by Paul Charles
‘Hang on, I’m a bit confused here,’ Kennedy cut across the thread. ‘Wilko and Susan got married. Yet you told me that Wilko was William’s father.’
‘Good point, inspector.’
‘You and Sean were becoming friends. Wilko and Susan were…were what exactly?’ Kennedy asked.
‘Nothing had happened between Sean and I. As I said, he was being the perfect gentleman. He’d take me out to dinner sometimes when I was down in London or he was up in Scotland – Wilko and Susan were still getting it together. One night I’m at home in Glasgow, I get a call from Wilko. He’s in Scotland for some reason or other. He rings, we chat. It was a good chat. He invites me out to dinner. No strings, he’d just like some company. We go out and have a great dinner. We’d a few bottles of wine. He looks after me, puts me in a taxi, says he’ll drop me off at home. He does, even keeps the taxi waiting outside. He takes me to the door. I feel sorry for him because he’s been so nice and he hasn’t tried anything on. I decided to give him a goodnight kiss at the door. During the goodnight kiss all my old feelings come rushing back. I hadn’t been with any other man since Wilko, so one thing leads to another and we end up in my bed making love. Out of it William is conceived. I tell Wilko, but also tell him nothing has changed. I’ve decided that I want the child but that doesn’t mean I want him. Sean was very supportive throughout the pregnancy. William was born. Sean comes to Glasgow for a couple of weeks around the time of the birth. We’re growing very fond of each other and it’s getting better and better all the time, getting closer and closer. Does this sound too weird?’
‘No, I don’t think so. What happened between you and Sean?’
‘Well, actually,’ Colette started, and then stopped. ‘If I’m going to be having this kind of conversation with you I’m having a glass of wine. Do you fancy one?’
‘Yes that would be very nice,’ Kennedy replied, hoping she’d feel more comfortable if he did.
‘Good on you,’ Colette replied. She rose from her stool and fetched two glasses and an opened bottle of wine from the fridge. ‘Good on you Detective Inspector Christy Kennedy.’
After pouring both each of them a generous glass, she raised hers with a, ‘Here’s to the members of Camden Town CID.’
Kennedy clinked her glass and raised the wine glass to his lips. He wet his lips but didn’t sip. ‘How about, “here’s to love”,’ he said by way of distraction.
‘Love? Ah now, I don’t think they get into that one until the final episode. I don’t think they’ve even written the script yet.’ Colette had a little giggle and a rather large swig of wine before continuing.
‘During all our long conversations, I’d probe Sean about the women in his life. By now we were on the phone to each other every day. I was using him as a lifeline, but I wanted him to feel free to be looking elsewhere for love. He’d always reply that he was much too busy. I even started to think he was gay. I remember having this bizarre conversation with him one night, I told him I didn’t mind gay men, that by and large I found them very sensitive and caring. In effect I was trying to tell him that, if he was gay, it was okay to tell me. But he never bit, and I thought then that he was either straight, or so deeply stuck in the closet he wasn’t coming out. Anyway, time passes. I’m having William’s first birthday party and decide to invite Uncle Sean up for it. In my life at this point there are no other men, you have to realise. I’ve been with one man, Wilko, once in nearly three years. So I decide to seduce Sean when he comes up for the party. He stays that night in our house, and I’m determined. I let him go to bed. I wait five minutes, undress, and go into his room. I slip under the sheets with him and it’s wonderful. He tells me he’s wanted to be with me since we first met but because I had been Wilko’s girlfriend and then his friend he didn’t want to make the first move. I told him that I could always have said no. But he said that it could have spoiled our friendship and that, more than anything, he wanted to protect our friendship. After that we hung out everywhere together. After about six months he proposed and I accepted. He was exactly what I was looking for. Dependable, good with kids, a decent chap, and faithful. I loved that.’
‘Do you love Sean?’ Kennedy regretted the brazenness of the question the minute it had left his lips.
‘Oh, I don’t know. I feel we are working towards it, if that doesn’t sound too weird after a marriage and one child,’ Colette replied as honestly as she could.
