Sleepwalk (21 page)

‘Yes. But she’s growing impatient sir.’

‘Ok. Give her some refreshments Claire. Take her a cup of tea and some biscuits or something. I’m just going to make a couple of calls and then I’ll be along. Tell her I won’t keep her much longer.’

‘Yes Sir’

The girl was quite an artist and the images were clear. One sketch showed the view from the front of a car, although slightly to the side. Jonquil had captured one half of the windscreen including the windscreen wiper blades lying still and above them, her hands clutching the steering wheel was the face of a woman, her jaw firmly fixed and her eyes wide with terror. But was this face the face of their suspect …… or the face Jonquil imagined it to be? The girl certainly wasn’t the most reliable of witnesses and had some strange beliefs. Carter wondered how much of her vision was real and how much was drug induced. He would get her back in tomorrow and make her have a blood test; but not until after she had done the identikit test. He needed her cooperation right now and didn’t want to upset her. The next image was similar but she had scribbled it out and on another piece of paper were some more scribbled out faces and then at the bottom of the third page was a perfect view from the rear side of the car. It looked like a small hatchback and it was black or dark coloured. The driver’s window was open and the woman’s long blonde hair was whipping in the wind. The girl had even managed to capture a trail of dust in its wake as if to indicate the speed at which it passed. Carter called traffic and told them he was faxing over an image of a car for them to identify, then he called the front desk and told
Clark
to arrange for their identikit artist to attend in the morning.

‘Jonquil. I just need to ask you a few more questions and then you can go.’

The girl sighed and assumed the tom boy position once more.

‘Have you studied art Jonquil? You’re very good at it.’

‘Is that relevant to the case Inspector?’

‘I was just admiring your handiwork, that’s all. You’re a bit of an artist aren’t you?

You’ve captured the fear in her face; the determination in her eyes. Do you think it is determination? I would say it is. She looks pretty determined to me. Looks like she has a job to do and she’s going to do it come hell or high water.’

‘Well of course she has a job to do. She is the angel of death. She comes for you when…….. when it’s your turn.’

‘How do you know Jonquil? I mean……. Look at her. Look at your picture Jonquil.
It’s just a woman in a car. Could be any woman driver in any old car; and typical of any woman driver she was going too fast and couldn’t handle it and, Oh whoops….. forgot to brake in time.’

‘That’s sexist and it’s not true. She is the angel of death.’

‘How? Why? What makes her the bloody angel of death?’

‘Because……. Because she has the face of an angel but the look of death and I’ve seen her before………’ She had said too much.
She had gone too far
. Carter would have her here all night now.

‘Ah…… You have seen her come for another old soul? How long ago?’

‘A few weeks.’

‘And where were you when you saw her Jonquil?’

‘By the park, In town.’

‘
Western Drive
? Outside the Conservative club?’

Jonquil nodded. Just over an hour later she was signing a statement and then they let her go. She’d promised to come back in the morning to run through an identikit photo session with the police artist. Carter read through her statement. It was all a bit vague. Her description of the driver was hazy. The only thing she was certain of was that it was a woman; a woman with long blonde hair and mad eyes. It was a long shot but it was all they had. The only other witness was a drunk who was leaving the club when Gus was killed. He’d caught the tail end of the car as it sped away but couldn’t remember the registration number; he’d been so shocked to see his drinking acquaintance flying through the air and had gone back to summon help. He’d said it was a black car which tied in with Jonquils description. The riverbank incident was even less forthcoming. Quote, ‘
I saw the car which came from nowhere and shot across the wasteland at such a reckless speed that I began to run under the bridge in fear of my life. I didn’t see
her
actually hit the Colonel but I could see
she
was aiming at him and when I reached the bridge and looked back the car had stopped right where the Colonel had been standing and the Colonel was gone
’. Jonquil went on to say that the car then started to reverse and did a u-turn and was heading toward her very fast in reverse gear so she ran under the bridge to the gap in the fence and climbed through just as the car hit the bridge. ‘
Then I hid in the undergrowth in the still of night. My heart was racing; waiting
……
. waiting
for the angel of d
eath to come and get me
……
. but she never came. I believe I cheated death that night because it must have been my turn too. Much later, I heard the engine fire up but this time it was quiet and it left calmly and didn’t come back that night’
. Carter began to wonder at the girl’s sanity and how she would cope under cross examination. The defence would tear her apart. She seemed convinced that this hit and run driver was an apparition. But there were no other witnesses who had seen what she had seen. He would have to convince her that the
angel of d
eath
was real.

Felicity and David arrived at her cottage bright and early on Saturday morning armed with various tins of paint, roller trays and paint brushes. The new roof tiles stood out from the road like a patchwork quilt even though Bob had gone to a lot of trouble visiting reclamation yards to get the right colour for them to blend in. The outside walls looked much better where the workmen had been cleaning the stone work with a special cleaning fluid provided by the fire brigade. The burnt paint on the door and windows now were the only visible signs of fire damage from outside.

‘Bob said the new windows will be here on Monday’ said Felicity as she approached the front door and put down her box of decorating equipment to get her keys out.

‘Well I’ll make a start on the front door if you like Flick. At least then it’ll look ok from the front once the windows go in.’ David looked up to the roof and saw the builders had already replaced a section of fascia board and some guttering above the bedroom window. ‘They’ve got on well with the work though, I’ll give them that’.

