by Neil White
Gemma grinned and then bit her lip seductively.
He laughed, she knew how to play him, and went back to rummaging, pulling old pieces of machinery to one side, a bit more skip in his step. At the back, covered in dust, he found some animal traps, with metal hinges and strong serrated jaws. They were dusty, with rust on the edges, and so he wasn’t sure if they worked anymore.
He set one of the traps, his arms straining as he pulled on the jaws, until he felt it click into place. He found an old bamboo cane against the wall and placed it in the trap. He didn’t have to push hard before the jaws snapped together, sending one end to the floor, leaving him with a piece of bamboo with a jagged end. He liked it. There were six of the traps, and he carried them outside. Three for the field, two on the path that ran in front of the house, leaving one by the back door. It got dark there, with no lights shining at the back, and so whoever was coming wouldn’t find out until the jaws snapped around their ankle. He just had to make sure that everyone knew about them.
John took a deep breath and looked around to see what else he could use to secure the compound. Then he saw it. The red fuel tank, filled with the petrol they used to run the quad bikes and the old cars that were parked behind the end barn. They bought cheap cars from auction and ran them until they broke down. He could make petrol bombs, because there was a store full of bottles, ready for use with the home brew.
He went outside to set the traps and then he filled a barrow with empty booze bottles and wheeled them towards the house. When he got inside, he saw that the Elams were already nailing the barbed wire to the windows, following Gemma’s lead, creating a spider’s web across each one, nailing the wire half in and then bending the nail over. Peter wasn’t doing much good. He wasn’t the sort who was used to physical work, and so he bent more nails than he pushed in, but it was the effort he was putting in that John admired.
Jennifer looked back and grinned. ‘This will keep them out.’
‘I hope so, I really do,’ John said, ‘but leave a space in the middle of each one. We’re going to make petrol bombs. If they get the grilles off, we can fight back with those.’
Jennifer’s eyes widened at that. She liked the thought.
John pointed to the wheelbarrow by the door and addressed the other young women that were left. ‘Fill those from the fuel tank. Dip a rag in the petrol, get it soaked, and then jam the cloth hard into the neck. I want ten under each window. We’ll work out how to make a catapult, so we can use them when they are further away.’
As the women scurried off, John went to the cabinet where the old man kept his shotguns. There were three of them, and a box of cartridges. The last firearms licence was a few years old now, due for renewal. John guessed that he wouldn’t be applying for another.
The cabinet was in the hallway next to the old man’s room. As he pulled out one of the shotguns, there was a moan from the room.
John pushed open the door, one of the few rooms that had one, the shotgun still in his hand. Henry wanted to keep the old man locked away. As the door creaked open, the old man looked at him. His eyes were yellow, his skin pale grey. He tried to make sounds, but all that came out were strangled moans. His head lifted as if he was making an effort to get up, but he just flopped back onto the bed, his head turned to one side.
Dawn brushed past him, pushing John into the doorframe. ‘I’m going to feed him, and change him,’ she said, her eyes fierce. ‘Don’t think about stopping me. Henry hasn’t said that we shouldn’t.’
John didn’t say anything. Instead he just watched as Dawn went to him and lifted a cup to his lips. He drank gratefully, even though he couldn’t lift his arm to grip the cup. As the sheet fell away, John saw the ribs jutting through the skin, through the soiled vest, his shoulders sharp and bony.
‘Get some bread,’ Dawn said. ‘And heat some soup. He’s starving to death.’
The old man shook his head, not much more than a tremor, and then looked towards the gun. He nodded, almost invisibly, his mouth hanging open, his eyes yearning, but John saw it all the same. He was straining towards the gun before he flopped back onto the bed, his chest rising up quickly, his lungs working like pistons, his breaths coming out as loud rasps.
‘He wants me to kill him,’ John said quietly, looking down at the shotgun in his hand.
Dawn shook her head. ‘No, that is not what we are about, you know that, John. Come on, get some soup. He’s dying.’
There was a click next to him, the snap of metal, and Gemma appeared in the doorway alongside him. She was holding one of the other shotguns.
