The Girl in the Rug (2 page)

At the once again
refurbished ‘The Bull’ public house

‘I bloody knew it,’ said Maggie flinging her hands up in
exasperation. ‘I remember saying to you Carla years ago that he would end up
with some awful man eater. He has always been so sweet and kind and sensible…it
is just fucking typical!’ she finished furiously.

Carla nodded, ‘I know I remember us laughing that he would
bring home some big dominatrix type, all leather and whips. She’s not as bad as
all that though is she?’

‘Oh believe me leather and whips I could deal with,’ said
Maggie ruefully, ‘what I can’t stand is sneaky manipulation and causing trouble
between my boys…which is what this little minx is trying to do.’

They were talking about Maggie’s eldest son Dom who, whilst
on a lads holiday to Majorca, had met and fallen head over heels for a girl
called Maylee. Dom had always been the quiet one of Maggie’s two boys. Despite
being the eldest he had always been happy to stay in the shadow of his younger,
but much more confident brother, Jed.

Jed had always been the one that had taken the lead in any
games that the boys had played, he was always the first one to make friends at
school. Dom was very much in awe of his funny, brave and usually pretty naughty
younger brother, going along with all his plans even if it got him into
trouble, which it frequently did. Despite their differences though, the two
boys were inseparable, each other’s best friend. Even when Jools, Jed’s
girlfriend, came onto the scene nothing changed between them, Jools just became
part of the gang.

Maylee though, it seemed, was another kettle of fish and was
already causing a rift between the two.

‘Why what’s she done?’ asked Helen, looking up from a text
that she had just been reading.

‘Well apparently Jed and Jools had invited them over for a
meal last weekend, only to have Maylee make a big fuss and demand that Dom take
her home just because Jools was wearing the same top as her. Then when Jed
phoned later, and asked what the hell was the matter, Dom had a big go at him
saying that he needed to have a word with Jools because it was obvious that she
had got it in for Maylee. Oh I know playground stuff…but the upshot of all that
is that now there is a nasty atmosphere and that is the one thing that we have
never had in our family,’ Maggie finished furiously.

‘Bloody hell love, what a nightmare…’ said Carla with a
sigh. ‘Oh well let’s just hope that Dom will see her for what she is before she
can do too much damage.’

‘Huh fat chance,’ tutted Maggie. ‘he is absolutely besotted,
hangs onto her every word and scurries round after her…oh it’s so infuriating
to watch I can tell you…’ she heaved a sigh. ‘Anyway enough about that, what
time are the lovely couple due back? I can’t wait to see Tracy; I bet she’s as
brown as a berry.’

Tracy and her long term partner Simon had been holidaying in
Antigua, whilst there they had got married on the beach and the rest of the
witches were gagging to hear all about it.

‘Well actually,’ said Helen, ‘that was Tracy on the phone
just now, they’re back and she is coming straight over…and if my eyes don’t
deceive me that’s her now…Tracy...Tracy,’ called Helen standing up and waving
frantically, ‘over here love.’

Tracy bustled through the bar with a grin as wide as the
Grand Canyon, she looked happy and rested and very, very brown.

‘Well hello Mrs Burton,’ said Maggie giving her a squeeze as
she got up to get the drinks in. ‘Bloody hell darling you look like a native,
don’t tell me you spent all your time sunbathing…it was your honeymoon after
all, I expected you to come back all pale and walking like a cowboy as any self
respecting bride should.’

‘Oh there was plenty of time for all that,’ said Tracy with
a flippant wave of her hand. ‘It is so good to see you all, that was the one
thing missing from my wedding…having you three there...but what the hell, I
soon got over that and had a bloody good time without you!’ she finished with a
giggle. ‘And I have got literally hundreds of photos, although a lot of them
are ones that Simon took in the privacy of our hotel room, so I’ll have to sort
them out…I think I’ve got about five that are not X-rated though.’

‘You look fabulous love,’ said Helen shuffling over so that
Tracy could squeeze in beside her, ‘and I can’t wait to hear about the wedding,
did you cry? Was it incredibly romantic? How did you get on with Simon’s mum?’

