by Carol Wyer
She pushed the plate to one side. ‘Maybe when he has a job…’ she began.
‘He didn’t get the job. He got a text earlier to say they’d filled the position.’
‘Oh! That’s a shame. Well, he needs to try other places. There must be something.’
‘There’s not a lot for people who are qualified let alone a sixteen, soon-to-be seventeen-year-old, waiting on the results of his GCSEs. I don’t think he’s going to be able to find any work.’
‘Surely he could clean cars or do some gardening for people!’
‘Well, why don’t you put that proposal to him because he isn’t listening to me at the moment. I’m hardly a shining example of productivity, am I?’ There it was! David was in a self-pitying mood again and his authority had been challenged. That was what this was all about.
‘Okay, I will. What time’s he due back?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘Have you texted him to find out?’
‘No, Natalie, I haven’t.’
Natalie collected her phone and rang Josh. David stood arms folded and waited. Josh picked up.
‘Hey. You okay?’
‘Fine.’
‘You at Alex’s house?’
‘Yes.’
‘What time do you plan on coming home?’
‘Dunno. Twelve?’
‘I have to go out again. How about I pick you up on my way home at about ten thirty?’ She’d make sure she was done with the Langs and the nightclub by then.
‘Ten thirty? I don’t have to get up for school.’
‘No, but we all have to get up early and I don’t want to have to wait up too late for you.’
There was a lengthy pause then, ‘Okay.’
‘Thanks. See you later.’
‘You’re too soft with him,’ David said.
‘What?’
‘You should have told him to get his arse back home. How dare he dictate what time he comes and goes. This isn’t a fucking hotel.’
‘Can you hear yourself?’
‘He’s turning into a spoilt brat and you’re not helping.’
‘I’m picking him up and bringing him home. How is that not helping?’
‘Ten thirty is too late.’
‘What time do you suggest?’
‘Nine is plenty late enough.’
‘Then you should have made sure of that before he went out!’
‘Maybe we should get him his own door key so he can simply come and go as he pleases.’
She wasn’t going to argue any further. She threw him an icy look and went to join Leigh. There was enough melodrama on the television without adding to it.
Leigh had gone upstairs to “mess about online”, leaving Natalie to watch a film that she couldn’t get into. She’d tried Kirk’s and Gavin’s mobiles again but both had gone to answerphone. Frustrated and tired and in a moment of weakness, she’d rung Mike.
‘Sorry to bother you but I wanted to check to see if you’d found anything else,’ she said. She winced at her lie. What she’d really wanted was to hear his voice.
‘I’m afraid not. I’ve called it a day. Best to start again after a night’s sleep and when I’m feeling fresh. Less chance of making mistakes.’
‘That’s how I feel.’
‘Yet here you are gone eight at night, talking to me about work!’ She could hear the teasing in his voice and it made her smile.
‘I’m too transparent,’ she replied. Shit! She was flirting. She knew she was and she shouldn’t be.
‘No, Nat. You’re many things but not transparent. You’re like an onion with its many layers and some days I feel like I haven’t yet reached the real you.’ His voice was sultry and sexy and made her heart beat faster.
‘You know me well enough.’
‘Well, enough to know something’s bothering you if you’ve rung me after hours… and it isn’t work.’
He’d sussed her. ‘David and I are in disagreement about Josh. David thinks he’s being a lazy little shit and I think he’s behaving like a normal teenager.’
‘How so?’
‘He didn’t get up until after midday. David thinks he should be more switched on.’
‘He hasn’t got any reason to get up, has he? His exams are over. The way I see it, he’ll have plenty of days to get up at the crack of dawn and go to work, just like we do. A fucking lifetime of early starts to the day, so he ought to be making the most of his youth. Besides, it’s a well-known fact that teenagers need more sleep than adults. Their confused brains need rest.’ She could hear the smile in his voice.
‘David’s got a point though. Josh has been really uncooperative recently, argumentative and even a bit… sluggish… dopey.’