‘So how was Wilko about all of this?’ The detective chose what he hoped would be an easier question.
Colette refilled her empty glass as she replied. When she directed the bottle towards Kennedy’s glass he put the fingers of his right hand over the top of it. She didn’t even notice that he’d not touched a drop.
‘Wilko. How was Wilko? Well, at this point he and Susan were wed. So wed he was on his fifth affair. That’s exactly what I’d been trying to avoid. We never spoke about it to be honest. Wilko wished Sean all the best, he said I was the best he’d ever met but that he wasn’t a big enough man to keep me. I think Wilko was happy Sean was going to be a father to William. Wilko knew, better than most, what Sean’s qualities are. We invited Wilko and Susan to the wedding and they turned up. I was half-expecting an embarrassing drunken affair. But in the end it was fine. It was all very civil. A well-organised event. Sean’s great at organising things and our wedding was one of his major triumphs.’
‘So that would have been close to the time Wilko left the band?’ Kennedy asked.
‘Yea, he left about a year or so later. Yes, it would have been after Tressa was born,’ Colette answered, before taking another sip of wine.
‘And it wouldn’t have had anything to do with you and Sean getting married?’ Kennedy chanced.
‘Goodness no. Wilko thought the band was finished. Sean had other ideas. But I think he felt, for his ideas to work, it could no longer be a partnership. Wilko kind of offered it on a plate to Sean by inviting him to buy him out. Sean did, and he offered Wilko a lot of money. I had a go at Sean about that. I thought he was offering Wilko too much money. Maybe I agreed with Wilko, that the band was over, and I hated to see Sean throw all that good money after bad. The point I was going to make to you was, when I had a go at Sean about how much he was paying Wilko as a settlement he said it was vitally important that William wouldn’t think Sean had cheated his father. So I couldn’t argue any more on that one, could I? You see, that is the thing about Sean, he has a logic for everything he does and by sticking to his logic, things usually work out for him. Take me for instance, he was incredibly patient with me, when I didn’t even know he was being patient, but he got what he wanted. But that’s Sean for you, he always gets what he wants.’
The noise of a key turning in a door above them followed by footsteps and a voice calling, ‘Colette, where are you?’ signalled that the man who always gets what he wants had returned home.
‘I’m down here, baking and having a glass of wine with this very nice man from Camden CID… Did you see Kevin then, love?’ Colette said to her husband as he came into the kitchen.
‘No, actually he didn’t show up. Good afternoon, inspector. How is your investigation progressing?’
‘Good afternoon, Sean. Oh I suppose we’re getting there, slowly,’ Kennedy replied.
Sean and Colette gave each other a brief peck on the cheek. The detective noticed Colette had dispensed with her shoes immediately, the minute she had heard her husband enter the house.
‘Darling, why don’t you take the inspector up to your study and leave me to finish my baking? You’ll have more peace and quiet up there,’ Colette suggested, as she rinsed out her empty wine glass. Kennedy did the same with his – still untouched – glass and placed it upside-down on the draining board. The gesture went unnoticed by both Colette and her husband.
‘Good idea,’ Sean agreed. ‘Would you like some tea or coffee, inspector?’
‘Of course he would, Sean. The man’s parched with all the talking we’ve been
doing. I’ll bring you both up some in a few minutes.’
‘Had a good chat with the missus then?’ Sean said, as he led the detective up two flights of stairs.
‘Oh, very interesting. Was that Kevin Paul you were meant to meet?’ Kennedy said, watching the wee man in his high platforms carefully negotiate the numerous stairs.
‘Sorry? Oh no. No, another friend of ours from Scotland. Mind you, it’s usual for him not to turn up, he’s very unreliable,’ Sean replied. Then he added, ‘Here we are, sit yourself down. Now, what can I do to help?’
‘Well, there are still a few bits of this I’m trying to piece together. It’s hard to get anyone to talk about Wilko. It would seem that people just didn’t know him. Although your wife’s been a great help.’
‘Really? What did she tell you?’
