The Victim (17 page)

Over in Essex, Jed was anything but shitting himself as he spoke calmly and politely to the woman judge. His solicitor, Malcolm, had already said his piece, and Jed was pleased that he’d now been allowed to speak, too.

‘That’s why I brought my children here with me today, your honour. They might only be young in years, but Georgie and Harry are both very wise for their age and they certainly know what they want. Since living with myself and my parents, the children have flourished and I’m worried that seeing their mother in prison will upset them and disturb their young minds all over again. It was only recently that they witnessed the murder of their half-brother, Luke, and I don’t think they could cope with any more upheaval.’

Larry, Frankie’s solicitor and Carol Cullen, the social worker whom Larry had employed to take on this case, glanced at one another in disbelief. Scared of losing his rag, Eddie Mitchell had decided not to attend the court case, but, had warned them about Jed’s cunning nature and had also said. ‘He’s a thick, uneducated pikey. He won’t come across well in front of a judge.’

Larry stared at Jed as he continued his well-rehearsed speech. The little bastard seemed to have the woman judge eating out of his hand and, as for sounding uneducated, his use of the English language was top-drawer.

Jed had introduced his parents to the judge and then ordered them to wait outside the room. His mother had a habit of losing her rag and he didn’t want her to balls things up for him. He smirked at Larry and Carol and then turned back to the judge. ‘Shall I bring the children in now?’

The judge ignored Jed’s question and turned to Carol and Larry. ‘Would you like to speak on behalf of Francesca Mitchell now?’

Larry spoke first, then Carol did her very best to assure the judge that Georgie and Harry would benefit from contact with their mother. The judge listened intently about the evening the children ran away, until Carol brought the swear words that Alice had taught them into the equation.

‘This is a court, not a playground, Mrs Cullen. Telling tales isn’t going to sway my judgement,’ she said sternly.

Carol felt deflated as she glanced at Larry. She had attended many of these civil court hearings and had had many success stories, but this particular judge, whom she had never dealt with before, seemed like a complete cow and Carol would put money on it that the old bat was childless herself.

The judge turned to Jed again. ‘Could I speak to the children now?’

Georgie and Harry were waiting outside with Jimmy and Alice and, as Jed left the room to collect them, Larry turned to the judge. ‘You do realise that the children are three and four years old, don’t you? Whatever do you expect to gain by talking to them? Isn’t it blatantly obvious that their father has probably taught them their answers? That’s why he brought them here.’

‘You have no right to say that about my client. His children have every right to air their views,’ Jed’s solicitor said angrily.

The judge ignored Larry’s questions and, as Jed returned with Georgie and Harry, ordered Carol to wait outside. She had never been a fan of social workers and had taken an instant dislike to Carol Cullen.

Jed grinned cockily at Carol as she passed him. She might have passed a load of exams and all that palaver, but she was nowhere near as clued-up as he was.

Because of the children attending the case, the judge had chosen to hold the hearing in a room with a big round table, rather than a formal-looking courtroom. She always did this when young children were involved, as it was less daunting for them and they seemed to speak far more freely in pleasant surroundings.

The judge smiled as Georgie and Harry were helped onto two big chairs. She introduced herself and then asked them if they knew why they were at the court.

‘We don’t want to see Mummy in prison,’ Georgie said immediately.

‘And why do you not want to see your mother?’ the judge asked.

‘’Cause we don’t. We do love our mummy, but we don’t want to go to prison,’ Georgie said bluntly.

Larry shook his head in disbelief as the judge spoke to Harry and he virtually repeated word for word what his sister had said. It was obvious to any fool that these children had been brainwashed, so why couldn’t the dopey tart who had been put in charge of the case see that?

The judge asked the children a couple more questions, then told Jed to take them outside while she delivered her verdict.

Larry had extremely bad vibes about the verdict. He had told Eddie that this case was a foregone conclusion and had promised to ring him straight after the hearing.

Jed walked back into the room and sat down next to his solicitor. The judge cleared her throat to gain everybody’s attention and spoke clearly and abruptly. ‘I have decided that it is not in the best interests of the children to have contact with their mother while she is in prison. If and when Francesca Mitchell is released, we can review the situation once more.’

