Page 14

THIRTEEN

Gina pulled up in the Angel Arms’s car park and Jacob parked next to her. As she stepped out, she grabbed her bag and walked towards the main entrance with Jacob. She could see a group of men sitting in the bay window behind the leaded windows of the pub. On entering, she watched them placing dominoes down in turn.

‘Have you both come to join us? It’s domino evening.’ Elouise stepped from behind the bar, her hair in a French plait, finished off with high-heeled shoes and a pencil skirt.

Gina shook her head and smiled. ‘No, sorry.’ Despite Elouise being in her fifties now, she always looked amazing. Gina felt like a complete mess.

‘Does work bring you here?’

‘Yes. Do you mind if we ask you a couple of questions?’

‘No, but I have to stay in the bar. I’m on my own tonight. Take a seat.’ She gestured at the stools. ‘Drinks?’

Gina ordered a couple of coffees for her and Jacob. It had been a long day.

‘And some crisps, guv.’

She felt her stomach grumbling, too, as she tapped her card to pay. After this call, she’d be able to go home to grab a few hours’ sleep before heading back to the station for their seven a.m. briefing.

Before sleep, she was going to delve into the world of Men-R-Takin-It-Back to see if Stephen – or more so, his online alias, VenMan – had been up to anything on there. She feared that she was barely going to get any sleep at all.

After sipping the filter coffee, she grimaced at its harshness. Jacob opened his crisps and began to crunch on them. She scrunched her nose up at the scent of cheese and onion.

‘So, what d’you want to know?’ Elouise poured herself a small glass of wine.

Gina pulled her work phone out. ‘I know you haven’t been running the Angel for many years, but I do know that, fifteen years ago, your father was the licensee, before he sold it.’ Gina remembered the creep-of-a-landlord after it left Elouise’s family, and she was glad he was gone.

‘You are going back a bit. I used to manage it when he went on holiday. I had my nail bar back then.’

‘Do you remember a regular called Calvin Harris?’

She pressed her red lips together and furrowed her brows. Light glinted off the optics behind her. ‘I can’t say that I do, but I bet some of the guys over there might know him.’

‘He used to play chess.’

Elouise glanced across at the men and one of them laughed as he slammed a domino on the table. ‘Wally over there used to play chess. He’s a bit of a grandmaster. If anyone remembers a fellow chess player from that long ago, it’ll be Wally.’

‘We obviously don’t want to disturb their fun but,’ – Gina glanced back – ‘we need some information on Calvin Harris. Someone’s safety depends on it and it can’t wait.’

‘I watched the news earlier. Is it anything to do with the man found dead in his car?’

Gina knew that Briggs had not mentioned how John Doe had died in his press release, so she kept tight-lipped.

‘It’s an ongoing investigation, so I can’t say anything, but it would really help if we could take Wally somewhere to talk.’

‘I understand.’ Elouise glanced into the back room where the pool table was kept. ‘It’s empty in there. I’ll put the jukebox on in here, too, if you want some added privacy.’

‘Thank you.’ Gina drank the rest of her coffee and Jacob popped his empty crisp packet down next to his cup. She slid off the stool and headed towards the table of men with her identification. ‘Sorry to interrupt. Wally?’

‘Hang on, I’m about to take this lot down.’ He placed his last domino on the table and the others roared and headed to the bar. ‘What can I do for a lovely young lady like yourself?’

‘I’m DI Harte and this is DS Driscoll. Would you mind if we go into the other room to talk?’

The jukebox began to blare out ‘Hey Jude’ by The Beatles, and a couple of the men began to sing along as they waited for their fresh pints. Gina nodded her thanks to Elouise for distracting them.

‘Of course not, but we’ll be starting a new game in a minute.’

‘We promise not to keep you long.’

The man struggled to stand, his shoulders and upper back hunched over. He leaned towards the other seat, grabbed a walking stick and began to hobble towards the back room.

Gina and Jacob slowly followed until he found a seat next to the pool table. Wally groaned as he bent down to sit. ‘Oh, to be young and fit again like you two are.’

They sat opposite him and Jacob was poised, ready to take down any information that might help them. Gina had pulled a seat with a back from another table. She didn’t feel young or fit, and sitting on a stool would give her backache.

‘What can I do for you? I’m assuming you’re not here to arrest me, but if you are I don’t know what I’ve done.’ He burst out laughing. ‘Actually, when I was drunk sometime back in 1972, I stole my neighbour’s window box. I didn’t even want it, but when I sobered up, I thought I’d get caught out if I gave it back, so I took it to the tip. I gather you don’t want to know about that?’ His porous red nose shone under the pool table’s trio of lamps. ‘I’m pulling your leg,’ he said to Gina as he laughed.

