by K O'Hanlon
They had swapped photos via the sites messaging facility and it seemed that both of them shared the same feelings for each other. Their arranged meeting in London hadn’t gone according to plan. It seemed that when her husband wasn’t watching her every move he took great pleasure in beating her until she was black and blue. James was already thinking in terms of Samantha being his future wife and the mother of his children, so any news of her being hurt by that miserable bastard she was tied to made him sad, then angry.
He wasn’t stupid. He was old enough and wise enough to tell a genuine person from a fake. He knew that most of the females online were actually fat ugly women using photos that were downloaded from the internet. Some were men pretending to be sexy women with enormous breasts. Their usernames usually gave them away right from the start. He was amazed that so many men on the site actually fell for all the phony lines and were so easily taken in by a pretty face that had nothing to do with the person they were talking to.
You could read the forums and see all the idiots fighting for the attention of a few sexy female posters. Most of the fakes would only last a week or so before someone exposed them as a grotesque looking toothless fat man who thought it highly amusing to con their fellow chess players. There were some people who had multiple accounts and usernames. They would get one of the thread topics up and running by talking to themselves, even arguing with themselves in order to fire up some kind of sexual debate. At the end of the day it was just a laugh. As long as nobody took it seriously there was no harm done.
He had searched the internet looking for the photo that Samantha had sent him. His search had thrown nothing up and from what he could see nobody on the site was accusing her of being anything other than what she portrayed herself to be. She hadn’t been as open with other people as she had been with him, so as far as he knew, she was genuine. She struck him as a very private person and he was glad she had chosen him to confide in. By the same token, he felt sure she wouldn’t gossip about him to others on the site.
Something had to be done to help her get away from her husband. If she was too frightened to leave him, nothing would ever change. James wanted to seek him out and give him a good talking to, maybe a good hiding to boot. But at the end of the day, Samantha would still be legally married to the monster.
Chapter Six
S am decided it was time to push James and see what would happen. Mike’s wedding day was getting nearer and Toni was spending like it was going out of fashion. Wedding plans were made, deposits were paid. Too many people were getting in the way and Sam couldn’t think straight. The time had to be soon, the time had to be now.
Sam logged into the chess site to contact James. “Please help me. I don’t know who to turn to. Even the police say they can’t do anything. Everyone is frightened of him so nobody is on my side. Only you can help me because they don’t know anything about you. I’ve never mentioned you to anybody. If he were to have a fatal accident we could meet up after a month or two, then we would be free, free to live and be happy. I could sell the house and we could go abroad and leave all this behind us. A fresh start, just the two of us, together forever. Please help me, James. This could be the last chance we have. Your ever loving Samantha xxx.”
Sam waited for a reply but an hour passed and nothing came back. Maybe it’s too soon, maybe it’s too late. He wasn’t sure.
He checked for messages every ten minutes then every twenty minutes then every hour but nothing came back that night. At 6am the next morning a message arrived from James.
“Sam. I’ve been awake all night thinking about what you said. I want to say no but my heart keeps saying yes. I’ll need to know a time and a place. It must be after dark and be somewhere secluded. Just message me with some details of his movements for the next few days. All my love, James xxx.”
Sam had no hesitation getting back to James with details of Mike’s work rota and his office address along with his car make and model and where it was usually parked.
James replied with a cross signifying a kiss.
It was obvious to James that by using his own car the police would instantly trace it back to him and ask questions. He had to plan it properly for it to work. He wasn’t stupid. He needed some items to leave in the car for when the forensic team bagged evidence. What better way to plant false leads than to get some clothing and old worn shoes from a charity shop. He’d get some old leather gloves too and use them when he drove the car, they could be thrown away afterwards.
He drove to another town about 20 miles from where he lived. Nobody would know him there and he could look around the charity shops with ease. He dressed very casual in black and grey and wore a cap. The first charity shop he chose had everything he needed, they had even put everything on hangers and clips so he could pick the items up without actually touching them. The elderly woman who served him put everything in a used bag from under the counter. Coat, shoes, and gloves in styles which are common in most shops throughout the UK. All were in sizes that didn’t fit him and he hadn’t touched any of them with his hands. He paid in cash and dropped the few pence given to him in change into the collection box by the till.
James was all fired up and ready, or so he thought. Just one more drink and he’d have the courage needed to see this through. He had made a dummy run along the route he would use. He hoped it would be quieter in the evening when it was dark. He’d spotted several cars parked across the road from the office building Samantha had given him. All he needed to do now was drive, stay within the speed limits, don’t jump any red lights, keep the sun visor down low and sit back in the seat. Just drive and get the job done.
