Slur: The Riverhill Trilogy: Book 1 (21 page)

Julie
didn’t fail to notice the similarities between the woman and herself; she was
also slim with long wavy hair. This picture represented a re-enactment of the
time when Les had caught Julie in his flat; a scenario familiar only to those
who shared that secret, but in this representation Vinny was absent.

Les had obviously
taken into account the fact that few knew about the break-in when he had
carried out this sick fantasy. He knew as well as Julie did that it proved
nothing in terms of evidence, but its eerie message had a whole wealth of
meaning attached to it.

Julie tried
to put all thoughts of the picture out of her mind as she made her daily round
of the shops during her lunch break, avoiding the hostility of the canteen, as
usual.

When she
returned to the office, the first thing she did was to reach inside her desk drawer
for her diary, but it had vanished, proving her assumption that she had been
right in taking down the registration number again.

‘My bloody
diary’s gone,’ she said to Norma.

‘You’re
joking!’

‘No, I put
it in the drawer and it’s disappeared.’

They carried
out a thorough search of the reception area but the diary was nowhere to be
found. While Julie had been on her lunch break Norma had been in the manager’s office
having her annual appraisal, and one of the office juniors had manned the
switchboard.

‘It’s a
good job I wrote the number down again and put it in my purse,’ said Julie.

‘Yes, it
looks as though the mystery courier might have returned and swiped the diary
while we were both away.’

That was a troubling
thought; someone may have been watching the reception area from the street and
waiting for an opportunity. Julie had intended to ask Norma who had manned the
switchboard in their absence but they had both become so busy clearing a
backlog of calls that it had slipped her mind. Despite her concerns it never
re-entered her head, which was a maelstrom of anxieties at the moment. Aside
from that, she was too consumed with thoughts of the disturbing threat
contained in the parcel.

Sunday 12
^th
October 1986

Dan woke late. After another night at the Blue Macaw he
wasn’t in the best frame of mind, especially after what he had been hearing
over the last few days. He’d been dealing with Les for a few weeks now and the
pressure was starting to get to him. He went to the fridge to grab himself a
can of Coke, but as he stared at the empty shelf he remembered guzzling the
last one the previous night. A quick scan around the rest of the fridge
revealed that he was low on stocks of everything else as well. “
Shit
!”
he thought. “
That means I’ll have to go to the damn supermarket. As if I
didn’t have enough on my plate
.”

Before he
did anything else though he knew that he had an important call to make. Once he
had fixed himself something to eat with the meagre supplies that were
available, he reached for the phone.

After the
initial greeting the voice at the other end asked, ‘How’s it going Dan? Have
you got close enough to Les yet?’

‘A bit too close
for fuckin’ comfort if you ask me.’ Dan replied. ‘The guy’s a total head case.
I’ve been talking to some of the tarts that he’s been with and they say he
likes to slap them around. From what they’ve told me he never treated them with
much respect before. What bloke does? But since Amanda died he’s gone from bad
to worse.’

‘Really?’

‘Straight
up. I tell you, the guy’s a fuckin’ time bomb waiting to go off. One of the
girls said she was almost in fear of her life. She thinks that if she hadn’t have
done what he asked then he’d have done her some serious damage.’

‘Sorry Dan,
I didn’t know he was that bad!’

‘Don’t
worry about it mate, it comes with the territory but I’m telling you, there’s
no doubt in my mind that he killed Amanda and the other girl. He’s capable of
it. There’s something else a bit fishy as well. There was this guy called Ernie
who introduced me to Les. He was one of the regulars in the Blue Macaw but
nobody’s seen him since the night I met him. It seems like he’s just
disappeared off the face of the earth.’

‘Jesus!
Looks like you’d better act quickly then. He’s still sending the nasty letters
as well. In fact, they’re worse than ever. I’m worried what he might do next.’

‘I’ll be
acting as quick as I can, maybe tonight if the situation’s right. I want to see
the back of that sick bastard.’

‘OK, mind
how you go then Dan.’

‘I always
do.’

