Lost Lad (22 page)

           
"Oh yes!"
said Detective Sergeant John Winter in a hard firm tone with his arms folded. 
"Of some historic interest - no doubt,"
he added cynically.  Dolly parried this by stating that people were amused and entertained by anything old and quaint -

           
"Like my tour of 'Ugly Old Queens'."

           
"Pardon?"
inquired Derek.

           
"My dear, Detective Inspector, that really is, as your handsome colleague put it - 'of historic interest' and very popular having real living fossils to view in their own habitat.  I'm booked up solid for this season.  And no surprise, Derbyshire has Britain's best collection of weird and hideous camp old queens ... "

           
"Such as Jasper Wormall?"
interrupted Derek.

           
"Oh, one the very best!  My customers really enjoyed their visit to 'The Crone under the Crows' as I billed him - so deliciously low and common."
  He sighed and became a little melancholic looking out at the darkening clouds as he recalled the incident of the false teeth. 

           
"'Tis gone, 'tis gone.  We pay for our mistakes.  But I've still got Guzzly Granddad who drools when shown the right one and a
most
nauseating ancient drag act in Ripley.  My clients love to be repelled by her 'Gracie Fields' numbers and the 'Old Mother Riley' sketch really is a scream.  A mass of wrinkles, dead rough, she trips out in these tiny revolting shorts shouting - 'Ya 'n see t' cheeks o' me arse.'  And you should see ... "

           
"We'd like to see Brian Forrester, Mr Coggan!  Can you help us?

This last ended the comic flow and brought an edge of reality to the interview.  Coggan was asked, in turn, to volunteer a personal opinion regarding the probability of Hardman, Wormall, Tonks or Piggs having anything to do with the inexplicable disappearance.  He had a great respect for his employer and became (for once) serious when expressing regret about the recent tragedy.

           
"It'll take years for him to get over it.  Poor man, it's knocked the stuffing out of him - changed him you know.  Oh yes.  Won't let that boy out of his sight.  Won't let him go back to school, talking about private tutors now."
  He shook his head slowly and stared through the aspidistra plant with enormous eyes.  The thought of Jasper having any guilty secrets regarding teenage boys amused him -

           
"Now if you were looking for a missing wrestler, Jasper might be your man ... And when Simon becomes entangled with youngsters he always gets the worst of it.  He's either robbed, given a black eye or ends up gagged, tied and suspended under a tree!  No, not Simon, definitely not Simon."

            With the assessment of Toby Piggs he became thoughtful and chose his words with care -

           
"It was spiteful of Jasper to send you to Guzzly Granddad, but, ... I'm afraid he was right.  I've warned him.  He's a fool having kids in that house.  Well, they could say anything couldn't they?  One thing I do know and everybody knows this - Granddad wouldn't hurt a fly.  Anyway you've more evidence against Jasper than Granddad - and I can't see how a cyclist from here could possibly end up at Derby ... unless?"

           
"Yes, Mr Coggan?"

           
"Have you considered the sudden onset of - amnesia ?"

           
"Yes we have,"
replied Derek
.  Any more ideas?"

           
"Well, it's a bit far fetched ... but ... "
  The clock started to chime the hour of ten as Dolly gently patted his thick fleshy lips with four fingers in an effort to organise his thoughts. 

           
"After being separated from his friends in a strange area he may have become disorientated and wandered off into the woods.  They do go on for miles you know ... "

           
"You're beginning to interest me."

           
"Assuming there was some sort of accident ..."
continued Dolly
" ... resulting in some sort of head injury he may have sustained ... Well, he may have just died!  I don't know anything about these things, you'll need to talk to a specialist, but I've heard about sudden death occurring after the subject has walked some distance."

           
"We've looked.  We've combed the woods.  He's not there!"
said John.

           
"You've
not
looked everywhere.  It's impossible.  It's a massive area.  You've not been all the way up Cressbrook Dale Woods: they go on forever.  There's swathes of nettles, ferns and weeds taller than me up Hay Dale; if he fell into something like that it'll be years before he's found.  What about all those deep mine shafts on Longstone Moor - he could be in any one of them - and you'll never find him ... "

           
"We intend to search Eldon Hole,"
said Derek. 
"The lad wanted to go there.  But you're quite right, Mr Coggan, we have a marathon task ahead of us but, unfortunately, I don't have an army of .." 
Coggan and Winter looked at him.
  "Just a thought, maybe I
do
have an army, the British Army. 

           
Yes, Mr Coggan, many thanks for your interesting suggestions
. 
We're aware that this part of Derbyshire is honeycombed with limestone caves and traitorous hidden pot holes.  We've taken steps to alert all pot-holers and walkers."
 

           
"Up to now .."
chimed in John Winter looking sternly at Dolly. 
"You've not explained how Brian Forrester's bicycle has managed to appeared in the garden of one of your friends: well, OK, former friend.  The fact is that the bicycle was not found in a pot hole, it was found with someone who is connected to you and with someone who shares your particular 'lifestyle'."

            Adolphus Coggan sank further into his cosy nest, sighed and gave John a slightly hurt look.

