Bad Advice

by S M Mala

  ‘I know,’ he said, putting his face in his hands. Scottie let out a deep sigh. ‘We can’t find the woman. She’s nowhere to be seen. Ruby’s not answering her phone and I don’t know what to do. Helen Trott basically will have my bollocks on a plate and I might not even get my police pension if this all backfires, let alone as a job walking the beat.’

  Scottie exhaled deeply then sat back up in his chair, looking at Sebastian.

  ‘And she hasn’t said anything?’ he said, getting to his feet. ‘Well, we better go and see someone who might know.’

  ‘Who?’

  Sitting in Nana Gwen’s flat with Diane frowning at the two men, Scottie could see his grandmother had sobered up.

  ‘She was drunk,’ Diane said, shaking her head from side to side. ‘And it’s a weekday!’

  ‘What do you two want?’ Nana Gwen asked suspiciously. ‘How are you Sebastian and when are you getting your haircut? You look like a girl.’

  ‘I’m very well Nana Gwen and I’m growing it down to my arse,’ he replied, making Nana Gwen grin. ‘You know, we know, someone came to visit you this morning. Can you tell me what happened?’

  ‘Why?’ she asked and Scottie noticed she glared at him for a second. ‘I take it you’re not arresting me? See Diane, you were all hot and bothered for nothing.’

  ‘I told Diane to come round here as it might be someone at a higher level wanting to know what you two were up to this morning,’ Scottie replied, taking a sip of his tea. ‘Did Ruby arrange it?’

  ‘You tell me. You’re the copper.’

  ‘Don’t be so surly!’ hissed Diane. ‘Scottie’s asking you a question so just answer.’

  ‘Nana Gwen, you and Ruby might get into trouble for aiding and abetting someone who is wanted for questioning over these murders,’ said Sebastian gently. ‘You should try and co-operate. I have promised Scottie I’ll help you both.’

  ‘I can’t afford your fees, darling,’ shrugged Nana Gwen.

  ‘It’s pro bono.’

  ‘What? Is that a sort of dog food or a hard on?’ she replied with a smirk.

  Scottie knew they weren’t going to get any sense from her.

  And she was covering for Ruby.

  ‘Can someone please tell me what’s going on?’ pleaded Diane.

  ‘I fancy a glass of wine,’ said Scottie standing up. ‘It’s nearly five so I think I deserve one.’

  ‘Aren’t you driving?’ Nana Gwen growled.

  ‘We got a cab.’

  ‘More waste of tax payers’ money.’

  Scottie walked into the kitchen, took the box of wine and grabbed three glasses then returned to see Sebastian grinning at the old woman.

  ‘I wish someone would tell me what this is all about,’ huffed Diane, standing up and walking straight towards him. ‘Why three glasses?’

  ‘I need you to stay sober to look after her,’ he whispered.

  ‘I need to get drunk to put up with her when she’s like this,’ she hissed back, quickly grabbing a tumbler and walking back in.

  ‘Will you kindly tell me what happened?’ Sebastian asked once again, moving closer to Nana Gwen. ‘I don’t want you to get in trouble. It’s obvious Ruby used your home as a cover to meet with the woman.’

  Letting out a massive sigh, Nana Gwen sunk into her armchair and looked up at the ceiling.

  ‘You know some people who work at the Samaritans? I can safely say they’re mad including my own flesh and blood.’ She gave a sideways glance towards Diane who just pulled a face. ‘Including Ruby. And as for Annette Hector? She admitted to carrying out the murders and wanted Ruby to know. The woman never intended to hurt her. She’s safe on that front. It was like vengeance on the people who gave bad advice under the guise of being a good Samaritan. That’s all.’

  ‘That’s all?’ Scottie said, in mid pouring of a glass of wine. ‘She told Ruby that?’

  ‘The woman admitted to the murders?’ asked Sebastian, sipping his wine and pulling at face. ‘You drink this?’

  ‘We don’t all charge a grand plus per day to play at lawyer,’ sniffed Nana Gwen as Scottie handed her a glass. ‘And yes, the woman admitted to the murders and several from years ago. She was quite prolific, you know. Been doing it for years and seemed relieved to tell someone. Nothing scary about her.’

