Slur: The Riverhill Trilogy: Book 1 (22 page)

Saturday 18
^th
October 1986

Julie and Rita were becoming impatient as they sat in
Vinny’s front room, and Rita had begun chain smoking to pass the time.

‘He’s half
an hour late now!’ Rita complained. ‘I bet he’s not coming, I bet he’s took our
money and done a bleedin’ runner!’

‘Has he ’eck,’
Julie tried to assure her.

Rita
addressed Vinny, ‘Well, what do you think? You’re the one that hired him?’

‘He’ll be
here.’ Vinny replied. ‘He’s sound Dan. He’s done the job, but he’s just got
held up on the way here, that’s all.

‘By the
way, he was telling me on the phone that there’s been another murder, a guy
called Ernie Cummings. Dan knew him and so did Les. He said the police were
asking questions in the Blue Macaw. Dan didn’t speak to the police though ’cos
he was busy in the Hacienda at the time.’

Julie
sounded surprised. ‘I can’t believe it, first Amanda, then Jacqueline and now
this Ernie. It’s got to be connected to Les, but why?’

Vinny
responded by shrugging his shoulders. Rita just wriggled around on the sofa impatiently
until they had a chance to digest this latest piece of news, then she resumed
complaining. ‘How much longer is he gonna be? I’ll give him held up!’ she said.
‘He’s cost us enough, the slimy looking get. I wouldn’t trust him as far as I
could throw him. They’re all the same in that line of work.’

‘Why, how
many have you dealt with before?’ Vinny asked sarcastically.

Julie knew
that it was unusual for Vinny to resort to sarcasm, and she realised that he
must have been growing tired of Rita’s grumbling. She rolled her eyes in
exasperation and attempted to change the subject. Rita, however, did not react.
Julie wondered if perhaps Rita was aware that she was irritating him.

A few
seconds later there was a loud, self-assured knock at the door. Without comment
Vinny got up to answer it. Julie watched as Dan sauntered in, grinning from ear
to ear.

‘Evening
ladies,’ he announced.

They
uttered reciprocal greetings and Julie watched him take a seat next to Rita and
put down the briefcase containing all the tools of his trade. Before Vinny had
a chance to sit Dan addressed him. ‘Got any coffee on the go mate?’ he asked.
‘I’m gasping of thirst. I’ve had a right job getting here, I can tell you.’

While Vinny
disappeared into the kitchen, Dan ingratiated himself with the two girls.

‘Sorry to
keep you waiting ladies. As I said, I’ve had a terrible job getting here. I’m
sure there’s a thousand things two lovely ladies like you would rather be doing
with your time. I bet the fellas are queuing up to take you out!’

Julie
noticed how quickly Rita responded to his slick charms, despite herself.

‘Oh we
don’t mind, not if you make it worth our while anyway,’ she quipped.

‘Oh don’t
worry, it’s all signed, sealed and delivered,’ replied Dan. ‘I never fail to
deliver.’

Rita
giggled but their flirtation was hindered by Vinny’s return to the room.

‘Here he
is, the main man,’ declared Dan. ‘Right, before we start getting down to
business I thought you might want to take a look at this.’

He passed
Vinny a copy of that day’s paper and the girls crowded round to read the
headlines, “Man Found Stabbed to Death”, which were accompanied by a photograph
of Ernie Cummings.

‘Jesus,’
said Rita. ‘That’s the man that came out of the building where Les lives, that night.
Do you remember? It was the same night we saw Jackie coming out of there as
well?’

‘Oh my God!
Yes it is, and now they’re both dead,’ Julie replied.

Vinny
joined in the discussion. ‘Like you said Julie, it’s got to be connected to
Les.’

‘Well, just
take a butchers at this lot!’ Dan interrupted, and Julie watched in awe as he
clicked his briefcase open and withdrew its contents. He began by placing
several small packages on the coffee table followed by a bound exercise book.

‘Drugs,’ he
confirmed. ‘They’re all labelled and I’ve kept details of the types, amounts
and dates purchased in this log, all bought from Leslie Stevens of course.’

Vinny
nodded, indicating that he should continue. Dan withdrew some envelopes from
his case in response and handed them to Vinny.

