Peter Turnbull - Aftermath

‘I see.’

‘So I smacked her a few times. . gave her a slap, like where it wouldn’t show. I was trying to scare her into not drinking but it didn’t do no good. . all her money went on voddy. She hadn’t got hardly any left to buy my lager. . and that was more important.’

‘You think so?’

‘Well, I’m the man, she’s the woman. . she was the woman. . we need it, they don’t. It’s the way it is. Ask anyone in the pub. That’s why all the punters in here are men, it’s because the women are at home. . stands to reason. And anyway, she was working, I wasn’t, she had to buy me beer, but she couldn’t buy me beer because she spent her money on vodka so I slapped her around a bit. It was for her own good.’

‘Or for your beer, not her own welfare?’

‘Same difference. Alcoholics Anonymous was no help to her, no help at all.’

‘She went to AA meetings?’

‘Yes, but like I said, no good it was. She just didn’t want to stop, see? They all say the same thing; you’ve got to want to stop and Ronny. . she just didn’t want to stop. . not at all. She’d sooner go without food than go without vodka. I mean, she just didn’t know when to stop, did she?’

‘I don’t know,’ Ventnor replied icily, ‘didn’t she?’

‘No, she didn’t.’

A large man in an unironed white shirt and white summer trousers suddenly broke away from a group of men who had been standing at the far end of the bar and ambled slowly but purposefully over to where the officers and Piers Driver were sitting. ‘All right here are we, pal?’ he growled menacingly.

‘Yes, boss. These be the law.’

‘I know,’ again said with a menacing growl.

‘They want to know about Veronica Goodwin. . that lass I knew. . she was one of the women found in the grounds of that big house in the Wolds, been all over the news.’

‘That’s all?’

‘Yes, boss.’

‘All right then.’ The man turned and walked back to the bar, and as he approached, the group of men parted to allow him access. He reached out a meaty paw and wrapped it around his beer glass and was heard to say, ‘Seems all right, but watch him anyway.’

‘Yes, boss,’ two of the men answered simultaneously.

‘So we split up, me and her,’ Piers Driver continued, ‘and that was that. She went her own way and I went mine. Then I heard she had vanished into thin air. . about two years ago. Mind you, I had hooked up with another chick by then. . a real player.’ Driver grinned at Thomson Ventnor.

‘You mean she had plenty of money to buy you drink,’ Ventnor responded coldly.

‘Yeah. . she still does,’ Driver replied with a wink. ‘She still does.’

‘She was indeed a very pleasant, a most pleasant young woman.’ Megan Farthing revealed herself to be a warm, motherly sort of woman, or so found Carmen Pharoah who was relaxing very quickly in her presence. Megan Farthing was warm of manner, gentle of speech and seemed comfortable to be in her middle years, wearing a three-quarter length skirt and a ‘sensible’ pair of shoes and a richly embroidered blouse. She sat behind the desk in her office on the top floor of Gordon and Moxon’s Household Goods Store. ‘We were all saddened to hear of her disappearance and frankly, after a few days, we all expressed doubts that she would turn up alive. Young women like her don’t run away, so we began to think that she’d be at the bottom of the river. . now we know what happened to her, poor girl. So young, so much to live for. . it was all ahead of her.’

‘What was she like as a worker?’ Carmen Pharoah sat back in the chair which stood in front of Megan Farthing’s desk.

Megan Farthing smiled a tight-lipped smile, ‘Well. . she was an employee with an issue. .’

‘Oh?’

‘Yes. . she was pleasant, well liked. . not a management problem but she had an issue with alcohol which surfaced eventually.’

‘She came to work drunk?’ Carmen Pharoah gasped.

‘No. . no. . she never did that. . but she left in that condition. She had a flask in her handbag.’

‘I see.’ Carmen Pharoah glanced round the office and thought it softly decorated and homely, with photographs of children and infants above a bookcase which stood against the wall of the office, a glass vase on the desk contained flowers in water, behind it on the wall were prints of Yorkshire landmarks, Robin Hood’s Bay, the Ribblehead Viaduct, York Minster, and a sweeping panorama of Swaledale.

‘You see, Veronica would bring a flask to work each day concealed in her handbag, as I said, and she would be a very efficient employee in the forenoon but she became more unsteady as the day wore on. By lunchtime she’d be taking sufficiently frequent trips to the ladies toilets to take a nip. . and by the early afternoon she’d be walking unsteadily on her heels and slurring her words. Now. . this is a good company to work for, it was founded in Victorian times and has resisted takeovers from larger chains which do not care for their workers as we care for ours. We have retained the Victorian attitude of paternalism to our workers. If you work for Gordon and Moxon’s it works for you. . you belong to the family. . it’s a very good employer. If an employee cannot work for an extended period through no fault of their own we will hold their position open for them. If they require money for things like school uniforms we will issue an interest-free loan and take the money back a little bit each week or month, and in such small repayment amounts that the employee won’t feel it. . financially speaking.’

‘Not bad.’

‘Not bad at all. . and we do other similar things for our own, but at the end of the day we have to make money and so we have to have workers, not passengers. Veronica was one of the telephonists and as such she was in direct contact with the public. . paying customers. . voice only but that is still direct contact.’

‘Of course, it’s vital for the telephonists to have a pleasant speaking voice.’

‘Yes. . Veronica had, in the forenoon, and only in the forenoon. In the afternoon her voice was slurred and she became short-tempered. So. . verbal warning at first, given by me in my capacity as Personnel Manager, and then when she didn’t alter her ways. . or when she could not. . because I understand alcoholism. . I have had personal experience of it.’

‘I see. . I’m sorry.’

‘Long time ago now but it gave me insight into the illness.’ Farthing paused. ‘Well, anyway, she received a second written warning and strong advice that she seek help from her doctor or by joining Alcoholics Anonymous. She was then taken from the switchboard, for everybody’s sake, and given a job in the stores on a reduced income. . and that was a real comedown for her. The stores have invited some very cruel names from the workforce. “The bat cave” being one of the kinder ones. It’s where the disadvantaged people work. Again, it’s Gordon and Moxon’s policy to engage people who would, for one reason or another, find it difficult to get a job but we can’t put them on the sales floors.’

‘Appreciate that.’

‘So our senior store clerk is a man who is in a wheelchair because he was born without legs, and damned efficient he is too. Another employee has a glandular problem and rapidly starts to smell of sweat. He has to bring a change of clothing with him each day and take a shower at lunchtime. He’s also a very good worker. And so taking Veronica from the switchboard, where the telephonists regard themselves as a bit of an elite in the company, and sending her to the stores, was a massive comedown for her but it was the only thing I could do, short of dismissing her, and I also thought it might be the jolt, just the sort of wake-up call she needed.’