Dead End

by Andrew Hamilton

  Dario was still kneeling by the side of the bed listening for every movement. He had regained his cold hard edge and knew that the only way out of this was to stick to the original plan. If he escaped right there and then, he would immediately be a wanted and hunted man. If he waited till Bob left he would be picked up by the CCTV and he was sure that Bob would also get a notification on his phone. If he could just get to the container he could make his escape. It was going to be evening before Zoe was found and that would mean he could be across the channel. He would need to come up with a new plan but with the cash and diamonds he would be able to build a new identity, he was sure. He needed Bob to go for a shower and hoped he hadn’t already had one.

  Dario crept along the hall and listened. He heard Bob clinking dishes into the dishwater. He could hear the shower was running and a few moments later he heard the bathroom door closing and knew Bob was about to shower. Dario was safely ensconced back in the Jag. The garage door trundled into action and his plan was back on track. In twenty-five minutes or so he would walk into work, make his excuses and be gone. He tried not to think about Zoe but his last memories of her were both beautiful and morbid.

  It was still dark outside when Bob stopped the Jag. Dario knew he wasn't in the yard as the road had been so bumpy but he had no idea where he was. Bob was talking to someone but the engine was still running and he couldn't hear what was being said. In a few moments, once everyone had cleared off, he could check to see where he was and decide whether or not to get out.

  Dario heard the car door open again and held his breath. The car started moving backwards and was suddenly speeding over a road which he thought must have been full of potholes. As he bounced about in the boot of the Jag he suddenly realised it was time to get out at any cost. The car came to a crashing halt. He reached for the pinch bar and frantically struck at lock mechanism of the boot lid, a lid that would, never again, open.

  Bob looked down into what was a crater. His much-loved classic was now embedded in the clay wall about ten metres below. He could see the front end was undamaged but the back end had become one with the earth. The rear tyres were partly submerged in the muddy pool which rippled at the bottom of the giant bowl. The bulldozer’s engine was roaring and in seconds several tons of earth enveloped the car. Ten minutes later the land was smooth and in a year the area would be back to arable use as the opencast mine crept its way across country.

  ***

  Dario felt as if he had been on high spin and was dazed. He had tried screaming at the top of his lungs but it was as if he was in the middle of an earthquake. The boot was in blackout and the boot lid was now concave and almost touching his chest. The icy water had seeped in but was so far only covering the lower side of his body. He tried to move his legs but they felt numb. He could faintly hear and feel the roar and vibration of the bulldozer engine as it worked the soil several metres above him. He pulled his phone from his pocket and powered up. The screen was blinking and gave him shadowy glimpses of his watery tomb. He searched for the car jack but it had come loose from the bracket on the back of the rear seats. He wasn't thinking rationally and was hoping if he could force his way into the back seats he might escape. The trouble was that the car roof and windows had been completely crushed under tons of rubble and earth. He reached into the water in search of the car jack but only found a ragged piece of wood lying against his thigh. He wondered for a moment where the wood had come from. He ran his hand carefully along the wood and realised it led to a shoe. There was a double compound fracture to his lower left leg and his foot was currently next to his trouser pocket. He felt squeamish but as a last resort checked his phone which confirmed he had no signal. He briefly thought about the diamonds but decided to leave them where they were and where they would likely remain forever. He knew then he was finished and wondered if he would be able to kill himself or even if he had the means to do it. Either way, his air pocket would run out soon.

  ***

  The Ewok was waiting to take Bob to the yard. He would report the Jag as stolen from the car park later in the day, maybe nearer home time. It would never be found and the insurance would pay a proper value for it. He would settle his debts with Diane and have some left over. Once business picked up all would return to normal and he could get his diamonds back. He had decided that morning that he would give Zoe the two real diamonds that were back in his safe. It would be some time before he realised that Dario had possession of those now.

