A Good Year for the Roses (1988) (2 page)

‘Is your name Sharman?’ the man demanded with rather more vehemence than I thought was really necessary. ‘I want to talk to you.’

His accent was basic London town, but the nice part.

‘Good morning,’ I said politely. ‘Do sit down.’

I nodded at one of the two metal chairs facing my desk. He looked at them as if he'd never seen such items of furniture before, and with a moment's hesitation pulled one towards him and sat. I got the feeling he would like to have wiped it down with his hankie before he did so. He fixed me with the sort of look usually reserved for something that has crawled out of a side salad.

‘Are you a registered private detective?’ he asked.

‘Registered with whom?’ I asked back.

‘Well, you have to register with someone, don't you?’ he asked with a puzzled look.

It was my turn to look puzzled. ‘I don't know what you mean,’ I said.

‘That's what you do isn't it, investigations?’ He pulled a scrap of newspaper from his jacket pocket and tapped my advertisement.

I began to understand. A little late perhaps, but I was out of practice.

‘Yes,’ I said, ‘that's what I do, but this is not Los Angeles. In London you don't need a licence to undertake investigative work.’

‘I didn't know that,’ he said. ‘Have you got any qualifications?’ Christ, I thought, he wants to see my ‘0’ Level certificates. And then said aloud, ‘I used to be a policeman, ten years on the force.’

‘You're too young to be retired. Why did you leave?’ he asked almost accusingly.

‘I resigned for personal reasons,’ I said. ‘If it's any of your business.’

‘It'll be my business if I'm paying you to work for me,’ he said. I shrugged.

‘And there's me convinced you were the VAT man.’

Things were beginning to look up. I pulled a shorthand pad and pen from the top drawer of my desk and placed them neatly in front of me. I opened the pad to a fresh page and said,

‘Let's start at the beginning. What's your name?’

‘Bright, George Bright,’ he replied.

‘Address, telephone number?’

He gave me the information.

‘All right, Mr Bright,’ I said. ‘Tell me what the problem is.’

‘It's my daughter Patricia. She's missing,’ he said.

Sitting there with him in that stuffy little room reminded me of the beginning of one of those 1950s black and white detective films that are transmitted in the afternoon, or late at night on TV. I liked it.

‘Tell me the whole story,’ I invited.

I made myself comfortable as he began. He started slowly, thinking back.

‘Two months ago, two months exactly today, Patsy went out for the evening. She left after we'd eaten dinner. She made a salad for us both. A prawn salad,’ he looked as if he could still taste it. ‘She came and said goodbye as I was watching TV in the library.’ I made a mental note that this guy didn't live in a council maisonette. ‘She told me she was off to visit a friend,’ he continued.

‘Where?’ I asked.

‘In Brixton. I told her to be careful. That's no place for a young girl, alone at night. She promised me she wouldn't be late and she'd catch a cab home.’

‘Why didn't you offer to pick her up?’

He gave me a pained look. ‘You're joking, she's a very independent girl.’

Obviously, I thought.

‘But she never showed up,’ I said.

‘No.’

‘When did you begin to get worried?’

‘When I went to wake her up the next morning and realised her bed hadn't been slept in.’

‘So you didn't wait up?’ I asked. I think he took it as an accusation.

‘I had no reason to,’ he replied quickly. ‘Patsy was a trustworthy girl. A little vague sometimes. But if she told me she was going to be home, there was no reason for me to believe she wouldn't.’

‘Did she often stay out all night?’ I asked.

‘No, never; well only if she'd arranged it with me beforehand. A party or something like that. But I always knew.’

‘Who was she visiting that night?’ I asked.

‘What?’

‘You said she was off to see a friend,’ I said patiently. ‘Who was it?’

‘I don't know,’ he was almost squirming in his seat.

‘No idea?’ I probed.

‘She didn't like to be tied down to anything definite about her movements,’ he explained. ‘I told you she was a little vague. Most of the time it was on purpose.’ His whole attitude hinted at countless arguments about people and places.

‘But you always knew if she was going to come home or not?’ I asked.

‘Yes.’ He sounded more definite. I decided to believe him.

‘Did she have a boyfriend?’ I changed my line of questioning slightly.

‘No, she wasn't keen on boys,’ he sounded rather defensive at the question.