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

Thursday
16
^th
October 1986

‘For God’s
sake, I don’t believe it! This is turning into a damn serial killer and we’re
no nearer to finding him now than we’ve ever been,’ Inspector Bowden roared
throughout the office for the benefit of everyone in general. He hoped that his
shouting would have the effect of shaking up his murder team and would prompt
them to come up with something useful. This latest murder had shaken him. Following
reports of another body, he and Sergeant Drummond had returned from the crime scene
a few days previously and it wasn’t a pretty sight.

The body was
found on a rubbish tip, buried several feet under the festering, malodorous
waste, and it was estimated that the person had been dead for almost a month.
Inspector Bowden’s guess was that somebody had carried out the killing first
and dumped the body later. Whether it had been dumped directly on the tip or
via some other means wasn’t yet established.

Although nobody
had specifically reported Ernie Cummings as a missing person, the police had received
an anonymous tip off that Ernie had not been seen around for a while. This was
unusual because he used to frequent the Manchester drugs scene. Due to this tip
off, the police carried out checks against the information pertaining to Ernie
Cummings that they held on their system. This soon led to an identification of
the body.

‘There must
be a connection to the previous two murders. It was the same man for God’s
sake; he used the same weapon on Jacqueline Bartlett,’ he continued.

‘Excuse me sir,’
Sergeant Drummond interrupted. ‘How do we know that the killer was a man?’

‘The
ferocity of the attacks, of course! I don’t think a woman would have the
strength to carry out such a brutal attack.’

He then
paused to consider the facts before continuing, ‘We know the connection between
Amanda Morris and Jacqueline Bartlett, but where does this Ernie Cummings fit
into it? What do we know about him?’ he asked Sergeant Drummond.

‘He’s a
small time crook and drug user sir, no fixed abode and no known connections
with either Amanda Morris or Jacqueline Bartlett, but he is known to frequent
the Blue Macaw nightclub.’

‘The Blue
Macaw? Right, well let’s get down there and start digging!’

He yanked
his coat from the stand and proceeded towards the exit, almost taking the coat stand
with him in his haste to get to the Blue Macaw. Sergeant Drummond eyed her half-finished
coffee, which she was forced to abandon when Inspector Bowden ordered her to
hurry up.

After
interviewing several witnesses in the Blue Macaw, Inspector Bowden and Sergeant
Drummond found that one name kept cropping up as an associate of Ernie
Cummings, but nobody seemed to know his current whereabouts. It was that of
Leslie Stevens.

‘Well sergeant,
we’ve found our connection,’ said Inspector Bowden proudly. ‘I suggest we get
over to his flat straightaway and see if he’s there.’

‘OK sir,
but one thing’s puzzling me.’

‘What’s
that sergeant?’

‘Julie
Quinley and Rita Steadman; how do they fit into all this?’

Inspector
Bowden stared with contempt at Sergeant Drummond. ‘Forget them two; that was
just a red herring!’

Within
minutes they had arrived at Leslie Stevens’ flat but found that he wasn’t at
home. In their desperation to get a result they decided to search the place
anyway, and prised open the recently mended front door. As they searched for a
clue as to Les’s whereabouts, little did they realise that at present he was in
another of his favourite haunts; the Hacienda, carrying out his trade.

Another
customer of the Hacienda was also planning to carry out his trade there
tonight. It was Dan Burroughs and his bit of trade relied on the presence of
Leslie Stevens.

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

Thursday
16
^th
October 1986

‘Have you
seen this Bill?’ shouted Betty, and as he approached her she continued. ‘It’s another
one of those letters.’

Stress
lines began to cross Bill’s face as he digested this latest threat.

‘What the
bloody hell does it mean?’ he asked.

‘Oh what
does it matter?’ snapped Julie. ‘It’s just one of many. Do we have to talk
about it so much? Can’t we just forget about it?’

‘I’ve told
her to go to the police,’ Betty urged, prompting another verbal onslaught by Bill.

‘Listen to
what your mother’s telling you Julie! You’re doing yourself no favours by
keeping it all bottled up. They should be able to put a stop to it.’

‘I’ve told
you both before, it’s a waste of time. They don’t believe a bloody word I’m
saying. I’m a murder suspect don’t forget!’ Julie retaliated before storming
out of the room and heading up to her bedroom.

