Underbelly (28 page)

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Do you have a death wish? You should have been upfront with him from the start. It’s too late now. I’ll tell him that you were genuine and meant well,” Bill said, saying it in such a way to denote that he felt differently, believing that Grey had caused needless distress.

A loud thud was heard from upstairs as Chris Shearer jumped from his bed and pounding footsteps followed as he moved with a mission. Bill ushered Grey out of the back door quickly; while Grey wanted to part on better terms he had at least been honest (but not as honest as he could have been, Mrs Shearer’s adultery remaining unspoken) and had said his piece.

The Shearers marked a turning point and Grey was glad to leave town, neglecting to visit Dennis Erlandson’s family after granting him release. He was honest with the next three families he went to see, telling them that he was a medium who’d been in contact with their sons. He was spat at and kicked and had doors slammed shut in his face, all bearable compared to the widow whose face crumpled as she stared at him as though he’d ripped her heart out anew. He was unsure if his original idea was best, deceit seeming to cause the least distress.

He’d caused distress to Germaine, going against her wishes again, and when they reached Detroit he tried to make it up to her, insisting that she buy herself some new clothes. He took her around some of the fine clothes shops in the thriving metropolis, and while she was resistant, he saw how her face lit up just looking at certain items of clothing. She would try things on for him, enjoying the pretence that she had pretty clothes, but when it came to buying she balked. Over lunch Grey took her to task about it.

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Remember what Laura said. You’re in America now. Spending your husband’s money is a valid sport here.”

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She was only joking with you like she always does. She wouldn’t really want me to spend your money.”

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Maybe not, but I do. What use is money if you can’t spend it on those that you love? Please treat yourself and let me worry about our finances,” he implored.

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Travelling and accommodation is so expensive though,” she said, so changed from her carefree childhood persona, a girl with her head in the clouds who wanted to dress in the fashions from Paris before she learnt that other things were so much more important than style. The part of her that yearned for pretty things was dormant, but occasionally it wanted to be active and had to be suppressed.

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I’m on top of it. By working sporadically everything’s cool. Don’t make me beg in a public place,” he said, exaggerating his desperation and making her smile.

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All right, James, I give in.” Grey gave her a reasonable amount to spend on herself and stood back, pleading ignorance when she asked for his opinion – he didn’t want her buying clothes to please him, he wanted the decision to be hers, though he did silently appreciate the amount she spent on lingerie, over half of the money he gave her being spent on racy underwear. Grey saw how happy buying new clothes made her and it pleased him – it would prove costly in the long run, but he was glad that he knew a guaranteed way to please her.

Grey left Germaine in their motel room that evening, trying on her clothes for the umpteenth time as he left, as he went to visit one of Del’s friends, assuming he was still alive. He was not at his family’s original address, though luckily the new residents knew him and gave Grey a forwarding address, which he sought out, finding his way there just after nine. Grey felt that it was a little late to be making a house call to a stranger, especially with the heavy nature of his visit, but Del pushed him into it, promising him that his friend wouldn’t mind. In this case deceit was not an option – he couldn’t pretend he heard a deathbed confession from a man who perished in the Great War.

The downstairs lights were still on in George Sullivan’s large detached house and Grey bit the bullet and knocked on his front door. He saw George look through the curtain, staring at him quizzically before he came to the door. He was a big man but looked out of shape, and was the same age as Del would have been, 47. Grey looked at the clothes he was wearing and saw that he was a police officer and he realised the situation had the potential to go bad.

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I’m sorry for disturbing you at such a late hour, sir. I’m here because of quite a delicate matter. May I come inside?”

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First of all, what’s your name, Jack?” George said.

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James Grey. The reason would be best discussed inside.”

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All right,” George said, curious as to the purpose of his visit, gesturing for him to come inside, watching every move he made. “Keep your hands out of your pockets,” he ordered, which Grey found a strange comment until he thought about it.

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I’m not here to rob you, sir, it’s nothing like that.”

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You’d end up with six holes in you if you tried,” George said, his weapon on his person. The threat was delivered mildly, George not inclined to believe him to be a robber but remaining guarded and not offering hospitality until he knew what was going on. “So why are you here then, James?”

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I’m here because I know you were a good friend of Del Hoon.”

George was good at reading people and saw that Grey, who masked it well, felt trepidation at the subject, a sign of a liar or of a nervous individual. Whichever he was he’d certainly piqued his interest by naming Del, which was the last thing he expected.

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A very, very good friend. What’s your connection to Del?” Grey looked to be around 20 to him, but at a push he could have been in his late 20s, the age he’d have to be if he was Del’s son. The differing surnames made sense, any child of Del’s having to be illegitimate, and George hoped that this was what the visit was about, prepared to make his friend’s son very welcome.

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What I have to tell you might stretch your credulity. All I ask is that you hear me out before showing me the door. I’m what is known as a medium. I communicate with spirits – mostly just for an hour or two before they’re gone, but Del has been the closest thing to a spirit guide I’ve known. We’ve been in contact for over a year and I understand why you’re proud to have had him as your friend because I think a hell of a lot of him.”

