The Wronged

by Kimberley Chambers

  Brenda had had the brains to wear black, but had put on at least another two stone since the last time Queenie had seen her. She looked like a beached whale in an ill-fitting dress.

  ‘Don’t talk to Bren like that,’ the arsehole boyfriend intervened.

  Vinny turned around with fire in his eyes. ‘I’ll deal with yous pair later, and you’re barred from the wake,’ he hissed.

  ‘Shush. Daniel’s about to speak,’ Michael ordered.

  ‘Lee, do you wanna stand up and say a few words with me?’ Daniel asked.

  Lee started to cry and shook his head emphatically.

  ‘You do it, Dan. Your brother’s too upset,’ Little Vinny piped up. How he’d got through reading that poem at Molly’s funeral he’d never know.

  Dressed in a smart black suit, Daniel held his head high as he addressed the congregation. ‘Adam wasn’t just mine and Lee’s bruvver. He was our best mate too. We were inseparable when we weren’t at school, did everything together, and life ain’t the same without him. As my nan always says, “Only the good die young” and that couldn’t be more truer with Adam. Love you for ever, bro. Rest in peace.’

  Vivian stared at Daniel. He’d delivered his short speech fully composed and had not shed one tear, even though it was his bloody fault Adam was dead.

  The vicar said a few more words, then the service ended with the Vera Lynn song ‘We’ll Meet Again’.

  ‘You OK, Mum?’ Vinny asked.

  ‘Yep. Case of having to be. Another one bites the dust, but life goes on for the rest of us.’

  Deborah Preston’s hands were trembling so much, she couldn’t put the key in her lock.

  ‘I’ll open it, Deb,’ Sandy said. Two plain-clothes officers had been waiting outside the house and had asked to talk inside.

  Deborah was told to sit down.

  ‘I’m DS Birch and my colleague is DC Cooper. I’m so sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but we have found your daughter’s car and we strongly believe the two dead bodies inside the vehicle are Joanna Preston and Darren Grant. Obviously, we will need formal identification, but Mr Grant’s son Shane was in the back of the car. Thankfully the boy was still alive.’

  Deborah put her hand over her mouth. The news was surreal and she couldn’t take it in.

  ‘My husband was right. He said Vinny Butler would kill her. You need to arrest him and lock him up for life,’ Deborah sobbed. She honestly felt as though she was in the middle of a bad dream, and prayed she would wake up soon and Jo would still be alive.

  ‘Where was the car found?’ Sandy asked.

  ‘Asheldham, not far from Tillingham. I’m not sure if you’re familiar with the stretch of road known as the Dengie Straight? It’s notorious for cars and bikes racing. Joanna’s car was found in a ditch not too far from there. I fear she might have collided with or tried to avoid one of the boy-racers heading to or from the Dengie Straight.’

  Deborah shook her head vehemently. ‘No. You don’t understand. Vinny Butler has done this. Jo has a daughter with him, Ava, and he obviously wanted the child all to himself. Don’t be fooled by the messages he left on my and her answer machines. The man is a known villain and killer. I need you to collect Ava and bring her home to me. No way is he and his evil family bringing my granddaughter up. The Butlers have no scruples whatsoever. Please get Ava away from him. She’s all I have left,’ screamed Deborah.

  Adam’s wake was held at the club in Whitechapel. Michael had spared no expense. He’d hired a company who specialized in weddings, christenings and bar mitzvahs to decorate the inside of the club and do the catering and waitress service. They’d managed to put drapes up to cover up the walls he’d had professionally graffitied and the gaff no longer resembled a disco at all. It looked more like a wedding venue.

  ‘Ahmed’s talking to Little Vinny. Go over there,’ Michael ordered his brother. He knew his nephew could be a bit of a hot-head at times.

  ‘All right, boys? Nice send off, weren’t it?’ Vinny said.

  ‘Very nice. A wonderful send-off for a top lad. Speaking of top lads, I’m looking forward to your son being back at work on Wednesday. The wine bar hasn’t been the same without him,’ Ahmed said, putting an arm around Little Vinny’s shoulders. Ahmed knew it must piss Vinny off that his son worked for him.

  ‘I was telling Ahmed how bored I’ve been, stuck at home. I love my job,’ said Little Vinny, managing somehow to sound as if he meant it.

