Family Affair (Dead Reckoning series - Part 49)

Continued from Episode 48 (Working My Way Back to You)

The story so far:  Okay, let's see if we can summarise the last 48 episodes in just a paragraph!  Josiah's 'on the rebound' romance with the woman he thought was his old flame, Jeanette DeVille, proved to be with her twin sister, Nenette, and led to him and Archibald being left for dead in the rapidly rising waters of the cellar of Evanley Hall.  Since then, there has been much to occupy the Merkin-under-Heathwood police force, not least the apparent suicide of a young man in the local reservoir (last seen in the company of Precious DeVille - Nenette's supposed daughter) and then the further apparent suicides of Nenette and her 'driver' Hames.  The common denominator in all of these deaths appears to be Precious, who made a surprise reappearance, fetchingly dressed in lingerie, in Archibald's hotel room, a room he thought he had been given as a Secret Santa gift from Josiah.  Now Archibald is missing, along with two operatives from the rival firm of Cadwallader and Carruthers.  CCTV has shown Precious and the men from Cadwallader and Carruthers leaving the hotel in a van, with a body bag and Samantha and the Detectives have separately realised just where she might be heading!  Following a call from Precious, threatening Archibald's life, Josiah  arrived at Evanley Hall, only to encounter an open grave and the flat side of a shovel.  Samantha rushed to Jeannie's cottage to ask her to help and the Detectives, realising where she might have gone, are rushing to stop her doing anything impetuous.  Meanwhile, Jeannie and Samantha went up to the Hall to find out what is going on.  When it became clear that Josiah was in danger from Precious, Samantha wanted to take her down but Jeannie stopped her because she didn't want her possible daughter hurt.  Instead, Jeannie floored Precious with a flying tackle but was shot in the process.  The Detectives arrived just in time to sort everything out but Jeannie and Josiah were both left seriously injured and Archibald unconscious.  Fortunately, Archibald made a good recovery and was kept in hospital under observation.  Josiah and Jeannie's injuries were more long-lasting and Josiah had to be kept in a medically induced coma for a while.  Whilst Jeannie's on the mend, she told the Detectives that she would only tell them everything if Precious was brought out of custody to hear it too.  Now read on:

“Stoney, do you copy?”
“Yes, sir. I hear you, over” D.S. Stone replied into his two-way radio.
“What’s the current sit-rep?”
“No, that’s no good, sir.  You have to say ’over’…over”
“Over?”
“No, you can’t just say ‘over’, that doesn’t mean anything at all.  You have to say ‘over’ when you’ve finished what you’re saying, sir, over” D.S. Stone explained.
“I know that, Stoney, give me a little credit…over”
“Right sir, did you want anything?  Only, I’m only about 10 yards away, you could have shouted, over”
“That’s hardly secure comms., is it?  What’s the current status…over”
“If you mean, is everything in place, then yes, it is, sir.  We have a security detail at both ends of the corridor, officers on the stairs at both ends and on all of the exits.  I shouldn’t think there’s a police officer to be found anywhere in Merkin-under-Heathwood, over”
“So, everything’s covered?”
“Ahem”
“Bugger! Over.  Erm, over”
“Yes, I think we have everything covered, sir, over”
“Roger that”
“Pardon, sir, over?”
“Fine, I’ve understood what you’ve told me”
“Sir?”
“What?”
“You didn’t say, ‘over’, sir, over” D.S. Stone admonished.
“Oh, bugger this for a game of soldiers!” D.I. Wood seethed, he switched off his radio and yelled, “BRING THE PRISONER UP, STONEY!”
“YES, SIR…OVER” Came the shouted reply.