‘This is
the icing on the cake,’ he said. ‘Caught the bastard good and proper, and then
took another one just to make sure.’

Vinny
studied the photographs. ‘These are just what we need,’ he said. ‘I can’t wait
until Inspector Bowden sees these. Maybe he’ll start to take us seriously at
last.’

He passed
the pictures to Julie and Rita who looked at them together. Both of the photographs
showed Les dealing in drugs with another man. The first shot had captured Les
passing a white package to the man with one hand whilst, at the same time,
taking money.

‘You’d
better be quick if you’re going to the police with these,’ Dan urged. ‘That Les
will soon be on your tail. You should have seen the commotion when him and his
cronies realised I’d photographed him. All hell broke loose. He was shouting at
them to grab whoever had taken the shot. This big nasty looking bastard ran
towards me, but he couldn’t get through the crowds soon enough.’

‘Was he
dark and thickset?’ asked Julie.

‘Yeah,
that’s right.’

‘Sounds
like the motorbike rider, the one that followed me from work.’ she affirmed.

Dan then
proceeded to withdraw another document from his briefcase and passed it to
Vinny. ‘My bill,’ he said.

‘Bloody
hell, you don’t mess about do you love?’ remarked Rita and Dan rewarded her
with a dashing smile.

‘Hang on,’
interrupted Vinny. ‘You’ve done a brilliant job Dan; I’m impressed, but there’s
just one last thing I’d like you to do for us.’

This put
Dan on his guard. ‘Oh yeah, what’s that?’ he asked.

‘I’d like
you to come to the police station with us, preferably as soon as possible. I
think Inspector Bowden might still need some convincing. We’re not exactly
flavour of the month right now, and I think it might be better if you were
there to back us up.’

‘Oh yeah,
and I am?’ asked Dan.

‘So you’ve
met Inspector Bowden before then?’ Julie enquired.

‘Once or
twice, yeah. Poxy old bastard isn’t he?’

There was
then a few moments silence as Dan mulled over Vinny’s proposal.

‘We’ll pay
you once we’ve been to see the police and cleared this up,’ Vinny told him.

Dan sighed.
‘Oh go on then, I suppose it would be good to see Bowden grovel for once.’

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

Monday
20
^th
October 1986

The
scenario in Inspector Bowden’s office had a different air about it this time.
This was helped by the fact that Vinny had called the inspector beforehand and
explained the evidence that they were going to present. In addition to the
drugs and photographs supplied by Dan, Vinny had urged Julie to bring the
motorcycle registration number and the latest package she had received along
with the threatening letters.

Little did
they know that the investigation had now switched emphasis and Julie and Rita
were no longer suspects. But Inspector Bowden didn’t divulge this information;
their evidence could be just what he needed to nail Leslie Stevens. He had
already questioned him but didn’t yet have enough evidence to charge him.

Amazingly
the forensic tests carried out on Jacqueline Bartlett had come up with nothing;
no hairs, fibres or prints and they hadn’t managed to trace the murder weapon.
There was always a chance that tests carried out on Ernie Cummings might show
something, but that would mean having to wait. Much better to tie things up now
thought the inspector.

At first
Inspector Bowden tried a defensive approach. As he read the letters, he asked
Julie, ‘Why haven’t you brought these to my attention before now?’

‘Phuh,’
sounded Julie, now feeling in control. ‘Do you mean to say you would have taken
me seriously?’

‘Yeah,’
chipped in Rita, ‘… just like you did the last time and the time before.’

Inspector
Bowden adjusted his tie before replying. ‘All cases of harassment are taken seriously
no matter what the circumstances,’ he stated and, before they had a chance to
retaliate further, he cut them short by asking Dan if he could see the
remaining evidence.

It was
becoming apparent during their time with the inspector that he was impressed by
the evidence that they presented before him. However, not wishing to be
outdone, he gave Dan a stern lecture about entrapment and said that because of
this the drugs would prove useless as evidence. Inspector Bowden then surprised
everyone with his next statement.

‘These,
however …,’ he said, as he handled the photographs of Les, ‘… will prove very
useful.’