Fair enough, I thought, you should know. But I scribbled a notation on my pad.

‘So it was a girlfriend or girlfriends,’ I said.

‘I suppose so.’

‘You don't seem too sure, Mr Bright,’ I said.

‘I'm not sure about anything. I sit at night and try to work out if she knew she wouldn't be back. It's been so difficult to cope with her since my wife died. I've tried to do my best -’ He didn't finish the sentence, just lapsed into silence and slipped lower down into his chair. ‘Then I got this.’ He plunged his hand into his inside jacket pocket and produced his wallet. It was black leather, expensive, well worn and fat. He opened it on his knee and removed an envelope. From the envelope he slid out a sheet of folded paper. He leant over and placed the paper in the centre of my desk in front of me. I picked up the paper and unfolded it carefully. It had obviously been read many times. The few words were written in black ballpoint. The handwriting was stylish yet somehow immature. It read:

I sat holding the letter in my hand.

‘When did this arrive?’ I asked.

‘About a week after she left,’ he replied.

‘Is it her writing?’

‘Yes.’

‘Where was it posted?’

‘Stockwell.’

‘Well there you are,’ I said. ‘She'll be back soon. I don't think I can be of much use. We'll both be wasting our time.’

‘Let me be the judge of that,’ he said.

‘I assume you've been to the police,’ I said after a moment's silence. He gave me a piercing look from under his eyebrows.

‘Of course I have. They filled in all the bloody forms, and that was that. They don't seem to care. She's just a kid,’ he added, as if it meant anything.

‘How old is she, Mr Bright?’ I asked.

‘Eighteen.’

‘When?’

‘Last March, March 24th.’

‘So she's an adult in the eyes of the law.’

‘What the hell does that mean?’ He interrupted in a high-pitched, strangled kind of voice. ‘She could be dead.’

‘It means she can come and go as she pleases,’ I replied calmly. ‘The police are too busy to spend a lot of time on cases like this, unless suspicious circumstances are suspected. And you've got this note.’ I tapped the paper on the desk to underline the point.

‘Fuck the note and the police,’ he shouted. Then continued in a more subdued tone, ‘Will you look for her too?’

I tapped the letter on the desk again.

‘You have shown this to the police, haven't you?’

‘Yes of course.’ He dismissed my question with a savage, spastic movement of his hand.

‘It's the Salvation Army they'll send you to,’ I said.

‘Or a private detective,’ he finished my sentence for me.

The words hung around like unwelcome guests in the warm air of my office.

‘When did you inform the police?’ I asked.

‘The day after I discovered she was missing,’ he replied. ‘I last saw her on the Sunday evening. On Monday I waited for her at home all day. By late afternoon I was desperate. I hadn't heard a word. No ‘phone call, nothing. I went out and drove the streets looking for her.’

‘But you didn't know where to look,’ I interrupted.

‘I didn't care, I just drove around for hours. Then I went back to the house and sat up all night hoping she'd come back or get in touch at least. She didn't. So the next morning, Tuesday, I went to the police.’

‘Where?’ I hated to ask.

‘Brixton.’

‘That makes sense I suppose. Who did you see there?’

‘A detective sergeant. Reid is his name. I've got his card in here.’ He lifted his wallet.

‘I might have guessed,’ I said, and felt the cold chill again.

‘Do you know him then?’ Bright asked.

‘Just slightly,’ I replied.

‘What's wrong with him? You don't seem keen I must say. He looked a bit of a hard case to me; is he?’ asked George.

‘He's a hard case alright,’ I replied. ‘It was partly due to him that I left the force.’

‘Why?’

‘He shot me,’ I pointed at my foot that was resting on the open desk drawer again. ‘In my bloody foot.’

George Bright looked at me as if he wished that John Reid had shot me in the head. Sometimes I wished he had too. Especially on long dark nights when sleep wouldn't come and the ghosts of my past mistakes circled my bed and haunted my thoughts.

I didn't like the look one bit. He stared at me as if trying to say something without words. Suddenly it dawned on me.

‘What is she into Mr Bright?’ I asked. ‘Something a bit iffy? Thieving? Drugs?’

He didn't answer right away. Then he said, ‘I'm not sure. I found some stuff when I looked into her room.’

