The Dirty Game

by Solomon Carter

  The old man stopped walking. His mouth opened into a little sagging hoop. He looked across at his young apprentice, but there was no comfort to be had. The man next to Eva was quietly sobbing while Eva looked at Dan with admiration. He had explained why it was necessary to cross the line. The rules where there to be broken because bad men and women broke them so often in so many ways. If the good ones always stuck to the line, the bad could always outmanoeuvre them. No, Eva and Dan never gave up. They knew the rules of the game were always changing. From now on she would remember that, accept it, embrace it.

  But old Joss Chauncey’s game was over.

  Twenty-six

  As soon as Chauncey had walked around the garage enough times to put plenty of evidence around Dan called the police. He insisted he speak to anyone but Rowntree, and an officer of at least the same rank. When he mentioned the Laura Gosling murder Dan was put through to Detective Chief Inspector Morton and from there the situation unfolded in the slow bureaucratic style Dan expected … It was four long hours before they were free of Birchwood Close and Southend Police Station. Throughout the interviews the DCI’s stony eyes gave Dan an insight that the DCI had been fully briefed on Rowntree’s view of Dan and Eva’s history and character. None of that mattered anymore. Their opinion couldn’t hurt him. Dan’s vengeance was complete when he saw Joss Chauncey’s face as he finally left the police station. Chauncey was torn up, eyes pink, face sagging and tilted to the side, his body slumped in his chair. Dan could only see him through the porthole window of the interview room, but the man was finished. He knew his number was up. He may as well have worn a guilty sign around his neck. Dan’s victory and tribute to Laura Gosling was complete. Would anyone ever discover just how many innocent women died at the sinister pervert’s hands? That was unknowable, but the answer was probably not. Though Dan was satisfied, there were still jagged questions niggling at his subconscious. Dan left Southend police station, his arm wrapped around his partner’s waist, tired but happy. But the nagging feeling wouldn’t pass, and in spite of her smile Dan saw the feeling reflected more keenly in Eva’s green eyes. They wanted to celebrate, so they left the question marks hanging and yet both of them knew the questions would return.

  ***

  Days passed since Chauncey was arrested and then finally charged with the murder of Laura Gosling as well as the kidnapping of the Romanian girl Luisa. Life went on, after a fashion. Eva handed in her report as requested by Greer and gladly took her fee. Two thousand was a handy sum besides, and unless she took it quickly, what she was going to do next would make it pretty much impossible to receive it afterwards. Most people would find spending hours watching an autistic twenty three year old posed more than enough moral dilemmas, but after so many other blurred boundaries, the virtue of getting the job done the dirty way – in whatever way worked – seemed to be the only way to win.

  Nine days after they’d collected the two thousand pound fee from Jim Greer the ridiculous surveillance of an autistic twenty-three year old finally got interesting. For eight consecutive nights Eva had spent too many hours outside 54 Pulley Road, Rendon. For the first three nights nothing had happened at all, save that Eva got a bad back and received the full force of Dan’s irritable mood. The next four nights she’d given up after a mere four hour stint, knowing that she could still have missed any action which happened after she’d gone. The eighth night she stayed all night to prove a point and nothing happened at all. On the ninth night, when Eva was checking her watch again, yearning for her bed, wondering why she was wasting her time on another case that wasn’t paying her a dime, the front door opened and the tall young man appeared, wheeling his Claude Butler straight through the house. Nathan was wearing labels again. Finest street apparel at one in the morning? It got Eva wondering. Eva was alone, but the clothing was some kind of sign, so she guessed she would call it in. After eight rings, Dan finally answered.

  “Yeah…?” his voice was slow and croaky.

  “Nathan Fielding has finally left the nest.”

  “Oh goody, goody…” Dan said dryly.

  “When I saw him at Alabaster’s offices he was all dressed in black. He was incognito. Tonight he’s wearing all his dandiest threads, all his most expensive street wear. I think this is something else.”

  “Something else?”

  “Wake up, mister!” she said with a smile in her voice. “I mean something else, but something related to what’s happening at Alabaster.”

  “Girl, you are like a dog with a bone.”

  “You say the sweetest things. How about you get in your car and drive over here. He’s on his bike.”

  “He’s going to Alabaster, Eva. I could meet you there,” Said Dan.

  “He could be… But I’m not so sure, Dan.”