  ‘I’m gonna steal your top lad for a bit, Ahmed. I wanna introduce him to the Mitchells properly. Why don’t you come with us? Eddie’s a good guy. So is his old man Harry. I’m gonna sit with ’em for a while.’

  Ahmed was not a man to be scared of anybody, but there was something about the Mitchells that unnerved him. He’d heard many a tale about Harry and Eddie in particular, and instinct told him not to get involved with them. ‘I’m afraid I must leave soon, Vinny. Without Little Vinny, I am quite short-staffed at my bar. I’ll give you a bell tomorrow to see how everything went. And don’t forget about the other thing on Saturday. I’ll drive and will pick you up about ten.’

  ‘I meant to have a word with you about that. I need to shoot down to Eastbourne in the daytime. Michael’s taking Dan and Lee to Beachy Head to lay some flowers for Nancy. He’s staying down there overnight. Gonna make a weekend of it, but I don’t wanna miss out on the deal, so I’ll drive back. You’ll have to tell me where the gaff is and I’ll meet you there.’

  ‘But I have no exact address. Our goods are being stored in a disused office building which is off the beaten track.’

  ‘Well, just give me directions then. It can’t be that off the beaten track if it had offices in it, Ahmed.’

  Deborah Preston could not stop crying. It had now sunk in that she would never see her beautiful, vibrant daughter again and it was the worst feeling she’d ever experienced. She’d never imagined that anything could break her heart more than Molly’s death, but this had. The pain she felt inside was excruciating.

  ‘Deb, you’re gonna have to let Johnny’s mum know, and Johnny Junior.’

  ‘Johnny’s mother is an old cunt – and how the hell am I meant to let Johnny Junior know when he’s in the middle of the ocean somewhere?’ Deborah shrieked. Her son was now a chef on one of those posh cruise ships.

  ‘The company he works for will be able to let him know, Deb. I’ll give them a bell tomorrow, and Johnny’s mum. You can’t deal with this alone. Jo’s body will need to be identified and all sorts will have to be arranged.’

  ‘The police are fucking useless. Why didn’t they arrest Vinny and bring Ava home like I asked them to? How is the poor little mite gonna feel when she learns her mum is dead? She needs me, Sandy.’

  The police had not long left the house. They’d heard Deborah out, making notes as she levelled accusations at Vinny, and had promised to pay him a visit. They’d said Joanna’s car would need to be analysed and they’d appeal for witnesses if evidence proved Joanna hadn’t simply lost control but had been involved in a collision with another vehicle. Shane was currently mute as a result of the shock and had been taken to hospital. DS Birch said he could prove to be a key witness in the case, but it was too soon to begin questioning the child.

  ‘I thought the bloke was a bit drippy, Deb, but that DS Birch seemed clued up. Her old ears pricked up when you were saying all that stuff about Vinny, and she wrote loads in her notebook.’

  ‘She never went and rescued Ava for me like I begged her to though, did she?’ Deborah screamed, necking her brandy and slamming the glass against the coffee table with such force it smashed.

  ‘Deb, it’s not as easy as that, mate. In the eyes of the law, Vinny hasn’t abducted Ava. He’s her father.’

  Queenie felt nothing but relief as she shuffled down the stairs in her fluffy Marks and Spencer slippers. Those stilettos she’d bought from Panache down the Roman had almost crippled her.

  ‘Ava asleep?’ Vivian asked.

  ‘Went out like
a light, bless her. Weren’t she well behaved at the funeral?’

  ‘She still not asked about her mum?’ Vivian enquired.

  ‘No. Just seems pleased to be able to spend a bit of extra time with us and her dad. It’s weird Jo hasn’t been in contact though, isn’t it? Perhaps Nancy going missing has sent her a bit doolally and she fancied getting away or something?’

  Having absorbed a skinful of sherry, Vivian couldn’t contain her sarcasm any longer. ‘Queen, it’s me you’re talking to, not one of the divvy neighbours. You know as well as I do Joanna will either turn up dead or never be seen again. Speaking of which, strange nobody mentioned Nancy at the funeral. I thought Michael might mention her in his speech.’

  Queenie explained that Michael had purposely left Nancy’s name out of his speech because he was worried Mary and Donald would turn up and Mary would kick off. ‘As for Joanna turning up dead or never being seen again, I dunno what you mean. Vinny was in Southend all day on Sunday with us, so he can’t have done away with her – if that’s what you’re insinuating,’ Queenie replied shirtily.

