‘What did he say?’ demanded Barry.
‘Oh, he just said that this sometimes happens to ladies in early pregnancy and there’s not much he can do.’
‘But he’s the doctor! He should do something and where do you think you’re going?’
‘He said to call back in two weeks if nothing changes and I’m late for work so I’m going to get the earliest possible train. Can you give me a lift to the station as there’s no way that I’ll find a parking space, now.’
‘Shouldn’t you get some rest?’
‘No, I feel okay. I’ll get the eleven forty-five train if we hurry.’
Barry drove her to the station and returned home, constantly thinking about whether a friend he’d had for twenty years could betray him. He knew that Nick was jealous of where he and Shu had moved to and that he liked to boast of how he was always getting pay rises for the very small effort he put into his work, but this would be the murder of an unborn child! Surely he wouldn’t take money for such a deed! But, then again, he knew that Madeline wanted more money by the way she had joined the dole queue for unemployment benefit after having her second baby. She had never accepted a job, just the cash. But who could want to bribe them to do this? One name stuck in Barry’s mind - Charles.
Three weeks passed.
‘How’s the bleeding, now?’ asked Barry.
‘It’s almost stopped. There you are. I told you that the doctor knew what he was talking about. He knows best.’
Shu was pleased that her way had proved the correct one and Barry tried to convince himself that it was a natural phenomenon, but prayed for the child to be unaffected.
That evening, the telephone rang.
‘I’ll get it,’ said Barry, as usual.
‘Hello, its Madeline here. How are you, Barry? All Barry’s senses went into alert.
‘Oh, hello, Madeline. I’m very well. And how are you?’
‘Just the same as normal, you know - coping. And how’s Shu? Is she still well?’
This was odd. First, the very unusual call from Madeline - the first time she had ever called them - and then the interest in Shu, for no apparent reason.
‘Yes, thank you, she’s very well. Just can’t wait for the baby.’ Barry was trying to rub it in about how well Shu was. There was silence.
‘Oh, good, good. Err... um, and how’s your business going? Got any big, new clients, yet?’
‘No, the business is ticking over, nicely, thank you.’
‘Right, well, it was nice speaking to you. See you soon.’
Madeline put the phone down leaving Barry with more certainty about his theories than before.
It just so happened that Nick’s parents lived close to Shu and Barry and a week after Shu’s bleeding had cleared up, they received a call and were invited to tea. Barry had always liked the couple and didn’t hesitate in accepting the invitation. Shu was pleased to be going to show off her daughter so they went down on the next Saturday afternoon.
‘Isn’t she a lovely girl?’ said Viv, Nick’s mother. ‘And so quiet.’ My grandsons are never this good!’
‘Yes, she does take a little time to get used to new people and places before she opens up,’ said Barry.
‘Sit down, and I’ll get some tea and cakes.’ Viv bustled out of the lounge into the kitchen and her husband made an excuse and went out of the room to finish some work he was doing, leaving the family alone.
Barry was quiet and Shu played with Sara. The minutes ticked by and Barry began to wonder why Viv was taking so long to get the tea. He remembered what he had thought her son had done and was toying with the idea of getting up and rushing into the kitchen to try and catch her, red-handed, when he heard her coming back.
She came in carrying a tray which had four cups of tea and a plate of biscuits on it. As she put the tray down, Barry noticed that two cups had spoons on their saucers and two didn’t. In a flash, Barry saw that he and Shu were meant to take the cups with the spoons.
‘Thanks very much,’ said Barry, and he picked up the cups without spoons.
‘Oh, don’t you take sugar?’ asked George, Viv’s husband.
‘No, we’re on a diet,’ smiled Barry, pleased to have thwarted any attempt that could be made to poison them. ‘Sara will like these cakes.’
They chatted on and soon George, with a look of disgust on his face, said, ‘Now look at this. My tea’s gone cold. Go and get us another cup, dear.’
Barry noticed that be had hardly drunk any of the tea. ‘You would like some more, wouldn’t you, Shu?’ Barry butted in.
‘No, I’ve had enough. You don’t want any do you Shu?’
‘Yes, please, I will have some more’ said Shu, looking at George and ignoring Barry.
‘We must be off soon, darling,’ said Barry, not wanting her to touch any of the foul brew.
‘Yes, all right! After the tea,’ Shu was adamant. Another part of her character was surfacing - never to refuse anything offered to her and seem rude, but to accept and repay when she could.
Viv was a long time making the tea again but Barry could hardly rush out as George kept them talking. When she came back, she gave the tray to George who passed the cups with the spoons to Shu and Barry.
‘Oh, I didn’t really want one,’ exclaimed Barry.
‘Never mind,’ said Shu. ‘Just drink it.’
‘That’s better,’ sighed George. What are you doing this evening? Are you going out anywhere?
‘No, no. With a young child in the house, we stay in a lot,’ said Barry.
‘Can’t you find babysitters? If we were closer, we would help you,’ promised George.
Fat chance, thought Barry.
