The Look of Love (28 page)

“Oh, he’s
connected alright, because he’s the only one who can tell us what
happened to Joanne during the rest of the night, and more
importantly, where they went for a curry. Any luck on identifying
him?”

“Not so far,”
Shawcroft replied. “I’ve been in touch with the club they were in
that night. Apparently it’s supposed to be members only, but most
people bring in ‘guests’. And the people on the door are pretty
laid back on the number of guests they let in with each member. I
have to hope this Mike was a member, because if he was, they’ll
have records with photographs. They also have surveillance cameras
at the entrance. They’re sending me the tapes.”

Connors nodded.
“Good. Let me know when you’ve got them.” He closed his eyes.

There was a
brief pause as both men became thoughtful, both busy thinking about
the murder and the people involved. Connors broke the silence.

“Where would
you go for a curry in Manchester at three o’clock in the morning?”
he asked, his eyes still closed.

“I was just
thinking about that,” Shawcroft said. “Rusholme. It’s the obvious
place. And that would put them in the same area as Scott and John
King at the Shere Khan.”

“Or Max and
John King,” Connors added, opening his eyes at last. “Maybe it’s
time we had a chat with Mr King and see what he has to say about
his eating partner. We’ll get Scott Headly in at the same time.
Let’s see how well their stories compare.”

Chrissy was
always far too headstrong for her own good, but even she hesitated
when she was finally at the door. Whatever was she doing here? What
was she going to say?

Of course, she
had known exactly what she was going to say on the way over here.
She had gone through it all in her mind over and over again. What
she would say, what he would say, what the outcome would be. But
now, standing here at the door, all alone, she suddenly felt
scared.

Her mother had
been very upset as soon as she had heard the terrible news. Chrissy
had just blurted it out as soon as she had got home. Veronica Davis
couldn’t believe it. She had known Jo for a long time. In fact, she
had known Jo since she was only ten years old. She cried as much as
Chrissy did as they both sat in each other’s arms on the sofa in
the back room.

But Veronica
also reacted to the news by being very protective towards her
daughter. She wanted to hide Chrissy away from the world, to
protect her from the evil people who would do such a thing to a
young girl. She kept thinking about Jo’s parents, about how they
must feel. It made her hug Chrissy even harder.

Chrissy had
only managed to get away three hours later. As the hours had gone
by, Chrissy’s sadness for Jo had remained, but her anger at
Victoria for splitting them all up gradually subsided. She kept
thinking about what had happened that night, about how and why Jo
had been on her own when she was killed. Jo had been with Max. So
why was she alone? What had happened after she left? The more she
thought about it, the more Chrissy became intrigued. She wanted to
know what had happened.

Jo had talked
to Chrissy about Max quite a lot, more than any other boyfriend she
had had in the past. Jo usually went through boyfriends at a fast
rate. Her average time for a relationship could be measured in
hours rather than days. But Max had been different. It had been
over two weeks, and they had still been together. That had to be a
record for Jo. And Jo had even suggested that Chrissy should get to
know his brother. She had kept saying how good it would be if they
made up a foursome. Jo wouldn’t have said things like that if she
and Max hadn’t been serious. Or as serious as Jo could ever be with
a boy. So what had happened? Why hadn’t Max walked her home like Jo
always said he did?

Or maybe he
had
.

Chrissy
suddenly wanted to talk to Max. She wanted to know if he walked Jo
home or not. And if he didn’t, why not?

She had told
her mother she was going out to see Angie. Veronica didn’t want her
to go out. Chrissy was sure that her mother would have been happy
to have her bricked up in her bedroom. They had argued.

“How can I
finish my degree if I’m too scared to go out of the house?” Chrissy
had said. “How can I get on in life if I’m always frightened that
something bad is going to happen?”

“But bad things
do happen,” her mother had told her. “Jo is dead, isn’t she?”

It was a
callous thing to say. But it was true. It made them both cry
again.

“But that was
late at night,” Chrissy had said eventually. “This is in the
daytime. And I’ll be careful. I always am. You know I am, mum. And
you know I can’t hide inside the house forever.”

