Текст книги "The Lake House"
Автор книги: Helen Phifer
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Текущая страница: 9 (всего у книги 20 страниц)
Chapter Eleven
Stu could hear the dog whining downstairs to go out and he groaned. He hated the horrible little thing with a passion but Debs loved it to bits. He got out of bed, relieved he wasn’t at work until two. It would give him the chance to unpack some more of the boxes of his stuff that had been shoved into the spare room three days ago when they’d moved in. He had never really wanted to live over on Walney Island but Debs loved it. She loved the beaches and being surrounded by open fields full of horses, cows and sheep. Stu loved Debs, so when she’d found the house he’d agreed they could go and take a look at it. She’d fallen in love with the whitewashed cottage with a huge back garden.
He padded down barefoot into the kitchen and stepped in a puddle of dog piss. ‘Argh, you dirty little bastard.’ The dog was still whining by the back door as Stu hopped over to open it and let it out. Lifting the washing-up bowl out of the sink he lifted his leg and ran his foot under the hot water tap. As he was balancing on one leg he saw the note taped to the fridge and leant over to tug it off.
Happy that his foot was now clean he blotted it dry with kitchen towels and then unfolded the note from his wife, asking him to walk the dog because she’d run out of time. He swore under his breath. He didn’t mind walking; it was the dog he didn’t like. It came back inside the house and started whining again, so Stu went upstairs to get dressed and take it out, planning, when he came back, to make the biggest bacon and egg sandwich this side of Walney and find his games console and connect it to the telly. He would sit playing on it until it was time for him to go to work – his revenge on Debs for making him take the dog out.
The dog slipped its collar and bounded off across the grass verge to the slightly open gate. Squeezing through the gap it ran off towards the ramshackle barn. Stu cursed, shouting, ‘Come on, Sasha. Come here, girl.’
The dog, totally oblivious, continued towards the barn. It was on a mission. It began scratching at the door and whining. Stu called it, not really wanting to go into the field in case there was some angry bull hiding behind a hedge – or a horse. He didn’t like either of them and they were both as bad as each other in his opinion. He leant against the gate and hollered, ‘Sasha.’
The dog didn’t even flinch. Stu stood on the metal gate and looked around. He couldn’t see any big four-legged animals so he squeezed through the gap and began to stride towards the dog, which was going to get its arse kicked when he got hold of it. As he got nearer to the barn he got a whiff of something dead and he felt his stomach turn. He knew that smell. He’d dealt with enough dead bodies at work to recognise the stench of a decomposing body.
Dread filling him, he looked around. The grass was too long. If there was something dead it was hard to see, but the dog would have run to it and rolled in it. She’d rolled in the carcass of a dead whale that had washed up on the beach at Roanhead last week, stinking their old house out for days. Instead she was going mad scratching at the door to the barn. As he got closer he inhaled and almost gagged. The stench was horrific. He took out his phone and rang Will, who he knew was at work.
‘It’s me. I’m in an overgrown field on Walney and the bloody dog’s going mental.’
‘Morning, Stu, what would you like me to do? Send out a response officer to taser the dog?’
‘Don’t be stupid. I’m not phoning because I can’t control my dog, although that’s not a bad idea.’
‘Well, that’s a relief then; I’m glad to hear it. So why are you phoning?’
‘There’s a knackered old barn and the stench coming from it is gut-wrenching. I think I might have inadvertently stumbled across Beth O’Connor’s body.’
‘Really? Have you opened the door to have a look? Good effort, Stu.’
‘No, because the dog will go inside and then I’ll have to go in and trample all over everything to drag it out. I’ll wait for you to get here and then we can put the dog in the back of your car. I haven’t got my car with me. It might only be a dead animal but it smells worse than that, if you know what I mean.’
Will knew what he meant; the smell of rotting flesh was so pungent that it clung to your clothes like the world’s worst aftershave, lingering for days. He had sent the two detectives who were on duty out to go and view CCTV so he went down to the parade room to see if there was anyone he could grab to go with him, but that was empty. Kav walked in with a mug of coffee and nodded.
‘Can you come with me, Kav? I need you.’
