Lost Innocence

by M A Comley

  “Not really. Can you tell us how many gangs there were?”

  “Two, I believe. One filled with younger boys, up to the age of fourteen or so. The other from fourteen upwards, into their late teens. I don’t think you could ever consider them bad lads, not like the youth of today. They were just rowdy now and again. I remember the boy who went missing, Jeff Ryland. He belonged to the younger gang while I believe two of his brothers were involved in the older one.”

  “Interesting. Anything else you can remember about them?”

  “I seem to think one of the gang members was a relative of May’s. He stayed with her on the odd occasion.”

  Sally slowly turned her head sideways to glance at her partner. Jack raised a knowing eyebrow in return.

  Facing Daisy again, Sally asked, “Can you remember his name?”

  Daisy stared at her cup for a moment or two. “I believe it was Steven. Sorry, can’t for the life of me think of his surname. I do know it wasn’t the same as May’s, if that helps.”

  “It does. We’ll investigate that. Did he stay at the property often, do you know?”

  “Again, I’m not really sure. Hang on a second… Yes, when poor May passed away, he came to the house. I had a brief chat with him to pass on my condolences. He was grateful, said that the family were grieving badly for May and that the house was going to be put on the market.”

  “By the family or by him? What I’m trying to ask is, who the house was bequeathed to in her will. Any idea?”

  “Him. He did tell me that. Said he was cleaning the place up and looking around it had stirred up fond memories of the time he’d spent at the house with his dear aunt.”

  “That’s helpful. We’ll be able to find his surname going down that route then. You’re doing well. At last I feel as though we’re getting somewhere. Do you know if this Steven is local? ”

  “Wouldn’t like to say. Wish I could confirm that, but I can’t. I suppose he must be if he tidied up the house before the sale went through.”

  “Was he in the older gang or the younger gang?”

  “Definitely the older gang. I believe he used to hang around with one of the middle Ryland boys, if that makes sense?”

  “Was it Shaun or Warren?”

  “Now you’re asking. Truthfully, I used to get mixed up with all their names.”

  “That’s not a problem. We’re in touch with the Rylands; we can ask them. I asked your neighbour the same question. Do you recall anything going on around then that you possibly regarded as suspicious at the time?”

  Her mouth twisted as if she were chewing on the inside of her cheek. “Not really. It was a small friendly community with a few days of loutish behaviour thrown into the mix periodically.”

  “Honestly, what you’ve told us already has been a great help.”

  Daisy sipped at her drink. “It’s awful to think that no one knew what they were living next door to. I know you probably can’t tell me, but I’m going to ask the question anyway. The body or skeleton, there’s a rumour going around that it could be Jeff. Is it?”

  Sally heaved a large sigh. “This isn’t me being awkward, but at this stage, we’re not sure. We need the pathologist department to give us those details. As you can imagine, it’s much harder for them to identify a skeleton rather than a victim that is still intact.”

  “I can see how difficult that must be for them. It’ll probably take months to identify the body. Am I right?”

  “Hopefully, it won’t be too long. An anthropologist is in the process of reconstructing the head for us now.”

  “That must be interesting work. I watch a lot of true crime on the TV—when I can be bothered to watch it, that is. It amazes me how accurate these reconstructions can be. Isn’t science wonderful? It’s come a long way over the years since DNA was developed.”

  “It certainly has. Right, we have another neighbour we need to check in with before we go back to the station. I’ll leave a card in case anything else comes to mind.” Sally pushed the business card across the table towards Daisy.

  “Thank you. Sorry I couldn’t be more help. You see, back then, once I got home from work, I closed the curtains and shut out the rest of the world. Not every day, of course, just now and then.” She smiled. “I know what you’re thinking. What about the reputation I have for being a nosy parker? Well, what else am I going to do with my time now that I’m retired?”

  Sally laughed and stood. “Too right. I think I’m going to take a leaf out of your book when I retire, too. We’ll both make up for lost time.”

  “Exactly. Glad we’re on the same page. Of course, on a more serious note…I’ll keep my fingers crossed that you find out who those bones belong to and help to put a family’s life back on track once again.” She gasped. “Oh Lordy, I’ve just had a dreadful thought.”

  “What’s that?” Sally asked.

  “You don’t think May had anything to do with what they’ve dug up, do you?”

  “It’s an avenue that we’re keen to delve into. It does seem strange that the body was buried in her garden just before the shed was erected. Of course, we haven’t had confirmation regarding that yet. So it’s pure speculation on our part.”

  “Goodness. Well, if you put it like that…oh my, it’s like something out of a horror movie.”

  “Most crimes like this invariably are. Fact is always harder to stomach compared to either fiction or what the producers like to portray in films.”

  “Isn’t that the truth, reading some of these ghastly stories in the newspaper? There appears to be so much hatred in this world. I dread to think what it must be like being a serving police officer these days.”

  “Thankfully, we’re lucky around these parts. I suppose it’s only a matter of time before that changes and the criminals get tired of causing havoc in the big cities and try their hand in the more rural communities.”

  Daisy shook her head. “That’s a terrible prospect. Hopefully, I’ll be long gone by the time things get that bad.”

