff had come in early, he went upstairs to his office and closed the door. Sitting down at his desk, he pressed play on the cameras. He wanted to check what was on the camera footage, see exactly what it showed on the screen. See if he needed to bury anything before the police turned up or whether he was home and dry.
He’d been lying when he’d told Craig that the machine wasn’t working but he wasn’t going to let on why.
12.15 P.M.
‘Where were you last night?’ Sandra asked Tommy as he sat glued to the television. She’d made them both a sandwich for lunch and had eaten most of hers but he still hadn’t stopped playing the video game he was engrossed in.
‘I was out with Jacob,’ he said, eyes not leaving the screen as he shot another round of bullets. He held up his hand. ‘You made me lose my concentration. I’d only just got to level four!’
‘You’ll lose more than that if you’re lying to cover up for your brother again.’ Sandra had his attention then. ‘I know you stayed over at Kayleigh’s house last night so why did you say you were out with him?’
‘Because we’re always the first to get the blame for anything around here. He’d do the same for me.’
Sandra scoffed. ‘You sure about that?’
‘Yeah.’
‘Is that why he’s let you do time for him?’
Tommy scowled at his mother. Just because she was right didn’t mean that he wanted to hear it again. It was like a broken record, brought up every time someone came after them. Jacob often landed himself in trouble and because they were identical twins, there were many occasions when he hadn’t taken the rap, saying he’d been mistaken for Tommy. It had been his word against his brother’s and no matter how close they were, there had always been an underlying threat that Jacob would hurt him if he didn’t do as he was told.
On several occasions, he’d pulled out a knife if Tommy had threatened not to lie for him.
Because he hadn’t been able to handle a beating, Tommy had also admitted to things he hadn’t done. Only eight months ago, he’d served six weeks as half of a three-month sentence for theft, yet he hadn’t done anything wrong. Jacob had denied everything. DNA – it was the same for identical twins. They had unique fingerprints but blood, saliva, sperm, anything that could be tested, Tommy would match to Jacob. It worked to Jacob’s advantage, not to his, and he wasn’t about to go through it all again, not now he had a girlfriend.
Jacob was the braver twin, the one who would take all the risks. He was better with his fists and used to talking his way out of things. That’s why Tommy had always pleaded guilty despite never being involved in anything.
But was Jacob involved with this? Surely he hadn’t had anything to do with a murder? What the hell would he be covering for this time – or worse, trying to get out of ?
‘That’s what family do,’ he said to his mother.
‘That’s only loyal when it’s done both ways.’ Sandra sat forward, placed a hand tentatively on Tommy’s forearm. ‘Look, son, our Jacob is a bad one, but it doesn’t mean that you have to do his dirty work for him. If he’s involved in any way, don’t take the blame. He needs to be responsible for his own actions.’
‘What do you mean?’ Tommy turned sharply towards her. ‘Do you think he had something to do with that lot outside?’
Sandra shrugged her shoulders. ‘I just have a feeling, that’s all.’
Tommy went cold.
At Harrison House, Allie located Perry on the ground floor and pointed upwards. ‘Uniform knocked on both flats where the women live but no one answered at either. We need to go to Flynn’s for one p.m. but shall we try them again first?’
The woman who answered the door to flat 210 certainly fitted the description of the woman who might have been seen earlier that morning. She was of slim build and had long dark hair. Her eyes and face were swollen and blotchy. Allie noticed a tissue in her hand.
‘Hello. DS Shenton and DC Wright, Staffordshire Police. We’re going door-to-door at the moment about the incident that happened last night. Mind if we ask you a few questions?’
Sophie nodded but didn’t move aside. ‘I’m not sure I’ll be able to help.’
‘Let me be the judge of that. May we come in for a moment, please?’ Allie smiled at her.
They were shown in to another living room, this one more orderly, homely and fragranced better than some they had visited over the past few hours. Perry drew out his notebook again.
‘Are you okay?’ Allie asked, noticing how ill she looked close up. ‘You don’t look very well.’
‘I’ve got a rotten cold at the moment.’ Sophie held up a hand. ‘I wouldn’t get too close to me, if I were you.’
‘Just got rid of one myself,’ said Perry with a smile. ‘Nasty bugger too. Man-flu, probably.’
Sophie gave a faint smile in return as Allie rolled her eyes in jest.
‘Do you live alone, Miss . . . ?’
‘Adams . . . Rebecca Adams. And, yes, there’s only me here.’
‘Thanks. Can you tell me where you were last night, particularly between the hours of one and four a.m., please?’ she asked.
‘I was in bed.’
‘Were you in all evening, too?’
‘Yes. With the Night Nurse.’
Allie grimaced. ‘Nasty medicine but it does the job. No husband or boyfriend looking after you? No friends?’
Sophie drew her cardigan around her middle. ‘No, I live alone.’
‘I assume you’ve heard about the incident last night?’
‘A little on the radio – and from what my neighbour told me. Do you know who it is?’
‘We’re still making enquiries. But you didn’t see or hear anything out of the ordinary? Anything – anything at all?’
‘No.’ Sophie shook her head. ‘Sorry, I was out like a light.’
‘Only the victim was found by one of your neighbours. She was out walking her dog and she said she saw someone with long dark hair going into the flats around three thirty a.m. this morning. It wasn’t you, was it?’ Allie’s hand went up before she could reply. ‘Don’t worry; we only need to rule people out at this stage.’
She shook her head. ‘I don’t go out on my own around here at night, even when I’m feeling okay.’
‘And you didn’t hear anything unusual, any noise?’
‘No, sorry.’
Allie nodded. ‘Thank you for your time, Miss Adams.’
Perry wrote in his notebook before looking up. ‘We’ll be in touch if we need to speak to you again.’
‘Thoughts, Perry?’ Allie asked once they were out on the walkway again.
‘Hmm, not sure she has a cold. She wasn’t nasal. When I have a cold –’
They walked along to where Leah Matthews lived at flat 203. Allie held up her warrant card as she opened the door. No need for introductions: Leah was known to them both.
‘Yes.’ Leah cleared her throat. ‘Yes,’ she repeated in a lower tone.
‘We’re investigating a suspicious death that happened in the early hours of this morning. Can we come in for a moment?’
‘I suppose.’
‘I bet it came as quite a shock, something so close to where you live,’ said Allie, as they went through to the living room.
‘Yes,’ said Leah, sitting down.
‘We’re going round checking people’s whereabouts last night, to see if anyone saw or heard anything unusual. Can you tell me where you were between one a.m. and four a.m. this morning?’
‘I was here.’
‘Do you live alone?’
‘Yes.’
‘And were you alone last night?’
‘Yes. Why?’
‘A woman matching your description was seen coming into the flats last night around three thirty a.m. and we wanted to talk to her, to eliminate her from our enquiries.’
‘Oh,’ Leah shrugged. ‘Well, it wasn’t me. I fell asleep on the sofa.’
‘Can you remember about what time?’
Leah’s eyes darted everywhere. ‘It must have been about half nine, I think.’
‘And you went to bed at . . .’
‘I didn’t. I woke on the sofa.’ She rubbed at her neck. ‘Still aching from it.’
Allie paused for a moment. As the silence became loaded, she saw Leah sit on her hands. She looked at her pointedly.
‘You been keeping out of trouble lately, Leah?’ she asked.
‘Yes.’ Leah swallowed.
‘No thieving and shoplifting. Nothing like that?’
‘No!’
‘That’s good to hear.’ Perry eyed her warily.
‘So you’re sure you didn’t hear anything out of the ordinary?’ Allie asked one more time.
