Her Last Secret

by P L Kane

  She’d also made some really weird notes, including a couple of sets of numbers with no other explanation. More doodles? Or telephone numbers perhaps? Jake tried to call them, before realising they weren’t long enough to be phone numbers anyway. Something else then, bank accounts? Or a secret code?

  There was also a mention or two of the girls who were in her immediate circle at the moment, different names again – but Jordan did put down where they usually met. It was a place to start, and the weekend was coming up, so before Jake fell asleep from exhaustion, diary beside him on the bed, he’d already decided he would head out into town to find the place.

  And that he was going to find out all he could from them, too.

  Chapter 10

  She’d spotted the man even before he entered the place.

  Laura was pretty observant like that. You had to be really, or important stuff passed you by. Her friends, Becky – sitting on her right, nattering away as usual, occasionally flicking back a dark-blonde curl or two that had flopped down over her brow – and Raju, short for Rajeshri, on her left, taking all the gossip in, didn’t notice anything unless it was right on top of them.

  There was only really one topic of conversation at the moment anyway, which made a change from the usual who was dating who, which clubs they were going to hit that night, and what was happening on whatever reality TV show was popular at the time … usually who was dating who on it, and what clubs they were going to.

  But this week, and this weekend, there had only been one thing on everyone’s mind – and their lips. Their social media had been full of it, both on their news pages and in the private messages. Even the mayor of Redmarket, that Sellars, had been on TV talking about how it was ‘unfortunate’ and ‘tragic’, but these kinds of things very rarely happened in towns like theirs.

  Jordan Radcliffe’s death. Her murder, more accurately.

  What made it all the more surreal was that they’d known Jordan. Okay, maybe not that well, but she’d been part of their circle for a short time, introduced by friends of friends of friends. Laura had liked her. Felt like maybe, finally, she might have found someone who could be that proper best friend you confided in. Perhaps even still saw when you were in your thirties and had a husband, kids and a mortgage. If you went down that route, of course. If you decided not to follow your dreams … or perhaps weren’t encouraged to.

  She’d been nice, Jordan. Easy to talk to, though she didn’t really say much back. Quiet, maybe shy? When she did speak it was usually something worth listening to, though, decent advice; not like Becky who just liked hearing the sound of her own voice. Kept talking probably because she didn’t want to hear her own thoughts.

  Like she’d been doing when Laura had clocked the guy. She’d been looking at Becky’s hair, envious of it if the truth be known, and then looking at Raju’s perfect skin – so perfect half the time she didn’t even need make-up when she went out – and had depressed herself thoroughly. That’s when she’d looked away, seen him over the road, heading in the direction of the coffee shop they were in. The one they spent a lot of their free time in: ‘Better Latte Than Never’. It had only been around the last six months or so, and was competing with several more in the streets surrounding it – including a couple from the bigger chains – but had the advantage at the moment that it was new. That would only give it the edge for a short while, though Laura had to admit the coffee – expensive as it was, but then where wasn’t it these days? – was as tasty as it was elaborate, and the baristas were fairly easy on the eye. One in particular with skin the colour of the tanned drinks he was making, and short, velvety hair, would always give her a wink when he served her. He never did that to anyone else that she saw, which gave her a warm feeling …

  The little things, the details. They were important.

  Like the fact she’d seen this man’s face before. It took a moment or two, because he wasn’t like the photos they’d used. He looked like he’d been in a war, hadn’t slept or eaten in weeks. He was thinner in the face, some might even say gaunt, and had dark circles around his eyes. The clothes he was wearing, and especially his shirt, looked new but unloved, like they hadn’t been ironed; if there was one thing Laura and her friends knew about, it was well-loved clothes. They certainly had enough in their collections.

  As Becky continued to drone on, now dissecting Bobby Bannister’s relationship with their friend, while Raju nodded intently, the man entered the coffee shop, causing the bell to tinkle above him. He looked up with a start, as if wondering what it was. Here was someone living on his nerves, and Laura couldn’t say she really blamed him that week. He made his way up to the counter to stand in the queue, looking about him as if searching for someone. They made eye contact then, but he looked away first.

