Slur: The Riverhill Trilogy: Book 1 (24 page)

‘That
prat!’ he bawled. ‘Why didn’t he keep his fuckin’ mouth shut? I knew he’d blown
it. He should never have mouthed off about the drugs in front of that
Jacqueline. I thought she’d blame me but I didn’t kill Mandy, I swear!’

His
bad language was overlooked in the quest to get at the truth as though even the
judge realised that a major revelation was about to occur. The prosecution barrister
urged Les to continue.

‘She
only came to bring an LP, but that prat Ernie tried to buy drugs from me in
front of her. I was worried about what she might think. When she went I couldn’t
stop thinking about it. If she told the police about me dealing drugs then
they’d think I killed Mandy. So I had to get rid of her.’

Once
he started, he couldn’t stop himself, and he went on to describe in detail how
he had followed Jacqueline home one night and waited for an opportunity to ‘get
rid of’ her when there weren’t many people around.

Julie
could feel herself beginning to heave. The rest of the courtroom remained
silent, enveloped by an impenetrable tension. Without prompting, Les then
described how he had despised Ernie from that night onwards and felt an
overwhelming urge to do him some damage. It started off as a vengeance attack,
but his rage got the better of him.

As
he told the tale he visibly stiffened and the veins on his neck protruded while
he relived the scene. His aggression was unabated as he cursed Ernie and
continued to plead his innocence in relation to Amanda’s death.

The
judge again implored him to calm down, but he continued shouting and cursing
until he was led from court by two policemen, straining to break free from them
and howling pitifully.

It
was at this point that Julie left the courtroom. Vinny and Rita followed her
out.

‘Are
you all right?’ asked Vinny.

‘I
just can’t watch anymore,’ said Julie.

‘Don’t
tell me you feel fuckin’ sorry for him?’ asked Rita.

‘No,
it’s just the whole thing, I can’t stand it anymore. Take us home will you Vinny?’

‘I
think the bastard got what he deserved anyway,’ said Rita, ‘and you can piss
off if you think I’m gonna go home now and miss the best bit! I’m stickin’
around for the verdict, me.’

‘Rita,
I don’t even want to argue about it,’ pleaded Julie. ‘I just want to go home.’

Julie
and Vinny watched Rita disappear into the courtroom.

‘Come
on then,’ said Vinny. ‘Let’s get you home. It’s been a hard few days, and I’m
sure Rita will let us know what happens.’ 

They
walked out of the court building for the last time.

Saturday 13
^th
December 1986

The first thing that impressed Julie about the restaurant
was the tantalizing aroma, which hit her even before they had stepped inside.
It was a welcoming blend of garlic and baked bread. When she entered she
glanced around at the impressive pillars, archways and Romanesque paintings on
the walls. The staff were very accommodating and ensured that Julie and Vinny
got a good seat in a cosy corner. Julie noticed the waiters’ interest in her,
but guessed that it was just the Mediterranean male reaction to any woman under
30.

‘Well,
here we are,’ said Vinny. ‘You’ve seen the Bella Vida at last.’ His words were
a mistake and Julie could sense his discomfort, prompting her to say something
to smooth the situation.

‘I’m
sorry about last time. I was just so worked up by everything that I forgot to
ring you.’

‘It’s
all right,’ Vinny assured. ‘You don’t have to keep explaining. You had been
arrested when all said and done. You had more important things on your mind.
Here have a look at that,’ he said, passing her the menu, but she put it to one
side while she continued to explain herself.

‘It’s
not all right Vinny; I’ve been awful to you. Not just since Amanda died but
even before that. It’s like I was searching for something that I was never
going to find, when all the time the man I wanted was right here. I’m so
grateful to you for everything you’ve done for me.’

She
took Vinny’s hand to reaffirm her words but he responded by diverting his
attention to the menu, embarrassed by her emotive speech.

After
a couple of minutes studying the dishes on offer, Julie said, ‘Wow Vinny, I’m
spoilt for choice. It all sounds lovely and this place is really nice.’

‘I
know,’ he said. ‘I wanted it to be special. You deserve it after what you’ve
been through.’

She
finally made up her mind what she wanted. Although the menu was quite
comprehensive, Julie settled for one of her favourites, lasagne, and preceded
it with minestrone soup. Vinny opted for a pasta dish in a tomato based sauce
(a posh version of Spaghetti Bolognese Julie thought) with breaded mushrooms
for starters. As soon as Vinny looked over his shoulder a waiter appeared as
though from out of nowhere.

Once
they had placed their order, Julie took up the conversation again.

‘It’s
so nice to be able to relax now we haven’t got the trial hanging over us.’

