by M A Comley
“I’m sorry. I’m sure he’ll be watching over you. His spirit will never leave you. Your son will need you to be strong for him. I know this is tough. Is this your first baby?”
“Yes. We were so excited. He always wanted a boy, we only found out a few weeks ago, he was so thrilled. He loved him, loved me, and now, he’s gone. I need my hus… band,” she cried out again.
Charlie came back into the lounge. “It’s going to be at least ten minutes.”
“Okay, I don’t think the baby is going to wait that long. Can you grab me some towels and boil a kettle? I think we’re going to have to deliver him ourselves,” Katy said, rolling up her sleeves.
Charlie’s face was a picture. The colour drained from her cheeks, and she departed the room as if swept up in a fierce tornado.
“Please, my friend, two doors down, Janice, she’s a nurse, maybe she can help. Aah… I’m not sure what shift she is on this week but it’s worth a shot.”
“Which direction, left or right?”
“Left. Hurry, please. I can feel the head down below.”
“Charlie! Quick, come here,” Katy bellowed.
Charlie appeared in the doorway with a bunch of towels. “The kettle is boiling. What else can I do?”
“Two doors on the right, no, sorry, the left, apparently Janice lives there, she’s a nurse. If she’s at home, tell her to come quickly. Hurry, Charlie, the head is crowning.”
“Oh shit! Sorry, I’m on my way. I’ll put the front door on the latch,” Charlie bolted from the room, and the front door slammed shut behind her.
It was another few frantic minutes before she returned with a redheaded woman, wearing a nurse’s uniform.
Katy expelled a large relieved breath. “Thank God, you were home. The head is crowning.”
“Okay, let’s see what’s going on. Hi, Akissi, you did the right thing calling for me, and the ambulance is on its way, lovey. You’ve got this, we’re here for you. Just try and relax, yes, I know that’s going to be difficult, but the more you relax the easier the birth is going to be.”
Katy and Charlie grabbed the cushions off the sofa and threw them on the floor, then Katy helped Janice to lower Akissi onto the cushions while Charlie prepared the towels and left the room to fetch the water. In her head, Katy revisited her own labour, the trouble she’d had, lying in the hospital bed for hours, waiting for Georgina to make an appearance. She shuddered at the thought; she’d hated the pain that accompanied the labour. She had likened it to spending untold hours in a torture chamber. Still, that was in the past and she had no intention of revisiting that sort of pain and discomfort anytime in the future.
“Come on, Akissi. You’re doing well,” Janice encouraged. She wrung out a flannel and wiped the sweat from Akissi’s brow.
Akissi panted and winced which only produced more sweat to mop up.
“Do you need us to do anything?” Katy asked Janice.
“No, just be around in case something goes wrong. The baby is determined to make an appearance today. We’re going to get you nice and comfortable, Akissi, together we’ve got this.”
Katy and Charlie stood back by the door. Charlie eyed the proceedings with what appeared to be a mixture of fear and excitement swimming in her eyes.
A nudge from Katy’s elbow drew her attention. “How are you holding up?”
“I’m not sure. Ask me in half an hour. It looks bloody painful.”
Katy let out a suppressed chuckle, hoping Akissi wouldn’t hear. “That’s a bloody understatement, but then, look what you get at the end of it.”
“Yeah, a bundle of joy that wees, pukes and poos everywhere.”
“You old cynic you. I can hear sirens, thank God for that.” Katy left the room and from the front doorstep she waved her arms, imitating a desperate woman caught in a violent storm.
The ambulance driver flashed his lights and then drew to a halt a few feet from the house. Two male paramedics ran towards her, one carrying a bag, the other holding a collapsed stretcher.
“She’s in here. We have a friend who is a nurse with her.” Katy pointed at the lounge door and stood back to let the two men pass.
“How is she doing?” the older paramedic asked.
Katy raised her crossed fingers. “Fine, I think. Last I heard the head was crowning.”
