SWITCHED: The man who lost his body but kept his mind.

by Bernard Gallivan

  With hardly any support, and for far too long, he’d been battling with a situation into which, so mysteriously, he’d been plunged. He was desperately lonely and as he guessed the reporters would have given up waiting outside his house in Disraeli Street by now, he was sorely tempted to try to make contact with Jeannie again. After all, other than his brother up in Newcastle, as far as he knew she was the only other person in this new dimension who had any interest whatsoever in his well-being. Caution prevailed, however. He knew he dared not go around to see her in case the police were still watching the house. He could not even phone her from Croydon in case her telephone was tapped. Thrusting the problem to one side, he decided to take another train journey, this time into central London where he would get himself a slap-up meal.

  He could hear Olivera calling her children to their evening meal as he let himself out onto the street. He even had an unaccustomed spring in his step as he walked along. His luck had finally turned. He firmly believed that all would soon be right with the world. Of course, he should have realized that a situation as complicated as the one he had inherited would not resolve itself quite so easily.

  By an unhappy chance, his route from Olivera’s house to East Croydon Station took him directly past Leo Snell’s house and as ill-luck would have it, Leo was just coming out on his way to the gymnasium when Zachary passed by on the other side of the road. Leo could hardly believe his eyes when he recognised Zachary.

  Unlikely as it was, even to Leo’s limited brain there was no doubt about it. The man on the other side of the road had to be Zak Storie. Leo’s first impulse was to rush across and tackle him. As far as Leo was concerned, Zak was just another middle-aged, overweight punk who would be no match for him. But caution overcame his initial response to the sighting. It was early evening and there were still lots of pedestrians about. The last thing Connor would want was for one of his men to cause a rumpus in full public view. Instead, carrying his sports bag in one massive fist, he quietly followed Zachary hoping to get an opportunity to grab his man away from the public gaze.

  Chapter 11

  Zachary

  When Zachary arrived at the main concourse of East Croydon Station, Leo was no more than a half dozen steps behind him, not that Zachary noticed. In fact, since leaving Olivera’s house he had not once looked behind to see if anyone was following him. It would have been a waste of time anyway since he would have recognised no one. When, so late in the day, Leo overheard Zachary ask for a day return ticket to Victoria, he gave a quiet smile of satisfaction. That could only mean his man intended returning that same evening. In which case there was no need for him to continue following. Instead, he would make it his business to be at the station when Storie returned. In the meantime, he would keep quiet about his lucky sighting; he would go to his gym and do some much needed training and he could still get back in time to earn himself a nice little bonus from Connor when he brought Storie in later that evening. In any case, he persuaded himself, there was little chance of snatching the man in broad daylight in the middle of London, whereas, later on …

  Blissfully unaware he was now a marked man, Zachary caught the train to Victoria without incident and twenty minutes later walked into an Italian restaurant where he relaxed and enjoyed himself for the first time in days. Even the nicotine patch on his arm seemed to be working. While he waited for his meal to arrive, he read and re-read the article on the Prentice case that was headlined in the Evening Standard. He gathered that the police, acting on information received from a private source, had interviewed the Prentices’ son-in-law, who had subsequently confessed to the murders.

  Zachary celebrated his partial reprieve by drinking a whole bottle of wine with his meal, so he was feeling pretty relaxed when, later in the evening, he went back into the station to look for an unoccupied telephone booth. The wine had encouraged him to lower his guard rather sooner than was prudent and halfway through his meal he had decided to give Jeannie a celebratory call. Again, his luck was in. Jeannie was home having just returned from her first uninterrupted outing to the shops since her husband became a wanted man. In addition, Chief Inspector Connolly, needing to conserve police resources had, only a few hours earlier, ordered the men who were monitoring Jeannie’s telephone to stand down.

  ‘Hello Jeannie, it’s me,’ Zachary said on hearing her voice.

  ‘Is it really you, luv? Have you heard the news? They’ve caught the man what did those awful murders,’ she gushed.

  ‘Yes, I’ve just been reading about it. You’ve no idea what a relief it is not to have that hanging over my head any more.’

  ‘I’m sorry I doubted you even for a second, Zak. I should have known you couldn’t do such an 'orrible thing. But what have you done to yourself? I hardly recognised you when I saw you yesterday.’

  This cheered him up no end. If his own wife had difficulty recognising him, there was little chance anyone else would see through his disguise.

  ‘It’s amazing what a wee bit of tanning cream and some hair dye can do, isn’t it? Anyway, enough about me, how are you managing? I can’t tell you how sorry I am that I’ve been the cause of bringing all those reporters down on you.’

  ‘You don’t have to worry about them anymore, luv. They left as soon as they heard you hadn’t topped the Prentices. I’ve even managed to do a bit of shopping. In fact, if you like, I reckon I could slip out now without anyone following me. What do you say? We could meet up somewhere and spend the night together. You’d like that, wouldn’t you? I know I would.’

  ‘Yes, I’d like that, too’

  Suddenly she giggled. ‘It didn’t take you long to pick up a Scottish accent, did it?’

  ‘What do you mean?’ Zachary was startled by her comment.