‘Yes, yes, and that’s a story for another day,’ said Tracy
laughing. ‘Oh it was so lovely Helen I can’t tell you…the beach was just
beautiful and the little flowered arbour that we had the wedding service in was
really pretty. I was worried that the service would be a bit impersonal…you
know…but actually it was so very sweet and touching that I think we were all in
tears by the end of it. Simon looked so handsome and the children…oh I brought
you pictures,’ she rummaged about in her bag before producing a small pile of
photographs.

Maggie arrived back with the drinks and soon the four girls
had their heads together oohing and aaarhing over Tracy’s wedding photos.

This was a regular weekly meeting for the girls who had been
dubbed ‘The Witches of Glory Woods’ years ago by Maggie’s then husband Greg, he
had said they reminded him of Shakespeare’s witches in ‘Macbeth’ with all their
plotting and gossiping and the name had stuck. All the girls were aware of just
how important these weekly ‘cauldron’ meetings were to them though, it was a
time when they could off load and discuss their problems whatever they happened
to be.

‘So what’s been happening while I’ve been away?’ Tracy said
when there was a break in the conversation.

‘Well Maya’s started her new job teaching at Riddlestone
Juniors,’ said Helen, she pulled a face, ‘it wasn’t where she had hoped to have
her first proper teaching job but so far she seems to be enjoying it…and I have
finally almost finished the portrait of the mayor thank god…what a twat he
is…other than that…’ she tailed off.

‘Actually it’s all been blissfully quiet for the last few
weeks,’ said Carla, picking up the conversation again. Carla worked as a
Detective Inspector in the local CID.

‘Which is just what we all needed after the events of the
last few months…’ she went on. Both Maggie and Carla had been injured at the
hands of a psychopathic bitch a few months earlier, Carla only just escaping
with her life.

‘Oh,’ she added holding up a hand, ‘but I did have to arrest
Harry Finkler again for exposing himself to the whole of the W.I. this time
would you believe,’ she stopped and giggled as she remembered. ‘Apparently he
burst in just as Hester Binworthy was about to start her talk on ‘the best ways
to deal with slugs in your vegetable patch’, threw open his coat and showed the
ladies some decidedly shrivelled looking plums, ha ha. Oh and DCI Drew was
promoted and has moved to another area and we’ve got some new chap starting
this week, so that should be interesting. I mean Rebecca Drew wasn’t the
friendliest of DCI’s but at least I knew where I stood with her…not sure about
this new bloke, I haven’t come across him before…Frank has though I think, not
that he’s said much.’

‘And I am dealing with the potential daughter-in-law from
hell,’ said Maggie dramatically, ‘but don’t worry Tracy I’ll fill you in later
on that front.’

‘Are Duncan and Martha still with you Maggs?’ asked Tracy
stifling a yawn.

‘No…they moved back here last week, well once the work was
completed they wanted to be back in their own home,’ Maggie finished looking a
bit forlorn. Duncan was the new love in Maggie’s life, or rather he would be
just as soon as the stubborn idiot stopped worrying about how disfiguring his
injuries were and realised that Maggie adored him. Duncan had been terribly
mutilated at the hands of the same nutter that had injured Carla and Maggie, he
was still undergoing skin grafts to try and repair the damage to his face and
body. He and his elderly grandmother Martha had been staying at Maggie’s whilst
the pub, which he co-owned with Maggie, was being repaired after a fire had
nearly destroyed it a couple of months earlier.

Tracy smothered another yawn and then said, ‘Look I’m so
sorry but I am absolutely knackered. It is so lovely to be back but if I don’t
get some sleep soon I am going to pass out so…’

‘Oh you know what, I am really tired as well,’ said Helen.
‘I think I’m going to head off home now too…do you need a lift Tracy or did you
drive?’

‘Oh a lift would be great Helen thanks love,’ said Tracy
gathering her things together. She kissed the others goodbye and soon it was
just Maggie and Carla left sitting at the table.

‘Well I’m not going home yet…how about you?’ said Maggie
looking hopefully at Carla.

Carla had been just about to suggest that she drove them
both home, but she could see that her friend wasn’t looking forward to going
home to an empty house. ‘Not likely,’ she said, ‘I have at least two more
drinking hours left and anyway I need to tell you about how James reacted when
Rosie asked him what a ‘blow job’ was and if it was the sort of job she could
do for some extra pocket money at the weekends!’

