The Swap Skills Killer Page 8

  “I’m pretty self-sufficient, grow all my own fruit and veg, make my own goats cheese. I make my own bread and cakes and eat a lot of ploughman’s lunches so it doesn’t cost me much,” Harry said.

  “That’s what I call living. You ought to come up to ours and swap a few recipes with Maria, she does a mean fruit crumble and if you have any of that fruit going spare she would die for it.” Frank said.

  “I had a glut of plums last year and ended up giving them all away to the neighbours who only grow vegetables. You can only make so much plum bread and jam and I have to be so careful as plums go straight through me,” Harry said holding his belly.

  The short journey went well, there was laughing and frivolity and Harry could spin many funny tales of his life and work. As the coach pulled up in the coach park in Skegness the doors squeaked open and straight away he could smell the rush of fresh sea air, the smell of popcorn and candyfloss and the sweet smell of rock and candies.

  He had brought the camera along as he had promised Rachel. She said that she would stick with him today, as he did not know many of the volunteers.

  They all went in for a coffee first, and could see the Big Wheel, Pirate Ship, and the children running round screaming, grabbing their parent’s arms and asking for their bags of small change for the slot machines. Harry asked the parents’ permission to take photographs of the children so that he could take snaps of them playing after they had drunk their coffee.

  Rachel sat opposite Harry Mason said that she might go and see one of the fortune tellers to see if they offered any information about Penny.

  “Are you going to come with me, I don’t like going on my own and my mum and dad don’t like to go anywhere like that it gives them the creeps,” Rachel said.

  “I suppose so if none of the others want to go with you, not that I believe in that crap,” Harry said.

  “Well, there might be a fortune teller when we go round the Arcades, but if not there’s always one who has a Mystic Tent on the Fantasy Island Market,” Rachel said.

  “Yes, well if we have time, we have lots to see, and I think I’m going to have a Fish and Chip lunch, come on let’s sup up and get on our way, we’re wasting precious fun time,” Harry said.

  They meandered along the front and could see the arcades and hear the sound of pinging of the pinballs machines and the slot machines jingling as the winnings dropped down into the trays. The adults all rushed in to change their money into coins to plonk into the slot machines.

  Harry was eyeing up the women, complaining about the way they dressed.

  “Look at her Rachel, her in the red skirt; you can nearly see her arse crack. Look, they are right brazen hussies; look at the state of their make-up. It’s not right you know, how the parents can let them walk out dressed like trollops,” Harry rambled on.

  “They’re young Harry, they all dress like that, and they’ve come to the seaside and like to impress the boys.” Rachel said.

  Rachel was more interested in watching the children having the time of their life in the kiddies play area, which consisted of a ball pit, soft cushioned area with mini trampoline and a climbing area. Harry roosted himself on a high chair near the ball pit and took photos of the children playing merrily.

  The smell of toffee popcorn dragged her away from Harry Mason. She bought four tubs for the children to share when they had finished in the ball pit and one for her and Harry to nibble on. After the children had finished their popcorn, Rachel and Harry went to the market to find Mystic Rose Lee the Fortune Teller’s tent.

  Someone was in the tent, so Rachel and Harry hung about looking at all the different stalls. There was a hat stall further along where you could buy souvenir hats of Skegness, sun hats, cowboy hats, ‘kiss me quick’ hats, and one with an arrow saying ‘I’m with that dickhead’, and was tempted to buy and wear for a laugh, but she didn’t think Harry would appreciate it.

  There was a beady-eyed tattooed man with two very large snakes taking photos of children with the snakes wrapped around their necks. Some forced to do so by their parents wanting a photo of their kiddies with a snake, obviously doing something that their parents were too scared to do.

  At that moment, the woman came out of the tent, happy looking with a smile like a sunbeam etched across her face. Rachel and Harry Mason stepped into the tent. There were silks and voile curtains draped around the tent, scented candles, different gems and crystals in pretty trays, an assortment of copper bangles, probably purchased on a trip to Tangiers, a selling sideline no doubt. The smell was wonderful and you could almost taste the orange blossom incense sticks.

