The Girl in the Rug

by K Leitch

  ‘Do you know Auntie Flossy’s proper name Andy, her surname?’

  ‘Nah,’ said Andy shaking his head, ‘she was just Auntie Flossy, my mum might know.’

  Just then the door opened and a couple of new people entered the room. A woman that Andy recognised as the woman from the ‘social’ who had been rudely turned away from his front door by his mother a few times and another man in glasses that he didn’t recognise. Andy had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach…he didn’t like the look of this…something was happening, something bad. The woman came over to him and sat in the chair next to him and gave him a big smile, Andy thought she looked like a horse.

  ‘Hi Andy, my name’s Brenda, and this is Kevin,’ she indicated the man, who just looked at Andy over the top of his glasses.

  ‘Andy we are from social services…I expect DI Right has told you that your mum’s not very well and she’s been taken to hospital, well we are going to be looking after you for a while, just until your mum gets better ok?’ She smiled, but Andy thought she had a crocodile smile all white teeth, but it didn’t reach her eyes…he drew away from her, closer to Miss Dronski, who put her arm around him reassuringly.

  ‘Is ok Andy,’ she said quietly in her funny way, ‘these people, they will take care of you.’

  ‘But where will I go?’ Andy whispered to Maya, ‘If they take me away how will Mum find me when she gets better?’

  ‘She will find you don’t worry,’ Maya said, ‘I will tell her where you are ok?’

  ‘Why can’t I go home?’ Andy turned to Brenda, beginning to panic. ‘I can look after myself, I always looked after Lucy and me…you can ask Mum she’ll tell ya…’

  ‘Now you know that’s not possible young man,’ Kevin said firmly, ‘we have a duty of care…it’s the law, we can’t let you go home by yourself…’

  ‘I’ll stay wiv Mum then,’ cried Andy, I’ll go to the hospital and stay wiv her till she’s better…’

  ‘That’s not possible either I’m afraid, you are a minor Andy and as such you are now under the guardianship of the state…do you know what that means…’

  ‘Of course he doesn’t know what that means,’ snapped Maya, ‘he is eight year old boy, he doesn’t know what the hell is going on right now give him a break…’

  Carla put a hand on Maya’s arm, ‘Calm down love, let these people do their job they only want what’s best for Andy.’

  Maya didn’t look convinced but she kept her mouth shut.

  Brenda Massey held out her hand to Andy, ‘Andy we need you to come with us now ok? We have a nice place for you to stay, where you’ll have other children to play with so you can make lots of friends…’

  ‘NO…NO…I’m not going,’ shouted Andy as his panic grew. ‘I want to go home…please I want my mum...please let me see my mum…’ Andy threw his arms round Maya’s neck and held on tight. ‘PLEASE MISS…PLEASE I DON’T WANT TO GO…PLEEEASE…HELP ME…’ he sobbed into her shoulder, scared stiff at this sudden turn of events.

  Kevin pulled Andy’s arms free from Maya, and Brenda tried to calm him, but by this time he had gone into a full blown panic…kicking and punching and screaming at the top of his voice. His fear and despair was horrific to witness, and it took both of the social workers and Ms Davenport all of their skills to calm him down enough so that Kevin could carry him out to a waiting car followed by Brenda, who had given them all an apologetic look before she left. ‘Poor little chap,’ she had said, ‘don’t worry though he’ll soon settle in, Marshall Street is a really good home…we were lucky to get him in there at such short notice.’

  Maya was in floods of angry tears, she turned on Carla, ‘Is this how you treat children…he is hurting that boy…he needs some love…not “this is the law…this is how it is going to be” pah! How does this help him?’

  Carla put an arm round her shaking shoulders, she wasn’t too steady herself, everyone in the room had been affected by the little boy’s fear and desperate pleadings. Ms Davenport was wiping away her tears discreetly on the sleeve of her blouse, and Frank had wandered over to the window with his back to the room. Carla squeezed Maya’s shoulder, the poor girl was obviously distressed, but then she hadn’t seen the way Andy and Lucy had been forced to live day in day out…he was better off even though he didn’t realise it yet.

