Stabbed! But she’s still alive, right?’ Queenie exclaimed.
Their terrible row forgotten, Vivian held her sister in her arms. ‘No, Queen. Fatal means fatal. I’m so sorry, my darling. Poor Brenda.’
Slumped in the armchair, Queenie shook her head in disbelief. ‘My baby girl. I did love her, ya know. In ’ere I always loved her,’ she wept, patting the left-hand side of her ribs.
‘What happened? Was Bren at home?’ Vivian asked. She couldn’t believe their family had been cursed with yet another death. It was surreal.
‘Brenda’s friend was with her when the incident happened. They’d been drinking in the Eastbrook pub. That is all the information we have at present, but I can assure you the police will do everything in their power to catch the person responsible.’
‘Bren’s boyfriend beat her up recently. Dave Green his name is. It’s got to be him who stabbed her,’ Vivian told Marriot.
‘Some officers from Dagenham are with Mr Green now. He was in the Cross Keys pub when the incident occurred, and is helping the police with their enquiries,’ Marriot’s colleague replied.
The last time Queenie had laid eyes on her daughter was when she was lying in a hospital bed. As memories of her final conversation with Brenda came flooding back, Queenie sobbed uncontrollably. ‘I told Bren I wished I’d never given birth to her. Told her she was dead in my eyes, and now she is. What a terrible wicked mother I am.’
When Marriot and his colleague glanced awkwardly at one another, Vivian shouted, ‘Make yourselves useful, will ya? Pour my sister a brandy, it’s in that cabinet. Can’t you see she’s in shock?’
Jay Boy and Carl were absolutely knackered. After setting fire to the girl and the car, Vinny had insisted they accompany him back to the flat so they could scrub it from top to bottom and wipe away any trace of her. They’d also dumped his mattress and bedding for him. That too had gone up in a puff of smoke.
‘I’ll get Edna to come in later today and give this one last going over. And I’ll need you to pick me up a new mattress, lads. Thanks for your help. There’ll be an extra five grand in both your wage packets this week. Remember, nobody must get wind of this, Michael included. It’s to be kept between the three of us.’
Jay Boy slouched on the sofa. ‘Are you sure nobody clocked you in the pub with the bird, Vin? You absolutely positive she was alone there?’
‘She told me she’d never been in that boozer before. Said she’d been out with a mate, they’d rowed, and she’d stumbled in there. We were both pissed, and I swear I only spoke to her for a minute before she suggested going somewhere quieter. I reckon she’d actually had a row with a bloke rather than a mate, ’cause she made it perfectly clear she wanted a good fucking. She said she was starving, hadn’t eaten all day, so I told her to go and get something to eat, then meet me where I’d parked my car in half an hour. Which reminds me. Shit! We need to scrub the fucking car an’ all. Her fingerprints must be all over it. In fact, I think you should burn that as well. I’ll report it as stolen.’
‘Jesus, Vin. Let’s just wipe it clean, eh? If by any chance the bizzies pay you a visit, don’t you think they’ll be even more suspicious to see you have a new mattress and your car has been stolen and found burned out? I know you’ve arranged an alibi for the three of us, but we’ll all be in shit-street if you keep setting fire to stuff. Me and Carl will clean the motor for you. Then let’s all get some kip.’
‘I read an article in the paper recently. It said in years to come, people will be getting nicked for crimes committed now thanks to advances in DNA technology,’ Vinny warned.
‘Vin, I can barely keep my eyes open. It’s been a helluva long night. Why don’t me and Jay give the car a clean, then we can all think a bit straighter once we’ve slept. Are you sure the Kelly brothers are good for our alibi?’ Carl asked.
‘Of course. If tugged, I’d better admit I had a beer in that boozer, in case anybody saw me. Then yous two picked me up from the flat in Jay’s motor and we drove over to Kent for a card game with the Kellys. That will account for Jay’s car being spotted along the A13 – not that it would have been.’
When Vinny’s landline rang again, he pulled the plug out the wall. His mother had been constantly phoning while they were trying to clean the flat up, and Vinny guessed it was because she hadn’t been able to get hold of him for the past twenty-four hours and was worried. No way was he in the mood to talk to her now, or anybody else for that matter.
‘I’ll take your car, Vin, and drop it back this afternoon,’ Jay Boy said.
Vinny was that tired, he felt stoned. He put his weary head in his hands. ‘I can’t believe my son is getting married on Saturday, and I’ve had to deal with all this shit.’
Carl and Jay Boy glanced at one another, both thinking the same. If this ever came to light, they’d be going down as well. For a murder they did not commit.
Michael Butler was having the twenty-four hours from hell. Katy had been far too besotted with him to have been seeing other blokes on the side, so if she was in the family way, it was most likely his. He’d been reaching for the phone to make the dreaded call to her when his mother had rung to inform him his sister had been stabbed to death. Michael couldn’t believe it. He might not have been close to Brenda in recent years, but he had when they were kids. She was the nearest to him in age, and he couldn’t believe their paths would never cross again. Growing up, Bren had been a vibrant, pretty girl and tears stung Michael’s eyes as he remembered the times he’d met her from school. Full of attitude she’d been, a true Butler. Should he and Vinny have done more to help her sort her life out in latter years? Well, that thought would haunt him for ever now. They had tried to help her a few times, but Bren was headstrong, just like they were. Perhaps they should have been more forceful? Made her go into rehab, God rest her soul. She was their only sister, after all.
Nobody had been able to get hold of Vinny, so it was Michael who had the difficult task of accompanying his mother and aunt to identify Brenda’s body. The only good thing to come out of all this was that his aunt and mother seemed to have forgotten the stupid argument over his father.
Michael spoke to the police officer alone, then walked over to his mother. ‘I think you should let me identify the body, Mum. You’ll have plenty of time to say a proper goodbye to Bren once the police have wrapped up their enquiries.’
‘No!’ A tearful Queenie clenched her sister’s hand and shook her head vehemently. ‘I gave birth to that girl and I need to see her for myself. You stay here, Viv’s coming in with me.’
The police officer led Queenie and Vivian into a room. The whole place smelt awful, an unrecognizable stench that was obviously associated with death. When the man lifted back the shroud to reveal the face, Queenie put her hand over her mouth. There wasn’t a mark on Brenda. She looked asleep rather than dead. ‘I’m so sorry, Bren. I did love you. Please forgive me for what I said. I didn’t mean it. Of course I wish you’d been born,’ Queenie said.
‘She looks at peace now, Queen,’ Vivian pointed out.
Tears rolling down her cheeks, Queenie nodded. ‘Yes. She does, bless her. Maybe being in heaven will do her a favour? I doubt she’ll be able to buy booze up there. She’ll be able to redeem herself and start afresh.’
‘I’m sure she will. Plus she’ll have your Roy, my Lenny, Adam and Molly
