Between Two Thieves

by Solomon Carter

  “But how often do we come to Leigh?” said Joanne. “If you want him to get that wallet back maybe you should try one more time.”

  Mark sighed. A faint shadow flitted past the downstairs window as he approached the front door for the second time. This time, the big brown wooden door opened even before his finger reached the doorbell. Mark got ready to make his rehearsed statement, but when his eyes landed on the young woman who answered the door, words failed him.

  She had a serious, earnest expression, with big wide blue eyes, dark hair, and the kind of pretty elfish face which looked like it would flourish into a full lustrous beauty in a few years’ time. But from the near haunted look on her face, she seemed unaware of her potential. She looked shy and awkward and her hair was a little lank.

  It took Mark another few seconds to realise that he recognised her. The spark of recognition was mirrored in the girl’s eyes. She tugged a lock of brown hair and tucked it behind her ear.

  “Georgie?” said Mark.

  A hint of pink lighted the girl’s face. She nodded.

  “Mark. I don’t think I ever expected to see you again. At least not around here.”

  “Kings Road you mean?”

  The girl shook her head. “At Joe Clancy’s house.”

  Mark smiled. “You know, I could say the very same thing about you.”

  The girl’s smile warmed a tad, and she looked at the others, waiting in Eva’s gleaming red Alfa hatchback.

  Joanne’s leather seat creaked as she shifted in the back. The beginning of a frown settled on her face. “Who is she supposed to be?”

  A thin smile appeared on Dan’s face but he didn’t say a word. He watched Mark step away from the doorstep and gesture towards the car.

  “Uh. We came to bring this back to Joe.” As he spoke, Mark backed away towards the Alfa, trying to bridge the gap between the house and the car, trying to draw the girl down from the doorstep. She hesitated a moment before she stepped out.

  “What is it?”

  “It’s his wallet. I found it. I was just out here with my boss and my friends...”

  Joanne raised an eyebrow in the back seat. “We were nearby so we thought we should bring this back. Nobody likes losing a wallet after all.”

  “No,” said Georgie. “But that’s odd. Joe didn’t mention losing anything to me.”

  Mark paused when he was at the edge of the driveway. “So, um... you and Joe are...?”

  “An item?” said Georgie.

  She smiled and then the smile fell away and she said nothing for a moment “Kind of. And sometimes kind of not. But we’re close enough.” She didn’t look sure about her last statement. Mark saw her discomfort and raised the wallet in the air.

  “I’d love to give this to him. Is Joe here? I haven’t seen him in years.”

  “Really? I never had you two down as friends...”

  “I can’t ever say we were best buddies, but there were a lot of worse people in the class.”

  “You can say that again,” said Georgie. “Like Morris Murphy, and his little tribe of scumbags.

  “Exactly,” said Mark.

  “Um,” said the girl. “You can’t give it to him now. He’s not here.”

  “Oh. But if he’s not here why are you?” said Mark.

  The girl blushed again. “Me. Oh. I’m always hanging around here. These days it’s what I do... You said you had a boss. What are you doing these days?”

  The girl followed Mark close to the edge of the driveway and folded her arms. Mark nodded to the red car.

  “Me? Oh. I work for a private detective agency. I’m their apprentice.”

  The girl looked at him with big-eyed wonder. “No way?! You’re shitting me!” she said.

  “No shit at all,” said Mark.

  “No shit,” muttered Joanne in the back seat.

  “Wow. And these are your bosses...? They’re private detectives?”

  Mark nodded. Eva smiled and Dan flicked a wave. “Hi.”

  “And that’s my girlfriend,” said Mark. “Joanne.”

  The girl looked at Joanne and seemed impressed by her looks. “Hi.”

  Upstairs in the house, Eva saw a net curtain flap once before it dropped back into place.

  Eva narrowed her eyes and switched off the engine. “Someone’s home,” she whispered to Dan. “But they don’t want to come out. I don’t know why that rankles but now I’m getting curious.”

  “The way you are today, I’d say you’re ready to rankle at anything.”

