Текст книги "The Lake House"

Автор книги: Helen Phifer

сообщить о нарушении

Текущая страница: 8 (всего у книги 20 страниц)

Chapter Nine

Annie parked outside the police station and wondered who the battered, rusty Ford Transit van belonged to. Her three days off had gone so fast she couldn’t believe she was back on shift once more. She walked into the station and could hear raised voices in the front office. Heading that way to see what was going on she was surprised to see two men arguing with Cathy.

‘Look, gents, I’ve told you we are doing everything we can. I have officers and staff out now door knocking in the area you last saw him. Are you sure he hasn’t just buggered off somewhere else?’

The older of the two placed a hand on the other’s arm, trying to placate him.

‘Look, if we thought he’d pissed off back home or on to somewhere else do you think we’d be here bothering you? I’d rather cut my own throat than ask you lot for help. It’s a last resort that we’re here darkening your doorstep. We’ve checked with family, friends and anyone else we can think of. He hasn’t been seen since Thursday afternoon when we dropped him off near the caravan park and no one has heard from him. His phone was going to voicemail but now it’s dead. So you tell me, where the bloody hell is he?’

Annie stepped forward. ‘Where exactly did you drop him off on Thursday?’

Cathy let out a sigh of relief, glad to have someone to back her up. The other wimps had made a hasty retreat upstairs to the far end of the building to the refs room when they’d seen the travellers storming up the steps.

‘Near that caravan park on the way out of the town, the one between the big houses that lead onto the shore. We dropped him off to have a good look around – well, to knock on a few doors and see if anyone needed any odd jobs doing. You know, a bit of gardening, path cleaning – we does anything. He was supposed to phone up and tell us to pick him up at four. We waited and waited and he never rang. I phoned him and it just rang out so we thought he might be busy. When it got to seven and there wasn’t a peep from him we drove down there to see if we could spot him. We couldn’t find him anywhere. We walked all over that caravan park, checked along the shore. He’s nowhere to be seen. Now you tell me how a man whose idea of exercise is lifting a can of lager to his mouth could have gone anywhere and not bothered to let his family and friends know. Your boss here doesn’t believe us. She thinks we’re all out to rip little old ladies off. Just because there are a few bad eggs who do, you can’t tar us all with the same brush.’

Cathy opened her mouth then closed it again, obviously not sure that what she was about to say would actually help the situation.

‘I understand. I was in that area myself on Thursday afternoon, but I never saw him. Why don’t you let me make some inquiries and I’ll get back in touch with you as soon as I’ve spoken to some of the people around there. I cover that area and I pretty much know everyone. Give me your phone number and I’ll ring you as soon as I can.’

The men looked at each other and nodded.

‘I suppose so. You won’t go messing us around, will you? Seamus has a wife back home waiting for him and we’d like to get back home ourselves.’

He recited his number. Annie scribbled it onto a piece of paper. She thanked him and showed them to the door.

Cathy looked at her. ‘My office now.’

Annie thought that she would tell her where to go if she was going to bollock her for only trying to defuse the situation; she followed her down and shut the door behind her. She hadn’t even booked on duty yet so she had no idea who would be in the office listening to their conversation.

‘Thank God you arrived when you did. Were you really down there or did you just say that to fob the thieving little bastards off?’

‘I went to a job at Beckett House. Do you know it?’

‘I do, although I haven’t been there for years. Is old Martha Beckett still alive?’

‘She is, very much. The thing is she reported that a young man who looked and sounded to be of traveller origin had gone missing in her cellar.’

Cathy spat the coffee she had just slurped all over her shirt.

‘Jesus, please tell me you’re winding me up. Why didn’t I know about this? Did you search the cellar?’

‘You were busy with the severed head and the call came in just after I’d come on shift. Yes, I searched the cellar and had a look around the grounds. When we spoke to Miss Beckett it sounded as if she was slightly delusional.’

‘What did you do?’

‘I came back and put an intel report and a vulnerable adult form in for her. She’s in her nineties and living in that big old house.’

‘Shit, I fobbed them off yesterday when they came. I’d already had three complaints from residents about them being overly persuasive and overpriced when they knocked on doors. So where is this Seamus? Has he shacked up with some bird he’s met at the caravan park? Or maybe he hit the big time and robbed Martha Beckett and didn’t want to split the profits?’

