Broken Dreams (18 page)

‘She had to leave’ Lisa eventually told me. ‘The pressure was too much for her.’

I thought about Donna’s boyfriend. ‘Tim wanted her to settle down?’

‘He would have married her and bought them a house, but it wasn’t for Donna. She didn’t want all that.’

‘Does he know he’s got a daughter?’

She shook her head. ‘No.’

What a mess. ‘Did her parents know?’

‘No. Her dad would have hit the roof.’

‘They didn’t see eye to eye, did they?’

‘Not really.’

‘Surely they’d have helped with the baby?’

‘Her father wouldn’t have allowed it. He was quite strict on what she could do.’

‘Did she tell them she was pregnant?’

‘She wouldn’t.’

‘What happened after she left?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘It was a long time ago. What’s happened since?’

‘She’s moved about a bit but hasn’t really settled anywhere. I don’t really know. We don’t talk about it.’

‘Maybe she wants to come home?’

‘Maybe.’

‘She can come home, you know. Nobody’s angry with her.’

‘I know.’ Her voice was a whisper. ‘I’ve told her loads of times.’

‘Her father is long gone. She’s got no reason to be angry with her mother, has she?’

Lisa looked away and shook her head, but I wasn’t convinced. I knew her father dominated the household but she had no reason I knew of to harbour any bitterness towards her mother. It didn’t make sense. I could understand her parents feeling disappointed she was having a child so young. It was natural for them to want a better life for their children. ‘There’s more to this, isn’t there, Lisa? Something you’re not telling me. It might not have been ideal, but she was old enough to have a child if she wanted. I stood up.

‘Why did her father really disown her?’

She composed herself and nodded. ‘Jimmy’ she eventually said to me.

‘Jimmy?’

‘Donna’s brother.’

The only brother I knew of was Gary, and we’d already spoken to him.

‘He died. Drugs.’

‘When?’

‘Years ago. Me and Donna were only kids ourselves. We didn’t really understand what was happening.’

It was starting to make some sense. I finally felt like I was beginning to get a grip on the Platt family.

‘You won’t tell Donna's mum about this, will you?’ she asked me.

I looked around the bar and found Derek sat in the same corner we’d shared on my previous visit. I’d struck lucky, though I suspected this was where he spent a lot of his time. Walking towards him, I paid no attention this time to the Hull FC photographs. I saw him, sat with a man, draining the last of his drink. I gave the man a five pound note and told him I needed a private word with Derek. Reluctantly, he disappeared to the bar and didn’t come back.

‘Why didn’t you tell me about Jimmy?’ I asked him.

Derek looked shocked and took his time before asking me how I knew about his nephew’s death.

‘Doesn’t matter.’

‘Matters to me.’

‘It’s my job to find things out. I’m asking you to save your sister the bother.’ I repeated the question. ‘Why didn’t you tell me about Jimmy?’

‘Because it’s none of your business.’

‘Wrong, Derek. If you want me to find to Donna, I need to know everything about her life, and I’d say her brother dying was pretty important.’

He looked up. ‘Why don’t you buy us a drink, toast his memory.’

I wasn’t in the mood for messing around. ‘Tell me about it.’

‘Drugs, Joe. The drugs killed him.’

‘Overdose?’

Derek nodded. ‘June 1986. He was eighteen years old. That’s all; eighteen years old. It’s no age to die.’

I agreed. ‘What happened?’

‘Jimmy wasn’t a bad lad really. He never got the opportunities. Truth to be told, he wasn’t too good at school, no shame in it, some people just aren’t. He was always in trouble, disrupting the class and then it became fighting and bullying. He was thrown out at fifteen without sitting any exams.’

‘What did he do?’

‘Nothing. There wasn’t much doing for the likes of Jimmy. At least in my day you could go to sea and you had a chance of making some sort of life for yourself.’ He shook his head.  ‘Jimmy never stood a chance.’

‘How did he get into the drugs?’

‘Started hanging around with the wrong crowd. Simple as that. He had far too much time on his hands and he started bothering people. His gang would hang around the shops, causing trouble and then the drugs started. First off it was smoking stuff in his bedroom and then it got out of control. It didn’t take long for him to move into some cesspit or other with his friends and before we knew it, it was heroin.’

