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Chapter Thirty

Scanlon had finally arrived at the house. He had been dreading this, and yet he knew the news was better coming from him. They had waited up all night for him, and he knew that what he said and how he said it, would be remembered for a long time to come. Patrick ushered him into the lounge and he said hello to everyone as respectfully as he could. All the children were there, and he could feel the nervousness coming off everyone in the room.

Lil didn't waste any time on pleasantries. Is it her?'

Scanlon nodded. 'I am afraid so.'

'You're sure?'

He nodded once again, his face full of genuine sorrow. 'Her uniform was the marker, it was still more or less intact. Her schoolbag was also buried with her…'

Lil nodded as if she understood perfectly, when she didn't understand anything at all. Someone had buried her child somewhere, buried her school bag beside her and no one had known where she was until now.

'What happened to her? Do they know?'

Scanlon nodded once more, desperately sorry for the woman sitting on the large leather chair, who was hoping against hope that it was all a mistake and her daughter was alive somewhere, living a good life.

He looked at Patrick and Lance, sitting side by side on the sofa. They were both as shell-shocked as their mother. They were so alike, yet so different.

Patrick nodded towards the man, giving him permission to tell his mother what she wanted to know. Knowing she needed to hear the truth about her child more than ever now, no matter how bad it was, or how painful.

'She was beaten to death. There are three holes in her skull. It would have been quick though, the coroner says that any one of the blows would have been enough to render her unconscious.'

Lil didn't answer him, she just sat and waited for him to continue.

'I am so sorry, Mrs Brodie.'

She knew he meant it, and being called Mrs Brodie brought back memories of good times. Good times that had been destroyed first with her husband's murder, and then with her daughter's disappearance.

'Was she raped?' She had to know, even as she didn't want to know.

Scanlon sighed. 'They don't think so. All her clothes were still intact; she was wrapped in plastic and that kept everything in pretty good condition. It seems more like a rage murder than anything else. No one knows why these things happen. Usually it's just a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.'

Lil nodded again. Why, she didn't know. She didn't know what else to do, wasn't up on the protocol on how to deal with something like this.

'Any idea who did it?' Lance's voice was heavy with distress.

'Not yet.' Scanlon stared at the floor once more.

'Where was she found?' Lil wanted to know the answer to her question, but she hoped against hope it wasn't somewhere they had looked. They had searched everywhere, over and over again, wondering if they had missed something. Hoping she might turn up there. Her fear now was that she had missed her child, had walked past her poor, broken little body. Had not seen her burial mound, not noticed a newly dug grave, had not realised they were walking over her last resting place.

'That is the strange thing about it. She was found buried in a garden in Chigwell.'

Lance was staring at him as if he had just turned into Lana Turner before his eyes. 'Chigwell?'

Scanlon nodded again, unable to do anything else. 'The owners were having a pond dug, for Koi carp. The workmen came across the body late yesterday afternoon. I heard about it, and, after they had identified the body, I offered to tell you all about it. I explained that I knew you…'

His voice trailed off. Pat knew that the man's cover was blown now, that Scanlon had put himself on the line for them; to make this easier all round. You found friends in the unlikeliest places.

'Thanks.' It was such a small word for such an enormous thing, but Pat couldn't say anything else. He was as dazed and traumatised as his mother was.

'Fucking Chigwell. Why would she be there?' Lil was getting angry now, the shock was wearing off and real life was once more creeping up to overtake her.

Scanlon shook his head once more. 'That is what we are trying to find out, Mrs Brodie.'

Lil was nodding again, unable to think of anything to say, grateful to this man for finally bringing news of her baby, of finally putting her mind at rest. But resenting him, also, because now all hope was gone.

'Of course you are. Sorry, I wasn't thinking…' She started crying then, a deep and heart-wrenching sobbing. Nearly twenty years of fear, and questioning, and bewilderment, were now finally being set free. She was still sobbing hours later and she wondered if she would ever stop.

Lance was also crying, and it was strange because it was he who went to his mother's aid, not Patrick, and she let him hold her, let him comfort her, then she held on to him. For the first time in his life, his mother was hugging him, and he was hugging her back as if his life depended on it.

