‘How well do you know Helen?’
‘Pretty well.’
‘You’re a liar,’ she said, stepping closer into my space. ‘I spoke to Helen last night. She told me all about your visit . What are you playing at? What’s all this to you anyway? I don’t get it.’ Her voice was loud now, causing Gladys to stick her head out of the stockroom.
‘Is everything alright dear?’ I made a snap decision.
‘Could you look after the till for a bit, Gladys?’ I asked, ‘I need to speak to…’ I hesitated for a second. ‘…my friend for a minute. I won’t be long, I promise.’
‘Of course, dear.’ She shuffled over to the counter, smiling. ‘You go out the back; I’ll keep an eye on the till.’ She patted Fiona on the arm. ‘Boyfriend trouble, I expect.’ Fiona shook Gladys’s hand away and I led her over to the stockroom. There were a couple of chairs in there and I lifted a pile of jigsaw puzzles off one and dumped them on the floor.
‘Sit here.’ I said. Her eyes looked red.
‘Has Helen said anything to you about Miriam’s boyfriend?’ she asked.
Now I knew how a mouse in a trap felt. ‘A bit,’ I said.
‘Stop lying,’ she said. ‘I know what she told you ‘cos she told me too. About Khaled.’ She burst into tears. I rummaged in my pocket and pulled out a scrunched up tissue, but she batted it away. ‘It doesn’t matter,’ she said. ‘He dumped me last night, before Helen rang. We had a huge row after we left you, about that Sadie cow. She’s after him, I know she is, but he can’t see it. Anyway he said I was too possessive and he couldn’t handle it anymore and that he’d had enough.’ She wiped her eyes with her hand and sniffed. ‘The thing is, it hadn’t been right between us for some time, but now I find out he’s been two-timing me I just feel so humiliated.’
‘Don’t be,’ I said. ‘It’s probably for the best.’ I held out the tissue again and this time she took it and blew her nose loudly.
‘Helen told me she had no idea who you were when you turned up at her house. Why are you interested? What’s it to you? I don’t get it.’
She’d put me on the spot; no way could I tell her about Michael. I shrugged. ‘I was playing at being a detective. A girl our age getting murdered like that, it makes you think, you know? As Tess knew you and there was a bit of a connection to Helen, I wanted to see what I could find out. Maybe I shouldn’t have . . .’ I shrugged. Why was everyone getting so bothered about me talking to Helen? It was part of my enquiry.
‘She does have feelings too, you know. I’m worried about her. I got a text from her last night asking me to ring her, so I did. She told me that she didn’t tell the police everything. Apparently Miriam had talked about running away with her boyfriend. I told her she should tell the police if she’s that worried but she won’t.’ She looked me in the eye. ‘But then you know that don’t you? Then she tells me the boyfriend’s name is Khaled, she described what he looked like – I know it’s him,’ she it down on her lip. ‘I want to have it out with him, but he’s not answering his phone.’
‘It’s probably best to leave it for a bit – anyway, we don’t know for sure it’s him. Why don’t you try and find out – I can help you – if you want? I feel kind of involved now.’
She sniffed and narrowed her eyes.
‘Weirdo. I thought you were strange at primary school and you haven’t changed.’ She thought for a moment. ‘Helen’s coming over here tomorrow. Do you want to meet up?’
Yes! Mentally I punched the air. ‘OK,’ I said, ‘Thanks.’
‘Don’t get me wrong, I still don’t get what you’re up to, but I need to understand about Khaled. And don’t harass her, OK?’
‘Whatever.’ I wasn’t planning on taking orders from Fiona. I could hear voices in the shop. I stood up. ‘I’ll be there tomorrow, OK. Text me. Tess has got my number.’
She nodded, and I went back into the shop to relieve Gladys. Fiona looked back when she reached the door and stared at me, before disappearing out into the street.
CHAPTER 14
I walked through the front door and stopped. Mum was pacing round the living room, shouting into her mobile. As soon as I walked in she cut the other person off and threw her phone onto the sofa. It bounced onto the floor with a worrying clatter. Mum gets through a lot of phones.
‘Who was that?’ I asked, my stomach churning. She sank down onto the sofa, clutching her head in her hands. ‘Mum?’ I said.
‘It was your father,’ she replied. ‘I knew this was a bad idea.’