  “I’m getting rankled too,” said Joanne, glancing at Mark’s awkwardness around the girl.

  Eva and Joanne opened their car doors and stepped out into the afternoon sun. The girl appraised Joanna and Eva afresh and took a backward step onto the drive. Eva sensed her intimidation and offered a warm smile.

  “Hi,” said Eva. “It’d be great if Joe could just come down and get his wallet back. Just so as we know it got back to the rightful owner.”

  The girl blinked. “Joe’s not in right now. I could take it for you and—”

  “Someone’s in,” said Eva. “That room up there on the right. Maybe Joe’s back already.”

  The girl looked up at the window behind her. When she looked back at Eva, Dan, Mark and Joanne, her defensive arm-folding became two wringing hands at her waist.

  “Um. Sorry about that. Joe isn’t exactly feeling himself today. I don’t like to mislead anyone, but he told me to say he wasn’t in.”

  “Why?” said Dan from the car.

  “Because he’s not so good with people when he’s not well. And because he’s shy like me, maybe,” said Georgie.

  But Eva could see the girl was being economical with the truth. Mark winced. Georgie had always been a bright spark, not far off the smartest girls in the class, but still far enough beneath the summit so no teacher had bothered in pushing her to excel. If she had been pushed, Mark had no doubt she wouldn’t have been so stoop-shouldered or shy or have been caught telling foolish lies in the middle of Kings Road. He almost felt like covering for her.

  “It’s okay, Georgie,” said Mark. “We only wanted to make sure he got this back. If he only comes down for a second, that would be fine.”

  They heard the sound of footsteps descending a wooden staircase, feet rattling fast down the stairs. A moment later, a young man with a pale, stubbly face and slim build stood in the doorway, one hand reaching up behind his head to scratch his back. He looked self-conscious. On the spot. Caught out.

  The young man’s hair already seemed to be thinning on top. He was Mark’s age, but he looked older, and pretty uptight. His face flashed from a polite smile, to confrontational grimace and back again.

  His gaze settled on Mark. “Hi, Mark. I hear you brought something for me?”

  The young men regarded one another, taking in what had changed, and what hadn’t. Mark studied the serious look on his face. That part was new. Joe Clancy had always been a loner, but he had been confident too, a joker, a smart alec with a quick sense of humour. The new version of Joe Clancy looked worn out, and his smile looked a little frayed at the edges.

  “I think you lost your wallet.”

  “My wallet?” said Joe.

  Mark raised the red Hang Loose wallet and Joe Clancy looked it over without moving to claim it.

  “Where did you find it?”

  “At Southchurch, in a place I call the duck park. It’s at the bottom of York Road. It’s not exactly your kind of place.”

  Clancy smiled. “Maybe not,” he said.

  Mark offered the wallet across and the young man eventually took it. “So how did it end up down there?”

  “No idea,” said Clancy. “But thanks for bringing it back.”

  Joe Clancy offered a nod of thanks. He aimed the same vague look of gratitude towards Eva, Dan and Joanne. It was no more than a platitude. A neat way of turning a thank you into a goodbye. The young man backed away towards his house, but he moved slowly, like he didn’t wan
t to appear too eager about it. The girl stood her ground, her arms folded, but her eyes big and thoughtful, her mouth framing unspoken words. They all waited for her to speak. Behind her, Joe Clancy saw his girlfriend was about to say something. He jumped in quickly.

  “We should go in, Georgie,” he said.

  “What’s the rush?” said Dan.

  The girl looked around the group and then turned back to face Clancy. The young man’s face quickly became a look of resignation.

  “They brought your wallet back, Joe. You lost it and they brought it back.”

  “And? I said thank you,” said Joe.

  “It proves these people could help you, Joe. And look. We know one of them. Mark here was in our class at school. He was one of the good ones.”

  “And I appreciate him bringing back the wallet,” said Joe. “I thanked him for it, but look, I honestly didn’t really care whether I got that thing back or not. No offence by the way.”

  Mark’s face hardened but his words didn’t. “None taken.”

