Double Noose

by Jay Sharman

  ‘How did she find out?’ asked Cohen.

  ‘I do not know.’ Cried Sally. ‘She must have heard from someone. She threatened that she will kill me.’

  Cohen’s anger worsened and his hands became tighter.

  He said, ‘She can't harm you as she has never been violent. I do not think that she will ever harm you.’

  Sally came nearer to embrace Cohen and said, ‘I am also worried about you. She might even harm you. Maybe you should also leave your home and move with me.’

  ‘No, I can't do that. I will become a mockery in public’s eyes. Already Cora’s remarks have dented my reputation, so I can't afford to be affected by slandering anymore.’

  ‘What else can you do then? I do not want you to live with her anymore.’

  ‘Look Sally, leave it to me. I will think of something.’

  Cohen went home late that evening, but as usual Cora was not at home. Cohen had three glasses of whiskey to calm his nerves. His life was in turmoil and he needed to take some decisions about his life.

  Cohen did not realise that he had fallen asleep and when he was woken up by the arrival of Cora, after she banged his bedroom door with a loud noise. Cohen got up from his bed and proceeded toward Cora’s bedroom and asked, ‘Did you have a good time in the party?’

  Cora turned back to look at Cohen to mutter, ‘Oh Darling, yes I had a good time, but was not same without you.’

  Cohen came straight to the point and asked loudly, ‘Why did you slap Sally this morning?’

  Cora was still staggering on her feet and asked, ‘Who is Sally? That bitch, she wants to steal my husband from me.’

  Cohen was not in any mooed for compromise. He shouted back, ‘What husband and which husband? You have insulted me in front of your friends. You never loved me or cared for me. You had no spare time from your partying with your friend.’

  Cora took out one of her shoes to throw in Cohen’s direction that missed his face by just one inch, she then walked towards her husband to hold his collars in her hand.

  She shouted ‘My friends always wanted to make fun of you and in the beginning, I confronted them, but they still did not stop. I had enough of them of their remarks’

  Cohen pushed his wife away with his hands, adjusted his collars and took a deep breath to say

  ‘If they were your true friends, then they should listen to you. If they still carried on, then you should have found alternative friends who respected you and liked you for what you are.’

  Cora had calmed down by now and said, ‘I stuck with them because they all were Americans. I realised that the best policy was to laugh with them, so you became a source of entertainment for all of us.’

  Cohen sat down on the edge of the bed and whispered, ‘So I was nothing else but a joke for you. This is your payback time. We can't live together. You do not want to divorce me, but I want you to go.’

  Cora seemed frightened as she opened her mouth wide and her eyes dilated.

  She was trying to stand up with the support of the wall. She looked at the floor and asked, ‘What are you going to do now?

  Cohen went to the cupboard, where he had hidden a syringe filled with hyoscine and in one quick movement brought the syringe in his right hand and moved slowly towards Cora.

  Cora moved back to put her hands In front of her face, her eyes squeezed, her breathing got faster and she asked, ‘What have you got in that injection? I am not ill. I do not need any injection.’

  Cohen whispered, as he held Cora’s right arm in his left hand and said, ‘I want you to sleep now. You have been talking all your life and now I will talk, and you will listen.’

  Cora tried to move backwards but was stopped by the presence of a bed.

  She started to shout. ‘Do not come near to me. You are not going to kill me. You are a doctor and meant to save lives.’

  Cohen’s needle had already gone deeper into Cora’s arm and slowly she started to feel the cold effects of the injection and her eyes started to close down slowly.

  It was nearly four in the morning and

  Cohen had left Cora in her bedroom to come to his own bedroom to sleep. He had given smaller dose of hyoscine to calm Cora down, but he was not aware that Cora had taken twice the normal limits of the alcohol drinks that evening, which had a worsened effect on the mode of action of the drugs.