‘Aftershock from his exams. Josh isn’t dopey at all. He’s a very smart kid.’
‘Yeah.’
‘Takes after his mother.’
‘That’ll do. Flattery will get you—’ She bit her tongue and immediately regretted her words. ‘I shouldn’t have said that. I’m tired and behaving like a—’
He spared her any further embarrassment by interrupting her apology. ‘Don’t worry about Josh. I was a right so-and-so at his age. He’s full of rampant hormones and frustration. He’s in no-man’s land until his exam results come through and he’s stuck at home every day with nothing to stimulate him. He’ll adjust once Leigh has finished term and you start to do holiday activities with them.’
‘Thanks. I feel better about it now. Sometimes, you’re so close to the problem you can’t deal with it.’
‘Well, just remember when I am going through hell with Thea, you’ll be the first person I’ll ring.’
‘I’ll be happy to dispense advice although I can’t guarantee it’ll be the right advice.’
‘I’m sure it will be. As for your investigation, I’ll crack on again tomorrow, so try to put it aside and enjoy your family time.’
‘Thank you.’ She was reluctant to hang up but David appeared. ‘It’s Mike,’ she mouthed.
‘Hi, Mike,’ he shouted.
‘Say hi back to David for me. See you tomorrow.’
It was almost nine fifty by the time Natalie reached Extravaganza. The bouncer was quick to tell her that Kirk and Gavin weren’t in but she refused to accept his word and demanded she see for herself. He allowed her entry and told her where she’d find their office. It had been many years since she’d been in a nightclub and this was a far cry from the last one she’d visited. Its artistic, modern design was undoubtedly cool, and with music she couldn’t identify hammering in her ears, she decided she was getting very old indeed. This was way out of her comfort zone. There were already about fifty to sixty people in the place and she traversed the floor in the direction of the sign for the toilets, edging past energetic dancers and circumnavigating a group of young women clustered near the door who looked like they’d stepped off a millionaire’s yacht in sequinned halter tops, shorts and sunglasses.
There was no sign of Gavin or Kirk in their office so she backtracked and headed to the bar, where a lanky young man asked what she wanted to drink.
‘Nothing. I’m looking for Kirk and Gavin Lang,’ she said.
‘They’re not here. They’ve gone to London.’
‘I spoke to Rick earlier, he said they’d be back at nine thirty.’
‘They’re definitely not in. Hang on, I’ll ask Rick.’ The man disappeared through the door marked ‘Party Room’, leaving Natalie alone by the bar. The neon flashing lights and pounding music vibrated through her body. She didn’t fit in with the younger crowd, jumping about in time to the rhythmic beat. She’d never really been a nightclub person. David most definitely wasn’t. Booths were filling up with young men and women dressed in outfits she’d expect to see on the catwalk, and she unconsciously tucked her blouse further into her black trousers. She was the dowdiest person here.
The music merged seamlessly into another track that sounded remarkably like the first. The deejay on the platform ga
ve an enthusiastic cheer to introduce the track change and was rewarded with squeals from the dancers on the floor. She tapped a beer mat impatiently against the bar and waited for the young man to return. Eventually he did, with another man, in his late twenties with a trimmed goatee beard, by his side.
‘You Rick?’ Natalie asked, raising her voice over the hubbub.
‘Yes, sorry. I should have let you know. I spoke to Kirk earlier. They’ve got held up at some VIP event in a new nightclub and aren’t coming back now until the morning. Want to leave a message for them?’
‘I already have. They’re not answering their phones.’
The man shouted, ‘If it’s anything like this place, they won’t be able to hear to speak so they’ll have turned them off. I leave mine in my locker. No point in having it on in here. Do you want me to tell them you came by?’
‘It’s okay. I’ll talk to them in the morning.’ She’d already wasted twenty minutes at the club and had to collect Josh from his friend’s house. She’d ring Daisy and make sure Gavin hadn’t come home sooner than expected but just not turned up at the club.
