Serial Part 5: The final instalment of Casey And The Lost Boys

Casey had wanted to convict the evil Steve Parr for years, but would this time finally be different?

Icouldn’t sleep. So I thought I’d take Oscar for a walk.’

Giles stood in the middle of the kitchen, holding Oscar’s lead with both hands and twisting it awkwardly as he spoke. ‘I’m sorry for being such a nuisance,’ he added.

‘Don’t be silly. You’re not a nuisance. You didn’t ask to stay here,’ replied Casey.

His shoulders, which had been up round his ears when he’d first realised he’d been discovered creeping in the back way, relaxed. Finally, he met her gaze.

‘How about you sit down and

I’ll make us a hot chocolate?’

Casey filled the kettle then reached inside the cupboard for the box of sachets. When she turned round, Giles was already at the table, Oscar at his feet.

‘You’ve made a good friend there,’ she said, emptying the powder into two mugs.

‘I always wanted a dog,’ he said, his head bowed so she couldn’t see his face. ‘But Mum and Dad think a dog would tie them down.’

Casey poured the water into the mug and stirred vigorously before taking them over to the table, setting them down and taking a seat opposite him. ‘Too busy saving the world.’

There was no mistaking the bitterness in his voice. He raised the mug to his lips and blew on it.

‘Thanks for this by the way,’ he added.

‘I wish you’d tell me what happened at school, Giles,’ she said. ‘I don’t know you very well. But, punching someone in the face. Well, it really doesn’t seem like your style.’

There was a tin of biscuits in the middle of the table. As soon as Casey removed the lid, Oscar sat up and looked interested.

‘Besides, Oscar knows a wrong ’un when he meets one.’ She tipped the tin towards him. ‘I’ve seen the way he follows you about. That dog’s the best judge of character of anyone I know.’

Giles smiled. It was a revelation. He was a very handsome boy. He selected a biscuit and slowly munched his way through it, deliberating whether or not he trusted

Casey well enough to reply.

‘My Dad’s dead set against violence,’ he said, finally. ‘He always told me to walk away whenever there was trouble.’ ‘It’s good advice.’

‘But sometimes you can’t do that. Not if you see someone getting hurt. You have to step in.’

‘So who was getting hurt?’ He shrugged. ‘Some kid. I don’t know his name. I’d already stepped in before. He told me to butt out that time so I did. But I felt bad about it.’

His fingers wandered back to the biscuit tin. He glanced up at Casey for permission. She gave a nod.

‘I could see he wasn’t happy. This other kid was following him about and forever getting in his face.’

‘A bully,’ Casey said.

Giles nodded. ‘I should have told a member of staff,’ he said. ‘But I had no real evidence other than what my instinct was telling me.’

He’d thought and thought about what he’d done, he said, and the truth was that hitting that boy had been little to do with sticking up for the boy. It was more to do with his ego.

‘I just hated the thought of someone I had absolutely no respect for besting me,’ he said. ‘The Head was right to exclude me. I let myself down.’

‘Not many boys your age are so self-aware, Giles,’ Casey said. ‘Right.’ She glanced at the cooker clock. ‘Finish that drink. It’s late. You might not have school tomorrow but I have a job to go to.’

Tomorrow meant a trip to the hospital to find out from Johnny who had put him there. If she could find the time, there was something else she’d like to do. That Head Teacher seemed like a reasonable human being. Probably had kids herself. With a bit of gentle persuasion maybe Casey could get her to take Giles back sooner.

‘What’s going to happen to him, Casey?’

Julie hadn’t let go of Johnny’s hand all the time Casey had been by the boy’s bedside. She held onto it in a gesture of defiance. If the police were coming for her grandson, then they were damn well going to have to take her with him.

Johnny, pale and with dark shadows under his eyes, lay back on his pillow with his eyes closed, clearly exhausted.

‘It’s not up to the police to decide these things,’ Casey said, gently. ‘He’s confessed to carrying illegal substances to person or persons unknown, but he’s not the dealer. And we haven’t found any drugs on him. It’s hard to know what we could charge him with, let alone how we could make a case for prosecution.’

‘He’s given names though, remember. Those two boys from his school. That’s bound to help his case. It’s them who should be locked up, not him,’ Julie grumbled. ‘They set him up.’

‘And we’ll get them, Julie. There’s absolutely no need for you to worry about that.’

Johnny had been reluctant to talk at first. He didn’t have a clue who it was who’d followed him all the way to the business park and jumped him just as

‘It’s them who should be locked up, not him. They set him up’

he’d turned down that narrow lane, he said. But Casey wasn’t sure if she believed him.

Poor boy would be terrified about what would happen to him if he gave the names of his attackers.

Had he been older and they’d been alone, she would have pushed him. But he was just a kid and obviously still traumatised. In the end it was Julie who’d persuaded him to give up the boys’ names. If he had even the slightest inkling of who they might be, she said, speaking to him more sternly that Casey would have done herself, then he needed to tell the Inspector. Otherwise it would be him in prison while those two got off scot-free.

