Vanishing Act

by Bill Kitson

  It was three days later when we heard from Pattison. After confirming that Faulkner had gone to his offices and spoken to all the relevant staff members, Lew told us the principal reason for his call. ‘I was hoping to get Trudi to Harrogate tomorrow. We need to rehearse her concert appearance for one thing, and I want her to test the acoustics of the auditorium. However, we’ve hit a major problem. The keyboard player I had lined up to accompany her has been involved in a nasty road accident. He’s in hospital, and won’t be able to perform for several weeks, far too late for this show. The whole thing seems to be dogged by bad luck.’ Pattison sighed. ‘First it was the compère being ill and now this. The TV people are getting extremely twitchy. They’re threatening to scrub the whole project unless they can get it in the can by the end of the month, and I’m at a loss to know what to do. There are other players about, but nobody I consider suitable.’

  As Pattison was talking, I had an idea. ‘Let me call you back, Lew. I need to chat to Trudi. In the meantime, I’d like you to do me a favour. Is it possible to find out how many different versions of a tune have been recorded?’

  ‘Yes, it’s quite easy if you know how.’

  ‘In that case, here’s what I’d like you to find out for me.’

  Having explained what I needed, I hung up and walked through to the dining room, where Eve had just finished serving our guests their breakfast. I explained the problem surrounding Trudi’s concert, and Pattison’s despair at finding a replacement instrumentalist. ‘Of course, there is one simple solution,’ I added casually, ‘and it’s so obvious I can’t understand why nobody else has thought of it.’

  ‘And what might that be?’ Eve asked, a trifle sarcastically.

  ‘Well, I’m no expert, but I’d have thought who better to play the music than the composer.’

  As soon as I said it, I realized I’d lost none of my talent for silencing an audience. Eve looked surprised, Sheila dumbfounded, and Crowther horror-struck by the suggestion. Only Charlie, and to a lesser extent Trudi, seemed to approve of my idea.

  Eventually Sheila found her voice. ‘What do you think, Gerry? I have to say Adam has made a good point, and it would be good for you to be on-stage with Trudi.’

  ‘I can’t do it, Sheila. I’ve been away too long. Besides which, if I appear in public all that will start up again, and I can’t risk anything happening to you, or Trudi. I would never be able to live with myself if they harmed you.’

  It seemed to me, it was at that point that Sheila took charge of Crowther’s life and managed it much as she had Trudi’s. ‘It already has started, Gerry,’ she told him. ‘And the only way to stop them has already been instigated. Once they know the truth has been discovered, they won’t dare risk anything for fear of giving themselves away. Apart from all that, they’ve robbed the three of us of almost twenty years together. I’ll be damned if I let them spoil one more day.’

  Trudi added her voice to that of her mother, which I think left Crowther with no choice. ‘Please say yes, Dad. Mum’s right in what she says, and besides, I’d rather have you play for me than some stranger. I’d be proud to be on stage with you.’

  It was fascinating to watch the persuasion tactics and their effect on Crowther. As his expression changed, I knew what he’d decided long before he spoke. ‘OK,’ he agreed, ‘you’d better phone Lew back and ask him what time we’ve to be in Harrogate for rehearsals.’

  The rest of the day was spent at Allerscar, where Charlie and I tended Crowther’s gardens, assisted by Eve and Sheila, whilst father and daughter rehearsed in the makeshift studio.

  On our return home, I went upstairs and hauled out the battered cabin trunk that had accompanied me on many of my travels, but which was now a resting place for much of my memorabilia from childhood and my former career. I found what I was looking for and removed it. I decided to wait before revealing it to the others.

  Chapter Nineteen

  The next few days were hectic. Early starts involved ferrying Crowther to Allerscar where the two of us would sort out his vegetables and the chickens, before returning to Eden House to collect the others for the journey to Harrogate, where Gerry and Trudi continued rehearsing. After the second visit, which Sheila and Eve used as an excuse to go shopping, dragging Charlie along, while I watched the rehearsal, we gathered in Betty’s Café – where else? I asked how the expedition had gone.

