Kaleidoscope (19 page)
Lewis stared at the screen, trying to absorb the information and make sense out of it. He got up and fetched his notepad and pen then returned. He wrote George Langton at the top of the page and then began writing down all the information about his current and previous addresses. He turned the page and wrote 'Jonah' on the top. He jotted down Jonah's address and turned the page again. This time he wrote 'Joseph Hellam??' then left the page blank.
Lewis remembered that Craig's mother had told him how Craig had seen two men on the night of the murder; Jonah
and
another man, one with a tattoo of a bird, or something similar, on his arm. He considered this for a moment but this man still hadn't made an appearance and Lewis decided to focus his attention on Jonah and the other two for the time being.
He looked back at the laptop screen and was drawn to the listing of George R Langton in Alderidge
–
it was in
Somerset
.
"Alderidge... Alderidge..." he whispered to himself and rubbed the smooth plastic of the pen with his thumb. Yet again there was a nagging itch in Lewis's mind; a familiarity with the name of the village.
He opened a new tab in internet explorer and typed 'Alderidge,
Somerset
' into Google. The second result was a Wikipedia page for the village and Lewis clicked on it. The page was short and highlighted the location and population of the village, together with a small photo of a church - the central feature.
He scrolled down and then saw a section near the bottom of the page called 'Disappearance of Michelle Layne' and he immediately knew why he recognised the name 'Alderidge'. He read the short section several times:
‘
In July 1995, Michelle Layne, a thirteen-year-old girl went missing while walking from a friend's house to her home on
Forest Road
in Alderidge. Media interest around the country focused in on the disappearance but, despite thousands of man hours trying to find the girl, she is still missing. The Superintendent in charge of the enquiry at the time said, in a 2001 TV interview, that he strongly suspects she was murdered by persons unknown and that it would be very unlikely her body would ever be found.
In 1997 her parents founded the Michelle Layne Charity in order to help locate missing children around the
UK
.
’
The Michelle Layne disappearance had dominated the news in 1995 and although Lewis himself was only seventeen at the time, he could remember it well.
He wrote some more details down on his pad and then went into the kitchen. He ran the cold tap for a moment before pouring some water into a glass and downing it in one. He walked back to the laptop and closed all the searches relating to George Langton; he had spent enough time on that little diversion. He needed to focus on Jonah; he was the one who was involved in Hannah's death and he was the one who would give him the answers he required. He glanced over to his bedroom where the gun was sitting patiently.
‘
Courage isn't a man with a gun in his hand...
’
Lewis didn't feel particularly courageous when he thought about what he needed to do to get the answers. Perhaps Atticus Finch was right; Lewis didn't have courage, but he certainly had a gun.
***
As the sky outside Lewis
’
s window inched from navy blue towards black, he filled a glass tumbler with water then drank it down in one. He ignored how his hand shook as he tipped the glass back and, after finishing, slammed the glass on the kitchen table as if to banish the doubts that were ever present.
He checked his watch:
. Then went into the bathroom and splashed cold water on his face. He hadn't eaten anything since just before Kelly
’
s surprise visit and his stomach rumbled as he ran a towel over his skin. He thought he should probably eat something but wasn't convinced he would be able to keep it down so disregarded the thought.
He walked into the front room, put on his jacket and went back to the drawers by his bed. He pulled open the top one and lifted out the gun then, very carefully, pushed it into his pocket. It felt heavier than it had a few hours earlier, even though the gun contained just four remaining bullets. Lewis wondered if it would be empty when he returned home. Self doubt wandered around him again, sniggering at his every move and undermining his will. He took several long, deep breaths before walking out of the door and locking it behind him.
The calmness of the evening outside represented a stark contrast to Lewis's mental state as he walked down the street; he was a mass of anxiety and could feel gathering perspiration on his forehead that had nothing to do with any physical exertion. His hand was clamped around the gun in his pocket, as if he was clinging to some kind of macabre security blanket.
He tried to focus his thoughts on the job at hand and why he was doing what he was doing. He thought about Jonah and Craig Blaine, but most of all he thought about Hannah.
He reached the corner of the street where Jonah lived but he hesitated as he rounded the bend. The gun still felt heavy in his pocket and weighed down his steps as he approached the front door. He felt his breath quicken uncontrollably as he walked up the path to the door, noticing the light in the window at the front of the house. He fought a final moment of doubt as it attempted to smother his conviction, but he knew it would never be able to stop him now; he knew what he had to do. As he pushed away all the uncertainty, he took a huge lungful of air and knocked on the door.
He heard footsteps approach from the other side and noticed they stopped suddenly. Lewis felt hot as he looked at the door, seeing the spy-hole for the first time - Jonah was staring at him.
"What do you want pal?" came an irritated voice from behind the door.
"I..." Lewis stumbled, "I was sent round here for some stuff?"
"Stuff? What stuff you talking about pal?"
He had barely begun and already he was losing it; Jonah was bound to know he didn't have a clue what he was talking about.
"I don't know, they sent me. They said you'd have some stuff," Lewis replied, almost ready to cut his losses and turn away.
Suddenly he heard a lock click from the other side and the door swung open. Jonah stood with a white vest hanging loosely over his skinny frame, his blonde hair smeared across his forehead.
"Who the fuck are
they
?" Jonah asked, scowling.
Lewis stared at him for a moment, startled to be face-to-face with him so suddenly. He fumbled with the gun in his pocket and noticed Jonah glance down, a crease dividing his forehead. Lewis wrenched the gun from his pocket, almost dropping it to the floor as he pulled it free but then adjusting his grip just in time. He raised it and pointed it at Jonah's transforming face.
