Between Two Thieves

by Solomon Carter

  Dan frowned. Eva kept her face calm and open, but she felt her heart start to beat a little faster. She nodded at the girl for encouragement.

  “I didn’t know that man’s name at all, not until I heard it on the radio, and then I saw his face on the news...” The girl’s face flickered with emotion. She gulped and shook her head.

  “You knew Norman Peters?” said Dan.

  . She looked at him before she gave a slow nod.

  “Kind of, but I didn’t really know him at all. I recognised his face only because he came around the house a few times.”

  “The Clancy house?” said Dan.

  The girl nodded.

  “But why?”

  Thoughts began to race through Eva’s mind. As Georgie spoke, the piles of unopened new clothes on Joe’s floor flashed through her mind.

  “That’s the weird thing... He came because Joe used to buy clothes from him. Designer clothes at cheap prices. That’s how come he has so many clothes in his room.”

  “He got them from the market trader?” said Dan.

  “Why would a rich kid buy clothes from a market trader?” said Joanne.

  “And why would a market trader sell knock-off clothes direct to Joe’s front door?” said Eva.

  “I don’t think I have all the answers,” said the girl. “But I saw it happen more than once. Joe paid most of his allowance to that man. I used to think it was funny, because I didn’t think the clothes really suited Joe that much. And he didn’t even wear many of them. But he’s like his dad – he’s a hoarder. He just couldn’t help getting more of them.”

  “You’re sure this guy was the same Norman Peters?” said Eva. “We need to be certain about this.”

  “Yes. But I knew him as Norm. That was what Joe called him. Norm. The man was a bit rough and ready but he seemed friendly enough, and he was very straightforward on the door. He didn’t like to linger. The clothes were always packaged up in the right sizes and he handed them over and Joe paid for them, cash. I knew there was something a little bit odd about it all, but I didn’t think about it much because Joe seemed happier for buying them. And what with him being so ill all the time, and what with his dad always being away, I didn’t mind so long as it brightened him up.”

  Dan frowned.

  “Peters sold him a lot of clothes... on a regular basis?”

  “Yes. That’s how I recognised him.”

  “You saw his photograph on television?” said Eva.

  The girl nodded. “Yes, but I checked it on the net too. I knew it was him. Norman Peters was the same Norm who came knocking with the clothes. The news said he was a market trader who sold fashion clothing and I already knew that. It totally freaked me out. Why would anybody have any reason to kill a man like that? He didn’t seem a bad man.”

  “We’re still trying to work that out, Georgie,” said Dan. “But why would Peters sell door to door like that? He was a market trader. Last I heard, Peters didn’t even bother with the pub trade these days. It doesn’t make sense...”

  “But more to the point, why would Joe deny that he knew him,” said Eva.

  Georgie took a deep breath. It seemed Eva had hit a pressure point, and Georgie looked suddenly troubled. “I spoke to Joe about it after I saw Norm’s face on the local news, after they said his body had been found. He acted totally odd about it. He went into denial. Like he was making out that I had made a mistake. Like I was mad and the man who came round the house was a completely different person. At one point he pretended it hadn’t even happened. But I asked him about it again and then he got really angry with me. He’s still being cold with me now. I care about Joe... He’s so mixed up and upset, and now he’s probably frightened too... His dad doesn’t really give a toss about him, either. But this thing with the market trader, Joe should have told you the truth.”

  “But why didn’t he?” said Dan.

  “Because he’s mixed up, scared,” said Georgie with a shrug. “And... I think it might be worse than that.”

  “Worse?” said Eva.

  “I wondered before but I put to the back of my mind. Joe doesn’t have much money. Much less than you might think and his dad isn’t exactly generous. I knew Norm sold him stuff on the cheap, but even so, Joe seemed to be buying far more than he could really afford. The more I think about it, there was no way he could have gotten all those clothes on the allowance he gets from his dad.”

  “Then how was he paying for all those clothes, Georgie?” said Eva.