‘What stuff?’

‘A box hidden in her wardrobe. Here, you look.’

It was his briefcase. It was a small, shallow, black lacquered box with a hinged lid and a tiny brass lock. It looked quite valuable.

‘It was hidden under some sweaters,’ Bright volunteered.

‘Was it locked?’ I asked, for something to say.

‘No,’ he replied.

I opened it. There was nothing special inside. Just the usual dope smoker's stash. Rizla papers, some broken up cigarettes. Silk Cut king size, I noticed, my old brand. Various ripped up business cards advertising mini-cab firms and Indian restaurants, a scalpel and some tweezers. It was all depressingly familiar to me, I'd had something similar myself for years, until I'd quit. At the bottom of the box, wrapped in silver foil was a lump of hash. Black, pungent smelling, about the size of an Oxo cube.

‘It's really no big deal, George,’ I said, using his Christian name for the first time. ‘It's hardly reefer madness. Everyone has a go at this at one time or another.’ He looked shocked. ‘Well nearly everybody,’ I added. ‘Did you tell the police you found this in her room?’ I asked as I sat fiddling with the box and it's contents.

‘No,’ he replied.

‘Not very wise was it? They might have shown more interest if you had.’ I gave him back the box and he put it carefully in his jacket pocket.

My instincts told me to shut George Bright out, to close him down and send him packing. Instead I kept asking questions about his daughter.

‘How did she get to wherever she was going? Did she drive?’ It would be easier to locate her if there was a car sitting somewhere parked on the street.

‘No, she never learned,’ he replied. ‘I promised her a car for her next birthday, but she didn't seem to be interested.’

‘Was she picked up then?’

‘I don't think so. The library is at the back of the house, you see. But no-one called for her. I know that,’ he added as an afterthought.

‘But someone could have been waiting?’

‘Yes, I suppose so.’

‘Have you asked your neighbours if they saw anything?’

‘I haven't mentioned it to my neighbours,’ he replied.

‘Why not?’ I asked.

‘It's none of their business.’

‘But they might have seen something.’

‘I doubt it,’ he said.

‘Are you worried what they might think?’

He didn't answer. ‘Well are you? Because it doesn't matter what people think.’

He looked at me in a disgusted manner. ‘Of course it matters. The world runs on money and what other people think.’

There was no answer to that.

I changed my tack again.

‘Do you fancy a drink?’ I asked, already halfway to my feet.

He looked at me incredulously.

‘Be serious Sharman,’ he said. ‘This is important.’

‘I am being serious. We can talk in the pub. It'll be quiet at this time.’ I said. ‘Come on, you look as if you could use one.’ George got up from his seat reluctantly and I ushered him out of the office.

As I closed the door behind us, I looked at Cat who had been listening to our conversation all the time. I shrugged at him and he seemed to shrug back before continuing the vital task of cleaning his torn ear with a damp paw.

George Bright and I walked across the road and through the door of the pub. The bar smelled of beer and old cigarettes, as all bars do when they first open. I suddenly wanted a new cigarette, but fought back the craving.

‘What'll you have?’ I asked.

‘Anything, I don't mind,’ he answered.

I walked over to the counter and ordered two bottles of cold Heineken and looked around the room. There were just a few early drinkers in. I nodded to Hilary and Hubert, a pair of regulars who often popped in for a quick one after their trip to the local supermarket. They were both bottle brunettes and invariably wore matching black outfits. They were perched on their stools at the bar like a couple of gay old crows on a barn fence pecking at two gin and tonics.

I steered George over to an empty table, and we sat in silence for a while sipping our drinks. From the state of his face, he certainly looked as if he needed a livener. With me it was inevitable. I was drinking too much lately. I decided to cut down. Maybe tomorrow.

‘Are you going to help me?’ George finally asked.

‘I don't know,’ I replied. ‘When I left the Met. my wife left me. She got almost everything. So I'm starting again. I came into this business because it's what I know. I was a copper for a long time. I've never done anything else. But I'm not a policeman any more, not a real one. What I'll be doing for the main part is working for solicitors and finance firms, serving court orders and other legal papers. Tracing missing relations and looking for people who haven't paid their HP, or nicked the video from Granada Rentals.

