Slur: The Riverhill Trilogy: Book 1 (16 page)

Julie knew
that Norma had been watching both of them but she didn’t confide in her. She
remembered Rita’s reaction the last time she had confided in Norma and decided
that it was best to keep her mouth shut. It wouldn’t be long now till everybody
found out the full facts surrounding Amanda’s death. She just had to be patient
for a bit longer.

Friday 22
^nd
August 1986

It was 11 o’clock on Friday night. Julie and Rita were
standing in the narrow, deserted street that ran along the side of the
Victorian building in which Les’s flat was situated. As they had been watching
Les for the last two weeks, they had learnt that his flat was at the rear of
the building.

‘You watch
the back and I’ll keep an eye on the front,’ ordered Rita.

Julie
walked down the side street, and stopped just past the end of the gable wall
where she had a good view of Les’s bedroom. Her heart was pounding as she
thought about Vinny breaking into the flat. She watched the window to see if
she could spot any sign of him. A cold shiver ran up her spine and she had the
eerie feeling that someone was watching her. She turned around but there was
nobody there. She was alone, frightened and vulnerable. The memories of the
police cell came flooding back but she tried to stifle them so that she could
concentrate on the task in hand.

Suddenly,
she saw a shadow fall across the bedroom window. “
Vinny,
” she thought,
and she peered around her once more to make sure nobody else had seen him.

As she
continued to wait she noticed the tension in her muscles. Although the night
was again chilly for August, her hands had become clammy. Her breath escaped in
sharp bursts.

“
Come on
Vinny, what’s taking you so long?
” she thought.

A loud screech
sounded in the darkness followed by a clatter of metal. She spun around. Her
senses were on full alert as she scanned the back entry where the sound had come
from. The sight of two large green eyes glaring at her caused her to gasp in
alarm, until she realised that it was just a cat that had crashed into a
dustbin.

‘Bloody
cat!’ she cursed.

She noticed
Rita heading back towards her. ‘Will you be quiet Julie?’ she commanded as softly
as she could. ‘I can hear you half a bleedin’ mile off. You’ll give the game
away!’

‘It’s OK, it
was just a cat,’ whispered Julie. ‘Vinny’s in, go back and cover the front.’

Julie
watched as Rita returned to the front of the building. She was just beginning
to prepare herself for the ordeal of being alone once more when Rita dashed
back towards her.

‘Fuck, Les
is back!’ she announced. ‘His car’s out the front.’

‘Shit,
what’s he doing back? The clubs don’t shut for hours yet.’

‘He’s with
a girl,’ Rita replied. ‘I don’t think they’ve gone in yet. They were still in
the car having a snog.’

‘Jesus
Rita, we’ll have to warn Vinny before Les gets back in the flat!’

‘How; we can
hardly go and knock on the fuckin’ front door, can we?’

‘I don’t
know.’

Julie
searched around for something that might help. Instinctively she picked up a
stone and launched it at the bedroom window. It missed. She tried again.

Rita joined
in, scanning the ground for more stones. A hit. The sound of striking glass.
Then another. Rita dashed back up the side street. ‘I’ll see if Les is still
there,’ she panted.

Julie
spotted Vinny at the window. She waved frantically. A bemused expression ensued.
Her hands enacted a series of chaotic gestures. Then, recognition! He was
trying to open the window. ‘Jesus, hurry up Vinny!’ she muttered to herself.

Rita returned.
‘They’re still in the car!’

Her eyes
followed Julie’s up to the window. ‘Hurry up,’ they both mouthed. Eventually
Vinny managed to open the window and scoured around for something to clamber
onto. He spotted a drainpipe about three feet from the bedroom window.

The girls
let out a joint sigh of relief as he began to climb over the window-sill, but
then watched with bated breath as he tried to bridge the gap between the far
edge of the window and the drainpipe. The drainpipe was old and rickety. It
juddered about as Vinny grabbed onto it, trying hard to cling on with his left
hand and leg. Suddenly, he took the plunge and let go of the window surround
with the rest of his body. He veered towards the pipe.