  32

  Three months had passed and the Police were no nearer tracing Dario. They had his DNA and prints on record; something that he had managed to hide when he applied for the job despite the usual checks being in place. The toxicology reports had shown that Zoe had died from a number of causes. A cocktail of sedatives had been found in her body, some of her own and then the ones Dario had supplied. She was also found to have an ASD; an atrial septal defect, which had never been diagnosed. Additionally, it was recorded that her blood alcohol levels were excessive. The investigation had centred on the overdose and eventually focused on the bottle of Grin. With Dario’s prints and DNA on and around Zoe and her room they had all the evidence they needed. All that was missing was Dario. According to the police, it was only a matter of time until he popped up somewhere in the modern world. Bob wasn't a detective but lots of things didn't make sense to him. How did Dario get in without the CCTV seeing him? The police blamed an incompatible recording system where not all cameras were recording at all times. They theorised that he went in through the front door with a true key but Bob knew he always locked that door and left the key in the inside lock so a key from the outside wouldn't work. What was Dario’s motive was another question? Bob had held the velvet bag but had not been able to look at the diamonds since the death. They were a deception he wished he could forget about. As there had been no theft from the house and the safe hadn’t been tampered with, the police were working on the motive of an intended sexual attack which had gone wrong, probably because Zoe may have already been dead when Dario arrived. Bob didn't buy that but it was difficult to come up with anything else. The missing Jag was the only positive for Bob, in that, the police had blamed that on Dario, suggesting that he had stolen it using the missing spare key. Where it was now, remained an unanswered question but the insurance had paid out without quibbling.

  Dario’s Ducati had been seized and the poor old gent who had bought the company BMW from Dario was now without a car. Smith had been questioned by the police but he was a small-time fraudster who Dario had used as a dogsbody. It appeared that his cut of the five thousand pounds inducement was a paltry two hundred.

  Diane had been devastated by the death and had her people looking for Dario. If she couldn't find him then no one could and so far she couldn't. She and Carla had delayed wedding plans but only because of the bereavement. Margaret was enjoying a peaceful life as HR manager for Diane. And, Hugh had been right about them having a bright future. Blake was still ‘out of the country’ and the weasel, who went by the name of Clark, had not as yet resurfaced.

  Bob had decided to buy the boat he had looked at with Zoe. It was a bit of a project but it would keep his mind off her and maybe let him move on.

  His plan was to keep it at the yard and work on it at the weekends. He had stored it in one of the containers. Not the one Dario had used; he was going to sell that one and couldn’t even bring himself to go into it.

  It was Sunday morning and he was cleaning the hull and getting it ready for painting. At 19ft long it was a good size for a learner but gave him scope to possibly race it when he built up some experience. He was working on it inside the container but felt there was something odd about the amount of space. The container was 40ft long so, in theory, he should have been able to get two boats in nose-to-tail with a couple of feet to spare. He measured the inside and it was only 36ft. He measured the outside of the container and it was indeed 40ft as it should have been. He went over it closely and found a small gap in the w
ooden board which lined the back of the container. The space was just big enough to get a finger round behind. He located a spring lock and pushed it, causing the panel to move. The seam that looked like a joint in the panel was in fact hinged at the rear. He pushed the door open to find a room with a table and a chair but nothing else.

  The other two containers were the same and he then went to the one Dario had used. He pushed the door open to find a table, chair and four battery powered lanterns. On the table were several sheets of printed-off Google searches: Cubic zirconia, real diamonds, Californian wine, sedatives via cannulas, and a few more. There was a Haynes Owner’s Manual for a 1955-1969 MkII Jaguar. Bob looked in the bag. Dario’s passport and thirty-seven thousand pounds worth of sterling and Euros and a laptop were within. There were several photographs of a boot lock and the inside of a boot area. He knew from one of the pictures that a small mark on the carpet meant it was from his Jaguar. Suddenly it all made sense. Bob went home and checked the safe. He knew immediately that the gems were neither real nor his. He liked the idea that Dario had two valuable diamonds in his possession and hoped he had hated looking at them in his final moments. It also provided a motive that he was much more content with.

  In Diane’s office, he showed her everything he had found.

  It was the first time they had laughed in three months.

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  Acknowledgements

  Many thanks...

  Cathy, Michael Terence Publishing and Jan.

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