  “Please be seated, I don’t bite. It’s ten pounds each or fifteen each if you want the crystal and your palm reading too, that’s for a thirty minute session, and I like to be paid up front, if you please,” she gibbered.

  Rachel smirked, a laugh nearly escaping from her mouth. She imagined her having another job in the evenings as a woman of the night, dark and mysterious; they liked paying up front too.

  “OK Harry, put your money away, it’s my treat I dragged you along, and we will have both please,” Rachel said.

  The fortune teller said, “Come on then hurry yourselves up, Ladies first then.”

  “Right love let us look in the crystal ball first. I can see that you are a very professional woman and have a very prestigious job, either a supervisor or a manager in a big building such as a bank. You have a very close-knit family, but one of them has ill health and he wants to be careful that he does not overdo it or he will end up in hospital. You are a very intelligent girl, academic, and have a job of responsibility. Do not let your job take over your life, or you will not be finding yourself the love of your life,” she said.

  “Yes, tell me about it, I’m more at work than at home.” Rachel said.

  “You are going to be going on a journey where you will meet, a tall, dark handsome man that does not speak the same tongue as you. You have had a loss in your life recently, a tragedy, a young woman. I can see you have not got a family but you will have three children in a few more years, two boys and a girl, but one of them is going to be very weak,” she said.

  “Now I like the sound of the tall, dark, handsome man, bring it on is all I have to say.” Rachel laughed.

  Then she went on to read her palm, telling her that she was going to have a very long life, but you must be careful because I can see danger ahead.

  “Now that sounds a bit depressing, I didn’t think you gave out depressing readings,” Rachel blurted.

  “I say it as it is, unfortunately we have to take the good with the bad,” she said.

  “Now to you, I can feel it in my bones that you are going to be good, I’m getting the vibes already, and I can tell you they’re not good ones,” she quaked at Harry.

  Harry did not seem very enthusiastic and was a bit reluctant to sit down in front of her, for fear of what she might say, after all he had many secrets.

  “Come on now, stop your chuntering and move your arse, I haven’t got all day, my customers will be queuing up out there,” she barked.

  She glanced into the crystal ball and proceeded to say, “You have had a very troubled upbringing, I can see, and you are a bit of a loner. You have a manual job, working indoors and outside a lot. When I look into your eyes, I see a darkness, something that you want to hide from people. You can be somewhat controlling and you are a bit of a charmer. You have lost someone that was close to you, although there was no great love there; it was more of a comfort thing. You have grown children that have fled the nest. You do not see them, but they think of you a lot,” she said.

  Her knuckles tightened round the crystal ball and her voice went shrill as fear crossed her face.

  “Wait, I don’t like giving out bad vibes but I have to warn you that I can see death in the ball and impending doom; shadows are around you, reaching for you, and a masked man in a very dark place waiting for you to join him. I hear screams, women calling you, bad things ha
ve happened in the past and…”

  “Aww, come on Rachel, I’m not in the mood for this bullshit today. I thought we had come here for a fun day out. I don’t call all these mad ramblings fun. Let’s go.” He got up and legged it out of the tent chuntering away to himself.

  As Rachel got up to scramble after Harry, the fortune teller grabbed her hand and whispered to her.

  “Please listen to me, get that man out of your life; he is a danger to you and your family, he is trying to destroy them. He is a very sick man, mentally sick, don’t say I didn’t warn you, be forewarned, he’s a bad man, evil to the core. The day of reckoning is coming. There is going to be a bloodbath,” she warned.

  Rachel staggered out of the tent, thinking that the woman was a raving lunatic, rambling on like a mad woman. In fact, she appeared more insane than ‘Mad Mary’ who frequented the local bar, who preached after her third whisky of the sins of fornication to the teenagers and chased them out with a broom if they so much as leaned over to snatch a kiss.

