by K Leitch
Frances came up behind them. ‘Oh yes that’s Uncle Philip…that was taken just after he moved into this house.’
Sure enough Carla could see now that it had been taken in this very room. What had caught Frank’s eye though, was a pale blue china figurine that was on the mantelpiece behind Crowe. It was about eight inches tall, depicting the Madonna and child.
‘Mr Dunn can you remember that china Madonna, was it always there on the mantel? Carla asked.
‘Oh God yes, my mum bought it for Uncle Philip. Very religious woman my mum, I don’t think he was though… but Mum was always keen to push him in the right direction if you know what I mean. Anyway I remember that always being there. Can’t think what happened to it actually, now you come to mention it I haven’t seen it for years.’
‘Can we take this picture Mr Dunn?’ Frank said, ‘I’ll make sure you get it back and if you don’t mind I’ll take some DNA. I can do that now quite quickly, just a cotton bud inside your cheek if that’s ok.’
Frances was quite happy to help, chattering all the time. They were just about to leave when Carla realised that he hadn’t actually answered one pertinent question.
‘I almost forgot Mr Dunn,’ she said turning as they went out of the house. ‘What was your uncle’s name before he changed it?’
‘Silco, Jonas Silco,’ said Frances as he waved them goodbye.
CHAPTER 26 - CAULDRON MEETING…at The Bull public house
Two pairs of shocked eyes met Carla’s; Maggie was the first to speak.
‘Fuck me,’ she said in typical Maggie fashion. ‘So he was in there all the time, while Helen was lying unconscious just a few yards away and we were all milling around. You and Frank asking questions whatever and he was just there…fuck me.’
‘I know,’ said Carla with a sigh. ‘And what’s worse is that he had not long been dead…oh God it doesn’t bear thinking about…’
‘So what’s going to happen about the play?’ Tracy said a moment later. ‘I mean Imogen’s not going to want to carry on with it now is she poor thing? Oh God how sad…and you don’t have any idea why he was killed?’
Carla shook her head. ‘No…not a clue, he seems to have been really well liked by everyone that knew him. Not that he was in this country all that much by all accounts, seemed to be travelling around checking up on all his various businesses most of the time. Anyway let’s change the subject, I’m not allowed to talk to you lot about it anyway so…’ she trailed off.
‘Well if anybody’s interested I had a brilliant first week back in my old job,’ Tracy announced with a grin.
‘Oh blimey love I forgot all about that,’ Maggie said, ‘so you’re enjoying it then?’
‘Well “enjoying it” might be exaggerating a bit,’ Tracy said with a smile. ‘But it is really lovely to be getting out of the house and talking to real grown up people for a change. Not that I don’t count you two as grown up people of course,’ she added hastily.
‘What’s the new head like?’ Carla asked, ‘Rosie absolutely hates her…she is so relieved that this is her last year at St Jude’s…’
‘Think Maggie Thatcher without the good bits,’ Tracy said with a grimace. ‘The woman is a robot, and she expects everyone around her to act like robots too. On my first day right, admittedly I was running a bit late. Buster had somehow got hold of the leftovers from the previous evening’s Chinese takeaway and had been sick all over the kitchen, and then Tilly took a while to settle with Nora…you know how it is.’ Maggie and Carla both nodded sympathetically. ‘Well I was five minutes late…FIVE minutes. Okay, it could have been ten whatever, but she is standing there with a watch in her hand as I walked into the school. I felt like a naughty school girl, she didn’t say anything but I know she will have put a big black mark against my name already.’ She stopped and took a long gulp of the wine in front of her, ‘I mean it’s not like I’m always late…oh come on I’m not that bad.’ Carla and Maggie had burst out laughing at that statement.
‘Darling you would be late for your own funeral…if being late was an Olympic sport you would have a wall full of gold medals,’ Maggie teased. ‘My favourite one was when you organised that trip to Brighton…remember that Tracy?’
Tracy had the grace to blush.
‘Arranged for the coach to pick us up from The Bull at nine o’clock, everyone there, except Tracy. When did Tracy finally arrive to join the party…fucking twelve o’clock on Brighten pier,’ Maggie finished laughing.