‘How did you find out?’

‘He wasn’t the first youngster we knew to get into it. We knew the signs when we saw them.’

‘How did Ron and Maria react?’

‘How do you think? It destroyed them to watch him slowly kill himself, but there was nothing they could for him.’

‘What did they try?’

‘They didn’t know what to do for the best. Neither did I, to tell you the truth. They tried stopping his money, giving him money, keeping him locked in the house, but none of it worked.’

‘Wasn’t there people they could ask for help, professionals?’

‘Not really in those days. Nobody wanted to know people like Jimmy back then. He was an embarrassment.’

‘Did he try to clean up?’

‘No. Not at all. I think the thing was, he liked it. He had nothing else to live for, so he learnt to enjoy what he had. Like we all do, I suppose.’

‘But he didn’t make it.’

Derek shook his head. ‘He died in what you’d call a squat, a few streets away from his proper home. He overdosed and his so called friends didn’t even tell anyone for nearly two days. It was only when Maria went looking for him, they did something about it.’

‘Did Maria see him?’

‘No. She knew what’d happened but it was Ron and me who went into the place and found him.’

I felt terrible for dredging up the bad memories, but I had to continue. ‘How did Donna react?’

‘She was still a kid, so I don’t think she really understood what had happened to her brother.’

‘What about Gary?’

‘He’s a bit older than Donna, so he understood it all a bit better. He used to worship Jimmy and it broke his heart to see him acting like he was. I think he learnt from what happened to his brother, especially as he got older, but he was always angry with his dad for not doing more. It was unfair, but how do you tell a teenager that? Ron could never do well enough in his eyes. You could say Ron lost both his sons at that point.’

I understood why he’d retreated further into himself as time passed. ‘How about Donna? I assume it changed his relationship with her?’

‘I suppose it explains why he behaved like he did with her.’

He was probably right. I had nothing more to ask, so I stood up, ready to leave but turned back to him. ‘You went to the casino because you know Salford?’

‘I can’t just sit here, doing nothing. I’m not scared of Frank Salford. I’ve known him for years. He’s always thought he could rule by fear, but he’s not frightening me off. I didn’t like Donna singing in his clubs and if he knows anything that might help us find her, I want him to tell me.’

‘Did you know he managed her band?’

‘Not as such.’

‘What does that mean?’

‘I didn’t really ask any questions about it. Donna wouldn’t have listened to me, anyway.’

I pointed to the bruises on my face. ‘‘It’s best you leave him alone. The police are well aware of him. Leave it to them.’

Derek shook his head. ‘Somebody’s got to do something.’

I could tell Sarah had been crying. Her eyes were red and she had a tissue in her hand. I smiled and held the bottle of wine aloft. ‘Can I come in?’

She stood aside and let me in. I walked into the kitchen and found the corkscrew and two clean glasses. She was sat on the couch in the front room, legs tucked under her chin. I passed her a glass. ‘It wasn’t your fault’ I said.

‘Yes it was.’

I took a sip of wine and shook my head. ‘Really, it’s not.’

‘Whose fault was it, then?’

‘Nobody’s fault. I had no idea Lisa Day was still in touch with Donna, either. Nobody knew.’

She blew her nose. ‘It doesn’t make it any easier.’

‘You live and learn.’ I knew how true that statement was after investigating my wife’s death. I had no experience and didn’t know what I was getting into. You’ve got to learn the rules of the game. I told Sarah what I’d learnt about Donna’s brother, Jimmy.

‘A drug addict’ she said. ‘It certainly explains why she was wrapped in cotton wool.’

I felt bad for Jimmy. It seemed like he had never stood a chance. We were a similar age and we’d both grown up in a decaying city which offered little. I had been fortunate and lost myself in rugby, and for all the pain it caused me, I’d also got some priceless moments to look back on. I’d never known the despair of drug addiction or experienced the knowledge life wasn’t going to offer you anything.  I poured us another glass of wine. ‘Are you working tomorrow?’ I asked.

‘If Dad’ll have me.’

‘Course he will. You’ve got to remember she played all of us, not just you.’

  ‘I suppose.’

Sarah leant across and squeezed my hand. ‘Thanks, Joe.’

I turned to face her and smiled. ‘All part of the service.’