“Crumbs! Okay, we’d better get a shift on, that is, if we’re not too late.”
Again, Katy and Charlie stood back and let them get on with it. Charlie followed Katy outside to seize some fresh air.
“How long does it usually take for a baby to arrive, once the head is crowning?” Charlie asked.
Katy noticed the hesitancy in her voice. “How long is a piece of string? It depends on whether there are any complications farther down the line. I’ve heard that sometimes the umbilical cord can get tangled around the neck. Thankfully, I don’t think it happens that often but, it must be terrifying when it does. That poor woman, what a day this has been for her.”
Charlie nodded and kicked out at a stone. “Do you think it was the shock that brought it on?”
“Possibly. What a day for her. I feel gutted for her that her husband will never see his child. What a fucking horrible world we live in at times.”
“I know. If there is no reason for these killings other than because the victims are black, well, that’s just bloody horrendous. How do we prevent people from creating these gangs, if that’s what we’re looking at here? You know how easily led some people are once they hear someone spouting either religious or racist propaganda. Sickens me that there are some people walking the streets of London with that amount of hatred searing through their bloody veins. We have one of the most diverse cultures on this planet, why the hell can’t we all just get along? Why does someone always have to be right or wrong with regard to race, politics and religion? Aren’t we all entitled to have a mind of our own? To have harmless beliefs?”
Katy took a step back and applauded her partner. “Apparently not, and well said by the way. I have no idea what we need to do to get out of the troubled times we’re living in. Greater people than me have been trying to change the world for centuries. Some people are simply stuck in their ways and unwilling to change the way they either think or react around those of a different colour. It’s nonsensical, that’s what it is, and it needs to stop before it gets way out of hand.”
“And you don’t think finding three black men dead is classed as getting out of hand?” Charlie asked.
“On the one hand yes, of course I do, but then, on the other, I was talking about the mass slaughter of people, such as genocide, the likes of which have been going on in other parts of the world since time began. I don’t want to see or hear about that kind of shit taking place in London.”
At that moment, Katy’s mobile rang. She sighed, swallowed down the large lump that had lodged in her throat and answered the call. “Hello, DI Foster. How can I help?”
“Hello, ma’am, it’s Mick. I thought I’d give you a ring straight away. I’ve just received a call from a woman who saw something suspicious in her road early this morning.”
“I’m listening. Do you think it’s connected to our murder investigation?”
“I’m taking a punt on it. The woman saw a black man being bundled into the back of a car by a gang of men.”
“Interesting. Could she give you a definitive time the incident occurred?”
“Yes, she said it was around twenty to five this morning, give or take a few minutes.”
“Okay. Here’s what’s going on where we are now.” She went over the details of what they were dealing with and sighed. “We don’t know how long we’re likely to be here.”
“Bugger. That’s a shame for the victim’s wife. To contend with her husband’s death while she’s about to have her baby. How cruel can life be?”
“Very, at times. Give me the address.” A scream echoed around the hallway behind Katy, startling her for a moment. “Jesus, if I didn’t know
any better, I would say the baby was about to make an appearance.”
“Blimey, sounds like my wife when our last one popped out into the world. I don’t know how you women cope with the pain. Sorry, the woman’s name is Alice Morden, and her address is thirty-three Winthorpe Road. I don’t know if you know it.”
“Should I?”
“Down there it’s part commercial, part residential. The large sorting office is at the end of the road.”
“Ah, I see. Right, the victim was a postman, so that would make sense. I wonder if he was deliberately hijacked on his way into work this morning,” Katy said out loud more to herself than to Mick.
“I would suggest there would be a high probability to that scenario,” Mick replied.
“Okay. We’ll give it another thirty minutes here before we head off. Do me a favour and make my team aware of what’s going on when they arrive, will you, Mick?”
“Of course. Consider it done. Good luck. I hope you get some sense out of the woman.”
“Is there a doubt about that?”
“She seemed a bit confused over the phone. Might be a case of nerves, you know, speaking to a copper. I get it a lot.”
