Episode 8 - Cleo

Saturday cont.

Gary reluctantly tore himself away from Cleo in time not to encounter Robert . He hated having to make room for a guy Cleo only tolerated, whatever kind of an act she put on in public and self-delusion she relied on in private.

***

Face with his own problems, Gary realized that he could not let things go on any longer with Sybil Barnet, the woman he had helped to reunite with her little daughter. He had thought he was helping her back to a normal life. He found her attractive, admittedly, but a life with her on a permanent basis as a substitute for a life with Cleo was definitely not an option.

 Sybil had been a call-girl in the past. Now, as Cleo explained, she was bored with her job as sales assistant in a fashion boutique. She looked so much better than the women she was expected to serve. They came with fistfuls of cash or half a dozen credit cards made out in men’s names, and bought stuff they fancied that was often too small for them and usually looked dreadful.

***

Cleo suspected, and Gary was sure that Sybil was inching back into her old profession. He would have to ditch her. Having a woman friend  - especially a promiscuous one - was no longer excusable. He finally admitted to himself that it was Cleo he had wanted in his life from the day he set eyes on her, and no one else would do.

Sybil might, in her alter ego as Moira, have explained the situation exactly as Cleo had done, but it never came to that. Sybil thought Gary was a nice, kind guy if you could get past all his moods and complexes, but he did not know how to have fun, and Sybil alias Moira needed something she could define as fun in her life. So Sybil, and not the respectable Moira, was going back to what she knew best. Her daughter Anna was happy being cared for by the vicar’s wife at Upper Grumpsfield vicarage during the week. Sybil had often phoned to ask if the child could stay there because she had to work, but Gary was not to know how she was supplementing the household budget and at the same time having the life she had missed. Edith did not of course know what kind of extra work Sybil was talking about, so she was impressed and promised not to say anything. The ‘extra work’ came up every time Gary was on duty or called away. Then the half of Moira named Sybil that called herself Moira would dress appropriately, spend a couple of hours at a pub or club, take a fancy to one of the men propping up the bar and get herself invited to the guy’s hotel room or her flat. If the guy wanted to pay her for her attentions, she did not refuse.

***

Not knowing quite what Gary would be doing, Sybil had taken Anna to the vicarage in the little car that Gary had put at her disposal, and had just come back to Gary’s flat after a night spent elsewhere rather than at her own flat, when he phoned her on her mobile to say that he would have to stay at HQ after all.

Moira’s personality was intrusive, and she intruded now. She made and drank some strong coffee and went to enjoy a sleep, not realizing why she was tired. D

Sybil’s personality took over. Sleep was not on her mind. She dressed up in finery, including spectacular pieces of jewellery that had come her way as thanks for her services and which she had told Gary was paste, and with a raincoat over her outfit so as not to cause gossip in the neighbourhood, Sybil made her way to a little bar she had visited in the centre of Middlethumpton a few times in recent weeks. There was always someone ready and willing to offer her a drink in return for services to be rendered later.

***

Sybil did not know that Gary suspected her extramural activities, though he was still confused about her identity. He was loath to even think what her sorties entailed and dreaded the moment when the vice squad would pick her up. That was reason enough for putting an end to his alibi relationship with her.

Gary had no professional control over the workings of the vice squad unless they were working directly with him on a case. He had not told them about Sybil’s past when one of their investigative team had questioned him about the new woman in his life who had a familiar face. Gary said he knew about the past, but they were talking about Sybil’s twin sister. Sybil was known on the scene as Moira, after all. The story of Sybil having a twin was accepted. No one asked why they were never seen together.

The vice squad seemed satisfied and left him alone after that. Gary was already looking around for a new apartment where he could live respectably with Moira, and hope that Sybil’s decadent personality would be buried if Moira’s happiness overrode the multiple personality syndrome.