  “But didn’t you hear?” said the girl. “Mark works for a private detective agency. These guys are private investigators.” The young woman said the words with excitement. Relish – like a chance meeting with private investigators was the most fortuitous thing that could have ever happened. Joe Clancy paused for breath and took his time to reply. Eva, Dan, Joanne and Mark waited for him to speak. There was no doubt about it – something was going on.

  “I’m not sure we need that kind of help, Georgie.”

  “But you needed help before,” said Georgie. “And you know you won’t get any here.”

  Eva and Dan exchanged a glance.

  “Damn it, Georgie!” said Joe.

  “Excuse me,” said Eva. “But would one of you mind telling us what’s going on here?”

  “I don’t want to bother you with my problems. You must be busy people. Besides, it’s not like I have the finances to hire private detectives.”

  Dan looked up at the pristine white edifice of the large detached house. At the neat, weedless driveway, and the proud palm tree. Joe Clancy followed his eyes.

  “This is my father’s house, not mine.”

  Dan nodded, but the look in his eyes said “And?”

  Georgie spoke quickly, as if she had to push past a sworn vow of silence.

  “Joe does need your help,” said the girl. “I’m sure Mark wouldn’t mind helping out a little bit, especially seeing as he’s brought you the wallet.”

  Clancy held his tongue. There was no way he could complain any further without causing a greater fuss. The young man knew he was boxed in. So he watched and listened as Georgie elaborated.

  “Joe’s dad isn’t here very often. He wasn’t here much back when Joe was at school, and these days he’s around even less. But a person always needs someone to look up to, someone to help and guide them, right?”

  Mark gave Joe a sympathetic look, but he looked away.

  “You’re all the help I need, Georgie.”

  Georgie shot him doubtful look. “I’m here when Joe needs me. But until very recently he had one really solid guy looking out for him. A friend who looked in on him whenever his dad was away.”

  A furrow of intrigue formed on Eva’s brow.

  “But it looks like he’s gone.”

  “Gone?” said Dan, shaking his head.

  Georgie nodded. “He left in a hurry last night. And if we believe what the newspaper is saying, he’s gone missing too. I really hope not. He was so good for Joe.”

  “Hey, Carl might not have gone missing, Georgie,” said Joe. “I don’t get why the newspaper would even say that. Who knows? Carl might have taken off for a day or two, he works harder than most people, after all.”

  “Not him, Joe. You know he wouldn’t do that as well as I do. And if that newspaper says he’s gone missing, then they must have a reason. They must have spoken with his family. Or his projects.”

  Dan’s eyes narrowed. Projects – meaning rehabs. Dan dipped his hand through the open car window and pulled out his creased copy of The Record. He shook the paper and slapped the front page flat, holding it up for all to see.

  “You mean this guy is your friend? Carl Renton? They splashed this missing hero story all over the front page like it’s cold hard fact. Like you said, they must have a reason. A journalist can lose their job over getting a front page wrong.”

  Joe’s eyes blinked at the photograph on the front page. What remained of his weak smile faded altogether. The girl saw his face change and tucked the same rogue lock of hair back behind her ear.

  “I hadn’t seen that,” said Joe Clancy.

  “Don’t sweat it yet. It’s only the local rag,” said Dan. “But judging from what they say about Mr Renton’s interests, I’d say the attention might be justified. This article says he wanted to take on Southend’s dealers and drug traffickers.”

  Clancy nodded. “Carl is a devout Christian. And by that, I don’t mean some mealy mouthed stiff. He liked helping people in all different ways. In fact, he had a big vision to change the whole town.”

  “And he was helping you?” said Eva.

  Joe Clancy rubbed his forehead, opened his front door and walked into the big porch with a sigh. “You could say that. Carl has a heart of gold. He’s always looking out for people. He came to help me because he thought I was a little lost soul too.”

  “You were,” said Georgie. “Your dad has never really looked out for you like he should.”

  The young man shot her another look.

  “Whatever. So Carl decided he had to come and help fill the hole in my life. I wasn’t always grateful to him. But yeah, Carl helped me a lot. There. You know everything there is to know. Have I told them enough now, Georgie?”

