What Goes Around

by Ann Bloxwich

  John laughed to himself. ‘Between you and me, he asked to work with her again, but he’d never admit that to anyone because it would make him look needy.’

  ‘It must be lonely at the top,’ Alex mused.

  ‘Especially if you tread on people in order to get there,’ John added.

  Alex placed his empty mug on the desk and stood up. His knees cracked loudly, and John raised an eyebrow in sympathy.

  ‘You sound as bad as me, that’s why I don’t spend as much time at the gym as I used to. My joints are just about shot nowadays but I still have a few fans, so I take part in our Christmas Charity Show. This year we raised over £3,000 for Birmingham Children’s Hospital.’

  John indicated the charity tin on the desk opposite and Alex nodded approvingly.

  ‘Right, well, I may come back to you at some point, depending on what we find. But if you find out who provided the security that night, I’d be grateful if you’d give me a ring.’

  ‘No problem.’ John extended his hand and Alex shook it warmly. ‘Let me know if you need anything else.’

  ‘Will do, and thanks for the list.’

  29

  Jayne closed her eyes and sighed heavily as the noise from the bathroom got louder and louder. At first, they’d thought it was Joel’s way of dealing with his frustration at being disabled, but since he’d never known any different she didn’t believe it. She had her own theory, that he could swear all he wanted to his reflection and it wouldn’t tell him off. It was a shame that the only time that Joel’s speech became crystal clear was when he was cursing.

  Jayne peered into the chest freezer, trying to locate a tray of pigs-in-blankets, when the door flew open and banged against the wall, scaring her half to death and causing her to hit her head on the freezer lid.

  ‘Ow! Bloody hell, Joel, you scared the crap out of me!’ She rubbed her head, feeling a lump already beginning to form.

  ‘Sorry. When you go shopping, can you get me some more plastic wallets please? I need two hundred, and I need some more shower gel too.’

  Joel knelt on the floor, watching her intently. Jayne noticed that his glasses frames were bent again, meaning that at some point in the last couple of days, he had tried to destroy them. That meant another trip to the opticians for yet another repair. Joel couldn’t help being heavy-handed but sometimes it was a pain in the backside, especially when she knew that it wasn’t always an accident when things got broken.

  ‘I got you some wallets last week, you can’t have used them all already. You’ll have to wait until we’ve moved now, I’ve got too much to do as it is, and with your Dad having to work I’m having to do most of it myself.’

  Jayne finally spotted the pigs in blankets and pulled them out with a flourish.

  ‘I need the wallets now, I’ve got loads of documents to print off for my family tree,’ Joel said in his drunken-sounding drawl.

  ‘Joel, that’s a lot of paper to print off. Don’t you think it would be safer to keep it in the Cloud? That way there’s no chance of it getting lost.’

  Joel’s face darkened. ‘I’m sorry if you don’t think it’s important, but it is to me. I can’t carry on until I’ve printed the records off.’

  Jayne could see there was a storm brewing behind his eyes. ‘All I’m thinking is that if you wait until after the move, you’ll have a lot more room to spread things out and sort it all out. If you print it off now, it will have to be packed then moved, and it might get mixed up. Uncle Dave’s built you loads of shelves in your new office, so you’ll be able to organise things much more efficiently. You can ask him about it later. Now, I know you don’t like Christmas pudding, so what would you like instead?’

  Joel thought for a moment then grinned at her. ‘That’s true. I’ll wait till we’re in the new house. Can I have apple crumble?’

  Jayne smiled at him. ‘Sure. Now, go and get dressed, you’ll be late for your club.’

  ***

  Dinner was the furthest thing from Alex’s mind at that moment. The interviews were set up for the following day. Gary was busy following up on phone calls, most of which seemed to be hoaxes. Alex could never get his head around the mentality of people who rang in and confessed to a crime they hadn’t committed.

  Dawn and Mo were working their way through the list of potential witnesses from the ladies’ night, although most of them had been so drunk that they either didn’t remember anything or were choosing not to.

  Alex read and re-read the reports until he couldn’t see straight any more. He was sure he was missing something, but he couldn’t put his finger on what it was.

