Sounded familiar. ‘Do you think Kane approves of you being involved?’
‘I know them. Maybe he trusts me? I’ve not asked him. I don’t really care.’
I pulled up outside Lorraine Harrison’s house at the bottom of a quiet cul-de-sac. It was on a 1970s housing estate out to the east of the city. The area itself was quiet and nondescript. The house looked like it needed a lick of paint and new windows. I nodded to Julia that I was ready. I made her promise to behave; no recording, no photographs. I’d be doing the talking.
The inside of the house was similarly dated, only the TV and Nintendo Wii looked like recent purchases. The two women stared at each other.
‘Nice to see you, Lorraine’ Julia said. ‘It’s been a long time.’
Lorraine nodded and told us to sit down before disappearing to put the kettle on.
‘You know her?’ I said to Julia. I don’t know why I was surprised. If they were both friends with New Holland, there was every chance they’d have met at some point.
‘We go back’ she said.
I wondered if this was a good idea still. Lorraine came back in with drinks.
‘So what brings you here?’ she asked. ‘Your email was very intriguing.’
‘I work for New Holland’ I explained, trying to avoid using Kane Major’s name directly, given that I now knew he hadn’t approved of her and Greg’s relationship in the past. ‘I’m sure we can talk to you in confidence, though I suspect you already know. The band are considering making a comeback.’ I paused, tried to make light of the situation. ‘The problem is we’ve mislaid Greg. I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about. He’s more than likely gone away somewhere for a few days without telling anyone. You know how he is.’
‘Why is she here?’ Lorraine said, pointing at Julia.
I was about to answer, but Julia took over. ‘I’m documenting the reunion for my newspaper and Joe’s employed by the band’s management to make sure things run smoothly. I’m just helping him out.’
‘When did you last hear from Greg?’ I asked Lorraine.
‘He rang me about a week ago’ she said eventually.
‘About the reunion?’
‘What else?’
‘Did he mention anything about going away?’
‘No.’ She looked up at me. ‘Why would he?’
‘Did he ever give you any reason to think he might be unhappy?’ I asked.
‘No.’
‘I spoke to Siobhan and she didn’t know much, either.’ I wanted to mention her, see what response it got. Not a flicker. Nothing. I was about to go for it and ask the question we’d been skirting around, but was stopped by a man and a teenager walking into the room. She introduced us to her husband, Jason, and their son, Jay. He looked at us and told Lorraine to go check on their tea. Jason Harrison was a bear of a man. His hands had the ingrained dirtiness manual workers never quite manage to wash away.
‘Tough day at work?’ I asked him, hoping to break the ice.
‘Could say that.’
‘What do you do?’
‘I repair classic cars. My mate has his own garage.’
I nodded and told him why we were speaking to his wife.
‘I don’t want her upset.’
‘We’re not here to upset her’ I said. ‘We’re looking for Greg Tasker.’
He thought about it for a moment before answering. ‘She needs to let it go.’
‘Let what go?’ Julia asked.
‘New Holland, Greg Tasker, the website, everything. Nobody cares anymore. She needs to be concentrating on our son. Not that shit.’
‘It’s only a website’ Julia said. ‘A bit of harmless fun.’
She was baiting him. She must have known that Greg and Lorraine had history. I was beginning to wish I hadn’t brought her along.
‘I don’t like the man, alright?’ Harrison said. ‘I’m an ordinary bloke who goes out to work each day. I work hard and I bring home a fair day’s pay, and that’s me. It’s what I do. His fame means nothing to me.’ He pointed at me, angry. ‘If you do find him, you can tell him from me I want him to stay away from me and my family. He doesn’t come near us again. Is that clear?’
I stood up, ready to leave. We were finished. ‘Crystal clear’ I said.