  ‘He will be looked after love,’ she said to the weeping Maya, ‘he will get food to eat, he will have clean clothes to wear. He won’t be knocked around by a spiteful drunken mother…surely that’s got to be better.’

  Maya blew her nose, she knew Carla was probably right, but it had broken her heart to witness that child’s desperation she had wanted so much just to pull him to her and look after him. Well she wouldn’t forget about him she promised herself, she would keep an eye on him, and if it didn’t look like he was coping well…she didn’t know what she could do, but she would do her damndest to try and help him.

  Carla and Frank left the school in a subdued mood. They had got precious little from Andy as to what had happened in that living room, and they had yet to have it confirmed that it was Lucy’s body they had found. Carla was certain it was, but they had sent samples of the blood and hair that they’d found in the flat to forensics so they would know soon enough one way or the other…then all they had to do was to find out who killed her and why.

  As they were heading back to the station Carla got a call from Mandy, it seemed that Josef Constantine no longer lived at the flat in Chatsworth House, he had moved back to his homeland of Turkey. But his ex-next door neighbours said that the flat had been taken over by his nephew…Tony Lahars, or Turk as he was better known on the estate.

  CHAPTER 18

  Linda Connelly leaned back in her new chair and surveyed her new neat, tidy, work station. She adjusted the two framed photographs that she had brought in with her this morning to put on her desk. One was of her mum and dad, both wearing silly hats and raising glasses of sangria to the camera, memories of a family holiday to Spain. Her mum had died from breast cancer a few months after that holiday…Linda’s eyes grew misty and she shook her head impatiently…no time for sadness today. She smiled at the other photo which was of Jeff, her miniature Dachshund wearing a Christmas scarf, Dad had taken that picture the Christmas before she’d gone on her travels a few years ago. That Christmas had been one of the last times she’d seen her father, who had been shot and killed whilst on duty, Dad had been a Detective Sergeant with the local CID.

  Once again Linda forced herself to shake off these sad memories; today was her first day working on the crime desk of the South East Gazette. At last she could get her teeth into some real journalism as opposed to covering local fetes and dog shows. Finally she might be able to make a difference by investigating the very dregs of society, the dark underbelly that lurked beneath the quaint cottages and immaculate gardens of Kenley village. Pimps and drug barons would be shaking in their boots as she exposed…

  ‘Yo Linda, Tony wants to see ya in his office.’ Linda was jolted out of her daydream by crime desk photographer, Winston Keen, who flung himself into the chair opposite her.

  ‘What now?’ she asked surprised, she hadn’t thought Tony Harrington, editor and all round sexy dreamboat, even knew her name.

  ‘No…next week sometime…whatdya reckon,’ Winston replied shaking his head at her.

  Linda didn’t need telling twice, she smoothed down her skirt, plumped up her hair, stuck out her chest (well you have to make the most of your opportunities don’t you) and made her way through the press room to the glass partitioned editor’s office.

  The door was open so she walked straight in; Tony was talking on the phone with his back to the door so she waited while he finished his conversation.

  ‘Thanks for that mate, I owe you one,’ he was saying, ‘yeh well you know me…that’s right always happy to lend a hand ha ha ha…I know two hands always better…yeh…yeh ha ha ha…depends if she’s wearing knickers…yeh well you were never as fuss
y as me were you…ha ha ha…any port hole in a storm eh?...yeh…yeh…’ He suddenly seemed to be aware that he wasn’t alone in the office and swivelled his chair round to see Linda standing there looking very awkward…she smiled and gave a little embarrassed wave.

  ‘Look mate something’s come up, I’ll call you later…ok, yeh great…see you,’ he said hastily finishing his call.

  Tony just stared at Linda with raised eyebrows obviously waiting for her to speak.

  ‘Um…you sent for me,’ Linda began nervously. ‘I’m Linda Connelly, I’ve just started on crime today…I used to work on features…’

  Tony looked confused for a minute and then he seemed to remember.

  ‘Oh bloody hell…yeh right I asked Winston to get you didn’t I,’ he started sorting through some papers in front of him until he found the one he’d been looking for. He motioned her to sit down, Linda waited patiently for him to speak.

  ‘You’re Ted Connelly’s girl aren’t you?’ he eventually asked resting his elbows on the desk in front of him.