‘I put that ad in the paper for my own satisfaction. Just to prove to myself that I existed again. I've been away for a while. Out of circulation.’

I'm glad to say that George was discreet enough not to ask where I'd been. He might not have liked the answer.

‘You see,’ I continued, ‘it's a nice little service industry, tracing missing people and debt collecting.’

‘But my Patsy's a missing person,’ George interrupted.

‘I appreciate that,’ I said. ‘But it's a bit different. I'm not exactly going to blend in with her age group. What I'm talking about is going through the voter's register or checking out newspaper files. A bit of surveillance. A few words in the right ears and no trouble. This is different. There's a definite drug connection, and I can't afford to get mixed up in that sort of thing. Besides the last mob I want to meet again are the Brixton old bill.’

‘Too dangerous?’ he asked with a sneer.

‘There's more than one kind of danger,’ I replied. ‘For instance, when I was stationed at Brixton, I worked for a while on the drugs squad, undercover. Well, I got too fond of the merchandise. That's another reason I left the job.’

‘You were taking drugs when you were a copper?’ asked George.

‘The police aren't saints, if you cut them they bleed like anybody else,’ I replied.

‘Christ, you're a right one. But at least you know about drugs, don't you? It could help if Patsy's got involved.’

Who was he kidding? Of course she was involved. I kept a straight face and said. ‘I know too bloody much about them, besides that was a while ago. Two weeks can be a lifetime when you mess with dope.’

‘But you're looking for work aren't you?’

‘Yes, and I'm expensive.’

‘How much?’

‘Two hundred pounds a day, plus expenses and mileage.’

‘You'll be in the upper tax level in no time,’ said George drily. I don't think he was impressed.

‘Not really,’ I said. ‘Most of my work will be pro rata. An hour here and there. As you can tell from the fact that I'm sitting here with you shooting the breeze. I'm not exactly overworked. Besides I'm broke.’

George leant over the table.

‘Listen, you're my last chance,’ he said. ‘Help me please. Here, look.’ He picked up his briefcase which he had brought into the pub with him. He placed it on the table and opened it up. He produced a large brown envelope and extracted a photograph which he placed in front of me.

‘That is Patsy,’ he said proudly.

The photograph was an 8” X 10” head and shoulder professional shot of an extremely attractive young blonde girl.

‘She was going to be a model,’ he said.

He didn't seem to realise that he was speaking in the past tense. I looked at the photo for a while. The subject reminded me of my own daughter, Judith. Although Judith was ten years younger, the likeness was uncanny. Judith always told me that when she grew up she would be a film star.

‘Look on the back,’ George said.

A piece of white paper had been stuck on the reverse side of the photograph. On it was typed Patricia Bright's vital statistics. Everything from her birthday to her glove size.

‘I've got a couple of dozen here,’ said George, tapping the envelope. ‘You can use them, and I've got money too. I'm not a poor man.’ He said with a certain dignity. He produced his cheque book, which he opened and placed on the table in front of him. We looked at everything but each other. Then I noticed that he was crying.

Although I was not fond of the man, I felt intensely sorry for him.

‘Alright,’ I said, ‘I give in. I'll tell you what, give me a kite for a hundred quid and I'll take a look round. I'll talk to the police and get back to you after the weekend, is that alright?’

George pulled out his handkerchief and dabbed at his eyes. I was always a sucker for a hard luck story. Besides, I knew how I'd feel if Judith had disappeared.

‘Thank you,’ said George. He fumbled around in his briefcase for a pen and wrote a cheque out for the amount agreed, tore it out of the book and slid it in front of me.

‘I'll have the box back, too,’ I said.

He retrieved it from his pocket and passed it to me.

‘What do you do, George?’ I asked, leaning back in my chair. ‘For a living I mean.’

‘Leisure,’ he replied. ‘I'm in the leisure business. Juke boxes and fruit machines. I'm well known in the trade. I've got a showroom in Herne Hill. I'd better give you my card.’

He produced a printed card from his pocket like a magician. I put it in the envelope with the photographs, then carelessly pushed the cheque into the back pocket of my jeans.

And that was how I obtained my first paying customer on an August morning that neither of us would ever forget.

I should have asked George why I was his last chance.

I should have listened to my instincts.

I should have just let him cry.