  There was a silence. The girl’s eyes dropped to the grass, while Eva, Dan and Joanne looked at her.

  “Before the burglary, a few other things went missing from the house.”

  Eva looked at Dan. She guessed the rest and ventured to say it.

  “Joe was paying for these things with his father’s belongings?”

  The girl looked sad. “I don’t know for certain, but I think so. His dad complained about little things going missing. Not his treasures of course, but a few electronics, his camera, his voice recorder, and a mobile phone one time... I don’t want to get Joe in trouble. I want him to be in the clear. That’s the only reason I’m telling you this. With everything that’s happened, and losing his friends as well, I’m afraid Joe might snap. And Joe doesn’t realise how bad it looks.”

  “How bad does it look, Georgie?” said Dan.

  “I know what you think. He’s a thief. That he might be involved somehow in that man’s murder. Joe’s innocent and foolish sometimes but he’s not like that, not in a million years. You believe me, don’t you?”

  Dan sighed. Eva nodded. “I know it’s been hard for you, Georgie, but you’ve done the right thing. Joe should have told us this himself.”

  “He won’t get into trouble, will he? With the police I mean?”

  “I’m sorry,” said Eva. “I can’t make any guarantees.”

  “Why not?” said the girl with tears in her eyes.

  “Because that depends,” said Eva, “on what else Joe knows. And what else he’s done...”

  Fifteen

  When they reached the Clancy household they found Clancy Senior was on the living room phone. He watched them advance along the driveway, and his eyes widened a degree when he saw Georgie among their number. He held up the handset to show them he was busy and raised a single finger in a ‘one minute’ gesture.

  “Maybe he’s eavesdropping again,” said Dan.

  “We don’t know for sure that it was him,” said Eva.

  Before the promised minute was up, the door opened and Joe let them in.

  “And we didn’t even press the doorbell,” said Dan.

  “I saw you coming,” said Joe. Seeing Georgie was with them he looked stressed, his eyes flitting between each of their faces, but landing most often on hers.

  “You’d better come in. But keep it down. My father’s still chasing everyone in Southend about his Celtic band.”

  “He’s still on that?”

  “He’s still on everything,” said Joe. “You don’t know what he’s like.”

  “Oh, I think we’re beginning to build a fair picture,” said Eva.

  “About everyone in this house,” muttered Dan.

  The young man let them in and they passed the door of the living room. Joe led them left into a second reception room. There were armchairs as well as an oval dining table. The kid chose one of the corner armchairs and left them standing. He fidgeted around in the chair as Dan’s eyes fixed on his. Joe saw the look and tried to stop fidgeting, but the effort showed on his face.

  “What is it? Why are you here again?” said Joe, his temper fraying. “I can see you met with Georgie, and now you come here looking at me like judge and jury. What am I supposed to have done?”

  “You knew Norman Peters,” said Dan. “But when I asked you about him you denied it.”

  Joe’s eyes flicked towards Georgie. His face turned dark and he shook his head. Georgie shifted on her feet. Dan expected the girl to beg for forgiveness, t
o apologise, to play the meek little girl to the ungrateful brat, same as ever. But apparently she’d had enough of that.

  “I told them, Joe. And I’m not sorry I did. All these secrets you keep – I think they are what make you ill. You can’t keep burying everything and expecting there not to be consequences.”

  Joe shook his head in horror and disbelief. “Georgie, what are you talking about?! What have you said?”

  “The clothes, Joe. You kept buying clothes from that man. The man they found dead on the beach. He came here every week, and then he came every few days and you kept buying clothes from him when you didn’t even need them.”

  “The clothes...? You shouldn’t have told them, Georgie. That was my business...”

  “It didn’t matter who told us, Joe. We were getting closer to finding out,” said Eva. “And it’s not you we’re after here, is it?” Eva let the question hang in the air. “If you want us to be able to find your friend Carl Renton – and if you want us to help your father rescue his collection before it gets lost forever, then you need to level with us. Starting right now.”