“Never really thought about it before. Thanks for the warning.”
Just then a baby’s cry sounded in the house. Katy shuddered with relief. “It’s arrived. We should be on our way in the next ten minutes or so, once we’ve ensured Mrs Soro is on her way to hospital.”
“Ah, how wonderful. Sounds like he or she has a fine pair of lungs on them. Send her my congratulations.”
“I will. Speak later.”
Katy and Charlie returned to the lounge.
“All right to come in?” Katy asked.
Janice was in the process of cleaning up Akissi and the baby while the paramedics dealt with their equipment and erected the stretcher. “Come in. Akissi has given birth to a little boy.”
Akissi reached for her child and with tears running down her flushed cheeks, she whispered, “I shall call him Yao, after his proud father.”
Katy turned to Charlie, tears glistening in each other’s eyes.
Turning back to Akissi, Katy nodded and said, “That’s a wonderful tribute to your husband. We’ll let you get to the hospital now and drop in and see how you’re getting on later, if that’s all right?”
“Yes. Okay. I still want to know how he died. I’m in utter shock right now, but the little one must take priority. It is what Yao would have wanted. I shall miss him and forever regret the fact that he will never get to meet his son. For him to die on the same day as our son came into the world… this date is going to be a constant reminder for the rest of my life. It will hold much joy but will be tinged with sadness, always. Please, do what you can to find out the truth of what happened to my darling husband.” Fresh tears leaked from Akissi’s eyes and dripped onto her baby’s face. She wiped the baby’s skin gently with the back of her hand and whispered, “It’s you and me, baby Yao, just you and me now.”
Katy placed a hand on the woman’s shoulder and squeezed gently. “We’ll get to the bottom of what happened today, I swear we will.”
“Thank you, I believe you,” Akissi replied, giving Katy a weak smile. “Oh, you’ll need to call my sister too.”
“Of course, I’ll do it now, tell her to go to the hospital instead of coming here. Take care of yourself and your baby.” Katy and Charlie left the house and jumped into Katy’s car. “You might as well come with me and I’ll drop you off to pick up your car later.”
“I was about to suggest the same.”
Wow, it’s been a super eventful day so far, and we haven’t even reached nine o’clock yet.”
Charlie sniggered. “It doesn’t bode well for the rest of the day, does it?”
“Nope. Okay, let’s see what the latest witness has to tell us. Can you call the sister for me?”
Katy managed to find a parking space outside the semi-detached house belonging to the witness. The woman was standing in the bay window obviously awaiting their arrival. The next second, she was at the front door, inviting them in for a drink.
Katy shook her head. “Not right now, thank you, Mrs Morden, but we appreciate the offer.”
“Oh, I thought you coppers always drank on duty. Oh dear, I didn’t mean it to come out that way.”
Katy smiled. “It’s a myth. We’re fine. If you wouldn’t mind telling us what you saw?”
“Come in. I don’t enjoy discussing personal business on my doorstep. No, wait, I should ask for ID, shouldn’t I? I don’t want you talking about me behind my back, saying what a stupid woman I am. I’m very conscientious about my personal security, you know. You don’t get to my time of life being lax, I can tell you.”
“I can imagine. You’re quite right to ask, you can’t be too careful these days.” Katy produced her ID. “I’m DI Katy Foster, and this is my partner, DS Charlie Simpkins.”
“Ah yes. Didn’t I see you both on the TV appeal the other day, or was it yesterday? I can’t recall when exactly.”
“That’s right,” Katy admitted, leaving it there, rather than come across as though she was keen to correct the woman, knowing that might put her off her stride and have a detrimental effect on what she told them.
“Come in, it all seems to be in order. Are you sure I can’t get you a drink?”
“No, we’re fine.”
She showed them into the lounge which had dated furniture and old-fashioned Anaglypta wallpaper. The furniture was of the rosewood variety, sparkling with polish, and the cushions on the sofa looked like they’d been overstuffed at the factory.