  “Look, I’ll head to Alabaster. If I’m wrong you can redirect me.”

  “Fine. See you soon.”

  She ended the call, gunned the Alfa into life.

  The journey was all dawdling so as she didn’t overshoot Nathan and lose him. Eva had to pull over several times just to hold back. As they reached Rendon station Nathan’s bike swerved off the road. He got off the bike and walked it up to the now familiar rectangular building that housed Alabaster on the top floor. Eva couldn’t stop the car, so she indicated and turned into the parking entrance for Rendon station. She took a bay, parked and glanced up into Alabaster’s offices – she saw a light was already on in the main office. It was twenty-two minutes after one in the morning and someone was home. Whoever it was now thought they were safe – free after the private detectives had been discharged by Jim Greer. And if they had been average everyday private detectives instead of two totally driven die-hards, then the person waiting in Alabaster’s office would have been spot on. But Greer had hired Eva Roberts and Dan Bradley which meant that someone was in for a very bad night at the office.

  Eva waited until she saw the black Jag pull up into the office car park, then she got out and crossed the silent street. The night was totally black but for the lights from the train station, bus stop shelter and the street lamps. She walked up the short set of steps into the car park where Dan was watching and waiting.

  “So, how does it feel being wrong yet again?” he said.

  “Refreshing,” said Eva, “Nathan went around the back of the building ten minutes ago. If the door code still works we can sneak up and find out what the hell is going on.”

  “I can hardly wait.”

  They circled around the back of the block and typed the code into the security box by the solid door. The little door light flicked from red to green and the door chimed.

  “Wow. I thought Greer would have changed that code as soon as he could after he got rid of us.”

  “The old man must have too much on his mind.”

  “Okay now - Quiet as mice.” she said. Dan nodded.

  They passed through the second tier security door with a different code. Eva’s mind was good with logic, systems, puzzles and numbers. Remembering numbers was easy. Dealing with people was the hardest part of the job. They climbed the stairs all the way to the top unchallenged and reached the doors of Alabaster’s section of the building. They stole a quick look at one another and felt the old adrenaline rise again. It was excitement, the only drug worth having. It was time to make a catch.

  “No bull-in-a-china-shop stuff here, Dan. First let’s observe… maybe get some evidence,” she whispered.

  They opened the door to Alabaster’s wing of the building and Dan laid it gently against the latch to prevent a single noise. The green office was dead ahead with one of the double doors wide open. The culprits were being complacent. They heard voices now, one doing most of the talking, one replying in short answers…

  “I always like our little meetings. Always. Somehow I prefer it when we meet outside of this office of course. I see enough of this damned place during the working week. I can at least pretend I am sitting in a park or maybe meeting in a library or some oth
er such place. The kind of place one chooses for this kind of meeting. What do you think of when we meet?”

  No answer came. Rambling. The guy was rambling. There was urgency in his voice, but also a sense of enjoyment, as if words were to be relished. He spoke with the enthusiasm of an intellectual playing with the sound of his own voice. The verbosity and diction reminded Eva of Stephen Fry, and yet the man’s accent was so totally different. It was nuanced with foreign flavours. It was deep and nasal. They already knew who they would see…so for now they listened, learning about their prey. Eva and Dan drew close to the door. Eva pulled out her iPhone and thumbed the dictation app. She pressed record and held the mic towards the door.

  “I wonder what you think sometimes. You are a mystery to me, but I don’t mind. I hope you liked the other clothes I got you, in the style you like. And the money must help a little.”

  “It does help. I like them,” said Nathan in a flat tone.

  “Of course it does. That’s why I do it. To help you and help your family.”

  “Yes, for me and my family.”

  “Yes, Nathan. And I know you’re grateful. So… now you’ve finished playing with those numbers come, come and sit with me a while…”

  Eva waited and listened.

  “Where shall I sit?” asked Nathan.

  “Sit here. Sit close. We can talk, I love to meet and talk with you. I’m fascinated by you. It must be so wonderful, what is locked in that mind of yours. A beautiful young man locked in the prison of rules concocted by his own mind. I think it’s wonderful and terrible at the same time.”

  “I don’t understand half the things you say, Bruno…” said Nathan flatly.

  The man laughed. “You are refreshing, child. So very refreshing. You know, I don’t believe anyone else sees you the way I do. Do you know that?”

