The Grave

by Diane M Dickson

  For a while she simply sat there trying to straighten out the events in her mind. Although going back there had been foolhardy there was no denying she had needed to do it. Now she had seen him, he had looked better than expected, opened his eyes and was so very obviously improving and that was good, it was, wasn’t it? There was the other thing though, what could she take from that, he had looked straight at her, there was no doubt he had seen her but there had been nothing. Not in his eyes, not on his face, no sign at all that he knew her. In his condition and the flurry of those moments surely his reaction was unguarded and honest and so, did he truly not know her or did he know her only too well.

  Chapter 54

  “Leave it Forbes, there’s plenty of bodies to catch her. Stay with me.”

  With the sharp instruction Detective Bailey swung back into the newly quieted room and dragged a chair to the bed where Samuel was struggling to keep his eyes open. He had been disturbed by the turmoil in his protected world and now turned to peer at this new visitor.

  “Samuel. I’m Detective Bailey, this is Constable Forbes, we’ve been with you from the start of all this. I’m glad you’re feeling a bit better, it must be great to have the tube out. The doctors have told us you can talk to us for a little while. If you find it all too much and want to stop at any time let me know and we can leave things for another day.”

  Samuel nodded and raised a hand.

  “Marie, do you know where she is?”

  The question was little more than a whisper and the desperation obvious in the sick man’s eyes pulled at the detective’s sympathy. He shook his head.

  “There are a lot of things we are in a puzzle about Samuel. I think if I tell you what we know as fact it might be a good place to start and then you can ask me whatever you want and I’ll answer you where I can.

  “You have to be aware though before we start, there has been a crime, we have a shooting, not only you but another man. We think we know who did it but we don’t know why. At this moment in time you are not in any trouble but simply helping us with our investigation. Are you clear about that Samuel, don’t try to talk just nod if you understand me.”

  He nodded.

  “Do you remember being in the hotel?” The question was answered with a weak shake of Samuel’s head where it lay against the pillow. He pointed at the plastic tumbler and Stella lifted it and helped him to drink.

  “Okay, well we were called to The Seven Stars Hotel by someone reporting a disturbance, to save time I’ll give you a quick rundown of what we found. We entered your room and you were lying in a pool of blood beside the bed, there was a girl with you, and there was the other man. I have to tell you he had also been shot and didn’t survive.”

  “Marie, what about the baby? Are they okay?”

  Now he was showing signs of being distraught, his breathing had grown rapid and laboured. One of the machines showed a red light where before there had been a green glow. The nurse hurried across the room.

  “I’m not sure he’s up to it. I think I should get the doctor.”

  Samuel reached out and grabbed at Stella’s arm, “Tell me about Marie, is she okay? God why won’t anyone tell me? Are they okay?”

  The doctor pushed in beside the bed and nodded to the nurse who introduced a syringe full of medication into the infusion tube. Samuel calmed quickly and as his lids closed he made a final effort.

  “Marie, will you fetch Marie?”

  The police stood up, “Thanks for that doc.” The comment was sour and Bailey shook his head in frustration.

  “I can’t have him upset, I warned you when I agreed you could talk to him. You’ll have to wait until he’s stronger and that’s all there is to it.”

  “Yeah, yes I know you’re right it’s just that we can’t move along here. There were no documents, nothing to tell us who he is except the story from the girl and it’s so frustrating. Nurse, do you know who this Marie is?”

  “He’s asked for her a few times and he keeps talking about a baby but according to the book there’s been no-one visiting him and certainly no baby.”

  “Great so we’re even more confused than before. Anyway, let’s address the other issue. Sylvie, how the hell did she get in here and what did she say to him.”

  “I know nothing about her, I didn’t recognise her, I’ve only been in the department two days and I thought she was the cleaner until she went ballistic when she saw you. Sorry can’t help you.”

  “I don’t expect she’ll risk coming back but if she does, or anyone else for that matter you need to let us know. Come on Forbes, I’m feeling disgruntled I’m gonna tear a strip off the bloody plod who was sitting outside the door. I’m having his scalp.”

  “Hey, guv he made a mistake is all.”

  “Yeah well, I need a victim today and he’s it.”

  With this angry statement Detective Bailey stormed from the room and could be heard a few minutes later his voice a threatening growl as he harangued the hapless bobby who had allowed Sylvie access to the room.

  As he drifted into the drug induced peace a great tear tracked down Samuel cheek.

  That had been so hard, unbelievably hard. Now though he just wanted to drift away, he let go the strings of reality and as he fell into the peace Marie came to him smiling.

  Chapter 55

  Sylvie left the little café with no idea where she was or what direction to take. This place was unfamiliar, busy and confusing and with the recent panic still raw her brain refused to cling onto rational thought long enough to make decisions.

  The image of Samuel as he looked at her in the room, looked through her really as though she was a stranger, kept blocking out everything else. Every time she pictured his drowsy eyes filled with nothing but confusion she choked on the lump in her throat.