"Hey man, what the hell is this?" Jonah asked, his mouth wide and hands instinctively drawing up from his side in surrender.
"Get inside!" Lewis rasped through tight, thin lips and pushed forward, forcing Jonah back into his house.
"What the hell is this? What do you want?" Jonah stepped backwards allowing Lewis to enter, who pushed the door shut behind him but not daring to take his eyes off the man whose house he had just invaded.
"Go in there," Lewis said, nodding to a door on the right which he presumed led into the front room.
Jonah backed up and went through the doorway, his hands still out by his side. "You want some smack? I can sort you out, no worries pal, you only need to ask. Free of charge, you know what I mean?"
Lewis followed him in and gestured to an old sofa which was covered in magazines and discarded crisp packets. "Sit down."
"What's this all about friend?" asked Jonah, his eyes huge with attempted sincerity.
Lewis stared at him for a moment as anger seethed inside. This
was
the man, he knew it. He pulled out a small photograph from his pocket and threw it onto the sofa next to Jonah.
"What's this?" Jonah asked, picking up the picture.
"You recognise her?"
Jonah looked at the photograph, but said nothing for a moment.
"I said, do you recognise her?" Lewis repeated and gripped the gun tightly between his sweating fingers.
Jonah looked up slowly and gazed at Lewis in silence before hesitantly shaking his head. "No man, no I don't recognise her."
"You're lying," Lewis said, trying not to yell. "You were seeing her and then she found something she shouldn't, so you murdered her. Am I right?" The words came out too quickly and Lewis wanted to make them clearer, highlighting their significance.
“
You murdered her!
”
"You don't know what the fuck you're talking about pal."
"Am I right?" Lewis stepped forward and pushed the gun so it was just a few feet from Jonah's face.
Jonah leaned back, away from the gun and turned his head sideways as he squeezed his eyes shut. "I
’
ve seen her before but she wasn't
my
girlfriend."
A frown filled Lewis's brow with tight knots. "Y... yes she was, you killed her."
Jonah opened his eyes again and looked up. "I didn't do anything. She wasn't my bitch!"
Lewis tried to think of something to say but nothing came out. He felt a droplet of sweat fall from the end of his nose and his grip on the gun relaxed.
“
If that
’
s true then where had you seen her?
”
“
Listen pal, she was just someone who got on the wrong side of someone else. A friend of mine asked me to come along for the ride. I didn
’
t have a clue what he was going to do. I tried to stop him for Christ sake. I was there but I didn
’
t do shit.
”
Lewis suddenly noticed his own breathing had become rapid and shallow. "What do you mean you were there? Who killed her?"
Jonah seemed to relax slightly and lowered his hands to the sofa beside him as a smirk began to spread across his face. "I don't know who you are, but you really need to get your facts straight before barging in someone's house with a gun."
"Who killed her?" Lewis repeated, his voice cracking.
"What's it to you? Who the hell are you anyway?"
"I want to know who killed her!" Lewis wiped sweat from his face with his free hand as he fought to keep his desperation in-check. The gun felt heavy, but he extended his arm straight, as if to highlight the threat.
"Okay, okay, just calm down," Jonah sighed, his eyes flicking from Lewis's face to the gun and back again. "Listen, a guy called Hal did the job. I was there, sure, but I didn't do shit. Anyway that don't matter, we were both puppets man; Hal was told to do that job like all the others. He didn't know her, it was just a payday."
"What do you mean; you were told to do the job?" Lewis asked, trying to comprehend what he was being told - he had been so certain. "Who told you to kill her?"
The smirk spread wider across Jonah's face and he leaned forward slowly. "Look man, I know I shouldn't say anything but I ain't gonna die for that lunatic." Jonah stared at the gun in Lewis's hand for a moment before meeting his eyes again. "He's the one who tells us to do all our jobs - Joseph Hellam."
Joseph Hellam?
The words almost physically knocked Lewis to the floor.
Why would Joseph Hellam want Hannah dead?
"You see," Jonah continued, seeming to relish the obvious revelation. "She was Joseph Hellam's bitch, not mine you stupid fuck."
Joseph Hellam,
Lewis said the words in his own mind a thousand times,
Joseph Hellam, Joe Hellam... Joe.
Suddenly Jonah shot up from the sofa and lunged at Lewis, almost knocking the gun from his hand but Lewis tightened his grip as he fell backwards. Their bodies fell to the floor and Lewis noticed Jonah was holding something. He looked down as they hit the carpet and saw a knife, gripped in Jonah's tight fist - pulled from some hidden place.
Lewis swung the gun sideways and hit Jonah's hand, knocking the knife loose and altering its trajectory. Lewis rolled and pushed Jonah sideways so he could lift himself to his elbows. Jonah flicked the blade round and swung it at Lewis's throat but Lewis saw the threat with enough time and grabbed his arm with his free hand then pushed it back to his stomach. The knife lay flat on Jonah's stomach as Lewis raised up and pushed his weight down so he was almost lying on top of his enemy then he swung the gun up and pointed it at Jonah's head. Jonah stopped struggling and looked at the barrel which was only inches away from his temple. One of his arms was pinned behind him and the other was positioned between himself and Lewis, still holding the knife but held in place by the weight above.
Heavy breaths fell from Lewis's mouth as they gazed at each other. He moved the barrel of the gun down so it was touching Jonah's head and saw the terror rise in the man's eyes. He could hear Jonah's breath quicken into small, shallow gasps as his eyes darted around for a second before focusing back on Lewis.