He marched
to the door and shouted at one of his minions to come into the office. Seconds
later a young constable stepped inside. The inspector issued a set of
instructions and then dismissed the constable and everybody else.

‘Hang on a
minute!’ cried Rita. ‘We want to know what you’re going to do about it, and an
apology wouldn’t go amiss either.’

Inspector
Bowden glared at Rita.

‘Miss
Steadman, the evidence is by no means conclusive. We have a lot of work to do
before we can prove Mr Stevens’ guilt or your innocence for that matter. Now
good day!’

He strode
from the office leaving them all gasping in bewilderment.

‘The cheeky
get!’ shouted Rita. ‘He’s in the bleedin’ wrong, and he acts as though we’re
the ones to blame.’

The only
reply she received was the sound of Inspector Bowden’s voice outside his office
addressing Sergeant Drummond. ‘Get these people out of my station, and then I
want you to come with me. We’ve got work to do!’

The rest of
them remained flabbergasted as Sergeant Drummond led them, retreating, out of
the station once more.

December 1986

The last few weeks had passed slowly but peacefully, to
Julie’s relief. As Les and his accomplice were being held in custody, Julie was
thankful to see an end to the stream of abusive letters and phone calls. It
felt strange at first; the daily torment following Amanda’s death had become so
much a part of her life. She still sometimes found herself tensing as she
answered the telephone, half expecting to hear the chilling sound of Les’s
distorted voice, tormenting her, threatening her and sending a rush of fear
coursing through her body. Neither did she have the constant dread of the
police arriving on her doorstep at any minute.

For the
first couple of weeks after Les and his accomplice had been arrested for the
murders of Amanda, Jacqueline and Ernie she still dreaded walking into her home
after work in case further threats had been received. Instead of seeing the
upset faces of her family, however, she saw happy smiles. Things were almost
back to normal, almost but not quite, because Julie knew deep down that nothing
would ever erase Amanda’s death or the torment that she herself had suffered as
a result.

Julie had
changed. It was as though she had been forced to grow up, to face life as an adult
and take stock. Her relationship with Vinny had also changed; for the better.
Instead of seeing Vinny as a stop-gap, Julie now pictured him in a whole new
light. He had been the one who had defended her, her knight in shining armour.
It had heartened her to think that, despite the accusations, Vinny never lost
faith in her and she could always depend on his loyalty. It also shamed her
thinking of how she had used him in the past, and she vowed to herself that she
would never mistreat him again. 

What she
now felt for Vinny ran deeper than that though. He had gained her respect and
that was an important turning point in their relationship. She no longer viewed
him as a dim-witted manual worker; he was strong, determined, and brave. Apart
from proving himself by defending her, he was also proving himself in his
working life. His decision to work for himself had paid off. Employers trusted
a good, reliable worker and because of the many recommendations, he was now
receiving more work than he could handle, and he had employed a trainee to help
him with the workload.

Julie’s work-life
was much better too. People now spoke to her instead of ignoring her. Some were
even apologetic. One lady had approached her to have a word following Les’s
arrest, assuring her that she knew deep down that she was all right, and that
it was the force of public opinion and the fact that she was arrested that had
made her think otherwise. 

Things were
never quite the same as before though. There were still a few people who didn’t
bother with her, mainly Jacqueline’s old associates, and Julie was reminded of
Amanda’s death every time she caught sight of one of them. Certain things
brought back the dreadful memories too; the space under her desk where the
first threatening parcel had sat, and the faint traces of the graffiti on the
lavatory wall. Despite the fact that she was no longer under suspicion, Julie
could still not face going into the canteen.

Julie
didn’t go out with her friends as much now, maybe because they had grown out of
all those wild nights or perhaps because all of their priorities had changed.
Rita spent a great deal of her time in Greece in between doing casual work.

Rita was
still planning to buy a bar with Yansis but respected his wishes to invest some
of his own money towards it. They had reached a compromise. Rita would put most
of her redundancy pay up front, Yansis would contribute as much as he could
save for however long they were prepared to wait, and the rest of the money
they would obtain by loan. Julie was glad in a way because she was concerned
about Rita rushing into things. At least this way it gave Rita a chance to get
to know Yansis better before she committed herself.

