3:17 Part Twenty-Five

~ beetleypete

This is the twenty-fifth part of a fiction serial, in 730 words.

Sylvia Townsend stood up. “They have gone now, Darren. It’s up to you to work out what they meant, but I’m sure you have a good idea”. I asked her why I couldn’t see them, and if they would appear again to help me. “They wanted your attention, and they got it. You will never see or hear from them again. They trust you to do the right thing, and find them peace. Anyway, you are not a true believer, despite what has happened. So you would never be able to see them”.

With that, she walked to the door, and opened it. Her husband raised his eyebrows, and she nodded. Turning to me as she closed the door, she spoke quietly.

“Good luck”.

There was no chance I was going to get more sleep, so I went and made myself a bacon sandwich, still trying to take it all in. Sylvia had been right about all the details, and though I had found out most of them before her visit, I was pleased to have it all confirmed. And she had earned her money, as dad and Terry had undoubtedly communicated with her, and added that they wanted me to do something bad to the Holloways to give them peace.

I was outside the newspaper shop as soon as they opened the door to customers. Barging past the owner, I grabbed a copy of each one of the papers he had just finished laying out on the counter. That amounted to five popular tabloids, and three broadsheets. I also bought two packets of cigarettes and a Twix. I ate the Twix on the way home, still feeling hungry despite my pre-dawn sandwich.

Mark sent me a text as I was laying out the papers on my living room floor. He wanted to know how it had gone with Sylvia. No doubt he had been up all night fiddling with his computers. I replied that I would call him later, and pretended to still be in bed.

Each paper took a slightly different slant on the news. Being a Saturday, they also had some feature articles, and things like cookery columns and ‘where to go’ suggestions. The back pages were full of sport, as most football was played on Saturdays, as well as Rugby, and Cricket news from abroad.

But most of the stuff was, as always, about Royals and celebrities. It didn’t seem to matter if the paper was a cheap rag, or a supposedly ‘serious’ traditional one, all they seemed to do was to trap on about who was dating who, and who had been a bad boy, or a bad girl.

There were paparazzi photos of course. Slaggy-looking girls I had never heard of, showing their bits as they got out of cars. Film stars being where they were not supposed to be, and with someone who wasn’t their wife. And one very famous politician in disgrace due to a homosexual affair, with a photo of him leaving his boyfriend’s flat.

The back pages were better. I found a decent article in The Express about Southampton’s new manager, Brendan Holloway. It said he had a three-year contract that was worth over seven million pounds. It also mentioned that he had his own agent.

Football had changed a lot since I was last interested in it.

All of the papers seemed to be interested in the same main story though. A very famous British disc-jockey who had been accused of messing around with underage girls in his heyday. They had all crucified him. Photos outside his house, trying to doorstep his wife and teenage kids, and demanding a full investigation into what were basically unsubstantiated allegations.

He had been fired by the BBC without real proof, and was quoted as ‘Refuting all allegations, and standing by his family at this difficult time’.

That was about the time the penny dropped. Despite the fact it was still mid-morning, I celebrated with a large Jack Daniels.

‘No smoke without fire’ came to mind.

The other thing that came to mind was former Inspector Holloway boasting at the golf club about his wonderful son who had just been made manager of Southampton. And Brendan himself, though techincally blameless, I reckoned he must have known what happened.

Let’s see how his seven million salary looked after what I was about to unleash.

33 thoughts on “3:17 Part Twenty-Five”

  6. (1) Sylvia Townsend wasn’t always a believer.
    ♬ I thought ghosts were only true in fairy tales
    Meant for someone else but not for me
    Ghosts were out to get me
    That’s the way it seemed
    And their voices haunted all my dreams
    Then I saw their face, now I’m a believer
    Not a trace of doubt in my mind
    Ghosts are real, I’m a believer
    I couldn’t deny it if I tried ♬
    (2) Brian and Terry wanted Darren to do something bad to the Holloways to give them peace. Maybe Darren could grease the wheels of revenge by stuffing the Holloways with bacon sandwiches until they croak from cardiac arrest.
    (3) Barging past the owner of the newspaper shop, Darren grabbed a copy of each one of the papers he had just finished laying out on the counter. This was quite a feat considering the current of the Thames. Darren must have long arms. (He missed one of the tabloids, but that’s water under the bridge.)
    (4) As Darren ate his Twix, he thought, “I was put betwixt Sylvia and her husband. As a psychic, Sylvia’s no trickster, but if she likes chocolate, she may be a Twixter.”
    (5) Mark stayed up all night fiddling with his computers. I wish my computers could play the fiddle. Maybe if I put them on the roof?
    (6) Feature articles included “where to go” suggestions. The most popular suggestion was Hell.
    (7) A very famous British disc-jockey is being crucified. At the same time, he’s standing by his family. I suspect the disc-jockey has a twin brother. You can’t be nailed high up on a cross and be hanging out with the family at the same time. #FakeNews
    (8) “That was about the time the penny dropped.” Darren has a hole in his pocket.
    (9) Brendan Holloway had a homosexual affair with underage boys in his ball-playing heyday. Darren’s goal is to make that known. I have a feeling the story will score big with the tabloids.

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