‘I couldn’t help it… I couldn’t!’ Tracy exclaimed giggling. ‘My alarm clock didn’t go off and I had the mother of all hangovers because of YOU Carla Right…yes you…making me drink all that wine at your house the night before….’
‘I might have known I’d be the villain of the piece,’ chuckled Carla standing up to go to the bar, ‘same again girls?’ she said collecting up some empty glasses and then bumping straight into Duncan’s huge chest, he had wandered over to say hello to Maggie.
Duncan and Maggie, although sickeningly in love with each other, had decided not to move in together just yet. It made sense for Duncan to stay where he was while he still had Martha, his elderly grandmother, to look after. And anyway Maggie said, it added a sort of fission to the relationship, sort of like when she was dating in her teens.
‘Hello beautiful,’ Duncan was saying leaning in to give Maggie a kiss. ‘How’s your day been?’
‘Oh heavenly,’ Maggie said returning the kiss and then turning back to the girls. ‘I took Jools for the first fitting of her wedding dress today, well not fitting exactly but just looking at sketches and seeing what Tina had that was already made up. She is going to look stunning I can tell you, even if she will be heavily pregnant by then.’
‘Did Maylee get over her sulk?’ Duncan asked.
Maggie pulled a face, ‘Not so you’d notice…she came with us in the end, although Jools almost had to beg her. And then she just sat there looking bored out of her mind, but we didn’t let her bother us and she did get a bit more interested when I said she could pick out an outfit to wear on the day if she wanted….’
‘Oh my God Maggie you are so being played,’ Tracy shouted. ‘That girl needs a good smack. She is so jealous of Jools getting married she can’t even bring herself to be happy for her…and as for the way she’s been behaving around that smarmy git Luke Wiseman, well the less said about that the better.’ She broke off realising she’d said too much, as Maggie swivelled round in her seat and looked at her with raised eyebrows.
‘Oh no my girl you can’t just say something like that and then leave me hanging,’ Maggie said, ‘what has she been up to with Mr Wiseman…come on spill,’ she finished giving Tracy a hard look.
Duncan laughed, ‘Bloody hell Tracy I’d tell her all you know if I was you…I know that expression, it doesn’t bode well let me tell you,’ he said before winking at Maggie and heading back to the bar.
Maggie continued to look at Tracy. ‘Oh for goodness sakes Maggs,’ Tracy said, unable to withstand the stare. ‘It’s probably nothing, anyway with his dad dying like this I expect it will all blow over….’
‘Tracy if you don’t tell me now I swear….’
‘Oh God, ok,’ Tracy said with a nervous laugh. ‘They’ve just been joined at the hip most of the time that’s all. I’m sure it’s just that they are learning their lines together, nothing sinister I’m sure….’
‘No maybe not yet,’ Maggie said ominously. ‘Except that Dom is looking after her son while she’s carrying on with another man behind his back. Well I am going to have to keep a watchful eye on that young lady I can see…are there any parts left in the play?’
‘Um…I’m not sure, you’ll have to ask Helen,’ Tracy said vaguely. ‘How is Helen anyway Maggs?’ she added desperately trying to change the subject. ‘What a horrible thing to happen.’
‘Oh well she’s pretty shaken up as you can imagine, poor love,’ Maggie said smiling at Carla who had just come back with a tray of dri
nks, ‘which is why she cried off tonight and of course she’s got all that stuff with Andy’s mum to worry about. Any news on that front Carla…any sign of the fragrant Kathy?’
Carla pulled a face, ‘No…and it’s doing my head in; stupid woman what an earth has she come back for, I would have kept well away. As it is I’ve now got men that I need to help with this murder investigation, running round all over the place trying to track her down.’
‘You don’t think she would try and take Andy though would she?’ Tracy asked.
‘Bloody hell Trace I don’t know what’s going on in that woman’s head,’ Carla said shaking her head. ‘I wouldn’t put it past her though…she’s such a spiteful old cow.’
The three girls stared into their drinks. The evening seemed to have taken a downward spiral and they were all feeling a bit flat.
‘Oh my God,’ Carla said a couple of minutes later; ‘I didn’t tell you about old Flossy O’Cooty did I?’ Tracy and Maggie shook their heads bewildered.
