by Sam Skyborne
Once the aftershocks had subsided, Aiden pulled away, pushing himself up onto his arms. He had a huge smile on his face.
“Wow, that’s new?” he teased. “Who is Liz?”
Toni flushed scarlet. She could not believe she had actually said it aloud, never mind thought those thoughts and then came so powerfully as a result.
“No one,” she said, irritated. She covered her face not wanting to look him in the eye.
“No, come on. Liz must be someone. It certainly got you off. I mean, I should be offended you were thinking about someone else while in bed with me, but you know me, I’m an open-minded kind of guy. The least you can do is tell me who she is so I can join in in the fantasy.”
Toni pushed him off her. “Cut it out, Aiden.”
He rolled to the side, still smiling.
“Is that the cute lawyer friend of yours?”
“Aiden, give it a rest,” she said, picking up her clothes from his floor.
“Wow. It is. Isn’t it?” he said. “Well I never! Now that is hot!”
“Aiden, enough!” Toni’s voice was stern.
He knew not to push it too far.
“What about me?” he said, raising his eyebrows and indicating his very large erection. “You going to return the favour and help me out here?”
“Aiden, sorry. I got to go. You can take care of it. Think of me and any page three pin-up, if you must.” She turned and headed to the shower.
“Thanks mate! You owe me!” he called after her.
Fifteen minutes later Toni got out of the ice-cold shower she had opted for, hoping it would eradicate the images of Lizbeth from her mind.
In the bedroom she found Aiden clearly enjoying a post coital snooze.
He woke up when she entered.
“That was awesome—” he began.
“Aiden, cut it!”
“Seriously, I have not seen you come like that before.”
“Aiden!”
“Okay, okay.” He held his hands up. “Just saying.”
“I need to ask you a favour.” Toni said, as she took out one of his shirts from his wardrobe and slipped it on.
“Yeah, sure.”
“I need some information—”
“Oh. That kind of favour,” he said, clearly disappointed. “I thought you meant sexual favour.”
“Get your mind out the gutter you perv,” Toni said, picking up the pillow and hitting him over the head with it.
“Okay. Okay. Guilty! Guilty!” he pleaded as she repeatedly whacked him upside the head.
They laughed.
She sat down on the bed and rolled up the shirt sleeves.
“Seriously. I need to know more about officers Dwight Forelly and Kevin McCarthy.”
“I heard about your stay at Her Majesty’s and I believe Dwight chewed your balls a little. Is this payback?”
Toni turned and looked at Aiden.
“Do you really think that is what I’m like?”
“No, no, of course not. I was just joking,” he said, not entirely convincingly. “What exactly are you looking for? And why?”
“Anything that looks suspicious. You have access to their service records. I don’t need to see them. I just need you to look and tell me if you find anything that is off.”
“Toni, you are not doing that thing again?”
“Look Aiden. If you don’t want to do it, you can just say so.”
“Toni, it is not that. You have to stop seeing corrupt cops wherever you look. You know where that got you last time.”
“Aiden, I do not need a lecture from you.”
“Toni.”
“Aiden, I, of all the people in the world, am the last person who wants to bump into a corrupt cop or a fit-up, but I can’t just turn a blind eye. You know it.”
Aiden studied her for a long time.
“Okay,” he said. “But only this once. What do you need?”
“I need you to check out anything that could be suspicious about Dwight and Kevin and I need to know who ordered the raid on The Vox the other night. Why the decision was made to raid then.”
Aiden sighed. “Okay, I will find out what I can.”
Toni leant over and kissed Aiden on the forehead. “Thanks mate!” She got up and headed out the door.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Monday
Although she had managed to get her flat more or less back in order over the weekend, she still could not shake the violated feeling. Having some unknown person or people invade your safe space and maliciously cause destruction was a strange experience for her and very hard to come to terms with.
It was not that she felt unsafe in her home. It was more like the ghost, or energy, of the trespassers still lingered in her space which made her feel on edge.
To calm her nerves and help her get to sleep, she helped herself to a large tumbler of the cheap brandy she kept in her kitchen cupboard.
The brandy did the trick until about 3am.
When she realised she had been staring in the dark at the pink letters on her wall for over an hour, she decided to get up and go do something useful with her Monday morning.
In the office Toni studied the whiteboard. There had been a number of new developments and avenues of investigation. She added the CUL, the Preacher, Dwight Forelly and Kevin McCarthy as a new arm to the drawing.
Just then Maxine walked in with two coffees in paper-cups.
“I do have a coffee machine,” Toni pointed out, while finishing drawing a male and female combined sign as another arm to the drawing.
“Want to catch me up on the latest?” Maxine asked, holding out a cup.
Toni replaced the lid on the marker and then took the hot cup of coffee.
Maxine threw down her bag and removed her coat.
“Well, on Saturday, before things kicked off, I went to meet a contact at The Vox who allegedly saw Erika leave with a suitor on the night she died.”
“I’m assuming from the picture you’re doubting it was a man?”
“Not doubting, just keeping options open.”
