Chapter 8: Counselling a Killer

Saturday morning Danny arrived at Johns as usual. He let himself in and shouted, ‘Hi.’ John was in the kitchen and came out to greet him. They hugged and had a kiss.

They sat and had a coffee as they often did. John told him that he had heard from Lucy last night. ‘She is coming up to four weeks overdue,’ he told him. ‘She’s been told that if nothing had happened this morning, they were going to induce her. But I was to tell you that everything seems to be ok otherwise.’ ‘That’s good,’ Danny said, ‘So it might happen this weekend.’ ‘John asked after Lorraine and then he said, ‘Did you see the report in the local paper yesterday about the bodies in the well?’

‘No, I haven’t seen it.’ Danny said. ‘Apparently a man had been getting rid of his girlfriends by throwing them down a well in his garden,’ John said. ‘The last one he threw down alive. It’s hard to imagine finding yourself at the bottom of a well, in darkness and knowing there’s no escape.’ he said with a shiver, ‘What an awful way to die.’

‘But apparently they found the last one still alive just in time and saved her,’ John said, ‘She had survived because she had a soft landing on the previous bodies. But they didn’t say how they came to be looking down the well in the first place. Or how many bodies there were.’

‘At least four, possibly more.’ Danny told him. John looked at him surprised, ‘Did you have something to do with it?’ he asked. ‘Yes, I did,’ Danny said, ‘But the reason I’m telling you, is that you played a big part in saving the lady who was rescued.’

‘Me?’ he said surprised, ‘How?’ ‘You have let me use your home for counselling many times,’ Danny said. ‘You have put yourself out often to do so and as a result, I have been able to help a lot of people. Without you I wouldn’t have been able to do it.’

‘I recently helped someone in this house, who told me that her friend had gone missing. She said that her boyfriend had been heard to boast about throwing a previous girlfriend down a well. To cut a long story short, as a result I had been checking out the story. Last week looking for dead bodies, I found a lady still alive.’

‘If it hadn’t been for you, she would still have been down there. Probably dead like the others by now.’ ‘Well, it was you who acted on it,’ John said, ‘But it’s nice to know anyway, thank you for telling me. How did you discover she was still alive.’

Danny explained about lowering a camera down and then pulling it up and watching the video. ‘I expected to find dead bodies,’ he told him. I ran the video and saw the face of the first body. ‘But when it opened its eyes and said, ‘Please help me, I dropped the phone like it was red-hot.’ John grinned, ‘That would give anyone a shock.’ he said.

‘They’re still sifting through everything brought up from the bottom of the well. ‘Danny told him. ‘The boyfriend is locked up, waiting an appearance at the Crown Court.’ ‘They should never have got rid of the death penalty.’ John said.

‘He certainly deserves it.’ Danny agreed. ‘You certainly get a variety of experiences.’ John said. They finished their coffees and Danny went out to work in the garden. John set off to the shops.

As lunchtime approached Danny went in and made a coffee. He had just sat down to eat his lunch when he heard John come in. He got up and made another coffee.

As John came in and sat down, he said, ‘I don’t know a lot of people, but they all seem to go shopping at the same time as me.’ He sat and chatted whilst Danny ate. When he had finished, Danny was washing up at the sink as John’s phone rang. ‘Yes, we’re together.’ he said, ‘I’ll put you on speaker.’

‘Hi,’ said Lucy, sounding very tired. ‘I wanted to let you know right away. An hour ago, I gave birth to a healthy baby boy weighing five pounds three ounces. Fifty minutes ago, I gave birth to a healthy baby girl four pounds nine ounces. We are all fine. I’m exhausted so I’ll put Chris on now.’

‘Hi, you two,’ Chris said, ‘I was present at the births, an amazing experience. We’ll bring them up to visit as soon as we can. The doctors say both babies are perfect. Lucy is fine as well. She was determined to tell you herself but she’s exhausted.’ ‘Congratulations to you both,’ John and Danny said. ‘We’re delighted too.’