‘Henry hasn’t told us to feed him.’ Gemma raised the shotgun. ‘So are you going to go against him? Are you going to be the one who betrays us?’
Dawn’s eyes flashed between the shotgun and the old man, then to John, looking around the room, pleading, scared. ‘We can’t do this,’ she said, her voice cracking. ‘It’s inhumane.’
‘Come out,’ Gemma said, her voice lacking in tone, flat and emotionless, and she twitched the shotgun.
Dawn put the cup down and walked towards the doorway, her shoulders slumped. When she went past John, she looked up at him, stared into his eyes, and he read what she was thinking, that it was all wrong.
John looked towards the old man, and doubts surfaced, because he looked close to death, emaciated and bedridden, and John knew it was cruel.
Gemma spoke up. ‘John, help me.’
When he glanced back towards her, he felt his doubts slip away.
John turned round to push Dawn on her shoulder, so that she stumbled towards the bottles now piled in one corner.
‘Sit there, don’t move,’ he said, and then he walked towards the door that opened onto the field.
Someone had to keep watch.
Chapter Thirty-Three
As Charlie looked at the contents of the Billy Privett file spread across the table, Donia asked, ‘So what is the story? The real story?’
‘You’ve heard of Billy Privett?’
She nodded. ‘Everyone’s heard of Billy Privett. That’s why I came to Oulton.’
Charlie was surprised. ‘What, because of Billy?’
‘Not exactly,’ she said, smiling, knowing how it sounded. ‘I knew which firm represented him, and so I guessed that you were important.’
‘And now, you’re disappointed?’
‘I didn’t expect you to be how you are,’ she said.
‘What, some small practice above a takeaway?’
‘Something like that,’ she said, embarrassed.
‘You don’t need fancy offices if you do criminal work,’ Charlie said. ‘Just somewhere convenient for the clients and not too far from the court.’
‘So about Billy?’
Charlie sighed. ‘He was just a loser who got lucky once in his life,’ he said, waving his hand dismissively. ‘Six numbers, that’s what changed him. He was a pain in the arse before he won it. Afterwards, he was a pain in the arse who suddenly thought he was a big deal.’
‘But was he a murderer?’ Donia said. ‘Did he kill Alice Kenyon?’
Charlie shrugged. ‘He said not. Perhaps there’ll be something in here,’ and he patted the papers on the desk. ‘I know that Amelia fought hard to keep him away from the inquest.’
‘Could he do that? Stay away, I mean.’
‘Inquests are just to find out how someone died. They’re not there to find the murderer. It’s the how and the why, not the who. Billy provided a written statement that said he didn’t remember anything, even who else was there. The coroner decided that there was no point in making him give evidence at the inquest if that was all he was going to say. Ted made a real stink in the papers about that, but he just wanted the inquest to be something different to what it was.’
‘I feel sorry for him,’ Donia said. ‘I’ve seen him on the news. He seems like a nice man.’
‘He is, much nicer than me, but he’ll go to the grave waiting to find out what happened, now that Billy is dead.’
/> Charlie reached for the correspondence clip and went to the back, to the first time Amelia had spoken to Billy, when the police had dragged him in after Alice had been found. Most of the information was just personal, just what they would need to conduct the case. There was a sheet at the back where she had written out Billy’s version of events. When he looked, Charlie was surprised. He had expected to read Billy’s story, all set out in Amelia’s neat script, but there was just one sentence. I do not wish to disclose to anyone what happened at my house on 14th May 2011, with his signature underneath.
He tapped his lip. That was unusual. Billy Privett didn’t even want Amelia to know what had happened. That isn’t how clients work. They try to get their lawyer to believe the lies, as if it somehow makes it true when it becomes the official version. They never realise that the lawyer never truly believes, or even cares. It is only ever about two things; what can be proven, and how will they get paid.
‘What did Billy say?’ Donia asked, leaning forward.
‘Not much,’ Charlie said, and showed her the piece of paper.
She frowned and sat back. ‘So the file isn’t important.’