  Craig breezed in, still rubbing his hands together to get the circulation going despite having levelled up two floors.

  ‘Bugger me, it’s nippy out there. I still reckon we’re in for a white Christmas.’

  He shrugged off his black wool overcoat and draped it over the back of the chair in the corner. Pulling out his notebook, he flicked to the right page. ‘I went back to see the bar manager at the Leamore Club,’ he said, still rifling through his notes. ‘Ah, here it is. She said before that Vicky had a bit of an issue with the security man that night. Now her memory has improved, she’s saying that the security guy was slagging Vicky off to the staff later on, saying that she was a little bitch and that given the chance he’d give her a fucking slap. He was furious that she embarrassed him in front of everyone. I’ve tracked him back to see who he works for and he’s one of the Bulldog Promotions security team.’

  ‘That’s interesting. I’ve been to see John Jackson today, and he said that he doesn’t know who did the security,’ Alex replied.

  ‘Do you think he’s lying?’ Craig asked, but Alex shook his head.

  He shrugged. ‘I’ll give him a call.’

  Alex picked up the phone and got the answerphone. He left a message for John to ring him back, then looked at his watch.

  ‘Right, I’m going home. Dave and Carol are coming over for dinner, so we can finalise the details for the move. We’re hoping that we can move in at the end of this week, once Jayne’s happy that everything is where it should be.’ Alex rubbed his face, surprised at how tired he felt. ‘I’ll be glad when we’re in, I can’t remember the last time I slept properly.’

  ‘It’ll be worth it, and hopefully Joel will settle down and behave himself better. Let us know when you want the roleplaying group to meet next. James from the night shift was wanting to join, so I said I’d bring him along. He tends to play a lot of Fallout New Vegas, Knights of the Old Republic and he’s a bit of a Minecraft nut as well.’

  ‘Sounds great, the more the merrier. I’m hoping we can get one final game in before Christmas, but I’ll let you know. By the way, I’ve got tickets for a tribute band for Saturday night if you’re up for it. You and Deb, me and Jayne and Gary and Jo. It’s at the Comedy Club in Bradstock.’

  ‘Sounds great, we’ll be there. See you in the morning, enjoy your dinner.’

  30

  John Jackson smiled to himself as he brewed a fresh pot of coffee. His visitor, Vince Patterson, was due at any time, and John was sure he’d be more than happy to help him with the problem he’d got regarding Ray.

  Vince had been a good friend of Steve’s and had worked closely with him during the setting up of the company. Now he had his own company in Brighton, with an impressive team of his own. Vince only drank filter coffee, and John was eager to impress his old friend, so he’d invested in a fancy machine, which did everything except wash the mugs up afterwards.

  The door flew open and Vince strode in with a huge smile on his handsome face. He was a fan of old-school rock music and tended to favour band T-shirts teamed with faded jeans, leather jackets and clumpy boots. His hair was long and dark, and John swore he was wearing eyeliner just like his hero, Alice Cooper.

  ‘Vinnie boy, how are you doing?’ John greeted his friend with a back-breaking hug, which was returned just as enthusiastically. �
��Looking good, my man. Skinny as ever though.’

  Vince grinned at him, his perfect teeth glowing ultra-white. ‘John boy, how’s it going?’ he replied, not even trying to mask his London accent. He looked around the office and nodded. ‘Very swish. How’s business?’

  Vince sat down while John busied himself with drinks for them both. He pulled out the bottle of Jack Daniels and waited for Vince to nod before pouring a glug into each coffee.

  ‘Why not? It is Christmas, after all.’ He took a drink and nodded his approval. ‘How’s my beautiful girl? Has she realised the error of her ways yet?’

  ‘If you mean my wife, she’s very well and still beautiful.’ John picked up a framed photo and handed it to Vince, who whistled in appreciation. ‘She was only your girl in your dreams, mate. She knows she married the right man, she wouldn’t have put up with you for five minutes.’

  Vince laughed at him again, handing the photo back. ‘True, but then what woman could? Anyway, you said you had a business proposition for me.’

