“You’re overlooking the chemical content,” said Eva. “You don’t know what’s in them. No one ever does. Or what it’s doing to you. Ubers are killing people, Joe. And let’s face it, that’s what you were aiming for when you took that last batch. Why?”
Eva held his eyes and Joe let loose a long sigh.
“I didn’t want to let Carl down like that. Carl believed in me. He believed I could quit the Ubers. He kept coming round to help me. He knew where all my money was going and he didn’t want me ruining my life, so he gave me a little pocket money to motivate me. Pocket money, yes, like I was his kid. He said I could have it so long as I didn’t waste any of it on that rubbish. It was a way to reward me for weaning myself off. By then he knew my dad only gave me four hundred a month. But I still couldn’t help it. All of my money was going on the pills with Norman. Even what Carl gave me. Carl thought I was cutting down, like we agreed, but in the end he saw I was in an even worse mess, and he got angry. Carl wasn’t stupid. That night, last Thursday, he faced me down. He said I was lying, and he said he had become part of the problem... Carl Renton gave me my best chance at saving my life and making something of myself, and I threw it back in his face. I’m a scumbag, Miss Roberts. I’m a total scumbag, Georgie. I deserved to die, but I couldn’t even do that right, so here I am again, being a scumbag, using up a hospital bed when someone else needs it even more than I do.”
“Hey,” said Dan, frowning. “Enough of the self-pity. You’re alive because these people here saved you. Now it’s high time for you to stop being so ungrateful. You could do that for Carl Renton starting right now. Maybe this is your fresh start. Your second chance, Joe. Get it?”
Joe fell silent under Dan’s stern gaze. But Dan wasn’t going to let him off with a mere silence. He wanted an answer. “Get it?” said Dan.
Joe gave a single nod and Dan sighed.
“That’s the spirit, Joe,” said Eva. “And a new start begins with you helping us to fix this.”
“Fix it? But it can’t be fixed. Carl’s gone...” said Joe.
“You can start by telling us everything you know. And this time, please don’t leave out a single thing.”
The young man coughed and Georgie squeezed his hand.
“Come on, Joe. Tell them,” said Georgie.
Joe nodded and began to speak. “After a little while of buying Ubers and the clothes to cover it, I got to the point I couldn’t afford to buy them just from my allowance anymore. My allowance was four hundred a month. I know that sounds a lot for someone my age but when you’re buying clothes as well as Ubers the cost mounts up quickly. And I didn’t even know how much I was in debt to Norman Peters until he told me. He said I owned him hundreds! I’d been paying him all I had, but I still owed him more. And even then, Norm was okay for a little while, but then he suddenly wanted to get paid off. So I had no choice but to start giving him things from the house. Little things at first. Anything I thought might not be noticed...”
“That phase couldn’t have lasted long,” said Eva.
Among the constant footfall of medical staff and visitors passing along the central aisle between the cubicles, a tall newcomer interrupted a busy nurse. He asked a question. The nurse pointed to a roll call of patient names scrawled on a big white board, then pointed him in the direction of cubicle 10. The cubicle which housed Joe Clancy’s bed.
“No. It didn’t last long,” said Joe.
Aaron Clancy reached the end of the wall which bordered one side of cubicle 10. He saw the girl Georgie with his son’s hand in hers. He saw Dan Bradley’s back and his son’s feet, wearing socks but no trainers. Aaron Clancy took a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling, relieved to hear his son’s voice. He was alive. But as the boy’s words kept coming, Clancy Senior listened on in grim fascination. He stayed hidden from sight around the corner, rooted to the spot.
“I started to run out of what I thought of as small and inconsequential items from the house. Anything I gave Norm after that was bound to be noticed and missed. But by then Norm was happy with the arrangement. I was buying his clothes and his pills. I guess I was a cash cow, and he was probably making extra money by trading on whatever I gave him for extra cash. At that point Norm said I could have as much as I liked, just so long as I kept paying him with whatever else I could grab from the house. So I did. I knew it had to end one day, but by then, I honestly didn’t care. I was hooked bad. I just had to pay him however I could and damn the consequences.”
“Which was when you started stealing from your father’s private jewellery collection...” said Dan.