She returned to her car and left the club car park, driving into Armston itself and down a street filled with pubs and restaurants. It was a warm evening and she lowered her window to cool off the car interior. She preferred fresh air to air conditioning, and as she drove along she caught snippets of laughter coming from those who’d taken advantage of the fine weather to come out for a drink or a meal. A group of revellers outside the Green Man laughed collectively, the hearty laughs carrying to the interior of her Audi. Good weather seemed to bring out the best in people. There was a time she and David would have driven to the nearest pub on a fine evening and sat outside for a meal – but that was before the gambling. She pulled up to the traffic lights at a junction, her indicator clicking like a metronome. She supressed a yawn. It would only take ten minutes to reach Josh and she’d be home by eleven. She glanced right as she waited and caught sight of a man and woman walking along the pavement. The woman’s bobbed hair was blonde to the halfway point when it became strawberry-red. The couple stopped briefly in the gloom of a doorway, and the man caressed the woman’s bare shoulders then slid his hands down her back to rest on her backside before pulling her towards him and kissing her. Natalie remained transfixed, her mind buzzing like an angry, trapped fly. What the fuck was Mike doing here? And with Crystal!
She ought to chase after him and tackle him about it, but she still had to ring Daisy to confirm Gavin hadn’t returned to the flat, and she needed to collect her son. Fuck Mike! She’d deal with him tomorrow.
Twenty-Eight
Wednesday, 4 July – Morning
Natalie strode into the office determined to make headway. She’d had a lousy night’s sleep with thoughts see-sawing between her son, who she’d picked up after her fruitless visit to Extravaganza, and Mike Sullivan.
Josh had seemed sluggish, as if he’d been drinking, but she could detect no smell of alcohol on his breath. He’d been reluctant to talk to her but she’d kept up the conversation in the car on the way home…
‘Speak to me,’ she says.
‘What about?’
‘Don’t play games, Josh. You and your dad. What’s been going on? He says you’ve been backchatting and rude. That’s not like you.’
His chin juts out. ‘He called me a lazy git and went off on one at me.’
‘And why do you think he did that?’ Natalie is trying to get Josh to see things from his father’s perspective. He’s a bright lad. He’ll be able to work out why David has got so upset.
Josh, however, seems confused, his eyes unfocused. ‘Because I didn’t get up until after twelve but I was tired. I’d been playing on my PlayStation and I didn’t go to sleep until about five. It’s not like I had to get up for any reason. I told him that and he started shouting at me.’
‘Okay, so you were upset at his reaction and he probably overreacted.’
‘It was more than that.’
‘Josh, we need to sort this out. It’s understandable that you feel at a loose end at the moment but falling out with your father isn’t going to make for a pleasant summer.’
‘No. It wasn’t about me sleeping in late. It was later when I told him I hadn’t got the job. He tore into me and said my attitude sucked, and if I wanted to turn out a failure, then that was fine.’
Natalie is shocked. What was David thinking? He shouldn’t have been so harsh. Then Josh adds something else that makes her realise the problem is worse than she suspected.
‘I was really pissed off then. I told him I was going out but he said I should clean up my room and help him with dinner instead, and be useful instead of taking everything for granted. That made me madder so I texted Alex and said I’d meet him. Dad didn’t notice me leave, he was sitting in the kitchen drinking whisky and staring at his phone. He didn’t even look up.’
‘We’ll sort this out tomorrow. He was probably having a bad day. You know what it’s like when other things make you feel low. You lash out at the people you love the most. He won’t have meant any of what he said. He’s finding life tough at the moment. It’ll be forgotten tomorrow.’
‘He shouldn’t take his frustrations out on us.’
‘That’s what we all do. Families take the emotional punishment because we care about each other.’
He blinks at her and she wonders once again if he’s been drinking. She asks the question casually. The answer is bitter and defensive.
‘No, I haven’t. Don’t you start on me too!’
‘It’s just that you seem a bit woozy. You’re not coming down with anything, are you?’