  John put his coffee mug down. ‘It’s more of a favour actually. Ray Diamond is up to his old tricks again and I want to put a stop to it, or at least knock him off his pedestal for a bit.’

  ‘I might have known it would be him. I didn’t know he was still going, I assumed he’d either have been killed by some jealous husband or drank himself to death by now.’

  ‘No such luck. He’s been poaching work off my lads again and he seems to have it in for one lad in particular.’

  Vince sat with a grave expression on his face as John filled him in on Ray’s behaviour towards Adam.

  ‘The lad looks up to him, or he did before all this started. Ray hates the fact that there are younger, more talented acts out there. He’s like Bette Davis in that film where she torments her crippled sister.’

  ‘I can see why you’re upset, I would be, if this were one of my boys. I take it Ray knows the fix Adam is in?’

  ‘He does, that’s what makes it fun to him.’

  Vince got up and helped himself to more coffee. ‘Tell me what you need.’

  ‘I was wondering if you’d consider taking Adam on for a while, in exchange for one of your lads. Preferably one that Ray can’t intimidate.’

  ‘Sure, I’ll take your boy for a while, it’ll be a pleasure. Which one of mine do you want?’

  John didn’t speak, he just grinned from ear to ear. Vince threw his head back and laughed.

  ‘You want my star? You’re a crafty bastard, I see exactly what you’re up to.’ He pulled out his phone and sent a quick text. ‘It’s your lucky day, he’s downstairs in the car.’

  31

  Jayne cast her eyes over the vast array of dishes set out on the kitchen worktop. Given that the next few days would be chaotic, she’d gone all-out and done Christmas dinner, complete with all the trimmings. She didn’t think she’d forgotten anything but, given the way her head felt now, she wouldn’t be surprised. She checked her watch – it was almost 6 p.m. Alex should have been home by now. Cursing him under her breath, she carried the dishes through to the dining room and placed them on the table. Carol and Dave were just pulling up outside as she brought in the wine.

  ‘Hi, come in. Alex isn’t back yet,’ she called out as Carol opened the front door.

  ‘Wow, this looks fabulous!’ Carol said as she took in the food and decorations on the table. ‘Crackers too. You do spoil us.’

  She kissed Jayne on the cheek before pulling out a chair and sitting down.

  ‘Excellent, more for us then,’ Dave’s voice echoed loudly around the room, which was now devoid of everything except for the table and chairs.

  Dave and Alex were like chalk and cheese, although both were tall and stocky, Dave had more muscle due to the amount of manual labour his job demanded. He and his sons had been along earlier to pick up the sideboard, bookshelves and other bits of furniture and take it to the new place. It had seemed easier to do the move one room at a time and Jayne had found it easy with Carol to help her to decide where everything should go. Pictures, ornaments and books would be unpacked in time, but at least the big furniture would be where it should be.

  ‘If he doesn’t get a move on he’ll be getting nothing,’ Jayne replied. ‘I’ve made an apple crumble as well as Christmas pudding, so he’d better be here.’

  ‘Now I’m really hoping he’s not,’ Dave laughed. He put his hand on his generous stomach. ‘I’m a growing lad, I need all the sustenance I can get.’

  Carol raised an eyebrow at Jayne. ‘If he keeps growing like this he’ll need a trailer for his belly.’

  ‘You know you love me just as I am. Where’s my main man?’ Dave asked.

  ‘He’s in his room. Go and get him, will you? We may as well eat before it gets cold. I’ll put Alex a plate of leftovers together if he’s not back by the time we finish eating.’

  Dave wandered off to find Joel and soon returned, carrying his nephew across his broad shoulders. He set him down on his specially adapted chair and took the chair next to him.

  ‘You don’t mind if I sit here, do you mate?’ Dave asked him, a twinkle in his eye. ‘That way I can nick your sprouts when you’re not looking.’

  He winked at Joel, who looked shocked until he realised his uncle was joking.

  ‘Touch my food, feel my fork.’ Joel said, thumping Dave on the shoulder.

