Episode 22 - Jay Salerno

The phone rang , but Cleo answered it only after it had rung several times and finally broken off her thinking about the husband she had feared and finally ditched.

"Cleo?"

The voice was muffled, but recognisable.

"Jay. Where are you?"

"I don't want to alarm you. I'm innocent, Cleo. Innocent."

"Where are you, for heaven’s sake?"

"In Middlethumpton. I found a dosshouse. I've grown a beard. No one knows me here and I can get food."

"How did you get to the UK? Wouldn't Mexico have been safer?"

“I organized a flight ticket and got out before they started looking. I want you to prove my innocence. Or get that friendly copper onto it."

"Do you mean Gary Hurley?"

"That's the guy.  He’s your guy, isn’t he? Not only that butcher. Fancy Cleo two-timing? I didn’t know you had it in you.”

“So you are still a bastard and you want me to get you cleared, do you? Optimistic of you especially if you start off by insulting me.”

“Hurley has contacts. I’d like him to use them before I wipe him out, Cleo."

Cleo was horrified,  but determined not to let Jay know just how alarmed she was.

“Did he give you my phone number, Jay?”

“I told him I needed a private sleuth, Cleo. I did not say who I was and he didn’t suspect anything. I spoke Irish dialect like my mother.”

"I don’t suppose Gary can support an escaped convict. I certainly won’t."

In the meanwhile Cleo had sent Gary a text message telling him that Jay was somewhere in Middlethumpton and possibly armed.

"I'm innocent," Salerno said again. “I had to get out of that goal and Samson offered to make it possible if he did not live to get out himself.”

"Did you break into the Wellness Centre?"

"Yes. I’ve been round Upper Grumpsfield every night, watching and waiting. I’m not the kind to intrude."

"That's rich. Robert would have beaten you black and blue."

"Is he there now?"

"Yes," Cleo lied. "Anyway, the police think you'll look me up, Jay. Then they'll get you."

"They weren’t around the last night.”

“Neither was I, Jay.”

Cleo wondered if the police guard been withdrawn?

“I won't come near you," Jay said.

"A wise decision if the Samson guy did not die a natural death and even if he did. I’ll do my best, Jay, but for the record, I never want to see you again."

"I'm a changed guy, Cleo."

"What difference does that make now?"

"I'm trying to say I'm sorry."

"Jay, it's too late for sob stuff. My miscarriage was the most terrible and brutal punishment you could inflict on any woman. Just put as many miles between us as possible."

Something told Cleo that the guy really had repented in some way, and a lost baby is gone forever. No amount of tears could bring it to life, any more than Jay's entreaties could heal his past cruelty. There was also the problem of the police guard on her cottage. If there had been one they might have caught Jay.

***

"I have a contact in Ireland. If I can get there I'll be safe. My relatives will take me in."

"If you are innocent, why are you running away?"

"I can't prove anything. I’m hoping you'll get that cop onto it."

"That cop is busy trying to get his own cases solved. He has no time to get mixed up in yours."

***

"Burton. That's the case, isn't it?" said Jay, to Cleo’s utter surprise.

"How do you know that?"

"I keep my eyes and ears open."

"You haven't changed a bit," said Cleo. "Can you get off this line now, and out of my life, once and for all?"

"Want a tip?"

"No. Just get off the line!"

"It's on the house, Cleo."

Jay Salerno was obviously eager to tell her whatever it was he thought she should know.

"Well?"

"Mrs Stone used to be a hooker."

Cleo thought she must be dreaming.

"How do you know that?"

"I saw her photo in the paper after she was arrested. Chief of police’s wife in the nick. It could be the USA. Then I saw someone calling herself Stone at the bistro near Police Headquarters and recognized her."

"That's absurd."

"No. It's the truth."

"But Mrs Stone is not the type and she has been sent down for life, Jay."

"She's a woman."

"Where had you seen her soliciting, Jay?"

"In New York. Don’t ask me for more details because I’m telling you all I know."

“Where had you been hiding out before the Wellness Centre and the dosshouse?”