  She caught up with Harry Mason and asked him what he thought about spending thirty pounds on a load of gibberish.

  He replied with “Well, I’m glad it was your money and not mine, because I would have demanded a refund. That woman is definitely a sandwich short of a picnic. Where does she think up all that tripe? She must have a book on it and rehearse the words so that she can reel that rubbish off the tip of her tongue.”

  They sauntered along; the market was a hive of activity with the stallholders with their best-selling voices chirping away in musical tones.

  “Come on girlies; get your bargains, fresh off the Black Market. Any two bath towels for ten quid, or if you feel like splashing out whilst your old man’s not here. For one day only you can have a full bale for thirty quid, that’s two hand towels, two bath towels, and a bath sheet and you can have two flannels free. Come on get your bargains, best price in Skegness, find cheaper and I’ll give you a refund, just like at Asda,” the man in the ‘Kiss me Quick” hat yelled at the same time as blowing his duck whistle to attract attention, and maybe a few ducks to keep her indoors happy.

  At the end of the market, another parking area had a car boot and Rachel loved nothing more than a car boot. There were long, rickety tables covered in cuddly toys of all sorts. There were books, soft and hardbacks, and cookie cutters and baking moulds, which she would have to see whether she could get the prices down for Maria. She stopped at the stall to ask the prices and Harry was not interested. He was feeling hungry, and pronounced he would walk along the front to the sea front cafés and buy himself some Fish and Chips.

  Now that he had Rachel off his back, he decided to stroll to the fairground first to see whether there was any talent around.

  He was watching the girls on the rides and noticed that a bald headed person was chatting the young girls up. He sidled alongside the ride, and earwigged in on the conversation. He was annoyed that someone was already onto the girls and decided to do a bit more research into this guy, as he reminded him of a younger version of himself.

  CHAPTER 20

  Thirty minutes later, he was in the café enjoying his fish and chips when Frank and Maria Hammond wandered in and asked whether he minded sharing a table as the café was quite full.

  “Please be seated,” Harry muttered. “I’ve left Rachel looking round the car boot, can’t stand the bartering and arguing over something that is worth a pound and they want it for next to nothing. I don’t mind looking round the market stalls but I cannot believe that people want to buy other peoples tat on the car boots. I would much rather mosey around the antique shop, as you can get reasonable priced antiquities.”

  The waiter came to the table and Frank and Maria placed their order of fish, chips and mushy peas, bread and butter and two cups of tea. They could see that the café was one of the most popular in Skegness, the aroma of fresh fried fish drawing them in like bees round a honey pot.

  “Are you enjoying working at the Forum? You are a very enthusiastic worker and can turn your hand to anything so Rachel says,” Frank asked.

  Harry Mason replied, “Yes I love working at the Forum. I’m supposed to be retired, but I think that if you stop working all together you make yourself grow old before your time, don’t you think?”

  Maria replied, “We keep ourselves fit doing gardening, and we help Jake out as he does not have a lot of spare time with his police work. We were there last week planting shrubs and fruit trees.”

  Harry Mason replied. “I don’t go in for gardening too much, I do what needs to be done, pruning, weeding and mowing the lawn but that’s about it.”

  Frank and Maria’s fish and chips arrived; it looked mouth-watering with the fish hanging off the plate, as you only see at the seaside, and the smell wafting up off the plate was delicious. The crisp, light batter and flaky white cod tasted as good as it looked. He held in one’s mind that this was what coming to the seaside was all about, however they did have an outstanding chip shop in Horncastle. The sea air made you ravenous. Why did food taste much better at the seaside?

  Frank was looking and listening to Harry Mason, and he kept thinking that he was a bit of an odd character, just something about him he did not like. It kept nagging him, knocking on his head and saying ‘Let me in’. He got this feeling quite a lot, his memory not being too good since his bash on the head fifteen years ago by the serial killer he was about to apprehend who was hiding and vaulted out of a closet, bashed him over the head, legged it and was never seen again.