‘I can’t believe I didn’t tell you,’ she said giggling, ‘well it was last Tuesday, or was it Wednesday… anyway whatever, Flossy was trundling along in her mobility scooter as she does you know, not giving a thought to anyone around her, swearing her head off at anyone that gets in her way, when she inadvertently knocked this poor man off his bike. How she did it is a mystery; as he was innocently riding along the road and she was apparently on the pavement.’
‘Probably that huge umbrella that she takes everywhere,’ Maggie said. ‘She practically punctured my lung with it when I ran into her in Tesco the other week. She holds it out like some sort of jousting pole, woe betide anyone who doesn’t scramble out of the way in time.’
Tracy giggled. ‘Oh I know, I’m surprised she’s not been banned from using that scooter Carla, she scares the shit out of me I don’t mind admitting.’
‘Yes well,’ Carla went on, ‘this poor man took quite a bump to his head and so Carole Hickey, you know her Trace, little woman, lovely smile, owns the bakery, well she’d seen it all and phoned for an ambulance. Anyway Flossie being Flossie started kicking off. Shouting at this man, saying that he was riding too close to her scooter etc. and soon the poor man starts to feel guilty, actually apologises to her and then insists on the paramedics looking at Flossie first before they examine him. Of course it’s obvious to everybody else that she is pulling a fast one and Debbie, one of the paramedics who knows Flossie of old, just gives her a quick once over before turning to the man. Who it turns out, has a lump the size of a grapefruit on his head and needs to go to hospital. At this point Flossy pipes up, “Oh sweet Jesus darling, you’ll be needing to have the doctor look at that so…the size of it! I’m surprised you haven’t noticed it before. Sure tis a lucky thing I was here so it is, or you might never have noticed it.”
Maggie and Tracy burst out laughing, and just like that the mood was lifted.
‘Did you get round to answering that letter from your mum Maggie?’ Carla asked a few minutes later.
Maggie pulled a face; ‘Well sort of,’ she said with a grimace, ‘although it’s not going to be the answer she was wanting.’
‘I must be a terrible person,’ she said a minute later shaking her head, ‘but I find I still haven’t forgiven her…no that’s not true, actually I have forgiven her but not once has she said sorry to me, it’s like she thinks that enough time had passed now so let’s be friends again, and I’ve found that I can’t do that…not yet anyway.’
Carla squeezed her hand, ‘These things take time darling, she betrayed you in a horrible way…it won’t do her any harm to feel the consequences of her actions for once.’
Maggie smiled and would have answered, but at that moment Carla let out a squeal and jumped out of her seat to run round and hug Olivia Bray who had just turned up at their table.
‘Oh it is so lovely to see you honey,’ she said when she’d finally allowed Livy to sit down. ‘I know you’ve met Tracy already but I don’t think you know Maggie do you?’
‘No I haven’t,’ Livy said smiling at Maggie. ‘But I have heard so much about you girls from Carla over the years, that it feels like we’ve already met.’
‘Well I’m very glad you’re here Livy,’ Maggie said returning her smile. ‘Because Tracy has been telling us that you have some of the most interesting tales about Carla, when you were both training together…’
‘Oh no,’ groaned Carla, putting her head in her hands. ‘Come on now Livy…what happens in training stays in training, you know the rules.’
Livy gave her a wink. ‘Yes you’re right sweetheart I shouldn’t talk about it…but I don’t remember there being any rules about what happened after training. Like…um…oh God do you remember Carla…Amy’s leaving party?’ she turned giggling to Carla. ‘You must remember,’ she said, turning back to Maggie and Tracy who were listening eagerly. ‘We had been to this girl Amy’s leaving do and we had had so much to drink. I don’t know how we were still standing actually, anyway we decided to walk home, try and clear our heads you know. Anyway halfway home Carla just disappeared, I walked up and down the road for ages trying to find her, but she had just…gone. Well I was so drunk I thought that she must have passed me without me noticing so I went on home and passed out. Little did I know,’ Livy broke off laughing, ‘little did I know, that the silly cow had got a bit tired and decided to lean up against a hedge for a moment, only to fall right through it and end up on someone’s front lawn…where she promptly passed out. Some poor guy found her snoring away, curled up in his azaleas the next morning when he left for work, got a right shock I expect….’
Carla groaned her head in her hands as Maggie and Tracy fell about.