  ‘You just said something about “a wee bit of tanning cream”. That’s what them Scottish people say, ain’t it?’

  ‘That’s because I’ve been trying to blend in, Jeannie. I’ve been weeing all over the place these last few days,’ he joked, at the same time alarmed that he could so easily give himself away.

  ‘You are awful, Zak, but I’m pleased you can still laugh at things. It must have been a real nightmare for you, though.’

  ‘It still is,’ he said.

  ‘Of course it is, so promise me you’ll be careful, luv. Don’t forget that swine Connor Sinclair and his heavies will still be looking for you; and the police won’t have forgotten about that other little matter, either.’

  ‘How can I forget any of it? I only wish I could, believe me. These last few days have been like a living hell.’ His voice was suddenly full of emotion, but before Jeannie could respond, he said, ‘and that’s why, much as I want to, I don’t think it would be sensible for us to meet up until things have quietened down a bit more.’

  ‘Don’t say that, luv. I need you. In any case, I don’t think the police will be quite so interested in you now that they’ve caught that other bloke; the one what did it. I’m sure I could slip away without anyone noticing. I’m missing you and unless I’m losing my touch, you must be missing me as well.’

  ‘I’m missing you all right, Jeannie, but even if the police might be going easy on me for the time being, there’s still Sinclair to worry about. He won’t give up; not until he’s got his money,’ Zachary reminded her.

  ‘But I know what his heavies look like, luv. Remember, they came around to see me and I certainly won’t forget that pair in a hurry. 'Orrible men they was. I’ll be real careful, Zak, honest, and if I think anyone’s following me, I won’t come, all right?’

  He was desperately lonely and the wine he had consumed earlier now made him throw caution to the wind. He relented.

  ‘It would be wonderful if you could get away, but where could we meet?’

  ‘We had a lovely time at that hotel in Hammersmith just after we first met, didn’t we; and Moira and Andy were there again only last year.’ Moira and Andy were completely unknown to Zachary but he dared not ask who they were. Jeannie
continued. ‘She said it’s still very nice and not at all expensive. Why don’t we go there?’

  Zachary had no idea which hotel she meant but at least, this time, he could pretend forgetfulness.

  ‘You know what I’m like with names, dear? Remind me; what was it called?’

  ‘Honestly, Zak, I’d have thought you’d remember that. Perhaps it wasn’t as special for you as it was for me. That was the first time I’d done that sort of thing. But you probably don’t remember that, either.’

  ‘Don’t be silly. Of course I remember it all. The only thing I can’t remember is the name of the hotel.’

  ‘It was the Shelby. Now do you remember?’

  ‘The Shelby, of course! How could I forget? That’s right, it’s all coming back to me,’ he lied.

  But not for one instant did he fool Jean. ‘’I know you don’t remember, so don’t lie to me. In fact, I’m beginning to believe you don’t love me after all,’ she teased.

  ‘Of course I love you. Now you’re being silly,’ he said sternly. ‘I’ve a good mind to take you across my knee and give you a good spanking when I see you.’ Even as he spoke, he had no idea where such an idea came from. Was this the other Zak coming out in him yet again?

  ‘You are naughty, Zak. You’re making me come out in goose bumps just thinking about it.’

  Zachary cleared his throat and tried to swallow; his mouth had suddenly gone dry. ‘Right, that’s done it,’ he said, ‘the Shelby it is. Could you book us a room, Jeannie? It’s getting a bit late so if they’re full just pick somewhere else. I don’t mind where. I’ll give you a ring back in about ten minutes to confirm the arrangement, OK?’

  As luck would have it, the Shelby was not full and Jean managed to book a room for the night without difficulty. She guessed it would take at least an hour to get there so Zachary agreed to go on ahead and check in. From a borrowed telephone directory he found the address of the Shelby. Then, while he made his way to the hotel, Jeannie took a quick shower and under a formal, dark suit she dressed in her sexiest underwear. Making sure no one was watching or waiting outside her house, she set off. She caught a tram straight away and because there were relatively few passengers on board, she managed to examine each face to make sure they had no interest either in her or her husband. She recognized no one and fifteen minutes later she alighted at East Croydon station, which was when Leo spotted her.

  He had completed his training session twenty minutes earlier and still felt physically drained. At the precise moment he saw her he was resting his massive frame against a centrally placed, automatic ticket dispenser. He had a clear view of everyone arriving by train but was out of sight of new arrivals wanting to catch a train. Although wonderfully effective in the way it hid him from Jeannie, his choice of position was entirely accidental.

  This was unfortunate for Jeannie who, even though she gave the main concourse a careful examination when she first arrived, she failed to spot Leo. He, on the other hand, had no difficulty identifying her the minute he spotted her shapely rear at the ticket kiosk. Jeannie was the sort of woman men tended to remember and Leo had not been slow to recognise her charms when he and Bill Hancock had gone to visit her shortly after her husband went missing. Now, as he stood watching her, not for the first time did he wonder what a woman like that could see in a fat slob like Storie.