Jed wanted to laugh as Larry stormed out of the room with a face like thunder. Fuck Frankie and her idle threats, who did she think she was?

Jimmy and Alice were thrilled when Jed told them the verdict. They had sort of guessed what had happened when they’d seen Larry stomp past, but having confirmation that Georgie and Harry were all theirs was a fantastic feeling. Alice was overjoyed, as she loved looking after the kids, and Jimmy was as pleased as punch, knowing how annoyed Eddie Mitchell would be.

Jed thanked his solicitor once more, then smiled at his children.

‘I’m hungry, Daddy,’ Harry said, tugging his leg.

‘Did we say the right thing, Daddy?’ Georgie asked innocently.

Lifting up both of his children, one in either arm, Jed swung them around. ‘You both did good and now no one is gonna take you away from me, ever.’

‘We will see Mummy again one day though, won’t we?’ Georgie asked, remembering her father’s promise. Her dad had told her and Harry that if they told the judge that they didn’t want to visit their mother in prison, then he would let them visit her when she came out of prison, which would be very soon.

Jed ignored his daughter’s awkward question. The kids had barely mentioned Frankie over the past few weeks and, give it another six months or so, their young minds would forget all about the evil bitch. He turned to his parents. ‘Come on, let’s go to a boozer and fucking celebrate.’

* * *

Eddie Mitchell was in total disbelief when Larry told him the grim news. ‘So, you’re telling me, after running away in search of their mother, Georgie and Harry both sat in that courtroom and said they didn’t wanna see her?’

‘That’s correct and I’m positive that was what swung it, Ed. If the children had said differently, I’m sure they would have been allowed to visit Frankie. It looked to me like their father had preplanned their answers for them, but the judge was obviously fooled. As for Jed sounding uneducated and not coming across very well, he came across completely the opposite, I’m afraid.’

Eddie slammed the phone down and walked over to the drinks cabinet.

‘Are you OK, love?’ Gina asked, guessing full well that he wasn’t, but not knowing what else to say.

Ed turned to her. He’d already had the day from hell: the Old Bill had rung him and said they were ready to release his brothers’ bodies, so he’d spent the whole morning sorting out funeral arrangements, and now he had this shit to deal with on top of all that. Knocking back a large Scotch, Ed immediately poured himself another and turned to his fiancée. ‘I wanna speak to Stuart alone and make some phone alls. Go and sit upstairs for a bit,’ he ordered.

When Gina closed the living-room door, Ed turned to Stuart. ‘That’s it now: I’ve fucking had enough of them O’Haras. I’m gonna arrange a meet with the boys for tomorrow and end this once and for all.’

After leaving the court, Larry drove straight up to Holloway Prison as previously arranged. He was now sitting in a room waiting to speak to Frankie face to face. Telling Eddie hadn’t been quite as bad as Larry had predicted. He had sort of expected Ed to blame him and Carol for failing to deliver, but he’d been relatively polite, considering what had happened.

Larry twiddled his thumbs as he waited for Frankie to appear. Telling her that she’d lost the case was going to be awful, and Ed had rung him back to tell him not to be too honest with his daughter.

‘Whatever you say, do not tell Frankie that Georgie and Harry told the judge they didn’t want to visit her. Tell her any old bollocks, but not that, Lal, as that will fucking destroy her soul,’ Ed insisted.

When Frankie was finally led into the room, Larry was expecting hysterics as he relayed the events of the hearing. Her reaction could not have surprised him more. Frankie did not cry, scream, shout or anything. All she did was sit opposite him with a look of hatred on her face and mutter two sentences.

‘I want you to ring DI Blyth and tell her I want to see her. You tell her that I’m ready to tell the truth now, and don’t you dare say nothing to my dad.’

Frankie then stood up and, leaving Larry open-mouthed, calmly walked out of the room.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Sally’s funeral was a tearful affair and, as his daughter’s body was lowered into the ground, Terry Baldwin was positive that he felt his heart split in two. Sally was Terry’s only child and he’d literally worshipped the ground she’d walked on. Finding her lifeless body swinging from the ceiling was a sight that would haunt Terry until his dying day. He’d tried everything to revive her, but he’d been too late and he’d never forgive himself for that. If only he’d kept popping upstairs every five or ten minutes; he’d known how depressed she was.