‘I’m tired. It’s been a bad day.’
‘Of course. Well, get some sleep and don’t stay up all night playing games.’ She gives him a smile. She wants to ruffle his hair and hug him but he’s prickly and she’s already managed to get him to talk to her; physical contact is a step too far. She follows him upstairs to bed and observes him walk about his room zombified before shutting the door – and her – out of his life again.
She was almost relieved to be at work, where her mind would be so focused on the investigation, she’d have no time for other concerns.
‘Morning, everyone. We’ve got a shitload to get through today. Is there anything new before I get started?’
Ian spoke up. ‘The toxicology report for Roxanne Curtis has arrived. Although the body was badly charred, they tested her blood, saliva and urine and discovered traces of alcohol and Xanax, indicating she consumed both within twenty-four hours before death.’
Natalie grunted at the news. The investigation was coming together at last.
Ian continued. ‘From what I can gather, alcohol intensifies the sedative effect of Xanax. She’d have been out for the count when the blaze started.’
Natalie digested the information without moving from her spot at the front of the office then began with, ‘Okay, let’s start with this latest news. We know Habib and Tucker sold Xanax and that Roxy was with them two weeks ago, so we should consider the possibility they supplied her with the Xanax. Of course, that doesn’t help us uncover who committed the arson attack on number ten Linnet Lane. There are a few possibilities: the Langs burnt or had it burnt down for insurance purposes, or somebody with a vendetta against them set fire to it. Whatever the reason, we still don’t know what the fuck Roxy was doing there. I hardly think she broke into the house alone and decided to have a drink and drug-taking party on her own, so there’s every chance she was inside with somebody else – someone who might have been able to disable the alarm system and who escaped the fire and left her behind. What are your thoughts?’
Murray started with, ‘Well, there was no sign of a break-in, so she might have been with Kirk and Gavin and died of – I don’t know – let’s say an overdose of Xanax and alcohol. They panicked and set fire to the house to hide her body.’
Natalie made a note on the whiteboard, jotting down the suspects�
�� names and circling Roxy’s name before saying, ‘The only thing wrong with that theory is that there are other less extreme ways to dispose of her body rather than setting fire to their home.’
‘Unless they saw it as an opportunity to get the insurance money,’ Ian added and earned a respectful nod from Murray.
She wrote ‘motive insurance’ next to their names then continued. ‘Okay, now let’s consider other options. Habib and Tucker purchased Xanax online and presumably sold it on. Two weeks ago, they met Roxy in the park near her home and, more recently still, at the block of flats where Ellie lived. According to what we’ve discovered, Habib and Tucker had issues with Charlie and Seth, so why would they hang out with Roxy – sister to the same boys who beat them up? I can only imagine she either didn’t care about what had happened in the past with her brothers – after all, she was a bit of a rebel herself – or she had good reason to be with them. Assuming Seth and Charlie are telling the truth, we know Roxy took drugs, and if she was hanging around Habib and Tucker, it might have been because they were supplying her with Xanax.’ She paused and looked each of her team members in the eye. Judging by their faces, they were following her train of thought and coming to the very conclusions she’d drawn.
‘If all of that is true, then that opens up the possibility that Seth and Charlie once again took matters into their own hands. Roxy bought drugs that made her drowsy and died in a fire. They might blame Tucker and Habib for her death. They might have killed Habib.’ She wrote all the information on the board, and beside the names of Seth, Charlie and Oliver she wrote ‘motive revenge’.
‘Then we have the mother, Cathy Curtis, strangled close to Linnet Lane on Sunday evening. Seth was there although he claims not to have seen his mother. Gavin Lang’s whereabouts for that time period are questionable. He was at the flat above the tea room but both his girlfriend, Daisy, and Kirk were out together and can’t vouch for him. The flat is within walking distance of the canal. He might have met up with Cathy or followed her there and killed her. I don’t know why he’d do that. All I do know is he lied to us when we asked about her, denied knowing her, yet was all over her at the nightclub in December.’