The Escape Read online

  Barry Marsden appeared at the magistrates’ Court four weeks after Colin’s escape. He was persuaded by his solicitor to plead guilty. His months on remand counted as time served against his sentence and he was released from prison. The magistrate arranged for Barry to be placed on a twelve-week care-in-the-community programme, where he would be monitored, but could go on studying and having therapy. Once he got out, Barry had applied for visiting rights to see Colin, but had been turned down.

  Eleven months passed before he was given permission to visit Colin. Barry now wore contact lenses, had lost a lot of weight and was dressed in a smart suit. He looked healthy and felt good. Thanks to Social Services and various charities that found work for ex-offenders, he was an apprentice plumber. He sat in the waiting room at Barfield, looking forward to seeing his friend, scanning the faces of the inmates as they were let into the visiting section.

  He was not the only one whose looks had changed. Barry was shocked to see how poorly Colin looked. His dark hair was greasy, his face gaunt and unshaven, and he had a hollow look in his eyes. He seemed to shuffle rather than walk, and his prison-issue denims looked filthy and crumpled. At first, Colin didn’t recognise his friend without his glasses. Then, when Colin sat down opposite him, Barry noticed how Colin sort of crouched and darted frightened glances around the room.

  ‘I have been trying to come and see you for months,’ Barry said.

  Colin did not reply and Barry patted his suit lapel. ‘I got a job and bought this so I’d look respectable. I’m working as a trainee plumber and I really love it. I’ll work with a qualified bloke when I finish my training.’

  Colin still said nothing, and Barry began to feel nervous.

  ‘I wanted to come and say that I never meant to make out that you threatened me. They slapped me about and sort of put words into my mouth. Truth was, when everyone got to hear about the escape, it give me a lot of respect. I’d never been so popular. Everyone wanted to be my friend.’

  Colin still stayed silent, and Barry was finding the one-sided conversation difficult. He blurted out that he had passed his driving test.

  ‘On the second attempt. I failed the first one ’cos I didn’t indicate I was turning left and I got a couple of the road-safety questions wrong. Where can you park on a motorway was one. I said that I could park on the hard shoulder, but that’s wrong. You are not allowed to park anywhere on motorways. Did you know that?’

  Colin stayed mute.

  ‘What I should have said was, in an emergency you can stay on the hard shoulder to call for help. It was a trick question.’

  As Barry looked at Colin, he noticed beads of sweat running down his forehead. It was awful, and he couldn’t understand why Colin wouldn’t talk to him. He was certain that his friend blamed him for his arrest and capture, but he had only been trying to help.

  ‘Listen, Colin, I’d do anything for you. I’d even swap places with you again, if it would help.’

  The bell to signal the visiting time was over was going to ring at any moment. Barry was almost in tears, and then, slowly, Colin reached over to grip his hand.

  ‘No . . . ooo . . . No . . . not your fau . . . fault.’ It was hard to understand what he was saying as his speech was so slow.

  ‘Why you talkin’ funny?’ Barry asked.

  ‘I can . . .’t s . . . top sllurr . . . ing . . . sin . . . ce . . . I hh . . . hit my . . . my he . . . ad . . . when I fell.’

  ‘Bloody hell!’ Barry exclaimed, and held onto Colin’s hand. ‘Have you seen Karen and the baby?’

  Colin shook his head, and Barry leaned in closer to whisper.

  ‘Did the officers do this to you?’

  Colin nodded, with tears in his eyes.

  ‘Does Karen know what happened, or the state you’re in?’

  Colin shook his head and tried to explain, but he stammered so badly that it took a long time for him to say that he had no money to buy a phone card to make calls. Barry knew that he couldn’t write a letter about being assaulted because the prison officers checked letters. If they saw anything like that, they would destroy it.

  As Barry sat listening, Colin’s stammer got worse as he became more upset. Barry was sorry to hear that Karen had not been to see him and that she and the baby had moved out of their flat and in with her parents.