  ‘Sheila enjoyed it, and so did I, but Charlie was bored silly until the last shop we went to. That really interested him, didn’t it?’

  Charlie, who had just that second taken an enormous bite from a caramel-iced choux bun, nodded agreement rather than risk spraying the assembly with a liberal coating of cream.

  ‘What was so special about that shop?’ I asked.

  Eve explained about the antique shop they had ventured into, looking for a replacement mirror. It was the name of the shop that intrigued Charlie, coupled with what he saw in the window. As she spoke I was distracted by a stray thought, to such an extent that I failed to respond to a question until she prompted me. ‘What do you think, Adam? Is it a good idea, or not?’

  ‘Er … yes, I think so. Sorry, something you said reminded me that we haven’t heard from Paul Faulkner yet. He promised to report progress, remember?’

  ‘Oh, yes, so he did. Perhaps he’s been put onto another story, or hasn’t been able to interview the band members yet.’

  ‘It isn’t like Paul not to let me know, though. I’ll phone him as soon as we get back to Laithbrigg.’

  When I made the call, instead of speaking to Faulkner, I was put through to the paper’s editor. Our conversation was brief and to the point. I put the phone down and stood for a moment, staring at the study wall, before rejoining the others in the lounge. As soon as I entered the room Eve could tell that something was wrong. ‘Trouble, Adam?’

  I nodded. ‘My call was re-routed to Faulkner’s boss. Paul was attacked the night before last. He’s in hospital, unconscious, and they’re not sure whether he’s going to make it or not.’

  My attempts to reassure Gerry and Sheila seemed unconvincing. In my own mind the attack seemed far too opportune to be coincidental. However, I didn’t have long to ponder the motive, because a few minutes later the doorbell rang, and after she answered it, Eve called me through to the study.

  I was surprised but not shocked when I recognized our visitors. Detective Inspector Hardy was accompanied by Johnny Pickersgill. ‘I’ve had a phone call from the Met,’ Hardy explained. ‘They’re investigating an assault on a reporter by the name of Paul Faulkner and they asked me to come and talk to you, because when they checked his belongings they discovered your visiting card in his pocket. Would you care to explain how he came by that?’

  Although Hardy’s words could have sounded accusatory, his tone was friendly. ‘Simple enough,’ I replied, ‘I gave him it.’

  Hardy smiled. ‘OK, I didn’t put it very well. Why did you give him it?’

  I brought him up to date with developments, explaining the significance of the copyright theft. When I told him Pattison’s estimate of the amount the thieves might have obtained from the record royalties, Hardy’s eyes widened with surprise, and I heard a soft whistle of astonishment from Pickersgill. I told them of our plan to flush out those responsible, and Paul’s part in the scheme. ‘Whether that’s the reason for the attack on him, I couldn’t say. I spoke to his editor a few minutes ago because we hadn’t heard from him, and he told me Faulkner’s very ill.’

  ‘We may never know the reason for the attack,’ Hardy said. ‘The officer I spoke to said there had been a number of death threats made against him over the years. You can’t write about criminals and expect them to be pleased. One thing I can tell you is that his condition has improved slightly. Although he hasn’t regained consciousness, he’s off the danger list. The medical people aren’t in a hurry to wake him up. They say patients often need time for their brain to recover when there have been head injuries. What does concern th
em still is how much he’ll be able to recall, and whether there will be any permanent damage.’

  ‘That sounds to me like an attack with a blunt instrument.’

  Hardy agreed. ‘That was what I was told. It sounds as if he had a lucky escape. The attackers were disturbed by a man who was walking past the alleyway when the assault happened. He challenged them, which was brave of him, and they ran off, otherwise there might have been a totally different outcome.’

  Something in Hardy’s words chilled me, but first I concentrated on another aspect of what he’d said. ‘You mentioned attackers. Does that mean there was more than one?’

  ‘Apparently so, although the witness can’t be sure, because it was pitch black, and everything happened so quickly. He may have been wrong. There might only have been one other person besides Faulkner in the alley, but he thought there could have been two.’

  ‘Did the officer you spoke to tell you where the attack took place? A precise location, I mean?’

  Hardy shook his head. ‘No, he merely said it was in an alleyway. Why, is that important?’