  Sally shrugged, and Jack got to his feet. “I suppose we better get going. If you should think of anything else, don’t forget to ring me.”

  “I’ll show you out. I do hope the investigation goes without a hitch for you. It would be nice to know whoever was buried in May’s garden has a proper burial soon.”

  They shook hands at the door, then Jack and Sally left the house.

  “She seemed a nice lady,” Jack noted .

  “She did. Both she and Mr. Donaldson seemed nice. I hope our luck stays with us when we question the third neighbour.”

  “It’s good that we’ve discovered a family member link to May, though, right?”

  Sally nodded. “You bet. Let’s see what Frank Wallis has to say then get back to base to do some digging about this relation. I must say, it’s definitely piqued my interest.”

  “Mine, too.” Jack pushed the gate open to the next house and walked up the path ahead of Sally. He rang the bell, and they waited a while until the homeowner came to greet them.

  A bald man opened the door. “Yes?”

  “Hello, sir. Are you Frank Wallis?”

  The man nodded.

  “We’re DI Sally Parker and DS Jack Blackman from the Norfolk Constabulary. Would you mind if we come in and have a chat with you?”

  He pointed at the SOCO van in the road behind them. “This is about that, isn’t it?”

  “It is.”

  He sighed heavily. “You better come in then. Not that I’ll be able to tell you much.” He turned his back.

  Sally rolled her eyes at Jack then entered the house.

  Mr. Wallis showed them into a small tidy lounge at the front of the house. The furnishings were dated but in good condition. Sally sensed the man had a wife caring for him.

  “So, how do you think I can help you?”

  “According to our records, sir, you’ve lived at the same address for over forty years. Is that correct?”

  “Yep, this was our
first home when we got married. Turned out to be our only home to date. Freda loves it around here. Me, not so much. I stay here to keep her happy. That’s what we men do, right, lad?” he replied, bringing Jack into the conversation.

  “Yes, it’s always good to go down the happy-wife-equals-happy-life route, sir. Saves a lot of grief in the long run,” Jack agreed, smirking.

  “Do you remember the lady who owned the house?”

  “May Childs. Yes, of course I do. She was one of my customers. Everyone around here was, in fact.”

  “Customer? What did you do back then? ”

  “I was the local milkman. They’re a rarity nowadays. We used to do a lot for the community. Some of us were taken for granted, but mostly, people appreciated the service we provided. I used to get the odd note left in a milk bottle, people asking me to let the dog out into the garden at a certain time or to take their washing in if it was raining.”

  “Are you serious?” Sally asked, amused and amazed by his statement.

  “Too right I’m being serious. You know what? Most of the time I bent over backwards to ensure their wishes were met.” He shrugged. “It’s the way the world worked back then. This, well…I can tell you, it’s bloody shocked the life out of me. All right, that’s a bit of an exaggeration because I wouldn’t be speaking to you today if that were the case, but you get my drift.”

  Sally smiled. “I do. Can you tell us what kind of woman May was?”

  “Friendly and down to earth. She’d do anything for you. I remember her watching me read one of the notes a neighbour had left me with some chore written on it, and she asked if everything was all right. I explained that Mrs. Smith wanted me to take her prescription into the doctor’s by a certain time that day, and I said I couldn’t possibly do that without getting behind on my rounds. The boss would have killed me if I finished too late. He didn’t mind me doing the odd saintly act but objected if I did too much to help my customers. May was kind enough to volunteer to collect the neighbour’s pills for me.”

  “I can understand that from his perspective. What about anyone who visited May, perhaps stayed with her occasionally?”

  His gaze drifted over to the window. “Well, there was always her nephew around these parts. I can’t really tell you if he stayed there or not. I suppose he must have done now and again, because he belonged to one of the gangs around here.”

  “Any idea where his parents lived?”

  “Sorry, no. I couldn’t tell you. He was round here frequently, so I’m guessing they didn’t live that far away. Mind if I ask a question of my own?”

  “Go ahead.”

  “You seriously don’t think May could have done this, do you?”

  “The truth is we’re unsure what went on at present. Hence the need for us to conduct house-to-house enquiries. Fortunately for us, you, Daisy and Doug were all living around here during the same period. We’re hoping any information you guys can give us will help solve the case. So far, all we’ve managed to find out is that May was a lovely person. Hardly the type of person to have bones buried in her back garden. Are you sure you can’t recall anything bad about her?”

  His eyes narrowed. “No, not that I can think of. I’m sure if anything bad had happened, it would be embedded in my mind. There’s nothing there. Sorry.”

  “Okay, don’t worry. Daisy and Doug both mentioned the gangs that were prevalent at the time. Did you have any major dealings with them? Conflicts of sorts, anything like that?”

  “The odd run-in with one or two. They were cheeky buggers really. Nothing too heavy, like throwing bricks through the window or running a key down the side of someone’s car. I wouldn’t class them as ‘gangs’, as such, not compared to the ones that are causing havoc today. I’d say they were just a group of lads meeting up to have some fun. Nothing more than that. Oh wait, I tell a lie…it’s all coming back now. There were a few instances around that time when the older gang got into bother. Damn, what was it they were up to? Let me think about it for a second or two.”

