Chapter Thirty: Dead-End

The police finally caught up to Stephen in hospital but soon found out he was in a state. Audrey was still sat by his bed when they came in with notepads at the ready but he couldn't speak properly. Thus that was a non-starter for them, he wasn't a suspect yet but they were still wanting to talk to him. They passed him a notepad and pen. Making him write his own witness statement but he could barely do that either as he was still feeling drowsy from the sleeping tablets he overdosed on. They watched as he began writing as little as he could muster, saying how he thought Leo went to Canada and they must speak to Teddy. Audrey felt sick, how could he just lie like this? He signed the witness statement, the police telling him they would return when his voice was back. Audrey giving them forced polite smile as she watched them leave with the written statement, it faded when they were out of sight as she looked back towards her son.

"Talk to Teddy? What with? An ouija board?" Audrey asked rhetorically. She watched as he attempted to speak but she just cut in..."Stop trying, you will only wheeze"

Making him breathe in again. Audrey leaned back in the chair again, thinking about everything. The door swung open again as a clearly jetlagged Gabrielle came in with her suitcase still in hand. She did get a call from Gail and did come back but it was clear that she was still in Stephen's pocket. She would get in trouble too for Malcolm and wanted to protect herself.

"I'm so sorry Audrey...I got a call from Gail. You know Bethany and Martin are back? I did come to yours but they weren't anybody in" Gabrielle began as she sat on the opposite chair and leaned back.

"What has she been saying?"

"That Stephen is taking everything in your will. And about this Leo guy. It's madness, isn't it?"

"Yes"

Stephen glared at his ex-wife as he knew why she was back. She didn't want to get in trouble over Malcolm. Audrey didn't know that she knew anything but Gabrielle knew about Audrey. So it was a bit of a tense scene as both women just looked at one another and knew not what to say. Gabrielle was keeping her cards close to her chest.

"Can you not talk, Stephen?" Gabrielle asked with a scoff.

"No. His stomach has been pumped, he won't be able to speak for a few days" Audrey responded on his behalf.

"Oh. Well that's good...Pity his stomach wasn't pumped during our entire marriage. We might have still been together now if he had been" Gabrielle paused, looking at her ex-husband as she added..."Don't look at me like that, it's called banter"

"I know you're not all innocent, Gabrielle. Stephen told me about you being involved in the dodgy deals with him. But that's all there, isn't there? He's not a murderer" Audrey uttered nervously, trying to read her old daughter-in-law.

The woman just shook her head but kept her head down. Nervously smiling to herself as she tended to do when she was lying. Audrey felt let down again as she could sense the lies. Gabrielle had been wonderful to the family for decades and now she's been exposed as a fraud. Audrey felt like everything from that side of the family has been one big joke.

"He's not a murderer. He's just an idiot" Gabrielle managed to say.

"I'm lost, Gabrielle. I'm the one who feels like an idiot...How can you just sit there and be so casual? If this was ex-husband, the man I spent a good twenty-four years with. I would have more of a reaction"

"I'm sorry. I'm jetlagged and I heard a lot of conflicting information. Why would he kill this Leo? He was nothing to him"

"Well why would anybody kill anybody? It's a sickness"

"That's how you know it's not true then. Stephen would never kill, why would a man his age suddenly begin killing?"

"Who said he began killing? I only mentioned...There's no way you don't know about Malcolm. There's no way in twenty-fours of marriage that he didn't confide in you about Malcolm"

Stephen looked at his mother with a stare. He wanted her to shut up but couldn't express it in words. He just grabbed her hand tightly, making her wheeze out herself. Gabrielle watching as he let go, making Audrey walk out the door with silent tears as she felt her hand which was now sore with a small bruise.

"You rotten pig. I was dealing with her" Gabrielle hissed at him, slapping his hand hard before pulling away.

He was too drowsy to do anything back as he just laid back. Looking towards the door, Gabrielle just telling him she will deal with her from now on. He watched as she made her way out and over to a heartbroken looking Audrey. She sat besides her in the waiting area.

"I told him off. He shouldn't have done that...His temper is getting worse" Gabrielle spoke up softly.

"What's wrong with him?"

"Nothing. Apart from being an angry man with no money but I think that's self-inflicted"

"You're telling me there's nothing wrong with him? You know, Malcolm use to write me letters back in the day when he was a child. How bad of a temper he had, how he shoved a classmate into the river. You must have saw something"

"Yeah. He had moments with me but nothing too bad. Is there something you want to get at, Audrey?"

"No. I just want him to recover from this sickness. He told me that you and him use to do dodgy deals together and that's why you broke up"

"Yes. It's true, I'm not proud of it but it got me where I am today. I still got a good business so clearly I'm the one who did it right in the end. I'm sorry you got to deal with this, Audrey? You take yourself home, he'll come back when he's calmed down. The police questions are stressing him out...I'll come back too if you want"

"Well yes, that would be good of you. Thank you"

...

Martin meanwhile was trying to get answers of his own about his brother-in-law. He bit the bullet and went to the 'Rovers Return'. Jenny was his childhood sweetheart and he didn't feel that awkward about talking to her. He walked to the bar, not everybody knew who he was and so didn't bat an eyelid. He was greeted by a smiling Daisy.

"Hiya love. No, I'm not here for a pint...Is Jenny in?" Martin asked with his hands on the bar.

"Oh I don't know if she's up for-"

"She knows me. I'm Martin Platt...Tell her I'm here and she will come out. Go on, I'll mind the bar for a few minutes. I use to work behind here very briefly" Martin assured her.