So unrealistic had Gary’s plans been for a future without Cleo. He agreed reluctantly to his daughter staying in Spain and going to a Spanish school.  Now, since his future would no longer include any woman apart from Cleo, he would live alone if a life with her did not materialize.

***

Gary even realized that his it was his frustration over Cleo that had led to his frequent resentment of her agency, and vowed to be more tolerant of it in future. Robert Jones had married Cleo after they had solved various legal problems besetting them both. Gary thought of him as a friend. He would no longer get between him and Cleo, but his idea that he could prise them apart somehow kept Gary awake at night and depressed him during the day. In point of fact, a few weeks at a clinic being treated for burnout might again be the answer to his current dilemma. Last time it had done him a power of good and he was aware that Cleo could see signs that he was falling into that state again. The physician’s advice to him had been to get his private life and love on an even keel, and he had not been able to.

***

On this Sunday morning Gary would be forced to deal with a young woman who had no manners, could not talk properly, was crude and told lies whenever it suited her. Though reluctant to admit that the Hartley Agency was needed in this case, he would get Cleo and Dorothy to be in on the interview. They would act as chaperones and ask salient questions. Gary could not tolerate Jessie Coppins having some kind of secret pact with Dorothy, however. He would put a stop to that.

At HQ, a female police officer had taken charge of Jessie, who was hungry, so was first taken to the canteen to get something to eat before spending the night in an arrest cell with only a TV for company.

***

Cleo and Dorothy arrived before 10 after Gary had pleaded with Cleo to come and bring Dorothy.

Before Jessie was brought in, Gary wanted to discuss the case with the two private sleuths. He had put out of his mind the passion of his tryst with Cleo. Business was business. 

“Well,” he started. “What did the woman tell you secretly, Dorothy?”

“That was in confidence, Gary,” said Dorothy. “She trusts me.”

“Don’t you believe it,” said Cleo. “Jessie doesn’t trust anyone.”

“Would you trust me again if I revealed everything you’ve told me?” Dorothy asked him.

Gary looked defeated.

Cleo came to the rescue.

“I’ll ask her what she told you, Dorothy. I’ll explain that it’s too much to ask of you to shield someone, even if it is her father.”

“Will she understand?” said Gary. “I get the impression that she has a very low IQ.”

“She wants everyone to think that. It’s stood her in good stead so far, but I don’t think she’s nearly as dumb as she likes people to think,” said Cleo.

“In other words, she’s capable of deeds we would not expect of a nitwit.”

“Yes, Gary. We’ll have to tread carefully. If she is shielding some guy or other she won’t want to betray him, especially if it’s her father, whatever he’s done to her. But I’m going to ask her the question her mother would ask her.”

“Which is?” asked Gary.

“I’m going to ask her if she had sex with Coppins last night.”

Dorothy gasped.

“Because if she did, she’ll need a contraceptive that works after the event.”

Dorothy gasped again.

Gary was embarrassed.

“So why don’t you leave the questioning to me, Gary? Go into the next room with Dorothy and watch it all through the glass. We’ll get better results that way. Jessie won’t be embarrassed the way she would if you were there, Gary, and Dorothy will not be called on to reiterate her promise not to reveal the secret information she was given.”

“Brilliant,” said Dorothy.

“I suppose you’re right, Cleo,” Gary said grudgingly. “Do it your way.”

***

Gary and Dorothy went to the next door office. Gary ordered Jessie to be brought into his office. A policewoman accompanied her and was to stay as a witness throughout the interview. Jessie was not going to be allowed to abscond.

“Where are the others?” Jessie wanted to know.

“Gone for a drink,” said Cleo.

“Well I don’t want to talk to you so we can wait for them, can’t we?”

“Would you like to talk to Dorothy again instead?”

“Not really. I don’t want to bloody talk to no one.”

Jessie stayed silent for a moment before speaking.

“That cop, Miss.”

“Which one, Jessie?”

“Not the one who brought me here. I mean the one who stayed behind with you.”

“OK. What about him?”