  Leo adjusted his position behind the ticket booth in case Jean should turn and see him after she purchased her ticket and continued to watch as she went down the ramp towards platform 1, the platform serving trains to Victoria. He was taking a chance, but he reckoned that as Storie had bought a Victoria return ticket earlier in the evening, there was a good chance his wife was going somewhere to meet up with him. On an impulse, he decided to follow her. After buying his ticket, he hurried down the ramp after her. She had moved further along the platform to where the front of any arriving train would stop and Leo hovered about at the bottom of the ramp, where the end of the train was expected. Nor did the pair have long to wait before a train arrived.

  He followed discretely behind when the train arrived at Victoria Station twenty minutes later and spotted her as she went down the stairs leading to the Underground. He almost lost her when she bought a ticket and disappeared down the passageway leading towards the Circle and District Lines but luck again was on his side when he guessed correctly which direction she had selected. When he reached the platform, she was standing with her back to him just a short way ahead. The train, when it arrived, was fairly empty and he went into the coach immediately next to the one Jeannie entered. He then positioned himself where he could keep her in view, and waited.

  She didn’t travel far, getting out at Hammersmith five stops further on, and for such a big, somewhat stupid man, Leo used considerable guile so Jeannie never once saw him. He was even in luck when she hopped into a cab outside the station; another one was waiting free immediately behind. At last he was able to tell his driver to ‘follow that cab’. His driver maintained a discrete distance behind Jeannie’s taxi and he was at the end of Talgarth Road when she went into the Shelby Hotel, which was right next to the famous flyover. He paid his driver, waited ten minutes and then went in.

  ‘Have you got someone called Storie staying here?’ he said.

  And that was when his luck ran out. The receptionist, a middle-aged woman called Annie Miller, who had been round the block a few times herself, was not about to be browbeaten by any young thug who happened to come into her hotel. In fact, she took an instant dislike to Leo and was not prepared to be at all helpful. As it happened, Jeannie had booked in under an assumed name so Annie could, quite truthfully, say ‘no’. Even when Leo persisted, wanting to know the name of the woman who had come in a few minutes earlier, Annie refused to help him.

  ‘I’m sorry, sir, but that sort of information is strictly confidential.’ She tried hard to keep the satisfaction from her voice. She even refused to be tempted when Leo waved a five-pound note under her nose. She was of the old school who thought more of her principles than she did of money and, quite frankly, she was insulted by Leo’s miserable attempt to bribe her.

  ‘Can I use your telephone then?’ he said.

  Once again Annie was delighted to be able to refuse. ‘I’m sorry, sir, the telephone is reserved strictly for the use of staff and guests; however, I believe there’s a public phone on the corner with the Fulham Palace Road,’ she said helpfully.

  Leo glowered at her and went out. Annie was left looking after his disappearing back. He really did look the complete thug, she thought. She then wondered what he wanted with the friendly lady who had booked in minutes earlier. Nothing good, she finally decided. Turning to her computer, she checked the room number Jeannie was staying in and was on the point of ringing to warn her that someone had come in asking after her when she stopped and smiled. She was woman enough to know that Jeannie and the man she was meeting would not want to be disturbed for a while. In any case, neither she nor the lady in room 206 were going anywhere for the next few hours. There was plenty of time to warn her about that awful thug.

  Up in room 206, Zachary had been waiting for Jeannie to arrive with a mixture of anticipation and concern. He now had serious misgivings about being able to get away with his deception even for a minute. Nor was the Shelby the sort of hotel he would have chosen in his past life. For a start, it was far too close to a busy flyover and who knew what contaminants there might be in the air. When he had pulled back the curtains earlier to find out what sort of view the room afforded, a never-ending stream of traffic passing at eye level confronted him. The double-glazing worked well but nothing could completely eliminate the steady roar of the nearby traffic. That said, the room was large, airy and cheerful. Nervous and quite unable to settle, he paced about exploring.

  After calling Jeannie back to confirm the arrangements, he had given Olivera a ring to let her know that he would not be returning that night but that she could expect him the following day. He then caught the
tube to Hammersmith. Unlike Jeannie who followed on an hour later, he walked from Hammersmith Broadway to the hotel. Even so, he still had some time to wait. He made a coffee from the makings provided by the management and eventually settled into the room’s solitary armchair

  He wondered what his wife would make of him and what he would make of her. How different would she find him and how different would she be in comparison with Jen? He tried to rehearse some introductory lines but they seemed so contrived he eventually abandoned the idea. He would simply wing it and hope for the best. He’d been under a tremendous strain, so if Jeannie detected any changes in him, surely that was to be expected. It was nearly ten o’clock when he heard a discrete knock on the door. With a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach and hardly able to breath, he opened the door.

  Without wasting a single second, Jeannie flung herself into his arms, knocking him backwards with her enthusiasm. She kissed him hungrily and he tried to respond in kind. Finally, disengaging himself, he pushed the door closed behind her while she plied him with a never-ending succession of questions. She was like a breath of fresh air. She possessed none of the sophistication or poise of Jen, and close to he could see that she was even younger than he had imagined. She was vivacious, completely natural and she positively oozed sex appeal. As Leo had wondered earlier in the evening, Zachary now wondered how his other self had ever managed to capture, let alone hold on to, such a woman.