Spider and Jimmy Brick were both mulling over the news. Everyone had heard about Colleen's body being found, and no one seemed to know what to do about it. It didn't seem right somehow, ringing up, or going to visit, until the family had finally taken it all in. It seemed intrusive. It had been so long since she had disappeared, that it was almost as if she had never been there in the first place.

Lil had once said to Spider that her only solace was, if Colleen was dead, at least she knew that Pat would look after her. Care for her until she could join them.

He had been surprised that she had not thought of the girl's father, had thought that in death he might have finally been redeemed. She was, after all, a church-goer, and she was a believer, as Pat had been. Lenny Brewster was not even to be trusted in death and, he had to admit, Lil was probably right about that.

'Poor Lil, eh? How do you cope with it? A husband murdered, and a child.'

Spider poured them both more Scotch. Only whisky seemed appropriate today; it killed the pain somehow.

'You know, Spider, I always thought she had run off with someone, a boyfriend or such like.'

Spider laughed then, a tired, sad laugh. 'Not little Colleen, she was as green as the grass. She had a bit of life about her, I admit, but she and Christy were as close as two people could be. If that had been the case, he would have known.'

Jimmy thought about what was said. 'Yeah, I suppose you're right. But like Pat's death, it's never sat right with me, you know?'

Spider looked at the man he had known for so many years, and who had returned one day out of the blue. 'Why did you go off, Jim? The truth now, let's be honest with one another.'

Jimmy shrugged, his huge shoulders more noticeable in his expensive jacket. It occurred to Spider then that Jimmy had come back to them all a snappy dresser. Before Pat's death, Jimmy had been an average Joe; he had worked to live, now he lived to work. Liked good clothes, and nice cars.

'Honest, between me and you?'

Spider laughed once more. 'Who the fuck am I going to tell, eh? We are old mates, and somewhere along the line we lost trust in each other, and it grieves me, Jim. All of a sudden, you were gone. One day you were gone, and that was that. You came back, and we were like strangers. Both unsure what had happened to us. To everyone around us.'

Jimmy Brick knew the truth of Spider's words, and he was pleased that one of them had finally brought it out into the open.

'I didn't know who to trust any more, Spider. Patrick's death was so brutal, so fucking senseless, it threw me off kilter. I blamed you for a long time.'

Spider was cross, as Jimmy knew he would be, but he had asked for the truth and finally got it. That child's death had made them all rethink their lives.

'Hey, you asked for the truth and you got it, don't fucking hold it against me now. You were protecting Cain, but you know you should have made sure the situation with the Williams brothers was taken care of. Patrick trusted you to do that; he would have sorted it immediately if it was one of his children. Let alone a brother.'

'Do you still blame me?'

'It's been so long now, what does it matter? Nothing can bring him back, can it? I heard through the grapevine that young Pat ironed out Jasper, so he must have known the score. He is a shrewd man, like his father before him, but Patrick has something his father never had.'

'And what's that then?'

Jimmy could hear the coldness that had crept into Spider's voice. 'A taste for revenge.'

Patrick had rung and told them all there was more news about Colleen, so they were all waiting now with bated breath, and in Lil's case, a terror in her heart at what she was going to hear.

'Where's Lance?'

Patrick shrugged. 'He said he was caught up in traffic, he won't be long.'

Annie nodded. She was making tea while watching out for Kathleen as she chain-smoked her cigarettes and stared into space. She was capable of going on one of her wanders if not watched closely, and that's the last thing they needed on this day of all days.

Lil looked around her at everyone in the room. 'You know, it's funny, but people have actually asked me what was worse, to have a husband murdered, or a child? And I couldn't answer that question. I still don't know the answer to that question… I always said that we didn't know if Colleen had been murdered, you know…'

She was panicking suddenly, and her voice was faltering; she felt the air rising up inside her body, hot and clammy. Stopping her from breathing.

When she opened her eyes, Scanlon was there, and everyone was looking down at her; she understood then that she had passed out. Never before in her life had she fainted.