“Don’t be shy. Make yourselves at home. They might not appear comfy, but I assure you, they are, otherwise they’d be at the tip by now, not that I have the funds to go spending out on new cushions. Sorry, I’m wittering on, I get nervous when I chat to the police. I suppose a lot of people do, am I right?”
“I suppose so, mainly the older generation, if you don’t mind me saying.”
“Ah yes, that figures. The youngsters of today are severely lacking in respect in general, shame on them. When I was young, if I disrespected an elder, I got a clip around the ear, never did me any harm. Sorry, here I go again. Just ignore me.”
“I’d rather not ignore you because I believe you have some valuable information for us.”
They all sat in their respective seats, and Alice leaned towards them as she spoke. “Well, it was like this, you see, dear, I don’t tend to sleep much, a very active mind the doctor has put it down to. Anyway, I’ll stop myself there before I bore you to death with all my ailments.” She laughed and inched forward to the very edge of her seat. “I had just come down the stairs, and while the kettle was boiling for my first cuppa of the morning, I came in here and put the gas fire on to take the chill off the room. Now, what happened next? Ah, yes, I remember. I heard a noise coming from outside and took a peep through the curtains. What I saw shocked me at first, and the more and more I thought about it, I knew something was wrong, but my mind couldn’t quite determine what I should do next. I waited until a reasonable hour, around eight-thirty, and rang my daughter. I told her what I’d witnessed; she asked me why I hadn’t rung the police right away. Well, I couldn’t answer her, in all honesty. I was like stuck in limbo, maybe a state of shock, I don’t know, it’s hard for me to fathom, really it is.”
“It’s okay. You did the right thing calling us in the end. Can you tell us exactly what you saw?”
“Yes, I think so. I hope my mind is sharp enough to fill in the details for you. Out there, in the middle of the road was a van, that’s right, it was at an angle, across both lanes, deliberately parked so no one could get past, that’s what I think.”
Charlie took out her notebook and jotted down what Alice was relaying. “Okay, you’re doing great so far. About this van, what colour was it?”
Alice scratched the side of her nose which was wrinkled. “White. I’m sure about that.”
“Goo
d. That’s a start. Now, can you tell us if there was any writing on the van? A business name, anything along those lines?”
“No, I believe it was pure white. Oh dear, that’s not very helpful for you, is it?”
Katy waved her hand in front of her. “Don’t worry about that. Perhaps you can tell us what happened next.”
“Oh yes, of course I can. By this time, I was engrossed by what was playing out in front of me, it was like being at the movies.” Alice chuckled.
And yet a man lost his life this morning. She’s going to be devastated when she hears that snippet of news.
“Well, I saw this man being grabbed by two men. The man didn’t take it lying down, though, he wiped the floor with one of the men. That’s when two, or was it three, other men joined in the action? No, it was two more, plus there was a man driving the car.”
“You mean the van.”
“No, I definitely mean the car. The van was still blocking the road at this time, and another car showed up.”
“Ah, I see. Perhaps you can describe that for us?” Katy pressed, hoping to jog the woman’s memory into action.
“Not sure. Brown, black, dark blue perhaps. You have to remember, it was quite dark at that time of the morning, even though everything took place under the streetlights. There you go, I’m talking nonsense again, aren’t I?”
“Not at all. Just go with the flow.”
“You’re very kind. I know I tend to piss my daughter off when I start describing things and end up going two dozen times around the houses to get to the nitty-gritty of what I’m trying to say. Please bear with me, I’m sure it’s going to be worth your while in the long run.”
Katy smiled. “Go ahead, you’re doing great so far. Any idea what make of car it was?”
Alice twisted in her seat and studied the framed photos of her family. She pointed at the end picture of three young men, all in their early twenties. “Gordon, he has one the very same. Don’t go asking me the name of it, but thinking about it, I knew I’d seen the shape of the car before.”
“Would it be possible for you to give Gordon a call for us? To ask what he drives?”