‘What’s happened?’ I asked. ‘I thought you were OK with it now. The tickets have come and everything. Don’t tell me you’re going to change your mind.’
‘No of course not, but I stupidly thought I wouldn’t have to deal with your father. He rang me to talk over your plans and caught me off guard. I’ve already told him to contact me by email but does he ever listen? I’d forgotten how irritating he is.’
‘Great. It’s me that is going to stay with him, not you.’
‘He won’t irritate you; he just rubs me up the wrong way. He always has done and I should have listened to my mother when she warned me not to marry him. See,’ she waved her finger at me, ‘you should always listen to your mother.’
I rolled my eyes. ‘So what does he want to tell you? I thought we’d arranged it all – He’s meeting me at the Gare du Nord when my train gets in. I’d better carry one of those boards with my name on – he won’t have a clue who I am.’
‘Jas,’ said Mum, shaking her head. ‘Of course he’ll recognise you, he’s your father.’ I snorted. ‘Besides, he’s seen you on Skype. I don’t know what else he wanted – he said he needed to tell me something but I didn’t give him a chance to speak. I’ve already told him he needs to speak to you directly.’ She sighed. ‘I suppose I was a bit hasty. Oh well, I’m sure it wasn’t important.’
‘Are we still going shopping on Friday?’ She looked at me blankly for a moment. ‘For France? I need some things, remember?’
‘Oh yes, of course.’ I knew she’d forgotten.
‘I’m going over to Mark’s tonight to watch his band practice,’ I called over my shoulder as I ran upstairs.
Sadie was on my mind again. Why did she have to know Khaled? It complicated things. I doubted she was involved with him – she already had two boyfriends on the go as it was. I slapped my forehead. Maybe he was the Mystery Man! I logged onto her Facebook page. Neither Khaled nor Fiona were listed as friends. Just to be sure I typed in the name Miriam Jackson but nothing came up. Tess was friends with Khaled so I clicked via her page onto his, but his listing was private. I went back to Sadie’s page. She had added a whole load of photos from a party at the weekend – her and her boyfriend AJ looking totally loved up. I looked at each shot closely but didn’t recognise any of the background characters; in particular I was looking for Mystery Man/Khaled. Nothing. I only had two days left before I went to France and too many things to do in that short time. I made a list prioritising my time.
See Khaled
Speak to Fiona and Helen
Shop for clothes
Visit Gran with Mum?
I hesitated before adding the last point. Mum said I had to visit Gran before I went but I was hoping to try and get out of it. I hadn’t recovered from last time. Mum planned to take me after we’d been shopping. I had phoned Tess and told her about Fiona’s visit and she’d invited me over that evening.
‘Mark’s band are rehearsing, but he won’t mind.’
‘Khaled won’t want to see me,’ I argued. ‘He’ll associate me with Fiona.’
‘Why? He knows you don’t hang around with her – she wasn’t particularly friendly, was she? We can go down and listen to the music. You won’t be able to escape the music when you come to stay. They’re not that good though, be warned.’
At six o clock that evening I was standing outside Mark’s flat, waiting for Tess to answer the front door. I could hear a deep beat thumping out from the basement downstairs; the band must
be here already. I’d seen them once at a school fundraising event, but that was a while ago and they’d been doing some serious practise since then.
Tess led me down a steep set of uncarpeted steps and I hung onto the railing as I went down. The guys were rehearsing in a long oblong space. The music wasn’t bad, a rock beat provided by Des on drums, Khaled on bass and Mark playing guitar and singing.
Mark’s voice was deep and soulful and Tess and I sat together on the floor, backs against the wall and listened to the set. Mark was wearing a white t-shirt and jeans, his skinny hips writhing around to the beat. He was wearing a pork pie hat, which on anyone else would look ridiculous. Tess nudged me.
‘Stop staring,’ she said. I blushed, glad the room wasn’t very well lit – not a lot of light got in down here and the lamp was dull and yellow. Mark was kind of nice looking.
‘Des,’ shouted Mark suddenly, making us jump and look up. ‘You’ve played it wrong again – I keep telling you.’
