Love Comes Knocking by Kathy Cakebread (all ebook reader .TXT) đ
- Author: Kathy Cakebread
Book online «Love Comes Knocking by Kathy Cakebread (all ebook reader .TXT) đ». Author Kathy Cakebread
He hoped his frank explanation of events would be enough to settle such a petty issue.
âLet me stop you there, he annoyed you in every way he could? When he kindly offered you a tissue to clean yourself up?â the officer snorted.
Ben felt powerless; whatever he said would just be upstaged by the waiterâs claims.
âIt was the look on his face, it was sheer mocking! Surely you know the feeling!â Ben stressed.
The officer shook his head.
âAfraid not. Well weâve got both your statements and considering this is your first offence and you donât appear to be a violent person let this be a sharp warning to you.â
A blanket of relief engulfed Ben; heâd won!
âWill I have a criminal record?â
âNo⊠but should you commit this offence again you may be officially charged with assault.â
âDonât worry officer that wonât happen again!â
âGlad to hear it.â
Triumphant that he was a free man Ben left the interview room in delight. Meanwhile, the officer glanced over at the door, a bemused expression plastered on his face.
âBen Dover!â he spoke duly, not quite believing the ridiculousness of the name.
The next morning Ben was roused from sleep by the sound of a sharp rapping on the door. Irritated that heâd been woken early on a Sunday he ignored the knocking. In answer to this act of ignorance, the rapping rose up a notch on the sound wave scale.
âAlright, alright Iâm coming! Jesus whatâs so urgent in this time of morning anyways?â Ben yelled.
Yanking the door open Ben was surprised to see an anxious looking Jose on the doorstep. Sweat lined his brow and perspiration swarmed on his forehead.
âJose what ever is wrong?!â Ben cried.
âYou better have a look at this.â He replied, shoving a newspaper in Benâs face.
Taking the newspaper Benâs eyes scanned frantically over the front page article.
BEN DOVER MUGGING RIOT the headline read, jumping like bullets straight through Benâs eyes. His heart racing he read on.
Last night around the time of 12:30am a local waiter Cristiano Marko was mugged roughly by a man he claims announced his presence, as âBen Doverâ. The magnitude of events clearly tides in with the earlier incident in which the man in question, Ben Dover, punched the waiter in what he claimed was âself defencedâ. Police are taking the uncalled for matter very seriously, in which the victims car, a red Larda was stolen.
Ben dropped the paper in disbelief. What the paper was claiming was totally and utterly ridiculous, he was in bed at the time the incident took place.
âJose thereâs no question that this is a pathetic matter.â
Jose stared uneasily at his friend.
âBen, are you not taking any of this in? The police are going to come and question you again. You went on the date with Hayleigh last night didnât you.â
Ben nodded solemnly. Jose rolled his eyes as if to say âI told you soâ.
âLook donât even start on the pep talk okay âcos I donât want to know right now.â
âBut Ben you know what taking in all those waifs and strangers does to you, you end up in a state like this! And thereâs this waiter claiming it was you who mugged him! Why you would want a car like that I donât know but thatâs not the point.â
Frustrated Ben peered through the corridor leading to the stairs.
âWhen are the police gonna come knocking?â
âHow about now?â Jose murmured, his gaze settling on the two officers scaling the stairs.
The whitewashed walls of the police interview room had started to become familiar territory for Ben as he sat facing two officers that looked like their frowns had been set in stone. Aggravation invaded him as the chief officer loitered in chat with his companion whilst setting up the tape recorder. Drumming his fingers against the table as a hint Ben was relieved to see the tape had started to roll.
âInterview started at 9:30am. With Mister Ben Dover. Accompanying officers are Mr Smith and Johnson.â
âSo Ben where were you in the early hours of this morning?â
âIn bed.â Ben replied simply.
âWhat were you doing in bed?â
There was an uncomfortable silence.
âYou know what people usually do in bedâŠâ he paused for effect.
âSleeping.â He finished.
Officer Smith shuffled his notes.
âYes of course. So do you have anyone to back up this alibi?â
Ben thought frantically, roving over his acquaintances in his head, in the end only one came to light.
âBarney can.â
âWell whatâs Barneyâs number, we need to be able to interview him.â
âOh Barney wouldnât like that.â
A frown erupted on Smithâs face.
âLook Ben do you want to get out of here or not? At this rate it looks like youâll be punished for something you may or may not have done!â
âNo seriously you wouldnât get much sense out of Barney.â Ben insisted.
âWhy not?â
âBecause Barneyâs a fish.â Ben said glumly.
Whilst Smithâs exasperation towards Benâs attitude was hard to contain, Johnson found the sudden revelation quite amusing.
âYes Dover Iâm sure Barney would love to back you up but he canât think past his next swim around the bowl right now, so I suggest that you pull your act together or face a cosy night down in the cells.â Smith said sternly.
âYou know if you had a parrot you might have been able to use him as a witness in this case.â Johnson chuckled.
âFunny.â Ben mumbled under his breath.