Chrissy had
finally convinced her mother to see reason. But she kept seeing the
worried look on her face as her mother waved to her from the door
step. Chrissy felt very guilty as she hurried along. She wasn’t
going to see Angie at all. She hated lying to her mother. But her
mother would never have let her go if she had told her the
truth.

Chrissy knew
where Max lived. Jo had told her. All the way there she kept trying
to convince herself that what she was doing was alright. That she
was being careful and sensible. She was going to have it out with
Max, one way or the other. She kept going over and over in her head
what she was going to say. It all felt very sensible, but now,
standing in front of the door, it didn’t feel sensible at all.

Her mind was
suddenly filled with fear. She kept thinking about Jo. She was
probably drunk when it happened, and she was on her own. Jo had
been careless. Just once. No, more than once. Jo was always
careless. She never thought twice about the boys she went out with,
or how drunk she got, or even how she would get home at night. She
just wanted to have fun. She took life as it came, and it had
killed her.

Was she being
just as careless? Was this a stupid thing to do? What if Max was
the murderer? What if she went inside and he was alone? Would he
kill her too?
Oh, Chrissy! What in heaven’s name are you doing
here?
Something in her mind told her to run away, to get away
before it was too late. But her feet were rooted to the spot, and
suddenly, it was too late.

As she stood
there, frozen to the spot, the door was suddenly flung open. It was
Scott. He grabbed her arm and yanked her inside, and the door
slammed shut behind her.

Chrissy
couldn’t help herself. As she was yanked inside, she screamed.

Scott clipped
her round the ear and shoved her against the wall.

“Oh, shut up!”
he said in a raised voice. “What do you think I’m going to do?
Strangle you?”

Chrissy stared
up at him in shock as she rubbed at her ear. “I thought you were
Max.”

Scott sighed.
He obviously understood her meaning. “He’s at work. Everybody’s at
work. It seemed like the best thing to do. What are you doing here,
Chrissy? If you’re so frightened of Max, why did you come?”

Chrissy
shrugged. “I’m daft I suppose. I wanted to ask Max what had
happened. He was Jo’s boyfriend; he should have been with her.” As
she spoke, her voice grew more emotional, until in the end, she was
demanding an answer. “Why wasn’t he with her, Scott? Why?”

“Jo dumped him,
that’s why!” Scott replied with just as much emotion. “Max told me
all about it. She even found herself another boyfriend before the
night was out. Not a very loyal girlfriend was she?”

“Jo was
alright!” Chrissy snapped back, defending her friend. “Don’t you
dare say anything bad about her! So she was a little dizzy when it
came to boys, but she didn’t sleep around! She was alright! She
didn’t deserve to be killed like that! It’s not fair! It’s not fair
I tell you!”

Chrissy got
tearful and Scott did his best to calm her down.

“Okay! I’m
sorry! Don’t get all upset, now. I didn’t say she deserved it. I
just said she wasn’t very loyal. I didn’t really know her that
well. I only saw her a few times when Max brought her home. She
seemed alright to me. She was always very bright. Always smiling.
It just seemed sudden the way she dropped him.”

Chrissy wiped
at her eyes. “She was probably drunk. She probably didn’t even mean
it. She probably wouldn’t even have remembered doing it the next
day.”

“Yeah,” Scott
replied in a sad voice. “Dizzy.”

Chrissy managed
half a smile. Scott put his arm around her.

“Come on,” he
said and led her into the front room. He took her to a sofa. “Sit
down here. Do you want a drink?”

She shook her
head and sat down. “No, it’s alright.”

“A Scotch would
do you good. Just a small one?” He went over to a drinks cabinet,
opened it, and held up the bottle temptingly.

Chrissy gave
in. “Oh, alright then.”

She watched him
pour the whisky into two glasses and bring them over.

“Why aren’t you
at work, then?” she asked him when he handed her one of the
glasses.

“I’m on shifts,
remember? The happy woman has taken the kids to school and is out
shopping even as we speak.” He sat down beside her.

Chrissy smiled,
remembering their conversation that night. “I was a bit cruel,
wasn’t I?”

“Cruel?” Scott
exclaimed. “You practically disembowelled me on the pavement and
trampled on the mess.”

