'One cold night'

This is a story with a twist to it.

Bus sixty three turned into the dimly lit bus station just as the clock set high above the towns one and only shopping mall struck out the chimes of midnight. The bus parked up into its alloted bay between other buses that were stood silent,empty and locked up for the night. The doors of the bus opened and the last remaing four passengers stepped off into the bitter cold early January air. Snow and slush lay along the bus station walkway. The bus driver got out of his cab and locked up the bus,and walked over to the bus station office and let himself in.

Two of the passengers a couple in their late teens huddled up in each others arms as they walked off along the walkway in the direction of the town centre, which was to the right of the bus station. The remaining two passengers, one a short plump middle aged woman who wore a brown and black check overcoat, black wollen hat pulled down over her ears and black wollen gloves walked off to the left out of the bus station and into a street. She was followed by the last passenger, a man of medium height and build, who had a deep scar that came down between his eyes,and over the top of his nose and continued half way under his left eye. He wore faded blue jeans,black trainers, a grey fleece with a hood that covered his completly shaved head. He wore a black anorack over the fleece, and black leather gloves.

        Once clear of the bus station the man continued to follow the woman as she walked along East Street past the rows of terraced houses and small shops that like the pubs in the street were all now closed up for the night. The only light came from the widely spaced street lamps whoose yellow light glistened on the snow covered pavements. The moon was not to be seen, it was hidden high above dark snow clouds in the chill of the night sky.The street appeared deserted apart from the occasional passing car. No one wanted to be walking out at this late hour in the bitter cold.

 

      After walking some six hundred yards the woman suddenly stopped put a hand in one of her coat pockets,turning at the same time to gaze at the man following her. She looked him up and down and took her hand out her pocket where she held a key which she inserted into the lock of the front door of the house that she was stood in front of. She quickly let herself into the house and closed and locked the door behind her. The man continued walking with his head down and gloved hands deep in his coats pockets.

 

       All of a sudden there was a thunderous bang followed by the crash of glass,which was immediatly accompanied with the ear piercing screech of a shops alarm going off. The man stopped and turned only to be dazzled by the full on headlights of a passing car. Seconds later another car pulled across the road stopping abruptly in front of him. Two policemen jumped out of the car and grabbed his arms pulling them behind his back. One of the policemen clamped a pair of hand cuffs on the mans wrists as he pushed him against the side of the car.

'Hey! what you doing, I didn't break that shop window.Let go of me now, for goodness sake' protested the man turning his head from side to side looking at the two policemen in bewilderment.

'Well I don't see anyone else around,so it must have been you' responded the policeman who had put the cuffs on the man.

At that moment a small police van appeared along with another patrol car, both of them parked up in front of the shop whose window had been broken. The policemen got out and walked over to the shop window to look at the damage that had been done. Lights came on in some of the neighbouring houses, and curtains twitched as the occupants looked out to see what was going on.

         The policeman who had put the cuffs on the man, extracted a notebook and pen from the top pocket of his tunic, and said.

'I need you to give me your name and address please. I must also caution you that what ever you say,could be written down and used as evidence'

'What! you got to be joking, listen uncuff me now. I've told you I didn't break that window'

'I'm not joking, now are you going to give me your name and address'

'No way, I'm not obliged to tell you anything. I know my rights'

'I see very well, as your not prepared to cooperate,you leave me with no choice but to arrest you for obtruction. Once at the police station you will be required to give a statement. Right lets have you in the car'

The policemans radio bleeped and he answered saying.

'Yes Pete, go on what have you found?'

A voice answered.

'Well it would appear that items have gone missing from the display in the window,as well as goods off the shelf just inside the window behind the counter'

'I see, it's Keegans off licence isnt it. What do you reckon has been taken?'.

'Well George it looks as if bottles of drink have gone,as well as packets of cigarettes that would have been on the shelf. Alex has contacted the owner and he's on his way. Apparently he is not altogether surprised to hear that the window has been smashed. He has been chasing up to have a grill installed to protect the window, but at this time of year it's imposible to get things done when you want them. He had left the shop early to night,and left his assistant to run the shop and lock up for the night. He has given us the assistants name and address, and we are arranging for a patrol car in his area to go and bring him in for a statement. Mike has taken the dog down the alley beside the shop to see if there is anysign of the missing items, but he's found nothing'

'Ok, well we are taking the guy in who we found nearby for questioning. He refuses to give his name and address'

'Right good, we will catch up with you later'

'Ok Pete,good luck'

The radio switched off, and the two policemen having put the man in the back of the car,got in and headed for the police station.