‘Or maybe he is missing? You see, I actually believed her when I spoke to her. She said that the cellar is a bad place and that her younger brother went down there when he was nine years old and was never seen again.’

‘Argh.’

Cathy buried her head in her hands and shook it. Annie waited for her to look up.

‘Right, you, me and two PCSOs are going to pay Martha Beckett a visit. We’ll see if she’s changed her story. Have you ever seen the film Arsenic and Old Lace?’

Annie shook her head.

‘Really? Well, you should. It’s a brilliant old black and white film, but to cut a long story short it’s about two sisters who run a boarding house and let in male guests. They think they are being kind and poison them to end their suffering, then hide their bodies in the cellar. Maybe it’s Martha Beckett’s favourite film and she’s decided to copy it.’

‘Well, that’s all very good, boss, but the problem is, how would a ninety-year-old woman who looks quite frail manage to drag the body of a young, fit man down those steps – which are really steep – into the cellar and then hide his body. Because me and George searched all over and couldn’t find anything.’

‘Well, maybe she didn’t put him in the cellar. I don’t know; it’s just a theory. Come on, we’d better get there and search the house before the shit hits the fan.’

Annie didn’t agree with a word Cathy had just said. She had a hunch, a very real one, that Miss Martha Beckett had been telling the truth all along and that at least two people had disappeared from that cellar, and that one day they would find the skeletons of them both.

‘I have a bad feeling about this, Annie, a really bad feeling.’

Annie nodded. She couldn’t agree more. Then she went to get her kit on. As she walked down the corridor to the locker room she lifted her fingers to check the crucifix that her dear friend Father John had given to her when she was about to go into battle with the Shadow Man to save Sophie’s soul. It was still around her neck, tucked under her shirt. Not only had he helped her to fight the scariest demon she’d ever come across, he’d also been there to help her put the skeleton of scary Betsy Baker to rest. She lifted it to her lips and kissed it, asking God for all the help she could get, and hoped that she wouldn’t have to drag John – who at his age should be taking it easy – into this mess.

***

Henry parked the silver van in the hotel car park and turned off the engine. It was one of the classier establishments in Barrow. In fact it was probably the classiest with its imposing red sandstone blocks glowing in the setting sun. The car park was huge and he had parked the van in a far corner next to a copse of trees so they couldn’t be seen from any of the hotel windows. Megan had checked and found there were CCTV cameras but none of them was in the car park, which suited their needs perfectly. They were probably on camera entering the car park but he didn’t really care. The chances that the cameras were good enough to pick up the registration number were slim, and if they did they would dump the van and find another mode of transport.

There were a lot of cars so it must be busy inside. What they were waiting for was a woman to come out on her own. Preferably one who was a bit drunk, but they would take their chances. At Megan’s insistence whoever it was had to have long hair because she had this thing about women who looked down on others and had long hair that they loved as much as themselves, which Henry thought was stupid. At this very moment in time they weren’t in a position to pick and choose their victims, but he wanted to make her happy. Since last night she’d been very subdued and hadn’t made much conversation at all. A woman came out on her own who matched the profile perfectly, and she had black mascara trails down her cheeks.

‘Had a barney with her boyfriend. He keeps staring at the younger bird on the next table. I’ll bet you a fiver.’

Henry shook his head. ‘I think you’re probably right, which means she’s a no-go because her boyfriend will be out looking for her any minute.’

‘Nah, he’ll let her sulk for a bit. Come on, let’s do it.’

She began to open the door to go and ask her for a light when the sound of heavy footsteps running across the gravel path made her stay where she was. The boyfriend turned the corner and ran across to his girlfriend, pulling her into his arms.

‘Bollocks.’

‘What did I tell you? Far too risky. Megan, you really need to learn to be patient. You are going to get us both caught if you don’t start to assess situations and think of the risks.’

‘Why can’t you be wrong? Just for once. You get on my nerves sometimes, Henry.’

‘Because, my dear, I’m older and an awful lot wiser. I’ve been there, done that and worn the ‘Keep Calm I’m Only a Serial Killer’ T-shirt. Trust me, I don’t want to spoil your fun, but we need to do things properly. It’s not as if we have anywhere to be rushing off to now, is it?’