* * * *

In Jeannie DeVille’s hospital room, a number of people had gathered awaiting the impending arrival of Precious, the prisoner.
Jeannie herself, was sitting up in bed, firmly propped up by a number of pillows.  She was looking very pale, and frail, but was clearly ready for her performance.  Otherwise assembled around the room were:  Archibald Thurble, now out of bed and awaiting clearance to leave the hospital, fidgeting with his sleeves, as he always did when agitated.  Next to him, and swapping gripes with him about their respective employers, stood Frank and Harry, from Cadwallader and Carruthers, no longer in custody but clearly less than happy to be dragged back into this.  On the other side of the bed was Samantha Knight, torn between her concern for the clearly weakened Jeannie in the bed before her and Josiah Oakshott, in the wheelchair by her side, who had improved in the last 24 hours but was still very weak indeed.  
The low murmur of inconsequential conversation stopped abruptly when the door to the room opened and D.I. Wood strode in, closely followed by Precious, handcuffed to D.S. Stone, who was bringing up the rear.  Precious glared, icily, at the assembled throng.
“Right!” D.I. Wood commenced, looking around the room, “Thank you all for coming and apologies for the amateur dramatics but this Miss DeVille…” He nodded toward Jeannie, “insisted on it” He frowned at her.
“Ta for bringing ‘er” Jeannie nodded and shifted slightly on her pile of pillows.
“I don’t know why you’ve brought me here!  There’s nothing any of these can say that would be of any interest to me” Precious said, grimly, attempting to fold her arms but being foiled by the handcuffs.  She glared around the room, focusing on Jeannie in particular.
“I’ll have none of your nonsense, madam” D.I. Wood snapped, “and remember, you’re still under caution, right?”
Precious groaned and looked down at her shoes.
“Go ahead, Miss DeVille, the floor’s all yours” D.I. Wood said.
“Right!” Jeannie shuffled in her bed a little and cleared her throat, “ta for coming, all of yer.  I’m sorry yer’ve all ‘ad a bit of a bad time of it, just lately.  Not that any of it’s been my doin’, as yer know.”
Jeannie took a sip of water from the plastic cup by her bedside.
“Any road, this is ‘ow it was.  Nenette and me, as yer probably know, we was twins.  Our parents, werl, they was killed in a car crash when we were quite young.  The only relative we ‘ad was our grandfather, Shepherd Mountjoy,  him who lived at Evanley ‘All.  ‘E took us in and brought us up.  I think yer thought ‘e were me dad, didn’t yer, Josiah?”
She turned to look at the pale figure seated in the wheelchair to her left.
“Ah yes, indeed I did make that assumption, at the time” Josiah nodded, “I had no idea he was your grandfather”
“Werl, I don’t suppose ‘e were exactly how yer’d expect a grandfather to look.  ‘E were quite good fer ‘is age, people useter say” Jeannie frowned, “Any road, there we were, two young girls and their grandfather, rattling ‘round that bloody great ‘all.  It was a bit of a shock, coming from a loving family ‘ome, as we ‘ad done.  Mind yer, it were quite the ‘adventure, at first.  We useter play ‘ide and seek in all them rooms, an we ‘ad races all round the grounds.  It were fun…fer a while.  Innocent days!”
“Huh, hardly innocent!”  Precious snapped.
“Oh, we were innocent all right” Jeannie snapped back, “but I don’t expect you to know owt about that!  So, any road, we grew up an’, though I say it meself, we were reckoned to be quite… attractive, yer might say, quite the catch, you know?  We both ‘ad our admirers, but I s’pose I did a bit better than Nenette, an’ she ‘ated that”
Jeannie took another sip of water.
“I met Josiah ‘ere, when ‘e came to talk to Shepherd about ‘is funeral arrangements.  We ‘it it off an’ we started seein’ each other, a bit, didn’t we?”
Josiah nodded, and smiled fondly.
“Ha, not just ‘seeing’ was it?  You never thought about the consequences, did you, either of you?” Precious yelled.
“As I have said before, Miss DeVille, it was not that sort of relationship!” Josiah managed to interject, somewhat weakly.
“’E’s right” Jeannie confirmed, nodding, “it weren’t like that.  Shepherd, ‘e would never have stood fer it.  We went out, a couple of times, an’ I s’pose there was a kiss an’ a cuddle, ‘ere and there, style of thing, sorry Mrs.” She said, looking at Samantha.
“It was a long time ago, Jeannie” Samantha smiled.
“Not ‘alf it was!” Jeannie chuckled, ruefully, “When it came to, whatd’yercall it?  Intimacy?  Old Shepherd, ‘e wouldn’t ‘ave ‘ad none of that, not under ‘is roof, which was a bit…how’dyercallit?…ironic, that’s the one, given as ‘ow things ‘appened.”