We’re off to the coast, this evening, to do a bit of gambling’ said George.
Barry knew that the coast was a favourite haunt of Charles’ where he indulged in his great pleasure of gambling and where he was successful, he said.
‘Oh, really, and why are you going there?’ asked Barry, hoping for a little crack to appear.
‘Oh, well, err, we’re going to see some old friends who live near there and have a game of cards with them.’ George realised that he’d made a blunder so he tried to make up for his error by stating that he was not actually going into any town in particular, just to the coast.
Barry’s thoughts were racing. Maybe George was so well in with Charles that he was going on trips to gambling joints and claiming his reward then. It certainly would be an easier way of payment rather than with cash or cheques.
Barry decided that it was time to leave.
‘We’d better get Sara home for tea, now,’ he said, trying to get Shu out before she had finished her cup of tea.
‘Wait a minute, Barry,’ pleaded Shu.
‘No, come on. We don’t want these people to be late.’ And with that, he started putting Sara’s coat on. It was a good enough reason for Shu so she left half of her tea and got ready to leave.
‘Thanks for the tea. See you soon,’ said Barry and they were gone.
On the way home, Shu was a little indignant.
‘You rushed out quickly. It was a bit rude, don’t you think?’
‘No, it was okay. They were going out, anyway.’
He left it at that and Shu didn’t make any more remarks. She just sat and brooded.
The next day, Barry’s fears were confirmed.
‘Barry. I’m bleeding again!’ Shu was examining her knickers, looking at the small patch of blood. ‘But it’s not as bad as last time, yet.’
‘Don’t you see a pattern? You drank two cups of tea at Nick’s and you bled a lot. You drank one cup of tea at his parents and, again, you are bleeding. I think that they put something in your drink to affect your baby!’
‘Oh, don’t be
stupid! Why would they want to harm me?’
‘One word explains it - money.’
‘I’m getting worried about you. First you don’t trust Charles, then it’s your old friend from your school days...’
‘But, don’t you see how the pattern fits? Charles seems to have the characteristics of a psychopath. He will do absolutely anything to further his ideas, he has no morality, he lies and he uses other people. Nick and his parents may have allowed themselves to be used - for money.’
‘I’m not listening. I don’t want to hear another word. If you believe it, that’s up to you, but I don’t.’
Shu slammed out of the house, got into her car and went to work. Barry was left considering the fact that his wife thought that he was either stupid or mad and still did not believe a word he said. He spent the whole day trying to figure out what he should do, but, as usual, he came to the same conclusion - carry on. Wait until Charles made a mistake or until he had proof himself.
Chapter Fifteen
Shu’s bleeding stopped much quicker than the last time, due, Barry thought, to the lesser amount of poison that she had drunk. Barry made a solemn promise to himself that he would never contact or see either couple again unless it could bring results as to where the poison had originated.
It was November before Madeline rang again.
‘Hello, Barry,’ she said, brightly. ‘How are you and Shu?’
‘Oh, we’re both very well. Shu has had a scan and the baby’s looking healthy - kicking like a good ‘un,’ Barry was rubbing in the health bit again to see what result it had.
‘Really? Err... good. Say, you remember that party Nick’s mum had, the Christmas before last? She’s going to have another do this year and they would dearly love to see Sara again. Do say you’ll come.’
Barry could read her like a book. He was sure that they only wanted them there so that they could poison Shu again - and do the job properly this time.
‘I’ll have to ask Shu, but we should be able to come. It all depends on how she feels at the time, you know, pregnancies and all.’
‘Yes, but I’m sure she’ll be all-right. She’ll be halfway through it by then, won’t she? Yes, no problem. So, we’ll see you at the party?’
‘I should think so.’
‘Okay, bye.’
Barry replaced the receiver, softly, wondering how to play things.
‘Who was that?’ called Shu.
‘Oh, just Madeline asking after you.’ Barry was not even going to mention the party to Shu. He knew that she’d want to go and that could make for an unpleasant Christmas when he refused to let her go.
This was happening all too often for Barry’s liking. He thought back and remembered the number of times he had been poisoned. There was the two and a half years at Triton’s, Dongmei, the milk, his friend and his friend’s parents.
He could now see that Charles would never stop using people to get at Barry, but why? Maybe it was because psychopaths never stop trying to get more or better for themselves, but for Charles to use all these people would take a vast amount of money. And what was his final goal? Was it to try to gain access to Barry’s children? If so, then why was he trying to kill the unborn child in Shu’s womb? Or was his aim to hurt Barry by trying to prevent another birth? Did he think that the family would blame him if Shu was able to have a pregnancy free of any trouble after so long a wait the first time - when Barry was at his company? Maybe he was trying to make Barry look ridiculous by alleging that everyone was trying to poison him, which could result in the break-up of his marriage? That would really please him because he could then see Shu and Sara without Barry getting in the way. Perhaps he held a grudge against Barry for leaving his company and taking his clients?