'Come on, Mum, sit up, drink this.'

She sat up with difficulty, and drank the brandy Eileen had poured for her. When she was feeling brighter, she looked at the policeman who had gone from enemy to friend in a few short days, and said, 'Come on then, what have you got to tell us?'

Her voice was full of false determination. He knew she didn't really want to know; she needed to know. There was a big difference.

'Shouldn't we wait for Lance?'

'I don't think so. I need to talk now, get this over with.'

Scanlon was so nervous, he had to tell them something so heinous, so fucking hateful, and he knew he had to do it. He knew he had to get this thing out, had to explain why that child had died. He was glad that Lance wasn't there, somehow it made this all easier.

'We traced the owners of the house back to a couple, now living in Spain. By the condition of the remains, and from the date she was reported missing, we sorted out who was living there on or around that time.'

He sighed, and sipped the drink Patrick had poured for him, before continuing. 'This is the strange thing, when the Spanish police went to their house to question them, the man broke down immediately and admitted everything.'

No one spoke for a while.

'What was his name?'

This from Christy, who was already suspicious.

'Gardener. Sammy Gardener.'

Lil sat up in her seat then, as did most of the people in the room. 'Sammy Gardener, Ugly Sammy?'

Scanlon nodded again, hating himself for what he had to do, and knowing he had to do it.

'But why? He was friends with us, with Patrick, my husband Patrick. I knew his first wife. Sammy wasn't a killer…'

She was distressed, she didn't want Colleen to have been killed by someone they knew and trusted, it was worse somehow, worse than a stranger doing it. A stranger wouldn't have known how lovely she was, a stranger wouldn't have known how much they loved her. A stranger was just a nutter, and they were not someone you could focus on, could see as a real person.

'He said he had a reason for it…'

Patrick was watching him now, as were Shamus and Christopher. The three of them all looked at one another, and they all seemed to know what Scanlon was going to say.

Eileen was crying now. The guilt that had been eating at her for so long was now once more to the forefront of her mind. 'What reason could anyone have to hurt Colleen. She was a little girl, for Christ's sakes, a bloody little girl… Ain't it enough me dad was murdered. Why was she murdered and all? What is fucking wrong with this family? What is this all about?'

Paulie pulled her into his arms then, and she buried her face in his chest, the tears were already falling. Eileen had thought about Colleen every day of her life, and it never got easier. Her guilt at Colleen's disappearance had eaten away at her for so long. Her mum had been so ill in hospital, she had taken over as the woman of the house and she was supposed to have been looking after the kids. Watching out for them, caring for them, and she had lost her, had not even missed, her until it was too late. Colleen had been taken and murdered, and Eileen was responsible for it, had been so busy with herself and pretending to be everyone's mother.

And she had not even wondered where she was. All the while she was being murdered, that poor little girl was being killed somewhere, and she had been more interested in how the house looked. Colleen had not even entered her mind. Eileen blamed herself for it, had always blamed herself.

Then when she had married Paulie, she had hoped to make everything better, but there had been no babies; the one time she had been pregnant she had lost it at five months, and there had been nothing since then. She had seen that as her punishment for losing Colleen, that God saw that she couldn't be trusted with a child.

The drinking had started after poor Colleen had gone missing. It had gradually escalated over the years until now she was an alcoholic and Paulie helped her keep her secret. Knew why she was like she was. Listened to her rambling on about Colleen, wishing there was something he could do to help her.

'Take her home, Paulie, will you?'

Eileen's secret was common knowledge to everyone, but until Paulie asked for help, they would let him sort it out, knowing he was good to her, loved her, and would one day see that his love and care was not enough to make her better.

Paulie Brick walked the sobbing woman from the room. Kathleen put her hand out to touch her as she passed her, and Eileen grabbed it tightly, saying, 'I can't listen, in case they say it's my fault.'

Paulie walked her out, and the silence was deafening until Shawn said, 'Well, come on, what's this fucking reason then?'