  The next day was a Saturday, so there was no rush to go to work. Cohen got up at 9 AM and went to Cora’s room to check if she was awake. She was still lying on the bed with her back towards him. He tried to shake Cora but got no response. He then jerked her vigorously and turned her face towards him.

  Cohen had a shock of his life when he realised that Cora’s eyes were wide open. Cohen felt her pulse, but there was no sign of it. Her face had turned pale and lips turned blue.

  ‘Oh My God.’ Cohen talked to himself. ‘She is dead. I have killed her. What shall I do now?’

  Cohen after changing his clothes went to pick up Sally who came back with him to the house.

  He asked ‘What shall I do now? Police will arrest me for her murder. I did not mean to kill her. She was shouting so loud that I injected her with a drug to calm her down. Let me call the police.’

  Sally stopped him from going near the telephone by holding his arms with her hand and shouted, ‘Do not be stupid, the police will implicate you for her death and you will be hanged.’

  Cohen turned towards Sally to ask her, ‘What else can I do? We can't take her body anywhere else during day time.’

  Sally came next to Cohen and said, ‘Do not panic. I am here with you. We have got a simple solution. Let us dig a hole in the cellar and bury her body there. Nobody will suspect a thing. People will think that Cora has gone back to America.’

  The doorbell started to ring loudly, Cohen got worried and said, ‘Let me see who is outside the door.’

  He went near the window and saw the milkman at the door.

  After the milkman had gone, both Cohen and Sally went to the cellar and started to dig a hole, that made a loud noise from time to time.

  Sally told Cohen to be careful as he might wake up the neighbours, who might suspect that something evil was happening in the house.

  By the lunch time, Cora was all buried in the cellar and Cohen applied fresh cement to cover the area. On top of that he put a table and chairs so nobody could spot any uneven surface.

  Cohen then pleaded to Sally to stay with him which she agreed, after resisting the plea in the beginning. They both came to work separately, so that nobody could suspect their relationship.

  Cohen when asked about the whereabouts of Cora replied that she had gone to America to see her parents.

  A month later, one of Cora’s friends came to Cohen’s work place and demanded to know the whereabouts of Cora. She was not satisfied by Cohen’s explanation that Cora had gone to America. The friend told Cohen that she had just come back from America, where she had visited Cora’s parent’s home, but there was no sign of Cora there.

  Cohen had no answer to that but replied that he was worried himself as Cora had left for America a month ago. The friend told Cohen that he should tell the truth, otherwise she would report the matter to the police.

  Cohen’s face had turned pale and stethoscope had fallen from his hands. He tried to pacify Cora’s friend and asked her if she wanted a cup of tea, which the woman refused. Cohen excused the woman that he needed to go to toilet but went to Sally’s room to tell her about the woman’s arrival in the surgery. Cohen came back to his room along with Sally, but the woman had already left.

  Cohen and Sally decided that it was not safe anymore to stay in the house. The American woman had suspicions about Cohen’s involvement in Cora’s disappearance. Cohen realised that the police could come there any time to arrest them.

  Sally was the co-defendant as she had suggested the idea of killing Cora and then assisted in her burial.

  Cohen suggested that he should leave UK for Canada alone where he had
some friends, but Sally insisted that she would also come with him. She claimed that she could not live without him and that they should be together.

  Sally came back to their house and cropped her hair short to dress up like a boy. They hurriedly packed their suitcases and left house to go to a port to catch a ship to Vancouver. Unfortunately, the next ship was not due for another four days, so they booked into a hotel and stayed in the hotel room most of the time.

  On the third day Cohen opened the newspaper in the morning and was shocked to see his photo on the front page of the newspaper, which had a heading, ‘Doctor murders his wife and buries her body in his cellar.’

  The police had alerted public to look out for him and contact the police if they spotted him. They also mentioned Sally, who was also wanted by the police in connection with the murder of his wife.

  The next day in the early hours of the morning, they both boarded the ship undetected by anybody around them. Cohen had completely shaved his head, which gave him a totally different look.