Megan grunted and he smiled to himself. The couple who had kissed and then kissed some more had made up and were walking back hand in hand to the hotel entrance. He wondered if she would ever realise how close she had come to her life ending in a bad way – probably not, unless she read the papers and was intelligent enough to put two and two together. Megan began to pick at the pink varnish on the end of her nails and he tutted, but stopped himself from complaining. It might just push her over the edge if he kept on finding fault with everything she did. All he wanted was for her to listen and learn and be happy.

He wasn’t sure what you would call their relationship. She was his only friend and, yes, he found her attractive and sometimes the need inside him for her was so fierce it scared him, but then at other times he found her immature, impatient and annoying. He supposed they were like any other couple who had their ups and downs, only all they had at the moment was each other, so they should really make the most of it. After another forty minutes a woman a lot older than the first one came out. She was clearly on her own because she was rooting around in her clutch bag for her car keys. She stumbled over the borders of the path and almost fell over. Catching herself in time, she began to giggle to herself.

‘She’s pissed. I hope she’s not thinking about driving home in that state.’

Henry nodded in agreement. He knew that she was the one and his senses had gone into overdrive. Like a predator circling its prey he watched her every move. Her car wasn’t too far away from the van and still out of range of the cameras. She walked over to the shiny white sports car that was out of most people’s price range and began pointing the keys and clicking them at the car. Nothing happened so she tried again, this time managing to tip the entire contents of her handbag all over the ground.

Before he could say anything Megan was out of the car and running towards her. She stopped and bent down to pick up the phone, purse, expensive lipstick and perfume and hand them back to her. The woman took them from her without so much as a thank you and Henry got out of the van and strolled around behind her. He looked around to make sure no one was heading their way and then he pulled the hammer from his pocket.

Megan tried to make conversation with her but she just ignored her as if she was something on the bottom of her shoe, so she stepped back and nodded at Henry who shrugged his shoulders. The woman, even though she was drunk, realised there was someone standing behind her and opened her mouth to scream, but he already had the hammer mid swing and it connected with the back of her head before a sound left her throat. The woman fell forward and Megan caught her. Between the two of them they managed to manhandle her across the car park and into the back of the van. Megan slammed the doors shut and stared at Henry.

‘What an absolute, ignorant bitch. She deserves everything she’s going to get.’

Henry agreed wholeheartedly with her and they both got into the car. He began to drive out of the car park onto the main road. Now as long as they didn’t get pulled over by the police they would be fine, because it would be pretty hard to explain the semi-conscious woman in the boot. He headed in the direction of Walney and their small torture chamber. He had two paper suits, latex gloves and hats they could wear once they got there because they didn’t want to risk leaving any evidence at the scene and the last time it had got messy, really messy.

‘Did you see her face when she realised you were standing behind her? Serves her right. Who did she think she was? She didn’t even say thank you. Would it have hurt to have said thank you? Urgh, people like her make me so angry. They think they’re so much better than everyone else when really they are worse. Normal people don’t treat anyone like that. I can’t wait to shave her fucking hair off and watch her face then – see if she manages a ‘please don’t shave my expensive hair extensions off’. Fuming I am, totally fuming.’

‘Really, I’d never have guessed.’

They drove the rest of the way in silence, with the occasional groan from the back of the van. They passed through the town centre without so much as seeing a police van. When they finally approached the field with the barn the road that led to it was deserted as well – no farmers tending to animals and no tattered blue and white crime-scene tape fluttering in the breeze surrounding the ramshackle barn. So the local police hadn’t yet located the body, which meant it would stink in there, really stink. It was just as well that he’d had the foresight to buy the protective overalls.

Megan jumped out of the van and opened the gate for him to drive straight through towards the barn. He drove around to the back where they were hidden from view from the roadside and switched the engine off. His heart had begun to race. As much as he liked to deny the enjoyment this gave him he couldn’t, because it wasn’t just fun for him. Killing was the biggest thrill ever and he relished it.