     

         Once inside the policestation they took the man into a small interview room where they sat him down at a small desk under the one and only window which was covered over with a grill. The man looked around him saying nothing. He saw that the room had pale grey walls,a white ceiling from which there was one striplight. There were four chairs at the desk,two opposite him,the one he was sat on with one beside him. On the desk there was a dirty grey tin ash tray,and on the wall beside the desk there was a tape recorder.

No sooner had he been sat down,when  the door opened and a tall thick set man came in, who was in his mid forties with brown wavy hair and brown eyes. He was dressed in a grey suit,his tie was loose at the neck.

'Right who we got here then' asked the man in the suit,looking at the two police constables.

The constable who was standing behind the man sat in the chair replied.

'This is the man who we found near Keegans off licence, which has had it's window smashed and appears to have been robbed. He has refused to give us his name and address, so we arrested him on a charge of obstruction'

'The suited man sat down facing the handcuffed man. He pulled a tape out of one of his jacket pockets and inserted it into the tape recorder and switched the recorder on saying.

'My name is Detective Inspector Charles Anderson.The time is now twelve forty five a.m. on the sixth January 2001. I have in front of me a man who has been brought in by Constables Roberts and Phillips for questioning in conection with a smash and grab robbery that has taken place at Keegans off licence at twelve ten this morning. Both constables are present at this interview. Constable Roberts would you remove the handcuffs of this man please'

Constable Roberts removed the handcuffs and returned them to the pouch on his belt. The man flexed and rubbed his wrists. The Inspector looked at the man opposite him and said.

'Right sir I would be obliged if you would empty your pockets and put the contents on the table'.

The man undid his jacket took off his gloves,pulled down the hood of his fleece from his head,and emptied the contents out of the pockets of his jacket and jeans and laid the contents on the desk.

The Inspected looked at the items on the desk and said.

'I have on the desk in front of me four pounds fifty in change,a white handkerchief,one used bus ticket,and a black biro. Now sir I would be obliged if you would give me your full name and address,and tell me what you were doing when constables Roberts and Phillips found you close by Keegans off licence?'.

The man leaned forwards and looked the Inspector in the eyes and said.

'I'm not obliged to tell you anything,as you can see I don't have anything on me that came from that off licence. Iv'e done nothing wrong that you can charge me with so you might as well let me go'. he leaned back in his chair with a smirk on his face.

The Inspector sighed and said.

'Are you going to answer my questions or not'

'My name is Colin Houseman.That's all I'm telling you ok '

The door of the interview room opened slightly and a woman constable put her head round the door saying.

'Sorry to interupt you Inspector, but we have the assistant from Keegans off licence in interview room two'

The Inspector turned to look at the woman constable and replied.

'Thank you constable Stanley, I'll be right there'

'Very good sir' she replied closing the door.

The Inspector turned back and looking at the man sat in front of him said.

'Interview suspended with Colin Houseman at one a.m. Constables would you keep an eye on Mr. Houseman whilst I go and talk to that assitant'

He switched off the tape recorder and got up and left the room.

Houseman turned to the constable standing next to him and asked.

'Any chance of a cup of tea?'.

'I think we can organize that,milk and sugar?'.replied the constable.

'please'

The constable walked over to the door and opened it slightly and put his head out and called out.

'Jim do us a favour and get us a cup of tea with milk and sugar' a voice reponded saying 'Ok pete'

The constable waited by the door until the tea which was in a plastic beaker arrived, he then closed the door and put it down on the table in font of the man without saying anything.

 

          Twenty minutes passed,by which time Houseman had finished the tea.He folded his arms on the table,leaned forward and laid his head down on his arms and closed his eyes.

          Suddenly the door opened and the Inspector came back in and promptly sat down in front of Houseman and switched back on the tape recorder and said.

'Interview recomenced with Colin Houseman at twenty two minutes past one a.m. on the sixth of January 2001. Now sir I have interviewed the assistant a Mr.Micheal Perkins from Keegans off licence,and he informs me that he knows you. He has written a full statement about his activities this evening. Which has given me enough information to believe that you were involved in the smash and grab. Now are you going to give a statement'

'What you talking about? I told you I had nothing to do with any smash and grab. I know of Micheal Perkins,his pubs dart team, of which he is a member play our darts team in the pub that I go too. I also go in the off licence now and again to buy a bottle of wine.But I have not seen him this evening.That's all I'm saying until I see a duty solicitor,seeing as I don't have a solicitor'

'I see ok fine. You leave me with no choice but to hold you here as I have reason to believe that you are lying. I will call the duty solicitor who you can talk too. In the mean time constables Roberts and Phillips would you take Mr.Houseman and put him in a vacant cell. Interview suspended at ten past one a.m.'