Despite the
recent improvements to the lives of Julie and her family and friends, she still
felt that she was living her life in limbo. She was waiting for some great
momentous event that could help to erase the pain and sorrow that had
surrounded her. That event was the trial of Leslie Stevens for the murders of
Amanda Morris and two others, and the start of the trial had now arrived. It
was another date that would remain in her memory forever; Monday 8
^th
December 1986.

Julie felt
utter trepidation at the thought of the trial. A tiny part of her didn’t want
the trial to go ahead. Could she face it all again? But she knew that she must.
It wasn’t only about justice; it was about seeing an end to an arduous chapter
of her life and putting it behind her.

Her parents
had offered to attend the trial with her but she had declined. She knew what a
difficult time it was going to be and she wanted to shield them from any more
sorrow. Hadn’t she caused them enough grief already? Instead she had agreed for
Vinny to accompany her. Despite her concerns about the trial, she felt that
Vinny was the best person to help her through it. She was now waiting for him
to call and drive her to court. They had arranged to pick up Rita on the way.

Although
she had been ready for the last ten minutes, the knock at the door still took
her by surprise, shattering her already jangled nerves and making her realise
just how worked up she was. Within seconds Vinny had walked into her room.

‘Come on
then, let’s get it over with!’ he cajoled with mock optimism.

Julie stepped
towards him and took a deep breath as he squeezed her hand in a reassuring
gesture. They set off. When they arrived at Rita’s house, Julie was invited
inside by Rita’s mother, a woman in her mid-forties who looked older, her hair
streaked with grey, and her complexion jaded and lifeless.

‘Come in,
I’ll give her a shout,’ she instructed.

To Julie’s
dismay Rita wasn’t ready.

‘You’d
better go up, I think she’s still tarting herself up,’ said Rita’s mother.

‘Rita, I
don’t believe you!’ Julie cried when she caught sight of her at the bedroom
mirror. ‘I wanted to be there early today. It’s important!’

‘Oh give
over, we’re not that late! Besides, we can make a grand entrance,’ Rita replied
as she applied another layer of mascara.

‘It’s a
trial Rita, not a bleedin’ fancy dress party,’ Julie snapped.

‘Oh for Christ’s
sake, lighten up will you? Get back on the bleedin’ happy pills or summat.’

That last
comment stung Julie to the core. It upset her to realise just how insensitive
Rita could be at times. They left Rita’s house in silence, a hostile atmosphere
surrounding them as they joined Vinny in the car.

‘Hiya
Vinny, are you all right?’ Rita asked.

Julie
remained silent as did Vinny. Instead of starting the car immediately, he
leaned over and took Julie’s hand. ‘Don’t worry, everything will be all right,’
he assured her. ‘Why don’t you take one of those pills the doctor gave you to
calm you down?’

‘I don’t like
to, I thought I was past all that.’

‘Just think
of it as temporary. It’s just to get you through these next couple of days.
It’s not like you’re going to be on them forever, is it?’

‘Oh all
right then,’ Julie agreed, relieved in a way that her use of tranquillisers had
been condoned. She had felt the need of something to calm her down for the last
two days but had managed to fight the urge, telling herself that she should be
able to manage without. Managing without at a time like this, however, was
proving very difficult. The previous night, despite a stiff measure of brandy,
sleep had evaded her until four o’clock in the morning, making her feel even
worse. She reached into her bag and withdrew the small tablet bottle.

Rita must
have felt guilty at her own insensitivity, as she said, ‘I’m sorry about what I
said about the happy pills Julie. You go for it if it makes you feel better. We
all handle things in different ways; there’s no need to feel bad about it. I
wouldn’t mind a couple of them myself at the end of the trial topped down with
a good measure of Bacardi and Coke to celebrate putting that bastard behind
bars.’

Vinny
tutted and pounded at the hand break. He then slammed the car into gear and
sped up the road. Following her faux pas, Rita remained silent for most of the
journey.

When they
arrived at the courts five minutes late, they were directed to Court 3. Julie
became more agitated on noticing that there was nobody waiting outside the
court; they had already gone inside.