‘OK guys,’ Khaled intervened putting his guitar down on the floor, ‘time for a break, I think.’ He went over to a rucksack which was placed by the door and the ensuing clinking sound was music to my ears as he pulled out a six pack of beer bottles and a couple of cans of coke. He handed a bottle each to Mark and Des. ‘I didn’t realise we’d have company,’ he said, looking straight at me. ‘Beer?’ he held a bottle out to me.
‘Thanks,’ I said, aware of all eyes on me.
‘Tess?’ he turned to her.
‘No way,’ she said, pulling a face. ‘Beer is gross and undignified. I’m surprised at you Jas.’ I avoided her eyes. He passed her a coke and flicked one open for himself, sitting down near us on the floor.
I shrugged, sipping at the cool lager. It slid down easily and I allowed myself to relax.
‘Thirsty?’ Mark asked and directed a smile straight at me. I took another gulp of beer, hoping to cool the heat of my face. He put down his guitar and came and joined the three of us on the floor. Des stayed tapping softly on his drums, going over and over the rhythm. I had
never spoken to Des – he was very quiet and geeky – totally obsessed with music according to Tess. He works in the music shop in town, which is where Mark had met him.
‘I heard about you and Fiona,’ said Tess to Khaled. He punched his leg.
‘You girls, man, do you have to talk about everything?’
‘What’s that?’ asked Mark.
‘They’ve split up,’ Tess said. ‘Khaled and Fiona.’
Khaled was shaking his head. ‘You are so annoying Tess. I can’t keep nothing secret around here.’
‘Sorry to hear that mate.’
Khaled shrugged. ‘Plenty more fish in the sea and all that.’
‘Are you going out with Sadie now?’ That was Tess. I couldn’t believe her sometimes. Khaled exploded. ‘Don’t you start! I hardly know the chick.’ He looked uncomfortable.
‘Sadie? Posh Sadie?’ Mark grinned. ‘You’re a dark horse mate.’
The background drumming had stopped. Des was listening in too.
‘Yeah her. I know her, so what? And I spoke to her – is that a crime?’ He looked at me. ‘I’m glad to see the back of Fiona, she was way too possessive. Always wanting to know where I was. You know that weekend we went to the gig?’ he looked at Mark. Mark nodded. ‘She gave me hell after that, said she’d been trying to ring me and why didn’t I answer, where had I been? I’d told her we were going to a concert and I wouldn’t be able to hear my phone. She wouldn’t let it rest. She wasn’t even home that weekend – she was on that course so I don’t get why she was so bothered what I was doing.’
‘What was the concert?’ I asked.
The Flying Toucans. They played the Roundhouse. It was fantastic.’
Mark nodded agreement. ‘We crashed over at my mate Toby’s and we went round Camden Market the next day to pick up some new gear for the band. It was a great weekend. Shame you missed it, Des.’
‘Some of us have work to go to mate.’ Des grinned and started tapping at his drums again, the rhythm familiar already. The music sounded OK to me; Tess just didn’t want to admit that her brother had talent.
‘Time to get back to work,’ said Mark and they both got to their feet. ‘Let’s try out our new number on our groupies.’ He grinned at me and I couldn’t help grinning back. I swilled the remains of my beer. ‘Help yourself to another,’ Khaled called out.
‘Don’t mind if I do,’ I smiled, relaxed now and settled back to watch the rehearsal. I had a funny feeling I knew exactly which weekend the Flying Toucans had been playing in London. I love it when the jigsaw pieces that had been muddled up in a huge pile started slowly falling into place. My jigsaw still had plenty of gaps, but I was making good progress.
CHAPTER 15
‘Yes!’ I threw my fist up and jumped around my bedroom floor. I was right.
The Flying Toucans had played The Roundhouse the weekend of May 26th – the weekend Miriam had been found. I made a tick against my checklist. Khaled and Mark had stayed over with a mate of Mark’s that night. I needed to find out whether Mark had been with Khaled the whole time. As Miriam’s boyfriend he was now high on my list of suspects. Tess could find out easily enough.
My phone flashed at me. A text from Fiona:
Meet tomorrow at 11 by the swings in Carisbrooke Park
I took off my headphones and went downstairs. Mum was passed out on the sofa, wine glass at her side. The television was on low. I watched her chest going up and down, a sheet of paper quivering in her hands. I removed the paper.
‘Mum,’ I called. No response. ‘Mum.’ That was loud. She opened her eyes then manoeuvred herself into a sitting position.