‘Oh, about how she and you met.’
‘Yes?’
‘And about how she and Wilko met.’
‘Really?’
‘Yes, she’s filled me in on all of that.’
‘So now perhaps you know better why I brought him back into the group. I understand from Leslie Russell that you were intrigued by that.’
‘Well I suppose it makes a bit of sense,’ Kennedy replied, hoping Green would elaborate.
‘When you realise that Wilko was the father of William – the brother of my daughter – well of course I’m going to want to look after him aren’t I? I’d hate William to grow up and accuse me of not being fair to his father. When he finds out, that is,’ Sean offered.
‘He doesn’t realise that Wilko was his dad?’ Kennedy asked.
‘No. Colette and Wilko’s decision of course, nothing to do with me. But I was perfectly willing to honour it. Colette’s thing was that he was only the biological father, never anything more, and she didn’t want to confuse William. If we hadn’t got married she probably would have told him by now. But she’s a great believer in the family unit and she thought it would be better for both William and Tressa to wait a bit.’
‘So, you brought Wilko back into the group because he was William’s father?’ Kennedy probed.
‘Well, no, not entirely. I’d hate you to think that I’m too much of a goody two shoes. Wilko was a great singer. He’d been with the band for a long time. His face was well known. Him fronting the original line-up would probably work a lot better in the USA. His attempts at a solo career had flopped, he was down on his luck. He had, however, done me a very large favour in leaving the band when he did.’
‘He had?’ Kennedy asked.
‘Yes, well, he allowed me the freedom to put all the band’s affairs in order. Ah, here’s our tea and coffee,’ Sean said, as Colette emerged from the floor below. Her hair had now been released from its restrictive clasps and fell long, flowing and naturally around her shoulders. She had also removed the shapeless apron to reveal a flowing blue dress which hung loosely about her body as she moved.
Sean stole a seductive glance at his wife – a glance of unbridled lust. He clearly still found his wife ravishing and was proud of her looks. Sean looked at Kennedy to see if he was also enjoying the vision and was saddened to find the detective’s eyes not on his wife but on him. Green looked back at his wife once more.
‘Where are William and Tressa, dear?’ Sean asked.
‘Oh, they’re on a sleepover with Simon and Georgie.’ Colette then addressed Kennedy, ‘They’re the children of friends of ours over in Richmond. They all get on great. It means sometimes we can have breathing space and sometimes their parents can. It’s important you know.’
‘Perhaps we’ll have a glass of wine after I’ve finished here with the detective,’ Green suggested.
‘Yes, that would be nice, love,’ Colette smiled. ‘I’ll leave you to it.’
Kennedy wondered if “Perhaps we’ll have a glass of wine” was similar to “Honey have you flossed yet?”, Clint Eastwood’s code for horizontal entertainment.
‘Beautiful woman, isn’t she,’ Green stated.
Kennedy got back to the investigation.
‘So, it all makes a lot more sense now, that Wilko wrote “Colette Calls”. I couldn’t quite figure that one out.’
‘Shows you were on the right path though, doesn’t it?’ Sean agreed.
‘I’m not sure I would have made the connection without the help.’
‘Yes,’ Green replied.
‘Which brings me back to my original question – why would anyone want to murder Wilko?’
‘I was discussing that very subject recently with KP,’ Sean said.
‘And did you come to any conclusion?’
‘It’s a bit like that old “pick a number, any number” game,’ Green replied.
Of all the replies Kennedy had expected Sean to give to his question, that one wouldn’t have made the top hundred.
What would have been in the top hundred? Kennedy considered this puzzle. Something like “you should look at Simon Peddington, Susan Robertson, Tracey McGee, Richard Slattery or Robert Clarke”. Well, that would have been Kennedy’s top five. But if he could get Mr Sean Green – the man who currently only had the hots for his wife on his mind and couldn’t wait for Kennedy to leave so that he could check with his wife, “Honey have you flossed yet?” a couple of times – to disclose his top five suspects who would be on the list and in what order? Would KP be there?