  Fortunately for them, they got a separate cabin in the ship. Sally posed as Cohen’s son, they confined themselves to their cabin and only went out of the room to get their meals. They both avoided eye contact with fellow passengers and always sat on a separate table in the dining room.

  The captain of the ship found their behaviour very odd and one day greeted them and asked, ‘I hope that you are enjoying your journey. Is everything ok with you?’

  Cohen was startled and replied hurriedly, ‘Yes, I am fine.’

  ‘Let me know if you need anything.’ Cohen said that while shaking hand with Cohen.

  The captain thought that Cohen looked very familiar face, but he could not remember exactly where he had seen him.

  Captain went back to his cabinet to check some of the old newspapers where he saw a photograph of Cohen along with the full story of the murder of his wife. Captain thought that the person who is posing as Cohen’s son must be his girlfriend, Sally. Captain phoned the police in the mainland, who asked him to keep an eye on Cohen and Sally in the ship and should wait for the police’s instructions.

  The ship continued sailing as normal without giving any hint to anybody about the pending police action. As the ship inched near to the Canadian waters, Cohen’s confidence grew stronger and stronger and slowly he and Sally started to relax a bit and also began to mix with the other passengers and drank in the bar on a regular basis.

  However, one day, without any warning to anyone, the ship started to slow down and passengers wondered why did the ship need to stop in the middle of the ocean. Then they saw a small boat docking besides the ship and two policemen boarding the ship.

  Both Cohen and Sally were whisked away in the boat in front of the startled passengers.

  That news was broadcast all over the world and some people called it the crime of the century. The trial lasted for five days at the Old Bailey and Dr Cohen was found guilty, but Sally was set free, as she decided to change her story, pleading that she knew nothing about the murder. Cohen felt betrayed by Sally as he committed the murder after provocation from Sally.

  He did not plan to kill her, and his plea for manslaughter was rejected by the judge. Cohen became very aggressive after the verdict and challenged the justice system. In his cell in the prison, he was often beaten by two officers and devoid of basic facilities. On few occasions, was humiliated in the shower room.

  The two prison officers were good friends of the hangman, responsible for Cohen’s execution. His last request was to have a photograph of Sally in his top pocket, which was allowed.

  Dr Cohen was five feet and four inches in height and weighed only one hundred and thirty six pounds, and a drop in the gallows of seven feet and nine inches was the required measurement but the hangman changed that to seven feet and seven inches in length and that made Cohen’s death more prolonged and painful. Cohen had heard the two hangmen laughing at him when he was dying. I am sure that when dying, Gary Cohen would had asked God for forgiveness of his own sins. but must have also pleaded that he should be allowed to take revenge of these executioners.

  I am not sure that if any one of you believe in this, but my theory is that by mere coincidence, these four Greens are the same executioners and prison officers present during Cohen’s hanging.

  I am not sure that what would you call it, a mere coincidence or God’s intervention, it seems that everybody has been brought back to the same prison for Dr Cohen to take his revenge.

  Chapter 39

  As Jackson was telling the story, there was a pin drop silence in the room. DC Lewis seemed to be so engrossed in it that he forgot that he was on duty. He asked Jackson, ‘Why has Cohen used Julian to kill these people, as he could have done that himself?’

  Jackson pulled the curtain of the room open, as he wanted some sun to shine through the room. He said, ‘I think that Gary Cohen could have killed these people himself but may be , he used Julian as a ploy to divert attention to him. Moreover, being a doctor, he felt more comfortable with Julian.’

  DC Lewis then said, ‘We should not forget that Julian has been also charged with murder of his wife as well. I can already see similarities between the two cases. There was a similar escape plan to South Africa, like that of Cohen’s attempt to flee to Canada. Julian’s wife had also died because of drug overdose but wait a minute, where is Julian’s girlfriend?’