Scanlon looked at the sea of faces around him and, taking a deep breath, he spoke once more: 'Six weeks before Sammy snatched her, Lance and Donny Barker had gone to his house to collect a debt they had recently bought from an unknown party.' He waited for some kind of reaction, but no one spoke. It was as if they were all in shock.

'Go on?' It was Patrick who urged him on.

'Sammy's eldest daughter was held at gunpoint, and she was terrified. Only twelve at the time, he said she was absolutely in bits. He said that Lance had shot him in the feet with a sawn-off and that has been verified by the way, the shooting. He told the hospital he opened his front door, and someone had shot him cold. No one really bothered to pursue it, knowing it was obviously something and nothing. The usual falling out among thieves.'

Scanlon looked around the room. 'You all know the score. Anyway, he said that Bianca, his daughter, was never the same again. She couldn't eat or sleep. It really affected her. At one point she had the sawn-off aimed at her head. A month later, she cut her wrists. Killed herself.'

No one spoke, they all seemed to be holding their breath.

'The girl killed herself? Over Lance?' This from Lil. 'Why am I not fucking surprised?'

'That's why he ain't here, ain't it? He knew what you were going to say. Has he fucking packed up, Annie? Has he left?'

Patrick stared at the old woman and she was shaking her head in distress. 'No, course not…'

'Fuck Lance for a minute, Pat. So what happened, Mr Scanlon?'

Lil was sitting up in the chair once more and her face quieted all of them.

'Sammy was distraught and went after Lance. He said he found Lance with Colleen that morning, watched them talking and, after Lance had said goodbye to Colleen, he went up to him and told him what had happened to his girl. He wanted Lance to at least acknowledge what he had done, but Lance just laughed at him and said she was better off away from him, that she was ugly and no one would ever have wanted her anyway. When Sammy pulled a weapon on him, Lance laughed, beat him up and drove off laughing. He said it was the final straw, he couldn't make any sense out of it all. He knew that Lance had no care or interest, had simply thought it was funny. Lance had found Bianca's death amusing. It drove him mad.'

Scanlon sighed. 'Sammy drove after Colleen then, to ask if she knew where Lance was going and she had said she didn't. Before he knew what he was doing, he had talked her into getting in the car, and he tried to explain about his daughter, thinking she might be able to make Lance understand what he had done. But Colleen got frightened and tried to get away and somehow, in the tussle, he killed her. He then drove back to his house and buried her in the garden. He waited, expecting to be caught, wanting to be caught, in fact. But no one ever put two and two together. He thought Lance would have been the one to bring it all out.'

'That is fucking rubbish.' Annie was shouting now.

'Donny Barker confirmed his story and he also confirmed that Lance had met him that day and bragged about seeing Sammy that morning and how he had laughed at him. He remembers it so vividly because it was the day Colleen went missing.'

It was true. They all knew that, even Annie.

Lil couldn't believe what she was hearing, even though in her heart, she knew it was true. Lance had bullied the man, as he always bullied everyone, and had finally sent someone over the edge at last.

Lil looked at her eldest son then. 'I told you, didn't I? I said he had something to do with it. I knew it, I just knew it…'

No one spoke, it was as if a bomb had exploded among them.

'All right, Lance?'

Donny Barker was all nervous smiles and Lance walked to the bar in the corner of the room and poured himself a drink.

'Bit early for you, ain't it?'

Lance swallowed the brandy quickly and looked at his friend.

'Did you get the tickets for me?'

Donny nodded. 'Course. The bloke is going to deliver them in a while. Why?'

Lance shook his head nonchalantly. 'No reason. I just wondered, that's all. Did you get me money out?'

Donny poured himself a vodka and coke and, adding ice and lemon, he sat on the edge of his desk and said quietly, 'Is everything all right? What's this all about? All this fucking hurrying…'

Lance stood up and said in a loud voice, 'You got my fucking money or what, Donny?'

Donny automatically leant back; he could see the nervousness that would soon turn to violence. Lance was obviously in a state.

'Calm down, Lance, for fuck's sake. What is wrong with you?'

Lance sighed heavily, trying to control his temper and not doing a very good job of it.