She didn’t
realise of course that she was no longer a suspect, and that Inspector Bowden
and his cohorts were now searching for Les Stevens, ready to arrest him. In the
absence of that knowledge she had already made her own arrangements to deal
with Les.

She plonked
herself down on her bed where she was seized by an attack of guilt. She knew
that her parents didn’t need reminding that she was a murder suspect, and it was
spiteful of her to bring it up again at a time when they had enough troubles
with the threatening letters and phone calls they had been receiving. But she
just wished that they would get off her case.

She had
enough on her plate herself; there were many things that she hadn’t told them,
such as the parcel that she had received that day. As soon as her mind began to
wander back to it, she put a block on her thoughts and, instead, reached for a
tablet to ease the familiar muscle tensions that hounded her. That was another
thing that she hadn’t told her parents about, her increasing need for something
to calm her down, and her fear that she might be returning to the same anxiety
state that she had been in not so long ago.

“
Still,
”
she thought. “
It might all be over soon,
” and she tried to comfort
herself with the thought that, even at this very moment, her and Vinny’s plans might
have been carried out, putting an end to this nightmare.

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

Friday
17
^th
October 1986

Dan had
visited the Hacienda a lot after finally making contact with Les. The Hacienda
and the Blue Macaw were the two clubs that Les frequented the most as they both
gave him a steady stream of customers. Dan wanted to gain Les’s trust before he
could complete his work. So he came here often to deal with Les and to mingle;
to see and be seen.

He had made
quite a few acquaintances over the last few weeks; some male, some female, and
he hadn’t gone short of offers. Sometimes he would take up an offer from a girl
if he found her attractive enough, but he was careful not to give any secrets
away no matter how intimate they might become.

A few of
the regulars nodded at Dan as he passed them. He inwardly chuckled to himself
thinking about their willing acceptance of him as the character he portrayed.
How gullible these people were! His inner pleasure was brought on by the
knowledge that tonight was the night. After weeks of planning, scheming and
living the life of his alter ego, the time had now arrived for Dan. Quite soon
it would all be over and he would be able to heave a sigh of relief as he
pocketed the cash and turned his back on the whole sordid affair; at least
until the next time someone needed his services.

Dan
continued to walk through the nightclub until he reached an area that was near
enough for him to achieve his objective. He took a seat at a chipped and
stained table and stretched his legs. He was aware that his cool, detached air
attracted wary glances from many people, but this added to the thrill. It was
reassuring to think that they saw him as the threatening character he purported
to be.

A tasty
brunette named Paula soon joined him. She leaned tantalisingly across him,
revealing an ample cleavage, and asked why he was alone. He ignored her
question and sent her to the bar to get him a drink, telling her to keep the
change. Her face lit up as he passed her the five-pound note.

On her
return from the bar, she decided to sit with him, taking his generosity as a
sign of encouragement. “
Shit!
” he thought. “
This could really cock
things up.
”

‘Do me a
favour love, make yourself scarce; I’ve got some important business I need to
carry out if you know what I mean?’ he asked.

She pouted sulkily,
the hurt evident in her eyes.

‘Go on love,
go and treat yourself with that change,’ he said, winking at her and smacking
her bottom as she left the table.

Dan now had
Les in his line of vision and he smiled as Les nodded towards him in silent
acknowledgement of a known and trusted acquaintance. Les had no reason not to
trust him; they had conducted business together a few times, producing a
satisfactory outcome for each of them. This had secured Dan a place as one of
Les’s allies. Dan knew that because of their connection Les wouldn’t feel any
uneasiness by his proximity, or by the way in which Dan watched him carrying
out his business. Les didn’t see him as a threat.

Tonight,
however, Les was about to discover the true meaning of their relationship. Dan
bided his time, waiting for the right moment. He needed a clear path through to
Les with no obstacles or people blocking the distance between them. He covertly
held the small but heavy mechanism in readiness. After a few minutes he knew
that the moment had arrived, and he had to act straightaway.

CLICK. The
blinding flash and eruption of noise took Les by surprise. Dan swiftly followed
it up with another shot. Les’s associates gaped in horror and began shouting
and cursing. Some of them searched around for the perpetrator but Dan had
vanished long before they had a chance to carry out reprisals.