  ‘That’s why you had a vegetable knife in your armchair?’ said Scottie, trying to think what Ruby was going to do with the information. ‘And that’s it? A quiet chat about her being a serial killer?’

  ‘That’s all,’ she shrugged.

  ‘And what was Ruby doing while this was all happening?’ asked Sebastian who quickly glanced over at Scottie then shook his head. ‘She’s going to write a piece about it, isn’t she?’

  ‘Annette Hector is a murderer?’ gasped Diane. Scottie looked at the shocked expression of his cousin. ‘Really? Are you sure?’

  ‘Slow on the uptake, that one,’ mumbled Nana Gwen, looking at Scottie. ‘Don’t be mad at Ruby. Annette said something interesting. The woman wanted to give Ruby another chance at reporting.’

  ‘Are you saying Ruby wants to go back to being a journalist?’ Scottie asked, getting agitated. ‘Knowing full well what I do for a living and what I think about people in her profession.’

  ‘What about what you do for a living and how she feels about that?’ said Nana Gwen quietly. ‘It’s good she doesn’t approve and even better she doesn’t think the sun shines out of your arse.’

  One hundred and thirty nine

  Ruby watched their faces as they looked at the screen. Then Hugh’s mouth dropped open when he heard the elderly woman offer to take out Helen Trott. Then the footage stopped.

  ‘What did you say?’ he asked, trying to recover from the shock. ‘Ruby?’

  ‘No,’ replied Ruby, getting her finger and closing Jacinta’s open mouth by pushing up her jaw. ‘Though I was in two minds about it.’

  ‘You know this is an amazing story?’

  ‘I do. I’ve written the piece and I’m offering you first dibs on it.’ Ruby reached inside her bag and handed over another USB. ‘Take a look.’

  Hugh took it out of her hand, gently stroking her skin. He looked in awe. From the corner of her eye she noticed Jacinta had picked up on it and was frowning.

  He put the USB in and then he started to read.

  ‘You know, your punctuation and spelling is still rubbish,’ he smiled for the first time since she walked in. ‘And you’re ‘Ruby Marquis’, I see.’

  ‘It’s my name. I want you to publish it and then you can have a copy of the footage. It’s not a straight transpose from what she said. It also covers my attack and the others which Mick Dawson arranged with his mate. I know he hasn’t admitted to it but it’s only a matter of time. I wanted to hear what Annette had to say, how she did it and an explanation about Chonika. The woman has a right to speak and she should be heard.’

  ‘But Ruby, the families of the victims might take great offence to this,’ Jacinta said quietly. ‘It’s alright hearing her point of view but they still lost a loved one.’

  ‘I’m not saying there’s any justification in her actions, I’m not condoning these murders. But isn’t it fascinating to get the explanation first hand from the person who committed the deed and she’s not even mad.’

  ‘That’s not perfectly true, is it?’ said Hugh, sitting back in his seat, staring at her. ‘Why didn’t you go to your own paper?’

  ‘I wanted to give it to you first. You’re really good at handling things like this and will turn it around to show both sides,’ she said, closing her eyes. ‘Can I speak freely in front of Jacinta?’

  ‘When don’t you?’ he said, leaning forward.

  ‘You know when we did the expose all those years ago on the police? Why didn’t you ever let me publish the things about Helen Trott? Were you sleeping with her then?’ She hated to ask but Ruby needed to know. ‘I was really upset with you. You didn’t support me but let me be the fall guy when she
was going ballistic. I thought it was really unfair you let me down. It was a good expose.’

  ‘You found out those things because you don’t like her. I didn’t think it warranted public knowledge. We were dealing with other things,’ he replied with a frown.

  ‘Or because you were sleeping with her, you knew she could easily have told me about your affair and then that would be more problematic, wouldn’t it?’

  ‘Ruby don’t dig this all up again,’ Hugh said quietly, shaking his head from side to side. ‘Nothing good is going to come from it.’

  ‘She might not be corrupt, she might not take bribes but she certainly has abused her position of power in other ways,’ Ruby said quietly and sat forward in her seat. ‘And if you ever loved me Hugh, if you ever had any ounce of feelings for me, then you will print the expose on her. You know, as well as I do, she has manipulated her colleagues, in one way or another, to get to where she is today.’

  ‘How?’ Jacinta asked, looking at the pair of them. ‘What could she possibly do?’