'The money is all here, OK. The tickets are being delivered by Karen Hines. She booked them herself, OK? So fucking calm down.'

Lance knew he was acting suspiciously but he was unable to relax. Once he had the cash and the tickets he would calm down.

'What are you going to Northern Ireland for, anyway? Hardly a fucking holiday destination, is it?'

'Who are you, Donny, the fucking holiday police?'

Donny laughed but he knew Lance would be taking a plane somewhere else from there. The question he wanted an answer to was where. He knew he had money, they all did, and he knew that if he was going on the trot then it meant he had an inkling that something was up.

Lance was a fucking leech and he knew that, had accepted that; his worry was whether it was something he should be worrying about.

Lil looked around her and saw her sons sitting there, all trying to understand what they had just heard.

Lance, the child she had never wanted, had never cared for, had destroyed everything that they had held dear. He had caused every person in the room heartbreak. Had ensured that not one of them had ever known a real day's peace and now, she knew, thanks to him, they never would.

And poor Patrick, he had tried to be a good brother, had tried to make up for her lack of warmth, her inability to love her own son by loving him enough for both of them. Christy was crying silently and Shamus was holding on to him, comforting him.

Colleen and Christy had been so close. The other kids had loved them, but they were the product of Patrick Brodie; he and Colleen had been Brewster's, a man who had not cared for them and had been the reason Patrick Brodie had died like he had. Together they had been strong, had always relied on each other for strength and love.

'Go home, all of you.' Patrick sounded so calm and so normal that they all automatically did what he asked.

They knew what was going to happen, but no one said it of course.

'You OK, Mum?'

Lil smiled at them all; only her little Shawn would want to stay with her when Patrick said to go. He was a brave little fucker and she loved him, as she loved them all.

'I'm fine, darling, get yourselves off home and let us sort this out, eh?'

As they were leaving, she said quietly, 'If anyone asks, we were together tonight, right?'

She glanced at Scanlon and he nodded.

'Good. Now get off home, all of you.'

'I want to stay here, Mum, can I?'

Kathleen was looking at her with her usual sad eyes and Lil couldn't deny her.

'Course you can, darling, if that's what you want. All right with you, Mum?'

Annie nodded and Lil felt a moment's sorrow for her. Her baby, her boy, was finally unmasked for the shite he really was.

They all left without a further word, understanding the situation without needing to be told. As she watched them leave, Lil consoled herself that out of eight children, seven had turned out all right.

At least they knew when to leave.

'Mr Scanlon?'

He didn't say a word, just left with the others.

Once they were alone, Lil finally broke down. 'Take Kathleen upstairs, Mum. I need to talk to Patrick.'

Annie stood in the room, her small body bristling with annoyance. 'You can't believe that, Lil. Whatever Lance is…'

'Oh, fuck off, Annie. You know it's true as well I do. His absence alone should fucking tell you something.' Pat's voice was angry and Annie knew that he had never had much time for her, but he was always respectful to her, as he was everyone.

'Come on, Kathleen, let's get upstairs and put the TV on, eh?'

She was determined not to cause any more upset.

'Pat, can I tell you something?'

'Not now, Kathy, I have a lot of things to sort out, darling…'

His voice was sharper than he intended and Kathleen flinched at his tone.

He went to her and held her hands gently in his. 'Later, eh? Me and you, we'll have a big conversation, but at the moment I have to do a few things. I need to find Lance…'

She smiled then. 'I know. I want to tell you that he is going on holiday, ain't he, Nan?'

She looked at Annie expectantly.

'What you on about, you silly girl?'

Lil stood up then and Annie knew she had been rumbled, but she still couldn't tell them what they wanted to know. Lance was still her boy and he had promised to send for her when the time was right. He was everything to her, no matter what he had done.

'What the fuck is she on about, Mum?'

'Oh, Lil, you know what she's like. You can't listen to what she says. She's off her fucking tree half the time.'

Kathleen sat down then and said, with more lucidity than anyone had ever given her credit for, 'You helped him pack! You told him he had to go away. Like you always tell him what to do.'