George was silent, his face showing that he found the story amusing as he poured himself a glass of port.

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I understand that you’re thinking ‘Who is this crazy guy?’ I know I have to prove it to you. Ask me something that only Del could answer.”

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Okay. How big was his pecker?”

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These are his words. Undersized, you bastard.”

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You got that right, Grey, but Del wouldn’t admit it.”

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This is his words again. I don’t want to admit it, but I have to prove that it’s me. I say I wasn’t and you lot said otherwise. I never had any complaints.”

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How many lovers?”

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This is Del verbatim. If I could I’d throttle you for these questions. You’re trying to ruin my reputation. Two. The neighbourhood charity girl, Lois Rutles, and Therese of the titties, the prossie. They both rated me highly. My sweetheart, Sally Cramp, wouldn’t, not even when I was going, and I resented her for that.”

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If you are faking, Grey, you’ve done your research. He did call her Therese of the titties. I’d forgotten that.” Grey was surprised by how relaxed George was, not in the least bit worked up or emotional, though he was not particularly convinced.

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He’s with me now. I can take a back seat and just let you two talk.”

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Go on then,” George said casually. If Grey was trying to con him he would slip up eventually and George gave him the rope to hang himself with. He refused to believe that it could be real without explicit proof – it didn’t scare him at all, it was more a case of he didn’t want to dare hope that it was real for fear of getting hurt when it turned out to be a hoax. He was a captain at his police station and he would make Grey bitterly regret playing him for a fool if he proved himself to be a con man.

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From this point on it’s all Del unless I say otherwise,” Grey said before he let loose. It was no transfiguration; Grey still talked with his own voice though he did try and emulate Del as he acted as go-between. “What’s up with you, George? You said that house had been in your family for generations and you have me steer him to the wrong place? Makes me think you didn’t want me to find you.”

George laughed out loud and said to Grey, “You’re good. Come on then, ‘Del’, what was my favourite part of the family home?”

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The view from your bedroom across to the Clough twins boudoir. Don’t ask him what their first names were because I don’t know. Jessie was one,” Del said through Grey.

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Jessie and Janet. Hmm. I am slightly impressed by that.”

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Jeez, what will it take to prove it to you? You haven’t answered me – why sell the house if you were so proud of it?”

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My parents died and me and my brothers and sisters argued about it so much that selling it was easier. My house now is almost as big. How big was your house, Del?”

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Fuck me. You go on about my pecker being small and about me only having two lovers and now you’re bragging about your mansions and want me to say how shit my house was. Some friend!” Del said, pretending to take offence. “It was a two bedroom terraced house with outside bathroom. What do you want to talk about next, how your parents had servants while mine were servants?” he said, exaggerating.

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We only had a housekeeper, that’s all.”

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How did you survive?”

George knew the question was just his friend joking with him but he deliberately answered it as though he had misunderstood him. “Luck. That’s all that got me through the war safely.”

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I didn’t mean that. I’ll allow you to brag about how good a soldier you were because you’re entitled to. In your case it wasn’t luck.”

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Understand this, Grey. Being a prisoner down at the station with a police captain who has a vendetta against you is a very precarious position to be in,” George said malevolently. He believed that what Grey was telling him was true and gave him a steely warning; a last opportunity for Grey to admit it was a lie, and an opportunity for himself to pull away before he completely accepted it.

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I understand that, Mr Sullivan, and I don’t expect you to believe me. You don’t know me, why should you trust me? I’m asking you to give Del the opportunity to prove it – he might not admit it to you but I know that talking to you means the world to him, he’s already buzzing, so even if I’ve got a hard time coming it was worth it for him.”

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Fuck off.” Grey was unsure if George wanted him to leave and looked at him quizzically and George said, his tone softer, “You’re making me feel guilty about the threat and I don’t know if that’s artful manipulation on your part or genuineness. Get Del back, I can read him better than you.”

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You had the goods as a soldier and that’s why you survived, bud. Who was it – was it Tomkins who had the lucky rabbit’s foot and got caught on the barbed wire and cut to ribbons?” Del said, determined to prove his authenticity.

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Tomkins had the rabbit’s foot but it was a shell that did him in. You’re thinking of John Wade.”

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No, John Wade was…shit, you’re right. Now you’ll definitely think it’s all lies.”

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No, I don’t. In life you got names wrong sometimes, Del, why should it change?”

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Tomkins had the rabbit’s foot and he was only with us about a month, so it wasn’t about luck. Accept the praise or I’ll be asking Jimmy if he has found the right person.”

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If you’re going to start doubting me then I guess I’ll have to stop doubting you otherwise the conversation will end. I know it’s you, Del,” he said, fully accepting it. The Great War had been such an ordeal that talking to a spirit, especially such a friendly one, posed no problem to him. Stranger things had already happened to him in that whirlwind year.

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About time too. What have you been doing with yourself?”

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I’ve been on the force for 24 years now and a captain for 10 of those years.”