Amish Patel sat behind his counter. He was alone this
evening as his wife and nephew, who helped run the shop, had gone to the cash
and carry. He looked at his watch, 8.15, they should be back soon. As much as
possible they tried to keep two people in the shop at all times, it deterred
shop lifting and Amish felt safer that way. A few years earlier the shop had
been raided by armed men who had trashed the place and taken everything from
the till and, even though Amish had let them get on with it, they had still
felt the need to beat him around the head until he lost consciousness.

That was when he had drafted in his nephew Raza, a giant of
a man who took no nonsense from anyone, to help in the shop; they hadn’t had
any trouble since then.

Through the window, Amish spotted Andy and his little sister
heading his way. ‘Those poor kids,’ he thought again, ‘what the hell are they
wearing,’ he shook his head in disgust as he watched the bedraggled pair. Andy
was wearing a coat that was far too small for him, the arms only went as far as
his elbows, and his shoes were wet through and hanging off him. The girl wasn’t
much better off with her skinny legs bare and exposed to the cold. ‘That woman
should be hung,’ Amish thought in disgust as they came into the shop.

‘Have you got any old bread today please Amish?’ Andy asked
coming up to the counter and holding out his hand which contained a few
coppers. Amish was in the habit of selling off his bread cheap at the end of
the day, not the packaged loaves of course, but there were always a couple of
bread rolls still unsold by the evening and there were a few families on the
estate that he knew could do with the help. These two kids were a case in
point…sometimes Amish thought that his old bread was all they had to eat.

‘You are in luck Andy,’ Amish said with a big toothless
smile, I have got a few rolls…they’re a bit stale but not too bad, but there
are also a couple of meat samosas going spare if you want them, 10p each, how
about that?’

Andy nodded enthusiastically, ‘That’s great… thank you,’ he
said with a smile, counting out his pennies.

Amish wondered where the boy got his good manners from; his
mother was a foul mouthed old trollop.

‘Well why don’t you and Lucy go round to the bakery counter
and choose a couple…you can take a small milk as well Andy, they won’t last
another day,’ said the kind old man shaking his head as he watched them skip
off happily to where the baked goods were kept.

As soon as he saw the masked men enter the shop a moment
later, Amish knew he was in big trouble. He knew these two by reputation;
despite the masks they wore…he knew who they were…and he was alone.

The taller of the two produced a shotgun; he pointed it
straight at Amish.

‘Open the till and put all the money in the bag,’ he said in
a calm voice muffled by the mask. ‘No funny stuff or I will shoot…and you know
I will don’t you fella?’

Amish just nodded and tried to get his shaking hands to open
the till, he obviously wasn’t going fast enough for the other one though.

‘FUCKING OPEN THE TILL OLD MAN OR YOU’RE DEAD,’ he screamed.
Amish fumbled with the state of the art till until finally it opened and he
began stuffing notes into the bag that the man had given him. Meanwhile the
other man had come behind the counter and was opening the wire cage that held
the cigarettes with a pair of wire cutters; he then began to fill another bag
with cigarettes and tobacco.

‘Where’s the safe?’ asked the first man…you must have more
money than this…where is it in the back?’

No I don’t hold money in the shop…’ Amish began.

The one behind the counter hit him viciously round the head
with the butt of his gun.

‘DON’T FUCKING LIE…YOU PAKIS ALWAYS KEEP YOUR MONEY CLOSE AT
HAND… WHERE IS IT YOU FUCKER?’ He started hitting Amish over and over until he
fell to the floor behind the counter.

‘Leave ‘im Turk,’ the other man said, ‘you’ll kill the
fucker if you carry on…get some of that booze, ‘ere put it in this.’ He threw a
holdall to the man, who stopped hitting Amish, just kicking him in the ribs as
he walked past him to the alcohol counter.

Amish lay in agony behind the counter, his mouth was filling
up with blood and there was a ringing in his ears. He could just hear the
muffled sounds of them loading up their bags with his stock. He wondered where
the two kids were; hopefully they had made a run for it. As he lay there his
eye fell on the alarm button which was situated on the floor behind the
counter. If he could just stretch out a little bit further he could reach it.
He clamped his teeth together against the pain and reached out until he could
just get a fingertip to it and pressed down on the button. Immediately a little
red light started flashing which unfortunately caught the attention of one of
the raiders.

