The Rubber Woman

by Lindsay Ashford

  She took a deep breath and tried to put it out of her mind. It wasn’t as if she and Jonathan were serious or anything. They’d spent a couple of weekends together, that was all. So what if he had other girlfriends – did it really matter?

  The churning in her stomach made her realise that, yes, it did. She’d been hurt too much in the past to allow it to happen again. If Jonathan was playing around she would drop him like a hot brick. Better to be alone than to be messed about like that.

  She noticed with a shock that she’d driven past the entrance to the industrial estate. She’d come halfway across Cardiff without watching where she was going. There was a layby up ahead and she pulled in and turned round. A few minutes later she was there.

  The car park looked very different from last night. There was black and yellow police tape all round it and a man in uniform standing guard at the entrance. As Megan slowed down she spotted just one car parked inside the fence. It was Pauline’s.

  Her heart began to hammer in her chest again. What was Pauline’s car doing there? Parked in exactly the same spot it had been in last night when they waved goodbye?

  Megan pulled in at the side of the road and as she climbed out of the car she caught sight of a face she knew. It was Kelly Jebb, one of the two blonde sisters she and Pauline had spoken to last night.

  Kelly was carrying a bunch of supermarket flowers in her hand. She laid them down at the entrance to the car park. Megan half-walked, half-ran towards her. My God, she thought, is it her sister who’s been murdered? Is that what BJ did after throwing the calling card at Pauline?

  ‘Kelly,’ she gasped, tugging at the woman’s arm. ‘Who is it? Who was killed?’

  Kelly turned to her. Her eyes were glassy with tears and there was a frown line between her eyebrows. ‘You don’t know?’ Her voice was a whisper.

  Megan shook her head, panic rising in her chest. ‘I tried Pauline but she hasn’t called back – that’s her car, isn’t it? Do you know where she is?’

  ‘She’s dead.’ The words hung in the air like gun smoke.

  ‘Dead?’ Megan took a step back, shaking her head. ‘But she can’t be! That’s her car – she was in it when I saw her last night. She was on her way home…’

  ‘Well, she never got there.’ Kelly bit her lip to stop it trembling. ‘They found her in that alley.’ She jerked her head to the far side of the car park. Megan could just see a gap in the walls with what looked like a black dustbin liner propped against one side of it. As she stared a man in white forensic overalls came out. He was carrying something in a clear plastic bag.

  Kelly rolled her eyes at the sight of him. ‘Haven’t got a bloody clue, that lot. I asked ’em when they were all here, holding people back while they took her body away. “Have you got the bastard, then?” I says.’ She blinked tears from her eyes. ‘Course they bloody haven't!’

  Megan was watching the man in the white suit but not seeing. She was playing back the scene from last night in her mind’s eye. That last view of Pauline waving at her from the car. Cora McBride in the passenger seat. Cora McBride.

  ‘She was with someone when I left her.’ Megan felt a trickle of sweat run down the back of her neck as she told Kelly about the woman Pauline had offered a lift to. ‘She was off her face. Couldn’t even walk down the street without help. You don’t think she could have…’

  Kelly shook her head. ‘Not Cora. She’s a total piss-head, but she wouldn’t hurt a fly.’

  ‘No, I didn’t mean that.’ Megan was breathing fast. ‘She must have seen something, mustn’t she? Where is she now? How did she get home? Do you know where she lives?’

  Kelly nodded. ‘She dosses down in an old shed behind the scrap yard.’ She pointed to the opposite end of the industrial estate, where the tip of a pile of rusting cars could be seen above the roofline of the factories.

  ‘Can you take me? We can go in my car.’

  Kelly glanced up and down the street. It was a furtive look, as if she was afraid of being seen. ‘Okay – but I haven’t got long. I’ve got to pick my little girl up from school at half past three.’

  As they drove Megan was thinking of the car that had pulled up last night outside the greasy spoon café. Should she tell Kelly that her sister’s pimp had been one of the last people to see Pauline alive? Would she still be willing to help if she thought her sister might be dragged into a murder enquiry?

  She glanced at Kelly out of the corner of her eye. No, she thought, best to keep quiet for now. Wait and see what Cora McBride has to say.