“I’ve heard that one before,” Maxine chuckled. “And why are the CUL back on the board? Did the police not clear them, despite their best efforts to claim the credit?”
“I’m not sure exactly how yet, but it seems they might actually be involved. It’s quite possible that they were responsible for the murder as an anti-gay protest that went wrong. Or, I’m still looking into the more personal angle of an attack on Lucille Ransom-Evans.”
Toni circled Dwight and Kevin’s names on the board. “These guys seem to crop up a few too many times for my liking.”
“You suggesting the cops could be involved?” Maxine sucked air through her teeth. “I’ll say one thing. You obviously do not scare easily and you do pick your fights, Toni.”
“Not picking a fight. Just looking at all the angles.”
Toni scribbled ‘Crime Scene?’ in the middle of the whiteboard. “So far we, and the police, have assumed that the crime scene is the alley where the body was found. What if Erika did leave with someone—”
“To go and have sex in Antoinette’s flat.” Maxine said. “That doesn’t sound like a CUL tactic though?”
“True. That’d certainly be a digression from their more usual blunt intimidation tactics but I wouldn’t rule it out at this point.”
“That changes things a bit.” Maxine got up and started putting on her coat. “We need to have a word with Antoinette’s neighbours.”
“Actually, I was hoping you could have another word with Antoinette. Now that we know Erika was seeing women as well for sure, perhaps you can get her to open up a bit more and find out if Erika ever brought any female suitors around to her flat. You seem to have created a better rapport with her than I did.”
“I can do that. You are after all far better at roughing up the neighbourhood thugs.” Maxine laughed and headed out the door with Toni hot on her heels.
Maxine sat at Antoinette’s s
mall kitchen table sipping her second cup of coffee in the last fifteen minutes. Not only did Antoinette drink lots of it but she made it strong!
Antoinette’s home was a small one-bedroom flat. It had a pokey kitchen separated from the cramped lounge by a 1970s rainbow coloured bead curtain. Every conceivable surface was chock-a-block with bric-a-brac, charity shop items and ornaments.
From where Maxine sat she could see another doorway lead off from the lounge. She presumed that must be the bedroom. Just inside the bedroom a vanity screen with a six-foot black and white image of Cary Grant’s smiling face stared back at her, acting as a makeshift door.
“I am trying to understand a couple of things, Antoinette,” Maxine said, “and I was hoping you might be able to help me out a bit with that.”
“Yes, anything I can do. Of course.”
“You said Erika’s addiction was sex, but sex with women. Right?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“So when did she find the cure? How did it work exactly? I mean as we all know addicts relapse from time to time.”
“Being an addict is very hard, yes, but given the right motivation and with the right commitment and strength from the Divine any challenge can be overcome.”
Maxine nodded. “You are a very strong woman, Antoinette, and generous in your commitment to help people like Erika who are weaker in the flesh.”
Antoinette nodded. “I am not a saint, Ms Bennett, I just try to help where I can. I’m grateful for the support and assistance I have received on my journey and I hope I can give a little of that back somehow.”
Maxine tried to take another sip of the thick brown liquid in the mug.
“Do you happen to know the names of any of the female lovers, Erika used to have before she enrolled in the group or from the early days before she was cured?”
“No, not really. I did not pay them much mind and I tried to discourage Erika from dwelling much on them either. One tends to veer towards the things you think about most so I discouraged any thoughts of her dark past.”
“And in the time that you have been working with her did she ever veer a little too close to her dark past?”
“No! Not since the first couple of weeks of our journey together when she was still very new to the programme. She was really a very good girl. And committed. She knew what was good for her, and once she felt what it was like to be with a man again she knew it was more fulfilling and satisfying in both body and mind.”
“And Erika stayed on the programme voluntarily?”
“My dear, Ms Bennett, what are you suggesting?”
“No, nothing. I am just surprised that as an addict Erika never strayed. This must be a very successful programme.”
“It is, Ms Bennett. Maybe you’d like to try it for yourself?”
“I don’t have an addiction, but thank you.”
Antoinette got up and retrieved a leaflet from a drawer in the kitchen cabinet. “Take it. The mind works in mysterious ways and you never know when the veil of denial might lift.”
Maxine took the leaflet and put it in her pocket.
“Antoinette, we know you were away during the time of Erika’s murder. Does anyone else have a key to your flat other than Erika?”
Antoinette looked surprised. She shook her head. “Not that I know of, no. Why?”
“Well, some information has come to our attention that might suggest she could potentially have returned to your flat on the night that she died. We are thinking that she might even have brought her killer back here that night.”
“Oh no!” Antoinette clutched at the short row of buttons that formed the front collar of her blouse. “The killer could have been in here?” she said, clearly very alarmed. “That can’t be. This was a safe space for Erika.” Then another thought hit her. “Oh goodness! Do you think they might still have keys to my flat? Should I change the locks? Might they be after me?”
Maxine shook her head. “No. I don’t think that is necessary.” Maxine tried to sound reassuring. “But,” she took out a sterile swab from her bag, “what I would like is if you wouldn’t mind giving us a DNA sample.”