‘Steady on, Will, have you not got a lovely wife now to sort you out?’
‘I need your professional help. Stu thinks he’s found a body in a barn in the middle of a field on Walney. It might be Beth O’Connor’s.’
Kav put the drink down and then grabbed a set of keys off the whiteboard.
‘After you, William. One of these days you will want me for something other than a dead body.’
Kav drove with the blue lights on, to get through the traffic on the bridge. Will was on the phone to Stu, getting directions from him that he relayed to Kav. Before long they pulled up at the field where Stu was standing waving his arms at them. There was a poodle tied up to the metal gate. Kav looked at the dog then looked at Stu.
‘Nice dog, Stuart – matches the image.’
‘Piss off. It’s Debs’. I hate it.’
Will sniggered as he walked to the boot of the car and lifted the trunk to pass some paper suits around. He held one out to Stu, who shook his head.
‘I’m not on duty, so you two can knock yourselves out. I’ll guard the gate and not let anyone in. It might not even be a body. It could be a dead cow, but whatever it is it bloody stinks.’
Will and Kav got suited and booted and walked across the field, the smell making both men’s eyes water.
‘That’s bad.’
‘Yes, it is.’
Will approached the wooden door. Reaching out his gloved hand he gently pushed it, expecting it to be locked, but it opened. The smell was so pungent that Kav – who was a veteran police officer of nearly thirty years and had seen everything there was to see – gagged. Will switched on the torch that he’d been carrying and stepped inside, lifting one arm over his nose and using the other to shine the torch around. Kav stepped in behind him and whistled.
‘Jesus Christ almighty.’
There were two headless bodies slumped on the floor, surrounded by pools of dried blood and covered in swarms of bluebottles and maggots. Will shone his torch around to make sure there were no more then shone it back on the bodies. One of them was bloated and black. It had been eaten away by every insect possible and it looked as if the whole body was moving. The other looked a lot fresher, and although it was covered with flies and maggots it still had white flesh attached to it. It suddenly hit Will, who turned to Kav then pointed to the door; both of them retreated to the outside where they took in huge gulps of air.
‘Did you see that? What a state. At least we know where the rest of Beth is.’
‘Yes, I did, but Kav, there were two bodies – both with no heads. So who does the other one belong to?’
‘Aw bloody hell, I was so sickened by the sight of them I didn’t even think about it. Have we got any high-risk mispers?’
‘Not that I’m aware of – no one has been reported missing in the last forty-eight hours, at least not from around here. We need to go back and check the database and we need to find her head.’
‘Will, my friend, where do you think the head might be? The last one turned up miles away when Annie was on duty. I’m sorry to say this but there’s only one reason I can think of that someone would want to leave severed heads for our delightful Annie. I’m almost too afraid to say it reminds me of the not-so-delightful Henry Smith. No one knows where he is, but if you ask me I think he’s up to his old tricks again. I knew the bastard wouldn’t be able to stop. It’s all one big game for him, and we now have to prove that it’s him all over again.’
The panic on Will’s face said it all and he whipped out his phone to ring Annie, who answered straight away.
‘Where are you? Are you on your own?’
‘No, I’m at Beckett House with the inspector and two PCSOs. Why?’
‘Just checking. Stu stumbled across two headless bodies in a barn on Walney while out walking the dog. I need you to be extra careful and vigilant because I have a terrible feeling the head might be on its way up to you.’
‘Oh God, I hope not. Will, I’ve been thinking about this on and off all day – where do you think Henry Smith is? Honestly. Because I don’t believe he’s shacked up somewhere and keeping his head down. I’m worried that this has his signature written all over it. We both know that he was obsessed with me and wanted me dead, only I stopped him in his tracks. Do you think he’s over that now, that he has forgiven me and isn’t interested? I don’t. As much as I want to believe this is something else that has nothing to do with me, I can’t.’
‘I think you might be right, but I can’t start a widespread panic in case it isn’t. You need to be so very careful; I don’t want you going to any calls on your own. When you leave the station make sure there’s no one hanging around and make sure you’re not followed home. Do you want me to come up there and pick you up?’