Joe winced at the word, stealing.
“Look. I hate myself for it, but what else could I do? I tried to find myself a cheaper supplier, one without the clothes, so I could manage it from my allowance without taking my dad’s stuff. But it went wrong. I ended up getting stung for every penny I had, and I just about got away without a beating.”
“Which was when you lost your wallet?” said Eva.
Joe nodded. “It was never lost. I had to give it over or they were going to break my leg, so I handed it over just like that. I would have been happy if I’d never seen that bloody wallet ever again. But I was back at square one, worse even, so I had to keep giving Norm my dad’s stuff just to stay on an even keel. And that didn’t last either.”
“Because Norman wanted more cash?” said Dan. “Is that why you faked the burglary?”
Joe frowned. “What? You... you know about that? How?!”
“We worked it out, Joe.” said Eva. “It took us a while, but as soon as we knew everything it became clear.
“But that’s not it. I didn’t set up that burglary to pay Norman Peters. I would never have done that. The thing with Norm came to an end before I even knew it. There was this one time, about a week back, Norm came to give me another batch in exchange for an item. I had to give him one of the small Celtic pieces. Not the one my dad keeps hassling the police for. Just a small old gold brooch. I had to give him that because I was running out of stuff. Norm was very happy. He gave me an extra couple of Ubers and two pairs of jeans. But while I was dealing with Norm I saw this guy out in the street waiting for him. He was waiting in a car. I thought the guy must have given him a lift, but when I saw Norman get in his own car to drive away I realised I was wrong. The other guy who was waiting for him drove off and followed him. I was going to tell Norm all about it when I saw him next, but I didn’t get the chance. That was the very last time he came.”
“The guy in the car?” said Dan. “Was he tall, thin, mean and ugly looking, right?”
Joe nodded, his eyed widening. “Yes. That’s him.”
Aaron Clancy put his hands on his hips and shook his head at the floor. He gritted his teeth and prepared to step around the corner to face his son. Clancy Senior was about to speak when a cocktail of confused feelings held him in check. He hesitated, unsure whether to reassure or to roar. And before he had made up his mind, the questions began once more.
“The burglary, Joe. It happened late that Thursday night. Tell me all about it,” said Eva.
Joe looked at Georgie and took her hand in his. “I’m sorry, Georgie. I misled you. It was the drugs. They had a hold of me.”
“Misled me?”
“There was no burglary. None at all. You were there that night. You remember I was in a state, a real mess,” said Joe.
“Yeah. You really weren’t good that night.”
“That was my fault. I got cocky about how much of the Ubers I could take. I wanted to edge up a little, enjoy a little more, so I took a half instead of a quarter, and it showed. That’s why Carl saw I was out of it. Later, when I started to come down I told you I was ill again. When Carl saw me and we went off to talk, he knew exactly what was going on. He’d seen it all before. He’d wanted me to get straight and come off the stuff for good. But that night he saw through me once and for all. I wasn’t coming off the Ubers. I was getting in deeper and deeper I was getting worse. Whe
n I saw he was so upset with me, it was like upsetting your grandpa. I was so, so, sorry. I was beside myself, and the chemicals weren’t helping. He told me he couldn’t stand by and watch me kill myself and he wasn’t going to help me do it any longer. He just said he would pray for me. I knew then he was never going to come and see me again. I’d lost a good friend. I’d lost a man who was becoming like another father to me... I just wanted him to know that I appreciated all he’d done. As he was leaving, I grabbed anything I could lay my hands on. Looking back, I was still high. I grabbed a few things, whatever I could find, and I gave them to him in a jiffy bag. I said they were a thank you present. He said he didn’t want it. He barely even looked at it but I told him to take it. I watched him saying goodbye to Georgie, and off he went. A little later, when I was coming down I realised what I’d done. I’d given Carl about a half dozen of my Dad’s favourite pieces. What he called his centrepieces. I panicked. I knew there was no way that could happen. I guessed faking a burglary was my only way out of it. I couldn’t ask Carl for them back and I didn’t want to, either. So I set up the burglary. About one am I went downstairs while Georgie was still sleeping... I went outside and I smashed the back window with a rolling pin. Then I rushed upstairs pretending I’d been in the toilet there the whole time. For the burglary to work, everyone had to believe it. Even me, I guess. The lie had to be complete. So I started acting like it was true. I put a chair up against the door... and acted like there was someone in the house. And I got my cricket bat ready to defend myself...”