  ‘Um…yes that’s right,’ Linda answered with a big smile.

  ‘Yeh…’ he said obviously thinking about it, ‘I was sorry to hear about his death…he was a good bloke Ted was, and a good source of information too if I remember rightly…’

  Linda bristled ‘What do you mean by that?’ she said sharply, in defence of her dad.

  ‘Oh…nothing don’t get me wrong,’ said Tony holding up his hands. ‘He was as straight as a dye old Ted was, salt of the earth and all that, but he would always give me the facts with no spin on them…not like that DCI…what was her name, funny looking woman…Drew that’s it Rebecca Drew. She liked to play everything down, it was like getting blood out of a stone trying to get a story from her. No Ted played fair; he knew we had a job to do just like he did.’

  Linda didn’t know what to say to that, so she just nodded and waited for him to come to the point.

  ‘Do you still have contact with any of Ted’s old buddy’s on the force Linda?’ he asked after a moment.

  ‘Um well I still see Carla occasionally…er that’s DI Right, she and Dad were partners and DS Mandy Hopkins is a friend of mine so…’ Linda began.

  ‘Good…good,’ said Tony leaning back in his chair, ‘that might be very useful to you, now that you’re on the crime desk. A reporter’s got to have people he or she can go to for information…and who better than the people that are dealing with the case.’ He stopped for a moment choosing his words carefully, ‘I need you to follow up on something that we’ve just got wind of, body of a little girl’s been found…in a lock up on ‘Buttercup’. There is going to be a press conference, but maybe you could have a word with this Carla…see if you can find out anything ahead of the pack so to speak…’

  Linda sighed as the penny dropped, no wonder she’d been promoted to the crime desk so suddenly. Nothing to do with her brilliant scoop on the seedier side of Kenley Dog shows…Tony had obviously just made the connection between her and her father.

  ‘Well I will try, but I’m sure Carla won’t tell me anything that she wouldn’t tell anyone else…’ she began hesitantly.

  ‘Oh don’t underestimate yourself Lindsey…’ Tony cut her off, ‘I’m sure you can be very persuasive. Who knows…if you do a good enough job you may get to stay on the crime desk permanently…oh,’ he said at her shocked expression, ‘did you not realise this was only a trial position? Oh I’m sure you’ll do brilliantly, especially with your…what shall we call it…privileged relationship with the police…I think you may have a long and successful career on the crime desk…um Lucy,’ he finished once again looking through his paperwork.

  ‘Um…thank you sir…oh and it’s Linda by the way,’ she said.

  ‘What…oh yeh right, whatever,’ he dismissed her by picking up the phone again.

  Linda walked slowly back to her desk, what a total arse! How could she have ever fancied him, well she’d soon show him that she was a force to be reckoned with, she would get The Girl in the Rug story from Carla, and what’s more…if she could just get Carla interested…she was sitting on a story that would blow that smug bastard’s socks off.

  While sorting through her dad’s things after the funeral, Linda had discovered something that he had been working on just before he was killed. It was obviously something that he was doing in his spare time, but he had put a lot of effort into it judging from the reams of papers that she had found stored in boxes in his second bedroom.

  Ted had been convinced that there was a paedophile ring working in and around the Redbank area, more importantly he was sure that they were targeting the local care homes and that even some of the people running the homes were involved. He’d been recording times and dates and the names of certain men that were visiting the homes regularly and some of the names on his lists were of very distinguished members of the local community. It was dynamite Linda knew, but it was also incomplete and as yet substantiated by only a few bits of very shaky evidence, but Linda was determined to carry on her dad’s work…hmm all she had to do now was convince Carla to take her seriously.

  CHAPTER 19

  It was dusk by the time the car pulled into the long drive that led up to the front doors of 113 Marshal Street. After leaving the school Andy had been taken back to the local social security offices where Brenda had filled in some paperwork and made a few phone calls. Andy sat in a chair next to her desk in silence; he had refused all offers of refreshment and hadn’t answered any of the questions that had been thrown at him. The only time he had spoken was to ask when he could see his mum; he had been told that it wouldn’t be possible to see her anytime soon…she was ill apparently. Andy knew that that meant she was drunk and he had told them that he didn’t care that she was drunk; he still wanted to see her. No…they had said once again, that would not be possible today…so Andy had shut himself down…he couldn’t control what was happening to him and he was so very tired. What did it matter where they took him…Lucy was gone…Mum was gone, what did anything matter anymore.