  ‘She seduces them then uses it against the poor bastards if she wants her own way, doesn’t she?’ Ruby said to Hugh who went red. ‘And the woman did that for years. I could have printed a seriously good story but Hugh refused point blank. He knew I would never be so disloyal and go to another paper but I was very upset. I quit and the rest is history. I wanted to make good for all the things I did bad, like that paedophile killing his family, but I did want people to know about her. She gives women a bad name and men like you don’t help the cause either.’

  ‘You can’t blame her! There are some seriously hot guys out there including your man!’ laughed out Jacinta then stopped when Ruby noticed Hugh’s face turn to thunder.

  ‘And Helen Trott has been trying it on with Assistant Commissioner Jonathan Scott, so nothing changes.’ Still her ex’s face looked like he was ready to explode. ‘Younger model I reckon.’

  ‘Ruby!’ said Jacinta. ‘That’s not nice.’

  ‘Neither is she.’

  ‘What more do you want? I know you Ruby, there’s something else,’ Hugh asked, quietly, running his fingers through his hair.

  ‘I would never have looked at another man, had you not let me down and hurt me,’ Ruby said quietly. ‘You then had the nerve to sleep with her in my bed. How did you think that made me feel? I was so devastated that you could let me down. And as for Scottie? I’m going to have his baby and we will get married, whether you accept it or not. Don’t you want me to be happy?’

  ‘No,’ he replied, making Ruby laugh out.

  ‘If you don’t want to print it, fine. I’ll sell this to one of the papers that don’t support the police and it will make waves as I’ll mention you.’

  ‘You wouldn’t dare?’

  ‘There is no way in hell she can stop me because it’s the truth. And that’s what we journalists do, tell the truth, don’t we?’

  One hundred and forty

  Scottie and Sebastian sat in the cab laughing all the way to the police station. The pair were slightly pissed. Nana Gwen told them to put in shot of brandy to take away the taste of the wine, if they didn’t like it.

  ‘She did it to stop us asking questions. I don’t know why I’m laughing. I’m officially dead and my grandmother was no help,’ sighed Scottie as he rested in the back of the cab. ‘And that bloody woman of mine hasn’t called.’

  ‘I know Ruby. She must think that the story is worth telling and selling. Don’t forget the money side to it.’

  ‘The woman admitted to killing the people so what good is telling her side of the story? She’s committed a crime and therefore is guilty.’

  ‘I thought you sounded like a wanker when you made your statement about Ruby knowing how you felt about journalists. She supported you even though she holds a grudge against the police. I don’t know why you won’t give her your blessing, if she wants to go back to working in something she was trained to do. You do know she’s very good at it.’

  ‘Journalists and police don’t go hand in hand,’ he honestly replied, resting his head against the window. ‘And she knows it.’

  ‘Maybe this could be a new sort of alliance?’

  ‘She’s also carrying my child. That’s the only alliance we should have.’

  ‘Not all journalists are bad, you know,’ said Sebastian quietly. ‘Hugh Yates isn’t a bad one, just slept with your boss.’

  ‘And you never knew about it?’

  ‘Not until Ruby said in the restaurant all those months ago.’

  ‘The same weekend we conceived the baby,’ he sighed, just wanting to fall into her arms. ‘I’ll rent out my house and that’ll be some sort of income while I look for another job.’

  ‘We don’t know if Ruby’s done something wrong.’

  ‘She spoke to someone wanted for questioning in regards to a string of murders and let them walk away. You know as well as I do, that’s wrong.’

  Getting out of the cab, Scottie waved Sebastian goodbye then walked into the station and knew something was up. A few of the officers were looking at him.

  ‘Everything okay?’ he asked, walking to his desk as Dave got to his feet.

  ‘Ruby Marquis walked in fifteen minutes ago wanting to talk to someone,’ Dave said with a grin. ‘I was just going to call you. And you think your day was bad up until now?’

  ‘Where is she?’ he asked.

  ‘Commissioner Trott is interviewing her. She’s got Stephen to assist.’

  Scottie walked towards the room and went into the side entrance so he could see from the other side of the mirror.

  He held his breath for a second when he saw Ruby. She looked gorgeous and was sitting with her hands folded in front of her. Whereas Helen Trott was furious and Stephen blushed.