  ‘You can write though, beg her to come and see you and then explain everything. Promise me you’ll write to her?’ Barry said, looking directly into Colin’s eyes.

  The bell rang. Neither man was ready to say goodbye, but the officers told the prisoners to go back to their cells, and there was nothing they could do. Colin gave Barry a weak smile as he joined the line-up of inmates, and then a small wave of his hand before wiping his tears on his shirt cuff.

  Barry sat for a while, feeling wretched and sad. Colin had been such a bright spark, really intelligent and, more than anything, a man with a dream of his future. He was determined to go straight and had been so excited about becoming a dad. He adored his young wife and should have his whole life ahead of him, but now he seemed broken. Barry felt awful because he had encouraged the escape, and now it had destroyed Colin’s hopes.

  Barry went to the exit, where he recognised the officer who was standing by the doors. He knew he shouldn’t, but he was so upset about Colin that he stopped and glared at him.

  ‘You bastards, what you done to Colin? He can’t even talk right any more.’

  The officer hardly recognised Barry, but then stepped back a fraction.

  ‘Don’t you go pointing the finger at any of us. He did a runner, made everyone look like idiots. He fell. No one touched or pushed him. He fell, all right? And, if you really are his mate, then you give him some advice. Tell him to behave himself. Tell him to stop fighting the system, and to go and have some sessions with the therapist for anger control. Because, if he goes on the way he’s going, he’ll be banged up for a few more years.’

  Barry walked out and into the visitors’ car park, where he had left his ten-year-old red Ford Escort. It had a lot of mileage on the clock, but he owned it. He sat inside it, watching all the visitors leaving in their various vehicles – wives and kids, brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers – and it made him feel deeply for his friend. Colin had no one. He had not seen Karen or his son since the child’s birth, and that was about a year ago.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Later that day, Barry was still so distressed that he almost walked out of McDonalds without paying for his hamburger and chips. He caught himself and delved into his pocket for the right money, before taking his tray to a table to eat his meal. By the time he had finished, he knew what he was going to do and he was going to do it now.

  Barry hoped that he had the right address. He remembered Colin talking about his father-in-law’s decorating business, which was near his home. He got help at the library from an assistant to look through the Yellow Pages for the address of Scott’s Decorators. Then they used the register of voters and found the home address in a nearby street.

  It was early evening, and it had taken Barry a good two hours to drive there. The small end-of-terrace house was spotless. The garden was well cared for, with potted plants in large urns by the sage-green front door. It all looked freshly painted and well maintained, as befitting the house of a builder and decorator.

  He rang the doorbell, and waited. He was nervous, and kept on patting his tie and fiddling with his collar to make it sit flat. The door opened and suddenly Karen was facing him. He recognised her from the photographs he had seen in the cell he’d shared with Colin.

  ‘Hello, Karen,’ he said quietly, realising that she was even prettier in real life.

  She looked at him, puzzled, wondering who he was. ‘Yes, can I help you?’ she asked.

  ‘I’m Barry, a friend of your husband’s.’

  Before she could say anything, there was a wild yell. Crawling towards her shapely legs at an astonishing pace, Barry saw a blue-eyed toddler. Now a year old wi
th a head full of dark hair, he was the spitting image of Colin, and he chuckled with joy as Karen bent down to scoop him up in her arms.

  ‘Justin, you be a good boy.’

  At that moment, an elderly man came up the small garden path and stood directly behind Barry.

  ‘Who’s this?’ he asked sharply.

  ‘Hi, Dad. He says he’s a friend of Colin’s, but I don’t know him.’

  Next, Karen’s mother came to the door to ask what was happening.

  ‘He’s another convict like that no-good husband of hers, and he’s not welcome in my house,’ Karen’s father said, wagging his finger at Barry.

  ‘Please, Mr Scott, I’m just asking for a few minutes of your time,’ Barry pleaded.

