Friends to Die For

by Hilary Bonner

  There was more to come. So much more to come. I found that I was actually beginning to enjoying the challenge. There was satisfaction, pleasure almost, to be derived from manipulating those around me.

  I was in control, there was no doubt about that. I had already proved it to myself. And also, I suspected, to the Metropolitan Police. They were deaf and blind to my machinations. They had failed to see the footprints that I had left. Neither had they heard my song of death.

  I did not believe that I was a monster, nor that I had ever been a monster. But I knew that, whenever it was necessary, whenever I so desired, I could divorce myself from the kind of human responses generally regarded as normal. Whatever normal might purport to be in a cataclysmic world.

  I was not a monster, but almost certainly a freak. Indeed, I knew I was a freak. But not a freak of nature. I had been made into what I was by the actions of another, my life shattered by a deed which had too long gone unpunished, an act of unspeakable evil.

  I was a freak, and I was a victim. But I was also strong. My suffering had made me stronger than anyone I had ever encountered.

  And I was clever. So very much cleverer than I appeared to be. So much cleverer than those around me. I’d learned to live by my wits. My brain was my engine, the instrument of the destruction I must deploy. I needed nothing more than that which was within me in order to claim my just retribution.

  And what will you do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which shall come from far? To whom will ye flee for help? And where will ye leave your glory?

  Vogel was in an unusually good mood when he arrived at Charing Cross the following morning.

  He’d won the previous evening’s backgammon tournament with rare ease. He had done so without having to meet his bête noire, the luck of the draw having gone his way. Or, in Vogel’s mind, perhaps the only thing that hadn’t gone his way. If anything, it had taken a little of the shine off his triumph, not having had the opportunity to overcome the opponent he most feared. Vogel believed that fears were there to be conquered.

  His prize had been £400, two-thirds of the sum of the £50 entrance fee paid by each of the twelve entrants. The money, in cash of course, sat untouched in his inside jacket pocket. Vogel had won much more than he’d lost over his years of playing backgammon, but that was irrelevant to him. Except in as much as it represented victory. And that alone gave him satisfaction as he occasionally touched the bulge in his jacket with the fingers of one hand.

  There was something else. He had immediately recognized one of the younger competitors, from the police mugshot he’d so recently studied, as Sunday Clubber Ari Kabul. This had given Vogel opportunity to watch, and perhaps learn, without his own identity being revealed. Kabul was knocked out in the first round and retreated to the bar where, Vogel noticed, he downed two or three large shots of a clear spirit and began chatting to a young woman. After a few minutes the pair disappeared from the room in the general direction of the toilets. The young woman was already unsteady upon her feet. They returned wrapped around each other and talking in loud animated voices. It didn’t take a genius to work out that the purpose of their lavatorial visit had been the ingestion of certain substances rather than the fulfilment of other more basic bodily functions. Something the bar manager seemed also to have noticed. He approached Ari and murmured in his ear. Ari shook his head and appeared to protest. Then he led his companion to the door. It was obvious that both of them had been asked to leave. Vogel was not surprised. It was no secret that Harpo’s had almost lost its licence the previous year because of allegations of drug use and dealing on the premises. As a result, the club was cracking down on any such indiscretions.

  Vogel was still thinking about Ari Kabul’s behaviour when he arrived at Charing Cross more than an hour early for his shift, as was often his way. He had certainly learned something about the young Asian, albeit remaining as yet unsure of its significance, assuming it had any significance.

  Kabul’s brush with the law the previous year had obviously not stopped his usage of illicit substances, almost certainly cocaine. And judging from the alacrity with which the Harpo’s bar manager had acted the previous evening, Vogel suspected that his habit was well known. He was only surprised that Ari was allowed in Harpo’s at all. But then again, this was an extremely rich and privileged young man whose inherited position in life would frequently open doors and rarely close them.

  Vogel logged in to his computer and wrote a full report of the previous day’s events, including his visit to Greg and Karen Walker and his unexpected encounter with Ari Kabul. This he emailed to his immediate superior, along with a note saying that he wished to continue with his inquiries that day.

  He did not wait for sanction from those above him. Instead he set off back into Covent Garden. It was not often that he took unilateral action. Usually cases came his way via the appropriate chain of command, but if something caught his attention, then he was confident his superiors would allow him to pursue it. This was not only because of his exceptional results, but also because of his detailed chronicling of everything that he did. No one was ever left out of the loop. No superior officer ever had the embarrassment of being forced to admit they didn’t know what Vogel was up to, because he always told them. But that was exactly what he did. He told them, he didn’t ask. And by and large he got away with it and was allowed to proceed unhindered.

  At forty-one, Vogel was older than the average detective sergeant. In view of his crime-solving success rate, it was surprising that he remained in this lowly rank; whether this was his choice or that of his superiors was something of a grey area. Certainly Vogel gave little sign of being ambitious, and were he to rise up the chain of command his uniquely independent modus operandi may well have been curtailed. As things stood, it was debatable who benefited most from his highly individual situation, Vogel or his superiors.

