The truth will out
Hanging back to avoid getting spotted himself, he made his way over to the ally and poked his little nose just far enough around the corner to get a glimpse of Enid rather shiftily trying to gain access via a small cellar-window down at ground level. Needless to say, he was far too large to fit through it himself and as he too came to the same conclusion, stood and made his way further down the alley to look for another way in.
Winston carefully made his way into the alleyway, using the bins, crates, and rubbish in general to obscure his movements from Enid or anyone else for that matter.
As he made his way up to the cellar window, he could see that it was unlocked and could easily facilitate him or a child (with a squeeze). There was also evidence of the window having been used regularly to gain access. Meanwhile, Enid had vanished into a doorway further up the alleyway.
The Devil on My Shoulder
Curiosity: You should follow him.
Winston: But et looks like de children entered 'ere. We should go in 'ere and try to get ahead of 'im.
Curiosity: Hmmm ... For once, you have a good point.
Winston: 'im will 'ave to try to find us again.
Curiosity: Oh! Maby we can warn Angela!
Winston: We are nat 'ere to obstruct justice.
Curiosity: Noooooo, no, no, no. Of course not.
Curiosity: You should follow him.
Winston: But et looks like de children entered 'ere. We should go in 'ere and try to get ahead of 'im.
Curiosity: Hmmm ... For once, you have a good point.
Winston: 'im will 'ave to try to find us again.
Curiosity: Oh! Maby we can warn Angela!
Winston: We are nat 'ere to obstruct justice.
Curiosity: Noooooo, no, no, no. Of course not.
He carefully peered into the gloom of the cellar before opening the window and sliding through.
On the other side, it took a moment to catch his bearings, but he appeared to be in a dormant boiler room. He climbed down the boxes that had been conveniently stacked on the side for access and made his way across the room to the door. It was ajar and through the gap, he could see various options. As he began to explore, he heard an echoing voice.
"... no ... ... not more ... ... sorry." That was Angela? He was sure it was her, but the words were too far off. He made his way through the building, avoiding the brick-a-brack of the empty warehouse. The voice turned into several voices. Angela's was certainly stronger than the others. Not louder per se, but more confident, though at the moment she appeared to be very upset. The other voices were softer and less eloquent and he could now clearly tell they were of the other street children.
He creeped up to the door leading to the large room in which they convened.
"It's all over. They cannot get in touch with my parents, can they ..." Angela's words were that of a defeated soul.
"We'll ge' ol'dodgy-bob to pretend to be yer da'. It'll be fine.'" Offered one of her companions, but Angela shook her head with a smile. She appeared to be the oldest of the lot by a few years at least. "No Sam. He's called 'dodgy' for a good reason. That would never work."
"Bu' no one cared before now?!" Let out one of the scrappier girls in the group. "I know, but they would not accept my excuses anymore once I'd been accused of stealing. There's just ..." The hopelessness of her expressive body language finished the sentence for her as she suppressed a little sob.
"But ya did not take that swag. None of us lot did." Said one of the boys, looking around for support, which he received in spades. Winston could think of no reason they would all sit around lying to themselves in a conversation they thought was private, not when they all seemed to want this so badly. "They said they have an eyewitness, they FOUND the money under our stall AND without being able to speak to my parents, they had no choice ... SO they said." Angela failed to suppress a little sob this time. Winston guessed at just who the eyewitness might be and scowled at the thought of Sunpha playing all the sweetness for the benefit of the media while all along, taking out the competition using underhanded tactics such as this.
There was a shadow on the stairwell as someone approached the top of the stairs. It must be Enid. Angela had said that they only had suspicions of her status at present, but if Enid found her down here ... Winston picked up an empty can from the floor and chucked it up the stairs, before dashing out of the hallway into one of the other side rooms. The can clattered and then rattled it's way back down the stairs noisily.
This had the desired effect on the crowd of children, that all, within a few moments, had panicked, rushed and scurried out of the room in a variety of directions.
Enid came running down the stairs, cursing the apparent random bad luck that had led to him blowing his cover, but it was too late to see or hear anything meaningful. Winston was guilty of feeling a little glee as the reporter poked around in the now-empty room for anything he could find.
The Devil on My Shoulder
Curiosity: He know's something.
Winston: Yuh, we should leave.
Curiosity: No way. Lets confront him!
Winston: WHAT?!
Curiosity: Yeah, be all like 'the voice of god' in this old building and intimidate him!
Winston: NO! Me can nat do dis. Ef he finds me 'ere, me es en trouble to!
Curiosity: But if he knows things, then perhaps he can help clear Angela's name?
Winston: Even ef me get kicked out. It'll be worth et ef Angela cun be exonerated.
Curiosity: Thadda boy! So we should confront him. For Angela's sake!
Winston: Me no gud at deception dough.
Curiosity: Then don't LIE. Tell the truth with confidence.
Winston: OK, for Angela.
Curiosity: FOR JUSTICE!
Curiosity: He know's something.
Winston: Yuh, we should leave.
Curiosity: No way. Lets confront him!