  “Not really,” she said. “If Carl is gone then you’re going to need help now more than ever.”

  Joe looked at Eva and Dan and saw they were going nowhere.

  “I don’t need any help, honestly, I’m fine.”

  Eva watched Georgie bite her lip. The look on her face spoke volumes. Joe sighed a final time before he walked away from the front door, leaving it wide open in his wake. He walked deeper into the house.

  “You may as well come in then.” He looked back at the door.

  The others looked at one another before Eva led the way into the house.

  “I think we’d just like to hear about what kind of help you might need,” said Eva. Georgie closed the door behind them.

  They walked into a plush house, as white inside as it was on the outside. Space seemed to be the defining characteristic. The furniture was large, but clean and minimalist. In spite of the emptiness of the first rooms they saw – all minimalism, the moment they walked into the living room, it reminded Eva of a knick-knack parlour, part trophy cabinet, part museum, part granny’s house. Her eyes circled the room, taking in the framed prints, the stack of leather-bound books on a corner bookshelf, the strange jewelled animal skull mounted above the fireplace – it looked as if it belonged to an antelope or similar – and the small wall-mounted glass cabinets laden with golden trinkets and objet d’art. Georgie and Joe seemed oblivious to the sparkling mess. As Eva and Dan scanned the room with a mixture of curiosity and fascination, Joe and the girl looked at one another.

  “Joe always says he doesn’t need help, but he does.”

  “Please, Georgie,” said Joe. “You mean well, but...”

  “I always mean well but you never like it anyway.”

  “It’s just that things are already difficult without making them any worse.”

  Eva read their faces and tried to pick up on the detail. Dan’s eyes were all over the cluttered walls.

  “Where does all this stuff come from?” Dan prodded a silver skull ornament which was mounted on a dusty red velvet cushion.

  “Please don’t touch anything,” said Joe. “It all means something to my father. He’ll know if someone’s been prodding around and I’ll get the blame for it.
”

  Dan nodded but kept his eyes on Clancy, waiting for his answer.

  “My father is a jeweller by trade and by hobby. He buys and sells jewellery, and he collects the more interesting pieces for fun. His hobby gives him a reason for all his foreign expeditions. As far as my father’s concerned, the more exotic the better.”

  “And he brings things like this home from his travels?” said Eva.

  “Yeah. I used to think that was why he went away in the first place,” said Joe. “But these days, I think he goes to get away from me. But he always gets something on his trips. And every one of his holidays turns into a business trip. He buys stuff and sells it. His trips pay for themselves and then some.”

  “Yeah. They must pay him very well, from what I see,” said Dan.

  “And these... artefacts... are they just jewellery to him?” said Eva. Joanne and Mark walked around the edges of the room, perusing and inspecting as they went.

  “Kind of,” said Joe, looking tired. “So long as they contain some precious metal or gems, he loves them all the same. He has another cache of stuff like this upstairs in his study. Though I’m not really supposed to say that.”

  “A hidden collection. And I bet those are worth a fair few quid.”

  Eva cast a cautionary eye at Dan. The questions were mounting but nosing into the family wealth wasn’t going to get them any answers. The Clancy house was intriguing – but Eva felt that the jewellery and gold on the walls weren’t the substance of it. The intrigue came from the boy himself. Eva sensed she had to be subtle to get a clearer view, because the young man seemed to have no intention of being understood.

  But there was no stopping Dan’s current line of questioning.

  “So, let me get this right,” said Dan. “Your old man is a jeweller? So where’s his shop?”

  “He’s an online jeweller,” said Joe. “These days he has other people run the business for him. Paid staff. His main interest is in the collectables.”

  “Interesting. Which means your old man gets paid twice. Once for the standard jewellery business and again for the more interesting stuff he picks up along the way. His holidays turn a profit too.”

  Joe Clancy’s face clouded and turned pale. The young man left Georgie standing by the window and walked between Dan and the wall of objects in front of his eyes.