Murder Undeniable

by Anita Waller

  They watched in silence until the nurse finished her checks, and then returned to the bedside.

  Kat was getting to know Beth’s nan quite well. They had talked at length about Beth, how bright she was, how she only had another year to do at the university and then she wanted to take a year out for travelling; Kat prayed both in church and out of it that there would be no permanent damage following the head injury she had seen as she tried to save the life of the young girl.

  It was two hours later that they saw further signs of Beth’s return to their world. Her eyes flickered, and she lifted her hand from the bedcover. The doctor was called again and this time he sat on the bed, by Beth’s side.

  ‘Bethan, can you hear me? Open your eyes, will you?’

  They waited, intent on watching her for some further sign of movement. She reached up, eyes steadfastly closed, and pulled at the breathing tube down her throat.

  ‘Hang on, Bethan, we’ll remove it.’ The doctor stood and eased the breathing tube out; she coughed. One eye opened and immediately closed.

  ‘Come on, Bethan,’ he said again. ‘Try again.’

  This time both eyes opened and stayed open for about five seconds. They closed once more.

  ‘Your nan and your friend are here. Don’t you want to see them?’

  ‘Drink,’ she mumbled, and the nurse poured water into a glass and held it to her lips. She took a small sip, still with her eyes closed.

  It took over an hour to persuade her to open her eyes and keep them open. Her smile as she recognised her nan lit up the room.

  ‘Nan,’ she croaked, and Doris stepped forward to hug her.

  ‘Dear girl, don’t ever scare me like this again,’ she murmured. ‘I thought I’d lost you.’

  Her eyes closed again, but only for a short time.

  Kat touched her hand. ‘Beth, I’m going to go home now I’ve seen you awake, and leave you with your nan.’

  ‘Kat,’ Beth murmured. ‘Please tomorrow. Talk.’

  Kat leaned over and kissed her head. ‘I promise, tomorrow morning I’ll return.’

  Beth smiled, closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep once again, but this time everybody knew she would wake up when her body was rested.

  Kat drove home in a much better frame of mind, happy that Beth had spoken.

  Beth was in free fall. She was aware of people around her, telling her to open her eyes, to have a sip of water, on a scale of one to ten how was her pain. She wanted them to leave her alone.

  And then the police arrived.

  ‘Hello, Bethan. I’m DI Tessa Marsden. Can you hear me?’

  Beth opened one eye.

  ‘Good. It’s important we find out exactly what you remember as quickly as possible.’ The DI smiled at Beth. ‘And I can read your thoughts. You’re telling me to fuck off.’

  Both of Beth’s eyes opened. This policewoman really was a mind-reader.

  ‘Can you speak, Beth?’

  ‘A little.’ Beth’s voice was hoarse.

  ‘Okay. Did you recognise the man who shot you?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Were you heading for Mr Jackson’s house?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘You were in a taxi?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Thank you, you’re doing well.’

  A nurse was hovering, ready to jump in and put a stop to the questions but Marsden continued.

  ‘Where did you get the cab?’

  Beth paused for a moment to collect her thoughts. ‘Steel.’

  ‘The nightclub?’

  Beth nodded.

  ‘You called it yourself?’

  Beth had a fleeting vision of a doorman on a walkie-talkie, and then seconds later, the cab appeared. ‘Yes.’ She couldn’t be bothered with the true explanation.

  ‘Was it the driver of the taxi who shot you?’

  ‘Yes.’

  Beth closed her eyes. She needed these people to go.

  ‘Okay,’ the nurse stepped in. ‘That’s enough. Come back when she’s capable of talking.’

  The DI nodded. ‘Thank you. She can’t remember much while she’s so poorly anyway.’ She leaned across and touched Beth’s hand. ‘Thank you, Bethan, we’ll leave it for now.’ Marsden left the room, stopping to speak to the officer outside the door.

  The nurse wheeled the blood pressure machine towards the bed, and Beth opened her eyes. ‘Thank you,’ she said, ‘that was getting boring.’

  ‘Unfortunately, they’ll be back, but I’ll watch out for it happening. Can’t you remember much about it?’