Casey could have reminded Julie that Johnny was too young to go inside. But she wanted answers. And Johnny, reluctantly, finally gave them to her. They were neither of them very bright, those boys who had attacked him. Zach and Kian Daley. She should have known that family would have a stake in this.

One of the boys called out the other’s name and suggesting the two of them should grab what they’d come for and get away. Johnny had felt someone pulling at his clothes and going through his pockets and through halfopened eyes he’d glimpsed Zach. Kian had been staring down at him anxiously, he said. Rather as if he wasn’t blaming him as much as he blamed Zach. After that everything had been a blur, he said.

Casey’s phone bleeped a message. She hoped it would be the Head Teacher. She’d rung the school that morning, hoping to have a word with her about Giles’ punishment and the possibility of curtailing it. All she’d got was the school secretary so she’d left a message asking the Head to call back.

It wasn’t the Head but a picture file from the team who’d been examining the CCTV outside the hospital. Eager to see what it contained, Casey opened it. Immediately she knew who she was looking at on the screen.

‘Johnny,’ she said, quietly. ‘I know you said earlier you don’t remember how you got here.’

‘I’m telling you the truth,’ he said. ‘I remember waking up in the dark then trying to find my way back to my bike.’

‘He’s told you everything he remembers, Casey,’ Julie butted in.

‘I know, I know,’ Casey said. She held the phone out for Julie to look at. ‘But look at that video, Julie.’

Julie squinted to get a better look. ‘It’s a bit blurred. Looks like someone getting out of a car.’

‘That’s right. See how he struggles to get Johnny out?’

‘Oh,’ Johnny said. ‘Now I remember. There was a car. I think that’s when I fainted.’

Casey clicked on another file. This time it was a still close up. ‘Now look at this,’ she said. ‘Recognise this guy, Julie?’

Julie stared at the picture. ‘My God!’ She said, as the penny dropped.

‘David Lyall,’ said Casey.

‘Or as you know him,

Arlan Roberts.’

‘What’s he got to do with all this?’ Julie said.

‘That’s what we need to find out.’

Her phone was ringing. The name of the school popped up on her screen.

‘Excuse me for a second, will you?’ She said, jumping up and heading for the exit.

The Head Teacher’s manner seemed very different from the understanding one she’d adopted at their last meeting.

‘You want Giles to come back to school tomorrow?’ The Head said, curtly. ‘I think you know that under the circumstances that won’t be possible.’

‘What do you mean?’ Casey was flabbergasted.

‘You’re a Police Inspector, aren’t you?’ She replied. ‘I’d have thought you’d already have been informed. Giles has been arrested for assault. This time he’s put Zach Daley in a coma.’

All she’d learned from the Head Teacher was that when Zach Daley hadn’t turned up for school that morning and no one had rung in to say why, his class teacher had informed the office, who in turn had rung his home.

That’s when they’d learned that Zach had been badly beaten up some time the previous night and was currently in intensive care. Naturally concerned, the Head had phoned the police and informed them about the incident at school. Presumably one of Casey’s colleagues, in their wisdom, had brought poor Giles in for questioning. Now it was up to her to sort it out.

She hadn’t managed to get hold of the Super. But once in her car she got hold first of Dom, telling him to make sure Giles knew that he’d be out in no time and not to worry. And secondly, Gail, to tell her to allow no-one to come near Giles till she got back to the station and spoke to him herself first.

At the station, Gail was standing guard outside the room where Giles had been taken.

‘What’s going on, Casey?’

She said. ‘Why has Giles been brought in?’

‘It’s a stupid mistake.’ Bringing her up to speed with events as speedily as possible, she told her that it was Zach Daley who’d put Johnny Martin in hospital and that if anyone had come after Zach then it would have been because he’d been caught with his fingers in the till.

If the Head Teacher was blaming Giles for beating Zach to a pulp, then she needed her head examined. He might have previously landed a blow on the boy but it had been a glancing one. Giles had taken full responsibility for it and was thoroughly mortified.

‘So who do you think is responsible?’ Gail said. ‘Zach Daley’s clearly in no fit state to tell us. God knows when he will be either.’

‘If we knew who was running those boys then we’d have our answer. Maybe David Lyall knows more than he’s letting on.’

‘How’s he involved in all of this?’

‘He brought Johnny into hospital. I don’t know if that makes him a saint or a sinner. But we need to find out.’

‘I’ll put out a call for Patrol to keep an eye out for him,’ Gail said. ‘We’ll get our man, Casey.’

Casey’s phone rang. It was Julie.

‘You need to listen to this,’ Julie said, dispensing with the usual greeting.

‘What’s happened?’

‘Johnny’s home now,’ Julie said. ‘But just as we were leaving, the nurse on duty stopped us. Said Johnny had left his phone behind. Johnny was in the loo so I took it from her.’

It didn’t worry her that she didn’t recognise it, as far as phones went, they all looked the same to her.

‘Except Johnny swore it wasn’t his,’ she went on. ‘So he scrolled down the numbers and, guess what?’