Chapter Ten

Annie, Cathy and two PCSOs got into the police van. Annie drove. She’d been to Beckett House before and knew exactly where she was going. The PCSOs chattered away in the back of the van and Annie smiled at their conversation. She was too nervous to join in and from the thunderous look on Cathy’s face she was probably thinking of the headache another serious crime would do for their figures at the next monthly meeting at headquarters. They drove past a couple of officers and Annie slowed, winding the window down.

‘Any luck finding our man?’

‘Nope, sorry; we’ve done the whole caravan park and spoken to loads of people and it’s a negative. We checked the cameras on the entrance to the park and there is no sign of a single male who matches the description even entering the park through the main gates.’

It was Cathy who leant forward to speak. ‘Well done; nice work. Where are the other two?’

‘Door knocking the houses to the left of the park – we were just going to visit that big house on the right.’

‘No need, we’re going there now. The elderly occupant told Annie on Thursday that a man had come to her house and then disappeared again. We’ll go and speak with her first and then can you two do the house a bit further down? Give us a shout when you’re finished and we can pick you up.’

Annie smiled at them and continued driving towards Beckett House. She turned in and drove slowly along the gravel until she reached the front of the house. Cathy whistled in admiration.

‘That’s a serious house for one person to live in, don’t you think? Our man could be anywhere inside there. For all we know she might be keeping him hostage. Have you seen that film Misery?’

Annie had seen that film but she doubted that frail old Martha Beckett had kidnapped an Irish traveller and was keeping him tied up somewhere in the house. And besides, she’d checked it the other day with George and hadn’t found anyone. She wondered if Cathy did anying but watch movies in her spare time, seeing as how she compared every scenario to a scene from one.

‘We checked the house from top to bottom. It was empty. There wasn’t any man tied to a bed with cauterised stumps for legs.’

Cathy grinned. ‘Well, we’ll see then, won’t we? Let’s hope that you and George did a thorough check; then you’ll have nothing to worry about.’

Annie laughed but at the same time she wondered if it was possible. Had they missed a room? It was a big house and there were probably a lot of nooks and storage cupboards. She hoped not, otherwise she’d never live with herself if they found his body stuffed into a cubbyhole.

All four of them got out of the van and the front door opened. This time a much younger woman was standing there.

‘Can I help you?’

Cathy looked at Annie and shrugged. ‘Yes, you can. Is Miss Beckett available? We really need to speak to her.’

‘She’s in the kitchen. Is this about the missing man?’

‘Yes it is, and who told you there was a missing man?’

Cathy stepped closer to the woman.

‘Martha did. I was off on Thursday but when I came Friday morning she was in right state. She hadn’t slept and looked as if she had aged twenty years, and when you’re in your nineties that’s not a good look.’

Annie stifled a giggle. She liked the housekeeper or cleaner or whatever the woman was. Cathy nodded her head. For once she was at a loss for words.

‘Well, you’d best come in then. I suppose Martha will be pleased to see you. She is ever so worried about that man, even though I told her he was probably going to steal the best silver.’

All four of them followed her down to the kitchen. This time it smelt of fresh gingerbread and coffee. Annie felt her stomach grumble and put her hand on it as if to tell it to be quiet. Martha stood up from her chair to greet them. Recognising Annie, she smiled.

‘It’s nice to see you again, officer. Have you found him? Please tell me that you have. I’ve been sick with worry since I last spoke to you.’

Annie wanted to hug the frail woman but didn’t know if Cathy would appreciate it, so she walked over and took hold of her hand, gesturing for her to sit down.

‘I’m sorry to say that we haven’t, Miss Beckett, and now his friends who were with him on Thursday have come to report him missing. So you were probably the last person who saw and spoke to him. I know you’ve already told me what happened, but would you mind telling me again so the inspector here can listen? And then would it be possible for us to search your house again?’

‘Well, of course, dear. You can search anywhere you like. I’m so sorry that he hasn’t turned up; I’ll never forgive myself for letting him go down into that cellar on his own. I told him it was dangerous but he laughed and told me he wasn’t scared of cellars, but he should have been because now he’s gone. We won’t ever find him, just like we never found Joe.’

Cathy looked at Annie; arching one eyebrow Annie shook her head. She knew exactly what her boss was thinking – that the woman was cuckoo – only she wasn’t.