The light of the hospital A&E ward was dimmed by the appearance of a tall figure at the end of the bed. Joe was the first to look up. He saw his father clasping his own hands. The man’s gaze was sincere and upset, yet there was no mistaking the hint of anger and reproach in his eyes.
“Joe...”
The boy yammered and shifted in his bed. Eva reached to steady him.
“It’s okay, Joe. Stay calm. It’s only your father,” she said.
“Have you been there long?” said Georgie, her eyes shining with a hint of panic.
“Long enough,” said Clancy Senior quietly.. The girl regarded him and tried to read his face.
“Joe... I’m sorry,” said his father. “I only wish... I only wish that you’d told me... I could have helped you. I could have paid for a rehab and some therapy. A proper rehab, not one for the hoodlums like your friend Mr Renton used to run. You really should have told me about the money, Joe. And about the stealing too. I deserved to know.”
Aaron Clancy felt the weight of Eva’s gaze and met her eyes.
“Of course,” he said. “I’m very, very glad – extremely glad – that you’re alive and well. But I am your father. You should have told me all the same.”
Joe Clancy nodded meekly. “I know. I’m sorry, Dad.”
“What did the doctors say?” said Clancy Senior.
“They said Joe didn’t fully digest all the tablets he’d taken,” said Georgie, with a trace of anger. “If it had been much longer, they said he’d probably be dead. But the paramedics got to him in time. Then they pumped his stomach but they want to keep him in tonight.”
Joe shook his head at these words, but Georgie carried on. “I think he’ll probably be discharged tomorrow. Joe’s had a very near miss.”
Clancy nodded mildly. In a half-hearted gesture he reached out for his son. He laid his hand on his son’s ankle and squeezed for a moment, then looked at Eva.
“So... you didn’t find my lost collection, but it seems you did find out what happened to them. I never guessed the cause would be so close to home. You’ve done all you could, I suppose. If some drug dealer attacked Mr Renton when he was in possession of my centrepieces, I’m sure they will be long gone now. Don’t worry. I’ll settle my account with you in due course, Miss Roberts.”
“All in good time, Mr Clancy. This news comes as a shock for everyone,” said Eva.
“Yes, it does. Look.” Clancy scratched his nose. The man looked a little lost. “I’m sorry but I’d better go. I’ve made such an awful fuss about the burglary, that I must go and fix a few things as soon as I can. I shall have to tell the insurance company it was all a mistake. I hope they see the funny side. And I should call the police too. It’s all so... so very... awkward.”
“Leave all that until tomorrow, Mr Clancy. It can wait,” said Dan.
Clancy Senior shook his head. “I’m afraid it can’t. Back when I was building my jewellery business, I always used to operate on one principle. It was like a golden rule to me. Do it now!! That principle has always seen me in good stead. I think I should do the very same thing in this crisis. Please excuse me. Joe... I’ll be back when I can.”
Clancy nodded his head and made off with a curt wave to his son. Joe looked ashamed of himself, Georgie angry.
“You hear that?” said Dan, shaking his head. “He’s even got a golden rule to follow when his son’s in a hospital bed. He’s still talking gold, even now.”
Eva gave Dan a look of warning for speaking his mind with Joe and Georgie present. But young Georgie nodded her head at Dan’s words. “Gold and jewellery. Joe’s father lives and breathes nothing else,” said Georgie. Eva’s mouth twitched at Georgie’s words. Her eyes briefly misted in thought.
“What is it?” said Joe. His forlorn gaze caught the look in Eva’s eyes, and brought her back to the present.
“Just a thought,” said Eva. “Last Thursday night. The night of the burglary. You said you were out of it. Just how out of it were you?”
“Yes,” said Joe. “It wasn’t my finest hour. I took too much and it cost me a friend. Everything else that happened that night flowed from that.”
“I wouldn’t say that, Joe,” said Eva.
Dan agreed. “You had nothing to do with what happened to Carl, after all.”