  I could see Eve was also looking puzzled. ‘It might be. Let me explain. When all this started, we were given a lot of background information about the people surrounding Gerry Crowther. One of the members of Northern Lights was murdered in London.’ I went on to explain the circumstances surrounding Billy Quinn’s death. ‘His body was discovered in an alleyway near a nightclub. It would be far too much of a coincidence if the alley where Faulkner was attacked and Quinn was murdered was one and the same, don’t you think?’

  Hardy promised to make enquiries and keep us posted on any developments.

  After he left, Eve made a phone call to Pattison, which yielded more information. ‘Apparently Faulkner went from Lew’s place to the offices of Music Magic with a view to talking to Roberts. He must have found out that Roberts was in the country, and later that day, Lew got a phone call from Roberts demanding to know what was going on. Lew said he sounded extremely agitated, but wouldn’t explain what had upset him. I think it’s extremely significant that Roberts just happens to be in the country when all this is happening, and Faulkner interviews him, then a few hours later is found almost beaten to death.’

  ‘That may be so, Evie but it isn’t by any means conclusive. For all we know, Paul could have gone from Music Magic to interview the others on his list, and one of them could have turned nasty. Alternatively, as Hardy said, it could be someone else with a grudge against him.’ As I was speaking, another thought struck me. ‘We must also take into account that it was Faulkner’s visit to Lew’s offices that sparked the attack. What it shows is that if the attack is related to this case, the culprits are getting increasingly desperate to cover up their crimes.’

  ‘And we’re still no nearer to finding out who they are. What can we do to change that?’

  ‘It would have to be something truly dramatic to force their hand, but don’t ask me what, because I haven’t a clue.’

  A couple of days passed before the idea came to me as to how to force those responsible into the open. In the meantime, news that Paul Faulkner’s condition was continuing to improve was balanced by learning that the alley was the same one where Billy Quinn had been murdered. Knowing that the attacks were linked gave impetus to my scheme, which I put to Eve, Sheila, and Crowther at what I mentally referred to as a management meeting.

  Although at first horrified by the plan, Crowther soon accepted the necessity, especially when I pointed out that if we were successful, it would free him, Sheila, and Trudi from any further threat. ‘Look at it this way,’ I told him, ‘once they know you’re still alive, and that you’re aware of everything they’ve done and why they did it, there will be no mileage in trying to attack you.’

  It was logical, and Crowther accepted that logic. What I failed to take into account was that desperate men don’t think or act logically.

  I left it to Eve to sort out the details with Pattison, who would also have to negotiate with the TV company on our behalf. ‘What we need,’ I told her before she made the call, ‘is for Lew to invite all the ex-members of Northern Lights plus members of his own staff to the concert recording in Harrogate. If he offers them complimentary tickets, plus rail fare and accommodation, that should get them all there.’

  ‘Anything else, apart from spending Lew’s money for him?’

  ‘Yes, ask him to follow through with our idea by dropping a bit of false information Barnett’s way. If it appears in this week’s issue of Music Magic it will confirm what we suspect to be true.’

  As Eve was talking to Pattison, I walked through to the lounge and handed Crowther a parcel.

  ‘I dug this out the other day and thought you might want it for the concert.’

  He unwrapped it and held up the jacket for Sheila and Trudi to inspect.

  ‘That’s brilliant,’ Sheila told him. ‘Where did you find it, Adam?’

  ‘I bought it many years ago when I worked in New York.’

  ‘Try it on, Dad,’ Trudi urged him.

  ‘We’re pretty similar in build, so hopefully it should fit.’

  Crowther stood up and put the jacket on. As I’d hoped, it fitted perfectly. He turned, like a model at the end of the catwalk, revealing the rear of the garment. The iconic image of Buddy Holly was as identifiable now as it had been twenty years ago. Nobody with any knowledge of Gerry Crowther seeing that jacket could mistake the implication, even before the announcement was made.

  ‘I’ve had another idea about the concert. I think I should do the introduction,’ I told them as we waited for Eve to join us. ‘What do you think? Will it work? And will the TV people agree? Eve’s putting the idea to Lew right now.’

