Definitely Dead by Kate Bendelow (howl and other poems TXT) 📕

as I told him I was interested in taking him on as an informer against Donnelly and Nowak. He bit my hand off at the thought of getting a steady payout from the cops rather than actually having to work to earn the crumbs Donnelly was throwing his way.’

‘Cheeky fuckin’ grass,’ mumbled Aiden. The other two ignored him as if he wasn’t even there.

‘Anyway, I talked my way in with a bottle of vodka, and, when he wasn’t looking I slipped some GHB into his drink. It’s amazing what you can acquire from the property store, you know? He sat at the kitchen table while I offered to start cleaning the kitchen up for him. I was surprised when he told me he had a tea towel in his drawer, but once he’d passed out, I used it to cover his nose and mouth until he stopped breathing. It was surprisingly easy. Disappointingly so. As he was so out of it, he didn’t put up a struggle so there was no sign of trauma at the PM.’

‘The tea towel gave you away. I knew there was something wrong. What about Jim Baron?’

Alison snorted with disgust. ‘That silly fat bastard finished himself off in the end. He got himself so wound up when he saw me; he dropped dead with a bloody heart attack. Can you imagine? At least I knew Geoffrey Doran suffered, so that’s some compensation.’

‘The hit and run?’

‘Yeah, I was a bit reckless with hindsight, but it got the job done.’

‘You were reckless with Posner too. Did you know you’d been seen?’

‘Only when I came in on nights and DI Redford did the handover. They hadn’t started interviewing the shoplifter because he was rattling, and they were waiting for him to see the nurse. I managed to convince him he’d be out quicker if he retracted his comments. Fortunately, he didn’t recognise me because I had my hood up at the time. But you’re right. I was sloppy.’

‘Surely you knew you weren’t going to get away with it?’ Maya said. ‘It was only going to be a matter of time before someone else realised all these deaths weren’t just coincidence. How were you planning on explaining it?’

She thought she could detect the sound of a siren approaching in the distance. If only she could keep Alison talking and distracted, then perhaps she and Donnelly had a chance of getting out of this situation alive.

84

Lurch had left his flat straight after Maya. He had hurriedly packed a bag before heading over to Aiden’s place. Once inside, he accessed the safe, which he knew held a substantial amount of cash. The safe also housed fake passports and other documents for himself, Aiden and Piotr. Despite his many faults, Aiden had always been prudent. Although he had never had any materialistic needs or a desire for cash in the past, Lurch knew money meant freedom. He squirrelled away the sizeable nest egg and new documentation.

Finally, Lurch carefully placed the bloodstained hammer and towel, which he had used during the murder of Ryan Johnson, into the loft where he knew the police would find it. Mimicking Aiden, he tapped the side of his nose with his forefinger as he muttered the words ‘forensic insurance’. Lurch knew Aiden and Piotr mocked him for his stupidity, but he liked to think he had picked up a couple of tricks in the time he had worked with them both.

The thought of being incarcerated for the murder of Ryan Johnson terrified him. The thought of a lengthy prison sentence would be like returning to his formative years in the children’s home. He had been institutionalised enough to last him a lifetime and he knew that a prison stretch would be worse than a death sentence.

All the years of doing the following without being seen, had paid off. He left Aiden’s house without being spotted. He was ready to do what Maya had suggested. He was going to disappear and start a new life where no one would know him. He was going to live the rest of his life being the best person he could be and helping others. He would repent. And preferably somewhere warm, where every evening, the sunset would turn the sky the colour of salmon.

85

Maya was sure the sirens were getting closer, although Alison showed no signs of having heard them. Yet.

‘I never expected to get away with all this,’ answered Alison, waving her arm in Donnelly’s direction. ‘I’m neither stupid nor naïve.’

‘So, what did you think was going to happen? Did you think you could just kill one last piece of shit and then carry on as normal?’

‘Hey!’ said Donnelly defensively.

‘I’ve done what I needed to do. I had to compensate for all the wasted time I should have had with Louisa.’ She paused for a moment, deep in thought. ‘It hasn’t all just been for her. It was for the others too. For all the victims and their families. I’ve been delivering real justice. I’ve been giving a death sentence to all those offenders who have stolen precious time off me and never served enough of their own.

‘They never suffered enough for their victims and I couldn’t go to my grave carrying that knowledge. Life comes with a price, Maya. I appointed myself the job of Grim Reaper. Interesting career change, don’t you think? But still very fitting and well deserved.’

The sirens were noticeable now, growing closer. Alison smiled and nodded her head, indicating that she had heard them too.

‘You’re going to be hugely successful in your career, Maya. Just learn from my mistakes and make sure you also spend time with your loved ones. You need to make sure you…’

Alison stopped mid-sentence as she grimaced. She swooned slightly, the hand she was clutching the gun in dropped heavily to her side. She squeezed her eyes shut as she appeared to wince in pain.

‘Ma’am? Alison…’ Concerned, Maya stepped away from Donnelly and reached for her other hand as