‘Shall we make a move now, love? The funeral cars are waiting,’ Anne asked her husband as he crouched down and stared at the flowers once more.

‘I’ve checked every one of these cards twice and do you know what? That fucking piece of pikey shit didn’t even bother to send my baby any flowers,’ Terry said, referring to Jed. His daughter and grandson’s demise were all down to Jed, and now Sally’s funeral was over, Terry was determined to make things even.

Anne linked arms with her husband. Since Sally’s death she’d become increasingly worried about Terry’s rants about revenge and she was concerned that he might do something incredibly stupid.

‘Promise me something, Tel,’ she asked him.

‘What?’

‘Promise me that you won’t take the law into your own hands.’

With sadness etched across his face and tears in his eyes, Terry turned to face Anne. ‘I’m sorry, babe. I can’t make that promise.’

* * *

Another person currently discussing the subject of retribution was Eddie Mitchell. He’d organised an emergency meeting at Auntie Joanie’s house and was discussing how, when and where he and the boys were going to pounce.

‘What about the mother, though? I mean, if we dispose of Jimmy and Jed, she’ll have custody of the kids, won’t she?’ Raymond said sensibly.

‘We’re gonna have to do her in an’ all. We can’t take no chances,’ Ed replied bluntly. He didn’t usually like to involve women in any kind of violence, but in Alice’s case he was willing to make an exception.

‘But how we gonna kidnap Jimmy, Jed and Alice without the kids being around? Georgie and Harry are always gonna be in the company of one of them, ain’t they?’ Gary asked.

‘We can’t risk the kids seeing anything in case they say something. Fuck me, they’re only nippers and if the Old Bill question ’em, they’re bound to blab and stitch us up,’ Ricky said worriedly.

Eddie turned to Stuart. He might be a relative newcomer and the youngest member of the firm, but he was as bright as a button and even in the nick, Ed had sought his advice over matters. ‘You got any ideas?’ he asked.

Deep in thought, Stuart rubbed the stubble on his chin. ‘I think the only way to do this is to forget about kidnapping ’em. We’re gonna have to break in their house while they’re sleeping and do it there.’

Gary and Ricky glanced at one another and laughed sarcastically. Both lads had grown to like Stuart, but they were still slightly jealous of their father’s close relationship with him. Therefore, if they could get a dig in against Stu, then they would.

‘What a great idea! Let’s blast ’em away in their beds while the kids are in the house as well,’ Gary said mockingly.

Ed glared at Gary and mulled over Stuart’s idea. It was dodgy and dangerous, but was there any other valid option? ‘I think Stu has a point. I mean, some cunt broke into my father’s house, murdered him in bed and got away with it, didn’t they? It can be done, providing it’s done properly.’

‘Yeah, but Grandad lived alone. There’s five living at the O’Haras’ if you include Georgie and Harry,’ Ricky reminded his father.

‘Does anyone know the layout of the house? If Jimmy and Alice sleep in a room that’s nowhere near Jed’s, we might just get away with it. If we break in in the middle of the night and use a silencer, I doubt the kids will wake up,’ Stuart added.

Gary didn’t like the sound of the idea at all. ‘And what do we do when we’ve killed ’em all? Just fuck off and let the kids find their blood-soaked bodies in the morning?’

Eddie shrugged. ‘Yeah, I suppose so.’

Raymond turned to Eddie. This was beginning to sound proper heavy now. Polly had their first child on the way and he didn’t fancy spending the first twenty years or so of his kid’s life stuck in some poxy prison cell. ‘Ed, Georgie and Harry have already seen that Luke boy murdered. He was shot right in front of ’em, wasn’t he? Can you imagine the trauma they’re gonna endure if they find their dad and grandparents blasted to bits as well?’

Being the youngest son of a gangland boss, Eddie had been brought up around violence from a very young age and that had made him extremely thick-skinned. ‘The kids are only young – they’ll soon forget about it and get over it,’ he said tactlessly.