‘No, you can’t do that now. You need to process the scene and I can’t think of anyone better than you for the job. What are we going to do? Because if it is him, he must know where I work. Otherwise why would he leave a head in Bowness and the body in Barrow? In fact he must know an awful lot more about us than we do about him because that’s what he’s good at. Watching and waiting, biding his time. He’s playing with us both. He’s like a cat taunting a mouse. I can feel it.’
Will walked away from the others and lowered his voice. ‘We might be jumping to conclusions and I hope we are, but it’s too much of a coincidence. He wanted you dead. Instead you almost killed him and lived another day. What did he get for his efforts? Third-degree burns and locked up in a secure mental hospital until he managed to escape. At least you have a different car and your hair’s much longer than it was when he first…’
He didn’t finish the sentence; Annie finished it for him.
‘Than when he first began to stalk me, you mean. Please, God, I don’t want any more blood on my hands. I have a hard enough time sleeping at night without dreaming about Jenna White or Emma Tyson.’
‘You know none of that was your fault. You were not responsible for his actions. Please be careful, Annie. Promise me that if you so much as see a man looking your way that you’ll gas him and get him cuffed.’
‘I will, but I need you to be careful as well because you almost stopped him in his tracks, and I don’t think it will be just me he goes after. I should imagine he knows that we’re a couple now and he won’t like it one little bit.’
She ended the call and Will felt his shoulders slump with the weight of the world that was about to come crashing down on him. He felt Kav’s huge hand squeeze his shoulder and he turned to look at him.
Kav said, ‘If this even shows the slightest link to that fucker, Smith, I’m on it. In fact I think that you, me, Jake and Annie need a little emergency meeting when we get finished today to get a contingency plan together, should the need arise.’
‘I think you’re right. I’ll phone Jake and see what he has to say and let you know what time.’
The dog wriggled its way out of its collar once more and this time it took off in the opposite direction. Kav and Will laughed as Stu took off after it. Three police vans and the CSI van rounded the bend with Debs – Stu’s wife who was also the on-duty CSI – driving.
‘Ooh looks like Stu’s in the doghouse. Hope he catches it before Debs catches him.’
Will smiled then turned around to brief the officers and give them instructions to close the roads. This part of the island would be sealed off until a thorough investigation had taken place, which could take days. Whoever the killer was knew there were no cameras over here, not many dog walkers apart from their very own Stu, and relative seclusion. He told every officer and PCSO who had been drafted in to take the registrations of any vehicles that tried to gain access and to note who was in the car. He had a feeling that the killer wouldn’t be expecting them to have discovered his little barn yet, and would get the shock of his life when he turned the corner and was greeted by a police van blocking the road. A silver car headed in his direction and he waved a hand to greet Matt, his friend and the pathologist for this part of the county. Matt got out of his car and strolled across to him.
‘It’s been a while; I was beginning to think you were losing your touch, Will.’
‘I wish. One of these days it will be someone else on shift when this shit happens.’
‘Then what would I do?’
Matt looked around to see Kav explaining how to fill out a scene log to the student officer who was holding it clutched to his chest. A red-faced Stu was having a bit of a domestic with Debs, who was in the process of getting suited up.
‘There’s someone missing from this scene. I know, where’s Annie and Jake? They are nearly always around when the bodies start to pile up.’
‘So far they’re safe in Bowness, as far out of the way as they can be. I hope. I don’t want Annie anywhere near this.’
Matt nodded, well aware of what both Annie and Will had been through the last couple of years. Matt handed Will a face mask and Will took it off him, relieved to have something to block out some of the smell.
‘I suppose we should get this over with then. No point putting it off.’
Matt followed Will into the field and the short distance to the barn. Debs followed them with her camera. As the first scent of death hit her nose she tugged down her mask. Will turned to her.
‘Have you thought about letting that poodle of yours join the dog team? It’s a great sniffer dog.’
She shook her head at him and gently punched his arm.
‘It’s Stu who’ll be joining the dog team. All he was supposed to do was take it for a quick walk and now we’re all going to be working late and we’ll stink to the high heavens.’