  Jackson intervened and said, ‘Before we try to locate Julian’s girlfriend, we need to review the whole case. I think that Julian did not kill his wife but there must be somebody else that had murdered his wife and then implicated Julian Dashwood so that he could run away from the United Kingdom and then by a mere coincidence , he was brought back to the same prison where Cohen was hanged. I am sure that are some more connections to this case’

  DC Lewis thought for a minute and then said, ‘You mean that Cohen could have killed Julian’s wife and then ----’

  Jackson pulled his chair towards Lewis and whispered, ‘Yes, I am thinking on the same wave length. The problem is that we can't prove in court that a ghost killed somebody, everybody will laugh at us and nobody will believe us.’ Jackson looked around the room to see the level of response from other prison officers.

  The other two officers were sill quiet but then Smith came forward and said, ‘I have experienced the wrath of Cohen’s ghost, so I believe every single word that you have just said. My main concern is for the fourth Green, I mean Greg – the only surviving member of the Greens. I am sure that Cohen will try to kill him next. His life will be in danger in this prison and maybe we should transfer him to another prison as soon as possible.’

  Jackson smiled back, ‘You are right, Mr Smith. We need to arrange his immediate transfer to another prison. Can you check the availability of any spaces in other prisons today?’

  Smith replied, ‘I will do that as a matter of urgency.’

  DC Lewis then asked, ‘I am sure that if Cohen killed Julian’s wife, Gina then he must have used somebody else to help inject the drug. I need to go back to the surgery to check who the last patient or person was to attend Dr Dashwood.’

  Smith then said, ‘Detective, it will be interesting to know whether the same drug was found in the case of Cora Turner’s body.’

  Jackson said wryly, ‘That is a valid point. Detective Lewis, can you check that please? There is one more issue that we need to discuss. In fact Mr Lewis, that is your department. You need to find where Julian’s girlfriend is?’

  DC Lewis took out his diary from a brief case and made some notes with his pen. He stood up to leave the room. ‘Well gentlemen, I must go now as I have lots of work to do.’

  Chapter 40

  Julian’s girlfriend Nicki had a special plan for that day. Julian had discussed with Nicki the urgency of her leaving the prison as soon as possible. He did not mention to her about the importance of his meeting with Cohen. Julian thought that Nicki would get more frightened by Cohen and maybe, she does not believe i
n the existence of ghosts.

  That morning Julian saw Nicki dressing up properly although she could only use men’s clothes. She put on black trousers, which fitted her size and a half sleeve unisex shirt underneath her regular prison clothing. She washed her hair in the morning but made a small ponytail in the back of her head, so that she still looked like a boy rather than a woman.

  Julian asked her, ‘Are you sure that you will be able to make an escape today from this heavily guarded prison?’

  Nicki smiled and put her arms around Julian’s neck and whispered, ‘Mike is going to arrange a pass for me as a teacher. He has spoken to one security guard at the gate, who knows him very well. I am going to leave the education department as a woman so nobody will suspect anything on the gate. One of the teachers has gone for holiday for a week, so Mike has used her details for the security pass.’

  ‘Does Mike know that you are a woman instead of a man?’ asked Julian after implanting a small kiss on her lips.

  ‘No, I don't think so, he loves me as a boy. Not sure what his reaction would be if he finds about my true identity’ Nicki moved sideways to look into a mirror on the wall.

  ‘Does he know that you can speak?’ asked Julian.

  ‘No, he does not know that either. First night I will have to stay with him but then I would go to my flat to check if I can get some money and clothes to go somewhere else.’

  ‘I am sure that you will pull through this and don’t have any physical intimacy with him.’

  Nicki looked into his eyes and said, ‘Do not be silly. I am worried about this plan, but I need to get out for both yours and mine safety. I can also contact your solicitor and put more pressure on him to work speedily and efficiently.’

  ‘Good luck Nicki. I love you a lot, I am sure that we will meet soon. You need to find out who the real killer is? If you did not kill Gina and I did not kill her, then who else could have murdered her?’