  The kid coughed and wiped his brow. He was sweating as badly as Dan had ever seen him, but how much was down to a fever, and how much was down to his guilty conscience was impossible to say

  “Level with you? About what?”

  “About how well you knew Noman Peters,” said Eva. “And about what you think happened to Carl Renton And about your father’s collection for that matter. You’ve held out on us about one thing after another. What else are you hiding?”

  “Nothing... You don’t understand,” said Joe.

  “Then help us understand,” said Dan. “Starting with Norman Peters.”

  The kid coughed and looked at the door, like he was concerned that his father might come in at any time. The door stayed shut. Joe began to speak with a quiet but faltering voice. “It was like a credit arrangement at first. I first met Norm – Norman Peters, that is –- when we went to Southend market. I was with Georgie, but she won’t remember it. She was too busy looking at the make-up stall. I started looking at the clothes on Norm’s stall and we got talking. I bought a few little things and I went back the next week. The next time I bought a pair of jeans but there were a few other pieces I liked but couldn’t afford to pay for there and then. We got talking and that’s when he told me about the clothes he sold away from the stall. He said he sold all these other fashion lines, exclusive lines... and he offered to let me look at them, maybe take some on credit. I said yes. I never had much money and never had any access to credit either. I liked the clothes he sold, so I went for it. I went to the market to get them a couple more times... but then he said he could bring them around to me instead, said it would save me traipsing down to the market to find him.”

  “Clothes? You got into a credit arrangement with Norman Peters for clothes?” said Dan.

  “Yes. It was like having free money. I’d never had anything like it. I live here but it’s never felt like my house. I’ve guarded all my dad’s stuff like a guard dog... all his treasures, all over the house everywhere but I’ve never had anything of my own. In the end I couldn’t help it. Norm’s credit made things too easy. And Norm didn’t seem to mind extending the credit... except in the end, he said he wanted what I owed him. He said he wanted all of it. By then I was in hock to him for almost six hundred pounds. There was nothing else I could do but offer him other things instead of cash. First to go was my Xbox and my old 3DS. Then my stereo. After that, I had to look elsewhere.”

  “Elsewhere?” said Eva.

  “I started with the kit my dad hardly ever used. I knew he wouldn’t miss it. Techie stuff. Gadgets he’d bought on a whim. Norm took those as well, but it didn’t last long before that stuff ran out.”

  “Then what?”

  “Then I started scouring for other things. It was Norm who suggested taking one of the ornaments which he’d seen from the window. I panicked and grabbed the least important one, just a tasteless old ivory carving. It took my dad nearly a month to notice that one. But he noticed the African bracelet going almost straight away.”

  “So what did you tell him?”

  “Nothing. He hadn’t catalogued everything, only the really valuable stuff. So he blamed himself for being reckless. He looked at me funny when he discovered his pewter bowls missing, and I’m sure he would have cottoned on sooner or later... look, I’m sorry to say it, but I’m almost glad they found Norm dead when they did. If not, I was going to get found out for sure.”

  Dan stared at Joe with narrowed eyes. “All that risk. All that trouble. That whole credit arrangement con for just a pile of clothes you don’t even wear?”

  “It’s a bad habit, I know. I did the same once with a book club. One of those online ones. I ordered a ton of books but never read them. I got into trouble with dad because I put everything on his card. He was angry for a good while, but he stopped complaining because they were books. He figured books were good. But I only liked the covers.”

  “Pretty much like the clothes you never wear,” said Georgie.

  Joe shrugged. Dan narrowed his eyes.

  “It’s the truth,” he said.

  “The burglaries,” said Dan. “You said you heard the glass break and were too scared to challenge the burglars. Any reason for that? Did you have any prior knowledge that someone might be coming?”

  “What do you take me for?! Of course not,” said Joe, angry and indignant.

  “You don’t know who broke in for your father’s collection?” said Dan.

  “No, I don’t,” he said.