Kathleen looked at Lil. 'I hate living there but no one stops them from making me stay there. I don't want to go into a mental home and they want to put me in one now, so she can go with him.'

'No one's putting you in a mental home, Kathleen, I promise. Now tell us what is going on.'

Pat was kneeling in front of Kathleen and she smiled at him sadly. 'They will, Pat, they told me, and, if I go in a nut house, I'll die. I can't go in the nuthouse.'

Annie sighed and tutted loudly. 'Well, shut up then, you stupid girl…'

'Why don't you shut up, Mother? Come on, Kathleen, darling, tell us what is going on, yeah? I swear to you, darling, nothing will happen to you. You can stay here, you can always stay here, love, for as long as you like, but you never wanted to, did you?'

'I did, but I wasn't allowed to. But now Lance is going away and Nanny Annie is going with him when he is settled.'

'She is talking out of her arse.'

Annie was nervous and Kathleen saw that.

'I am not. I am not talking out of my arse and you can't say that to me any more. Lance is going away tonight and I don't have to be scared any more. She took my baby you know, Mum. Her and Lance.'

'What baby, Kathleen?'

Lil's voice was quiet and Kathleen put her head down and started to cry.

Annie sighed heavily. 'What fucking baby? There was no baby. Are you going to tell me you are listening to this fucking nut case?'

Kathleen was out of her seat and, grabbing Annie by the neck, she screamed, 'Don't you call me that. Don't you dare call me that. You took my baby away and you put it in the fucking bin.'

She looked at Patrick and said angrily, 'You were robbing the post office, remember? Lance told me that if you knew about the baby, you would put me away, no one would believe me. He gave it to her. And she put it in the bin, Pat, my little baby. I wasn't allowed to make any noise in case the police came and you all got arrested… Then Mum would have been cross and make me go away.' She looked at Annie.

'Tell them, tell them. Now they are going and putting me in the nuthouse, that's what Lance said to me. The nuthouse, because you all hate me and don't care about me, but you do. Promise me you won't put me in the nuthouse, promise me! I don't like kissing Lance, Mum, and Nanny says I am telling lies but I'm not. Colleen knew, Colleen knew because she saw him. And Colleen went away. Lance made her go away.'

She was crying now, sobbing.

'Fucking hell, Mum. Fucking hell. What the fuck is going on with this fucking family?'

Annie was standing with her hand over her mouth and Lil's blow knocked her to the floor.

'You bitch, you fucking evil bitch. You knew all along what he was like and you made me guilty about him. And you knew, you always knew…'

'Keep her here, Mum. Even if you have to fucking beat her brains out. Don't let her near a phone, don't let her warn him, right?' Patrick was shouting.

Lil nodded. 'You go, mate, she ain't going nowhere.'

Lil held her daughter in her arms as she saw Patrick walk from the room.

Lance was nervous, the small bar was filling up with people and Karen was still nowhere to be seen. The small bar was part of a private drinking club that was frequented by Donny's main workforce and some of the clientele were civilians who liked to feel they were on the orders of the criminal fraternity. It was a nice little place, men brought their birds here, never their wives, and they knew they were safe enough from prying eyes. Donny prided himself on his business acumen; he had taken the bar in lieu of a debt. It had earned him ten times the original amount and also earned him the goodwill of many a Face who needed somewhere to rest a weary head without Old Bill on their backs. He was watching the door with as much interest as Lance and he knew that this was going to be a hard old night, but he would survive it.

'How much longer is she going to take?'

Donny shrugged, his ugly face screwed up in irritation. 'I don't know, she's doing us a fucking favour. Hang on and I'll ring her again.' He walked away, dialling a number on his mobile.

'You've rung her twice already. What is she, fucking thick?'

As he spoke, the door opened, and Lance knew then that Donny had sold him out. The man put his phone away and said sadly, 'You're scum, Lance, and I always knew that, but this time you went too far.' The bar was cleared within minutes of Patrick attacking Lance with a baseball bat. The police were called in when a passerby heard the screams. By then, Lance was unrecognisable as a human being.