“Is ‘e good in bed, Miss?”

Cleo could hardly disguise her astonishment.

“What do you mean, Jessie?”

“Yes, you do, Miss. You can tell me. I won’t split on you.”

Cleo decided that sharing a confidence with Jessie might get her to do the same.

“He is, actually,” she said. “He knows all the tricks, Jessie.”

“Can I ‘ave a go then, Miss?”

“Jessie, I don’t share my boyfriends with anyone.”

“Not like my bloody mother.”

“Look Jessie, if you want to sleep with Mr Hurley, you’ll have to ask him yourself. I don’t own him.”

Cleo had no idea what kind of a reaction her conversation with Jessie was getting behind that one-way mirror. She didn’t really care. While Jessie was drinking the coke Gary kept in his mini-fridge, Cleo walked towards the mirror and gave a thumbs-up sign, smiling broadly.

***

Resuming the interview, Cleo said “I can tell you this much, Jessie. Until you’ve talked, you won’t get out of here. Do you really want to spend another night in the cells?”

“I ain’t done noffink wrong. You can’t hold me.”

“Yes, we can,” said the policewoman, coming to Cleo’s rescue. She was also laughing about the dialogue she had just heard. Just how truthful Cleo had been was something she did not need to know.

“Who are you, anyway?” said Jessie, turning to the policewoman.

“I’m the law,” said the policewoman.

That set Jessie thinking.

Cleo waited until Jessie had emptied her coke bottle before continuing the interview.

“Can I have something hot, now?” she asked. “Cocoa.”

Cleo nodded to the policewoman to get Jessie some hot cocoa from the dispenser in the hall.

“I could probably leave now,” said Jessie.

“I don’t want you to leave without telling us if your father was in that crypt with you.”

“I don’t want to bloody talk about that.”

“You’ll have to, Jessie. Nobody will blame you for hiding away with him, but keeping a secret about him might lead to people thinking he has done something he shouldn’t.”

“He bloody has. More than twice, Miss.“

“Meaning your two kids, Jessie?”

Jessie nodded and Gary was thrilled. Coppins could be charged with rape and incest on that admission. Chris would provide DNA proof.

Dorothy whispered “There’s more to come, Gary. Cleo is a crack at this kind of interview.”

“I know, Dorothy.”

“Do you sleep with Cleo?” said Dorothy.

Gary was shocked at the question but decided on the truth.

“Yes, of course I do, but don’t tell her I told you.”

“I won’t, Gary. I do understand, you know. Cleo is totally confused emotionally and I’m sure she really loves you. You’ll have to give her time.”

“It’s killing me, Dorothy, but I’m trying.”

***

After thinking about what she had just given away about her father’s incestuous demands, Jessie changed her mind about not saying anything.

“So it was your father in the crypt?” Cleo asked again.

“Yes, Miss.”

“He waylaid you on the way home, didn’t he?”

“I don’t know what you mean, Miss.”

“You went for a walk, remember? On the way home you ran into your father. Is that how it was? Or had he been following you?”

“Yes, Miss.”

“Following you?”

“Yes, Miss.”

“And then he stopped you, did he?”

“Yes.”

“Had you met up with him before?”

“Not met up. He had taken me into the bushes, Miss.”

“Did he force himself on you there, Jessie?”

“Yes, Miss.”

“Good God, what a swine,” Gary whispered to Dorothy. “I’ll get him if it’s the last thing I do. Such brutes should get life.”

“Where is your father now, Jessie?”

“I don’t know, ‘onest!”

“If we talk again tomorrow, do you think you’ll remember where he could be?”

“In front of my mother I wouldn’t say anything, even if I knew, but ‘onest I don’t, Miss.”

“We can talk in my office tomorrow.”

“I’ll think about it.”

***

Jessie’s distress was so disturbing that Cleo decided to not to pursue the matter any further. Gary and Dorothy had heard everything, as had the policewoman who was now sitting behind Jessie with a horrified expression on her face.