She smiled. She couldn’t imagine Wally ever being in trouble.

‘What do you want to know? I’ll help in any way I can.’

Gina tucked her loose strands of brown hair behind her ears. ‘Do you remember a man called Calvin Harris? He used to come in here, probably up until his death ten years ago. He was a keen chess player, like you, so we wondered if you knew him.’

Wally let out a burst of laughter. ‘That man started coming in here over twenty years ago thinking he was the best. I beat him with fool’s mate within a minute. The most obvious two moves and he didn’t have a clue. I couldn’t forget Cal. He was keen, though, I’ll give the man his due. He swallowed his humiliation, learnt to play and he became a brilliant contender. You haven’t come here to hear about all our games though, have you?’

Gina inhaled and let out a slow breath. ‘It sounds like you had some fun times, and I wish I could chat to you for longer, but we’re investigating a case. Do you remember a man he was friends with? A younger man who used to go back to his house to play chess with him.’

Wally stared at Gina, his creased eyes almost glassy. ‘There was one man, and I didn’t like him. He started to hang out with Calvin all the time and Calvin stopped meeting us as much.’ He began muttering years under his breath. ‘I’d say it was around 2007, as this man was present when one of the best wins I’ve ever seen happened. Felix Burton, the winner’s name was. I could never forget that moment because the whole room was on their feet as he won. Calvin had brought this friend along to watch.’

‘Would Felix Burton know him?’

‘Felix died two years later and no one knew Calvin’s friend. That man kept himself to himself.’

‘Do you remember Calvin’s friend’s name?’

‘No. I don’t think Calvin ever introduced us. I just remember that he made me feel uneasy and I told Calvin that he shouldn’t be taking strangers back to his house, but he thought the man needed a bit of help in life, a bit of guidance. Calvin was a soft touch. He was the type to take in waifs and strays, which is okay, but this one was weird.’

‘In what way?’

‘The way he used to stare at the girls.’

‘The girls?’

‘If you look out of the bay window where we play dominoes, there used to be a café opposite. It wasn’t a chip shop like now. It was a proper place. Instant coffee and bacon sarnies. He used to watch the girls coming and going in a pervy kind of way, or should I say girl . There was one he seemed to have a thing for. Apparently, she turned him down, and he used all kinds of derogatory language that I won’t repeat when it came to her. The man had a daughter. He was asking Calvin’s advice as she wasn’t well and he was having to home-school her. Something didn’t add up. Why wasn’t he at home with his little girl? And why was he perving on the girls at the café? I think Calvin told me that his ex had left him, but I didn’t believe him. I told Calvin as much and Calvin told me I was being stupid and unfair, that he was a young dad with a little girl who needed a bit of help. I also told him he needed to watch out for his own daughter, which Calvin took umbrage at, but I don’t think their paths ever crossed.’ He paused in thought. ‘It’s funny, isn’t it, how you don’t forget a person who stood out like a sore thumb, regardless of how much time has passed?’

‘Do you know how old he was?’

‘He had a beard and really messy facial hair, which I think probably made him look older than what he was. I’d go with mid to late twenties, but I’m not good with ageing people. He could have been older or younger, and he only really played Calvin so he didn’t mix with the rest of us. I’m guessing that, as he had a child who needed educating, the child must have been at least five.’

‘Is there anything at all you can remember about him; something that might help us identify him?’

‘He had a van. I know that because Calvin was trying to update things in his house and this man was picking up bulky furniture items for him.’

‘Do you know where he lived?’

‘No, but there is something on the tip of my tongue, I just can’t think. Argh, this is so frustrating.’ He pressed his lips together, frowning. The crowd in the other room started singing ‘Yellow Submarine’.

‘That’s it. He had a job. As well as looking after his daughter, he used to work part-time at a company that made ready meals, somewhere on Cleevesford Industrial Estate. He wore this red cap with Florida written on the front of it, but he’d never been there. I know that because I asked him.’

Gina knew of one factory that produced ready meals and they were still going. She waited for Jacob to jot that information down.

‘He had dark hair and an earring. He wore one small hoop earring. I remember that because it fell out and got caught in his beard one day and I told him.’

‘You’re really helping us. Is there anything else?’ Gina hoped that Wally could tell them more, but she feared that the information he had in him was coming to an end.

‘He mentioned a woman called Marie. Again, he was derogatory. He made comments about her…’ Wally placed a hand over his chest and pointed at the breast area. Gina nodded to Jacob to message the team. They needed information on Marie, the ready-meal factory and chess clubs.

Wally continued as Jacob typed a message out. ‘He said her tops were too low-cut and he called her a slag because she left him. That is not a word I’d use. I have daughters. Maybe now you know, you could find Marie. Maybe she worked at the factory, too. Find Marie.’