  “I don’t know how you see me, Bruno.”

  “No. You don’t, do you…? Come, child. Hold my hand, at least. Hold my hand.”

  “No, Bruno. I’m not allowed to do that…”

  “I know. Yes, your rules, always. Have it your way then. But just sit close. At least sit close so I can look at you…”

  Eva and Dan looked into each other’s eyes, Dan’s full of shock and revulsion. Eva’s just full of plain shock. Dan pointed at the room. Eva nodded and changed the setting on her phone from audio to video. She had Bruno on audio making one reference to changing the numbers now she would get video of both in the office late at night. They moved into the green office. Nathan and Bruno were both sitting in executive leather office chairs in the centre of the room. Bruno was dressed casually in a striped shirt and chinos. Most striking was the language of his body, shoulders hunched, body forward, leaning to one side where Nathan was seated a foot and a half away. Bruno’s body was trying to close the distance between them but Nathan was himself, a closed book, isolated and alone in the presence of another. Bruno was nothing like the man they’d seen during the working day. His body language was weak, vulnerable and desperate. Eva believed he had an obsession on Nathan.

  “So, boys, how often have these little liaisons been going on?” said Dan. Bruno wheeled around and flung his arms to his sides, shocked, his face flickering between rage and despair.

  “You!”

  “Yes, us. And then there’s you two,” said Eva. “Nathan was not allowed to tell us what was happening here… just one of his little rules, Bruno, but then again I think you know all about those.”

  “What did you hear?” said Bruno, his eyes blinking and straining. He ran his hand back through his greasy hair.

  “Enough to know that you are both involved with scamming the accounts,” said Dan.

  “And enough to draw some other very serious conclusions, as well. The kind of conclusions that could destroy a married businessman’s life.”

  “And that is a good thing is it? Is that a noble thing to do?”

  “Are you talking to us about good and noble? Are you serious? Look where you are and what you’re doing.”

  “I haven’t done anything wrong! I haven’t done anything wrong at all! All I’ve done is help him… and be with him, sharing his company…”

  “That’s all is it?” said Dan in disbelief

  “You think I’m sick, don’t you? I haven’t touched him. Not ever.”

  “Not for the want of trying, eh?” said Dan.

  “Nathan doesn’t understand… you won’t understand… maybe you can understand…” said Bruno, turning to Eva, his face sweaty and slightly wild. “I love him.”

  Eva didn’t say a word. She stopped recording and slipped her phone away.

  “We’re not the police, Bruno. But what is happening here is wrong and it can’t go on. We have to ensure Nathan stays safe. How much longer did you intend to steal from your own company like this? And for what…?”

  “Love, Miss Roberts, is an addiction, and it is an addiction which tracks you down. I didn’t take up this addiction. It found me and took me up. I love Nathan. There is no end game, no sinister plan, just an encouragement for the boy to come and spend time with me… and to ensure he benefitted in some way.”

  “It’s wrong, full stop,” said Dan.

  Bruno ignored him. “What do you think, Miss Roberts?”

  “It’s wrong, Bruno. I think Nathan’s rules might have saved him from a horrible fate.”

  “What? Love, Miss Roberts? Is that horrible?”

  “You’re a married man. You would have become a married man who abuses vulnerable adults...”

  “So now I am a monster. Fine, I am a monster. Now, what will you do with me, pray tell?”

  Eva looked at Dan. She hadn’t thought that through yet. And as she started speaking, what she had to do became clear. Take the lines out of the picture. Take the rules away. What was right and what was wrong?

  “Is Mrs Fielding aware of this?”

  “His mother? We have never spoken of it…of course not!”

  “What about the money?”

  “I don’t know. I don’t pay her directly. I give money and gifts to Nathan.”

  Eva nodded. “I’m going to have to notify Jim Greer and Jane Fielding. The rest is out of my hands, I’m afraid.” If she told Jim Greer she feared he would cover it up… surely he wouldn’t, but there was still a chance. But the boy’s mother would bear the full responsibility of knowing what had happened to her son. Telling her was an essential cruelty to ensure that nothing could ever happen to Nathan ever again.

  “Tell me… Should I kill myself, do you think?”

  “No, don’t do that, Bruno. Suicide is wrong.” said Nathan, with little emotion.

  Bruno nodded and closed his eyes.