  ‘Very little. I remember him shooting Anthony, and then turning the gun on me. I think he thought my injury was worse than it was. He walked over and kicked me in the face… oh!’

  ‘Oh?’

  ‘That’s why I feel like I’ve gone ten rounds with Mohammed Ali. My cheek feels as though it’s tightening and stiffening.’

  ‘You’ve a corker of a bruise on the left side of your face, but there’s no damage. It will get better, I promise.’

  The nurse attached the machine, and then removed it a minute later with a smile. ‘Even though you’re pretty broken up and battered at the moment, your blood pressure is fine. You need any painkillers?’

  ‘No, I’m good thanks. I need sleep.’

  This time her eyes remained closed.

  DI Marsden headed back to the station, frustrated by the lack of evidence. She needed to see if Steel had CCTV footage of the night in question; the only sighting they had of the taxi was when it had arrived at the alley. Luckily the pharmacy had installed two cameras, one on the front of the shop and one to cover activity in the alleyway.

  Jackson’s murder and Bethan Walters’ attempted murder had been graphically clear, but the gunman’s face had been covered by what Marsden thought was a balaclava. He wore a plain dark hoodie, black jeans, black shoes that looked to be trainers, and had nothing to distinguish him at all.

  The plates on the taxi had been false, but Marsden could have put money on that anyway. This had clearly been planned.

  So who had known the couple would be at Steel that night? Marsden needed Bethan Walters to get better very quickly and start providing some clarification. Preferably when no nurses were in attendance.

  In the meantime, they would be interviewing Jackson’s acquaintances, finding out a little more about Walters, maybe talking to Leon and Katerina Rowe again; it seemed that Reverend Rowe had been at the hospital every day since the shooting. Was it just part of her job and a feeling of responsibility because she had found her, or was there more to it?

  Marsden pulled her keyboard towards her and made notes.

  Leon was sleeping; Kat slid out of bed, careful not to disturb him, padded across to the dressing table and opened her safe. Leon had had the hidden compartment installed specifically to keep her valuables locked away securely, and she took out the ruby.

  In the moonlight, the only illumination in the room, it gleamed. She loved the stone, and gently touched it.

  She said a small prayer, put the box back in the safe and locked it.

  She stood at the window for a while, looking down the garden towards the brook. Although she couldn’t hear it, she knew it would be tinkling its way over the stones and rocks on its bed, a welcome sound at any time. The remembrance of that sound would have to soothe her.

  The following day, after the early prayer meeting, she would head off to the hospital. She needed to talk to Beth, albeit carefully. She didn’t want to set her recovery back in any way.

  Beth knew there had been a change overnight. She felt different. The pain in her shoulder was no longer constant; it only hurt when she moved a little awkwardly, and her headache had massively diminished. She felt so much better, and could even manage a smile.

  ‘Keep this up, Beth,’ the doctor said, ‘and we could be looking at letting you go home in a couple of days, provided there is someone there to look after you.’

  ‘Yes, there is,’ Beth said. ‘I’m g
oing to stay with my nan for a couple of weeks, just while I sort out my life. I have some decisions to make.’

  ‘Then let’s aim for Friday morning, provided at that point I think you’ll be fit to leave us. In the meantime, rest, give all these cuts and bumps and wounds chance to heal. Deal?’

  ‘Deal.’

  Chapter 6

  Leon was in the office above his pharmacy in Eyam. It was strictly his office, kept locked at all times when he wasn’t in it, and occasionally when he was in it.

  There was a shipment coming in to Sheffield, and he was happy to leave all the details to Brian King. Friends since school days, they had gravitated into the dark side of Sheffield’s underworld together.

  Brian was different. He didn’t have Leon’s charisma, the distribution flair, he was the quiet partner. His ginger hair, only now beginning to tone down a little as he had hit his forties, was atop a pale face that held little colour. It was also atop a keen brain, a brain that dealt with knowledge. He knew exactly who had what, who owed what and who had to be dealt with.

