JM05 - Deadly Ritual
Page 19
“A murder, Alfie? Whose murder did you see?”
Alfie shook his head. “I don’t know who it was. We saw a man on the floor, and I saw Mr. X above him. He had a knife in his hand… and he stabbed him.”
Alfie’s lashes were wet with tears.
“It was just me and Francis. Francis told me he knew who Mr. X was, and said he could show me where he lived. I didn’t believe him. I thought Mr. X was just someone my aunt and uncle made up to scare me.”
Alfie chewed his thumbnail. “I should have believed Francis,” he said. “Then we might not have seen it.
“I knew there was something wrong, and I wanted to run away, but Francis didn’t… He just stood there, and then...” Alfie broke off and put a hand to his mouth. He shook his head and then said, “I ran away.”
A tear rolled down his cheek. “I ran away and left Francis there.”
Charlotte swallowed the lump in her throat. “I’m glad you ran away, Alfie. That was the sensible thing to do.”
“But if I hadn’t run away, maybe Francis...”
“No boy,” Mr. Xander’s low voice rumbled. “If you hadn’t run away… it doesn’t bear thinking about. You staying wouldn’t have saved Francis.”
“You did the right thing,” Charlotte said again. “And now you’re really helping Francis by telling us all this.”
Alfie had witnessed a murder. His best friend had been killed and dumped in a river. He’d been abused by his aunt and uncle, and abandoned by his grandmother.
Despite all that, when Alfie looked at Charlotte, he didn’t look nervous any more, he looked relieved.
When Charlotte walked back to the incident room, she felt more drained than she’d thought possible.
Alfie would be staying with emergency foster carers overnight. He had to be so scared. He was only twelve-years-old and he’d been through so much. Now that he was a witness, he’d have to live through it all again when they had a trial.
As she walked along the corridor, she saw Mackinnon, Collins and Webb heading out of the incident room.
“Drink?” Mackinnon asked.
Charlotte nodded. After today, she needed more than one.
***
Inside the Red Herring Pub, Charlotte looked up at the plastic spiders hanging from the ceiling.
There were spray-on cobwebs at the window. Hollowed-out pumpkins with candles inside sat on the windowsills and gave out an eerie flickering light.
This was one Halloween Charlotte would never forget.
Charlotte’s phone buzzed in her pocket, and she pulled it out, smiling when she saw who the message was from.
Last year she’d bought Nan a mobile phone, but Nan hadn’t warmed to it straight away. It had been months before she’d attempted a text, but now she was in full swing and sent Charlotte a text practically every day.
Charlotte read the text and quickly replied. She’d go and see Nan tomorrow. Charlotte had needed to bail out on their weekly dinner last Wednesday, and she’d felt bad.
Charlotte smothered a yawn and added an order of chicken wings to Mackinnon and Collins’s food order. The bruise was now blossoming on the side of Mackinnon’s head. It would look awful in the morning.
She watched the condensation trickle down the side of her gin and tonic and thought about how things could have worked out differently.
She thought about the piece of paper Erika Darago had pushed towards her and how tempted she’d been to write down a name.
They now had months of work in front of them as they tried to get justice for Kofi Okoro’s victims. Every murder had been paid for but proving that would be hard. The cases against Joy Barter, Eric Madison and Bertie Lassiter needed to be watertight; otherwise they would walk.
So many lives had been wrecked. At least Alfie Adebayo had been taken away from his abusive family and was now in emergency foster care. Charlotte hoped Alfie could get the help and support he needed, so his life wasn’t ruined as well.
If anyone deserved some happiness, it was him.
46
TWO MONTHS LATER, CHARLOTTE trudged over a muddy playing field. There were only a few days until Christmas, and Charlotte thought whoever had decided a football match was a good idea at this time of year was crazy.
She wasn’t exactly a football fan, but she’d been invited today by William Xander.
She spotted the PE teacher straight away. He stood head and shoulders above everyone else standing on the sidelines.
He waved her over.
Charlotte wrapped her scarf more securely around her neck and joined him at the edge of the pitch.
“Who’s winning?” she asked.
William Xander laughed. “It’s just a kick about,” he said, and nodded at Alfie who was dribbling the ball. “He’s good though. The boy has a real talent.”
“He looks a lot smaller than the other boys,” Charlotte said as Alfie successfully skirted around a tackle from a boy almost a foot taller than him.