  There was a vicious-looking German Shepherd dog guarding the gates of the scrap metal yard. Kelly told Megan to pull in a few yards further up the road. ‘We’ll have to get round the back this way,’ she said, pointing to a narrow path with straggling privet bushes growing each side of it.

  As they picked their way through mud, broken bottles and rusting lager cans they could hear the dog barking frantically on the other side of the fence.

  ‘Do you think anyone can see us?’ Megan asked, stepping sideways to avoid a big pothole full of oily water. She wondered how on earth Cora McBride managed to get down this path at night without doing herself a serious injury.

  Kelly shook her head. ‘The bushes are too high. Don’t worry about the mutt – he barks at anything that moves. They won’t take no notice.’

  The first sign of the shed was a wooden door lying on the ground a few yards ahead of them. It looked as if it had been thrown down as something to step on to avoid the worst of the mud. The shed itself was so overgrown with ivy it was hard to tell there was a building there at all.

  As they got nearer Megan could see that the only window had been smashed and plastic bags had been stuffed between the broken shards of glass. Fish and chip papers and cans of Special Brew lay in a heap outside the door, which hung at a crazy angle, as if it was about to fall off its hinges. Megan took a step closer and put out her hand to knock.

  ‘No point doing that!’ Kelly edged round her, careful not to step into the mud. She lifted the metal latch and pushed it open. The smell made them both put their hands to their mouths.

  Inside it was so dark it was difficult to see if there was anyone there. As Megan’s eyes got used to it, she could make out a bundle of something on the floor, against the wall. She and Kelly stood stock still, listening. ‘Snoring?’ Megan turned to Kelly for a sign that she wasn’t mistaken.

  Kelly nodded. From somewhere under the bundle of rags on the floor a faint rumble was coming. She leaned forward, glancing at the fingers of her right hand as if steeling herself to touch the evil-smelling bundle.

  ‘Do you want me to?’ Megan squeezed past her. It wasn’t fair to make poor Kelly deal with this. She was the one who had insisted on coming here. And she had come across far worse sights and smells in the mortuary in Birmingham.

  ‘Cora!’ Megan bent down and shook what looked like the shape of a shoulder. She felt the warmth of flesh beneath the rough blanket. It moved under her hand but there was no sound, other than the gentle snoring.

  ‘Cora, time to wake up!’ She pulled the blanket away and saw that it was the woman’s leg she had been shaking. She recognised the stained skirt from last night. Megan wondered if Cora had any other clothes. She glanced around the gloomy shed. There was no furniture. Apart from a couple of unopened lager cans and a half empty whisky bottle there was nothing at all apart from the woman and the tatty blanket she was wrapped in.

  ‘Cora!’ She was almost shouting now. There was a grunt and a couple of slurred words that Megan couldn’t make out.

  A pair of bloodshot eyes opened and Cora McBride raised herself on one elbow. ‘Who the hell are you?’ she snarled, the Scottish accent thickened by her hangover.

  ‘I’m Pauline’s friend.’ Megan tried to help her sit up, but Cora shrugged her off. ‘Remember last night?’ she coaxed. ‘Pauline was giving you a lift home.’

  ‘Nah!’ Cora shook her head violently. ‘She bloody didna! Shanks’ bloody
pony got me back last night!’

  Megan glanced at Kelly, who shrugged her shoulders.

  ‘Wassamarra?’ Cora rose slightly and slumped her back against the wall of the shed. She eyed Kelly suspiciously. ‘What’s she doin’ here?’

  ‘Cora,’ Megan said, ‘we’re trying to find Pauline. We’re worried about her. What happened last night, after you got in her car? Can you remember?’

  Cora scratched her head. ‘She went off somewhere…I dunno…’

  ‘Went off?’

  ‘Yeah. Left me in the friggin’ car, all on ma tod.’

  Megan frowned. ‘Why did she do that?’

  ‘How the hell should ah know!’ Cora threw up her hands, almost falling sideways onto the floor.

  ‘Did she go with someone? Did someone come to the car?’ Megan could see Kelly’s face out of the corner of her eye. Her lips were moving but no sound was coming out, as if she was prompting Cora, willing her to say more.