  “Carl Renton,” said Eva, changing tack. “I know Carl’s more important to you than your father’s pieces. We’re starting again, resetting the whole case. So I’ll ask you again. Do you have any idea what might have happened to him? Is there any connection between Carl Renton and Norman Peters?”

  Dan glanced at Eva, but she didn’t engage.

  “I have no idea what happened to him, none at all. If I knew I wouldn’t have asked you to look for him. I want you to find him. I want the chance to apologise to him for being such a jerk the last time I saw him.”

  “You argued about Carl pushing his faith on you,” said Dan. “And that’s all?”

  Joe coughed into his fist and looked at Eva and Dan. Now the truth was out he looked thoroughly spent. “That’s all,” he said.

  Georgie forced a smile and walked to his side. “Things will be much better now you’ve told them everything, Joe. You’ll see. With everything out in the open, there’s nothing for you to worry about apart from getting better.” Georgie slid an arm around his back. The young man looked far from convinced but nodded lamely and accepted her comfort without complaint.

  The door opened and Clancy Senior walked in, shooting glances all around.

  “What’s the big drama all about?” he said, eying each in turn. Joe stayed quiet, a guilty child awaiting his medicine. Dan was the first to speak. “No drama, Mr Clancy. Just ironing out a few kinks in our understanding of events, that’s all.”

  “Is that all you people do? Ask the same questions over and over again? What about my missing collection? I’ve just been on the phone to the police and the council again. Those bloody bureaucrats are still holding up the release of my Celtic torq. I could do with some good news from you.”

  “We’re working on it, Mr Clancy,” said Eva. “Every grain of information takes us closer.”

  It was Clancy’s turn to look unconvinced. “You people need to get a bloody move on. Those are precious items.”

  “And we’re getting a move on, Mr Clancy,” said Eva. “I think I know where to concentrate our efforts from here on in.”

  “Oh?” said Clancy.

  “Time will tell,” replied Eva. She gave a nod to Joe and Georgie and led the way past Clancy out into the hallway. Clancy simmered behind her. A moment later Eva, Dan and Joanne were back on Kings Road, walking away from the Clancy house in the late afternoon sun. />
  Dan spoke as soon as they were clear of the house. “Have you spotted what connects Norman Peters and Carl Renton? You have, haven’t you?” said Dan.

  Eva nodded. “Joe Clancy,” she said.

  “Yes and what’s more, he’s the only connection I see. He’s admitted it. He lied to us about not knowing Norm Peters, and he would have stuck to that lie if not for Georgie. What’s to say he’s not lying about his parting row with Carl Renton too? Or anything else for that matter? He’s already admitted to a bunch of petty thefts to pay off a debt to Norman Peters. And do you buy the idea of him buying clothing from the guy?”

  “Norman Peters used to sell in the pubs as well as at the market,” said Eva. “So it’s possible he would sell door to door for compulsive types like Joe. But he’s shown himself to be a liar, so we may never know for sure.”

  “Peters liked selling clothes, yes,” said Dan. “But he also liked silver snuff tins and class A drugs. Here’s an idea. What if Joe Clancy is the one who gave Norman Peters the tin?”

  Joanne and Eva looked at Dan as they neared the cars.

  “How would that work?” said Eva.

  “It would work if Joe isn’t as weak and sickly as he seems. At least not physically sick. What if Joe was angry with Carl... what if he struck out against him... what if he stole the tin and gave it to Peters himself? He denied seeing that tin on the last night he saw Carl Renton, but he could have been lying about that too.”

  “Too much speculation, Dan, and not enough facts. Joe Clancy is a proven liar, but I don’t see him killing his only real friend in the world, no matter how many lies he’s told us.”

  “Not just lies, Eva. He’s stealing too. What else is he capable of?”

  “We’ll see. Everyone tells lies, Dan. Especially to themselves. We’d best stick to finding the truth before we get lost again.”

  “And how do we do that exactly?” said Dan.

  “Now we know there is a connection between Peters and Renton we need to get back to the marine centre jetty.”

  “Why? Hogarth will take care of the blood on the beach.”