‘Oh I don’t
believe it; I knew we were going to be bloody late!’ she cried.

‘It’s all
right,’ said a court official, you’re not due to give evidence yet; you’ve got
plenty of time.’

He directed
them to a separate waiting area where they were to remain until called to give
evidence. Vinny gave Julie a quick kiss goodbye then made his way to the public
gallery to watch the trial. As well as Amanda, Les was being tried for the
murders of Ernie and Jacqueline.

Although
Julie and Rita were being called as witnesses to the night of Amanda’s death,
Julie felt as though she was being tried herself. She knew that once the
defence barrister started questioning her, she would once again feel as though
the finger of accusation was being pointed towards her.

They were
told that they wouldn’t have to wait long but the court officials were unable
to specify exactly how long the wait would be. It hadn’t occurred to Julie or
Rita to bring anything with them to help pass the time; they had other things
on their minds. It was doubtful whether they would have been able to
concentrate anyway. Instead they spent the time speculating about what was
happening in the courtroom, what they could expect and how much longer they
would have to wait.

As the
minutes turned to hours and the tension mounted, their periods of discussion were
interspersed by Rita pacing the room and Julie biting the wicks around her
nails.

‘You’ll
have no bleedin’ nails left the way you’re going on,’ declared Rita.

‘I’m not biting
my nails, I’m biting my wicks,’ snapped Julie.

‘Your wicks
then; look at them, they’re going all red.

‘Oh, who
gives a shit? They’re only bleedin’ nails! You’re the one that’s marching round
the room like a demented sergeant major. You’re driving me up the wall!’

‘Oh, belt
up Julie. It’s not my fault those bastards are keeping us waiting. They’re probably
doing it on purpose to wind us up.’

Rita then
proceeded to hammer on the door, shouting for attention until Julie yelled at
her. ‘Will you give over Rita? For God’s sake; you’re not helping matters! They
can’t make it go any faster. We’ve just got to wait until they’re ready for
us.’

She was on
the verge of tears at this point and Rita, shocked by Julie’s outburst, stopped
what she was doing and took the seat beside Julie. Realising that the tension
was getting to them both, Rita took Julie’s hand and said, ‘I’m sorry Jules,
it’s just that it’s driving me mad in here. I feel like I’m back in that
bleedin’ cell again.’

Julie
didn’t respond straightaway, but sat contemplating. After a few moments she
spoke:

‘I can’t do
it, I just can’t face it!’

‘Julie,
you’ve got to face it, you’re a key witness,’ Rita cajoled. ‘Just think of how
relieved you’ll feel when it’s all over.’

But Rita’s
tender approach was having no effect as Julie was becoming more distressed and
refusing to give evidence. After a few minutes and several futile attempts to
talk Julie round, Rita was also becoming agitated. As frustration took over she
abandoned her persuasive efforts and reverted to type.

‘You’ve got
to fuckin’ do it!’ she shouted.

‘You remember
what it was like at the police station,’ Julie pleaded. ‘That bastard defence
will make us look guilty, and it’ll be just like it was when we were arrested.’

‘No it
won’t! It’s just a game to them. Everyone knows what a load of bullshit it is.
Besides, we’ve got a good bloke on our side, and think of the grilling that bastard
Les is gonna get when he gets up there. That’ll be something to look forward
to.’

‘I can’t do
it!’

‘You
fuckin’ can and you will! I don’t care how many happy pills it takes Julie;
you’re gonna do it. Let’s get this over with once and for all!’ Rita roared
with an air of finality that forced Julie to a silent consent. She knew that
Rita was right, despite the compelling way in which she voiced her opinion.

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

Monday 8
^th
December 1986

The
interior of the courtroom was an unnatural environment for Julie. It reeked of
officialdom and, as she walked in, she noticed a number of people in smart
suits, gowns and wigs whispering amongst themselves. She caught the eye of
Inspector Bowden who stared at her. A feeling of paranoia seized her as she
sensed the atmosphere that seemed to descend on the public gallery. Then she
spotted him, Les Stevens, standing in the dock. His ferocious glare tore
through her, reminding her of the vicious attack that he had subjected her to.