  Leon finished the paperwork and leaned back in his chair. He could hear two or three men’s voices out in the alleyway, and he felt thankful that at last it could be cleaned. They had parked their truck at the entrance, and were filling it with every bit of rubbish that had been there on the night Jackson had died. Leon’s instructions had been that he wanted to be able to eat his lunch off the floor out there, and he knew it would be steam cleaned to within an inch of its life. The blood was very visible, and he needed it gone.

  Anthony Jackson had been a problem, now he wasn’t; who the hell had taken the problem away? And the woman… who was she, and why did Kat feel she needed to be at her bedside every day? He felt a little out of control, and that wasn’t normal for Leon Rowe.

  He rang Brian’s number and, as always, it was answered immediately.

  ‘We need a meet.’

  ‘When?’

  ‘Soon. Very soon.’

  There was a momentary hesitation while Brian checked his diary. ‘Tomorrow morning? You want me there or are you coming here?’ Brian was based at the distribution centre for the legitimate side of Leon’s business empire.

  ‘I’ll be there for ten,’ Leon said.

  He disconnected and opened up his computer. He typed in Anthony Jackson and saw that there was an obituary, praising him for his charitable works, his loyalty to his friends and colleagues, their grief at his passing; nothing about the drugs he was bringing in and the insidious transgression into the Rowe dealership.

  Jackson’s funeral was scheduled for a week’s time, and Leon thought he might go; it would be a respectful thing to do as the deceased had had his head blown away in the alleyway behind Rowe’s Pharmacy.

  Leon heard the noise of the steam cleaner and knew soon there would be no trace left of Jackson, other than this Beth Walters who Kat seemed to have taken under her wing.

  Beth was awake and looking much more alert when Kat arrived.

  ‘Okay to come in?’

  ‘Of course. I can’t smile at you though, it hurts.’

  ‘You’re looking tons better.’

  ‘I feel it, but I keep falling asleep, no warning, one second I’m awake, the next I’m asleep.’

  ‘That’s fine. If you sleep, I’ll go. Is your nan not here yet?’

  ‘She’s not coming today. She has a hospital appointment of her own, but it’s a different hospital so I told her to leave it until tomorrow.’

  Kat nodded. ‘Then I’ll stay a bit longer than I planned.’

  ‘Good. I need to talk.’

  ‘About?’

  ‘About what happened.’

  ‘Can you remember anything?’

  ‘Bits. He told me his name was Anthony Parkson but he told me a different name when we got out of the cab. It was like… he wanted to be honest with me in case something bad happened. And it did.’

  ‘His name was Anthony Jackson. Why did he tell you the wrong name?’

  ‘Kat, I’m an escort and a part-time prostitute. I live in a world of wrong names. He knew I was Beth, but that was all. I told him my full name when he told me his. I don’t think either of us expected to get out alive.’

  ‘Did you see his face, the man who shot you?’

  ‘The police asked me that, and I said no.’

  ‘But?’

  ‘I did. I saw it when we got in the taxi. I tried to have a better look because I thought I knew him, but I couldn’t see him properly. When he shot us, he’d put on a balaclava.’

  ‘Why did you say no when the police asked you?’

  ‘I was scared. I’d only just surfaced, and they were here, wanting me to solve it for them. How long do you think I’ll last if I give them a name?’

  Kat paused, deep in thought.

  ‘You’ve said nothing about what I do to earn money,’ Beth continued.

  ‘Do you earn a lot of money?’

  ‘I do.’

  ‘And are you normally safe?’

  ‘I am. The clients are vetted by an agency, but obviously none of the escorts are on their books as hookers, we’re all there to accompany the clients to posh dinners and suchlike. That’s what I had done that evening, but I was heading back to Anthony’s house to stay the night. He would have paid me separately for that.’

  Beth closed her eyes for a moment.

  ‘You’re tired,’ Kat said. ‘Sleep for a while, we’ll talk later.’

  Beth nodded; her eyes remained closed.

  Kat left the room to get a sandwich; she stopped by the officer outside the door.

  ‘Would you like me to bring a coffee or something back for you?’