  He was not bad-looking – or wouldn’t have been back when he was her age, and also before the week from hell. Someone she might even have gone for herself, maybe. Someone she thought she might trust, confide in. Someone her heart was going out to right now.

  Her eyes trailed him as he got to the front of that queue, spoke to a different barista to the one who always winked, and asked him for a drink. Asked him something else as well, was talking to him. Laura watched as the man pointed across at the three of them – not that Becky and Raju had noticed yet. Didn’t even notice as he made his way between tables, over towards them.

  ‘… always said there was something funny about him, Bobby. Just something, oh, I don’t know, that …’ Becky was wittering on. Laura didn’t think the girl had met him more than a couple of times at most.

  ‘Becks,’ said Laura, trying to attract her attention. Then louder: ‘Becks!’ She was trying also to do the universal sign to stop, sawing her finger frantically across her throat – then realised how that might look. Realised what else that meant: to kill what you’re saying …

  To kill.

  Luckily, the man didn’t seem to notice, and Becky finally realised there was someone behind her when a shadow fell across their table. Raju looked up at the guy and was there just a flash of recognition? There should definitely have been, but you never knew with these two.

  The man raised a hand to say hello. Laura glanced down to see that – in contrast to their Yuayang, Macchiato and Galao – he just had a simple black coffee. He looked like he needed it. ‘Hi there, I was just talking to …’ He pointed back at the man who’d served him. ‘And, well, he said you might know my daughter, Jordan.’ The man paused, then rephrased that: ‘You might have known her. She … she passed away.’

  Laura nodded. ‘You’re her dad, aren’t you? Her real dad, I mean. Mr Radcliffe.’ This was as much for Becky and Raju’s benefit as anyone, in case they were still drawing blanks.

  Now he was the one who nodded. ‘Yeah. Jake. I … I knew some of her friends used to come here.’

  There was an awkward silence then, before Laura asked him if he’d like to pull up a chair. Becky threw her a look as if to say, ‘What the fuck are you doing?’ but Laura ignored her. He placed down his cup between Becky and Raju – opposite Laura, as if he felt like he might be able to relate to her better than the others, perhaps.

  ‘I was wondering if I could talk to you all, would that be okay?’

  ‘Sure,’ said Laura, again ignoring Becky. What was her problem? Usually she liked to talk. Couldn’t shut her up! After she’d introduced everyone, she said: ‘Talk to us about what?’ She shook her head; that was stupid, it was about Jordan obviously. She’d meant what was it specifically he wanted to know?

  ‘I …’ Now he’d been asked, been put on the spot, the man looked like he was struggling to answer himself.

  ‘I liked her,’ said Raju, before he could say any more. ‘She was nice.’

  The man smiled, but his eyes were full of regret. ‘Yes. Yes, she was. Thank you.’ He took a sip of his drink. ‘I suppose I’m trying to get my head around all this. Find out if there was anything strange going on, anything that might have led up to …
well, you know.’

  ‘Strange?’ asked Becky. ‘In what way?’

  ‘Was she acting strange perhaps, like something was on her mind?’

  ‘Not … not especially, so’s you’d notice. We … I mean, there are always things on people’s minds, aren’t there?’ These pearls of wisdom from Becky, who’d finally chirped up. Laura begged to differ; sometimes she wondered if there was anything at all on Becky’s.

  ‘She seemed to have a bit more money than usual,’ Laura told him. ‘Bit more flush.’

  ‘Oh?’

  ‘Not sure where she got it, maybe a new job? Something a bit better?’

  ‘Around here?’ scoffed Becky. ‘She’d not that long ago started going out with Bobby, it was probably from him. I was just saying, I wasn’t sure about the guy, there was something about him.’

  ‘Something …?’ prompted Jordan’s father.

  ‘You know. Just something. You know when there’s something weird, don’t you. Something …’ Becky shook her head. ‘Shouldn’t … I mean, aren’t the police already handling this? Don’t they have …? Bobby was arrested, right?’

  Jake Radcliffe nodded slowly. ‘I’m just trying to get to the truth, I suppose. Whatever that … Have the police spoken to you guys?’