As his
right hand grasped it a bracket broke away from the wall releasing a part of
the drainpipe, which swung like a pendulum with Vinny grasping it desperately. Once
the swinging had diminished and the pipe had stabilised, Vinny climbed down.

Just at
that moment, Julie heard a sound coming from the house that backed onto this
one. She and Rita glanced in the direction of the noise and saw a man at the
window.

‘What the
bloody hell’s going on?’ he shouted.

‘Quick
Vinny, we’ve been spotted!’ she warned him and he jumped the last few feet to
the ground then appeared on top of the back gate. They ran from the house as
fast as they could, and soon heard the sound of police sirens in the distance.

--------------------

Friday
22
^nd
August 1986

Les had
persuaded the pretty, young girl to come inside his flat with him. “
This
could be my lucky night,
” he thought as he ascended the stairs clutching
the girl in a passionate embrace. She was a definite improvement on the other
women he had been with since he’d lost Amanda. He knew deep down that there
would never be a replacement for his Mandy. The trouble was that he was relying
too much on drugs since Amanda had died and in his irrational state he couldn’t
help trying to recapture what he had with her. This led to disappointment for
him, which he would then take out on whichever unwitting girl he happened to be
with.

When he
drew near to his flat he instinctively knew that something was amiss. This was
affirmed when he spotted the front door and noticed that it was slightly ajar.
He dashed towards the door and saw that the lock had been forced. In his rage
he ran into the flat, examining each room for signs of an intruder.

As Les
opened the bedroom door he was shocked to find several bags of white powder
strewn about the floor and bed. His first reaction was to stop the girl from
seeing them. He met her in the hallway and dragged her into the living room
ordering her to stay there and not move.

‘What’s the
matter?’ she asked, alarmed.

Ignoring
her, Les returned to the bedroom and began to stuff the packages into the wardrobe.
He could hear the sound of police sirens becoming closer, and he didn’t have
time to think of an alternative hiding place.

Once the
bags were out of sight, he locked the window, shut the bedroom door and went
back to the living room.

‘What the
hell’s going on?’ asked the girl. ‘You frightened the life out of me.’

Les sidled
up to her and adopted his “Mr Charming” persona. ‘Sorry love, I didn’t mean to
scare you but someone’s done my flat over and I almost caught them in the act.
They escaped through the bedroom window and I didn’t want you in there in case
you got hurt.’

This seemed
to reassure the girl and he began to fawn over her, bestowing her with kisses
in preparation for the seduction that was to take place later, all the time
aware of the imminent arrival of the police.

By the time
the doorbell rang Les was cool and calm, and had formulated his story in his
mind.

‘Oh hello officer,’
he said, as he answered the door.

The two
policemen introduced themselves, produced their identity cards, and explained
that they had received a call from a neighbour reporting that a man had been
seen escaping from an upstairs window.

‘Really?’
asked Les, the surprise evident on his face as he enacted the role of aggrieved
victim. ‘I must have just missed the bastard then! I knew someone had been in ’cos
of the broken lock, and he left the bedroom window open, but I’ve had a quick
look round and there doesn’t seem to be anything missing.’

‘Are you
sure?’ asked one of the policemen.

‘Yeah, I
reckon I must have disturbed him and the bugger’s ran off before he had a
chance to take anything. I wish I could have got my hands on the bastard that
did this though!’ and Les pointed towards the broken door jamb.

‘Do you
mind if we take a quick look round sir?’ asked the police officer.

‘There’s no
need. I told you, there’s nothing missing.’

‘Nevertheless,
we’d like to take a look sir.’

‘OK, suit
yourself, but would you make it snappy lads ’cos I’ve got something rather
tasty cooking if you know what I mean.’

The
policemen nodded in recognition as Les imitated the shape of an hourglass
figure with his hands. Then he stood aside to let them enter. Their visit was
brief, especially when they spotted the vision of beauty that was sitting on
Les’s sofa. One of the policemen smiled with envy at Les.