“With a guy I used to know, but he couldn’t put me up any longer.”

“OK!”

“He’s an ex-cop, Cleo. A mine of information, but he couldn’t find out anything that would clear me.”

***

Cleo needed much more information than the guy’s claim of innocence if she was to get Gary onto Jay’s case. How could that prison escape plan have worked? Who else was involved?

"The guy had a heart attack, Cleo. He had told me he was on a knife's edge with his health. It was sheer chance that he died the night before he was due for parole."

"And the bruises on his body?"

"Inflicted after death and not by me. He was a friend, Cleo."

“I was a wife when you punched me.”

“And I was drunk.”

"Surely the New York prison authorities now know it was a heart attack that killed the other guy."

"I couldn't wait for them to find out."

"What a mess you're in, Jay. I almost feel sorry for you."

The line went dead.

"Are you still there, Jay?"

***

There was no answer, just the buzz of the open phone line. He must have been in a public call box. Someone would go in after him and replace the receiver. Even if she had wanted to, she could not have had the call traced fast enough. Jay would move away. That was certain. Despite herself, she wanted him to get a head start.

But most astonishing of all, that phone call had left her with the incredible knowledge that Stone's wife definitely had a murky past. Did Stone know that? Another of Dorothy’s hunches unfolding in real life.

***

The shock of talking with Jay had made Cleo feel faint. She lay down on her bed, burrowed under her duvet and tried to put him out of her mind. When she woke two hours later she was no longer sure if she had dreamt the episode.

***

Finding Cleo in a somnolent state even before supper alarmed Robert, who had left Gloria at the shop and was hoping for a quiet hour and a coffee before going back for the last hour’s trade.

"I'm not ill," Cleo protested. "Don't fuss, Robert!"

"What's happened? You don't usually look dazed and K.O. in the afternoon, if ever."

"I'm not sure. I had a strange dream."

"Tell me about it!"

"Well, I dreamt that Jay phoned."

"That wasn't a dream. It was a nightmare. He's not going to phone, Cleo. He's trying to save his own skin. Why would he phone here when he knows you've been warned?"

"It wasn't a dream, Robert. It just felt like a bad dream and it made me feel faint."

"He should be hung, drawn and quartered for what he did to you."

"He said he was innocent."

"He can't even spell the word."

"He said the guy he impersonated had died of a heart attack. The whole escape was a series of lucky coincidences."

"Lucky for him and you believe him.”

"I don't know what to believe."

"Where is he, Cleo? We should turn him in as soon as possible."

"He was in a callbox in Middlethumpton. He'll have fled by now. He's hardly likely to hang around waiting to be picked up."

Before Cleo could stop him, Robert had picked up the receiver and pressed 001 in the phone's address book, the direct connection with Gary's office.

"Cleo?"

"Gary," Robert shouted. "Cleo's ex is in town."

"Robert, don't shout. I wasn't expecting you to call."

"Didn't you hear what I said?" Robert shouted.

"Okay, so he's in town. I knew that. Cleo sent a text."

Gary's coolness annoyed Robert.

"Aren't you going to do anything about it?" he shouted.

"Where exactly is he, for God's sake? And stop shouting!"

Robert tried to control his panic.

"He phoned Cleo from a callbox. Two hours ago."

"Where is Cleo now? Is she all right?"

"Here. In a state of shock. She must have fainted. I found her curled up under her duvet. She said the phone call had been at least two hours earlier."

“That ties in with her text. Does she have any idea of the guy’s plans?"

Robert handed the phone to Cleo and stormed off into the kitchen. Gary Hurley had not reacted as emotionally as Robert thought he should.

"He'll have moved on by now," said Cleo. "After the phone call I was so upset that I curled up on my bed and tried to forget it had happened. I went to sleep in the process."

"You should have phoned me immediately, Cleo. We've lost precious time. Where did he phone from?"

"From a callbox in Middlethumpton, he said. But he also said he had been living in a doss house. He grew a beard."

