Chapters (48)
- Cover
- THEFEUD
- Dedication
- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
- PROLOGUE
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- THIRTY-NINE
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- FORTY-THREE
The one thing that did prick Eddie’s ears was something that Iris next door had said. Annoyed with the boys making a racket outside, she had confronted them and chased them with her rolling pin. ‘They were laughing at me, Eddie, taking the right piss, they were. The one that spoke to me – called me a silly old cow and told me to fuck off – wasn’t a Cockney. He had an accent, a strange accent. I couldn’t say where it was from, but his voice had a country lilt to it.
From day one, Eddie was positive that the O’Haras were behind his dad’s untimely death and Iris’s bit of info only confirmed his belief. Jimmy O’Hara and his motley crew all originated from the Cambridgeshire area and their accents were just how Iris had described. With no actual proof, all Eddie could do was sit back and bide his time. He was positive that the young boys had been sent to his father’s as a ploy. He was also sure that somebody much bigger and stronger had committed the actual murder.
The police had told Eddie the reason why none of the neighbours had heard his father’s screams. The coroner said Harry had been gagged at the time of his death, which had occurred between midnight and 2 a.m. on the morning of Christmas Day. His official report stated that Harry had eleven serious injuries, among which were a broken jaw, bones and a fractured skull. A baseball bat had been used on Harry’s head and the rest of his body had been kicked around like a football. With so many injuries, the actual cause of death wasn’t properly identified. The coroner had said he was 90% certain that Harry had died of head injuries, but couldn’t be absolutely positive. The only thing everybody could be sure about was that Harry Mitchell had died in one of the worst ways imaginable.
Picturing Jimmy O’Hara and his cronies gloating, Eddie smashed his fist against the bedroom wall. O’Hara had held a party round his on Christmas Eve to give himself an alibi, Eddie was certain of that. He obviously hadn’t committed the murder himself, but he must have organised it.
Seeing Jessica walk into the room, Ed tried to pull himself together. ‘Are you OK, love? What have you done to your hand?’ she asked, noticing his knuckles were bleeding.
‘I caught it in the drawer,’ Eddie lied.
Jessica stood on tiptoes and put her slender arms around his shoulders. ‘Me and the kids are ready. Shall we make a move now?’
Eddie nodded. He just wanted the day to be over.