  ‘Thank you, ma’am. That would be good.’ He put his hand in his pocket to get some money but she stopped him. ‘My treat. Are you here until Beth goes home?’

  ‘We are.’

  ‘Good. I’ll get you that coffee.’

  She returned a quarter of an hour later and handed over the coffee. ‘All quiet?’

  ‘Yes, ma’am. She only has you and her nan for visitors.’

  ‘It’ll get livelier,’ Kat smiled. ‘I understand Beth has two housemates who are itching to come to see her, but her nan has said no, not until she’s stronger. She’s getting stronger every day, so I reckon maybe tomorrow you’ll be having extra visitors.’

  ‘Are they pretty?’

  Kat laughed. ‘Never met them, but if they’re anything like Beth, I’d say they’re stunning.’

  ‘Good. That’ll liven things up.’

  ‘You’re cheeky,’ Kat said, as she pushed through to Beth’s room.

  Beth was still sleeping, but restless. Her head kept moving from one side to the other and Kat hoped she wasn’t experiencing a nightmare, one she couldn’t get out of.

  She watched the bruised and battered face as she ate her sandwich, wondering whether to wake her; she was clearly in a stressful situation. Eventually she gave in, and touched Beth’s arm.

  Her eyes flew open and the look of terror on her face was chilling.

  ‘Beth, Beth – wake up,’ Kat whispered softly, and Beth’s huge eyes turned towards her.

  ‘Oh God, Kat. It was so scary. He was making me clean up Anthony’s brains and blood.’

  ‘Who was, Beth?’

  ‘The taxi driver. I know him.’ She clutched on to Kat’s hand. ‘I just can’t remember why, yet.’

  Kat stood and reached for a glass of water. ‘Have a sip of this. It’ll help you calm down.’

  Beth sipped at the water and then gave a huge shudder. ‘I feel better now. It was just a nightmare.’

  They sat quietly for a moment, and then Beth spoke quickly, as if she needed to get the words out before she lost her courage.

  ‘I won’t be doing it any more. It’s going to have to come out if they ever find out who killed Anthony – the escort bit, I mean. And that’s going to kill Nan. No amount of money is worth upsetting her.’

  ‘Do your housemates know?’
>
  ‘They know about the escort side, because they see me dressed up for the parties and stuff I go to, but they don’t know I charge for the overnight stays.’

  ‘Then why should it come out? If it ever does get to court, they can suggest what you were doing with Jackson, but all you have to say is that you just got on really well, you’re both consenting adults, and you had jointly decided to spend the night together. That’s not a crime, it’s quite a natural thing to do. Nobody else is going to stand up in court and admit to sleeping with you for money, are they?’

  ‘I still won’t be doing it again. The money I’ve stashed away will have to be it, now. I was doing it to raise money for a year’s trip around the world. No amount of money can erase seeing a man’s head blown apart.’

  ‘Will you be going to your nan’s house when they say you can go home?’

  Beth shook her head. ‘Not an earthly. I’ve told them here that’s where I’m going, but somebody left me for dead. They might try again, and I don’t want Nan caught in the fallout from my stupidity. Likewise for the girls. I know it’s my house, but I’ll have to find somewhere else for the moment, somewhere else that nobody knows about. Can I tell you the location, Kat? You know… just in case.’

  ‘You can come to me. We have plenty of spare room, and Leon won’t mind. I can look after you until you’re fully well, then you can make some decisions. Maybe put your house visibly up for sale, then buy another?’

  ‘Stay with you? But that puts you in danger.’

  ‘Nobody will know.’

  ‘Oh, Reverend Rowe, you’re pretty naïve.’ Beth laughed. ‘But thank you. I’ll take you up on that offer provided your husband has the final say. It’s not fair if I just arrive on your doorstep. And I’ll tell Jo and Millie they’ll have to find somewhere else. They won’t like it, they won’t like me, but they’ll be safe away from the house. And staying with you will only be for as long as it takes me to get another home.’

  ‘You’ll be convalescent for a while, you’re not going to bounce back from this quickly. And we have lots of security on the house, so your safety won’t be an issue.’