He started to flick through the other sheets of paper, with letters sent to Billy demanding that her bills be paid. Once the police station work had finished, Amelia billed Billy privately for her work. As he got to the end, to the letter sent most recently, he opened his mouth to speak, but couldn’t think of what to say.
‘What is it?’ Donia said, trying to get closer.
Charlie looked up. ‘Amelia sent out letters yesterday, when she found out Billy had died, enclosing a DVD.’
‘Show me,’ Donia said.
Charlie tilted the folder towards her. The letters were short, just I enclose a video shot by Billy Privett recently, and which I have been authorised to disclose in the event of his death. It was the recipients that interested Charlie. There were ten letters, all identical. There was one sent to the police, one to Ted Kenyon, three to television companies and five to newspapers.
‘Does it say what was on the discs?’
Charlie shook his head. ‘I don’t know, but it is certainly unusual. It makes it sound like a final statement, a message beyond the grave or something.’
‘The story of what really happened to Alice?’ Donia said.
‘What else can it be?’ Charlie said, nodding. ‘Which means that someone wanted to silence him, scared of what he would say.’ He frowned. ‘But why now?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘The timing must be important, because he kept quiet for over a year and then decided to commit something to video. He was killed a few days later. The timing seems crucial. So he must have been scared of something. And there is something else too.’
‘Go on.’
‘How did whoever killed Billy know about the DVD?’ When Donia looked confused, Charlie continued, ‘Think about it. The killer must have known that he was talking, or else why silence him?’
‘Yeah, but if that was the case, why kill him? It was his death that prompted Amelia to send the videos.’
‘That was their mistake. Billy was talking, they knew that, but they didn’t know that it was only to be released after his death. Only Amelia and Billy knew that.’
‘And now they are both dead.’
Charlie nodded. ‘Billy must have spoken up about the video when he was being tortured, and so Amelia was the next target because she would know where they were.’
‘But isn’t there another problem?’ Donia said. ‘If they were sent yesterday, why hasn’t it been in the paper or on the television?’
‘I don’t know,’ Charlie said. ‘Perhaps the police suppressed them, and asked the press to hold it back.’ Then something occurred to him. His stomach started to roll, knowing that the reason for all of this was becoming clearer. ‘No, it’s not that,’ he said quietly. ‘Linda came in early this morning. She said she wasn’t up to date with her post, because of the burglary.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘The videos were never posted. They were left overnight in the office, because things got messed up, and whatever was on them must have been important, because it was for distribution only after his death.’
‘They might still be at the office,’ Donia said. ‘Everything closed down once the police had gone.’
Charlie shook his head. ‘No, because I’ll bet they were stolen.’
Donia looked confused. ‘I don’t know what you mean.’
‘Did you know I spent the night in the office?’ Charlie said.
‘Yes, Linda mentioned that she thought you had. She said you’d done it before, and I think she told the police that.’
‘I didn’t see the letters when I woke up, and I think someone had been into the office,’ he said, although he realised that he couldn’t tell her the rest of the story, about the blood-stained knife.
‘So if the discs were taken, we’ll never know what Billy said.’
Charlie thought about that, and then said, ‘There will be a master copy somewhere.’ When Donia looked up, he added, ‘It’s probably in the safe.’
‘That might have been taken too.’
‘Yes, it might, but it is worth checking out.’
‘When shall we go?’
Charlie shook his head. ‘No, you’ve taken enough risks getting me this. I need to get it on my own.’
As he thought of that, he felt sweat flash across his forehead. What could be on that video that someone would be prepared to kill for it, and would he be the next target?
Chapter Thirty-Four
Sheldon drove towards Penwortham, a suburb on the edge of Preston, once the county’s largest cotton town, but its history now obliterated by retail parks and an identikit city centre, with just a university to provide a buzz. Penwortham was not far from the police headquarters, where it fashioned itself as a sleepy area on the other side of the River Ribble, the vibe being delicatessens and cyclists and tree-lined avenues. Sheldon and Ted were following the lead from the telephone call that Christina was really Lucy Crane, and had lived in a care home there.
Ted had been quiet most of the way, but as they got to the final part of the journey, he said, ‘What are you hoping to find when you get there?’