  Was he brain damaged, how would she have been able to tell? She hadn’t even had a moment before all hell had broken loose. Was he simply drugged, did he know her and want to protect her or did he know her and want to protect himself with distance and ignorance. The thoughts pushed and jostled against each other as her legs carried her nervously through the hustle of the shopping streets.

  Then, like a glimpse of a harbour from a storm tossed sea she saw the figure, tall and skinny, striding out confidently before her, legs scissoring and long hair dancing from side to side.

  “Lennie, Lennie wait.”

  The other woman spun and goggled at her in disbelief.

  “Christ Sylvie, how the hell did you get here? Bloody hell talk about timing.”

  With this she grabbed hold of Sylvie by the arm and hustled her into a covered indoor market. Dragging her roughly along she ran down the narrow aisles, twisting this way and that past vegetable stalls and butchery stands. She ran behind a counter piled high with carrots, cabbages and heaps of misshaped potatoes.

  “Hiya Stevo, back way open?”

  The old man barely glanced up but he grinned and waved a hand towards the rear of the stall. Through the rough wooden door they emerged into a walled yard filled with boxes, bins and cartons. Heaps of stinking and decaying vegetables filled the air with the stench of rot, Sylvie gagged on it as Lennie pulled her towards a narrow gateway, through and out into an alleyway.

  For a moment now, in the dimness of this passage, Lennie turned and grabbed Sylvie by the arms her fingers digging into flesh still fragile with the abuse of just days ago. She spun her around until they were face to face.

  “Bloody hell, how come you’re here? I thought you were in the hossy with Aunty Marj. What happened?”

  “I got into the room, Samuel was there, he was sitting up, well sort of and he looked okay really but then the police came and it all went pear shaped and so I ran.”

  “Oh, oh well at least you saw him so that’s good yeah?”

  “No, no he looked straight through me, he didn’t even seem to recognise me at all, it was as if he’d never seen me before. It was horrible. Then I ran and this old woman fell over and there
was chaos and I just kept on running. But what are you doing here anyway. I can’t believe I met you.”

  “Oh shit, I went to the pub. I couldn’t rest wondering about you and so I went out. I was ‘aving a drink with a mate and then I saw ‘em.”

  “Who, the police?”

  “No, the police aren’t after me are they? Mo and Si, in their bloody great black car. They were just goin’ round the corner I wouldn’t ‘ave seen ‘em except my mate was wavin’ to his brother, anyway the point was they saw me and I freaked. I don’t know what it was, just the look they gave me and so I came out to get away. I’m a bit scared about goin’ back to the flat. I really am panicked, honest. I was goin’ to hide at Marjie’s”

  “Oh no, what are we going to do now?”

  “I don’t know, I honestly don’t. I had this idea. I was going to talk to you about it. I’ve had enough, I was wonderin’.”

  Here the girl paused, fighting to find the right words.

  “I’m tired of it to be honest Sylvie, all this. The fear and runnin’ and after what they did to you, the bastards. I’m sick to death of it. I think I want to put a stop to it.

  “How, I mean what can you do, how can you stop it? I don’t understand.”

  “The bizzies, I think we should go to the bizzies.”

  As Sylvie began to argue Lennie bent forwards and looked deep into her eyes.

  “Think about it love, just really think about it. You shot that bloke because he was goin’ to rape you probably and he had shot your fella and you believed he would shoot you. Am I right?”

  “Well, yes. Basically yes. But it was all the other stuff, the stuff Samuel was mixed up in and…” now it came the spectre of Phil, the violent scene in the little shack, the blood and horror. Well there’s other stuff as well.” She paused

  When it came right down to it she hadn’t actually done anything. Yes, she had been there when Phil was killed there was no denying it, but he had been beating her and Samuel had protected her. As she thought of him then, saving her and taking all the responsibility hot tears flowed from her over-cried eyes.

  “Let me think, can you let me think about it all?”

  “’Course, look we can get to Aunty Marjie’s house down here. Let’s go there, have a brew and take some time. We need to let Marj know you’re okay anyway and we should be alright there. We need to move though love, if we’re gonna do this thing we need to do it now. Mo and Si are evil buggers and if they’re up here again so soon you can bet they’re up to no good. Come on.”

  They scurried together down the alleyway and then, with Lennie in the lead, they made their way to a little terraced house in a narrow street with cars lining both sides and children playing on the pavement.

  Chapter 56

  “Hello again Samuel. How are you?”

  “A bit better, I sat in the chair for a while. My head… well I don’t know.”

  Samuel’s big hands covered his face. They had told him tearfulness was all part of his illness and not to worry but it was still embarrassing for him to cry in front of the detective. Peter Bailey sat quietly with his eyes lowered, giving the other man time to collect himself.