‘Joe is Miss Beckett’s brother who went missing when he was nine years old. He went into the cellar and was never seen again.’

Cathy grimaced.

Annie kept hold of the hand, careful not to tug on the almost see-through wrinkled skin.

‘We’ll start at the top and work our way down and all four of us will go into the cellar. Is that okay with you?’

‘I suppose it will have to be, dear. Do you really need to go back down in the cellar? You’re all women. What if it’s down there, waiting for you all? What would I do then?’

‘I’m pretty sure between us four we can cope with whatever it is. In a way I wish it would be and then we could capture it and find out where everyone is and put your mind at rest.’

Martha clasped Annie’s warm, soft hand with her stiff fingers.

‘You’re a dear; please take care. I don’t want any more blood on my hands. I would never forgive myself if something happened to any of you. My housekeeper will escort you around the house but I will not let her go into the cellar. She’s far too precious to me and I couldn’t manage without her help.’

Annie glanced at the younger woman who’d let them in and actually saw her breathe out a sigh of relief.

The two PCSOs looked confused and Cathy looked amused, which meant that only Annie was actually taking anything seriously. That was both dangerous and downright stupid. She couldn’t say anything because she didn’t want them thinking she was cracking up, which was the distinct impression Cathy had formed of Miss Beckett. Annie stood up and nodded at the woman who had been given the babysitting duty; she looked Annie straight in the eye and never wavered. She believed everything her employer had told them, so at least that was two of them who thought they were up against something no one had ever come across before – at least not that Annie had ever heard about, and she’d heard a lot of stuff over the years. The woman held her hand out to Annie.

‘I’m Dawn; I suppose we should know who we all are just in case.’

‘I’m Annie, this is Cathy, my boss, and these two are Sam and Tracy.’

‘Good. Come on then, let’s get this over with. I’ve been in every room myself since Thursday – except the cellar – and nothing is missing. There is no sign of this man.’

All four of them followed Dawn out into the hallway. As they passed the cellar with the assorted bolts and padlocks, Cathy looked at Annie. ‘That’s the cellar.’

‘Well, whatever is down there won’t be getting out this side of the century, will it?’

Dawn looked at Cathy, about to say something, then apparently thought better of it and carried on walking towards the stairs.

‘The attic is big and there are a lot of storage cupboards up there, but it won’t hurt to check them again.’

‘No, it won’t. We need you to show us every single space in the house that you can gain access to. I want it searched from top to bottom and if we find anything then we will need to call in forensics.’

‘You don’t think that me or Martha had anything to do with this, surely? I wasn’t even here. It was my day off and I’d spent the whole morning in Furness General with my twelve-year-old son. Fell off his blasted skateboard…again.’

‘Not really, but it can’t be ruled out. Sorry to put it so bluntly. To be honest I think our Seamus has helped himself and then done one so he didn’t have to split the profits with his mates, so there’s nothing to worry about.’

Annie kept quiet, letting her boss do the talking for a change.

‘Is Miss Beckett of sound mind, if you don’t mind me asking?’

‘Yes, she is. She’s old and frail but she’s as sharp as you or I. I don’t think she would make something up like that; she’s such a lovely woman. She is very quiet and keeps herself to herself. She wouldn’t phone the police if she didn’t believe in her heart that this man had gone missing.’

Annie believed her wholeheartedly. She couldn’t say this in front of an audience, and she didn’t know how much Cathy believed in the whole sixth sense, psychic thing. It wasn’t something they’d ever discussed, but it was something Annie had had plenty of practice with – since the day Mike had tried to kill her and left her with a gaping wound across the back of her head and the ability to connect with dead people. They all followed Dawn up the narrower staircase that led to the attic. There were two huge rooms full of boxes and suitcases. A smaller door opened onto a room that was lined either side with shelves and cupboards, which were also full of stuff.

‘Right, I’ll check in here. Annie, you do the room on the left and you two do the bigger one. I want every cupboard checked.’

The only smell was one of the fustiness that attics normally smelt of. It didn’t smell as if there was a rotting corpse hidden up here and Annie doubted that Martha could even make it up these narrow, steep stairs – let alone kill someone and hide the body. She checked everything then went back to speak to Cathy, who had just slid the last door shut in her room.