  ‘How very convenient. I don’t wanna argue with you, Queen, so let’s change the subject. How handsome is that Eddie Mitchell, eh? He even knocks spots off Dirty Den. I would, given half the chance, wouldn’t you?’

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  It was two days after Adam’s funeral when Vinny was awoken by a fist pounding against his front door. He and Jay Boy had rented a flat not far from the club, although Jay Boy was rarely there these days as he spent most nights at his bird’s gaff.

  Guessing it was the Old Bill, as the only other person who knew where the flat was was Michael, Vinny yelled, ‘Give us a minute. I need to put some clothes on.’

  Vinny splashed his face repeatedly with cold water. He needed to be alert to face the filth. He put on his suit and peeped through the spy-hole before opening the door. ‘Hello. How can I help you?’

  DS Birch and DC Cooper flashed their badges, introduced themselves and asked if they could come inside.

  ‘Would you like a cup of tea or coffee?’ Vinny asked politely.

  ‘No, thank you. We just want to ask you a few questions.’

  Vinny slouched on to the armchair. ‘Fire away then.’

  DS Birch did the talking while her colleague put pen to notebook. ‘We need to know your whereabouts on Sunday, Mr Butler.’

  ‘I stayed at my mum’s on Saturday night. Got up crack of dawn, then took my mum, aunt, nephews and my daughter Ava to Southend for the day.’

  ‘And what time did you leave Southend?’

  ‘Just after five. My daughter doesn’t live with me and I have to get her home by six. Her mum wasn’t there though, so I hung about a bit, then brought Ava home with me. Once Ava had gone to bed, I popped round to the Blind Beggar for a couple of hours, then went back to me mother’s. I stay at hers most weekends. Why? What’s the problem?’ Vinny asked, as cool as a cucumber.

  ‘Where’s your daughter now, Mr Butler?’ Birch asked.

  ‘At my mum’s house. She’s been looking after Ava while I’m at work. Her mother Jo’s gone on the missing list, you see. Her best mate committed suicide recently and I think it might have sent Jo a bit funny. Grief does strange things to people. I’ve rung her about a dozen times and she hasn’t replied to any of my calls. Do you mind telling me what this is about now? Only I have a club to open.’

  ‘Joanna is dead, Mr Butler. It seems her car was involved in a fatal collision with another vehicle before plummeting into a ditch. Her boyfriend, Mr Darren Grant, also died in the accident. The only survivor was Shane, Mr Grant’s son.’

  Vinny was about to feign shock, but the mention of Shane made his reaction genuine. ‘You’re fucking kidding me! When did this happen? I can’t believe it,’ Vinny said, putting his head in his hands.

  ‘We believe it happened on Sunday morning. Joanna was due to visit her mother, but never arrived. Obviously, we will need to check out your alibi.’

  Vinny stood up and poured himself a brandy. ‘Why would you think I had anything to do with it? Me and Jo weren’t exactly Romeo and Juliet, but I would never hurt a woman, especially the mother of my child.’

  ‘We are not accusing you of any wrongdoing, Mr Butler. It is our job to investigate such cases and check out alibis.’

  ‘I bet Jo’s vindictive mother has been sticking her oar in and stirring the shit about me. Did she also tell you that her husband Johnny once tried to kill me? He accidentally shot my brother instead and paralysed him, which resulted in my bruv taking his own life. She hates me because her old man was banged up for shooting Roy. Well? Did she tell you all that?’

  ‘I’m afraid I’m not at liberty to answer such questions.’

  ‘You don’t need to. I can guess. In future, when you listen to any of Deborah’s poppycock, you really should check out your facts before you start accusing me of stuff.’

  ‘Nobody is accusing you of anything, Mr Butler,’ Cooper piped up.

  Vinny smashed his fist against the door. ‘I can’t believe Jo’s dead. How am I meant to tell Ava she ain’t ever gonna see her mother again? I don’t know what to say to her.’

  ‘Actually, Mrs Preston has offered to break the news to Ava. She feels it would be more appropriate for her to take care of the child for the time being.’

  ‘Over my dead body,’ Vinny spat, his eyes blazing. ‘Ava is my daughter. She stays with me.’

  Mary Walker stared at the envelope. ‘Will you read it to me, Donald?’

  ‘I can’t, Mary. You read it, darling.’

  ‘Do you mind reading it to us? We spent yesterday at our grandson’s grave, and it’s all been a bit too much for us,’ Mary said.