  They all looked at each other, Becky and Raju especially trading blank stares. ‘No one’s talked to me,’ said the latter. ‘Have they you?’

  ‘Not even the TV people,’ said Becky, with a certain amount of bitterness. Laura knew that her friend had always harboured a hope that she’d be spotted by some TV exec and whisked off to star in something. She was constantly applying for the talent shows you saw on Saturday nights, but never got anywhere – mainly because she didn’t really have any talents as such … Unless you counted being able to talk for long periods of time without drawing breath. ‘How about you, Lor?’

  Laura shook her head. She didn’t really want to be interviewed by the media, and wasn’t sure how much use she’d be to the police in the matter. But then there were those details, weren’t there? Things that she noticed … Could any of them be important now?

  ‘How about these, do any of you recognise these numbers?’ He took a piece of paper from his jacket pocket; hotel stationery, by the looks of things. Probably where he was staying, because Jordan’s dad was from out of town – Laura remembered that. The man passed it around, but all three of them said no. ‘I was thinking maybe some ex of Jordan’s,’ he thought out loud. ‘Someone who might have been … Or a reason for her current boyfriend to get jealous? Maybe even cause him to be violent.’

  ‘Oh, I think we all know now how violent he could get!’ Becky, queen of good taste as always, said with a laugh. Then, when she saw the guy’s face said: ‘I’m sorry.’ It was the first time Laura had ever seen her apologise for anything.

  ‘Did he strike any of you as that kind of bloke?’ Jake Radcliffe asked.

  There were noncommittal mutters and shrugs all round.

  ‘There was just something …?’ the man said, repeating what Becky had said.

  Then suddenly Laura piped up. ‘Oh, wait … There was that one time when he got upset, you remember?’ She took in Raju and Becky one at a time, but again they both just frowned and shrugged. ‘It was about Drummond. Oh come on, you must remember it – wasn’t that long ago, couple of weeks maybe?’ The details, she was thinking. Never miss things if you can help it.

  ‘Drummond?’ said Jake Radcliffe, equally confused.

  A look of recognition passed across Raju’s face and she flapped her hand. ‘Yeah, yeah. But that was just Drummond, right?’

  ‘Who’s Drummond?’ asked Jordan’s father with an edge to his tone.

  ‘Drummond’s just Drummond,’ Becky explained, as if it told him everything he needed to know. It didn’t; he just looked more puzzled than ever, and a little bit frustrated.

  ‘He’s sort of a local character,’ Laura said quickly. ‘At least he’s become one over the last couple of years or so.’

  ‘A little bit …’ Becky twirled her finger at her temple, chipping in and apparently eager to talk about it all of a sudden.

  ‘I think he’s creepy,’ Raju said, giving her impression. ‘The way he stares at you sometimes.’ She shivered.

  ‘Sounds like someone the police ought to be looking into anyway,’ replied Jake, drinking more of his coffee.

  ‘Hmmm, probably,’ was all Raju would add.

  ‘They know him of old.’ Becky again. ‘He’s been picked up loads of times, they always let him go.’

  ‘Probably because they have nothing to charge him with. Being creepy isn’t against the law,’ Laura pointed out.

  ‘If it was then Stephen Mulhern would have been banged up years ago,’ joked Becky.

  ‘Anyway, we’re getting off the point,’ said Laura, trying to bring it back to the topic at hand. ‘Bobby …’

  Becky clicked her fingers. ‘That’s right, now I remember! Something to do with Drummond following Jordan around, wasn’t it?’

  Jake Radcliffe leaned forward in the chair. ‘Following her around?’

  Laura pulled a face. ‘I’m not sure he was exactly following—’

  ‘Yes, yes! That’s right. He was following her and Bobby didn’t like it.’ Laura didn’t recall anything about that, but then Becky did have a tendency to exaggerate. The number of times she’d told them tall tales about her exploits – particularly in the bedroom – only for them, mostly, to end up being false. ‘Got all bent out of shape about it, wanted to know the ins and outs. He might even have shaken her.’

  ‘This Drummond fellow shook Jordan?’ asked Jake, seriously.