Could it be possible that there might be a name which might be top of Sean’s list which Kennedy and his colleagues were totally unaware of at this point in time? It’s all to do with digging. Kennedy recalled his first visit to the Green residence. That really had been nothing more than a show, hadn’t it? All happy families. But now, now that he had some of the truth, the picture was entirely different now. There was a history between Colette and Wilko. Colette had seemed quite relaxed about giving out the information. Was this because she knew Kennedy would have eventually found it out and by volunteering the information it took a bit of the suspicion away from her? Did this mean she should be under suspicion? Could Colette Green be on her husband’s list of murder suspects? Yes, she was being quite casual about it now, but was it really all dead and gone? Was it all done and dusted? When Kennedy had asked her was she in love with Sean, she’d given a very clever, thought-provoking answer. But was that just a smokescreen for the fact that in pure and simple terms she didn’t love him and this was a very cute way to tell the detective. Did she still love Wilkenson Robertson at the time of his death? She’d never denied loving him. Then again, Kennedy hadn’t come right out and asked her the question, had he? She’d said she wanted to be with him with all her heart, but equally she could foresee her life would be a misery if she chose to be with him. How big a misery, however, had her life been separated from Wilko?
It’s okay to say you can’t be with someone because you know that they are going to make your life a misery, but what if your life is going to be an even bigger misery away from them? What then? Could you consider that it might be better to go for the lesser of two evils? Yes, Wilko could have been a two-timing shit, but what if you knew that and accepted that, could you deal with it? Could you deal with the person you loved being with someone else, knowing that it didn’t really mean anything to them and could you keep allowing them to come back? Susan Robertson seemed to have had her fill of Wilko. She said herself that what she felt at his death was more relief than grief. Did you just get to the point where you’ve heard the same old story so many times that you just go, “You know what, I don’t give a shit any more. On your bike”? Could it really end up like that? Would Colette have concluded that being with Sean, a decent guy you didn’t love, was better than being in love with Wilko, a waster you did love? Not an easy call.
‘Do you think there is any chance Robert Clarke could have killed Wilko?’ Kennedy ventured.
‘Well,’ Sean Green began, ‘you have to realise that Robert had his own agenda. He was happy to be in Circles. It paid the rent, it got him on stage. It gave him a profile, of sor
ts. But, in the end, he’s got bigger plans than Circles. He has his own songs, great songs, and wanted his own career. He realised that the longer he stayed with us the harder it was going to be to make a break, and the harder it was going to be to succeed. He saw exactly how bad Wilko’s solo career was going. Mind you, I would have to repeat the fact that Robert, unlike Wilko, has a fine bunch of songs. Does he have an alibi?’
‘That’s being checked,’ Kennedy replied. ‘What about KP?’
‘Still fishing?’ Sean said, offering a grin. ‘No motive, no “bad vibes”.’
‘What about Wilko stealing Tracey McGee?’
‘You have been doing your work, haven’t you?’ Green laughed. ‘I still couldn’t see it. I can’t see what any of them see in her, to be honest. But each to their own.’
‘So, you don’t think it might be a possibility?’
‘Hey, you’re the detective. You tell me.’
‘You don’t exactly have an alibi yourself, sir, do you?’ Kennedy wasn’t sure he was throwing down another ace but he fancied a bit of a bluff at this stage in the game.
‘Ah, now you’re not suggesting that someone with as light a frame as myself could overpower a fiery Scot like Wilko, are you?’ was Sean Green’s simple reply.
‘Well, I think that’s it for now, sir.’ Kennedy wasn’t sure that Colette had been eavesdropping, but a few seconds later she reappeared from the stairwell.
‘Ah, you’re leaving us, inspector. I was just about to offer you both a fresh pot of tea,’ she said as she joined her husband.
They followed the detective down the stairs, hand in hand.
A few seconds later Kennedy was standing on the other side of their front door in England’s Lane, buttoning up his Crombie. If the sounds from directly inside the door were anything to go by, “Honey” wasn’t going to have time for flossing.