Sheldon thought about that as he looked down the hill ahead, and replied, ‘Just confirmation about the woman who pretended to be Billy’s housekeeper.’
‘And you think it will help, knowing that?’
‘It will be more than what we have now.’
They crossed the wide river that separated Preston from Penwortham and then headed past shops and more takeaways before they turned off at the police station, a low-rise red brick building on a corner waiting to be sold, a victim of the cutbacks. After fifty yards or so further on, they came to a double-fronted detached house in dirty white pebble-dash. As they came to a stop, there were three teenagers sitting on the front step, smoking cigarettes. They started to laugh as Sheldon led the way.
‘Your clothes don’t fit, man,’ one of them said to Sheldon, making the other two laugh more loudly than the jibe deserved.
Sheldon smiled at them. ‘Who’s in charge in there?’ he said, and pointed towards the house.
‘We are.’ More laughter. ‘No, I’m serious.’
Sheldon rolled his eyes and stepped past them, going through the front door, Ted behind him. As they crossed the threshold, the same teenager shouted, ‘Marian?’
A large woman appeared from a room at the end of the hall. The kitchen, Sheldon guessed. She had hair cropped short, dyed purple, and a stud in her nose, although it didn’t match the lines round her mouth that put her somewhere near to fifty.
‘Can I help you?’ she said, stepping towards them.
Sheldon pulled his identification from his pocket. ‘From Oulton police.’
‘You don’t look like the police,’ she said, looking at his clothes. And then she pointed at Ted Kenyon. ‘I know you.’
‘
It’s a long story,’ Sheldon said, interrupting. ‘I want to ask you about Lucy Crane.’
She looked confused for a moment, and then her eyes widened. ‘I haven’t heard that name for a long time. You need to update your records if you think she’s here though. She left, oh, three years or more.’
‘Tell me about her.’
She looked suspicious. ‘Why do you want to know?’
‘It could be important,’ Sheldon said. ‘I don’t want to see her records. I just want to know about her.’
Marian thought about that, and then she nodded them through to the kitchen. It was wide and spacious, with plates piled high on the side, waiting for their turn in the dishwasher.
‘So I’ll ask again; why do you want to know?’ Marian said, as she hauled herself onto a high stool next to a breakfast bar.
‘I can’t tell you that.’
‘So I can’t tell you about Lucy,’ she said, and shrugged, her hands held out.
Sheldon had expected that, but he thought it was worth trying for information without giving anything away.
‘It’s about the Billy Privett murder,’ Sheldon said. ‘She might have some useful information.’
Marian pointed at Ted. ‘Now I know you. You’re Alice Kenyon’s father.’
Ted smiled, trying to win her over. ‘This could be important. Please help us.’
Marian looked at Sheldon, and then back at Ted. Then she softened. ‘She was trouble.’
‘Aren’t they all?’ Sheldon said.
‘Most are troubled, yes, but trouble? Not always. The kids that come here are like any group of people. They form hierarchies, where some follow, others lead. Whether the kids get in trouble depends on who is doing the leading. Sometimes you get kids who just like some fun, and will even work at school. The home is a good place to be then, and all the kids have a chance.’
‘But?’
Marian smiled. She knew the but was there. ‘But sometimes you get leaders who are just too much trouble, and they drink too much, get into drugs, and they take at least a couple with them.’
‘And Lucy?’
‘Lucy, well,’ and Marian laughed. ‘She was all about sex. I tried not to judge her, because I knew the background she brought into the home, from her family background, and I am sure as hell not going to tell you, but she was good looking, and she knew it gave her a weapon. She developed early, and she used what she had to get what she wanted. I think she realised that her looks would take her further than her academic skills, and so she would flaunt it. There was even a care worker who lost his job over her, who forgot where the line was when she came at him fresh from the shower. She just wanted him to let her go out drinking, but she had to persuade him. Someone walked in on him groping her, but she was on her back, letting him touch her.’ Marian shook her head. ‘He said she came on to him, and I believe that, but he was supposed to say no, he was the adult, except that Lucy didn’t know the word no when she heard it.’