  Harry was a nice enough bloke, friendly, maybe a bit too eager. What bugged Frank, whatever he talked about he had been there and done that, or knew someone that had. It would come to him what it was about Harry. He was a good judge of character, and consequently he suspected he was too much of a charmer and was good with the chat. In his career as a police officer, Frank had met enough con men to know his charm was not genuine, or so Frank envisaged.

  He decided he would give him the benefit of the doubt, until he knew him a bit better. The girls all seemed to like him so that was okay, and Rachel said he was a godsend to the Forum, as he would do any task she asked of him without quibbling.

  “You will have to get Rachel to bring you round for coffee one lunchtime, and you will have try some of my famous plum bread, the staff at the Forum love it, they’ve all been round at one time or another and always call when they’re leaflet dropping.” Maria said enthusiastically.

  “Oh I would love that, I will have a word with Rachel, perhaps we could swap a few plum bread and jam recipes. I’ve got an excellent tea bread one where you soak the fruit in strong tea overnight, tastes a bit like malt loaf,” Harry said enthusiastically.

  Yes, I would like to see your place, I like to visit women, and you are one woman I would like to see more. You are a bit older than I like but you have a nice face and a good pair of legs. I am sure you are going to see me soon, with or without Rachel, and we will be doing more than swapping recipes. He was ready to taste her fear not her plum bread.

  CHAPTER 21

  After all the excitement of the Skegness trip the Forum office got back to normal and Adam found time to investigate the web site on Word Press and pressed the widget to render the site in maintenance mode again. This was so that all the clients would see a picture of a beautiful beach with a man in a deck chair saying ‘This site is in maintenance mode and is being updated – please try again in a few days.’

  He scrutinized the site in editing mode and realized that no one had police checks on the ‘favour for favour’ swap part of the site. It was more or less a favour for a friend and trust in your luck mate. The business swap did say that before you did a deal you should ask the relevant company for references and photos of the work undertaken. In addition, it informed them to ask for testimonials, and check the company web sites out.

  He would use his grass roots skills and recruit some of the workers to ask around to see whether anyone knew people that had used the site to get
any swaps. Perhaps someone knew of a person that had used the site to swap work.

  He found out that more people than expected had used the service. There were people signed up to swap skills such as plastering, building work, plumbing, dog walking, baby-sitting, hairdressing, massage, pest control, gardening, and also teaching skills such as languages, cooking, accounting, writing, blogging, ghost writing etc.

  There were more than two thousand people signed up to the site and more than thirty companies had traded swaps and goodness knows how many favour swaps.

  The Blog had hundreds of hits a day, many positive comments and feedback and a few crap ones, which he would get the girls to go in and delete later in the week when he had finished his investigations.

  Adam gave a quick bark of laughter, “My god, guys come here quickly; we’ve got a goodun here. There’s a right perverse swap, listen to this, I don’t know whether someone has sent this up for a joke and are pulling our plonkers, pretty bad taste I think.”

  Rachel and Becky hurried over to Adam’s desk excitedly wanting to see what he wanted to show them.

  “Listen to this”, Adam yelled to the others. “Experienced Killer willing to get rid of your little problem for ‘What Have You?’ Very qualified in ‘the kill’, takes pride in his work, wet skills experience, no mess, good clean work, own tools and specialised cleaning materials, no job too grand or demanding – no conscience”. Also into sadomasochism, so if anyone wants to do a swap for any of these skills I am more than willing to comply. Contact me by pressing the appropriate button. Absolute discretion applied.”

  Fear crossed his face, and shivers ran down his spine “Oh shit, what kind of nutter do we have here, better get Jake down here pronto. This could have major repercussions on the Forum; we have to sort this out and quick.” Adam said.

  Adam telephoned Jake and told him of the advert and he was dumbstruck. He brooded over the fact that just as you think things cannot get any worse something comes back and bites your bum. He grabbed his jacket from the back of his chair, and dashed to the police station to pick up Amelia.