The evening was wet and dark. The rain hadn’t stopped all day and was still coming down quite hard. James followed the route he knew from his dummy run. His hands were shaking and he could barely keep in a straight line. Maybe one too many drinks for Dutch courage had done that to him or maybe he was just plain scared. He pulled up at the side of the road with his lights off waiting to see movement from the office door. Samantha had said her husband was always the last one to leave and he could see only one car parked opposite that fitted the description she had given him. Most of the office lights were dimmed really low so he shouldn’t need to wait long. He caught a glimpse of a shadow on the pavement in front of the door, then there was darkness and a man stepped outside securing the lock before turning towards the road.
James turned his headlights on and pulled away from the kerb.
The car appeared from the darkness, headlights on full beam. Raindrops falling from the night sky lit up like small gems cascading to the ground.
The man crossing the road carried a small leather briefcase in one hand, a bunch of flowers in the other. With his collar up and head down, hurrying across to his parked car he glanced sideways into the twin beams of light as the vehicle accelerated, closer, faster.
With wheels screeching and spinning desperate for traction on the wet tarmac. Its lights switched off suddenly leaving an eerie darkness with shadows that danced across the road.
An angry face behind the windshield was the last thing he saw on this earth. The impact sent his body high into the air. The driver slammed on the brakes, looked into the side mirror in time to see the broken twisted corpse hit the ground. The flowers landed several feet away from the body still looking fresh and new as though a dear friend had just paid their respects to the dead man.
Blood and water raced side by side down the gutter towards the drain as the driver sped away down the deserted road.
One street light half hidden amongst branches swaying in the wind shone down illuminating the brightly coloured flowers, leaving the dead man in the shadows like the final scene of a play before the curtains close.
A homeless man sleeping rough heard a loud thud followed by the screech of tyres, or was it a screech of tyres followed by a loud thud. He wasn’t sure about anything, he didn’t even know what year it was but he liked the shiny blue car that shot past,
it reminded him of one he once owned. He took another swig from his bottle, rearranged his many layers of tatty coats and blankets, checked that he still had both shoes on his feet and went back to sleep.
James was in a panic, he drove around aimlessly for a while not knowing where to go. He hadn’t thought about how his actions would shock him. He knew one of his headlights was smashed as the warning light was flashing a message on the controls telling him to check front lights.
“Oh god, if the light is broken there must be pieces of it in the road near the body. The police will know the make of car it came from. The man might still be alive. He could be in an ambulance right now being rushed to hospital with the paramedics trying to save his life. I need to get home quick. I’ll dump the car, plant the evidence and get a train. I’ll report it stolen. What connection is there to me other than the chess site? Samantha wanted him gone. She will most likely inherit his wealth. She’ll be free to move on. She can’t say anything about me without incriminating herself. I need to calm down but first I must get rid of this car.”
James parked his car in a dark dingy road that had most of its street lights broken. He kept his leather gloves on and lifted the other items from the carrier bag. The shoes were thrown into the passenger foot well and the coat was dragged over the driver’s seat and left there. The area looked really rough. Some of the houses had open back trucks parked on their overgrown front gardens. One house had a supermarket trolley leaning on its side by the wall. He left the car unlocked and hoped the locals didn’t pinch the coat and shoes that were visible. He walked quickly towards the train station keeping his head down and a scarf pulled halfway up his face. He changed trains once before arriving at his local station. His leather gloves and carrier bag had been thrown from the window of the moving train and now formed part of the general junk commonly seen near the tracks. After he walked through his front door he quietly closed it and slid to the floor and cried. Scamp came running up and licked his face, all excited to see him.
“Oh God, what have I done?”
It was just after half past eleven when he contacted the police to report his car stolen. He was surprised when the woman on desk duty informed him that it had already been found but that the front was damaged with the headlight broken.
“Two police officers are already on their way to talk to you and will be arriving soon.”
A car pulled up outside his house within minutes of ending the call. There were no flashing blue lights and the car didn’t have the usual police markings. James opened the front door and saw two plain clothed police officers. He had no choice but to invite them in.
After the introductions were made James offered them coffee but they politely refused.
Then the questions started. “Sir, we believe your vehicle was involved in an accident this evening. A witness at the scene has given us a description of the car seen in the area at the time of the incident.”
James had to look away for fear that his face would show signs of guilt. That bit of news had taken him totally by surprise. He hadn’t seen any witness. He hadn’t seen anyone near the office. There had been just one man and only one car parked on the street. There isn’t any reason for people to be in that area once the office closes for the day. The man had locked the door when he left so nobody else was in the building.
“I wish I could be of some help officer, but I only noticed my car was missing just minutes before I phoned to report it. I had a few drinks this evening then fell asleep on the sofa. I was about to take my dog for a quick walk before turning in for the night when I noticed my car was gone from the driveway. I have no idea what time it was taken but it must have been some time after five as that was when I got in from work.”
“Very well, Sir. But before we leave would you mind blowing into a breathalyser for us? It’s standard procedure with this type of incident.”