‘Wait till you see inside. The bedroom floor was almost finished when I saw it yesterday.’

David followed her into the little cottage and climbed the temporary ladder to the landing. Before the building work had started there was a massive hole in the ceiling and the roof was exposed at the front. Now the old lath and plaster ceiling had been completely removed and six sheets of plasterboard lay against one wall ready to be fitted. Between the joists the roof of the house was clearly visible above this room.

David spotted a small ladder leaning against the wall beside the plasterboard and immediately propped it against one of the beams and began to climb up to look at the loft space.

‘Flick this is quite some loft space you’ve got up here. You could maybe turn it into another bedroom you know. Put a couple of Dormer windows up here and you’d have a three bedroomed house.’

‘I hadn’t thought of that. I’ve never really needed any more space with it just being me.’

‘Well, now would be a good time to do it while this work is going on. It would cost less if they did it now because their access is good.’

‘I can’t afford it just now David. I’ve had to take out a loan to get all this work done and I’m having to borrow from my parents.’

‘Babe…….. why didn’t you tell me? I could have helped. I still can if you’ll let me.’

‘No. Thank you. It’s so nice of you to offer but I…………. I have to do this myself.’

‘Flick; just think about it? Ask Mr Croft what it would cost to put a couple of windows up here, some floor boards and electrics, maybe bring some water up too; it’s big enough for an en-suite.’

Felicity looked at this man who had so quickly and surely become the love of her life, his eyes alight with excitement and so eager to help and advise her.

‘Well, ok I’ll ask him but until I hear from the insurance company I can’t commit to anything.’

‘I can help with the cost and you can pay me back when you get your insurance money.’

‘
If
I get my insurance money.’

‘Don’t be daft of course you will. Have you not heard anything from them?’

‘Only a letter to say they acknowledge receipt of my claim and will begin investigations accordingly. I know they’re not going to pay out until the police find the person who did this……… they won’t will they?’

‘It’s unlikely babe. I mean; its arson isn’t it? Someone has to be held responsible. Don’t worry. I’m sure old sweeney will find him. Come ‘ere.’ He kissed her then and Felicity could quite easily have abandoned the cleaning and painting and just stayed in his arms forever, but he pushed her gently away and put the pack of paint brushes in her hand. They laughed and made their way back downstairs to begin their chores.

David set to work on the front door, scraping the paint which seemed to come off a little too easily on the inside and it didn’t take him long to announce that in his opinion she should have a new front door. Felicity agreed and they both set to work in the kitchen, cleaning the walls and woodwork. They worked hard the rest of the day stopping briefly to eat lunch which David had brought along in a cool box and by mid afternoon the kitchen was looking quite respectable with the tiles and units scrubbed clean and two walls painted in Wilson’s old buttermilk cream; which didn’t look at all bad………….

By the time they reached
Rose Lane
that night they were exhausted. They had finished painting the kitchen and had made good progress on cleaning the hallway but there was still a lot to do. Felicity had agreed to talk to Bob Croft about a loft conversion although deep down she had doubts about David loaning her money and investing into a property of which she was sole owner. What if things didn’t work out between them and then she couldn’t pay him back? That would give him a vested interest in her home. What did it matter though? If they were to spend the rest of their lives together then they would share everything; their finances, their properties…….

She shouldn’t have any doubts………. yet something was clawing away at her conscience, telling her,
It’s too soon. You’ve only just met him
……
Anything could happen
……
Don’t do it
…………. Perhaps if they had known each other longer and were married, she would feel different…….. more settled, more sure of him. But they weren’t. They had only been together a few months and David was still married to Ellie. No. She should forget any thoughts of marriage and think of the here and now. If David put any money into this property then it must be an official loan. She had seen too many cases of this nature where family and friends loaned money to safeguard property for their loved one’s and later became involved in dispute. She had seen family’s torn apart because of it. She must draw up an agreement and see her solicitor; follow the correct procedures. That way if the police didn’t find the person responsible for the fire at her cottage and the insurance company wouldn’t pay up she would have to sell up and buy a smaller property. On a positive note Felicity wasn’t stupid. She had been in the property game long enough to know that a loft conversion would be a sound investment with prices on the increase being the current trend right now. Since Maggie Thatcher’s rise to power and having introduced her right-to-buy legislation there were more first time buyers than ever before and a boom in the housing market was born. People from all walks of life were getting their feet on the property ladder and she’d heard on the grapevine that prices were set to rise even further. Felicity quite admired Maggie Thatcher. She was a woman of power who was afraid of no man who had the courage of her convictions and the sheer strength and determination to see them through, although some of her arguments seemed almost eccentric and off the wall. Most home owners supported her simply because her actions had made their investment more profitable and as long as prices were going up, she would have their vote.

‘Penny for them?’

‘Sorry David. I was miles away. I was thinking about Maggie Thatcher.’

‘Ah. The Lady on every girl’s mind. The search for equality and power. How do you fancy a chinese Flick?’

‘Sounds good to me….. and I think we deserve one after today.’

After they had showered and changed that evening they drove into town and collected their takeaway and David opened a bottle of wine.

‘Now miss Breen……. we have a night alone together………..’ He announced after turning the lights down low and the music up ever so slightly, ‘……. I am now going to remove all items of clothing from your body…. then I am going to gently massage your back and then……… erase all thoughts of Mrs Thatcher from your mind.’

And
David kept his word
………..