Raymond, Ricky and Gary all glanced at one another. Once Eddie had made up his mind about something, there was usually no turning back.

‘I still think the kidnapping idea sounded far more feasible,’ Gary said, hoping his father would see sense.

Eddie drank the last of his Scotch and angrily slammed his glass against the table. ‘I’ve spent years pussy-footing around the O’Haras and I’ve had a fucking gutful of it. I want ’em dead, all of ’em, and seeing as I run this firm, we’ll do things my way – got it?’

Ed’s eyes clouding over was always a bad sign, so Raymond, Gary and Ricky all did the sensible thing. One by one they nodded their heads in agreement.

Over in Holloway, Babs was becoming increasingly worried about Frankie’s venomous behaviour. Usually kind and mild-mannered, Frankie had bitten everybody’s head off that morning, including hers, and had just crowned it all by calling Linda, one of the nicest screws, ‘a nosy, fat cow’.

As Linda walked off with a hurt expression on her face, Babs sat next to Frankie in the corridor. It was freeflow time and, with the mood Frankie was in, Babs wished they had stayed in their cell.

‘Listen, sweet child, I know you’re angry over the court case, but being vile to people ain’t gonna help you get them wonderful babies of yours back. Linda is a lovely woman and she was only trying to be helpful. Where has my best mate gone, eh? The Frankie I know has a truly beautiful soul and I was thinking, is you her twin sister?’ Babs asked jokingly.

About to crack a smile, Frankie spotted Katie, stood up, and ran towards her. ‘Have you spoken to your cousin yet?’ she asked. She’d managed to speak to Katie after she’d seen Larry the previous day.

Katie stared at Frankie for a few seconds, then nodded. Ever since she had got the original message to her cousin Danny, Frankie had avoided her like the plague. It was only now that she needed another favour that Frankie was being nice to her again.

‘I told Danny last night and he promised to ring Jed today. I’ll call Danny again later and see if he managed to get the message to him for you.’

‘Thanks, Katie,’ Frankie said, forcing herself to smile. She wouldn’t rest until she knew that Jed had received her latest threat. She wanted the bastard to suffer just like he’d made her suffer.

When Katie walked away, Babs walked towards Frankie. ‘You gotta start being nicer to that poor girl. She been good to you and you make it blatantly obvious that you don’t like her.’

‘I don’t fucking like her. The way she speaks reminds me of Jed and I still reckon she’s working for him as some sort of spy.’

Babs shook her head. ‘I think Katie is genuine, and I’m sure you got her all wrong. Why would she help you by getting the messages to Jed if she were on his side?’

‘I ain’t got her wrong at all. Them travellers stick together like glue, mate, and do you know what? I bet that lying cow ain’t even got a cousin called Danny. I bet she’s ringing Jed up herself.’

Babs looked at Frankie with an incredulous expression plastered across her face. ‘Really?’

Frankie nodded. She was Eddie Mitchell’s daughter and had been bred by the finest when it came to being clued-up about people. She linked arms with Babs. ‘I know exactly what’s going on and, mark my words, I’m right.’

Jed and Sammy were sat in the White Hart in Rainham. After yesterday’s court case, Jed had gone to a nearby boozer with his parents and children and had rung his cousin to urge him to celebrate with them. Sammy had turned up within the hour with two grams of coke in his pocket. Jed had got the flavour, sent the kids home with his parents, and then he and Sammy had gone off on one of their jaunts. They’d ended up in the Church Elm pub in Dagenham where they’d pulled two birds and stayed the night at theirs in some nearby flats called the Mall.

‘So, what was your one like? Did you shag her?’ Sammy asked his cousin.

‘Nah, I’d had too much booze,’ Jed lied. For once, the girl he’d pulled would not let him have his wicked way with her and Jed rather respected her for that. Her name was Amanda and the closest he’d got to the deed was a finger and a wank. ‘I thought mine was quite pretty, as it goes. I took her number and I might ring her in a few days. What about yours? Did you give her one?’ Jed asked.

Sammy grinned. ‘She was a right goer. Stuck her finger up me arse and all sorts.’