There was the sound of a voice in the background. ‘Oh yes,’ Chris said, ‘Lucy’s just reminding me to tell you that we have decided on names. Our son will be called Danny.’ John grinned at him. ‘Our daughter will be called Danielle.’

‘We both agreed that under the circumstances, they were the only possible choices.’ ‘That’s lovely,’ Danny said, ‘I’m very flattered.’ ‘Have to go now,’ Chris said, ‘See you both soon, love you both, bye from the four of us.’

‘Well!’ John said, ‘What about that?’ Danny had a big beam on his face, ‘I’m really chuffed.’ he said.

‘Oh, I almost forgot with all the excitement,’ John said. ‘Whilst I was out shopping, I bumped into Keith’s mum. She had a young chap with her in his late teens I would guess. She introduced him as Aled, her cousin’s son from Wales. He didn’t look very happy, although he was polite enough. ‘I’ve just been telling him about Danny,’ she said. ‘I’m convinced something is wrong, but he won’t tell me anything.’

‘You walk on a bit, I told her, I’ll just have a chat with him.’ She walked away and we followed at a distance. ‘It’s nothing to do with me,’ I said, ‘But let me tell you that Danny is an expert at solving problems for people. We both know your aunt isn’t going to drop it, so I would suggest that you at least agree to visit and speak to him.’

‘You don’t have to stay, just call round this afternoon. I’ll introduce you and leave you alone to have a coffee with him. Then you can make up your mind if you want him to help you or not. If you decide not, that’s fine, there’s no pressure. But as long as you can go back looking cheerful, your aunt will be happy and stop bothering you.’

‘Here’s my address,’ I said, ‘I’ll tell your aunt you’ve agreed to call and see him. Whether you come or not is up to you. At least you’ll get peace for the rest of the day.’ He grinned at that. ‘Thanks.’ he said.

We caught up with her and I told her that Aled had agreed to call and see you this afternoon. She gave a big beam and said to him, ‘That’s your problem solved, whatever it is, thanks John.’

‘So, I have no idea if he’s actually going to come or not.’ Oh well, I’ll go and carry on in the meantime.’ Danny said.

He had been out back for just over an hour when John called him in. Danny put his things away in the shed just in case. When he went in, John introduced him to Aled. He was a couple of inches taller than Danny, a bit overweight and looked a bit nervous.

When he was introduced to Danny, he was surprised to see he was so young, no one had though to mention his age to him. Somehow, that made him seem less intimidating than his mind had built him up to be. ‘Hi,’ he said quite cheerily as he shook hands.

As Danny washed his hands, John made them two coffees. ‘I’ll go into town and leave you to it.’ he said. ‘I’ll let you know as soon as I can.’ Danny told him.

As they had their coffees Danny explained how it all worked, about getting him relaxed first and saying ‘Pass’ or ‘Stop’ anytime he needed. And of course, about just walking out anytime he wanted to.

Aled was feeling easier already. With what Danny was saying, it made him wonder if perhaps he would be able to tell him what happened. Maybe he would be able to sort it out for him as well. After all everyone spoke very highly of him.

When Danny asked him to decide, he didn’t hesitate, he followed him through to the lounge, took his shoes off and lay down on the settee. He felt nervous, but nowhere near as much as he had expected to be.

Danny sat at his side and explained the next stage. Aled turned over and Danny massaged the back of his head. Aled was amazed at how relaxing it felt. He lay there enjoying it, even forgetting his worry for a few moments. Then he said ‘Go.’

As Danny moved onto his shoulders, he asked, ‘How long are you staying with your aunt for?’ ‘I go home on Monday morning,’ he said. ‘But I can come back anytime.’ As Danny moved down his back, he asked, ‘How old are you?’ ‘I’ve just turned eighteen.’ Aled replied.