  Sally and Jack glanced at each other.

  Frank clicked his fingers. “I know…they started robbing a few of the shops in the town. Of course, all that stopped when that lad went missing.”

  “Jeff Ryland?”

  “That’s the one. His brothers used to be in the older gang. When the boy didn’t come home, they started searching for him at every opportunity. Out there day and night, they were. Some of us lent a hand when we could, but mostly William, the father, was eager to do the searching on his own, as though it was his responsibility to find the boy. He was in a terrible state after the first week had elapsed. Nearly on knees, he was. I tried to comfort him, but he was having none of it. If anyone spoke negatively about the boy’s disappearance, he’d jump down their throats. He was sure the lad had been abducted by someone rather than think of him as running away from home. Jesus, if what you lot have uncovered at May’s house turns out to be Jeff…well, it really doesn’t bear thinking about. Do the family know? ”

  “Yes. We had the unfortunate task of telling them yesterday. Of course, we’ve yet to make a formal ID, which should be on the cards soon enough. Were you surprised when the family moved away from the area?”

  His head tilted from side to side. “Yes and no. It must have been a wrench for them. I know the mother was in a terrible state. Every time I spoke to her, she used to plead with me to keep an eye out for him on my travels. Of course, that went without saying. I always did that anyway. I remember feeling useless for not being able to do more for the family—we all did. To witness so much pain and suffering—well, no one should experience that amount of upset in their lives. I thought it was brave of them to move away. I suppose they always knew that if Jeff turned up, that one of us would take him in and get in touch with them.”

  “It does sound like a fabulous community to be involved in. The incident must have affected you all.”

  He ran a hand over his face. “It did. Finding the bones has ensured my nights are restless now, too. It’s the guilt. It’s hard to bear. I know the bones haven’t been identified yet, but come on, Inspector, you don’t have to be a genius to figure out that’s going to be Jeff you’ve discovered.”

  “We’re keeping an open mind at present. It’s important for us to build a picture of what went on in those days, and we’re delighted with the information we’ve gleaned so far.”

  “I’m glad to hear it. The lad deserves a proper grave to rest in, if it is him. I don’t envy your task, though. Who on earth would do that to the lad? Not May, surely. I just wouldn’t believe that in a million years.”

  “All right, if not her then who else? Was there anyone hanging around at the time? A stranger in the area, acting suspicious?”

  He contemplated her question for a moment or two. “I honestly can’t remember anyone fitting that description, and that has nothing to do with my brain cells dying off. I think something like that would have stuck in my memory. We didn’t put up with shit of that nature years ago. I remember my daughter saying there was a strange man lingering at her school gates one time, and I drove down there like a shot. Sorted the pervert out, gave him a good hiding down an alley. He never returned to watch the kids again, I can tell you.”

  Sally covered her face with her hand. “Gosh, I really wish you hadn’t told me that, Mr. Wallis. ”

  Jack sniggered.

  Frank Wallis seemed confused. “What? Oh right,” he said, when the penny finally dropped. “I know I was in the wrong, but bloody hell, no one likes to think of their children not being safe at school, do they? I was carrying out a community service.”

  Sally dropped her hand and smiled at the man. “Commendable of you but also very much against the law. I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that part of the conversation. So there was someone hanging around. Was it at the same time Jeff went missing?”

  “Not really. This occurred a good few months later. That’s why I hit the roof—the thought of my daughter
going missing like the lad…”

  “I see. I can imagine it was a tough situation to find yourself in.”

  “Hey, I think I would have reacted the same way,” Jack added.

  Sally looked his way and shook her head. “Not helpful, partner.”

  He shrugged, and his head dropped down to his notebook once more.

  “Getting back to the Rylands. They doted on their children. Did you ever see another side to their nature where the kids were concerned?”

  “I have to say no. Never. They idolised those children. Maybe that’s why they moved—to protect the other boys after Jeff went missing. Although he was the youngest, of course. I always felt the older boys were more than capable of defending themselves adequately enough. I know the other young lad…crikey, what was his name?”

  “Are you talking about Warren?”

  “Yes, that was it. I think he took his brother’s disappearance really badly. He used to be an outgoing kind of lad but went into his shell.”

  “We’ve spoken to him. He told us that he felt responsible for not taking proper care of his brother around that time. He’s come to terms with it now, but only in the last five years or so.”

  “Poor lad. Not sure how I would have felt if this type of thing had happened to me and my brothers when we were growing up.”

  “Okay, is there anything else you can tell us that you think we should investigate?”

  “There really isn’t. I think you’ll be barking up the wrong tree if you think May did this, though. Of course, I’m not a detective, but I did know the woman personally. ”

  “Thank you. That’s reassuring to know. We’ll leave you to it. Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions. All right if I leave you a card?”

  “I was going to ask you for one. You know what it’s like—something you see on TV will jolt a memory. I’ll be in touch if that should happen. It goes without saying that I wish you luck going forward. Are you going to do one of those appeals?”

  “We’re going to see where the information we’ve been given leads us first. Thanks again for your help. Stay there. We can see ourselves out.”