  So it was with faint interest that he looked up at the house that he would be living in for the foreseeable future. It looked huge to him, like a mansion…there was a garden to the front, with a big old tree in the middle of the lawn, someone had slung a rope over one of its branches…it had an old car tyre hanging from it Andy noticed.

  Brenda hurried him up the steps to the big front door.

  ‘Ooh it’s freezing, come on Andy let’s get inside…have you got your bag?’

  Andy collected his school bag and followed Brenda into the house.

  Inside it felt cosy and warm; lovely cooking smells were coming from somewhere and Andy’s stomach started to grumble…it felt like days since he’d eaten.

  A tall, thin woman appeared from the depths of the house and came bustling up to greet them. She had frizzy red hair which she had tied back with a band, and large red rimmed glasses that made her pale blue eyes seem overly large. She was wearing a pair of very dirty slippers that slapped on the floor as she walked Andy noticed.

  ‘Oh there you are Brenda, you took your time,’ the woman began in an irritated voice, ‘we were expecting you ages ago.’

  ‘Oh don’t get me started Barbara; I have had the day from hell, had to pick this one up from the school, I took Kevin with me…’ she broke off as she remembered that Andy was standing next to her. ‘But that’s a story for another time…Andy this is Miss Taylor, she runs this home and will be looking after you.’

  Barbara Taylor turned her attention to the scared little boy who was almost hiding behind Brenda’s skirt.

  ‘Hello Andy,’ she began with a tight smile holding out her hand. ‘Welcome to Marshall Street. There’s no need for you to be scared I’m going to take care of you, and as long as you are a good boy and you do as you’re told we should get on fine…ok? she looked at Andy expectantly. Andy nodded which seemed to satisfy her. ‘There are lots of children here for you to meet, but I’m guess
ing you must be hungry by now…am I right?’

  Andy nodded again and his tummy rumbled in perfect timing.

  Brenda laughed, ‘Definitely hungry I should think,’ she said to Barbara, ‘and I must say that something smells good, what’s on the menu tonight Babs?’

  ‘Well you’re in luck Andy…Lilly’s made one of her curries,’ said Barbara, ‘would you like to see where your room is and then you can come down for dinner…ok?’

  Andy followed her up a very grand staircase and along a winding landing until she stopped at a door and knocked, there was a faint ‘come in’ from inside the room as she opened the door and they went inside.

  The room was of medium size with a small bay window that overlooked the side of the house, it held two single beds that were placed at right angles to each other and there was a small chest of drawers next to each bed. The beds were made up with pristine white sheets and pillows and dark blue quilts, Andy noticed.

  An older boy sat on one of the beds reading; he looked Andy up and down for a minute without interest and then went back to the book that he had been reading.

  ‘Daniel, this is Andy,’ said Miss Taylor to the boy. ‘He’s going to be in here with you for a while, I know you will take care of him…make him feel welcome won’t you?’

  Daniel just shrugged.

  ‘Daniel I mean it, he’s new and he’s had a rough day…now I’m counting on you to show him the ropes ok?’ said Miss Taylor firmly.

  ‘Yeh yeh ok,’ said Daniel not looking up from his book.

  Miss Taylor tutted and turned to Andy, ‘This is where you’ll sleep Andy and you can put your things in the cupboard next to the bed…’ only then did she seem to notice that Andy had no “things”. ‘Oh yes I remember Brenda did tell me, you’ve got no clothes with you have you, bloody hell that’s all I need this evening,’ she shook her head in annoyance and glared at Andy as if it was his fault. ‘I’ll have to go through the store cupboard and sort you out a few things for tomorrow, until we can buy you some new.’ She tutted again to herself. ‘Well can’t be helped I suppose…right I’ll leave you two boys to get to know one another…dinner’s in half an hour. Daniel will show you where everything is ok…good,’ and with that she was gone, leaving Andy alone in the room with Daniel.