He then switched off the tape recorder extracted the tape and put it in his pocket.Then got up and gathered the items that were still on the table from Housemans pockets and put them in a plastic bag that he had taken out of his pocket. Saying.

' I will put these items in reception for safe keeping' he then turned and left the room. Constable Phillips took hold of Houseman by his arm saying.

'Right sir you heard what the Inspector said, come along now please'

 Houseman pulled his arm free saying.

'Ok I'm coming'

They all left the room, the constables took Houseman to the cells and locked him up.On entering the cell he lay down on the only bed and closed his eyes and fell asleep.

 

        Half an hour later he was awoken when the cell door opened and in walked a tall slim middle aged man who was dressed in a green tweed suit and dark green overcoat. He was carrying a brown leather briefcase.On seeing the man standing before him he sat up and rubbing his eyes said.

'Hi, you must be the duty solicitor?'.

The tall man holding out his hand replied.

'Yes my name is Brian Clarke pleased to meet you. I'm the duty solicitor,now how may I help you?'.

 Houseman stood up from the bed and shook the solicitors hand saying.

'Well they are trying to charge me with a smash and grab robbery that took place earlier,but they have no proof that I was involved so I have refused to tell them anything,except my name,and that I know the assistant that was on duty at the off licence this evening'.

He then sat back down on the end of the bed.

Brian pulled over the only chair and sat down oposite Houseman and replied.

'I see, well if I'm to get you out of here you will need to tell me what happened'. He opened his briefcase and took out a large note pad and fountain pen.

'My name is Colin Houseman, I had not long got back into town on the last bus of the night and was making my way home along the street where I live when there was a terrific bang and crash.When I turned round to see what had happened I was dazzled by the full on lights of a passing car.The next thing a police patrol car pulled in beside me and two coppers jumped out and grabbed me and accused me of smashing the shop window near where I was stood. It turns out that the shop is an off licence and there appears to have been a robbery there'.

'Did you smash the window?'

'No way,as I said I was on my way home.Like the coppers I didn't see anybody else near the shop it's most strange'

'Quite, so you say you came into town on the last bus of the night.Where had you come from?' asked Brian.

'I had been at work working a late shift'

'So where do you work then Collin?'.

'I'm a senior nurse at Broadlands Nursing home, I've worked there for two years now'

'Really that's interesting, so you are a qualified nurse then'

'Yes I trained as a nurse in the army. I served in Northern Ireland and in the Iraq war. I was blown up in that one hence the horrible scar on my face. I have other scars on my body too. I was trying to rescue two wounded soldiers at the time.I was rewarded for my efforts with the Military Medal.Later while recovering from my wounds it was discovered that I had cancer, so I was given a medical discharge from the army. I have recently been undergoing chemotherapy,hence my shaven head'

'My goodness! but you have managed to continue nursing,amazing'.

'Yes seeing as the army no longer wanted me. I shall continue nursing for as long as I can'

'Well that's fantastic I admire you. Do you think that you will be cured for your cancer?'

'I hope so'

'So do I, I wish you well. Now as I see it the Inspector has no reason to hold you here'

'That's right,that's why I have refused to tell him anything. He claims that having interviewed the assistant that was on duty at the off licence, he has reason to believe that I was involved but I don't know where he get's that idea'

'I shall now go and see the Inspector and ask that he let you go. I also want to know why he thinks he can hold you. So I shall be back in a while ok'

'Thank you Brian I appreciate that. See you in a while,good luck'

Brian got up and having finished writing down Housemans story he put his pad and pen back in his briefcase,then pushed the chair back and went to the cell door where he opened the flap and called out for the guard. The guard came and seeing Brian opened the door and let him out.

 

          Brian found Inspector Anderson sitting at his desk in his office. Anderson looked up at Brian as he walked in and said.

'Hi, Brian you been and seen Colin Houseman then. Has he given you his story?'.

'Yes Charles he has, and you have to release him, you have insufficient evidence to hold him,and you know it'

'Sit your self down Brian, would like some coffee?'.

Brian looked at Anderson with a frown and said.

'Thank's yes,now are you going to release him?'.

Anderson got up stretched and went over to a low cabinet where there was a coffee perculator and some cups on a tray.He poured two coffees and added milk and sugar,as he did so he replied to Brian saying.

'Sorry Brian I can't let him go. I have reason to believe that he was involved in that smash and grab,but not as you may think'

He put the coffees down on his desk and sat down and picked up the statement he had obtained from Micheal Perkins'.

'Charles what makes you think he was involved?'.

'It's Perkins statement that makes me believe that your client was involved'

'Has Perkins said that my client was involved then?'. asked Brian as he picked up his coffee.

'No'

' Charles,how many years have we known each other,over twenty that's for sure.So come on,don't tell me your'e pulling a fast one again. What does Perkins say in his statement?'.

