Chapter 7 De – Ja – Vue
Eric was beside himself. This seemed like a new ball game but with a different connotation to deal with. His car was again an instrument of death and destruction used against his own family and himself a victim of circumstances far beyond his control and his beloved Barbara was in hospital in a coma and he was being accused of running her down and no way of getting out of the situation at the present time. He felt the hand of the law was feeling his collar and needed time to recap all that had happened. Where precisely was he when Barbara was run over? Assisting a policeman at a road traffic accident! What was he doing? Looking after an old lady who had been run over and waiting for the ambulance to arrive. What time was it? He didn’t know for sure.
- * *
Eric cycled 2 miles to reach the office and had left home at 8:30am at the same time as Barbara went off shopping in the hired car. He was preparing the work for Grandad and the boys. He received the phone call from Barbara at 10:30 telling him that the hired car had been vandalised. It was just a matter of timing and Eric realised for the first time the discrepancy which was staring him in the face. How could his car be the car that had run down Barbara at whatever time it was, and also be the same car that ran down the old lady, say at 10:00am when he received Barbara’s phone call at round about 10:30am. Also if the hired car had its two rear tyres slashed, how could it have also been used to run over Barbara? But the forensic tests proved it was his car, not the hired car. A baffling situation and a bit of a poser for Eric to try and work out before being arrested for attempted murder of his wife.
* * *
Barbara left home at 8:30am parked in the town’s multi storey car park went shopping and bought four dresses and some steak and wine. Went back to the car and found two tyres slashed and rang Eric at the office. She rang at 10:30am. He told her to wait and he would be with her as soon as possible. Barbara stated she would get a taxi at the shopping precinct and he was not to bother coming to collect her. Eric asked how she was getting on at the shops and he remembered her saying she was getting excited about going away on holiday and she said that she would take the dresses if he would pick up the shopping bag with the steak and wine as it was for their dinner tonight.
No-one checked the car in the multi-storey car park, least of all Eric because he knew he had taken his car to the garage to be repaired. Someone reported seeing a car at the multi-storey car park that had both its rear tyres slashed. The police called two hours later and it had disappeared completely. They checked each level, but no car of that description could be found.
Chapter 8 The Voice
Eric was just finishing the vacuum cleaning, going from one room to another until eventually finishing off in the lounge. He collapsed in a heap on the sofa with exhaustion. He was not used to doing chores of this kind, but this had been forced onto him because they had a loft conversion fitted with two picture windows which had been finished five weeks ago and of course there was dust everywhere and Eric had not been able to get round to cleaning the house until now and seven days ago Barbara was run down while crossing the road four days after the dinner party they gave to their friends. Eric had been sleeping in the hospital to be close to Barbara who was in Intensive Care, still in a coma. He had hoped she would recover quickly and he had only just returned home the night before. Barbara was Eric’s second wife, his first wife, Jenny was also killed in a road accident.
Although the house was spacious, the kitchen and lounge were integrated, so anything prepared in the kitchen could often be heard in the lounge and vice versa. Screens had been placed between the kitchen and lounge in the hope that it would mask the noise, but they were more of a hindrance than helpful.
Eric said, ‘Life is all bollocks. I know I must be mad talking to myself like this, but it seems to quell the stress and the seething I feel towards the world. But then again how will I cope tomorrow or the next day and after. You get your solace at night when you eventually get to sleep. Yes! But then I wake up and reality hit’s you right in the face. What have I done? Did I make a mistake? I just don’t know what came over me! Whenever did I let Barbara down!’
Suddenly Eric was wide awake. A disembodied voice had interrupted his flow and he was now all attention. He recognized the voice as it boomed into the room, the same voice that had intimidated Barbara three weeks ago, the same voice that spoke to them the same evening at the last dinner party with friends, in other words their “pest”.
The voice said, ‘Don’t be content in talking to your self, why not talk to me instead?’
Eric said, ‘What do you want?’
‘I don’t want anything.’
Eric decided to search the room for hidden wires which would lead to speakers and back tracking that would lead him to a tape recorder. He could not find anything remotely resembling a recording machine. He sat down rather heavily on the sofa.
‘There’s no point in you looking around.’
Eric repeated, ‘What do you want?’
‘Nothing – I told you.’
‘Give me a break, it’s been a tiring day. I’ve just returned from Hospital – I’ve been talking to my wife.’
‘She’s not awake, is she!’
‘Has this got you worried?’
‘No! You can’t rattle me. What on earth have you been talking about, especially one who can’t answer.’
‘Nothing you need not concern yourself with. What satisfaction are you getting out of this, I wonder.’