Winston: WHAT?!
Curiosity: Yeah, be all like 'the voice of god' in this old building and intimidate him!
Winston: NO! Me can nat do dis. Ef he finds me 'ere, me es en trouble to!
Curiosity: But if he knows things, then perhaps he can help clear Angela's name?
Winston: Even ef me get kicked out. It'll be worth et ef Angela cun be exonerated.
Curiosity: Thadda boy! So we should confront him. For Angela's sake!
Winston: Me no gud at deception dough.
Curiosity: Then don't LIE. Tell the truth with confidence.
Winston: OK, for Angela.
Curiosity: FOR JUSTICE!
Winston took another can from the floor and placed it over his mouth. When he spoke, he attempted to lower the tone of his voice and add a little growl to it. "EnId BlIgHtY! WhAt ArE yUo DoInG hErE!"
Enid, to his credit froze, but managed not to show his surprise as he replied in a perfectly composed fashion. "My job. Why? What are YOU doing here ... Winston?" The final word, Winston's name, came with some genuine surprise. ... Oh you suck so bad ... "Wat? I ... N ... Oh, fine." Winston dropped the can and came out of the shadows of the adjacent room. "'ow did yuh know et was me so quick?" He asked, quite genuinely disappointed that his genius has not worked.
Enid produced a pencil from nowhere as he responded. "My job demands a good ear and you are the only eloquent ferret I know, speaking through a can or otherwise." He said plainly. "So, why ARE you here?"
Winston put on his sternest of stern faces. "No pens. No pads. No quotes." He glared at Enid's pencil.
Enid considered this for a moment and then shrugged. The pencil vanished as quickly as it had appeared. "Very well. So?"
He gave a satisfied nod as he moved forward a little. "Me followe' yuh intuh de alleyway." He watched Enid's expression, which did not live up to it's namesake ... It did not 'express' much of anything. "Me don't tink Angela did steal de money. An' me tink yuh 'ave information me might be able tuh use tuh find dis out."
Enid nodded in agreement. "If I did. Why would I share it?" Enid's questions was very carefully curated so not to be a challenge as such, but not entirely simple pragmatics.
"Me ave information me tink yuh might want. We cud do an exchange. Yuh 'elp me clear Angela's name an' den yuh get an exclusive information an' an interview wid Angela painin' 'er story."
The reporter considered this for a moment. He didn't seem entirely convinced that Winston could uphold his side of the deal. "I could just run with the story that another contestant is hanging around dark abandoned warehouses chasing orphans." Another skilfully orchestrated statement that ran the line between fact and threat so finely it made a knat's private parts shrink pre-emptively.
Winston nodded. "Yuh cud do dat, yeh. Ting es, yuh could take me up on my affa and den do dat anyway if me don't come trough on my end af de bargain." He paused for dramatic affect. "Me know Angela, an yuh know me know da street kids. Me cun find dem, an 'er an she will talk tuh me. Do yuh tink she will talk tuh yuh widdout a gud reason?" Winston was now giving away hints, but he hoped it was worth it.
Enid took the bait. "Very well. That seems fair. You tell me what you know, then we can ..." Winston actually chuckled. "Haha! No way mun, me gat noting an yuh. Yuh already owe me one far throwing me unda de bus with Sunpha. Yuh tell ME what yuh know en ef I don't do da same, den you can publish dat yuh found me down 'ere. Seem tuh me dat yuh 'ave very little tuh loose an' me 'ave a lat." The reporter tilted his head to one side and shrugged again. "You have a point." ... OUSE! ... He started to dig around in his knapsack. "I have a trail of evidence that shows the death of Angela's parents. Furthermore, I have evidence that shows that she has been living on the streets for some time now and faking the correspondences from her parents to the competition organisers in order to avoid detection." Winston's eyes widened a little. If this was true, then that was quite the statement. "Finally, I have a witness that suggests that Angela was not the one that stole the money and that in fact, it was one of the OTHER contestants. This witness, however, is reluctant to come forward at present, though there are several accusations being put toward the individual in question."
That was a lot of information and Winston took a moment to allow it all to sink in. "OK. Me cun confirm wat yuh say about Angela is true, dat she es one af de street kids. An, me suspect yuh es talking about Sunpha. Needda af dese tings es helpful tuh yuh, me know. But, gimme a day, un me cun talk tuh Angela an' get 'ere to give yuh 'ere complete side af 'er stary. De only' challenge will be gettin' Sunpha to withdraw 'er accusation. Unless dis es gonna lead to Angela being back in de competition, den me don't see 'er 'elpin' yuh out wid a stary. An' DAT es something me tink me cun 'elp wid. Ef yuh can write a winnin' stary af a poor arphaned girl struglin' to make et in a crul world, den me can convince de judges tuh take 'er back en."
Enid seemed to think this was worth a gamble. "OK. You have a deal. Here's where you can get in touch when you need to." He smiled. "I will get started on the heartstrings article."
The two of them both nodded and left ... Well, Winston made his way out of sight ... He still had plans for the evening.
Continued here...
