Chapter 4: Knock Out for Gordon

The shop was its usual hectic self as soon as they opened. Just after two, Mike’s phone rang, he listened for a moment, then said, ‘Just hang on a minute,’ then he went through to the back of the shop. It was a good ten minutes before he returned, looking very serious.

He came over to Lewis and asked, ‘Do you think you could manage the shop on your own for the rest of the afternoon? You can forget about the rewinding.’ Lewis told him he felt sure he could manage and asked what was up. Mike told him he had just had a call from Mr Williams, Danny’s neighbour. Gordon had shown up, letting himself in as he still had a front door key. He had come into the kitchen and Mr Williams told him the police had been and gave him the list of what they had taken. Apparently, Gordon had raged at him saying he shouldn’t have let them in, then demanded money so he could go abroad.

Mr Williams refused saying he hadn’t got any, at which point Gordon pulled a knife out and started coming closer, screaming that he was going to kill him. The next minute a bottle of wine appeared above Gordon’s head and crashed down on his skull. As he fell unconscious on the floor, Danny was standing there behind him, holding the bottle.

‘What are you going to do?’ Lewis asked. ‘I told them to tie him up and put a blindfold on him so he wouldn’t know where he was when he woke up, I also said not to speak within earshot so that he wouldn’t know who was holding him. I’m going to pick him up and bring him back here so I can persuade him not to show his face again.’ Lewis refrained from asking how he intended to do that, but he felt sure that Gordon would not like it.

‘I’ll give you a ring when I’m on my way back,’ Mike told him, ‘If there’s any problem, just lock up the shop and take the key home.’ Lewis said, ‘Ok, say hi to Danny for me.’

Mike went out of the shop and drove away.

Danny had returned to work for Mr Williams the week before, today was his second weekend back. On the first weekend, Mr Williams had welcomed him back and said, ‘I know I promised Mike not to say anything about what happened, and I won’t mention it again, but I just want you to know how awful I feel that it happened here. If only I hadn’t gone out that day.’ Danny had gone up to him and given him a hug. ‘Don’t blame yourself,’ he said, ‘You couldn’t have known, anyway, it’s all in the past now, there’s no lasting harm.’ Mr Williams had kissed the top of his head and said, ‘That’s a wonderful attitude, Danny, I’m sure life is going to be good for you.’

Today he had been working in the garden all morning then he had had a drink and a sandwich in the kitchen with Mr Williams at lunch time. He had been back in the garden for an hour when he needed to go to the toilet. Setting of for the house he stopped at the back door to take his boots off. As he did, he could hear a raised voice. Suddenly his heart skipped a beat as he recognised Gordon’s voice. He was on the point of running away when he heard Gordon scream, ‘I’ll kill you.’ Danny assumed that was directed at Mr Williams, so with his heart pounding like it was going to explode, he tiptoed inside in his stocking feet, not making a sound. When he looked into the kitchen, he could see Gordons back as he approached Mr Williams with a knife in his hand. He was looking around, wondering what to do, when he saw an unopened bottle of wine on the worktop. He reached out and got hold of it by the neck, then he stepped carefully forward until he was one step behind Gordon. He couldn’t see Mr Williams as Gordon was blocking his view.

Danny raised the bottle as high as he could, then brought it down with every bit of strength that he could muster. There was a sickening crack as it hit Gordon on the back of his skull. Nothing seemed to happen for a moment, Danny was poised to flee thinking Gordon would turn around and attack him with the knife. Suddenly there was a clatter as the knife Gordon was holding hit the floor, followed a few seconds later by Gordon who seemed to sink to his knees in slow motion, then fell forward flat on his face, lying there unmoving.

Mr Williams had his mouth open, all he had seen was the wine bottle he had bought for his evening meal, suddenly appear in the air, then as it hit Gordon, his eyes had glazed over, then he collapsed to the floor in slow motion, revealing Danny standing holding the bottle and looking terrified. Mr Williams stepped around Gordon and took the bottle off Danny, who seemed frozen to the spot. He put his arms around him and hugged him, saying, ‘Thank you, Danny, I think you just saved my life.’

Danny came back to life and said, ‘Have I killed him?’ Mr Williams said, ‘I don’t know and frankly I don’t care. But just in case you haven’t we better tie him up before he comes round.’ ‘I’ll go and get the rope that’s in the garden shed,’ Danny said, ‘You ring Uncle Mike and tell him what’s happened and ask him what we should do.’ Danny ran to the shed, still in his stocking feet, fortunately it was a dry day. Returning to the kitchen, he found Mr Williams on the phone to Mike. Gordon’s knife was underneath him, so he got a kitchen knife and cut some strips off the rope. He had just finished tying Gordon’s ankles together when Mr Williams finished on the phone.

‘Mike is coming over right away,’ he said, ‘We are to tie him up and also put a blindfold on him, plus we’re not to speak in his hearing.’ With Gordon’s ankles tied, Danny felt safe enough to get hold of his arms, pulling them round behind his back and tying them together at the wrists. Mr Williams had found an old scarf which they tied around his head over his eyes. Feeling safe now, Danny put his fingertips on Gordon’s neck. After moving around a bit, he located a pulse and counted the beats. At fifty per minute, Danny felt with his limited knowledge that that was ok, and Gordon was still alive. He put his hand on his back and if he concentrated hard, he could feel Gordon’s chest moving, so he was breathing ok, too.

Danny remembered that you should keep an unconscious person in the three quarters prone position, but he decided Gordon could stay as he was, he just turned his head slightly to the side so his mouth wasn’t pressed to the floor.

Mr Williams said, ‘Perhaps we should gag him too, in case he starts screaming for help, we don’t want the neighbours coming to investigate.’ Danny thought that was a good idea, so they managed to push a piece of dish cloth into his mouth, then tied a strip of sheet round between his teeth and fastened it at the back of his head.

There was nothing to do now, except wait for Mike to arrive. The decided they would go and sit in the other room as it would be at least another half hour before Mike arrived. As they sat down, Danny noticed that Mr Williams looked very white. He went over to him and asked, ‘Are you feeling ok, you look very pale.’

Mr Williams looked at him and smiled, ‘Thank you, Danny,’ he said, ‘It’s all been a bit much for me to handle.’ Danny told him to stretch out on the settee and relax. He did so, then Danny stuck his head in the kitchen, saw Gordon was exactly as they had left him and came back. ‘Have you any Brandy or Whiskey?’ he asked.’ Mr Williams told him there was a bottle of Whiskey in the cupboard in the front room. Danny said, ‘I’ll go and get you a glass, it’ll calm your nerves.’ He went and found the whiskey plus there was a ‘posh’ glass in the cupboard with it, so he didn’t have to go in the kitchen. He took them through to Mr Williams, putting them on the table and pouring a good measure into the glass.

When he took the glass over, Mr Williams said, ‘I don’t usually drink it neat, but I think today is an exception.’ He sat up and took a sip, then coughed as the sharp liquid caught his throat. It sent a fiery glow right through him as it went down into his stomach. He took another sip and felt better already. Danny told him, ‘You look better already, you’re getting your colour back now.’