Chapter 5: That Was Accidental

Getting home that night, Reg rang Celia to see how she had got on in Widnes. ‘It was great,’ she said, ‘I got to do some proper police work at last. Thanks for recommending me.’ ‘No problem,’ Reg told her, ‘Do you fancy a meal out?’

There was a moments silence at the other end. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said, ‘I’m about to go out with Peter.’ ‘That’s fine,’ Reg said, ‘Enjoy yourselves. I guess you got on well working together?’ ‘Yes,’ Celia said, ‘We seemed to hit it off right away, I hope you don’t mind.’ ‘Heavens no,’ Reg said, ‘We never had any permanent arrangement. I’m very happy for you, I know Peter well, he’s a good chap. We’ll always be good friends,’ he said.

Celia was relieved, she had dreaded telling Reg, they had always been close since they first met. But her feeling for Peter was something completely different to anything that she had ever experienced before. ‘Thanks Reg,’ she told him, ‘I really appreciate that.’

A few minutes later Peter arrived to collect her. ‘You look radiant,’ he told her. Her heart gave a flutter then she said, ‘It must be the effect you have on me.’ They set off for their evening out.

Reg sat and thought for a moment. It had been a surprise about Celia, ‘I wonder if Lewis had anything to do with it?’ he mused. But as he had told her, although they got along so well, neither of them had thought of their relationship as a permanent thing. He was delighted it was Peter.

Then he realised he felt relieved because it freed him for another sensation he had been feeling of late. He picked up his phone and started to dial. Part way through he stopped and hung up. Then a few minutes later he dialled again, this time letting it ring. ‘Hello,’ came a lady’s voice. ‘Hi,’ he said, ‘It’s Reg King, I visited you a few weeks ago.’

‘Hi, Reg,’ she said, ‘How are you, it’s nice to hear from you.’ ‘I’ve just got back after three weeks on a case in Widnes,’ he told her, ‘I wondered if I could take you and the children out for a meal this evening?’ ‘That would be lovely.’ Mrs Clancy said.

‘However, the children are off school this week. John is staying with his pal for a few days, and Angela is at a friend’s house for a sleep over tonight.’ ‘Well perhaps you would allow me to take you out on your own then.’ he said.

‘I’d love to,’ she told him, ‘Where are we going?’ ‘How about a meal at The Manor Hotel?’ he asked. ‘I’ll collect you at seven unless you would prefer a different time.’ ‘No that’s perfect,’ she said, ‘I’ll look forward to it. See you then.’

Reg rang and booked a table, wondering to himself if his sister Jacky would be on duty that night.

Seven o’clock saw him arrive at Mrs Clancy’s He had put his suit on for the occasion. She opened the door looking lovely in a long dress. His heart gave an extra beat when he saw her. He helped her into her coat, then waited as she set the alarm and locked the door.

He opened his car door for her to get in, then went round to the driver’s seat. As they drove to The Manor Hotel, she told him, ‘By the way, my name is Natalie.’ ‘That’s a nice name,’ Reg said, ‘It rolls off the tongue.’

‘The children are going to be upset they missed seeing you,’ she told him. ‘I’ve got a couple of weeks tying up loose ends at Widnes,’ he told her, ‘Then hopefully I’ll be back to normal and local for a while, so if it’s ok with you I’ll visit then.’ ‘You will always be welcome.’ she told him.

‘What were you up to in Widnes?’ she asked, ‘If you can tell me of course,’ she added. ‘Busting a main drug importer and the network of dealers below them,’ he told her. ‘It was very successful.’ ‘That’s good,’ she said, ‘Scum of the earth them.’

They arrived at The Manor Hotel, checked in their coats then went into the bar for a drink. Natalie had a sherry whilst Reg had a glass of lager. They sat in silence for a while studying the menu. ‘Just so we don’t fall out,’ Natalie said, ‘We’re going Dutch over this meal.’