‘Yeah,
pity they didn’t do him for Amanda’s murder though,’ said Vinny.

‘Well,
at least they got him for Jackie and Ernie’s murders, and for drug dealing.
He’ll serve a good few years for that. I know it won’t bring Amanda back but he
did deserve punishing. What I can’t understand though is why the break-ins were
only brought up in court.’

‘Maybe
because he kept quiet about them at first so the police wouldn’t find out about
the drugs. Then, when Dan came up with his evidence, Les probably figured that
he had nowt to lose so he just went for it. He might have even thought it would
help his defence if he made out that he was set up. I still think they should
have done him for Amanda’s murder anyway,’ argued Vinny. ‘After all, it was him
that got her hooked on drugs in the first place.’

‘I
know, but I think that, even though he’s a total bastard, he loved Amanda in
his own strange way. You could tell that in court by the way he kept denying
that he’d killed her. Maybe that was what made him crack up on the stand;
either that or the fact that his brain was just so addled by the drugs. He’s definitely
not a full shilling, is he? You know, it freaks me out now Vinny to think that
I could have ended up like Jacqueline and Ernie. I dread to think what might
have happened in his flat that night if you hadn’t have turned up.’

‘I
know, but I did, so just try to put it behind you now, eh?’

‘I
wonder why he didn’t kill me after the break-in though.’

‘He
didn’t have much chance with us around, did he? You weren’t on your own much after
that night, especially after that bloke followed you home from work. Besides,
he needed you to take the rap. Him and his friend probably tried to put the
frighteners on you so that you’d confess to Amanda’s murder and get him off the
hook.’

‘Maybe…Still,
I think the whole thing’s really sad. Drugs can do strange things to people. I
can’t believe Amanda was an addict but I suppose it would explain a lot of things.
She always seemed to be on such a high when she arrived for work in a morning.
Then, as the day wore on, it was as though she was fading away. I just accepted
it as the way she was. I never once thought it had anything to do with drugs. Maybe
Les might have been a different person without drugs.’

‘I
doubt it. People like him are rotten through and through. Before you get too
carried away Julie, just remember what he’s put you through.’

‘I
know, and it’s not over yet. What if they charge me for breaking and entering?
I’ll still have a criminal record hanging over me.’

‘No,
they won’t do that. You’d have heard from that miserable inspector by now if
they were going to press charges. He’ll be too busy celebrating his promotion ’cos
they’ve solved two murders. Besides, it’s a bit late for that when Les didn’t
report the break-in at the time, isn’t it? Anyway, stop worrying, it’s all over
now. Let’s change the subject. Has Rita fixed the date for Greece yet?’

Yeah,
I was just getting round to that. I kept meaning to tell you. She’s going next
Saturday and the girls are giving her a major night out on Friday to see her
off.’

‘Oh
good. Well, have a good time and no silly buggers, eh?’

Julie
looked at him. ‘Definitely not!’

The
food arrived and they both began to drool over it. “
This is a bit different
than the last time I was supposed to come here,
” Julie thought to herself.
She noticed that Vinny had become pensive too.

‘Penny
for ’em?’ she asked.

Vinny
hesitated before replying.

‘There’s
something I’ve got to tell you. I’ve kept quiet about it up to now but the time
seems right. You see, I’ve got some unfinished business to tend to …’

Julie’s
heart sank. Just when she was beginning to think that all her troubles were
behind her, Vinny was about to drop a bombshell and he had brought her here to
sweeten her up beforehand. She watched him fidget nervously, convincing her
even more that he had bad news to impart.

‘Well,
last time I was here,’ he continued, ‘there was something that I wanted to do.’

Julie
looked at the package that he had withdrawn from his pocket, still only half
anticipating what he had to say but nevertheless shocked when she heard the
words, ‘Julie, will you marry me?’

For
a moment she was speechless and Vinny awaited her reply with bated breath. It
was what she wanted; she knew now that Vinny was the one, but she just hadn’t
expected it to happen yet.

‘Yes,’
she cried. ‘Yes of course I’ll marry you Vinny,’ and she smiled as he put the
ring on her finger.

As
if from nowhere three waiters appeared and congratulated them effusively,
drawing attention to them from nearby tables. When the waiters went back to
their work, Julie and Vinny held hands across the table and gazed lovingly at
each other for a few minutes before becoming aware of the interest from
neighbouring tables. They then withdrew their hands, embarrassed by all the
fuss.

‘What
a way to round off a meal!’ said Julie as they returned to their food, giggling
like smitten teenagers.