‘Jas. I must have dropped off. Are you alright?’
‘I’m going to the park in the morning with some friends.’
‘That’s great. I’m so glad you’re getting out more, but don’t forget your studies.’
‘School has finished Mum. Give me a break.’
‘Oh yes,’ she said, ‘I forgot.’ Her eyes were starting to droop. I picked up the remote and turned the television off.
‘I’m going to bed and I think you should too.’
A snore spluttered from her mouth; I was wasting my time. I dimmed the lamp and went off upstairs.
The park was busy next morning. Some sort of extreme workout class was taking place and I watched as a man wearing khaki uniform barked orders at a group of middle-aged women who looked like they would be more comfortable in a cake shop. As they lumbered back and forwards between trees I swung my legs until I had a steady rhythm going with the swing. I spotted Fiona and Helen making their way towards me. As they got closer and grew to their proper height, I could see that they were deep in conversation. I waved and Helen waved back.
‘Hey,’ I said.
Fiona nodded at me and Helen smiled shyly.
‘Shall we go over to the shelter?’ suggested Fiona. ‘It’s a bit windy out here and I spent ages on my hair this morning.’ Her hair was sleek and straight. I had stuck a beanie on my head and barely noticed the wind.
‘OK,’ I said and jumped off the swing, stumbling. Helen caught my arm. ‘Thanks,’ I said. ‘How long are you here for?’
‘Just today – Auntie Lou is picking me up from Fiona’s at six.’
The shelter was a grey concrete building covered in graffiti – big strokes of brightly coloured paint dragged into letters. Teenagers hung out here all the time, puffing on furtive cigarettes and snogging in the corner.
Today it was empty and the sun shone into the shelter, making it look quite cosy. Fiona and I sat down on the bench, and Helen threw her padded jacket onto the ground and sat on it, cross-legged. She looked much younger than her years; the plaits didn’t help, plus she chewed her nails constantly. Fiona lit a cigarette and blew the smoke in my direction.
‘Tell Helen what you told me,’ she said.
‘It’s nothing,’ I laughed nervously. ‘I like finding thi
ngs out, I always have.’ I shrugged. ‘I’m good at it. When I read about the girl being killed in the paper, I wanted to know what had happened to her – I can relate to it, it’s kind of scary – do you know what I mean? Then when I saw your name in the paper and I realised you might be a friend of Tess, I got a bit excited. Sad, I know, but I dragged Tess down to Keston and we found Helen.’ Helen’s eyes were fixed on me. ‘I’m sorry I lied but your aunt caught me by surprise. All we were going to do was look at the house and check out the area. Just to get a feel of the place. That’s what they do in books.’ Disbelief was stamped all over Fiona’s face. I hurried on. ‘I know it’s a bit eccentric. Then before I knew it we were actually talking to you and there was no way out of it…then when you mentioned Khaled... ’
‘What?’ said Fiona.
‘Well obviously Tess and I put two and two together and decided that Miriam was going out with the same Khaled as you. Stupid really, but it’s not a common name round here, is it?’ Helen was staring at me wide-eyed, biting her fingernails furiously.
‘Stop biting your nails,’ I barked. She looked shocked and put her hands under her legs, squashing them out of sight with her thighs. I sighed. ‘Sorry,’ I said, ‘it’s just that I was…’
‘Get on with the story,’ said Fiona. Our eyes locked for a moment. I looked away first.
‘Well it did seem like a big coincidence,’ I said, ‘And Tess thought the same. Then I found out that Khaled was away that weekend and you thought he was seeing someone else… they went to The Roundhouse you know, I checked. But did he spend all night with Mark, or did he go elsewhere? That’s what I need to find out.’
Fiona was avoiding eye contact. I opened my bag and took out my purse, extracting a printout of a sheet of photos. Fiona caught sight of it and grabbed it out of my hands. ‘Where did you get this?’
‘Online. I thought Helen could look at it and tell us for sure if it’s the same person. I wasn’t going to tell you about Khaled and Miriam, Fiona, no way, it was none of my business; I just wanted to find out what was going on. Tess was pretty cut up about it. But then you split up with him anyway…’ Fiona handed the sheet to Helen. She barely cast her eye over it before nodding.
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