“Err, yes, that’s not a problem but I already told you I had a few drinks earlier.”
“Yes, Sir, we are well aware of that. If we could also just take a note of your home, work and mobile phone number we’ll be in contact with you soon. Thank you for your time.”
James wrote his contact numbers on a piece of work headed notepaper and handed it to the officers as he walked them to the door. He was glad when they drove away. His hands were shaking. He needed coffee but the smell that greeted him in the kitchen was a reminder that he hadn’t taken Scamp for his evening walk.
A small turd on the mat by the back door would prove to be the least of his problems.
He decided against coffee at midnight and switched off the lights as he made his way up the stairs to bed. Scamp followed not too far behind but his pace quickened with the knowledge that the turd hadn’t come between him and his master.
James had a terrible night tossing and turning, he must have dozed off at some point only to fight his way out of the nightmare of darkness. The dark silhouette of a body falling from the sky clutching black flowers. Even darker jet black blood flowed like a river rising higher and higher until he had to wake or drown in it.
At 4.30am he gave up trying to sleep and shuffled downstairs for a strong brew of coffee. The smell of Scamp’s poo was overpowering so both turd and mat was thrown out the door into the back garden. James would sort that out later, for now he had other serious shit to deal with.
He ordered a cab for 8.30 in the morning which would get him to work just before 9.
He wasn’t looking forward to answering questions about the loss of his car but he felt he could cope if he kept the answers short with a lot of don’t knows thrown in. There would be no good reason for him not to turn up today. His car had been stolen and was involved in an incident. That’s all he could say. James avoided watching the news so he could keep his head clear. He didn’t want to relive his actions of the previous evening. For now he would summon all his willpower to dress for work as though it was a normal day at the office, minus his car.
His cab arrived ten minutes late due to traffic congestion and the ever present never ending roadworks. An inconvenience not really worth a mention given the grand scale of things but the driver spent the whole journey talking about it, mostly to himself with the occasional “yeah” from James who obviously wasn’t paying full attention to the conversation. When the cab finally arrived outside his office James had the door open before the car came to a complete stop. He handed the driver a twenty pound note and walked off without waiting for his ten pounds in change.
The cabbie called out. “Cheers mate, call me anytime.”
As James entered his office those who were in before him raised their heads and mumbled their good mornings. They hadn’t noticed his arrival by cab so no awkward questions were fired at him. By 9.30 the late comers started to drift in, all with the same story about congestion and roadworks. Only one asked James where his car was.
“My car was stolen last night sometime after 5 when I got home.”
“Wow!” Said a female voice from the far end of the room. “Any chance you’ll get it back? Has it been found yet? Did you contact your insurers because they should arrange a replacement at least until you know what condition it’s in or if you even want it back after it’s been used for God knows what. Maybe it’s been torched or used for a murder or something. Personally I wouldn’t want it back but you know insurance companies, they always rip you off when the car’s written off. You can never get it replaced with one in the same condition and mileage for what they pay you. Of course if you had an old banger stolen you could end up better off but your car wasn’t very old as I remember and you don’t see many like yours with those twin fog lights and all.”
James closed his ears to the woman’s monologue. Her lung capacity must be enormous to say so much without taking in air. He wondered how long she could hold her breath underwater.
He jogged down the single flight of stairs from his office to the exit which led straight to the main car park. Tom’s snack truck was parked in its usual
place over in the far corner. The smell of fried onions bacon and burgers filled the air and several staff from adjacent buildings stood around waiting for their food orders to be cooked. The sun shone into his eyes as he made his way over to the short queue. Before he reached his destination a police car came speeding into the car park and screeched to a halt. Two familiar officers got out and made their way towards him. One held his id card out at arm’s length so James could see the faded photo and badge of Officer Bentley.
“Mr James Russell, we would like you to accompany us to the station please, Sir.”
“Why? I told you everything I know last night. I really don’t think I can be of much use to you. I arrived home in my car around 5 o’clock and that was the last time I saw it.”
“There are some questions that would be best dealt with at the station if you could just get your things from upstairs and come with us please. We’ll wait here by the car for you.”
James just nodded and walked back into the building. He walked slowly up the flight of stairs and entered his office. Picking up his coat and keys on the way out he spoke to nobody in particular saying that he was needed at the police station.
Every eye was on him as he made his way towards the marked car and sat in the back with the Officer.
Once at the station James was taken to an interview room where he was offered coffee. No food was offered so he just sat there with his stomach making loud gurgling sounds. He hadn’t eaten at all yesterday and he was starting to feel light headed. After a good ten minutes or so a tall grey haired police officer entered the room and introduced himself as DI Potter. There was a recording system set up on the table and DI Potter reached across to press the record button. He stated the time and date and indicated that he was talking to a Mr James Robert Russell in regard to a fatal incident involving a Mr Benjamin Richards.