  “You’re a slimy bastard, Bruno, but you’ve got a family. Don’t ruin their lives just because you’ve ruined your own…” Bruno looked up at Dan, and all hate had faded from his eyes. There was a simple wisdom. He had to live, irrespective of the cost to himself. “It’s time go to home, Nathan,” said Eva. Finally, another dirty game was drawing to a close.

  Twenty-seven

  Two days after they’d found the slick MD of Alabaster Properties with Nathan Fielding Eva met Jim Greer for the last time. The man was outraged at Eva’s lack of compliance, but when she relayed the audio and video over her laptop, Greer fell quite silent and his face grew pale. There was nothing to be said. “That man… is finished here,” he said eventually. “Finished. And I’ll see to it that he never works again.”

  “But isn’t he your boss, Mr Greer?”

  “I’ve outlasted eight managing directors here, Miss Roberts, and this man is none of those. I’m the power here. Bruno is done.”

  “Will you prosecute?”

  “I know his wife and I’ve watched his children grow up. I’d be killing them all if I did that. I’ll make plain what he’s got to do, Miss Roberts. But don’t worry, I’ve been in business long enough to know how to discipline someone. He was my friend. But Bruno was plunging a knife in my back all the wh
ile. How long was this happening?”

  “There’s no way of knowing, but he mentioned meeting Nathan two years ago at a corporate event for staff and their families. It can be no longer than two years, maybe much less.”

  “Then it was my fault.”

  “No, it wasn’t, Jim.” She called him by his first name at last. “What about Nathan… his family?”

  “They’ll be looked after. I’ll see to that. Did that man ever do anything to the boy?”

  Eva looked into the old man’s eyes and did her best to reassure him. “We were listening in. It seems Nathan’s autism kept any… physical abuse from taking place. In a perverse kind of way, Bruno was respectful of the boy’s wishes.”

  “In a perverse way, I’m sure. I should involve the police, Miss Roberts… would you think badly of me for not doing so?”

  Eva shook her head. “No. Sometimes you have to strip away the rules and see what’s right and what’s wrong. You’ve been trying to find solutions. You don’t want to destroy people. I think that’s admirable and understandable, Jim.”

  The old man sat back and smiled thoughtfully with glazed eyed. His smile looked pained.

  “You called me Jim, Miss Roberts.”

  “So, I did.”

  Jim Greer smiled, then he slapped his thighs and stood up. “When you’re passing, do call again.” Eva took her cue to leave and shook the old man’s hand. His hand was gentle and warm. She knew that she’d never see Jim Greer ever again, at least not if the old man could help it. Nobody wanted reminding of what had been happening late at night at Alabaster Properties.

  With business tight, Eva and Dan agreed to put the entire fee into the business and reject their old style end of case celebrations. There was to be no lavish restaurant meal or hotel break to London, not this time. Not until the business was thriving again. But there were other ways to celebrate and it was time for a reward. Dan had been despatched to bring back a Thai takeaway from Westcliff, which gave Eva enough time to spruce up for their night in. She had showered and blow dried her hair. The music was on low in her bedroom while she drank a nip of cool dry white. She checked herself out in the mirror, wiggling her mostly naked body left and right to check her figure. She wore only a navy blue lingerie set, with lace edging. Age was creeping its way into her life, but her stomach was still flat. Her shape was still good enough. She would do. Tonight was a special night, and she wanted to finish the evening on a high. She pulled a suspender belt from a knotted bundle of underwear stuffed into the second drawer, slid it over her legs and adjusted it to her waist. She felt a flutter of excitement and smiled at herself. Dan had been her lover for so long it almost seemed absurd to wear something like this for him… and yet, she felt making an effort was essential. They were in a new honeymoon period. It felt like this was their second affair, and this time she wanted it to last. As she dug a hand back into the underwear tangle for some stockings, she heard the door chime downstairs. Her heart jumped along light and fast. Dan was playing games and she wasn’t ready! She took a sip of wine and pulled a stocking free as the doorbell chimed again. Eva slipped on a dressing gown in a hurry and belted it up tight. She skipped down the stairs and moved to the door quickly. In the first moment she saw the upright cropped haired figure and thought it was Dan. But as she undid the latch, her heart sank like a stone and her smile evaporated. She stopped opening the door immediately and left one lock remaining.