Jeannie sighed and took another sip of water.  She pulled herself up on the pillows and winced with pain.
“Anyhow, Shepherd, ‘e…werl,  I dunner know ‘ow to put it” She stopped, sipped some more water and looked down at her sheets, which she picked at, a little.  “’E, erm … ‘E took an interest in us, let’s say.  Werl… ‘e took an interest in me, that’s about the size of it.”
“Oh no, Jeannie!” Samantha gasped.
 “Yeah!” Jeannie nodded, “An’…let’s put it this way, ‘e liked to keep things in the family, if yer know what I mean?” She said, in a small voice, staring intently at the sheets with which she was fidgeting.
“What?  What’s that supposed to mean?” Precious snapped.
“Just be quiet, you!” D.I. Wood barked.
“Oh my God!  I’m so sorry, Jeannie” Samantha put a hand to her mouth,  leant forward and touched Jeannie on her arm.
“Ta” A tear rolled down Jeannie’s cheek, “Any road, I fell pregnant.  I didn’t want none of it, but what can yer do?  ‘E were a big bloke, an’ we was…just bits of girls.  If ‘e’d kicked us out, we’d ‘ave ‘ad nowt ‘an we’d got no mam or dad to turn to.  We were up a gum tree, if yer know worrImean” She sighed, deeply.
“So, anyhow, Shepherd, ‘e took control, ‘e organised all on it.  That were bad enough, but the really bloody stupid thing was that Nenette, ‘er who’d ‘ated me ‘avin’ blokes callin’, like Josiah ‘ere, she was only bloody jealous about me an’ Shepherd!  Can yer credit it?”  Jeannie shook her head, incredulously.  “An’ all the time, I thought I was protectin’ ‘er, huh!”
“Hang on!  Are you…are you saying that… I’m…I’m the product of an incestuous affair?” Precious asked, hoarsely.
“’Ardly an affair, were it?  It weren’t like I ‘ad any choice in the matter” Jeannie glared at Precious, “It’s not summat I’m proud of and I’m sorry yer ‘ad to find out, like this, but yer needs to know the truth”
“I think I’m going to be sick!” Precious choked and gagged.  “I don’t believe it!  You’re making this up!  If what you’re saying is true, then why does my birth certificate list my father as that man there?” Precious pointed at Josiah, who was looking aghast.
“I didner know about that” Jeannie shook her head, “Like I said, Shepherd took over.  When you were born, you were taken from me, straight away, I never even saw yer.  “Eard yer, of course, yer ‘ad a right set of lungs on ye.”  She smiled at the memory.  “Any road, ‘e made all the ‘rrangments.  ‘E must ‘ave sorted out the birth certificate, an’ all.  I s’pose ‘e was bein’ spiteful, puttin’ Josiah’s name down.  It would be about ‘is barrow, that”
“Rubbish!” Precious stamped her foot and scowled.
“It ain’t.  I wish it were” Jeannie said, quietly, “Shepherd, ‘e went an’ died not long after.  Fell in the pond and drowned.  Nenette, she cleared off with some bloke she’d met, so I shut the ‘All up, moved inter the cottage, got a few cats, became Jeannie, the mad cat-woman, an’ that was me” Jeannie shrugged.
“I had no idea, Jeanette” Josiah said, sadly.
“You’re a liar!  You’ve made up this cock and bull story because you just can’t face the truth.  That you and him abandoned me to the ‘care system’ and never gave me a second thought” Precious screamed.
“It’s no lie” Jeannie said, quietly, “I often wondered what might ‘ave ‘appened to yer.  ‘Ow yer’d gone on.  Thought about yer on yer birthday, an’ all that.  I never thought it would turn out like this, mind yer, but there yer are” She shrugged.
“I suppose a DNA test might put the matter to rest, eh sir?” D.S. Stone suggested.
“Good idea, Stoney!  If Mr. Oakshott doesn’t have any objections, of course?”
“No, none at all, Inspector” Josiah nodded, “If it would grant the young lady some form of closure, I would be happy to take part”
“Right, we’ll get that sorted then” D.I. Wood, “that should settle your hash!” He glared at Precious, who stuck her tongue out at him.
“All them people what ‘ave been ‘urt and killed, it didner ‘ave to be this way” Jeannie shook her head, sadly.
“Somebody had to pay!” Precious screamed.
“I reckon we all ‘ave, over the years” Jeannie said, quietly, “Shepherd, Nenette, me…an’ you.  We’ve all paid a price, ain’t we?  So ‘as some what never should ‘ave, like Josiah ‘ere, and ‘im” She nodded toward Archibald, who blushed.  “’Alf-drownded, and fer what?”
“Revenge!” Precious shrieked.
“Yer can’t ‘ave revenge on somebody who ain’t done owt to yer” Jeannie pointed out and shook her head, “Nah, let that be an end to it”
She sank back in her pillows, closed her eyes and let out a deep sigh.

You can find a lot more from Josiah and Archibald, including the prequel novel to this series, in The Undertakers collection.

Now read the final part of the story - Part 50