They
celebrated by ordering two enormous desserts (Julie’s had lashings of vanilla
and chocolate ice cream and was covered with a liberal measure of Tia Maria),
and a bottle of expensive champagne.

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

Wednesday
17
^th
December 1986

Les sat in
his cell alone. His cellmate had disappeared about half an hour ago and Les was
making the most of his solitude. He was still becoming accustomed to life
behind bars. Despite his nefarious dealings of the last few years, this was the
first period that he had spent in prison and it was taking some getting used
to.

The lack of
home comforts and short supply of drugs was bad enough but the worst part was
the constant fear. There were some mean bastards inside and it paid to stay on
the right side of the right people. Because he had no previous experience of
prison life though, it was difficult knowing who the right people were.  

Up to now
he had relied on the advice of his cellmate but he was a sly looking bastard
and he couldn’t trust a word he said. Les knew though that he needed to tread a
fine line between showing no signs of weakness to the nobodies and making sure
that he didn’t upset the people who were somebodies. There was a definite
pecking order inside prison and he was starting to find out who was who.

So when one
of the prison hard men, Leroy Booth, stepped inside his cell Les instinctively
knew that it spelled trouble. His suspicions were reaffirmed when Leroy was
followed by four of the meanest looking blokes you could ever expect to meet;
all biceps, scars and the smell of stale sweat. They wasted no time in pinning
him down while Leroy shut the door and made the brief introduction:

‘This is
for my man Ernie, you cunt.’

With little
time to spare before the prison guards became aware of a problem, Leroy’s bully
boys began to rain punches and kicks down onto Les while Leroy acted as
lookout. Les rolled into a ball trying to protect himself, ironically just as Ernie
had done when he had attacked him. His efforts were wasted though; this wasn’t
about punishment, it was about justice. Nobody killed one of Leroy’s men and
got away with it, and he had to set an example that everyone would find out
about.

While one
of the men dragged hold of Les’s hair and pulled his head back, enabling another
to aim savage kicks at his head, yet another reached under Les’s body, which
had now been levered off the ground.

When the
post mortem was carried out it was difficult to tell what had killed Les first;
blood loss following repeated thrusts of a sharp implement into his abdomen or
damage to his brain.

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

Friday
19
^th
December 1986

As Julie was
running late after visiting Vinny, she made a quick call to Rita explaining
that she would meet them straight in the club, Saturdays. It was turned ten
o’clock when she arrived but she soon found Rita and Debby chatting to a group
of men. She pulled Rita to one side.

‘I’ve got
some news for you,’ she said.

Rita’s gaze
shot to Julie’s left hand which she was resting self-consciously on the strap
of her handbag.

‘Congratulations!’
shouted Rita, ‘When did that happen?’

‘Last
Saturday.’

‘You
bugger, why didn’t you tell me before now?’

‘I thought
I’d surprise you and I knew you’d be dying to see the ring so I waited until
tonight.’

‘Ooh, it’s
gorgeous as well,’ cooed Rita. ‘Debby come and have a look; Julie’s gone and
got herself engaged.’

Debby broke
off from her male company for a moment to examine the ring. She then returned
to the crowd of men, and ensured that one of them passed a drink to Julie.

‘It’s a
pity it’s so loud in here; I can’t talk to you,’ said Julie.

‘Sod
talking! Let’s do some bleedin’ drinking and dancing, and having a good time.
We’ve got a lot to celebrate Julie,’ shouted Rita before taking Julie by the
arm and introducing her to the crowd of men.

When Julie and
Rita had tired of the men’s small talk, they finished their drinks and Rita
dragged Julie off to the dance-floor.

‘Come on,’
she said. ‘The night’s only just begun.’

Eventually,
when they had danced for about an hour and Julie’s legs could take no more, she
managed to persuade Rita to go with her for a sit down and a drink in a quieter
area of the club.

Julie said
to Rita, ‘Right, now we’ve got a moment, it’s time I told you my news.’

‘I thought
you already had?’ asked Rita.

‘No, not
that, my other news.’

Rita raised
her eyebrows, displaying her interest in what Julie had to say.

‘I
had a visitor this morning,’ said Julie.

‘Oh
yeah, come to help you with the wedding list did he?’ teased Rita.

‘No,
not Vinny, you daft cow. It was Inspector Bowden. That’s why I was running
late. I went to see Vinny to tell him what had happened.’

‘Bowden,
what did that bastard want?’

‘He
was the nicest I’ve seen him actually.’

‘Since
when was he nice?’

‘When
he had to come with some shocking news, that’s when.’

‘What
do you mean?’

‘Les
has been killed in prison.’

‘You’re
joking, that’s brilliant news Julie! What happened?’