‘Nothing, boss, and I don’t think you are going to find anything either. We need to check the cellar.’

‘I agree with you, but I want every room searched first, and then if the shit hits the fan later on we can say that we did everything by the book.’

Cathy lowered her voice and pushed the door to. ‘Do you believe the old dear, then, or do you think she’s batshit?’

‘I believe her. I don’t know if I fully believe her about the something living in the cellar that no one can see that manages to kidnap kids and grown men who are never to be seen again, but I think there’s something to her story. There has to be.’

‘Why? What makes you believe her? Is it because you feel sorry for her or because that freaky psychic thing in your head is telling you something’s wrong?’

‘Both. When I went down in the cellar with George it made my skin crawl and I couldn’t get out of there quick enough. I don’t know how to explain it, though.’

Sam opened the door. ‘We’re all done. Nothing up here.’

They followed her out and back down to the first floor where Dawn was waiting for them. Annie wouldn’t have said the woman’s expression was smug, but it was close.

‘There are bedrooms, bathrooms and storage cupboards in most rooms. Help yourselves.’

She leant back against the hand-carved oak staircase and folded her arms across her chest, as if not wanting to hamper their search in any way.

They took a room each and began searching in wardrobes, cupboards and under beds until they finally met on the landing, empty-handed. Annie had opened the last door, which had been Joe’s room, and smiled at the perfect little boy’s room. It reminded her of the schoolroom in the haunted mansion that had started all of this and her first encounter with a ghost.

She pushed the door shut behind her and walked across to the small four-poster bed with a one-eyed teddy on it. Breathing in this time, she picked up the teddy, letting the emotions run from the stuffed bear into her fingertips. She closed her eyes and felt an overwhelming rush of love for the mischievous boy whom it had once belonged to.

She could see him running around and hiding from his even younger sister who was sitting at the kitchen table watching the cook while trying to count. He had run up the stairs and then back down again, stopping outside the cellar door. This time it only had one bolt across, which he could only just reach if he stood on his tiptoes. He worked the bolt back and opened the door, pulling it to behind him. He wasn’t afraid of the dark like most kids and he’d run down the steps, crouching at the bottom and waiting for Martha to find him. He would have gone further in but he knew his sister was a scaredy-cat and didn’t like the cellar.

A noise from the far corner shifted his attention from the slither of light that shone through the crack in the door. He turned to see where it was coming from. It sounded like something with sharp claws was skittering along the floor. He couldn’t locate which direction it was coming from, and then he heard Martha shouting at him and turned back to face the door, the noise behind him forgotten. He decided to go up and see her. But before he could, something came out of the dark and grabbed him.

Annie couldn’t see what it was because of the blackness, but it looked the size of a tall man. Terrified and too scared to carry on because she didn’t want to see what terrible thing had happened to poor little Joe, she dropped the bear onto the bed and crossed herself. Feeling as if she’d just intruded into another person’s nightmare, she turned and left the room to join the others on the landing. She shivered. The thing was horrible and, whatever it was, it lived in the dark and never came into the light. Annie didn’t want to go back down into the cellar because she knew that the first time she had been lucky and this time her luck might run out.

Dawn, Cathy, Sam and Tracy were waiting on the landing for her; she walked out and shrugged her shoulders, hoping her voice wouldn’t crack and that she sounded braver than she felt. ‘I guess we need to check the rooms downstairs and then the cellar. What about the grounds? Are there any sheds, garages, boathouses?’

‘All three but I’ve checked them, except for the boathouse because no one can get the rusted lock open on the door. I’ve definitely been out into the garage and outhouses, though.’

Dawn led the way downstairs with Annie lagging behind; she really didn’t want to go into the cellar. She had no idea what it was that lurked down there but the thought of being dragged off and never seen again didn’t appeal to her in the least. Not to mention what it actually did with the people who were never seen again. Where was little Joe Beckett now? He would be almost a hundred. And what about Seamus? There was a big difference between a nine-year-old kid and a grown man. Whatever it was must be strong enough to drag them both off. She pictured the claws from her vision and, realising somewhere deep down that they were used for killing its prey, she shuddered.