  “Well, let’s hope we can clear up some of the puzzles for you. We know who you are now. You’d already been told I think. ”

  Samuel nodded. “Yes, bits have come back as well. I still don’t know though about Marie and the baby. I’ve asked the nurses and the doctors about them and all they did was to tell me to wait for you. They said you have all the information. I don’t understand it, where is she? Do you know? Have you found her?” Emotion overwhelmed him, his voice cracked and for a moment the power of speech deserted him.

  He coughed and tried again, “I thought I’d seen her, just a few days ago, but they said it wasn’t possible and it was all part of the coma.” Now it was too much and he cried, openly and unashamed. “I’m sorry, I just need her. We should be together; I don’t believe we had a break up, nothing like that. I just want her here with me.”

  Detective Bailey waited for the storm to pass, he had spoken to the medical people and understood there was no way to predict what would come back or how long it would take. There was nothing to do but wait and there was no point in trying to predict the outcome for Samuel.

  The house in The Lakes was clear in his mind. He had already related many memories from his childhood. He had recalled his mum and dad, could talk about their death and times when he had lived in the house with Marie. They had prepared a nursery. He could describe in fine detail the wallpaper, the cot and baby furniture just as if he’d been there a short while ago. He could remember much of his time in the army and serving oversees. When they asked him about the time after the army there was a gap, he couldn’t explain how and why he left and then it was as if a line had been drawn. His life was on one side and then this pain and the hospital and confusion. In between there was a void, empty and puzzling and Marie had fallen into it.

  Samuel raised his head and tried a quiver of a smile, “Sorry, I feel such a wuss.”

  The man sitting before him with a large plastic file on his knee simply shook his head. Samuel’s eyes were drawn to the file, he knew the answers were in there and he also knew his life, such as it was in this unfinished state, was going to be changed when the plastic covers were opened.

  “So, we have the papers from the army, your rank, service record and so on. All okay there, nothing to worry about, impressive really. I’ll leave a copy with you so you can have a read.”

  Now it was coming, the other man fidgeted on the hard seat, he had made a decision and looked Samuel in the face, a direct gaze. It was kind and it was sympathetic and Samuel readied himself.

  “I’m sorry, we have found out about Marie. It’s in here.” He lifted the plastic folder. “It was the reason you left the army. She was killed, I’m really sorry. She was killed in a car accident and afterwards they let you resign on compassionate grounds.”

  He waited then for just a moment before reaching across to touch Samuel on the hand.

  “I am really sorry. It’s awful for you that you had forgotten; I can’t imagine how this must feel. We have a police report about it and the army records. I have read them all and you should ask me anything you want. Or, if you’d rather I can just leave it with you.”

  Samuel gulped, shook his head as if he was trying to clear it and then he spoke quietly.

  “The baby?”

  “No, sorry there was no baby. Marie was pregnant when she was killed but there was no baby, well not born if you understand.”

  “Can you leave me? Can I be on my own?”

  “Yes, of course. Look I’ll come back later. I’m really sorry but there is still a lot we have to clear up. There is Sylvie apart from anything else.”

  “Who?”

  “Sylvie.”

  Again the shake of his head.

  “I don’t know anyone called Sylvie. Who is she?”

  “The girl who was with you in the hotel, the one who broke in the other day, dressed as a cleaner. Samuel she was the one who shot the other bloke. We don’t know but it seems as though maybe she saved your life.”

  “No, no sorry. I don’t know anyone called Sylvie. Never did and I can’t remember anything about the day I was shot. I don’t even know what I was doing in the hotel, I don’t know why I am here in Liverpool. I just don’t know.”

  With this desperate statement he lowered his head into his hands and the grief overwhelmed him.

  After a few moments Detective Bailey pushed back the chair and left the room. Contrary to what he had just said he didn’t leave the folder, the contents made difficult reading, he didn’t believe Samuel was strong enough. There were the descriptions of the accident, the accounts of Samuel’s breakdown and then just a statement that he was discharged on compassionate grounds and so it finished. The army paid his pension but the account had never been used. There was the house in The Lake District and the people who had been interviewed
there said Samuel had disappeared after the funeral and nobody had seen him since. A cleaner was paid regularly by electronic means but she hadn’t communicated directly with Samuel for a long time.

  The house had been broken into a short while ago but there had been no damage and so she had simply cleaned up, throwing out the few things left there and carried on. She hadn’t even bothered to report it as she had no faith in the police investigating such a small crime and so there was no evidence left and no way to tell who had been there.

  There was so very much unexplained and of course one of the major items was the great holdall full of money. The cash had been unmarked and though they had tried they hadn’t found any clues about the source. This being the case the money belonged to Samuel. Yes there had been traces of cocaine but they were so minimal as to be meaningless. The landlady of the hotel had told them he paid in cash, from a large bag and there it was. Perhaps there was a drug connection but what, where, when and who it was proving impossible to discover.