"So he isn't in Upper Grumpsfield."

"Two hours ago he wasn’t. He broke into and slept at the Wellness Centre, but thought better of calling on me. He had also spent several evenings wandering around. Where was the security guard?"

“Miss Norton did not report the break-in so that we would not snoop around, I expect.”

“Awesome!”

“So who told you first about the break-in?”

“Dorothy. She’d heard it from Jane Barker.”

“So it was a bit of postman’s knock,” said Gary.

“If Miss Norton did not report it, the cops can’t really do anything, can they, Gary?

“Now we know who it was, we simply have to catch him,” said Gary ironically-

"You have not told me why there weren't any patrol cops watching my cottage? They could have caught him."

"We called them off, Cleo. It seemed too long a shot."

"Not that long, it seems," Cleo retorted. “He wants you to find out if the evidence against him has been dropped."

"That's rich coming from him. How does he know who I am?"

“He dossed down with an ex-colleague of yours, Gary, but he did not give me his name.”

“I’ll look into that.”

"I think Jay is innocent. Would he risk coming here otherwise?"

"I hope you didn't offer to help him."

"No, Gary. I didn't go down that road, but he said something we need to look into."

"And that was…?"

"That Mrs Stone used to be a hooker."

"A what?"

"A hooker on the streets of New York. She’s the good-looking but talent-free type of girl who goes to the Big Apple, can’t get into movies or modelling and ends up on the streets. At least that’s what I think happened, though Jay would not tell me how he knew her.”

“He might have been a client, Cleo.”

“I wonder if Stone knows about his wife’s past? Isn't it a reason for one or the other of them to be blackmailed?"

"It certainly is, and that would provide a licence to kill."

"So now I hope you'll take the Stones off your no-go list?"

"I'll think about it."

"Do it, Gary!" Cleo screamed. She was cross with Gary for being so stubborn.

"OK! OK!"

"Jay said he would not contact me again."

"Very considerate of him, I'm sure. Have you any idea where he was heading?"

"Ireland, he said."

"We'll get him, Cleo."

"He told me he didn't kill that guy in prison. He was insistent on that, Gary."

"We're still waiting for the medical report to be forwarded to us after I especially requested it – in your interests, of course. They're certainly taking their time. I'll check now and call you back…and Cleo. Stay at home this evening. There's still a chance the guy will return."

"He won't do that, Gary. He knows I'm not alone."

"Well, make sure it stays that way."

***

The evening was ruined. Cleo would have to break the news to Gloria that she had been on a wild goose chase leaving Chicago. Robert had been back from the shop for an hour or so, but had left Gloria to finish tidying up. He had no intention of going back there. Now she had come back to the cottage for some food before she went to her line-dancing course.

"I'm here," she called presently from the little vestibule where she was struggling out of new winter boots. "I'll get the dinner on."

"Robert’s cooking. We need to talk," Cleo shouted back.

"What's up?"

"It's Jay. He has caught up with us," said Robert as he laid the table.

"So that's why you look as if you'd seen a ghost, Bobby."

"Yes," said Robert. "He phoned Cleo, but he's moved on."

"I can't believe it. How the hell did he get across the ocean?"

"He flew, mother. Gary's bound to catch him and make sure he doesn't cross any more oceans without a suitable escort."

"Couldn't they trace his call?"

"Too late," said Cleo. "My fault. I was so shocked I couldn't think of anything."

“Well, that guy won't come here again, that's for sure," said Gloria. "Let's stop panicking."

Typical Gloria. Coping magnificently with the crisis. Playing mother to two distraught kids.

***

The evening passed peacefully, despite a general feeling of vulnerability. Cleo was sure Jay had been telling the truth. Anyway, she was no longer afraid of him now she had experienced worse dilemmas in the course of her investigations. She also had two strong men to take care of her: Robert, who was both protective and as strong as an ox, and Gary, who had the backing of the law.

Apart from double-checking locks on doors and making sure the windows were shut properly, there was nothing they could do about security. Cottages are not built like Fort Knox.