  ‘Her mobile.’ Cora nodded, her whole upper body swaying back and forth with the movement. ‘Tha’s what it war! The mobile goes and out she goes.’

  At that moment a shrill sound rang out, making Megan jump. It was her own mobile. Her hand fumbled in her pocket. ‘Hello?’

  ‘Dr Rhys?’

  She recognised the voice but couldn’t place it.

  ‘Sergeant Mullen. Vice. We met last night, remember? I’d like to ask you a few questions…’

  ‘About Pauline Barrow?’ Megan could feel her throat go tight as she said her name.

  ‘I think it’s highly likely that you were the last person to see her alive.’ His tone was smug, with no trace of sympathy.

  ‘No, I wasn’t actually.’ She almost spat out the words. ‘In fact, I’ve just been speaking to the last person who saw her. It seems Pauline got a call on her mobile just before she disappeared.’ There was a pause while she let this news sink in. ‘I presume you’re checking that out?’

  There was silence at the other end.

  ‘Not possible, I’m afraid,’ Mullen said at last. ‘There was no mobile in the handbag we found beside the body. Whoever killed her must have taken it.’

  Chapter Seven

  Megan stood in the doorway of the shed, one foot on the muddy ground. ‘We shouldn’t leave her like this,’ she whispered to Kelly.

  ‘She won’t go anywhere else.’ Kelly shrugged. ‘Pauline tried loads of times – got her a place in a hostel, but she wouldn’t take it.’

  ‘Piss off now, the pair of ye!’ Cora’s voice boomed from the darkness. They heard her body shuffling onto the floor, heard a muffled curse as she pulled the blanket back over her head. A few seconds later she was snoring again.

  ‘Come on.’ Megan glanced at Kelly. ‘I’ll take you back.’

  Leaving Cora McBride felt like a betrayal. Megan made a silent promise to come back. She would try to do what Pauline would have wanted. But first she had to find Pauline’s killer.

  As they picked their way back up the path she thought about Sergeant Mullen. He’d said he still wanted to talk to her, but he could wait a bit longer for his interview. She needed to ask Kelly some questions. Find out what had gone on last night between her sister and that pimp. ‘Tell you what,’ she said as Kelly climbed into the car, ‘when you’ve picked your daughter up from school I’ll run you both home.’

  Kelly looked at her. ‘It’s okay – you don’t have to do that.’

  ‘Oh, it’s no trouble.’ Megan wasn’t going to take no for an answer. ‘It’s the least I can do after taking you so far out of your way.’

  ‘Okay. Thanks.’ Kelly flashed her a tight smile. It was clear she wasn’t sure of her. Perhaps she guessed that Megan’s real reason for giving her a lift home was to check up on her sister. But if she did suspect, she didn’t say anything. She kept quiet for the whole journey to the school, only opening her mouth to say ‘right’ or ‘left’.

  When they reached the gates Kelly jumped out. A pretty little girl of about six or seven ran up to her. She had pale brown skin and wore a pink summer dress, her black hair caught up in silver slides.

  Kelly climbed into the back of the car with her. ‘This lady’s giving us a lift home,’ was all she said by way of an introduction.

  The child sat as quiet as a mouse as her mother directed Megan to a council estate a few streets from the school. The houses were all painted a yellow-brown colour that made Megan think of the nicotine stains on Pauline Barrow’s fingers. The plaster on the walls was crumbling in places and the gardens were full of litter. They pulled in by a house with an old double bed lying upside down on the patch of lawn, its springs sticking out at crazy angles.

  ‘It’s not that one,’ Kelly said, her mane of blonde hair flying out as she jerked her head. ‘It’s the next one along.’

  Megan inched the car further along the kerb. The garden of number sixty-eight looked tidier than the ones on either side, but the front door had a panel missing. Someone had taped a piece of cardboard over the hole.

  ‘BJ did that last night, didn’t he, Mam?’ the little girl piped up.

  Megan could see her face in the rear view mirror. Her small nose was wrinkled in a frown.

  ‘He’s a naughty boy, isn’t he?’ She jumped out of the car before her mother could answer, ran up the path and rang the doorbell.

  Kelly was still in the car. Megan could see her in the mirror now, her lips parting and closing as if she couldn’t make up her mind what to say.