“No. I had nothing to do with what happened to him afterwards. Except that if I had been in a better way, who knows, maybe he would have skipped a night’s vigil at the beach. He might have stayed longer at my house. He might be alive today.”
Eva shook her head. “Stopping drugs coming into the town was a full-on faith mission for Carl Renton. It was his life’s work. I don’t think you could have stopped him. But go back a step. You said you were out of it. Your father recalled that night too. He said he came home after your meeting with Carl. He told me his impressions of that evening and he said you were in a bad way, upset and unwell but he said he was due to go back out.”
“He wouldn’t have cared either way,” said Georgie.
“But your father said he went up to see you in your bedroom – to see if you were okay. I think he assumed Georgie had already left to go home, so he came to give you a glass of water and see how you were.”
Eva let the words sink in and waited to read a response in their eyes. Joe looked unsure, but there was a strangely confused look in Georgie’s eyes. “That’s a routine we go through sometimes. I pretend to leave for the day, and then do my level best to avoid him.”
Eva saw the girl thinking and carried on. “Aaron told me you were too ill, too upset to take any comfort, so he left you in bed to sleep it off and then went on his way.”
“I know I was pretty delirious at times,” said Joe. “I’m sorry. I can’t remember.”
“Well, I can,” said Georgie. “And he’s wrong. He never came to see Joe. I should know, because I was the one looking after him. Yes, I did pretend to leave the house, but I didn’t ever leave. For show, I got ready to go, but when I saw Aaron was excited and keen to get out for his date I knew I wouldn’t have to try too hard. He was distracted, so I closed the door and sneaked back up the stairs. With Joe like that there was no way I was going anywhere.”
“You don’t remember Mr Clancy visiting Joe at all that evening?”
“No. Not at all,” said Georgie.
“Do you think he could have and you missed it?” said Eva.
The girl’s expression grew firm and certain. “No. No c
hance at all. I’m the one who looked after Joe until he started getting settled. I laid next to him then and I fell asleep. Next thing I remember, was the noise downstairs and Joe telling me we were being robbed!” she said, softly punching Joe’s arm. “Now I know you were having me on.”
Joe gulped and looked away. Georgie’s smile faded.
“Aaron was quite certain that he came to see Joe,” said Eva. “He made a point of it.” She looked at Dan.
“Then it sounds like he got it wrong,” said Dan.
“Probably because he wants to seem a better father than he actually is,” said Georgie.
“You’re absolutely sure he didn’t come back?” said Eva.
Georgie met her eyes. “I told you already. Aaron really gets under my skin.”
“I noticed,” said Dan.
“After Joe’s staged break-in, I didn’t sleep very well. I had a dream, or maybe just a bad feeling, a feeling that he was going to catch me in bed with Joe. It was such a stupid, horrid feeling. But sometimes dreams can be like that, can’t they? Feelings, not pictures. I used to have a nightmare of falling. It was just the same.”
Joe reached out for Georgie’s hand.
“I blocked the door with the chair, and Dad didn’t get back until morning. He didn’t see you, Georgie. It must have been the break-in that scared you. My father never knew you were there, I’m sure.”
Georgie tried for a smile, but Eva saw the strain of discomfort left by describing the previous Thursday night. Eva tried to reassure her. “Joe’s probably right, Georgie. Mr Clancy never knew you were there.”
The girl nodded, but Eva could only think of the implications of their words. Aaron Clancy didn’t know Georgie was there. He had never known. Which was why he felt able to lie about seeing Joe... Whatever the reason for the lie, his guilt about being a bad father, or something else, it exposed the first obvious crack in Clancy’s character. It was one thing being a selfish father. But with all the chaos and crime being inflicted on his family, it was quite another to lie to your own investigator about the night of a crime. Eva saw Dan’s brooding face, and realised he was thinking along the same lines. Joe blocking the bedroom door had proved a wise precaution. And now the slipped chair was looking less like a trick of a tired mind, and more like a proverbial tripwire. Maybe Clancy had arrived home at five am... But Eva was sure he had also been back to the house much, much earlier. The price of one lie, was that it tended to expose others.
Between Two Thieves Page 33