  ‘No, no. Bobby shook her.’ Laura stared at Becky, trying to work out if this was one of those times when she was making it up as she was going along, or had she really noticed something important for a change? One thing was for sure, Laura hadn’t seen any of this. ‘Yeah, yeah. That was it. When she said about Drummond following her. I don’t think he liked it.’

  ‘Didn’t like the attention,’ Jordan’s father mused, and Laura felt like she was missing something now; some vital piece of information he knew that they didn’t. ‘Male attention.’

  ‘I don’t know if you’d call him a man as such,’ said Raju. ‘Just a creep.’

  ‘A dangerous kind of creep?’

  Raju shrugged.

  Laura watched Jordan’s dad suck in a breath before speaking, noticing the details again. Observant, knowing that this might be important at some point in the future and having a horrible feeling, like a lead weight in the pit of her stomach, that they’d done something terrible here today. That it would lead to something terrible.

  ‘Okay, so where,’ said Jordan’s father, Mr Radcliffe, Jake, finally, ‘does this Drummond character mainly like to do his creeping about?’

  Chapter 11

  The more he’d sat and listened to Jordan’s friends – acquaintances more like, as none of them had known her for very long, or even known her that well – the more Jake had disliked the person they were talking about.

  This Drummond, known to the police, but never held for long, definitely sounded like someone they should be looking into, regardless of whether he had anything at all to do with Jordan’s murder. At the very least, he may have been the trigger – the thing that had set BB off, flipped that switch Jordan had spoken about. The mood swings, guys looking at her. One specific guy, who liked looking at a lot of people by the sounds of it. Young girls in particular.

  He’d asked whereabouts the bloke usually did this, and the answer he got back was anywhere girls like that would congregate. The popular choice was outside college when it started or finished, sometimes schools or parks. But as it was the weekend, there was really only one clear choice according to that lass Becky.

  ‘He’ll be at the leisure centre, perving over the swimmers,’ she’d stated emphatically, folding her arms. And all the while her friend Laura, the one who’d actually seemed to have a clue, w
ho’d remembered the encounter between Jordan and Bobby about Drummond in the first place, had been biting her lip as if they shouldn’t be telling him all this. Like she knew what he had in mind and that they were aiding and abetting him in this … whatever it was. Something not good, that’s for sure! Perceptive girl, nice girl actually. If Jordan had had more of those as friends, then maybe …

  None of them seemed to know where this Drummond lived, though. Perhaps he didn’t even have a home, thought Jake. Maybe he was like one of those trolls, the monsters he used to read stories to Jordan about, the kind she would try and hide from. The kind that lived under bridges or what have you.

  The kind that killed you, that ate you.

  It was a comparison that seemed all the more appropriate when Jake finally came across him, exactly where Becky had said he would be: standing on grassland not far from the glass window of the swimming pool at the leisure centre, gawking away at what was happening inside; lots of families splashing around in the water, having fun; lots of young girls wearing nothing but bathing suits and bikinis.

  They’d said he was a big man, Jordan’s friends, a giant even – but that hadn’t really sunk in until Jake had been this close to him. He had to be heading for seven foot, and solid with it. In spite of the fact it was cold outside, he had on only an ill-fitting T-shirt (Jake had to wonder what kind of shirt would actually fit him) and loose, faded jeans. Not the fashionable kind that seemed so popular these days, more the old kind that he’d had for years, and these met the tops of his boots just above his ankles. His hair hung limply in clumps on his head, with bald patches here and there that made it look slightly diseased.

  Jake had approached from behind initially, then skirted around the nearer he drew. And it was at this point he saw the look on the man’s face, the fixation on that pool. His eyes were narrowed, almost like pinpricks beneath a thick, swollen brow. His mouth was open in fascination, but from time to time, as Jake observed him, that mouth would break into a grin that was quite chilling. He hadn’t thought past finding Drummond, what he was going to do when he actually did, but when Jake saw him lick his lips, openly gaping at one young girl as she got out of one side of the pool and trotted round it to the diving board, he suddenly found himself thinking about this guy ogling his daughter, what else he might be capable of. And he found himself striding towards him.