Southend U3A

Writing for Fun

The Beatnik - Gerry Miller

July 2013

At number 15 Lynton Crescent the police were visiting Kevin for the third time whilst he had been the one who reported his wife missing; the inspector felt that something was not right. The house appeared too clean and a smell of polish and bleach was around. None of Lucy's belongings were missing and her parents were clear that she was a devoted and loving mother, and would never leave her two kids. Kevin acted too cool calm and collected he did not seem unduly bothered about his wife disappearing; the children had been collected by Lucy's mum and were staying with them whilst this was all going on. Lucy had waved her children off to school with a smile some six days ago and no one had seen her since. Kevin said that money he had kept hidden around the house was now missing and Lucy must have taken it.

The police had carried out house to house enquiries and had checked the local hospitals. A pattern started to emerge of a very stormy relationship. Lucy had been to the hospital with a broken arm, a black eye and two cracked ribs over the last year. The latest incident being only three weeks ago, a local solicitor came forward and stated Lucy was her client and had been to see her about divorce. She was clear that Kevin did not want a divorce and he certainly was not going to give Lucy any money. In fact as the solicitor informed the police it was very hard to try and get any information of what money Kevin had, his businesses were scattered around the county. The solicitor also commented that Lucy had appeared very edgy and fearing for her safety.

Lucy's parents and her sister were adamant that Kevin was responsible for his wife's disappearance. They did not believe the story that he had kept money hidden around the house and Lucy also had to account for every single penny she spent. The police had no body just a great deal of circumstantial evidence, and finally the forensic team moved in. Just as they were about to complete the search three or four white marks on the stairway carpet were noticed, the patches were cut out and sent to the lab. Lucy's dna was discovered deep within the pile. Kevin admitted that he had cleared away the blood spotting as he felt that it would incriminate him, one of his explanations was that it was from a nose bleed, another that she had accidently got a paper cut on her thumb and the plasters were downstairs so it could have happened then. The police remained unconvinced.

Three days after Lucy's absence being reported the early arrival on the allotments stared at the beatnik on the way out as he made his way in. The woman could have been any age. Her hair was jet black and in bunches each with a skull and crossbones on the clips, what had really caught his attention was the snake like tattoo curving around her neck. She definitely did not look like a gardener but perhaps she had been dropped off by a friend or relative. As she went past him he turned around, the tartan kilt was extra short and the old army jacket over the top certainly created a very individual style and at least matched the old army boots she was wearing. Mutton dressed as lamb he had thought but then so many that went to the local college looked like that these days.

Lucy saw him give her the once over but felt sure he would be unable to recognise her as the attractive blonde woman from the missing posters that were now circulating around the town. Her grandfather's old allotment shed had been her home now for three nights. The cold water butts had sufficed for night time washes and for her hair dying exercise. She walked across town keeping away from the shops and their cctv cameras, her few necessities' were in an old shoulder bag, the money she had removed from Kevin's hidey holes around the home and her only photo of the kids she risked taking were placed around her body and in her knickers. She did not look a likely victim for muggers but you never could tell.

From the last time Kevin had hit her and broken her ribs she had known that he could kill her. Following the police having a few words with him at the hospital he became more deadly. His conversation was short sharp and to the point he told her that something could easily happen to her in her car. And if she had the kids with her 'So what' Lucy was chilled to the bone and knew something had to be done to protect her children from him. If she went for divorce the courts would award him some degree of contact to the children. After all he had never laid a hand on them.

Lucy had known from the start that to keep her children safe from Kevin she would have to be stronger than ever before. If Kevin thought that she was alive then they would never be free of his threats. And so her plan had been meticulously worked out, she must die and if possible it must implicate him. The local papers had on the third day of disappearing stated that the children were now staying at her parents, the kids most loved of grandparents. Lucy knew she could leave town.

She walked over to the old roman road and then started walking south, there would she hoped be less chance of being found if she headed now as she headed south. Lucy kept to the verge and headed towards the access to the A6, her hand was kept out and her bandaged thumb pointed upwards suddenly a little black car pulled up. The lady driver asked where she was going and Lucy just mumbled southwards. The driver stated she was going to Bolton if that was any good to her, Lucy jumped in with a sigh of relief. She knew that it had been a very careful balance as to whether to get away quick or stay in the allotment shed. Luckily it seemed she had made the right choice.

It was easy to get the driver talking and at least that kept the conversation away from her. The driver introduced herself as Anne and said that she was on her way to Bolton as her mother had been taken ill in the care home she was in. Anne chatted away and kept telling Lucy what a good listener she was. This middle aged woman was also full of the chatter going around town about the missing housewife; apparently a well to do business man had gone to the police station and had reported his smart debonair trophy wife missing. People who knew the couple were saying that he had been violent to the woman and had dominated and controlled every aspect of her life.

It was a long and tortuous journey for Lucy her heart was broken and she was sick to her stomach. Anne's chatter washed over her like a soothing balm but she was glad when they were at last within reach of Bolton city limits. Lucy thanked her kindly and said her goodbyes. Fortune favoured the brave and Lucy managed to find a bed and breakfast and booked in for four days. She had to pay up front and realised this was because she looked a cross between a beatnik and a Goth, which would soon have to change

During the next few days much time was spent in the library answering the few emails in the name she had set up some months ago. Her finances now totalled over nine thousand pounds. Seven from Kevin and two she had managed to scrimp and scrape from the housekeeping. She laughed to herself no one would believe that Kevin had been daft enough to leave such a large amount of money behind an air vent and under a few floor boards.

On her third day in Bolton the most important email of all arrived and confirmed that in her new identity as Denise Roan she had her job offer. All that time spent in the local library at home and setting up her new identity had paid off. She had set up two other false email accounts and had sent two good references she had written herself, and responded to the queries received back. She could never be traced to Cirencester and to the spinster lady's housekeeper that she was about to become. The transfer tattoos scrubbed off, the new clothes from the charity shop fitted a treat and she walked sadly off to the train station, muttering to herself 'Goodbye kids sleep safely now'.

It took a further six weeks back at home and with no sight at all of Lucy not on CCTV, at the railways station, the bus station and hospitals had all been checked, and more than once. All her cards and even her purse were found in the home. Jane her sister had checked all of Lucy's wardrobes, she informed the police that Kevin had kept Lucy on a very tight spending budget and her sister had only possessed one pair of trainers, a pair of sandals and one pair of each colour of shoes. They all were in the shoe racks and ominously there were no empty spaces. Whilst Kevin protested his innocence the police were having none of it, Kevin was arrested and charged with killing his wife and/or organising with others to have her killed.

Three months later he came to trial the jury took very little time to reach a verdict and Kevin was sentenced to a term of imprisonment of no less than fifteen years. At the public library in Cirencester Denise sat at the computer screen and read the headlines at least in fifteen years her children would be adults. Whilst a deep sadness now lay within her, she was happy with the outcome and felt that justice had been done.