Chapter 5: Plural Is Wishful Thinking

After dinner they all had a nice evening together then Rosemary saw him out. As they had a hug and kiss at the door with a bit of caressing, Cliff told her he’d do his best to fit in a trip to the back room during the week. As usual he walked away with a hard rod preceding him.

MONDAY EVENING - CLIFFS BEDROOM

Cliff typed out a letter to John Kirkhams first two victims. He would post them in the morning to the addresses John had given him in the hope they were either still there, or if not, someone would forward them on. He thought for a while what to say.

Then he wrote,

‘Dear Jeffery,

‘My name is Cliff, and I do voluntary counselling in the Manchester area for people with various problems. ‘I can’t give you any more details, as my counselling is strictly confidential.’ But as a result, I have recently met John Kirkham.’

‘I would greatly appreciate it if you could give me a text to suggest a time and date for me to ring and speak to you when it’s convenient to yourself.’ It’s possible that you have information that could help the person I’m counselling at present.’

‘I understand you met him briefly around five years ago. I’m sure you will remember that John was a keen amateur photographer. Unfortunately, a lot of his photos were recently destroyed beyond recovery. But on the bright side, he has recovered from his recent double amputation.’

I look forward to hearing from you,

Thank you,

Cliff.’

He repeated the letter to Leslie from Huddersfield.

Then he sent the letter in text form to the phone number he had for Michael from Manchester. After which he went to bed.

TUESDAY EVENING - HOME - CLIFF

After his evening meal Cliff went to his room and started doing some homework. An hour later his phone pinged. It was a text from the number he had for Michael. ‘Hi, it’s Michael,’ the text said. ‘You can ring me now or the same time tomorrow or Thursday.’

‘I’ll ring you now,’ Cliff replied, ‘Are you somewhere no one can hear you?’ He got a thumbs up a few moments later. Cliff checked his bedroom door was closed and rang the number. A nervous sounding voice answered with an ‘Hello?’

‘Hi, Michael, thanks for making contact. Before we go any further, I need to confirm that you are the right Michael. I’ve just sent you a picture, can you confirm that that is you?’ There was silence for a few moments then, ‘Oh dear God, yes, it is.’ Came Michaels anguished voice as he recognised it and where it was taken.

‘Can you tell me why you didn’t run out when he started to attack you?’ Cliff asked. ‘I couldn’t move,’ Michael told him, ‘None of my muscles would work the whole time. Have you seen all of the pictures he took?’ ‘Yes, I have,’ Cliff told him, ‘But I have personally destroyed every single one of them.’

‘Really?’ said a now very relieved sounding voice. ‘Yes, I promise you none of them exist anymore.’ Cliff told him. ‘The photo I just sent you was a head and shoulders I personally took off one of the photos, just so I could confirm I was talking to the right person. I will erase that shortly.’

‘It’s been two years since it happened,’ Cliff continued, ‘How is what happened affecting you today?’ ‘I still get nightmares about it occasionally,’ he admitted. ‘And I’m so scared at the idea of anyone touching me anywhere intimate, I haven’t had a girlfriend since.’

‘I’m sorry to hear that,’ Cliff told him, ‘But I’m sure that I can do something about that. Are you still living in the Manchester area?’ ‘Yes, I’m near Salford Quays.’ he answered. ‘I’ve sent you a post code,’ Cliff told him, ‘Can you tell me if you can get to it easily, say for half past five tomorrow night.’

He waited whilst Michael found his message and put it into maps. ‘Yes,’ Michael said, ‘I’m twenty minutes’ drive away. But I actually work five minutes away.’ ‘Can you tell me what you do?’ Cliff asked. ‘I’m a trainee solicitor.’ he told him.

Cliff explained about the video shop and the back room, the confidentially, and being able to leave anytime. ‘I feel sure that you’d benefit from meeting me face to face,’ Cliff told him. ‘So, I’ll see you tomorrow. But let me confirm that all of the photos of you, and his other five victims, have all been destroyed.’