’I know everything about you and Barbara – I make it my business to know about people who I hate. Let’s talk about Jenny. She was going out with me until you appeared on the scene! I was going to marry her, I was just about to pop the question, but you, you interfering little turd took her away from me.’
‘I never knew she was seeing someone else. She never told me.’
‘Well I certainly cooked her goose, and all suspicion fell on you at that time.’
‘What do you mean by that, surely you weren’t the driver of that car, the car like mine. It seems that you went to a lot of trouble to implicate me in such a foul and despicable way, you even changed the car plates to read my number, shame the car was in the garage at that time.’
’For a while it worked, didn’t it. You can’t do anything about it now, the deed was done and I really wanted to hurt you, dig the knife in I said to myself, make him suffer, after all you made me suffer by taking away the woman I loved.’
‘Jenny informed me that she was being harassed by someone and that I was a comfort to her and she did say to me that she felt that this other person was a bit mad.’
‘Liar! Why would she say that. I loved her, maybe I was a bit over the top, but I really loved Jenny.’
’I’m only stating the truth, and if you can’t own up to it, that’s your problem. Anyway you must be the person who came along and changed the pattern of my life – and what of poor Jenny, you didn’t give her a choice, did you? You deliberately and in cold blood murdered Jenny and I couldn’t do anything about it. Now you have almost done the same to Barbara.’
‘It would seem so. I was merely trying for a second time to ruin your life. I didn’t want to kill you, because I wanted you to suffer and if you were dead how could I torment you. So! It had to be Barbara.’
’Why! What had she ever done to you?’
‘Nothing! It was for the fun of it, because you were a thorn in my side those many years ago, I hated you then and I hate you now.’
‘I can’t really see why it was my fault that Jenny chose me instead of you. She was still a free spirit at the time and Barbara certainly wasn’t going out with anyone when I met her.’
‘Yes! Well you know how it is – in for a penny, in for a pound. Once you start these things you just can’t stop, I must admit I have gone overboard a bit, but then again, nobody’s perfect and no one is going to blame me, are they?’
‘Whatever happens I will try and find you, at the moment you’re just a disembodied voice, but you will make a mistake and when that happens – I’ll have you and that’s a promise!’
‘You won’t be able to get me when you’re charged with murder will you. You see I’m very careful, I always double check everything I do – just to make sure. I might be on the brink of madness, but then again who isn’t?’
‘I don’t think I’ll be charged with Jenny’s murder because of one simple fact. At the time of the accident I was attending a Conference with 30 other people and also my car was in the garage. Admittedly, I was interrogated for a few days at the time, but it came to nothing – so I think that will be a no-no.’
‘Are you sure it wasn’t your car, DNA can be such a bugger when it wants to be. It won’t be easy getting out of this one, because I made sure you were around. Even though you never witnessed the accident, you were there.’
‘You‘re crazy! I just hope and pray there will be some justice in this world I can rely on. Anyway this happened some months ago, the case is closed.’
‘I’ll make sure the case will be re-opened again you foolish person. I just like involving people, or should it be persons, in my activities. I am never too sure about grammar when it comes to involvements, perhaps you can instruct me old chap. Murder cases never close and the police will be particularly pleased when I tell them that you never attended that meeting in person, but by video television link.’
‘That has all been worked out. You can tell them what you like. How did you know? Of course you know everything that goes on in my life, don’t you!’
‘Don’t be silly Eric – isn’t that what Barbara says to you, although she may not say that ever again. And by the way I know all about your friends too and they could be on my hit list next. Hee! Hee!’
‘You just leave them alone, they have done nothing to you and they don’t know you.’
‘That’s where you’re wrong – two of them do, but then again, I might leave them alone – I’m just mulling over the idea of whether I should involve them and I’m sure you’ll enjoy the ride. It’s going to be a bumpy journey and I will make sure this time that you were the person behind the wheel and so drove the car into Barbara. You might get away with ten years, but I’m hoping you will get life.’
’You can’t do this.’
‘I have already accomplished half of my plan and it is all thanks to the age of technology. It’s so wonderful what you can do with a piece of Fibre-optic! I’m so pleased with myself. Well Eric it’s time to say goodbye, I don’t suppose I will have to wait too long before an arrest is made, with any luck.’
‘You’ll never get away with it.’
’Don’t be silly Eric, of course I will, what can you do to stop me? It’s going to be one of my most glorious moments when you get arrested and I will make sure that I will be there to see it happen, old chap. Ta – Ta for now.’
Several clicking noises followed and then the phone fell silent.