She kissed me gently on the lips.

I picked up my glass and found an empty corner of the pub. I didn’t know how I was supposed to react when Sarah had kissed me. I wasn’t sure if I was overreacting and reading too much into it, but I needed to get out of her house and have a think about what had happened. I swallowed a mouthful of lager and wondered if it meant anything. I knew there was more to consider than simply kissing her back. There was our professional relationship to think about. There was also our friendship to consider, and Don. More importantly, there was Debbie to think about. Would she be happy for me? I finished my pint and went back to the bar for another. I listened to the acoustic artist the pub had performing in the corner. Normally, his unusual songs about doomed World War One soldiers and life’s drifters would have interested me, but not tonight. I put a flyer in my pocket and decided I’d look him up another time. It was time to go home.

Alcohol wasn’t what I needed. It had been tempting to stay in the pub all night, listening to the music, but going home was the right thing to do. I could close the curtains, darken the room and put some music on low. Then I could think rationally about what I should do. It was a ten minute walk to the flat from the pub and the fresh air felt like it was doing me some good. I fumbled in my pocket for the door key and became aware of a presence behind me. I took a deep breath and turned around, ready for the worst.

‘Now then, Joe.’

I took a step back, so I could see who it was. ‘The wanderer returns,’ I said to Christopher Murdoch.

He waved a bottle of Jack Daniels at me. ‘Can I come up?’

I stood my ground, not really in the mood to deal with him. ‘What do you want?’

‘I want to talk you.’

I closed the door to my flat and rinsed out two glasses. Murdoch passed me the bottle and I poured us both generous measures. We took them into the front room and sat down.

‘Where have you been? I asked.

‘Here and there.’

I put my glass down and told him not to fuck with me. I was beyond the point of caring.

‘Amsterdam. I jumped on the ferry and had a couple of nights away. I needed to get my head together.’

I laughed. I didn’t mean to, but the situation was so ridiculous. ‘You’re the chief suspect in your wife’s murder.’

Murdoch shrugged. ‘I thought you could handle it for me.’

‘You thought I could handle it for you?’ I was shouting.  ‘What made you think that? You’ve told me nothing, given me no help.’ I calmed myself down. ‘You’re taking the piss out of me.’ I swallowed the drink and put my glass down. ‘Why should I work for you?’

‘Because you understand me, Joe. You know what it’s like to be accused of something you didn’t do. I didn’t kill my wife. It maybe doesn’t look good, but it’s the truth. I needed to get away, clear my head and come back ready to sort this mess out.’ He was silent until I looked at him. ‘I’m sorry for running away, but I didn’t kill her. You’ve got to trust me on that.’ He took his cheque book out. ‘How much do you want?’

I snorted and waved away the cheque. ‘Trust you? I haven’t heard from you for days and I’ve got the police breathing down my neck. Do you understand how your disappearing act makes you look?’

‘I know.’ He poured us another drink. ‘It doesn’t look great.’

 ‘Have you told the police you’re back?’

Murdoch shook his head.

‘Jane?’

‘No.’

Nobody knew he was back in Hull. It was a chance for me to ask my questions.  I asked him if he knew Dave Johnson.

‘Name doesn’t ring a bell.’

‘Don’t bullshit me. He works for Frank Salford at the casino.’ I described Johnson to him.

Murdoch admitted he knew who I was talking about. ‘I’m not on first name terms with him, though.’

He picked up a handful of my CDs. ‘What is this stuff?’

I ignored him. ‘What’s going on at the casino?’

‘How do you mean?’

‘Why was your wife allowed to run up large debts in the place?’

‘I don’t know. It wasn’t any of my business. She wasn’t the kind of person who would ask for help. She was independent.’

‘But she asked for your help?’

‘Eventually she did, but I wasn’t much good to her, I’m afraid.’

‘Why not?’

‘She wanted money and I didn’t have any to give her.’

‘No money?’ I thought back to my visit to his office. It was state of the art. He certainly looked like a successful businessman on paper. ‘You’re skint?’

‘I don’t have access to the kind of money she wanted.’

‘What happened?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘I assume Salford wants his money back?’

‘I would assume so, but I couldn’t really tell you. Jennifer dealt with him and kept it to herself.’