Maggie forced her way between them. Jack’s nose was bleeding profusely. She put her arms out wide to protect the burly man.
‘What are you doing?’
Penny came running down the stairs, looking shocked.
‘What on earth is going on? Oh, my goodness, look what you’ve done to him.’ The man was holding his chin and was obviously dazed.
‘Who is this for Christ’s sake? What is he doing in my house?’ Jack demanded.
Penny took the man in her arms, saying she would get an icepack. Maggie held up her arms to Jack and told him to calm down.
‘Calm down? He was coming down the fucking stairs in our house!’
‘Jack, take a deep breath and listen... listen to me. His name is Marius and he’s from Romania. He’s the caretaker at Hannah’s nursery. Are you listening to me?’
‘What was he doing upstairs?’
‘He was saying goodnight to Hannah. Penny was with her. Is your nose broken? Let me see...’
Jack was still in such a fury that he backed off as Maggie reached out to feel his nose.
‘Leave it, just leave it, and tell me what the hell is going on.’
‘Marius is Penny’s boyfriend. She’s been seeing him for a while. She didn’t want to mention it to us, especially to you, in case you flew off the handle about your dad. You’d better let me see to your nose.’
Jack’s anger subsided like a deflated balloon. Maggie led him into the kitchen where Marius was sitting at the table with a pack of frozen peas held to his head. Maggie sat Jack down and felt his nose, then after a moment tweaked it hard. It clicked.
‘There you go. Penny, have we got any more frozen peas? Jack’s going to have two black eyes tomorrow.’
Nobody said anything for a few moments. Jack held a bag of frozen green beans to his face whilst Marius sat opposite him with the peas.
‘I’m sorry, Jack,’ Penny said. ‘I kept on wanting to tell you, but I was just concerned about how you would feel about it. Marius and I have been seeing each other, as friends, for some time. We enjoy each other’s company. I was going to tell you both about us, but lately there never seems to be the right time.’
Jack sighed. ‘Look, I am sorry about reacting like that. I’d been warned to take extra precautions lately, so seeing someone I didn’t know heading down the stairs just freaked me out.’
Marius removed the frozen peas to speak. ‘I understand... you’d never met me.’ He chuckled. ‘I have to say you have a very good right hook. I used to be a boxer when I was a kid. Anyway, I work at the church’s gym, and at the nursery school, painting and doing odd jobs... a bit of plumbing or electrical stuff. In fact anything that needs doing. I’m retired now, but I had my own decorating company once.’
Jack listened as the poor man continued telling him about his life, that he was a widower, how he had met Penny, and how much they enjoyed each other’s company, taking their long walks in the afternoon with Hannah.
Maggie eventually interrupted with a suggestion they all have a glass of wine, and perhaps order in a pizza.
Jack had a tissue stuffed up each nostril and shook Marius’s big, gnarled hand saying that perhaps a whisky would suit them both better.
They spent the evening apologising to each other, eating pizza and even laughing about it in the end. Maggie was keen to see if Marius could do some work around the house, and he said that he would be happy to do whatever she wanted. Penny remained quiet, obviously relieved that it was now out in the open.
After Marius had left, Jack gave Penny a hug and a kiss, reassuring her that he was happy she had a new companion and saying that he thought Marius was a fabulous old boy.
Later on, in bed with Maggie, his nose still stuffed up with tissues, he asked in a whisper if she thought his mum and Marius had consummated their relationship. Maggie nudged him in his sore ribs and told him not to be so nosy. She was more interested in Marius tackling the various things that needed doing around the house.
‘I think all this memory loss stuff I’ve been concerned about is probably due to her keeping her boyfriend a secret. It’s obviously been going on for months and must have put a lot of mental strain on her.’
Jack’s head was throbbing and Maggie gave him a couple of painkillers. ‘Well, ironically it’ll be good to have him around the house, given the situation with Ridley,’ he said with a wry smile.
Jack briefly told Maggie about Amanda Dunn’s interview, then repeated what Mrs Dunn had told him about Amanda’s sister, Sharon.
‘You know, I think she’s a devious little bitch, but they’re treating her with kid gloves. She was clearly loving doing the “no comment” show, which means we will probably have the same scenario with Rodney Middleton. This is really going to drag on.’
‘How come, when you have so much evidence against him?’ Maggie asked.
‘No bodies, so it’s all circumstantial, apart from the matching DNA that ties him to the horror that went on in the coal hole. But he could easily claim that he never knew what went on in there. Anyone could have had access while he was on remand. He could say that he used the chemicals to get rid of rats, and any blood splattering found on his clothes could have got there from him cleaning up afterwards. The DCI hinted at the pressure on him to get a confession. Any day soon it’s going to hit the press big time; they were already hanging around outside the station.’
‘You told me you have footage of Amanda getting rid of the missing girls’ clothes?’
‘We have footage of her shoving items into a charity container, but who’s to say they were the victims’ clothes? We have to have proof, and with no bodies it’s twenty times harder.’
Maggie sighed. ‘Dear God! What I find so repulsive is the way they’ve both got these high-powered briefs working for them. I mean, what kind of man or woman wants to help get a sick killer free? For the publicity? It’s just a game for them, isn’t it? The kudos of winning. The reality is those two young people are monsters.’
Jack started to nod off, the painkillers taking effect. The tissue stuffed up his nostrils were making him snore, and Maggie leaned over him to switch his bedside light off, then hers. She lay beside him in the darkness, thinking that sometimes he was such an adolescent, impulsively attacking poor Marius. But he had a very lovable side, the way he had hugged Penny, and made it up with her boyfriend.
Maggie was aware that there was another side to him, a darkness that he had to control, that set him apart from the officers he worked alongside and stopped him from being a team player. She knew that was the reason why he had not been promoted after his last successful case. He was a loose cannon, and she knew that if anyone harmed his family, he would fire back with everything he had. But if the anger she had witnessed tonight was unleashed in the wrong direction, it could be devastating.
Chapter Twenty-Six
The following morning, before leaving for work, Maggie rubbed arnica into the bruises on Jack’s face. He still needed to stuff his nose with tissues as when he removed them his nostrils started bleeding again. There was also no way of disguising that he had one black eye, the lid partly closed, with a red bruise above the other. He was not officially on duty until 10 a.m. and was hoping that by continuing with the ice packs until then, his face might look a little less swollen.
Penny came into the bedroom to see him before leaving to take Hannah to nursery. Maggie had suggested that he did not go and see his daughter as she would probably be scared by his appearance. Penny continued to be apologetic about the previous night’s situation, but Jack reassured her that it was all water under the bridge. He was happy that she had found a companion.
Jack had just taken a couple of painkillers and lain back on the bed, as his head was still throbbing, when his mobile rang. He had to bend down to pick it up off the floor beside him, which didn’t help his headache. Laura was calling to give an update about the interview, which had gone on until almost 11 p.m. Amanda had not been charged and she had not answered one question, maintaining her stance of ‘no comment’. By law she now had to be given eight hours of rest before any further interviewing. It was very frustrating. Anik had suggested that she could be charged with accessory to murder and requested for her to be held in custody for further questions the following morning.