You love the stage now. The nerves you suffered from at the early gigs are almost under control. You can channel them positively into your performance. The band has been making strides forward. You now headline gigs around the city and have a demo tape to sell to fans. Things are beginning to move. You meet Kane Major after a gig. His confidence, both in himself and the band, blows you away. You’re in awe of him. You know your judgment is right. You decide you want him to manage the band. Priestley is reluctant, but you convince him. You tell him it’s the way forward. You know it’s a watershed moment for New Holland. He falls in line. Kane puts the money up for a limited edition vinyl single. Your first proper record. When you get a copy, you can’t stop looking at it. It has your name on it. It’s the proudest moment of your life. You tell anyone who’ll listen about the record. Even your parents are proud of you. Things move fast. The record is played on Radio One. The music press love you. Kane brokers a deal for you with a major label. You tell Priestley you were right. You knew it all along. You’re on your way to becoming stars.
CHAPTER FOUR
We drove
away from Lorraine Harrison’s house. Julia was hungry. We headed for a quiet Italian restaurant I knew off the main drag of Newland Avenue, well away from the loud bars which continued to spring up. It was on Julia’s expenses. It was going to be the only perk I got from this job. We sat down and she ordered drinks. I asked her if she had been friends with Lorraine Harrison.
‘Not really.’ She poured herself a glass of wine before offering me one.
I shook my head and waited for my soft drink. I wasn’t drinking. I didn’t want to leave my car on the street for the night.
‘More like acquaintances’ she said. ‘I went to a few of the gigs when the band first started, usually when some friends of mine were also playing. I knew her more by sight at gigs and we got talking once or twice in nightclubs. Sisters together in a male environment, if you like.’
‘I got the feeling she didn’t like you very much.’
Julia sipped at her wine. Asked to see a menu before turning back to me. ‘She never did. We both wrote for a local music magazine, but she never pushed it any further. I became friendly with Greg and the band.’ She shrugged. ‘Maybe she read more into it than she should have.’
I thought about it. Maybe life had ground Lorraine down, I didn’t know, but she was far from being unattractive. Maybe she’d hoped life would have turned out differently for her. Maybe having such close access to people who had become famous had led her to think about what might have been. I was regretting not asking her more directly about her involvement with Tasker. I picked my drink up and changed the subject. ‘What did you think of her husband?’
‘I’ve met nicer people.’
I couldn’t disagree. Julia ordered our food.
‘Who does he think he is’ she said when she returned to our table. ‘Laying the law down to his wife like that? If she wants to run a website, it’s none of his business. I didn’t get a good feeling off him.’
‘Me neither.’ I bet being compared to a rock star, whether his wife ever said it or not, wasn’t good for his ego, but it was no excuse.
‘Do you think Greg wants this reunion?’ I asked. The pressure was going to build up. I wondered if he’d realised what he’d got himself into and changed his mind.
‘I know he struggled with the failure of his solo album. The press were savage towards him around that time. I think a few people in the media had scores to settle with him. The reunion’s certainly a brave move for him.’
I could understand that. Professional failure cuts deep, especially when you do it in the public eye, but there had to be more to it. ‘Have you had a word with Kane today?’ I asked her.
‘Not yet.’
‘Best let me talk to him first.’ I wasn’t looking forward to telling him Julia knew Tasker was missing, even if I had been backed into a corner. He wouldn’t see it that way, but if anything, I should ask him for a bonus, as I’d at least stopped the situation escalating. ‘Are you going to file the story?’ I asked her.
She shook her head. ‘Not yet.’
I was relieved. The food arrived, saving me from any further discussion.
‘You never got around to telling me about yourself’ she said, biting into a slice of pizza.
‘Not much to tell.’
She shook her head. ‘You don’t get away with it that easily.’
‘It’s the truth.’
‘Let’s start with the basics. Tell me about your wife.’
I put my pizza down. ‘I don’t have one.’ She hadn’t done that much research into me.
‘Girlfriend, then.’
‘I don’t have one of them, either.’
‘What about Sarah?’
I hesitated before I answered. ‘She’s a good friend who I work well with.’ There’d almost been a moment, but it hadn’t gone any further. It had been a possibility for a short while, but we were friends first and foremost. Good friends.
Julia smiled and shook her head. ‘There must be someone.’
‘There isn’t.’
‘Are you really a monk?’
‘Widower.’
Julia put her food down. ‘I’m sorry.’
I waved away her apology. ‘You weren’t to know.’ It’d been a couple of years now. I wasn’t ready to buy into the theory that time heals, but day by day it was getting a little easier.