Les
accompanied them around the flat and tried to remain calm while they searched
the bedroom. The first police officer headed towards the bedroom window to look
at the burglar’s escape route, while the second officer hovered perilously close
to the wardrobe. He glanced around the room and was just about to open the wardrobe
door when Les diverted him. ‘The bedside cabinet!’ he announced. ‘I’m sure
there’s something missing from it.’

Once he was
satisfied that the officer had moved away from the wardrobe and towards the bedside
cabinet, he continued his charade, holding the officer’s attention. ‘I can’t
for the life of me think what it was though.’

After a
plausible few seconds spent in deep thought, he added, ‘Ah yes, that was it; I
had a gold chain on there. I’d not been wearing it ’cos the fastener had broken
but don’t worry, it’s not been taken. I remember now, I took it in to be
repaired a few days ago. In fact, that reminds me; I must remember to pick it
up.’

The
policemen looked at him. For a moment they seemed hesitant. Les decided to
steer them into action.

‘No
officers, there’s definitely nothing missing but thanks for your concern. He
held the bedroom door ajar, beckoning them towards it. They rewarded his quick
thinking by stepping in the direction of the door, taking a last glance around
the room as they made their exit.

-------------------- 

Friday
22
^nd
August 1986

Ten minutes
earlier Julie, Rita and Vinny had made the frantic dash from Les’s apartment so
they could be out of sight by the time the police arrived.

‘That was a
fuckin’ close shave!’ yelled Rita as they stopped to catch breath.

‘You can
say that again,’ Julie agreed, clutching her chest. ‘Are you all right Vinny?’

‘Yeah,’ he
replied as he examined the grazes on his hands. ‘I’m just glad we got away in
time.’

‘Me too.
That was a bit too close for comfort. Did you get a chance to do it?’

‘I didn’t
do the fire, but there’s drugs all over the bedroom. There was a box full of
them, so I emptied it out everywhere.’

‘Oh good,’
said Julie. ‘Let’s hope the police see them when they arrive.’

‘Shshsh,’
shouted Rita. ‘Listen.’

‘Shit,’ said
Vinny. ‘They’re nearly here. Quick, over there.’

They dashed
into a nearby garden, ducking down behind the low surrounding wall. They were
now a few streets away from Les’s flat and they listened as they heard the
police car speeding up the street.

‘Jesus,
that was another close shave,’ said Vinny.

‘Let’s get
home now,’ said Rita. ‘I’ve had enough for one night. We’ve done the job now
anyway.’

‘We’re not
going anywhere,’ Julie challenged. ‘Let’s stay put. I want to make sure they
arrest the bastard. I wouldn’t put it past him to wangle his way out of this
one.’

Rita and
Vinny reluctantly agreed, and after a few minutes they heard a vehicle coming
up the street again.

‘Quick,’
said Vinny. ‘Get your heads down,’ but Julie couldn’t resist a quick peek over
the wall as the vehicle passed.

Once they
had heard it round the bend at the end of the street, Julie sat down on the
grass and let out a hiss of disappointment. ‘It was the police car,’ she said.

‘So?’ asked
Rita.

‘Les wasn’t
in it. That bastard’s squirmed his way out of it again!’

‘He must
have heard the sirens and knew they were coming,’ said Vinny.

Julie began
to hammer her fists against the wall. ‘I’m not giving up!’ she yelled. ‘I’ll get
that drug-pushing, murdering bastard if it’s the last thing I do. If he thinks
he can get away with killing Amanda and then taking some tart up to his flat
with Amanda only just cold, he’s got another think coming!’

--------------------

Early
Saturday morning 23
^rd
August 1986

It took
Julie a while to calm down after the attempted break-in. Vinny had suggested
going back to his place so that they could talk without fear of being watched.
Julie had taken some persuading due to her paranoia of being spotted by Clare’s
school friend, Melanie Butterworth, but they had managed to convince her that
it wasn’t a problem. It was more important to get out of the present vicinity.
If anybody saw them hanging about the streets near to Les’s flat, then it was
inevitable that they would be linked to the break-in.