She breathed in before giving a small nod. Martin looked around as he found himself being stared at by Ed and Ronnie Bailey (they didn't know him but his surname made it obvious who he was related to). Daisy came out a few minutes with a slightly stunned Jenny as she came out with her arms crossed. Not looking like herself at all as she had her hair up and wore a plain jeans instead of her usual bright and flowerly dresses.

"Oh. I know this is in awful circumstances Jenny but I need to talk to ya. Can we go in the back?" Martin began to ask.

"I don't know"

"Okay. Let's talk in a quiet corner then, I know you lost an ex-boyfriend. Trust me, I know how it feels to lose somebody you love. Come in the corner with me and let's talk. You can tell me all about him, come on" Martin spoke gently.

Jenny just followed him to the corner furthest away. Barely being able to talk as she sat on the chair. He wasn't kidding when he said this was awful circumstances but at least he seemed to understand how she was feeling somewhat. He was referring to Katy Harris but she didn't know that. She killed herself after killing her own father as she couldn't cope with the guilt. It haunted Martin and he regretted the entire relationship and everything since.

"You know about Leo?" Jenny managed to ask; even saying his name was difficult these days.

"Well I know a bit from David yeah. What do you think?"

"I don't know. The police are looking for his dad Teddy but can't find him. Stephen took an overdose recently. I don't even know what he knows...I feel sick"

"Well it's not your fault. You didn't kill him so you don't need to feel sick"

"I feel sick because I might have been pally with his killer and had no idea. I can't stop going over it in my head. I thought he never wanted to talk to me again, Stephen told me he never wanted to talk to me again"

"Yeah. His name keeps cropping up...I'm going to go down and talk to him tonight actually. Pop down to my old place of work, he's still in hospital. Do you think Stephen had something to do with this?"

"I don't know"

"I'm not asking if you know. I'm asking if you think...I know it's raw but that's the best time to ask these questions I learned. I got kids and grandkids to protect, Jenny. Just tell me what you think" Martin pressured slightly.

Jenny looked up with tears as she nodded and cried..."Yeah I do think he did it. I feel sick because I think he did it and I feel sick for showing any affection to him. He's not right"

"I know how hard that was but thank you. I needed that because I don't think he's right either" Martin admitted.

Giving a quietly crying Jenny a much-needed hug as she leaned in to him. She wiped away her tears they pulled apart. Daisy coming over with tissues as she passed them over to Jenny.

"Thanks Daisy. Sorry, this is Martin. My childhood sweetheart you could say" Jenny admitted.

"Yeah. I went out Gail not long after she dumped me. Nick, Sarah and David are mine...Well as good as, David is my son by blood"

"Oh. I knew you were a relation somehow"

"I'm a rubbish friend though. Making her cry...I'm a bad nurse" Martin teased as he tried to soften the mood, he managed to get a very soft sarcastic tap from Jenny.

...

Stephen was alone again by the time Martin reached him. It was nearly seven when he got to the hospital. His door swung open as Martin walked in (Gabrielle having gone to Audrey's now). He leaned on the bedframe of his old brother-in-law and just looked at him with mild disgust. He never liked him, not even before his true colours came out to the whole word. Stephen loooked at him with little emotion, like he still thought Martin was way beneath him. Martin was just David's father and his sister's cheating husband.

"I know you can't talk very well so I'm going to make this quick, Stephen. I don't like you very much and I'm sure the feeling is mutual. Did the business game get a bit too boring or something? I mean, you can't destory people's life by business. So you found other ways" Martin began.

"Sh...Shut up" Stephen wheezed with all his energy.

"Don't tell me to shut up. I don't know how you managed it but I know you got Audrey to sign everything over to you in her will. You want to see the family lose everything when she passes away? You want David to lose the salon and the barbers that he worked so hard on?"

"He...He doesn't deserve it"

"Oh. And you do? You had everything and lost it, Stephen. That's not our problem and it's not your mum's problem either. Tell me, how did you scare her into signing the papers? Did you hit her? Because I know you hit one of your girlfriends, Elaine was it? When did you realize it was eaiser to scare old women than humilating them? Was it after Alma?"

"I never scared her. And Alma humilated herself"

"But you don't deny hitting this Elaine?"

Stephen just shook his head. Which made Martin scoff in disgust but this seemed to make Stephen angry.

"I'm not being looked down upon by you. A cradle snatcher" Stephen hissed with all his energy.

"Don't go there. Not after what I heard about you...Did you kill this Leo guy? Jenny thinks you did. You make her feel sick actually, did you know that?"

"I didn't do it"

"Oh please"

"If you think I did it. Why are you here?"

"To tell you that I'm watching you. And that I've got my eye on you, anything happens to anybody. I'll get the police straight on you. I'm not having my family in danger again. Which must be hard for you to hear, one wrong move and you're banged up" Martin hissed.

Stephen attempted to get up but found himself in pain when his feet hit the floor. He grabbed onto the bedframe. Martin watching him struggle as he forced himself back in bed and under the covers. His head leaned back against the pillow as he looked back up.

"Advice from a nurse. Don't force yourself up when you're feeling rough. I'm going to go and let you rest up. But just remember that I'm back and nobody is touching my family. You're nothing to them, you should have stayed a secret quite frankly"

"Go to Hell" Stephen managed to spit out.

"No thanks. I wouldn't want to bump into you again"

No response came back as Stephen has used most of his energy for one night. Martin gave him one last glare before walking away. Feeling slightly more confident that Stephen wouldn't do anything stupid. At least not for a while as he knows he's under threat.

...

TBC