Chapter 17

On my way home, I pulled into the supermarket to pick up a few items. My mind wasn't focused, and I walked up and down the aisles in a daze as I grabbed the odd tin and packet to throw in my trolley. I was thinking about what Joby had told me. I wondered how Dominic would have felt the morning after the attempted rape. I could understand Joby's parents not wanting their child to have anything more to do with him, but if his actions had been caused by the medication he was taking, then it wasn't completely his fault. I imagined, in the cold light of day, that Dominic would have been full of remorse. Or was that just wishful thinking on my part?

I paid for the items at the self-service till and headed back to the car park. Once in the car and heading for the exit, I saw a familiar-looking shape ahead struggling to carry a couple of heavy carrier bags. I waited until I had driven past before looking back over my shoulder.

‘Anthony!' I called out, as I pulled over.

His face was red and his breathing laboured as he trundled along. He looked to be in pain. He smiled when he saw me.

‘Would you like a lift?'

A look of relief spread across his face. ‘That would be wonderful.'

I jumped out of the car and took the bags off him. I expected them to be heavy, but they didn't seem to be as heavy as Anthony had been making out.

‘I do this every time,' he began, as I placed them in the boot. ‘I write a list of the things I need, but I see items on offer and think I may as well buy them while I'm here. I forget I've got to get the bloody things home.'

‘I'm the same. If it's on offer and it's covered in chocolate, I'm throwing it into my trolley.'

Anthony climbed into the front passenger seat and pulled the door closed. He shuddered and held his hands in front of the heater to warm them up.

‘Sorry, the heater doesn't work too well,' I said. ‘I'm saving for a new car, but there's always something else to buy.'

I drove out of the car park and made my way slowly up Blaydon Bank. It was a twenty-miles-per-hour speed limit, but my car struggled on the steep incline. I put the Golf into second gear and floored the accelerator. It managed to pick up speed, and I hoped I wouldn't have to stop or slow down as I'd struggle to get the speed back up again. I turned to Anthony and gave him a painful smile. He was staring at me.

‘Everything all right?'

‘Yes. I was just looking. You've got a look of my Carole about you.'

‘Have I?'

‘Yes. In profile. It's strange. I was aware a girl Dominic had been seeing had got pregnant, but I must have put it to the back of my mind or something, because until you turned up on my doorstep, I never thought about it.'

‘You've been through a great deal over the years,' I said, as I turned onto Langdale Road.

‘Oh God!' Anthony said.

‘What's the matter?'

‘I recognise that car.'

‘Which one?'

‘The dark red Range Rover. It's Dominic's solicitor.'

‘Clare Delaney?'

‘That's her. The viper. What could she possibly want?'

I pulled up behind Clare's car. It was showroom-bright and clean, and it screamed of wealth. It had the personalised number-plate ‘BO55 BCH', and when Clare opened the door on the driver's side, a step came out from underneath, so she didn't have to jump down to the ground.

Clare was wearing a black trouser suit and a knee-length leather coat with a fur trim around the collar which I guessed was probably real fur. Against the brightness of the sun, she was wearing large-framed sunglasses. As soon as she saw us, she beamed a toothy grin.

‘Two birds with one stone. I was going to call you later, Dawn. Mr Griffiths, how are you?'

‘I'm fine, thank you. What do you want?' he asked. There was tension in his voice.

‘I've come to update you on your son's case.'

‘Ms Delaney, we've spoken about this on many occasions – I'm really not interested. Dawn, could you bring my shopping in?' he asked, as he pulled a key out of his pocket and hobbled to the front door.

‘Of course.' Then I turned to Clare. ‘What did you want to see me about?'

‘I have a letter for you from your father.'

‘What?' My head was in the car as I was in the process of scooping up Anthony's shopping. I stopped and looked daggers at Clare.

‘I gave him a call, told him all about you. He was very interested,' she said, with a devious smile.

‘You had no right to do that. I said I'd let you know if I wanted to contact him.'

‘The health and wellbeing of my client are my number-one priority. He's feeling a tad low and worrying about his impending release. He's frightened about what kind of a world he's going to be living in. I thought it would be beneficial to his mental state to know there was someone for him on the outside.'

‘I don't believe a single word you just said.' I slammed the car door closed, and the alarm went off. ‘Shit.' I fumbled in my pocket for the keys and pressed a button hard on the fob to silence it.