The thoughts were spinning around in Barry’s head. What he needed was professional help so he decided to contact some private investigators whom he hoped could suggest a course of action that would catch Charles or one of his co-conspirators. But what about the cost? Surely Shu would notice any large amounts disappearing from Barry’s bank, and would he achieve anything? Was his reputation worth it? But, then, if Charles was trying to harm the unborn child, stopping him was worth more than money.
Barry contacted some firms he found in the telephone directory and he decided to be more than just careful. He presumed that if Charles was intent upon this persecution, then he would want to keep a check on Barry - whom he saw and whom he spoke to. If he did have a large amount of money to spare, then nothing could be ruled out and this included a telephone tap or bug or even, somehow, using a neighbour of Barry’s to keep an eye on him.
This meant that Barry had to use an outside telephone for all the calls he made concerning this affair, to keep security tight. He then made a list of names and telephone numbers of the local private detectives and he also included a firm that had the largest advertisement in the directory hoping that it could help him if all else failed.
He went out and bought two phone cards and went to the telephone booth.
‘Hello, can I help you?’ came the polite reply from the first call.
‘I hope so. I’m looking for an agency that will do some investigative work for me.’
‘Are you a company or a private individual, sir?’
‘I’m a private individual, why?’
‘Well, we’re very busy at the moment. I’m afraid I can’t help.’
The line went dead so Barry tried number two on his list.
‘Sorry, Sir, but we deal mainly with marital disputes’
The agency with the largest advertisement must be able to help.
‘Yes, Sir, perhaps you can come in and see us, say tomorrow?’ Barry had made a start.
The following day, Barry went into town to the offices of the agency. He sat down in a small office with the investigator, who sat behind his desk. Barry poured out the whole story to him, hoping that all the details would convince the man to do some work for him.
‘No, I’m sorry but this is not a field we normally cover. You will need a witness or a confession or some other tangible proof before we can act,’ said the man, in a matter-of-fact sort of way.
‘If I had that, then I would go to the police,’ exclaimed Barry, angry that the man should turn him down so quickly.
‘I’m sorry, but we can’t help you.’
That was that. So much for the firm’s advertisement. Barry left, but he still wasn’t finished. He made another list of local investigators and went through the same process of calling them from an outside phone box.
He reached the last firm on the list and, by then, was at the end of his tether.
‘Hello,’ said husky voice at the other end of the telephone. ‘Can I help?’
‘I wish someone would, I’m trying to find an investigation agency that will do some work for me.’ Barry was getting frantic.
‘What do you want done?’ The voice became sharp and to the point.
‘I need someone to stop an enemy of mine from hurting me and my family.’
‘Can’t the police do that?’
‘It’s not that simple. I’m up against a cunning, ruthless, clever man whom everyone believes is a saint.’
‘Yes, I know the type.’
The voice made the speaker sound intelligent and suspicious - the type of person Barry thought could be of tremendous help to him, if he would do the work.
‘I think it would be best if you came to see me rather than talk on the telephone. You never know whose listening.’
They arranged to meet on the next Tuesday, at 8 p.m. Barry had had so many let-downs, so he was not putting too much hope on the outcome of the meeting, but he was going, just in case something worked for once.
The time arrived and he made an excuse to Shu that he was off to the pub with a friend. He drove t
o the private detective’s house and knocked on the door.
‘Come in and go into the study,’ instructed a tall man, aged in his mid-thirties. ‘Now, tell me the problem.’
Again, Barry told the complete story from beginning to end, leaving nothing to guesswork. The detective, Mr Trimson, took notes of all that was said, which made Barry feel more confident that he was getting somewhere at last.
‘And that’s where it has ended up. I told Madeline that I might be going to the party but I am not taking my wife!’
‘Hmm, I see. I’ll have to think about that,’ said Trimson. He perused his notes. ‘This man has got to he stopped. If he’s harming you, he won’t stop there and will harm others sooner or later, but this is a very difficult and expensive area - poisoning with little visible effect. I need some other evidence so that I can go to the police. What is he using for the ‘poison’, do you think?’
‘I have no idea’ said Barry. ‘I was hoping that you would have some knowledge in this area.’
‘Well, there are many different substances - or medicines - that could be used. Has he, or his family, ever had any serious diseases?’
‘Oh, well, let me have a think,’ said Barry, his slow brain struggling to imagine the things that could be involved. ‘He did suffer from cancer, a while ago, but he had all the treatments going and he got better.’
‘That is very interesting!’ exclaimed Trimson. ‘Did you know that treatment for cancer can cause infertility in both men and women.’
‘That’s it! He is dosing me with medicines that he used for his cancer! But how can we catch him? I have tried with the evidence that I thought would help and look where I got!’
‘Yes, well, the police may trust me a bit more. I have been a policeman and I still have contacts in the force. Do you think that anyone will break if you question them? I could put a bug on you and tape the conversation.’
‘I don’t think so. I don’t know. Maybe Nick or his mother but no-one else. Even they might be afraid of talking because they have actually committed the crime. They might be scared of prosecution or revenge from Charles.’
Would You Believe Him? Page 21