  He took a number 9 double-decker along the Strand. So far as he was concerned, an unmarked CID car was more trouble than it was worth in central London, on routine enquiries anyway. And although he had £400 in cash in his pocket, it was not Vogel’s habit to waste his money on taxis, nor indeed on anything else, and taxi fares were not submissible expenses for Metropolitan Police sergeants. On another day he would have walked all the way, but on this occasion he was in too much of a hurry.

  Vogel was convinced that if he did not achieve a result swiftly in this case then more people could be hurt. Perhaps even killed. And, as usual, he believed that if he didn’t crack it, nobody else would.

  He alighted from the bus at Aldwych, then walked up Wellington Street and Bow Street into the heart of the Garden, to the converted warehouse behind the opera house where Marlena lived. He now had a list of people he wanted to see and locations he wanted to check out, and Marlena was next on that list. After all, the incident involving her had been the most serious, as it remained the only one to have presented a direct threat to human life.

  The woman, balanced precariously on her crutches, let him into her flat with some reluctance.

  ‘I’ve already been through this again and again,’ she said, wincing as she lowered herself into a chair in the small sitting room.

  She was obviously struggling to cope with her injuries. Yet in spite of that, and even though he had called unannounced and she appeared to be alone, Vogel could not help noticing that Marlena was immaculately dressed and wearing full makeup, including, he was almost sure, false eyelashes, beneath the fringes of which she peered at him with some hostility.

  ‘First the two uniformed chaps and then Michelle,’ Marlena continued. ‘You know PC Monahan, I assume?’

  Yes, I know her.’

  ‘Well, she was so eager to get every tiny detail from me she came rushing round late at night as soon as she got back from the training course she’d been on in Belfast – diplomatic protection or something, I think – but then I assume you know all that.’

  ‘More or less,’ said Vogel. He paused only brie
fly before pushing on with the purpose of his visit. ‘But I would appreciate it, Miss McTavish, if—’

  ‘Please don’t call me that,’ interrupted Marlena sharply, glaring at him.

  ‘But it is your name, I understand, madam,’ responded Vogel. ‘Although I must admit that it doesn’t seem to fit very well. You certainly don’t sound Scottish.’

  And that, Vogel thought, was an understatement. The woman was what an actor pal of his would have called theatre grand. She sounded a bit like Donald Sinden in drag.

  ‘I am not Scottish,’ intoned Marlena. ‘My father was, but he and my mother, who was English, parted soon after I was conceived. I was both born and brought up on this side of the border. Thank God. I’m only just beginning to realize I should have changed that bloody name legally, instead of just dropping it. Please call me Marlena. Everyone else does.’

  ‘Very well,’ said Vogel, trying again. ‘So, Marlena, I would appreciate it if you would go through everything again with me. Tell me exactly what happened to you, what you told the police constables and what you told Michelle. I shall be handling this case from now on, and I want to be absolutely sure that nothing has been overlooked.’

  With a theatrical sigh, Marlena told her story yet again.

  When she had finished, it was a thoughtful Vogel who took the lift to the ground floor of Sampford House. He had already decided to change his plans. Instead of visiting other members of the group as he’d intended, Vogel retraced his steps down Bow Street and Wellington Street and took another number 9 bus back to Charing Cross.

  There was something he had to check. Something that had been niggling at the back of his mind from the beginning of his meeting with Marlena. Something he hadn’t expected and had found extremely disturbing.

  Back at the station he got himself a coffee from a vending machine then logged in to his computer. A few minutes later he leaned back in his chair, the paper cup of coffee standing neglected on his desk. His mind was racing.

  As he had suspected, there had been no Belfast training course in diplomatic protection that week, nor indeed any other training course, as far as he could ascertain. It was a matter of record that Michelle was looking for a transfer out of Traffic, and the Ulster police did run such courses for officers based elsewhere, as, for obvious historical reasons, they were regarded as leaders in the field. But not on this occasion.

  In any case, Vogel soon discovered that Michelle had reported sick for the two days she had been absent from work. That too was a matter of record.

  So where had she been during the period between her Sunday-evening supper at Johnny’s Place and her arrival at Marlena’s flat late on Tuesday evening clutching an overnight bag? It seemed highly unlikely that she had been genuinely sick. What had she been doing? Why did she lie to her friends, and presumably to her employers?

  Vogel had no idea. But he planned to find out.

  Neither Billy nor Tiny had returned to work since receiving the news that Daisy had died. And how she’d died.

  Instead they mooched around their flat in their pyjamas alternating between floods of tears and shouting at each other.

  Billy said he couldn’t understand why Tiny hadn’t been watching Daisy properly. Everyone knew that London parks were deceptively dangerous for dogs.

  ‘Are you fucking blaming me for what happened?’ Tiny yelled at him.

  ‘Yes, I fucking am,’ Billy yelled back. ‘Our dog has probably been tortured to death and it’s all your stupid fault.’

  He didn’t really blame Tiny though, and later, when they’d both calmed down, Billy apologized profusely and told his partner that.

  ‘I’m sorry, darling,’ he said. ‘I don’t know what I’m saying, honestly I don’t. I just can’t believe what’s happened, that’s all.’

  Then he took the big man in his arms and told him how much he loved him.