“Normal sex is nothing to be ashamed of, Jessie.”

“What’s normal?” Jessie asked.

“That’s when two people, usually a man and woman, get as close as they can because they love one another, Jessie.”

“I had normal sex with Tom. That was nice,” she said. “Then my bloody mother pinched ‘im. I’ll kill her for that.”

“No, you won’t, Jessie. She’s not worth a prison sentence for life.”

“I’ve got rotten parents, Miss.”

“That’s why you must help us to find Mr Coppins, Jessie. You and your sisters will only be safe when he’s in prison.”

“I’ll help you, Miss, and I’ll tell you something else.”

Cleo was astonished. Jessie really did trust her now. That was genuine progress.

“Coppins is not my real father.”

“How do you know, Jessie?”

“People talk, Miss.”

“Who is your father, Jessie?”

“Dunno,” said Jessie. “It could be that Irishman, but if it wasn’t my father, it isn’t incest, is it?”

“I’m not sure about that. He was married to your mother and did not deny his parenthood, Jessy. And if he’s your legal father, he is breaking the law if he makes sexual advances or worse.”

Jessie nodded. She had definitely understood Cleo’s complex explanation. But Cleo realized that that line of questioning should not be pursued right now. Could she ask Mrs Coppins to confirm with whom she had slept at the relevant time? Cleo would definitely ask Mrs Coppins to admit that she had known about her husband’s behaviour with Jessie, whoever her birth father was.

***

Gary and Dorothy were thinking their own thoughts as observers. Gossip is not always a pack of lies, Dorothy reflected, and said so.

Gary told Dorothy that it was a matter that had to be dealt with if only to nail Coppins down. On the other hand, Jessie was of age now. She could decide whether to go on the offensive, and if Coppins was not her father, it was not technically speaking incest, however you interpreted his revolting behaviour. But it was forbidden sex with a juvenile and that is rape. The law could get him for that.

***

Cleo was sure that shame and threats from Coppins had silenced Jessie. It was all mind-boggling, the more so because it was going on legally or illegally in a huge number of homes.

“I’ll take you home, Jessie,” Cleo said. “Can you stay here with the policewoman for a few minutes while I sort things out?”

The girl nodded. She was calmer than she had been. Was talking about the abominable things she had experienced the reason? Cleo thought it was. Coppins must be caught without delay.

***

Jessie never found out that Dorothy and Gary had been witnesses to that interview. If Gary had needed any evidence that Cleo was a shrewd investigator, he had it now. If his infatuation for Cleo had been intense, his love for her was now as boundless as her ability to inspire trust. Dorothy looked at Gary and said

“She is rather amazing, isn’t she?”

Gary nodded. He was near to tears.

“You’ll have to fight for her, Gary. She needs you. Robert is OK, but he’s a dolt. You have my blessing.”

“I think we need a hug, Dorothy,” said Gary.

***

Of course, Jessie could not leave HQ unless officially allowed to do so. She was to all intents and purposes in custody. Gary would have to make the final decision, but Cleo thought releasing her was the only alternative unless there was a legitimate reason for not doing so. The girl was not known to have done anything punishable by law,

“But is she going to run away again?” Gary wanted to know.

“Am I an oracle?” said Cleo. “For what reason would you keep her? On a charge of camping out?”

“No, I can’t do that. Take the girl with you and we’ll talk tomorrow.”

“I’ll take her with me,” said Dorothy. “Pretend I’ve come for her.”

“I’ll drive you both there, Dorothy.”

“I’ll drive home then join you,” said Cleo. I think we need a little TLC – all of us!”

“And join us for breakfast,” said  Dorothy. “Jessie does beautiful s rambled eggs.”

***

Gary and Cleo left Dorothy and Jessie to walk down to Gary’s car.

“I wonder why you did not mention the Tom Crowe factor, Cleo. Was that deliberate?”