Will pushed the door open and stepped inside, not really wanting to look at the two bodies, but not having much choice. Matt needed him to shine the torch until they brought some better lights up. Debs groaned under her mask and Will nodded in agreement. It wasn’t a pretty sight. Matt, ever the professional, walked across and scanned both bodies.
‘In my opinion as a medical doctor I can confirm that these are both deceased.’
‘No shit, Sherlock, what gave it away – the missing heads?’
‘Of course.’ He bent down and leant closer. ‘Both female, one has been dead a lot longer than the other, but you know that, Will. I’m afraid that’s all I can tell you. The state of decomposition is far more advanced on subject one. I’ll need to do a full post-mortem and send off samples of the bugs to give you a better estimate of when they died.’
He opened his bag and began rooting around inside until he pulled out some specimen jars and a pen. He wrote on one and began to pluck the insects and drop them into the jar, then screwed the lid on tight. Then taking another jar he did exactly the same for the second body and then dropped each of the jars into its own evidence bag. He didn’t speak, but worked diligently and fast. Standing up, he nodded at Debs.
‘They’re all yours.’
Will followed him out of the barn, which was stifling, making it hard to breathe in the paper suits and face masks. He pulled his mask down, glad of the fresh air and the breeze that was blowing.
‘Do you think it’s Beth O’Connor?’
‘You know I’m not supposed to say until I’ve done the post-mortem, but yes, I’m almost one hundred per cent sure. The cut marks on the base of her neck are almost identical to the ones on the head back at the morgue. Of course we won’t know for sure until I place her head against the neck to see if they match up.’
‘What about the other? Have you had any heads come into the mortuary from anywhere else in the county?’
Will desperately hoped he was going to say, ‘Yes, one came in from Carlisle or Workington,’ but Matt shook his head.
‘I’m afraid I’ll have to leave that in your capable hands. You’re going to have to find the head. Have you had any missing person reports in the last week? Because judging by the bloating and marbling of Jane Doe number two she hasn’t been dead that long. The heat in the barn and the insect activity has sped her decomposition up; this is a real mess, Will.’
‘You’re telling me. Thanks, Matt, as always, for coming straight out and not making us wait around for ages.’
‘I’d say it was my pleasure but, to be honest, this time it’s not. I’m not looking forward to doing the post-mortems on those two. I’ll let you know when we’re good to go.’
He began to walk back to his car. As he got to the gate he stripped off his paper suit, foot covers, gloves and mask and dropped them all into a brown paper sack. Debs came out to get the rest of her equipment so she could do everything that needed to be done before the undertakers came.
Kav walked across to Will.
‘Undertakers are on standby. What did Matt say? Is it the rest of Beth?’
Will nodded. ‘He thinks so.’
‘Good, I hate to think of that poor woman’s head all alone in the mortuary fridge. Gives me the shivers. Be nice for her husband to have all of her to bury, don’t you think?’
Will didn’t want to even think about what the poor bloke was going through. What a way to lose your wife. The familiar black 4x4 of the chief super pulled up outside the field. He got out along with the detective chief inspector and Kav sniggered. ‘Should we let them go in and ruin their designer suits or make them wait outside?’
‘Let them go in, of course. Which one do you think will come out looking green and puke first?’
‘My money’s on the super.’
Will smiled at the two men who were in the process of getting suited and booted. This should add a little bit of laughter to an otherwise very sad day.
Chapter Twelve
‘I suppose we best get checking the cellar over with.’
Annie looked at Cathy. Annie thought even Cathy seemed wary about going down there now they had checked everywhere else. Dawn pulled a bunch of keys from her pocket and began flicking through them to find the ones to open the padlocks. Sam and Tracy had gone quiet; all four of them were silent and the atmosphere was so heavy it made Annie feel weary. As Dawn slid the last bolt across she turned to look at them all.
‘Are you quite sure you want to go down there – on your own? Can you not call for backup and get some male officers here to go down with you?’
Cathy had just been wondering the same thing, although normally she would have given anyone who spoke like that a piece of her mind for being so outright sexist; however, on this occasion she actually agreed with the girl. But then she shook her head. ‘I think there’s enough of us to handle anything that might be down there.’