  ‘What are you doing here?’ Ruby asked the Commissioner. ‘I thought you worked at Scotland Yard?’

  ‘I do,’ Helen Trott replied. ‘Why aren’t you answering my question?’

  ‘You’re the highest ranking officer in the police force.’

  ‘Why didn’t you call the police immediately?’

  ‘I suppose that means you must be good at your job.’

  ‘Ruby, don’t piss me about,’ Helen Trott hissed.

  ‘I also hear you’re very good at blow jobs,’ laughed Ruby. ‘God, I saw you giving Hugh one, remember?’

  ‘Just stick to the subject and you’re not allowed to discuss that!’ snapped the woman as Scottie collapsed on the chair, seeing Ruby was intent on winding the Commissioner up and getting into more trouble. ‘You admit to seeing Annette Hector this morning?’

  ‘Yes I do,’ replied Ruby with a grin. ‘And I can say what I like because you managed to leak things through and helped smear Jonathan Scott’s name.’

  ‘Knowing she was a suspect?’ Helen Trott continued, ignoring Ruby’s comment.

  ‘I knew she was a suspect but that doesn’t mean to say she was guilty.’

  ‘Oh god Ruby, what are you doing?’ mumbled Scottie into his hand.

  ‘We know the syringe she dropped in your kitchen contained the same cocktail of drugs she used for her other victims,’ Helen Trott said, in a low calm voice. Scottie knew this meant trouble. ‘Therefore you were her intended victim. That means you not only put yourself in danger, but the others around you.’

  ‘That’s not true. When I emailed her to meet up she-.’

  ‘You emailed her?’ she said, looking aghast. ‘And she replied?’

  ‘How do you think I met her?’ Ruby replied in an arsy tone.

  ‘Don’t you speak to me like that! You used to do that when you were a teenager.’

  ‘And you were a shit step mother if I remember correctly and an even worse wife!’

  Scottie watched the confusion on Stephen’s face.

  ‘Okay, let’s start again,’ Helen Trott said, taking a deep breath. ‘What happened this morning?’

  ‘I met Annette round Nana Gwen’s place and asked her if she was going to kil
l me. She said she wasn’t, as the intended victim was Mick Dawson but she couldn’t get to see him, due to the security at the hospital.’

  ‘And you accepted this explanation?’ the Commissioner asked, folding her arms defiantly. ‘The woman is telling you she intended to murder someone else and that’s fine?’

  ‘Well at least it wasn’t me,’ she shrugged and Scottie let out an involuntary laugh, putting his hand over his mouth. ‘Annette had no intention of hurting Nana Gwen or me. She just wanted to tell me her side of the story, that’s why I’m here.’

  ‘I’m going to bloody well get you charged for this!’

  ‘Then bloody well try! But if you do, then so help me, you won’t get the confession I have on tape of her saying she did all the murders!’

  ‘That’s what you did,’ mumbled Scottie, falling more in love with his wayward fiancé by the second. ‘Why didn’t I guess?’

  ‘If you’ve got this, you have to hand it over!’ barked Helen Trott.

  ‘You’re not getting the credit like you got six years ago.’

  ‘Why don’t you stop mentioning that?’

  ‘Because you got promoted, your lover died and still some of your shitty colleagues, who you probably converted the line of justice for, got away with their ill-mannered and illegal behaviour.’

  There was an uneasy silence for a moment. Scottie could see the two women were staring each other out while Stephen sat there, looking stumped on what was going on.

  ‘Can you leave us for a moment Stephen and make sure no-one is listening?’ said Helen Trott.

  Scottie immediately stood up.

  ‘Why?’ Ruby asked frowning.

  ‘I think we need to speak in private.’

  ‘Fine.’

  As soon as the door was shut, Helen Trott got to her feet and leaned over the desk.

  ‘I’ll get you charged with something and I’m sick and tired of your little digs,’ the woman hissed.

  Then Scottie heard Stephen walk into the room. He raised his finger to his lips to make sure the young man didn’t say anything. Then he gestured for him to leave.

  ‘I have every right to hit back at you. You’ve not made my life easy,’ replied Ruby, defiantly crossing her arms. ‘You wanted my father but he still always had time for me, which I know pissed you off.’