  Dave let out a shriek and fell off his chair. He lay on the floor, pretending to cry until Carol threw a cracker at him.

  ‘Get up, you daft twat. You’ll get no pudding if you don’t behave.’

  ‘Sorry Mum, I’ll be good, I promise,’ Dave said in a child-like voice, as he clambered into his seat, causing Joel to burst into a fit of giggles.

  ‘Men,’ Carol said, rolling her eyes at him.

  Dave blew her a kiss and picked up the wine, pouring a glass for each of them apart from Joel, who wanted orange juice. They each helped themselves to food and had just started eating when Alex came in, breathing heavily from rushing so much. He kissed the top of Jayne’s head, ruffled Joel’s hair and sat down.

  ‘I’m so sorry folks, I had to stop for fuel and the queues were ridiculous.’

  He loaded his plate with food and began to eat while Dave brought his brother up to speed in regards to the new bungalow. ‘All the hardwood flooring was being put in today when I left, and the carpet fitter came to take measurements of the bedrooms. He says they can put the carpets down on Saturday morning. I’m waiting on the plasterer doing a skim on the ceiling in Joel’s room now, but that should go ahead tomorrow and be dry by the day after. So, you can officially move in anytime from Sunday morning. What do you reckon, Joel? Shall I organise the move for Christmas Eve? I can drop the big fat bloke a note to tell him where to deliver your presents.’

  Joel laughed, drooling gravy down his shirt. ‘Don’t be stupid! Santa’s not real.’

  Dave’s face took on a look of horror. ‘What do you mean, he’s not real? Who brings my presents then? I think I might cry now! And if he’s fake, who drinks the glass of Scotch I leave out for him every Christmas Eve?’

  ‘That would be me, fat boy,’ Carol said, coming back in with a stack of bowls. ‘It’s the only way I’m going to get a glass of your best whisky.’

  Dave’s eyes grew wide. ‘Infidel!’ he roared, grabbing Carol round the waist and pulling her onto his lap. ‘I demand retribution!’ he said, tickling her.

  ‘Get off me, you big ape! Honestly Joel, do you see what I have to put up with?’

  ‘You two are mad,’ Joel giggled.

  ‘You have to be mate, to live with him,’ Carol said as she climbed off Dave’s lap.

  Alex sipped his wine as Jayne dished out the desserts. For a few moments he allowed himself to forget the case for the first time that week and enjoy some normal family time.

  32

  Des Carter arrived early for his interview the next day. He sat patiently in the reception area, r
eading from a battered paperback. His black and yellow leather jacket lay on the chair next to him, and a black crash helmet sat on top of it. His beloved bike was parked up in the secure car park across the road.

  When his name was called, he grabbed his stuff and followed the young PC through to the interview room, where Les Morris and Mo Ross were waiting for him. They shook hands and Des took a seat, placing his things on the vacant chair beside him.

  ‘Thanks for coming in, Mr Carter.’

  Les opened a brown cardboard file that lay on the desk in front of him.

  ‘I know you’ve already spoken to my colleagues, but we’d like to go over things in a bit more detail if that’s okay. Don’t worry, it’s mainly so we have all the facts, and something may come back to you that you’d forgotten last time.’

  ‘Call me Des. No problem, I’m happy to help. I wasn’t feeling very well when they came to Ray’s house, I had a dodgy stomach.’

  ‘Right then. Let’s start with who was backstage that night.’

  ‘There was me, Chad Nicholls, Si Palmer, Ray Diamond, Michelle Simmons, Neil Stone – also known as Kitty McLane, and Ruby Clarke, who’s Kitty’s dresser. Vicky Wilson was there as well but not for long.’

  ‘We’ll get to her in a minute. What about security people or bar staff?’

  ‘Not all the time. One of the bar staff came to collect some glasses halfway through the night, but they weren’t there very long. If they came back later, it must have been after I’d gone home. The security guy who was watching the stage door popped in at one point to ask if we needed anything. I don’t know who he was, I’d not seen him before. John Jackson might know him. He’s the owner of Bulldog Promotions and it was one of his shows.’