  From the corner of her eye Megan saw the front door open. She turned her head and caught sight of Tracy Jebb. The woman was only there for a split second but it was long enough for Megan to see the damage that had been done to her.

  Tracy’s face was a mass of purple bruises. Her eyes were so swollen they were nothing more than slits.

  ‘My God!’ Megan turned in her seat so she was facing Kelly. ‘What happened here last night?’

  Kelly didn’t answer. She was staring at the seat in front of her.

  ‘Kelly, please,’ Megan coaxed. ‘I know BJ found the card Pauline gave to Tracy…’ She let the words hang in the air. Kelly must know that BJ was a prime suspect for Pauline’s murder. Why would she cover for him? Why would she want to let him get away with doing that to her sister?

  ‘He’s threatened you, hasn’t he?’ Megan’s voice was almost a whisper. She held her breath, watching Kelly’s face. The girl nodded, a quick movement that was more like a twitch, as if she was afraid of someone in the street seeing her.

  ‘What did he say?’

  Kelly’s eyes darted left and right before she opened her mouth. ‘He said he’d take Shanice.’

  ‘Shanice?’

  ‘That’s his daughter by Tracy.’ Kelly bit her lip. ‘I came downstairs when he was hitting her. I was…so scared. I just stood there, hiding behind the door. I wanted to scream at him to stop doing that to Tracy but I knew that if I did he’d start on me.’ A deep flush spread up her neck to her face. ‘He saw me when he was leaving. He grabbed me by the hair and shoved me up against the wall.’ Her voice was shaking and Megan could see tears welling in her eyes. ‘That’s when he said it.’

  ‘Kelly, we have to go to the police.’

  ‘No!’ Kelly grabbed her bag and reached for the handle of the door. ‘I’ve already said too much!’

  ‘But they’ll help you.’ Megan caught her arm, her eyes pleading. ‘If you let him get away with it he’ll carry on doing it.’

  Kelly was pulling away, the door half-open now.

  ‘What if he’s the one who murdered Pauline?’ Megan hissed. ‘How long before he does the same to Tracy? Or to you, Kelly?’

  Kelly paused, one leg out of the car. Again she glanced this way and that, like a nervous bird watching for a cat. ‘The police?’ she hissed back. ‘You really think they give a stuff?’ She tossed her head as she turned to look Megan in the eye. ‘Oh, they say all those things, like they’re going to put you in a safe house, give you protection and all that…’ S
he tailed off, her mouth turning down at the edges in a look of disgust.

  ‘Kelly, I’ll bloody well make them if I have to!’

  The women looked at each other. Megan’s eyes were blazing. Kelly’s were narrow with anger and glassy with unshed tears.

  ‘Please do this,’ Megan whispered. ‘Think of your daughter. Do you really want her growing up in a house where this sort of thing goes on night after night?’

  For a second Kelly hesitated. Then, in one swift movement, she jumped out of the car. ‘I’m sorry,’ she called over her shoulder. ‘I can’t do it. I just can’t.’

  She slammed the door behind her. Megan watched her disappear through the broken front door. She sat for a moment, wondering whether to follow. Perhaps she could persuade Tracy to go to the police instead. Instinct told her it would be a waste of time. Of the two sisters Kelly was the brave one, and if she was afraid of dishing the dirt on BJ…

  Megan turned the key in the ignition. There was nothing for it. She was going to have to go to Sergeant Mullen and tell him everything she knew. Tell him about BJ throwing the card at Pauline and about the beating he’d given Tracy.

  Even if he wasn’t Pauline’s killer they ought to arrest him for GBH on Tracy. What was it Pauline had said about Mullen? Doesn’t give a toss what the pimps’ll do to them if they find out who’s dropped them in it. Well, this was going to be his wake-up call. If he wouldn’t lock BJ up, she’d go over his head. Make someone listen.

  She pulled an A–Z of Cardiff out of the glove compartment and flicked over the pages, working out the best route to the police station. It was coming up to rush hour and she didn’t want to get stuck in traffic.

  A couple of minutes later she was on her way, driving slowly and concentrating on the names of the streets. Some were hard to read. They were covered in graffiti and one had had a pot of blue paint thrown all over it.