  ‘We don’t want anything to do with Colin or anyone connected to him. You can clear off and tell him my daughter is going to divorce him,’ he said, and started to close the door.

  Karen’s mother stepped forward and held the door open. ‘We should at least listen to what this young man has to say.’

  Her husband turned his back and started to walk away, but his wife was firm. ‘And that includes you as well, my dear!’

  They all sat in the nicely furnished lounge, which had a floral carpet, velvet sofa and matching chairs. Barry had never in his life had to deal with a task like he was now facing. He knew he would have to keep calm and speak steadily, as he could sense Karen’s parents’ mistrust and hostility after he had told them who he was. Karen held the little boy on her lap as he cuddled a soft teddy bear.

  Barry took a deep breath and, as nervous as he was, he knew it was very important that he explain everything properly.

  ‘Colin wanted more than anything to be with Karen at the birth. He was heartbroken when the prison wouldn’t let him, and he became very depressed.’

  ‘Well, he only made things worse by trying to escape,’ Mr Scott said.

  ‘That wasn’t Colin’s idea. It was mine. He didn’t want to do it, but I persuaded him it would work and then he and Karen could be together,’ Barry said.

  Mr Scott let out a huffing sound. ‘And once the baby was born? What was he going to do then . . . go on the run again?’

  ‘Honestly, he was going to give himself up. He didn’t want to cause any trouble for any of you. He just wanted to be with Karen at the birth.’

  They sat in silence as Barry broke down in tears. ‘He’s in a bad way and very depressed. If you saw him, you wouldn’t believe the state he’s in.’

  ‘What do you mean? Is he sick?’ Karen asked.

  ‘I think he was badly beaten by the prison officers, but I don’t know the full story as he can’t speak properly and slurs his words.’

  ‘I don’t understand. Is that because of the beating?’

  Barry nodded before continuing. ‘He didn’t escape to do any crimes or hurt no one. He just wanted to be at the hospital for you. You’ve got to go visit him and let him see and hold his baby boy. It’s only right.’

  Karen hugged her little boy close and started crying. Her mother had to go and fetch a box of tissues, as she had started crying, too. Only her father was still surly and unforgiving, as he refused to believe a word of what Barry had told them.

  ‘You’ve got to visit him, Karen. I will drive you there and back whenever you want to see him,’ Barry said.

  ‘No grandson of mine is going to be taken to a bloody prison. Having my daughter married to that man is bad enough.’

  Barry stood up, facing Karen’s father.

  ‘That’s not fair. You know that he was straight during the time he was working for you. He was doing good and got his life on track. Are you saying that doesn’t count for anything? Didn’t he work hard for you? Didn’t he love your daughter? Won’t you at least help a man who risked everything to be with Karen when she gave birth? Your son-in-law is not a bad bloke, but you leave him inside with no hope and he will turn bad.’

  Karen’s father was still not convinced and his wife asked to speak to him alone in the kitchen while she made a pot of tea.

  ‘Are you blind?’ his wife asked.

  ‘What do you mean by that?’

  ‘Can’t you tell how much Karen misses Colin? Deep down she still loves him so, when we go back in there, you will support her decision, whatever it is. Do I make myself clear?’

  Her husband paused. ‘Yes, if that’s what you want,’ he finally agreed.

  They went back into the living room, carrying the tea and a tray of biscuits.

  ‘Do you want to see him?’ Karen’s father asked, though it was still clear that he disapproved.

  Karen looked at her mother. She had always found it difficult to stand up to her father, even more so lately, as she and the baby were living under his roof. Her mother nodded and Karen turned to her father.

  ‘I want to see him, Dad. I don’t know if we’ll ever get back together, but I need to see him and at least talk to him. Colin has the right to see Justin and, as he’s just a baby, he won’t even know he’s in a prison.’

  It was agreed and that, whenever Karen was ready to visit, Barry would drive her there. Barry was able to drive home feeling that he had finally done the right thing. His own life had changed greatly since the escape and, unlike Colin’s, it was entirely for the better. Now he hoped that his dear friend’s life would change for the better as well.