‘How did she die?’ She put her head down and apologised. ‘Sorry, it’s the journalist in me. You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.’
‘House fire. She was babysitting for her sister and didn’t get out in time.’
‘That’s awful.’
I nodded. I was able to talk about it a bit more these days. ‘The police never got to the bottom of it. It was down to me.’ I told her a bit about a previous case and how it had brought me a measure of closure. ‘At least I got the truth in the end.’
‘It must have been awful.’
‘At least I had Don and Sarah to lean on.’
‘How did you meet them?’
‘I used to work for a firm of solicitors as a freelance investigator, but I’d been looking for something steadier, something with prospects, and Don had been looking for some help. It worked for both of us. Just good timing.’ I changed the subject. ‘How about you?’ I said. ‘Married?’
She shook her head. ‘Not even close. I’m your classic case. Career first and never met the right man. You know the drill.’
‘Boyfriend?’
‘Nothing serious. Work doesn’t leave much time for anything else.’
‘There must have been someone?’
She picked her pizza back up. ‘Not really. There was a guy in Hull, but I was too young and stupid. I needed to get away from him because he wasn’t good news. There’s been a few in London, but in the main, they were arseholes.’
I smiled. ‘What about family? Are they still in Hull?’
‘None worth coming back for.’
It explained why the change in the city fascinated her. She didn’t have a reason to visit regularly. My mobile vibrated in my pocket. It was Kane Major. I excused myself and took the call. He wanted me to go with him to Tasker’s parent’s house. They wanted to speak to me.
I went back inside. ‘I’ve got to go’ I said to Julia. I picked up a slice of pizza. Food on the move. ‘I’ll call you later.’
The Taskers lived in a modest semi-detached house, out in the suburbs to the west of the city. Only a short distance away from Siobhan’s boutique. The area was convenient for quick access to the M62 and the bigger Yorkshire cities of Leeds and Sheffield. There was a social pecking order - east to west Hull and then out to the outlying villages. They’d nearly made it. I lived just outside of the city centre, which put me in no man’s land. On the way there, Major had told me Keith Tasker was mid-management at Smith and Nephews, one of Hull’s most prestigious employers. My dad had opened a pub like many ex-sportsmen, but Keith Tasker had taken a different and more prosperous route. His wife, Kath, had stayed at home once Greg had been born.
I parked up as closely as possible to the house. It looked just like any other in the area. The front garden was neat and tidy, the furniture in the house modern and recently purchased. They were doing ok for themselves, a model of good order. I didn’t know what to expect, but it was a distinct contrast to their son’s life as a famous musician.
The Taskers greeted me like an old friend, even though we hadn’t seen each other in decades. It was the nature of the city. It might be sprawling, but the static population meant you were never far away from people you knew. You couldn’t hide. They fussed around, offering tea. I waved the offers away, wanting to get down to business. It was late and I didn’t like the situation I was getting myself into. Looking around the room, there were no photographs of Greg or the band.
‘Thank you for agreeing to help us, Joe’ Kath said to me.
I turned to Major, who was looking at the floor. He wasn’t going to be much help. ‘With all due respect, I don’t really know what I’m doing here’ I said to her.
‘I’d assumed Kane had told you all the details’ she said.
‘Not really.’
‘Kane said you can find Greg’ Keith said. ‘We trust him. We know how close he is to Greg. If he says you can help find him, we have to believe him.’
‘You should think about talking to the police’ I said. ‘I’m just one man. I don’t have the back-up they have.’
‘Do you remember when your brother went missing?’
I nodded. I vaguely remembered something, but not the details.
‘You were only little, five or six, which would have made your Niall about nine. You’d been playing football on the local field with some other kids, but you wandered off with your mates. Your parents thought you were still with Niall, so when only you returned home, they were frantic. Me and your dad got some other blokes together and we searched the area for him. We stayed out for hours, then I found Niall on the drain, just sat there, throwing stones into the water. He was too scared to go home in case he was in trouble.’ Keith shrugged. ‘It happens, but sometimes all you need is a bit of help.’
I got the point, but said nothing.