‘YOU FUCKING BASTARD,’ shouted Turk, ‘POLICE ARE ON THEIR
WAY NELLIE… BASTARD’S PRESSED THE ALARM.’

‘Nellie’ swore viciously under his breath, turned and calmly
walked back over from the wreckage of Amish’s off licence, looked down at Amish
cowering behind the counter, raised his shotgun and shot the old man at point
blank range.

‘Told the fucker not to make trouble didn’t I?’ he said
dispassionately as he gathered all the bags together and made for the exit. He
was just about leave when something stopped him in his tracks…a sort of
snuffling noise was coming from the back of the shop. He put his finger to his
mouth telling Turk to keep quiet and started slowly scanning round the shop.

Andy stood terrified and shaking as he heard the men
shouting at Amish. He had pulled Lucy to him, hand over her mouth to keep her
quiet, he wasn’t sure what to do…should they try and make a dash for the exit,
no he dismissed that idea, even if he could get Lucy to run her fastest there
was no way of getting out without being seen. No, he needed to find a place for
them to hide. After looking round for a couple of panic filled seconds, Andy
shoved Lucy behind the big baskets that held the loaves of bread and baked
goods. Pushing her back as far as he could he squeezed in beside her holding
her face into his body to smother her sobs. Petrified, they stood as still as
they could, tears streaming down their cheeks, as they listened to the awful
sounds of Amish being beaten, flinching with every blow they heard his groans
and his pleas…then they heard a thump as he fell to the ground. Andy pulled
Lucy even closer to him when a shot rang out a couple of minutes later. Eyes
wide with terror they huddled together in shocked silence, praying that the two
gunmen would leave the shop now that they had done their worst. But they didn’t
leave…in fact the man with the gun seemed to know that they were there. He started
walking slowly around the shop…looking and listening…trying to find them. Both
the children were petrified and shaking; holding on to each other in
desperation, not daring to breathe as they heard the man start systematically
searching the shop, pulling down tins and packets from shelves.

From where they were hiding they could see his booted feet
walking slowly up and down the aisles, coming closer and closer. Andy was sure
he must be able to hear his heart beating, it sounded so loud to his ears, his
grip on Lucy tightened as the footsteps got closer. Through a gap in the
baskets he could see the masked man clearly now, his gun at the ready…he was
almost upon them…all he had to do was turn round…Andy squeezed his eyes shut
tight. Then, just when he thought all hope was lost he heard the distant sounds
of sirens coming their way, the man heard them too…he stopped still, right in
front of where they were hiding.

‘FUCKING FILTH,’ shouted Turk running towards the exit;
Nellie stayed where he was, standing absolutely still, right next  to the
bakery…listening for the smallest sound. He sensed someone was there, he just
knew it…but he couldn’t see anyone.

‘NELLIE…WHAT’S FUCKING KEEPING YOU MAN…COME ON!’ bellowed
Turk back through the doors at his friend.

‘Fuck it,’ muttered Nellie, spitting on the floor as the
sirens became louder. He ran out of the shop minutes before two police cars
pulled up outside, soon the shop was filled with policemen and paramedics.

Andy stayed where he was, holding Lucy still behind him
until he was sure that the two men had got away. Only then did he release the
breathe that he’d been holding and slowly, pulling the shaking sobbing Lucy
behind him, he crept out from behind the baskets.

‘Bloody hell, where did you two spring from?’ said a tall
police constable as he spotted the kids at the back of the shop.

‘Sarge…got some witnesses it looks like,’ he called over to
an older friendlier looking policeman who came over and hunched down in front
of the children, he took in their grubby tear stained faces and their shabby
clothes.

‘How long have you two been here?’ he asked gently, ‘don’t
worry you’re not in any trouble I’m just wondering if you saw anything.’

Andy shook his head and after watching her brother Lucy did
the same.

‘What nothing?’ the policeman said shocked. ‘You mean you
were hiding in here all that time and you didn’t even get a glimpse of the men
who did this?’

The two children shook their heads in unison.

‘You know Mr Patel is dead…he’s been murdered, you do know
that don’t you lad?’ he said getting a bit angry now, but Andy knew it was more
than his life was worth to say a word…he said nothing.