  Ten minutes later they were at each other’s throats again.

  ‘Oh yeah, you love me all right,’ stormed Tiny. ‘So bloody much you keep me a bloody great secret.’

  ‘If you were me, you’d keep you a secret too,’ shouted Billy, though even he wasn’t sure what he meant by that.

  ‘Yeah? And what other fucking secrets are you keeping from me?’ Tiny continued. ‘Sometimes I don’t think I know you at all.’

  ‘Nor me you. Seems I couldn’t even trust you with our Daisy.’

  Tiny couldn’t take it any more. He exploded. For the first time in their relationship he hit out physically at his partner. He rocked back on his heels and threw a punch. But thankfully for Billy, although Tiny was built like an ox and threw a punch that was a bolt of steel, he wasn’t fast. Billy saw the punch coming and flung himself to one side. Instead of hitting Billy’s chin, Tiny’s punch landed on his partner’s right shoulder. But Billy went down like a sack of potatoes. He caught the side of his face on the edge of a low table. The skin split and blood ran freely. Billy cried out in pain as he hit the ground and lay for a few moments whimpering.

  The very sight of him, injured and bleeding, caused Tiny to fall to his knees beside Billy, take him in his arms and beg forgiveness.

  ‘You’ve hurt me, you stupid bastard, you’ve really hurt me,’ said Billy. ‘And it makes me wonder what else you are capable of.’

  ‘Don’t say that, please don’t say that,’ begged Tiny.

  All the anger had left him now. His eyes were filled with tears again and he looked totally broken. Billy loved Tiny too much not to feel compassion for him, even as he lay on the ground wiping the blood from his face with one hand and gingerly twitching his sore shoulder muscles.

  ‘It’s all right,’ he said. ‘It’s all right, darling, I know I went too far. I know what good care you always took of Daisy.’

  ‘Not good enough, it seems,’ said Tiny grimly. ‘You will never be able to make me feel more guilty than I already do.’

  And so it went on, as the two men continued to express their grief and their anger. One minute they were being loving and supportive of each other, and the next hitting out. Although neither did so physically because they both feared the consequences – Billy because he was the weaker and Tiny because he knew he was so much stronger.

  At some time during the day Michelle phoned; to see how they were, she said. Tiny took the call. He asked if there was any news of a post-mortem examination on Daisy and Chump.

  ‘I’m sorry, Tiny, but apparently the powers that be have decided there’s no point,’ Michelle replied. ‘They say it’s obvious how the dogs died. And there’s all this stuff going on about not wasting public money . . .’

  Tiny ended the call and told Billy what Michelle had said.

  ‘Not wasting public money,’ he repeated. ‘How dare they?’

  ‘Don’t worry, darling,’ said Billy, putting a consoling arm around his partner. ‘We’ll get the dogs’ remains returned to us and ask our vet to do a private post-mortem. The bastards can’t stop us doing that.’

  A couple of times they spoke to George on the phone. After all, he was going through the same thing they were going through, wasn’t he? Or rather, they tried to speak to George. He seemed to be in an even worse state than either of them. He couldn’t stop crying long enough to formulate words.

  It was a black day for all the friends. Seven of them had now been directly touched by some mysterious or at least unexplained event, ranging from the seemingly innocent and vaguely amusing to the malevolent, the malicious, and the downright evil. Only Michelle, Ari and Alfonso had not been the victim of either some kind of prank or worse.

  ‘So far,’ said Alfonso, when Ari had called him that morning.

  ‘Yes, well, for myself I wouldn’t mind something happening – something small and inconsequential that is,’ said Ari. ‘I think the others are beginning to suspect us three.’

  ‘Oh, come on,’ said Alfonso, who didn’t believe anyone could ever seriously suspect him of wrong-doing. ‘I know it’s not me, and I don’t believe it could be
you or Michelle either. You’d have to be crazy to cut up two dogs like that. As for deliberately setting out to harm Marlena, we both adore her. And why would anyone want to do that?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ said Ari. ‘I’m bewildered by all of this. But it looks as though someone did set out to harm Marlena. And did you know the police have finally sat up and taken notice? Some CID buddy of Michelle’s called Vogel, supposed to be a bit of a genius, he’s already been to see Greg and Karen and Marlena.’

  ‘I heard,’ said Alfonso. ‘Well, all I can say is I hope he sorts this mess out before, before . . .’

  ‘Before what, Fonz?’ asked Ari.

  ‘Nothing.’

  ‘You were going to say before someone dies, weren’t you, mate?’

  ‘Of course not,’ said Alfonso.

  Vogel spent the next couple of hours going over the data he had compiled thus far. He was like that. Methodical. Painstaking.

  He couldn’t stop thinking about Michelle and whether or not she could be involved in the unpleasant series of events he was investigating. He’d been fretting about her ever since Marlena had made that reference to the policewoman having been away on a training course he now knew had not existed.

  He told himself there were a million reasons why Michelle might have fibbed to her friends. Friends told each other white lies like that all the time. If they wanted to get out of an engagement, if they felt they’d been remiss about something. Or if they didn’t want to hurt someone’s feelings.