  ‘Lew Pattison will get them to agree,’ Sheila told me confidently. ‘He’s got them eating out of his hand. Nobody but Lew could have got them to put up with the delays to the concert recording.’

  Pop magazines such as Music Magic were not exactly high on the reading list at Eden House. Not in the normal course of events, that is. However, having ordered a copy from the village shop, much to the surprise of the owner, I sent Charlie to collect it on the day of publication. The journey to the far end of the village must have been fraught with terrors I obviously wasn’t aware of, for Charlie apparently needed the protection of someone to accompany him on the walk. Luckily, Trudi volunteered for the dangerous mission.

  We’d left it to Pattison to provide the requisite item of spurious gossip, and his phone call the previous day confirmed that he had engineered an ‘accidental' encounter with Wayne Barnett and passed on a tasty morsel of false information.

  Sure enough, when the youngsters returned, we scanned the magazine and there, right at the top of the page containing Diane Little’s Show-Biz Round-Up, was the titbit we had been told was likely to be reported. ‘Country and Western Legend to team up with Punk Rock Group for UK tour’ the headline read.

  Pattison had consulted the American singer in question, who was in London at the time, and the man, who was one of Lew’s biggest overseas clients, had readily agreed to go along with the deception. ‘He thought it sounded like terrific fun,’ Lew told us. ‘His actual words were, “I’ve had enough shit dumped on me by reporters over the years, it’ll be great to get a bit of revenge”. I think he’d relish the chance to confront Barnett over the story, but I won’t allow that.’

  Now that we had established beyond doubt that Wayne Barnett and Diane Little were one and the same person, we more or less discounted him from our list of suspects, which left us with four. Neville Wade and Pete Firth I considered to be long shots, the favoured ones being Robbie Roberts and Tony Kendall. ‘The one thing that does concern me though,’ I told Eve, ‘is Pete Firth suddenly vanishing from home. I could understand it if he’d been tempted by another woman, or gone on a drink or drugs binge, but I think Julie keeps him on too tight a rein for that to happen. Besides which, she told me Pete’s visitor had put the wind up him somehow. I thi
nk I’ll give her a call and see if she’s heard from our mobile DJ.’

  The resulting telephone conversation did little to allay my disquiet, in fact it increased it. ‘She admitted that she’s heard from Firth,’ I told Eve. ‘She wasn’t going to say anything, but I threatened to call the police and report Firth as a missing person if she didn’t tell me what she knew. However, I’m by no means convinced I heard the full story. All she was prepared to say was that Pete had phoned her a couple of times, and that she was hoping he would ring again in the next couple of days.’

  ‘What did you say to that?’

  ‘I told her that when Pete phones she can tell him it’s quite safe for him to come home now, and if he doesn’t believe me, all he has to do is wait a couple of days and then call me. I also told her that in the meantime I was arranging for a couple of invitations to be sent, one for her and one for Pete, to attend Trudi’s Harrogate concert. By then, I said, we believe this will all be over.’

  Eve’s eyes widened at my final statement. ‘That was a bit presumptuous, wasn’t it?’

  ‘I don’t think so. We have our eyes on the main targets now, and besides which, once Gerry makes his reappearance, that, together with my announcement, should put an end to the danger.’

  ‘I still think Roberts has to be number one on our list,’ Eve told me, ‘you don’t start up a magazine like Music Magic without a substantial investment, and Roberts didn’t have that sort of money, by what we can gauge.’

  ‘What about your other contender? Are you ruling out your Harrogate antique dealer?’

  ‘He’s Charlie’s, not mine. He spotted the name Kendall on the premises,’ she pointed out. ‘But, no, I’m certainly not ruling Kendall out, even if he is the same person as the shopkeeper in Harrogate, which I think is a long shot. Let’s face it, Kendall isn’t exactly an uncommon name.’

  ‘I agree, and I think the chances of a former musician becoming the owner of an antique shop in the centre of the area where all this has been happening are somewhat remote. Tony Kendall is just as likely to have become a tourist guide in the Kalahari desert or a missionary working in the Amazonian rain forest.’