‘Oh I knew you’d have some good tails to tell Livy,’ Maggie said a moment later.
Livy looked round the table, ‘Is Helen not here? I was hoping to speak to her.’
Carla explained what had happened to Helen the previous evening. ‘Oh how awful,’ said Livy looking shocked and shaking her head, ‘poor Helen, oh that’s so awful and someone was killed you say?’
‘Yes…Albie Wiseman, husband of the woman that’s putting on the play,’ Tracy put in.
‘My God…that poor woman…um…actually,’ Livy said looking awkward, ‘that’s what I wanted to speak to Helen about. I had some news for her about that man she’s been looking for but….’
‘Ooh how interesting, have you found him?’ Tracy said excitedly.
‘No…not exactly, but I have found where the family went after leaving here.’
Three pairs of eyes turned towards her enquiringly. ‘Well I should tell Helen first really…I mean she is the one that hired me…’ she began.
‘Oh Helen won’t mind, will she Tracy?’ Maggie said.
‘No of course not…it’s not a state secret anyway is it…oh come on Livy don’t keep us in suspenders.’
Livy held up her hands in defeat. ‘Oh I don’t suppose it matters if I tell you. Apparently Mr Stevens got a job catering on the oil rigs in Scotland, so the family moved up there. They lived for eight years in Aberdeen and that’s as far as I’ve got, sometime later they moved away and as yet I’m not sure where. Which is why I needed to speak to Helen, I am travelling up to Scotland on Monday to see if I can find out where they ended up.’
‘How exciting…ooh I’d love your job Livy, it must be so thrilling to find clues and solve mysteries,’ Tracy said. ‘So they ended up in Scotland did they? Hmm…it seems a bit weird that Fred Stevens would leave his lovely little pub and go and work on a smelly old oil rig though doesn’t it. I wonder if there was more to it…maybe they had to leave, maybe there was some sort of a scandal….’
‘Or maybe the pub wasn’t making enough money and he thought he could make a better living for him and his family up in Scotland,’ said Carla shaking her head. ‘Honestly Tracy you are such a drama queen. Most people live quite ordinary lives you know, without scandal or mayhem….’
‘Ah yes,’ Tracy said wi
th an inscrutable smile. ‘But I’ve got a feeling in my water, that there is more to this than meets the eye.’
‘Oh well that settles it Carla,’ laughed Maggie, ‘I, for one would never argue with Tracy’s water.’
CHAPTER 27 – 1970 Exerts from the diary of Una Flannery
…The water in the basin runs red with blood as I wash my bruised and broken face. I look at myself in the cracked mirror above the sink. I barely recognise the face that stares back at me; it is in fact Missy that I see, same sunken eyes, same hollow cheeks.
I examine my arms and legs, shades of vivid red mixed with deeper purple… on top of the yellow of earlier bruises only now healing. Fiery red bite marks on my breasts and neck, some still oozing blood.
No one seems to notice my injuries, or if they do they ignore them…just as I ignored Missy’s plight. I realise now that part of me had been relieved that it was Missy that had caught Silco’s attention instead of me. Selfish unfeeling girl that I was…poor, poor girl, now I know…oh yes now I know.
Since that day all those months ago when he’d spotted me on the staircase, he had been relentless in his cruelty. Verbal and physical abuse, taunting and finding fault with everything I did, he found every opportunity to corner me and hurt me.
The beatings started soon after that. I’ve been so scared…he sneaks up on me when I least expect it. Always in a rage over something that I have or haven’t done, punching me in the face and the stomach… kicking and spitting at me, like I’m some sort of disgusting worthless creature. Leaving me to crawl back to my room, like a wounded animal.
I wrote to Mammy, telling her that I wanted to come home, that I didn’t like it here. Daddy wrote back…he says I have to get on with it, I’m to stop being such a selfish ungrateful child…don’t I know how much my Mammy needs the money I send home….I’ve to stop my whining and get on with it.
I didn’t think that he would rape me. Missy, yes I could see that…but not me, a good Irish catholic girl. How could I have been so stupid when I know what a vile, evil creature he is? Oh lord in heaven there must be someone who can help me. He’s defiled me in ways I hadn’t thought possible…and me a virgin. He hurt me… snarling and biting like a rabid animal …he hurt me so much…I am still bleeding.