After a while a lady police officer came over to speak to
them. She wasn’t wearing a uniform and had nice blond hair, she looked kind and
she smiled at them in a friendly way.

‘Well you two have had an awful time haven’t you?’ she began
crouching down next to them. ‘I’m DI Right and I’d like to have a word with you
if that’s ok?’ No response, Carla tried again. ‘That was a really clever place
to hide, lucky you two are slim enough to fit behind those baskets, I don’t
think my big bottom would have fit,’ she joked. The little girl gave a watery
giggle, but looked away quickly when Carla turned to her; the boy just stared
passed her.

Carla tried again. ‘Did you know Mr Patel?’ The little girl
nodded, only to be elbowed by her brother…she dropped her head.

‘I’ve heard that he was a good man, a kind man…was he kind
to you?’ Carla went on, she could see the boy’s eyes welling up…he had seen or
heard everything she knew, but was just too terrified to talk. She looked over
to Frank Hill, her sergeant, maybe the boy would be happier talking to a man.

‘I’m…I’m sorry he’s dead,’ came a voice so quiet that Carla
almost missed it.

‘Oh I know you are sweetheart,’ said Carla putting a hand on
to his painfully thin shoulder. ‘Can you tell me your names…I’m Carla.’

‘I’m Lucy,’ said Lucy before Andy had a chance to stop her;
he gave Lucy a hard look.

‘Hello Lucy,’ said Carla, she turned to Andy expectantly, he
seemed to have a battle with himself and then his shoulders fell, ‘I’m Andy,’
he said quietly.

‘So where do you live Andy…does your mum know you are here?’

The two children looked at each other, but said nothing.

‘I know you are feeling really scared right now Andy, but if
you want to help us find the people that killed Mr Patel then I need you to
tell me all that you saw…’

‘We didn’t see anything…’ began Andy.

‘We were just getting some ‘mosas’ from the basket…Amish
said we could have then for 10p…’ began Lucy before getting an elbow in the
ribs from Andy again.

‘So if you didn’t see anything…did you hear anything?’ Carla
asked Lucy this time, but the little girl had learnt her lesson and wasn’t
saying anything.

‘We heard some men shouting,’ said Andy, ‘I pulled Lucy
behind the bread baskets with me and we kept quiet…but I heard them shouting
for Amish…er Mr Patel to open the till.’

‘Now think carefully Andy, did you recognise their
voices…have you seen or heard these men before anywhere?’ Carla looked straight
into Andy’s face, she could see all his fear in his eyes, and she could see
that his desperation to tell her everything was battling with his strong sense
of self preservation…self preservation won.

‘No I didn’t know them, I only heard them shouting, anyway
we kept really quiet until we were sure that they had gone, and then the police
showed up…’ he shrugged his shoulders.

‘Ok Andy, we will need to talk to you again but for now you
can go. I just need you to give DS Hill here your address so that we can run
you home. I will come and see you another day…when your mum’s around…ok?’ Carla
saw the glimpse of panic that ran over the boy’s face when his mum was
mentioned; poor kid was probably going to be in big trouble for being out so
late.

Carla left the children with Frank and went over to where
forensics, led by Dorothy Smiles, had been examining the body.

‘Looks like he was shot at point blank range, that’s why
it’s such a mess,’ Dorothy began as soon as she saw Carla, ‘but someone did a
good job of beating him up first, he’s taken a few hefty kicks to his body.’

‘Ok Dorothy,’ said Carla smiling at her, ‘can you let me
know if you find anything ASAP. I mean this looks the same as the last one,
even though they didn’t kill him, same level of violence though…two men,
shotgun, I’m betting it’s the same men.’ This was the third robbery of its kind
to have happened in the last two weeks.

‘What a lucky thing they didn’t spot those two kids…’ said
Dorothy shaking her head. ‘Were they able to tell you anything…don’t suppose
they saw much hidden behind there though.’

Carla pulled a face, ‘Not a thing apparently …didn’t hear
much either according to the boy. But they are both terrified, and old enough
to know what happens round here to anyone giving information. I’ll get uniform
to take them home and speak to them tomorrow when they’ve had time to sleep on
it…’