âCarrying on. Iâm sure you know by now of the serious event that took place at 12:30 this morning. The waiter in question Cristiano Marko was indeed assaulted by you earlier in the evening, in which you came to be questioned in this very here interview room, am I correct?â
âYes sir.â Ben muttered.
âAnd am I therefore correct to assume that you later, severely annoyed with the turn of events waited out for Cristiano and mugged him, stealing in your conquest his Larda car?â
âNo!â Ben insisted.
âI would never steal, my mum brought me up to be a good lad not a ruffian.â He continued.
As honest as he was being it was doubtful that the officers would believe his side of the story. How he got roped into this he didnât know.
âLook officer are you sure the waiter heard the assailant correctly?â
âYes of course, he recalls hearing the name Ben Dover.â
Imagining the event in his mind eye Ben realised something, something drastic.
âYou say he said he was sure he heard my name? Well maybe he heard bend over. You can tell how similar they are, I get made a laughing stock out of it! Please for goodness sake, investigate it.â
A look of desperation filled Benâs eyes as he looked at the officers for pity. Scratching his head in hope of stirring his grey matter officer Smith looked thoughtful.
âNow I think about it, it does sound that wayâŠâ
âThank you!â Ben sighed.
âBut⊠we canât rely on that alone, we need evidence. Hopefully we can turn up the car, see if your fingerprints are on it.â
âBut that will take ages!â
âOr weâve got some CCTV footage, we can go over that see if the figure matches your physical description.â
âPerfect, then we can sort out this fiasco once and for all.â Ben said triumphantly.
Only it wasnât that simpleâŠ
Slipping the CCTV footage into the video slot a musky, dark image appeared on the screen. Within that image came the profile of Cristiano making his way to his car, his keys jangling merrily at his sideâthen like a shadow of the night another profile slipped out of the darkness. Silence filled the interview room as the trio stared intently at the monitor.
âWhat theâŠâ Smith muttered.
Visible for all to see was the physicality of the assailant. All six foot of himâencased in what could be only described as a mountain of hair â with the addition of specs.
âWell I guess what weâre looking for is a Cousin IT look-alike.â Johnson sniggered.
Ben banged his head on the table in defeat.
âThis isnât funny!â he whimpered.
âHey wait a minute, Cristiano is slumped over the bonnet and is being body searched by Cousin IT here, do you think that couldâve been when he mistake the words bend over for Ben Dover?â Smith suggested.
âYes! Yes! Yes!â Ben cried.
Switching off the video Smith turned to address Ben.
âAlthough weâve seen footage of the incident, it doesnât actually tell us anything we didnât already knowâŠâ
âExcept that someone is in dire need of a haircut.â Johnson added.
Smith turned to Johnson a satirical look on his face.
âOr maybe they were just in fancy dress.â He suggested.
âWell thereâs that too of course.â
âAnyway, the video doesnât prove anything conclusive- it could be anyone in that costumeâincluding you. It does show however that at some point Cristiano was leaning over the bonnet. He may have been forced to having previously misinterpreted the hairy assailants order âBend overâ as âBen Doverâ, returning for his revenge. Thus disobeying the assailants commands and being punished in return.â
A round of applause filled the room.
âHere, here.â Ben agreed.
Smith smiled weakly.
âIt doesnât mean youâre off the hook yet, we hopefully should uncover the stolen car soon and that should unearth some answers. Until then weâve got nothing to hold you here any longer- no real substantial evidence.â
Benâs face lit up.
âSo Iâm free to go?â
âFor now. But if that car has got any of your fingerprints on it youâll be back in this interview room quicker then you can say âBobs your uncleâ.â
âOr bend over and give me fifty!â Johnson added.
The look on Benâs face was clearly far from comical.
5. The Hoover Demonstration
Hourâs later standing at the bar, Jose couldnât quite work out what the dim expression on Benâs face was there for. Notable for his chirpy, friendly service the customers were sure going to get a dodgy deal with his current snappy state.
âBen youâve practically got off Scot free with the police, whatâs the problem?â Jose enquired.
Ben stayed put with his back facing Jose. He pretended to be filling a mug of already overflowing coffee.
âNot quite, theyâve got to find the car yet.â
âBut your prints wont be on the car will theyâŠâ
âNo.â Ben sniffed.
âSo whatâs the real problem?â
âNothing.â
Intrigued by Benâs evident huff Jose pried further.
âYouâll make the cream curdle.â Jose sniggered.
That did the trick. Ben spun round angrily forgetting that at that moment in time he was holding a steaming mug of coffee. Naturally, the contents went everywhere. Perfect.
âFor peteâs sake!â Ben screamed; disrupting what was a fairly quiet afternoon.
Jose hurried over taking the spilt coffee from Benâs hand.
âHey Mary can you take over for a minute, Ben needs a quiet word.â
âSure.â She replied.
Scurrying into the back office dragging a reluctant Ben with him Jose planned to sort this out once and for all.
âBen, really what is the problem?â
âNothing - like I said.â Ben sniffed.
âLook I know you, youâre never like this, all this business with the police and that disastrous date itâs messed you up! You
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