  DC Maynard took the letter from Mary and read it out:

  Dear Mum and Dad,

  By the time you read this letter I will hopefully have succeeded in ending my life. I’m so sorry to have put you through such an ordeal, but life without Adam was too unbearable for me to even consider. When he died, part of me died with him and I just wanted to be with him. He needs his mum to look after him in heaven.

  ‘Oh, Donald,’ Mary sobbed.

  ‘Do you want to read the rest yourselves?’ DC Maynard asked. Most grieving parents preferred to read such letters in private, but this wasn’t the first time he’d been asked to read one aloud.

  Donald dabbed his eyes with a handkerchief. ‘No. Please continue.’

  Maynard cleared his throat.

  Dad, I’m so sorry for not listening to you about Michael. You were spot on about that bastard from the very beginning, and I hope you’ll forgive me for being too stupid to take your warnings seriously. You were only looking out for me, I know that now.

  Mum, you were the most wonderful mother I could’ve ever wished for. Kind, supportive, generous. Simply the best.

  I didn’t want either of you to have to go through the trauma of my funeral, neither did I want you to spend hours at my graveside. That’s why I’ve chosen Beachy Head.

  I must end this letter now as I’m crying too much to continue. But always remember, even though I won’t be with you in person, I’ll always be with you in spirit.

  Until we meet again.

  All my love,

  Nancy

  ‘She put five kisses at the end as well,’ DC Maynard said awkwardly.

  Sobbing uncontrollably, Mary put her hand over her mouth and bolted from the lounge.

  Ashen-faced, Jay Boy grabbed Vinny’s arm. ‘We need to talk. It’s urgent.’

  Vinny closed his office door. ‘What’s up?’

  ‘Gnasher isn’t happy, Vin. He had some local radio station on this morning and they were appealing for witnesses to come forward about you-know-what. There was a fucking kid in the car, and Gnasher don’t mess with kids’ lives. He said he told you that.’

  Vinny held his hands up, palms facing outwards. ‘I know. I only found out myself this morning when the Old Bill turned up at the flat. I swear to ya, tha
t kid weren’t at Jo’s when I picked Ava up. I even asked Ava, making a bit of chit-chat, to be sure it would just be her and the boyfriend.’

  ‘Well, Gnasher’s going ballistic. He wants me to drop the balance of his money off. Said it’s far too dangerous for you and him to meet up at the moment.’

  ‘Shane’s only about fucking five, Jay. He’s hardly gonna be a credible eyewitness, is he? The kid’s bound to have been sat in the back, so what’s he gonna have seen? The car must’ve been in the ditch seconds after Gnasher clumped it.’

  ‘Gnasher’s more worried that the kid might die, Vin. Said he’ll never forgive himself. They said on the radio the boy’s in hospital.’

  Vinny walked over to his safe, counted out another ten grand and put it in an envelope with the other he’d already checked. ‘There’s an extra ten grand in there to cover Gnasher’s upset, OK? And you tell your pal none of this is my fucking fault. They must’ve picked the kid up on the way or something. It really isn’t my problem.’

  ‘When do you want me to take it to him?’

  ‘Now. It might help ease his pain,’ Vinny replied sarcastically. ‘Oh, and hurry back. I’ve gotta meet Carl later to discuss the Tarkan situation. Then I’m taking a little drive out to Purfleet to check out the Turkish wonder’s directions. You’ll be OK locking up tonight, won’t ya? I wanna spend some time with Ava later.’

  ‘Of course, boss.’

  Sandy let the police in, then went out the back garden to have a cigarette. She hadn’t been able to leave Deborah’s side, and was relieved Johnny Junior was flying home tomorrow. Sandy worked cash in hand on Pitsea market and couldn’t afford any more time off.

  Deborah’s moods had been fluctuating between total despair and acute anger. Today was no different. ‘Well? You arrested him yet? Where’s Ava?’ she spat at DS Birch.

  ‘We cannot arrest Vinny Butler or anybody else, for that matter, with no evidence. What I can tell you is we’ve had a couple of phone calls today in response to our radio appeal, and a certain vehicle is of particular interest to us. It was apparently parked near where the accident occurred. The colour described to us also matches some paint forensics found on Jo’s Fiesta. The scenes-of-crime officers believe that Jo didn’t lose control but was hit with possibly quite some force by an oncoming vehicle.’