Antoinette looked even more alarmed.
“It is for elimination purposes only since there now seems to be a greater possibility she came back here shortly before or when she was murdered.”
“But, if I remember the case correctly, there was no DNA on her,” Antoinette said, looking confused.
“That is true.” Maxine nodded. “Considering the new developments we are hoping to get the case reopened and look into these new angles more thoroughly.”
Antoinette was silent for a long while as she stared at the swab and then at Maxine.
“You do want your friend’s killer found, don’t you?” Maxine asked.
“You can’t force me to give you my DNA,” Antoinette said quite sternly.
“I know. Of course not. It would just make our lives so much easier and cause you less hassle later on and obviously help us find the person who did this to your friend.”
Antoinette burst out crying. “I still can’t believe she’s gone.”
Maxine put her hand over Antoinette’s and waited for her to calm down.
“I am sorry,” Antoinette finally said, reaching for a square of kitchen towel to dry her eyes.
“Does that mean you will give us a DNA sample?” Maxine said as evenly as possible.
Antoinette nodded and blew her nose.
While Maxine went upstairs to see Antoinette, Toni wandered around Antoinette’s building in the hope of finding a neighbour who might have seen something the night Erika died.
It did not take long for Toni to strike gold. The flat at the top end of the corridor, on the same floor as Antoinette’s flat, stood wide open with only a childproof barrier acting as a door. From it a wall of sound of babies crying and children screaming echoed down the corridor.
Toni approached it with caution and knocked. From the doorway she could see a day care centre with at least five babies in a baby pen in the middle of the lounge. There were three boys aged three to four chasing each other around the flat with makeshift pistols made from old detergent bottles.
Toni knocked again. “Hello. Anyone here?”
“Of course there is someone here,” a large woman with braided long blond hair tightly tied back in a high ponytail barked as she stepped out into the small hall. She had a little black baby strapped to her one hip and a large ladle in the other hand.
“Oh. Sorry, I did knock.”
“Yes, well, I was busy. Can you not see I am trying to run a business here?”
“Yes, sorry.”
“Well, you got me up. What is it you want?”
Toni introduced herself as a private investigator and handed the woman her driver’s licence as ID.
The woman untangled her glasses from the top of her head and peered at the licence.
“Yes, so?”
“I am investigating an incident related to the night of the 13th of February, the night before last Valentine's Day. I was wondering if you happened to have noticed anyone coming and going from flat 203 on that day. I know it is a long time ago—”
“Yes, of course I did, Babe.”
“You did?” Toni said, surprised. “Could you tell me about it, please.”
“I saw that young girl, init. She brought one of her Janet-and-Johns back.”
“She did?”
“Yeah.”
“And you are sure it was the 13th of February?”
“Yes, they were going at it pretty hard that night. The whole block could probably hear her screaming and I remember thinking to myself she must be running a pre-Valentine’s special.”
“Did you see the person she was with?”
“Not a good look. I like to mind my own business, if you know what I mean.”
“But you did see the person? Was it a man or a woman?”
“It is so hard to tell these days.” She shook her head. “They were
wearing a suit so I assume it was a bloke. He looked pretty dapper, even had one of them black and white film hats. You know like they wore in the gangster films.”
“You mean a trilby?”
“Yeah, one of them things. That’s right. And dark glasses. Must have been a theme night or something.”
“Can you tell me anything else about that night? Did you see him leave?”
“Oh, yeah, sure. It was clear when they had finished because she stopped screaming. He left and then I saw her go out about an hour later.”
“You sure she left?”
“Yes, of course. I pay attention like that. I thought it was odd as she was all dressed in a coat and was pulling one of them trolley-dolly suitcases. I figured she must be going on holiday or catching a plane or something, you know, leaving at that hour looking all dolled-up. And she was obviously celebrating or something because she had a bit too much of the juice if you ask me.”
“She was drunk? How do you know?”
“I know drunk when I see it. Believe me. She was swerving on her pins and holding onto the walls.”
“Have you seen her since?”
“No, not seen her at all. I assumed she had fallen out with her.” She nodded her chin in the direction of Antoinette’s flat. “Really odd setup if you ask me.”
“Did you see Antoinette that day?” Toni endeavoured to steer the conversation away from personal comments. It was obvious there was not much love lost between these two neighbours.
“No, I don’t think she was here then.” The woman thought for a bit. “That was winter, so that was when I had the Terrys…. Yes, that’s right. Lana came to drop them off for the first time for a weekend stay end of February. We were chatting at the door, as you do, when I saw her come back. She is not a light traveller. Not like the younger one. She made a right fuss and a racket of it getting into her flat with all her luggage. Who in their right mind takes more suitcases than they can manage?”
“Anything else that comes to mind as odd around that time?”
“Around here, Love, odd is almost always the norm. But I know what you mean.” The woman took a deep breath then shook her head. “Nah, not that I can think of. But you know what it’s like being nappy-brained and all that.”