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He glanced around once more. There were relatively few cars in Morrisons. The librarians were closing and locking the building. A walk up and down the block assured him that the rest of the shops were not doing much business, so it was now or never.
He quietly opened the front door to Oldham’s chemist and slipped inside.
John Oldham finished his phone call and made his way behind the counter to the pharmacy at the back.
“Be with you in a minute,” he said.
That would do nicely for Allen. He turned, switched the sign on the door to ‘Closed’, and easing the latch, ensured the door was locked. He then pulled the blind down.
He was wearing a thick leather jacket. From the inside he retrieved a long piece of wood that he had managed to prise from one of the pallets – the thickest and biggest he could find. It had to do the job. Also in one of his jacket pockets he had a coiled rope. He’d found that underneath a piece of the cardboard in the garage. He could hear Oldham pottering around, and he definitely knew the rattle of tablets when he heard it.
Allen slowly made his way behind the counter. He sneaked a peek around the corner and couldn’t have been more pleased. Old man Oldham had his back to Allen, which allowed him to slip past the counter toward the steel door at the back of the premises. Though the door was closed, it would not pose a problem.
Oldham finished what he was doing and came back into the shop. “I’m so sorry about that,” he said, seeing that the store was empty. “Must have gone,” he said to himself.
Oldham turned and froze. The expression on the old man’s face was priceless, as if he’d seen a ghost. Allen suspected he probably thought he had. The Pudsey Poisoner was probably the last person he thought he’d ever see again.
“Bye, bye, Mr Oldham,” said Allen, raising the wood and cracking the old man straight across the face.
He had no time to shout out, simply dropped like a sack of shit, a bruise on his face rising instantly.
Allen wondered if he’d killed Oldham. He hoped he hadn’t, because he wanted to have a lot more fun later on. For now, he needed him out of the way as quickly as possible.
Allen dropped the wood and leaned over the old chemist, checking for a pulse. It was weak, but it was there, and he was still breathing. Lifting Oldham by his arms, Allen dragged him back into the prescriptions bay where he found a chair.
Sweating, he pulled Oldham into the chair. The man had gained more than a few pounds since they had last met. Once positioned, he tied him tightly, glancing around for a gag. The most suitable thing he found was a roll of bandage, which he tied and sealed with surgical tape.
Oldham was going nowhere; now for the second part of the plan.
Allen slipped around to the rear security door and pushed it open. He glanced outwards and upwards, toward the fire escape. There was no sign of Vincent.
As he came back into the shop, he dashed over to the telephone and flicked through the contacts on speed dial. Vincent’s number was tenth.
He put it on to speakerphone
, scooting to the other side of the shop whilst it dialled. With a bit of luck, the distance would be enough to make his voice sound different, enough – hopefully – to fool Sherlock.
Vincent answered.
“Vincent, quick!”
“What’s wrong?”
“Come down to the shop. Hurry up, please.”
“John? Are you okay?”
Allen ran forward. “Quick, Vincent.”
Before he gave Detective Baines the chance to answer, he picked up the phone, throwing it at the wall. The unit separated on impact, and the two halves bounced in different directions.
Allen ran to the back of the shop, down the small passage to the right of the security door. Within seconds he heard Vincent’s door open, and the sound of footsteps on the fire escape. If that idiot wasn’t careful, he was going to fall and break his neck, and that would really piss Allen off.
Vincent entered the chemist at warp speed, and Allen noticed the idle pig was still in his dressing gown. Vincent shouted for Oldham. Allen quietly followed.
“John, where are you?”
At that point, Vincent noticed the broken phone. He picked it up and turned very quickly.