Anderson took a sip of his coffee,then looking across at Brian said.

'He says that he closed the shop at eleven, locked the front door of the shop,and went into the back of the shop to cash up. Having completed that he then took all the rubbish out into the yard at the back of the shop and put it in the wheely bin. He then came back into the back of the shop and clocked out on his time card at eleven thirty. He switched all the lights off in the shop then went out through the back of the shop, locked the back door and took the wheely bin out through the side door of the yard that leads into an alley that runs along the side of the shop.He left the bin for collection. Then walked along the alley in the opposite direction to the opening into East Street. He says he arrived home at twelve. It takes him half an hour to walk home.When I asked him if he knew a Colin Houseman. He replied that he did,and that Houseman was a member of the darts team in his local pub'.

'So he knows Colin Houseman. Has he got someone to confirm that he arrived home at twelve?' asked Brian

'When my officers went to Micheal Perkins house they spoke to his father who was at home to confirm that he arrived home at three minutes past twelve. His father is none other than Barrister.Edward Perkins,who you must of heard of, he lives in our town but is a Barrister in the city of Chester. So I don't disbelieve his father.'

'Good grief! Charles, Micheal is the son of Edward Perkins.Whats he doing working in an off licence?'. responded Brian choking on his coffee.

'He's on his Christmas break from University, where he is a student of criminal psychology would you believe. He wants to join the police force when he graduates. So it's a holiday job'.

'Well there's no way then that he would be involved in a robbery.So what makes you think my client is involved you still haven't said why?'.

' I have a hunch as to what happened, Micheal says he knows Colin Houseman right, now lets look at your client he's a hoody.Why would Micheal associate with him?'.

'Hang on Charles,your'e being presumtious. You haven't heard my clients story yet' Interupted Brian sighing.

 ' Ok,ok,tell me your clients story' replied Anderson smiling.

Brian pulled out his pad from his brief case and read out what his client had told him. Anderson sat sipping his coffee with a bemused look on his face as Brian red out the story. When Brian had finished,Anderson put down his empty coffee cup and leaned across the desk and said staring into Brians eyes.

'Interesting story Brian. You have of course checked out with Broadlands Nursing home to see if this Colin Houseman works there and was on duty at the time he claims?'.

Brian's  jaw dropped for a second or two then recovering he responded.

'Oh my God,what a fool I am.No I haven't'

He reached inside his coat pocket and pulled out his cell phone and dialed 192 and then tapped in the name and address of Broadlands Nursing home. Once he had the phone number he dialed it. Presently a voice answered.

'Broadlands Nursing home,John Barnes senior manager speaking,how can I assist you'

'Ah yes, hello, my name is Brian Clarke solicitor I am phoning to enquire do you have a Colin Houseman working for you as a senior nurse,and could you tell me was he working on a late shift earlier?'.

There was a short pause at the other end, then the manager replied.

'Yes we do have a Colin Houseman working here as a senior nurse. He was'nt working earlier he is currently on his Christmas break'

'I see,well just one more question.I need to know does Colin have a shaven head and a deep scar under his left eye?'.

Another short pause then.

'You say your a solicitor, can I ask why you asking these questions?'.

'Yes of course. I'm currently at the Police station in Crewe with Inspector Anderson who is holding someone who claims to be Colin Houseman. As I'm the duty solicitor I have been called in to represent the said person'.

There was a deep intake of breath at the other end,followed by.

'Well you had better tell the Inspector that the man he has in custody does not fit the description of Colin Houseman. The man that he is holding is none other than George Winthrop who is one of our patients who has gone missing. I must warn you that Winthrop is completly phychotic and highly dangerous. You do know that our nursing home caters for the mentally disturbed don't you?'

Beeds of sweat showed on his forehead as Brian replied.

'Ah no I didn't know, right thank you I will inform the Inspector straight away. Good bye'

Brian switched off his phone and looking at Anderson said.

'Oh my God, What bloody mess, you were right to have a hunch.I have made a complete balls up. The man in the cells is a George Winthrop who is a phychotic highly dangerous patient from Broadlands'

Anderson sighed as he raised his eybrows and said.

'Great, what a bloody night this has been, and its not over yet. He is your client now, so you had better be prepared for when I question him. Come on Brian time to earn our money'.

Anderson got up from his desk and made his way out of his office followed by Brian wiping the sweat off his brow with a fine linen handkerchief. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reviews

[Jonathan Frakes]

Hello Richard,

The story is good, but the end lacks reality. Why didn't Mr.Barnes inquire more about the escaped patient, since his well-being is his responsibility? And why would a police officer voluntarily put an unarmed citizen in harms way?