Jed chuckled then quietly sipped his beer. On the journey to the pub, Sammy had informed him that Sally had been laid to rest that morning and even though towards the end of their relationship he had had few feelings for Sally, the news had sort of messed with his head.

‘What’s up? You thinking of Sally?’ Sammy asked.

Jed’s mood had been as bouncy as a trampoline until half an hour ago when Sammy had mentioned her funeral. ‘Nah, not really. I suppose it’s just brought memories of Lukey boy back to me,’ Jed said. He’d never been one to admit his feelings.

Sammy nodded understandingly. He would never forget the sight of that poor little boy with his brains hanging out as long as he lived. ‘So, what are your plans now? You can’t live with your parents for ever, so why don’t you move back with me?’ Sammy asked, cleverly changing the subject.

Jed shook his head. When he was with Frankie, he’d lived in a luxurious mobile home next to Sammy on a privately owned piece of land in Wickford. There were two reasons why Jed didn’t want to move back there. The first was that Sammy was still shacked up with Sally’s best mate, Julie, and the second was he had no intention of bringing up the kids alone.

‘Nah, don’t fancy going back there. There’s too many memories and most of ’em are bad,’ he replied.

‘Well, what you gonna do then? You ain’t still planning to do a runner, are ya?’

‘No, that was a prickish idea. I think I’ll just stay put at me mum and dad’s for now. Me mum takes care of the chavvies for me and I don’t want the hassle of it. I suppose I’ll meet another bird I like soon and when I do, I’ll move the trailer somewhere, and get her to look after the chavvies for me.’

‘If it’s Julie stopping you coming back to Wickford, just say and I’ll get rid. To be honest, she bores the arse off me lately, so I might pack her off back to Rush Green anyway. She kept the flat on ’cause the social pay for it and she’s renting it to a mate at the moment. I can always chuck the mate out and get her to move back in there. I won’t split up with her because of Tommy boy, but I can just pretend we’re working away and pop round there if and when I wanna see the boy or I fancy a bit,’ Sammy offered.

‘I’ll be honest with you, Sammy, I don’t fancy moving back to Wickford whether Julie’s there or not. I wanna start afresh and I also think me and you should start grafting again soon. We ain’t worked for months and I dunno about you, but I’ve spent thousands.’

Sammy smirked. Years ago he and Jed had earned a crust by getting some mug to steal motors, horse-boxes and caravans for them which they would then doctor and sell on again. More recently though, they’d learned the art of conning vulnerable old people. They referred to it as ‘grunting’, and would befriend their victims by doing odd jobs for them at first. In the past couple of years, they’d robbed some of them blind and, between the two of them, had had three properties left to them and a nice piece of land. Getting their victims to make out a will in their names was easy. They only targeted people who had no close family and lived alone and Sammy absolutely loved their new career.

‘So, when we gonna crack on again, then?’ he asked excitedly.

About to answer, Jed was disturbed by the sound of his mobile phone ringing. His face immediately drained of colour and he quickly ended the call without uttering a word.

‘What’s the matter now?’ Sammy asked, concerned.

‘I just got another message sent via Frankie. She says I fucked up big time and now she’s gonna make me pay.’

‘Don’t take no notice of the silly whore. If she was gonna shop you or me, she wouldn’t be telling us, would she?’ Sammy said reassuringly.

‘But, say she does?’

‘She won’t, you dinlo. All the fucking slag’s doing is trying to put the fear of God into ya and it’s worked. If she was gonna grass, she’d have done it yonks ago. Now chill out and go and get us another beer, you tight bastard.’

Jed stood up and walked towards the bar. Past experiences had taught him that people who placed threats of any kind rarely carried them out, so Sammy boy was probably right.

DI Blyth had had an extremely eventful day. From first thing this morning she had been run off her feet like a blue-arsed fly and it was only now, late afternoon, that she finally had a chance to sit at her desk, have a bite to eat and a coffee and, most importantly, check her answerphone messages. The first five messages were the usual run-of-the-mill rubbish that she encountered every day, but as she listened to the sixth, she spat a mouthful of prawn mayonnaise sandwich into her hand and immediately returned the call.