‘Expensive things, cars, aren't they?' Clare said. ‘I'm sure your father would help you out once he receives his settlement.'

I wanted to slap that grin off her face, but judging by the amount of make-up she was wearing, she probably wouldn't even feel it.

‘I pay my own way in this world, thank you. Now, if you'll excuse me,' I said, pushing past her and heading for Anthony's front door.

‘I have the letter right here if you want it.'

I turned back from the doorway. Clare stood holding up an envelope like it was a golden ticket.

I placed the bags of shopping on the ground and walked over to Clare with my head high. I snatched the letter and returned to the house.

‘There's a visiting order in there for you, if you'd like to pay him a visit. He's currently in HMP Holme House, not far from here to prepare him for release. Did I tell you his release date? It's the thirteenth of February. Not long to go.'

I closed the door firmly behind me, as I went into Anthony's house. Clare Delaney really was a viper.

‘Are you all right?' I asked Anthony. He was in the kitchen, leaning on the work surface, his face tense and angry.

‘No. I can't stand that woman. Do you know, when she first made contact with Dominic, he wasn't interested in this compensation claim from that drugs company? She came here asking me to try to convince him. She wrote, phoned, knocked on the door, day and night.'

‘You should have called the police.'

‘She's not stupid. She wasn't hassling. She stayed on the right side of intimidation. She must have worn Dominic down herself, because she soon stopping calling. When I read in the papers about him suing and possibly getting early release, I was fuming. I'd never been so mad.'

‘Did you hear what she just said about Dominic's release date?'

‘Yes.'

‘I guess he'll go to one of those halfway houses first to get him used to life in the outside world.'

‘I know. I've done plenty of research. He's never stopped writing to me.'

‘Really?'

‘He wrote to his mother all the time.' He filled the kettle, flicked it on and set about getting the cups and teapot ready. ‘I told him to stop. She'd visit him in Wakefield Prison and come back in a terrible state: crying, headaches, feeling sick. It wasn't doing her any good seeing him in there. I put a stop to it. I told her no more visits, no more letters. We should draw a line under it. Move on.'

‘But she couldn't?'

‘No. That's why she… she couldn't cope. It was what he'd done to that poor girl that made her kill herself. She used to visit her grave, lay flowers, leave notes and cards for her parents saying how sorry she was for bringing such a monster into the world.'

‘Did they ever get in touch with her?'

‘No. When Carole died, I wrote to Dominic, the first and only time I'd done so. I told him what she'd done, what he'd made her do. I told him not to contact me ever again. As far as I was concerned, I had no son,' he said, slamming teaspoons and mugs onto a tray.

‘Did he write back?'

‘Constantly. I recognised his writing on the envelopes. They went straight into the shredder. I didn't even open them. I've never been free of him.' He looked up at me with tears in his eyes.

‘You don't want him to be released, do you?'

‘No,' he answered quickly. ‘I know he's always maintained his innocence, but at the end of the day, his actions led to the death of an innocent young girl. I'm sorry,' he said, leaving the kitchen and heading for the bathroom.

I began to put his shopping away. I looked in cupboards and drawers to try and find where things went and saw the shelves were mostly empty. I noticed he was taking a lot of medication. His fridge only contained a tub of butter, a bottle of milk and a packet of cheese, and the freezer was empty except for a box of Cornettos. I felt incredibly sad for him.

By the time Anthony came back into the kitchen, I'd put everything away.

‘Do you want me to go?'

It was a while before he answered. ‘No. It's nice having you here. She gave you a letter, didn't she, that viper?'

‘Yes. From Dominic.'

‘Are you going to read it?'

I nodded. ‘Look, I'd better be going.'

‘You don't have to.'

‘I have frozen food in my car. I don't want it thawing out.'

‘Oh, of course,' he said. ‘Here, before you go.' He headed for the living room and returned with a shoe box. ‘Those diaries of Carole's I told you about.'

‘Are you sure you don't mind me reading them?'

‘No. She started writing them after we got married. She said she wanted to document our married life and pass it on to our children and grandchildren.'

‘That's a good idea.' I smiled.

‘So, you see, it's only right you should have them.'

‘Thank you. I'll take good care of them.'

‘I know you will. Will you come back to visit me again?'

‘Of course.'

His smile was genuine. ‘I'd like that. The only person I seem to speak to these days is whoever's presenting the weather after the news. They never get it right. I tell them so, too.' He chuckled.