           
"You disappoint me, Detective Sergeant Winter.  I grant you our little roads are quiet, but it is just possible, do you not think, just possible, that somebody came across a bike on the road side and ... simply took it ... stole it ... rode it away ..."

           
"Thirty miles!" 
interrupted John.
  "Thirty miles south, right to someone who (by sheer chance) you happen to know!  Surely that is stretching coincidence a bit far!  We will start looking into holes when ... "
   

           
"All the same, Mr Coggan,"
said Derek fearing that the atmosphere was in danger of becoming counter-productive
".. you've admitted that you move in interesting circles and I'd be obliged to receive any whispers you may just hear."
 

            Rising, Derek added -
"Tomorrow morning I'll be giving Mr and Mrs Forrester a progress report, or should I say, a lack of progress report.  By this time they'll be in an appalling state of distress; you must realise that.  Sergeant John Winter and I are sure that you'll want to do all you can to restore their son back safely to his home in Heanor.  If that can be achieved with your good offices, Mr Coggan, I can assure you the police service will not wish to look
too
closely into your 'lifestyle', as Winter put it."

At this point all three men were on their feet.  Adolphus Coggan showed them to the door and said -

           
"At the start of this interview I told you both that I wanted to help.  Rest assured, if I can possibly help, I certainly will."

Back in the car John Winter wanted to discuss the matter immediately, but Derek (not for the first time) warned about the skills of lip reading.  The conference took place during a pleasant walk through Water-cum-Jolly Dale.  Dark grey clouds had lightened and the threat of rain had abated.

           
"Well let's hear it, John.  Let's have your latest scenario."

           
"He's a bloody smooth one and he could be exactly what he seems to be - a little fat queer comic who'd run a mile at the sight of a shaking fist ... "

           
"Did you know, John, that 'Adolph' means wolf?"

           
"Which brings me to my theory," 
retorted Winter
  "Little Dolly finds a concussed young lad and sees an opportunity for sport.  'I'll take you to Dr Jasper' he says.  Bike and boy are put in the car ... "

           
"There's no evidence, not the slightest indication of a bicycle being in that Morris.  No oil, no grease, no dirt - not to mention the difficulty of getting a bike in that small car."

           
"Humour me, sir, he may have used a discarded blanket - anything.  Boy and bike are taken to Belper.  Boy sets eyes on Jasper and runs for his life.  Boy is silenced.  Body chucked in the River Derwent.  Pure chance it hasn't been spotted, yet - by this time it could be floating northwards in the Trent - approaching the Humber."

Derek rubbed his chin and fell into a brief reverie watching a piece of wood floating down the River Wye.  After a few moments, John asked -

           
"What's your gut feeling about this one, sir?  What do you think?"

           
"What do I think?  I feel like the character in the Agatha Christie book, the one who says - 'It's all wrong.  We're looking at it from the wrong angle.'  That's how I feel ... some sort of conjuring trick, some sleight of hand has been played on us ..."

A sudden breeze stirred up the osier trees on the bank and turned the leaves to silver.  Derek noticed that John was still looking at him.

           
"Gut feeling?  I think that Algernon Hardman is an honest respectable man still in shock.  There is something .. which I can't quite put my finger on .. no matter.  I know Simon of old.  Don't forget we went to the same church.  He's a likeable fool.  He may well try it on if
opportunity offers itself but, he's not violent and certainly not homicidal.  Our fat friend?  Well, I really don't know.  Full marks for being enterprising - but where does it stop?  What if Mr Client wants a 15 year old boy to play with, does the devious Dolly, for a price, provide such forbidden fruit - possibly using a relatively safe venue in a Derby back street?"    

           
"Even more safe if the boy has lost his memory!"

           
"And would Dolly take the risk of 'planting' the bicycle at the door of an old enemy - for revenge?"

           
"If the average bloke found a bike in his garden, he'd report it to the police.  Trying to hide it is the action of a guilty man ..."

           
"Or a fearful man, John.  Gut feeling tells me the Goblin was, as he said so himself, scared.  And then of course we have Guzzly Granddad ..."

He became silent, staring into the crystal clear waters.  A large dark blue fish was motionless, barely discernible, opening and closing its mouth.  After a few moments Detective Inspector Derek Russell produced from his inside pocket a medical briefing which was heavily annotated in his own hand.

           
"This is a bit like a weather report during an unsettled period.  Our specialist seems to have covered himself for every eventuality, that is, when you can understand it!  In brief - if Brian is still alive and if he is suffering from a complete loss of identity ... well it outlines several possible reasons for such loss." 
He studied the text.
  "From what we're told it looks as if we can scrub out 'amnesia following a period of stress', Brian being such a happy chap.  Something
here about a 'subconscious desire to start again'.  That doesn't sound likely.  'Retrograde amnesia'?  Not sure about that one.  Then we have - 'transient interruption to the blood supply to parts of the brain known as the ... hippocampus or posteromedial thalamus'.  In these cases most people make a complete recovery within a few hours.  Here it is, this is the one we want - '... after a severe head injury the patient can suffer from post-traumatic amnesia - thought to be the result of damage to the temporal lobe'.  Something here about 'residual dementia'."