Chrissy took a
sip of the whisky, feeling the warmth of it as it travelled down
her throat and into her stomach. “Oh, I’m sorry,” she said sadly.
“You must have thought I was a heartless bitch.”

“Not at all.”
Then after a pause he added, “Well, maybe for just a short while.
But there’s nothing to be sorry about. After I had the time to
think about what you said, I could see that you were right. Blunt
maybe, but right.”

“No, don’t say
that,” Chrissy protested, surprised to hear herself defending him.
“Don’t put yourself down. You’ve got a job, you’re good looking,
and you’re fit. And you’re not a stuck up arrogant sod like some of
the men I meet. You’ve got a lot going for you, Scott. I’m sure
you’ll find someone. You’ll be alright.”

“Then why did
you turn me down?” Scott was quick to reply. He saw the embarrassed
look on Chrissy’s face and quickly added, “You don’t have to answer
that.” He sighed. “Look, Chrissy, I know I’m never going to be
rich, but I accepted that a long time ago. I’m not a movie star or
a pop star; I’ll never earn more than an average wage for an
average job. It makes me feel sad to say it, but it’s true. We all
have dreams, and I’m just the same. But that’s when you’re young
enough not to have been blighted by the reality of life.

“When you’re at
school, life’s full of possibilities. We all think we’re going to
be rich, we all think we’re going to get exactly what we want. Big
cars, big houses, girls, places in the sun. It’s all magic, it’s
all going to happen, and it’s all just childish crap. The reality
is most of us end up on the dole, with only enough money to get
drunk on a Friday night. It’s a harsh awakening, and some of us
don’t take it too well. We end up bitter and envious of those with
money, and we let it twist us for the rest of our lives.”

“But you’re not
like that,” Chrissy said in a quiet voice. “I know you’re not.”

“No,” Scott
agreed firmly. “I know what I can get out of life, and I intend to
make the most of it. Maybe it won’t be the same as life in
Hollywood, or New York. But the names of places in this country
have never held the same kind of magic, have they? Who would
compare Swinton with San Diego? Or Bolton with Chicago?”

“Or Stretford
with San Francisco?” Chrissy added with a weak smile.

Scott shook his
head. “Don’t sound the same, do they? But it doesn’t matter. What
matters is being happy. Money helps. But people with money aren’t
always that happy are they?”

“No,” Chrissy
said thoughtfully. “Once they have their dream, they just invent
another one.”

“That’s right.
They think money brings happiness in itself, but it doesn’t. Money
helps, don’t get me wrong. I could do with a lot more. But its
people that count. People and being happy. Being with someone like
you would be worth all the money in the world.”

“Oh, Scott,
don’t start on that again. You know how I feel. I do like you. I
told you I’d cry buckets, and I did. But I want something better
than having to settle for what I’ve got. I know I’m being selfish
and maybe a bit stupid too. Like you said, it’s all just dreams.
And you aren’t the only one to point out the childishness of such
dreams. But that’s me. I want to have a try at making my dream come
true. At least once. There’s no harm in that is there?”

Scott shook his
head. “None at all. You go for it, Chrissy. And if you succeed,
come and look me up. I could do with a rich wife to sponge
off!”

Chrissy
laughed. “I might just do that!” She stared at him over the rim of
her glass as she took another drink. She watched him smiling at
her. She had forgotten how really nice looking he was. Forgotten
how much she had liked him. And those eyes…she could lose herself
in those eyes.

Scott moved a
little closer. “Chrissy, I know how you feel and everything, but
that doesn’t mean we can’t be friends, does it?”

She shook her
head. “I don’t see why not.”

“Right, then!
Come out with me on Friday night. Just the two of us. It’ll be
fun.”

Chrissy was
unsure. “I don’t know…”

“Go on! No
strings attached. We’ll just enjoy ourselves and have a good time.
Afterwards I’ll take you home, and that will be that. You don’t
even have to invite me in for coffee. What do you say?”

Chrissy stared
at him. He looked so eager, so hopeful. She didn’t know what to
say. The problem was that she wanted to go out with him. But
Chrissy knew that once she let herself get attached to him, there
would be no holding back.