‘Tell me,’ Casey said.

‘My number’s on the list of contacts. And so is Tony’s. I think it’s Arlan’s phone.’ She quickly corrected herself.

‘Sorry, I mean David Lyall’s.’

They had a lead. With a bit of luck, somewhere in that list of contacts was the number of whoever it was David Lyall was working with. She needed to get hold of that phone as soon as possible.

‘I’m coming round, Julie.’

But then she remembered Giles. Right now he’d be sweating in that cramped little waiting room, out of his mind with worry. Briefly she explained his situation. Julie was shocked and wanted to know more but Casey was impatient to get on. She needed five minutes to reassure Giles, then she’d be on her way.

‘Meanwhile, she said. ‘Don’t let that phone out of your sight.’

David stood outside Julie’s house, plucking up courage to knock on her door. He felt bad for lying to her, giving her a false name and a whole made-up history.

What with making sure the CCTV camera got a good look at him, then slipping his mobile into that kid’s pocket before driving away, he’d done everything he could to make sure he’d be found, short of presenting himself at the Police Station with GUILTY AS CHARGED stamped across his forehead.

This morning he’d got the sack for sleeping in and turning up for work two hours late. Now he had no job and no roof over his head. He should have felt suicidal. But instead he felt weirdly relaxed. Was that how Arlan Roberts had felt, when he’d been handed out his death sentence?

He’d done a sketch of Arlan, just before Arlan stopped coming in to teach them, once a week on Tuesday afternoons. He’d been proud of it. Everyone said how much like him it was. He’d been looking forward to showing it to him. But when it was time for the next lesson, Arlan didn’t show up.

He didn’t come the following week either. Nor the week after that or the week after that. He ignored the rumours at first. Arlan Roberts couldn’t be dead. He didn’t do drugs, didn’t smoke or even drink much. He was a vegan. Wasn’t that supposed to be the healthy option? But it was true in the end. He’d got fed up of not knowing and had finally asked one of the screws, who confirmed it.

He’d never get to show him that sketch now. Nor would he get to tell him how grateful he was for teaching him to draw

‘If we knew who was running those boys then we’d have our answer’

and for giving him back some self-respect. But he still had the chance to say those things to Julie.

Taking his courage in his hands, he rapped hard on the door. He almost bottled it and bolted back down the path. But it was too late. Someone was already coming to answer the door. When it opened it revealed a woman he’d never seen before. Tall. Sort of professional looking. It wasn’t Julie.

The first glance she gave him was one of irritation. Obviously he’d interrupted something. But then her brow unknotted. She was looking at him long and hard, like she thought she might know him from somewhere. Finally, her face cleared and her mouth relaxed into a welcoming smile.

‘Well, who’d have thought it?’ She said, opening the door wide for him to enter. ‘The mountain has come to Mohammed. Come in, David. You’re very welcome.’

They were waiting for a Skype call. It was like a family portrait. All of them grouped round the table – Finlay, Casey, Dom and Giles, centre stage. Even Oscar was determined to get a look in, nosing his way round each one of them, hoping for a leg up.

If this worked it would be a miracle. It was the middle of the night in the unpronounceable village where Giles’ parents were staying and electricity, let alone Wi-Fi, was at a premium. Casey crossed her fingers for Giles. He must be desperate to speak to his mum and dad after all this time away from them.

It had been four weeks now. In that time, thanks to David Lyall, Steve Parr had been arrested and charged with possessing class A drugs with the intention of dealing, thanks to a raid on his flat, which had been rammed to the four corners with drugs of every description.

Julie had been devastated at the thought of having to tell Johnny that his dad would be going to jail for a long time. But Johnny took it very well. After all, he had his gran, who loved him and had given him all the security he needed to cope with any amount of adversity life could throw at him.

No charges had been brought against him. Nor were any brought against David either. Julie had spoken to the priest at the church and between them they’d offered him a full-time job at Tony’s. There was even a room to go with it. Last time Casey had seen him he’d told her – his face shining – that he’d signed up for evening classes in drawing. She had

He must be desperate to speak to his mum and dad after all this time

high hopes for that young man.

Giles had gone back to school the very next day, after he’d been allowed home with an apology from none other than the Super herself. He’d made friends and was doing well in his studies. There was talk of a girl. Not from him of course. But Finlay had seen him on several occasions deep in conversation with a petite blonde girl. A looker, so he said.

The computer made the weird bleeping sound it did to signal that Skype was working. Everyone sat up. The idea was that they’d all say hi then melt away so that Giles could have some precious time alone with his mum and dad.

The picture was a bit fuzzy. But there they were, Liz and Chris, both with eager, smiling faces, waving furiously. They all waved back, apart from Oscar, who barked a greeting instead. Chris was the first to speak.

‘Hey Giles! What’s been happening?’ He said.

‘Nothing much,’ Giles replied. Casey caught Dom’s eye. He winked at her and she rolled her eyes. Boys! They’d always be a mystery to her.

THE END