Reg smiled at her. ‘No, we’re not,’ he said, ‘This is my treat. Next time we eat out, I’ll agree then.’ Natalie gave in, feeling happy at the suggestion there would be another outing. She had liked Reg the moment she had met him.

Despite the age difference, which didn’t seem to be bothering Reg, she had felt like an excited schoolgirl when he had rung to invite her out. That he had included the children in his invite made her feel even warmer towards him.

The waiter came and took their order. Reg asked Natalie if she would like some wine with her meal and if so, which was her favourite. She said she liked German white, so Reg ordered a bottle of Moselle. They chatted easily over their starter, getting to know more about each other.

When the main course arrived, it was brought by two waitresses. Reg stood up and to Natalie’s surprise, one of them gave him a kiss on the cheek. ‘Natalie,’ he said, ‘This is my sister Jacky.’ As they shook hands, Reg said, ‘I wondered if you’d be on duty today.’ ‘Get your meal,’ Jacky said, ‘I’ll come and chat some more afterwards.’

‘She’s filling in before going to Uni,’ Reg said as he sat down. They enjoyed their meal and the goodies from the desert trolley. Then they moved into the lounge to have their coffee. Reg had already decided he needed a taxi after all his wine, so he had a Gaelic coffee.

Jacky came and joined them briefly to tell Reg she had got her place at Uni that morning. She would be starting at Lancaster after the summer break. ‘Congratulations, sis,’ Reg said getting up and giving her a hug and a kiss.

‘I’ve got to get back,’ she said, ‘Great to see you.’ Turning to Natalie she said, ‘Lovely to meet you, I hope I’ll see you again.’ After she had gone Natalie said, ‘She’s nice.’ ‘She’s not bad for a girl,’ Reg said with a grin. Then realising he had put his foot in it he said, ‘Oops me and my big mouth.’ Natalie laughed, ‘Don’t forget I’ve been married,’ she said, ‘I’m used to it.’

They were both quiet for a while thinking of Jack.

As the taxi pulled up at Natalie’s, Reg asked the driver to wait. He escorted her up to the door. ‘I take it you’re not coming in,’ she said. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said, ‘I’ve got a meeting in the morning, and I still have some preparation to do.’

‘Thank you for a lovely evening,’ she told him, she gave him a hug and kissed him on his lips. He kissed back then broke away. ‘Work does get in the way sometimes,’ he said. He gave her another quick kiss then stepped back whilst she let herself in. As he turned to leave, he said, ‘Hope to see you soon.’ ‘Me too,’ came the reply as Natalie closed the door. He walked down the path feeling as if he was on air.

The taxi took him home, then he had a coffee before going through his folder for his meeting with Brian in the morning. Once satisfied it was all there, he deleted every single bit from his computer. After that he went into recycle bin and deleted everything that was in it before he went to bed to dream.

The next morning, he had a call from Brian, ‘Can you meet me at my house at ten?’ he asked. ‘Sure,’ Reg told him, writing down the address as Brian reeled it off. Reg arrived by taxi at five to ten. Brian let him in and took him through to the lounge. ‘Make yourself comfy,’ he said, ‘I’m just going to get a coffee, will you have one?’ ‘Yes, please.’ Reg said, ‘White with two sugars please.’

Once they were settled with their coffees, Brian said, ‘I’m going to tell you how our group began and our intentions and safeguards, then you can have your say, ok.’ ‘Ok,’ Reg said. Brian explained how the group were originally all long serving policemen who had become fed up with everything moving onto the side of the criminal.

‘A group of us with similar views got together and met up a few times to discuss possibilities,’ he told him. ‘We were all concerned at all the things that could go wrong, especially the thought of dealing with the wrong person.’

‘We came up with the idea of electing twelve of us as a jury, then if anyone suggested someone who they felt should be removed, it could only happen if all twelve gave unanimous agreement. That seemed safe enough, but there was no progress for a while because of the problem of disposal.’