  Chapter Eighteen

  The visit from Barry had made Colin face the truth. He was destroying himself, drowning in self-pity and letting the system win. He decided to do whatever he could to improve his life. He signed on for anger-management therapy. Perhaps with expert help, he could control his stammer, and find a better way to deal with all of his unruly feelings. He was also accepted onto a writing course, which gave him a chance to express himself and something new to think about.

  Colin’s stammer didn’t go away, but he found that nothing halted the flow of words when he wrote things down. Writing helped him communicate and feel better about himself. His rehabilitation was not immediate, but what drastically raised his spirits was the news that Karen was going to come and visit him.

  Barry was as good as his word. When Karen wanted a visit, he collected her and waited in the car park for her to come out again. He never asked to see his old friend then, because he felt they needed the time to be together as a family. He visited on his own, and as often as he could.

  After a few visits, Karen brought Justin, who could now stand and totter along, to meet his dad.

  Colin was sitting, waiting expectantly. When he saw Karen heading towards him, and holding his son’s tiny hand, he felt an incredible joy.

  ‘This is your daddy,’ she said as they drew close.

  Colin opened his arms and the little boy was unsure for a moment, and then said ‘Dada’, before holding out his arms, too. Colin realised Karen must have shown Justin pictures and explained who his father was. He picked him up and held him close and loved the silky feel of his thick curly hair and the smell of his baby skin as the boy said ‘Dada’ over and over.

  Karen continued to come back. She loved watching Colin with Justin, but their visits were always charged with sadness. It seemed that as soon as she relaxed and felt comfortable with Colin, the visiting time was up and she had to leave.

  They did not discuss divorce, and she did not seriously think about it. She still loved Colin and she wanted to help him get better so that they could have a life together. To add to her hopes, her father had at last accepted her decision and was now writing to the authorities to say that he would have a job waiting for Colin on his release.

  Colin was very different now, much calmer and quieter than he had been before.

  Writing had proved to be an incredible means of healing for him, and he began to study with great enthusiasm. He often gave Karen a list of books he wanted to read and she happily brought stacks of them in during her visits. Over time, he grew more confident in his ability and even planned to study journalism.

  Karen trea
sured the letters she got from him, each one thoughtful and filled with his love for her and Justin. His writing gave her a greater insight into the person he really was, a tender man who had known hardship, but whose desire now was only to make amends.

  Colin’s description of seeing his son born was touching and very beautiful. Karen kept that letter closest to her heart. She planned to read it out in church at their son’s christening, but she was waiting until Colin was released so they could celebrate that blessed event together, as a family.

  She now knew why Colin had wanted to call their son Barry. They didn’t argue, but agreed with all their hearts that Barry would be his second name, and Barry himself would be Justin’s godfather.

  Justin Barry Burrows would never know the details of his father’s outrageous escape or the painful aftermath that had changed the course of his life. By the time Colin was released from prison, his speech was nearly back to normal, he had won three writing awards and was beginning a career as a trainee journalist with a local paper. What Justin did know was that he had a loving and happy family, and a kind-hearted Uncle Barry who drew great fake tattoos.

  Lynda La Plante

  BACKLASH

  Two unsolved murders. Three confessions. One suspect.

  But is the man in DCI Anna Travis’s custody a serial killer . . . or just a compulsive liar?

  It is late at night on a notorious council estate in east London when the police pull over a van. Inside, they discover the body of a young woman.

  The driver confesses, not just to one murder – but to three.

  Five years earlier, a 13-year-old girl disappeared in broad daylight on a busy London street. The unsolved case has haunted DCS James Langton ever since. But when the case is reopened, it falls to Anna to investigate and bring the killer to trial.

  Meanwhile, the murder team is hard at work verifying the details of the van driver’s confessions and desperately trying to uncover the identities of his other victims.