“That’s because most of them are fifteen. But he holds his own.”
Charlotte really wasn’t much of a judge. She watched them play for a few minutes then said, “How has he been getting on?”
“Pretty good. I think he worries about his uncle, but he’s getting better.”
Alfie’s uncle, Remi Darago, had disappeared without a trace. Charlotte knew that until the man was found and held accountable, Alfie would find it hard to focus on the future.
“Do you think the football helps?” Charlotte asked.
“It helps him to know he is good at something. Last month, I asked him to try out for the school team and he told me he was terrible at sports. That’s what he’s been told his whole life, so he believes it.”
William Xander shouted out, “Keep your eyes on the ball, Alfie.”
“Is he doing okay at school?”
Xander nodded. “Yes, which is largely thanks to his foster placement. He got lucky there.” Xander nodded further along the sidelines where a group of parents gathered. “His foster mother is here. Shall I introduce you?”
Alfie’s foster mother was a short woman, almost as short as Charlotte. She had a sunny smile and greeted Charlotte enthusiastically when Xander introduced them.
Xander blew his whistle. “All right, you lot. That’s enough for today.”
Along with the other boys, Alfie trudged off the pitch. He was smiling. He really looked happy.
He was heading over towards his foster mother when he saw Charlotte and froze.
The fear on his face was obvious.
She shouldn’t have come. She should have realised that her presence would just remind Alfie of everything he’d been through, and the trial he still had to endure.
“Come on, boy,” Mr. Xander’s voice boomed. “She’s just come to see if you’re okay. There’s nothing to worry about.
Alfie nodded and took a tentative step forward. His foster mother walked over to him and ruffled his hair. “You did great today. Absolutely brilliant.”
Alfie smiled and took a juice from Mr. Xander. He guzzled it down greedily.
“You played well, Alfie,” Charlotte said.
“Thanks,” he said shyly.
She chatted with him for a few minutes, and he enthusiastically described his new house and the new football boots he’d had for his birthday. It was nice to hear him talk about things kids his age should be talking about. And it was fantastic to see how relaxed he was.
As they walked back to the school car park, Alfie and his foster mother walked slightly ahead of Charlotte and Mr. Xander.
Mr. Xander clamped a large hand on Charlotte’s shoulder. “You know, I think he’s going to be okay.”
Charlotte smiled. In front of them, Alfie was discussing plans for Christmas with his foster mother.
“I think you’re right,” she said.
There was still a long way to go, but Alfie was definitely heading in the right direction.
Thank you!
THANKS FOR
READING DEADLY Ritual. I hope you enjoyed it!
I am currently working on the next book in the Deadly Series. If you would like to be one of the first to find out when my next book is available, you can sign up for my new release email at www.dsbutlerbooks.com/newsletter
Reviews are like gold to authors. They spread the word and help readers find books, and I appreciate all reviews whether positive or negative. If you have the time to leave a review, I would be very grateful.
You can follow me on Twitter at @ds_butler, or like my Facebook page at http://facebook.com/d.s.butler.author
For readers who like to read series books in order here is the order of the Deadly Series so far: 1) Deadly Obsession 2)Deadly Motive 3)Deadly Revenge 4)Deadly Justice and 5) Deadly Ritual.
About D.S. Butler
D. S. BUTLER IS the author of the DS Jack Mackinnon series of crime mystery books set in London.
To learn more, you can visit D. S. Butler’s website:
http://dsbutlerbooks.com
Other books by D. S. Butler
1)Deadly Obsession
2)Deadly Motive
3)Deadly Revenge
4)Deadly Justice
5)Deadly Ritual
If you would like to be informed when the new DS Mackinnon book is released, sign up for the newsletter:
http://dsbutlerbooks.com/newsletter.html
Acknowledgements
MANY PEOPLE HELPED TO provide ideas and background for this book. My thanks and gratitude to DI Dave Carter for his help when I first had the idea for the Deadly Series.
To Nanci, my editor, thanks for always managing to squeeze me in when I finally finish my books!
I would also like to thank my friends on Twitter for their entertaining tweets and encouragement.
My thanks, too, to all the people who read the story and gave helpful suggestions and to Chris, who, as always, supported me despite the odds.
And last but not least, my thanks to you for reading this book. I hope you enjoyed it.