“Yes. I needed to gain her trust and I can ask her tomorrow. She is afraid of something, but she is not ready to tell me what.”

***

Dorothy was no longer puzzled about the situation between Gary and Cleo. She had noticed that Gary was looking at Cleo in what she would describe as a ‘different’ way after he had admitted that their affair was on again.

But despite giving Gary her support Dorothy was worried. She could not tell Cleo what Gary had confided in her. The situation was not good and would get worse when Robert realized that he was being cuckolded. What made it worse for Dorothy was that she liked both men, but if given the choice, she would have chosen Gary. Could she now even consider encouraging Cleo to keep her marriage going?

As long as we get on with the case, there isn’t a problem,” Dorothy decided, though she was not sure how she would confront Robert now she knew what was going on.

***

Dorothy phoned Cleo after Jessie had one to bed.

“I wonder if Coppins ran away with that barmaid because he was taking a risk continuing to abuse Jessie,” she suggested. “It is possible that Mrs Coppins had threatened to report him.”

“We could ask her,” said Cleo, “but in the end, she threw him out, didn’t she?”

“And we don’t know the exact reason why. Did she already know about that barmaid?”

“Meaning that abusing her daughter was more acceptable than seducing an under-aged stranger?” said Cleo. “How cynical is that?”

“Whatever reason Coppins has for stalking Jessie, he’ll need to keep an eye on her now to stop her talking, won’t he?” said Cleo. “I’d better phone Gary and get security for the girl.”

***

“I thought you’d phone,” said Gary.

“Not about us, Sweetheart. About Jessie and that bastard of a father.”

“Do you think she’s she covering up some other big secret?”

“I have the same feeling, but I could not ask her. I did not want to put her newly found trust in me at risk.”

“You did a brilliant questioning, Cleo. No criticism of that.”

“Dorothy thinks Coppins is on the ruin because Jessie talked and could talk some more, Gary,  but whatever reason he had for getting at her, the girl is in danger and needs protection.”

“That’s true,” said Gary.

“She’s actually safer at home with her mother, isn’t she?” said Cleo. “I gather that’s one place Mr Coppins will avoid like the plague.”

“Always assuming Mrs Coppins is safe with Jessie,” said Gary. “Jessie did threaten to kill her, after all.”

“Can you try and trace the girl Coppins went off with, Gary?”

Gary had not thought of that. Was there no end to the Hartley Agency ingenuity?

“You know I’ll help out where I can,” said Gary, wishing he had spawned that idea.

“All I know is that the girl Coppins went off with is named Polly Spencer and was 15 years old at the time. Her family lives in Huddlecourt Minor,” said Cleo. “You’ll need her as evidence that he absconded with a 15 year-old. She was pregnant at the time.”

Cleo followed him  to the coffee machine in the corridor and turned him round to face her.

***

Just one more question, Gary.”

“I’m listening.”

“What did you tell Dorothy?” she asked. “Something has changed her attitude.”

“Attitude?”

“To you and me.”

“She asked me if we slept together and I told her we did.”

“Wow!”

“Then she told me to fight for you with her blessing, and I’m going to, Cleo.”

“You’ll win in the end, Gary, but you’ll have to be more patient. I don’t want to hurt Robert. I’m waiting for him to find another partner.”

“Do you have someone in mind, Cleo?

“Edith Parsnip, but it’s early days yet,” said Cleo.

“She’s a timid little church mouse. Why pick on her?”

“I’ve watched her looking at Robert.”

“Get them together, for heaven’s sake, Cleo.”

“Match-make? You must be kidding. Robert’s as think as a brush on romantic.”

“Tell her she’ll have to seduce him,” said Gary.

“I love you, Gary, and that is never going to change, but I can’t play cupid to Edith.”

“You know how I feel, Cleo, and that isn’t going to change, either. We’ll have to find a way to bring them together.”

“Start looking, Sweetheart.