Dawn pulled the heavy door open and stood holding it. ‘If I hear any screaming I’m slamming this door shut and locking you all in.’
‘You’re fucking not. If you hear us screaming you get on the phone and ask for urgent assistance and give us a chance to get out of there. I’m telling you now, do not lock us in.’
Annie smiled. It wasn’t often she heard her boss swear in front of members of the public but she had a fair point. She didn’t want to be locked in that cellar for anything. Knowing that they might be standing dithering on that top step for the next hour, she leant forward and pulled the light-string and the bulb came to life. Dawn smiled and Annie took this as a good sign. So she began to walk down the stairs, followed by Cathy, then Tracy and Sam, who had her finger poised over her emergency button should they need help.
All four of them had switched on their torches. The cellar smelt like a cellar should again. It was damp and mouldy. It didn’t smell as if there were any rotting bodies tucked away. She tried her best to push the picture of the grey face with the sharp teeth out of her mind. They shone the torches around and began checking every corner, nook and cranny. Nothing. There was no one there. Annie walked towards the iron grate, her heart racing. Cathy was behind her and they both leant over, shining the light down into the dark hole. This time there was no sudden movement. It was empty and Annie almost cried with relief.
‘Right, come on, you lot. Let’s get back upstairs before that woman freaks out and locks us down here.’
Cathy led the way and Annie was the last to reach the steps. A sharp scratch against the iron railings made her hair stand on end. She paused, wondering if she was imagining it, but then it happened again and this time it was much louder. She pushed Tracy’s back and shouted, ‘Run.’
Cathy was already out of the door and the other two didn’t need telling twice. They shot up the last few steps closely followed by Annie, who fell out into the corridor. Dawn slammed the cellar door shut, sliding the bolts across. Annie began to help her click the padlocks into place then turned to see her three colleagues, who were all white-faced and wide-eyed.
‘What was it?’
‘I don’t know, boss; I probably just spooked myself.’
Cathy laughed. ‘Jesus, you should have seen your face! That’s the last time I’m coming on a job with you. Scared the shit out of me, and those two look as if they’ve seen a ghost.’
All four of them began to laugh but Dawn didn’t. She shook her head and went back into the kitchen to check on Martha. She nodded at the old woman and Martha crossed herself, thanking the Lord that all four officers had made it out of the cellar alive. The others followed Dawn into the kitchen and Annie smiled at Martha. Inside she was shaking and scared but she wouldn’t let anyone see just how scared she was.
‘We just need to check the grounds now and then we’re done.’
‘Good. Tell me, officer, what did you see or hear down there?’
Everyone stood still, waiting to hear Annie’s reply.
‘I heard a sharp scratching sound, against the metal grating, but I didn’t see anything and it might have been rats.’
Martha nodded her head. ‘I think you and your friends had a very lucky escape. Next time you won’t be so lucky. If you need to come back and go down there you bring big, strong men with guns. And if you have no guns, then bring whatever it is you use to kill animals that are big enough to steal children and grown men.’
***
Henry had the head in a cool box surrounded by bags of frozen ice. Much to Megan’s disgust he’d tried to put it into the freezer in the caravan, but it wouldn’t fit. So after much begging by Megan he’d agreed to dump it somewhere that Annie could find it. He’d made Megan stay at the caravan. They would look far too conspicuous as a pair, walking around at night with a cool box. He’d managed to fob her off by telling her if he got caught it didn’t mean that she would be. He wouldn’t tell a soul where she was hiding, and if he wasn’t back in two hours she was to pack her stuff and leave.
He thought about putting it outside the police station on the steps, but there were bound to be cameras on the doors to the building or looking onto it. As he drove past he looked to see if her bright red Mini was there and was surprised not to see it. He knew she was on duty because he’d phoned the 101 number and asked if she was available. The operator had told him she was on patrol but he could leave her a voicemail if he wanted. Henry had been sorely tempted. What would she think on hearing him speaking to her in the flesh? But he’d decided against it. Far too risky. They might be able to trace it back or something.
He wondered if she’d got a new car. The only one that was worthy of her was the shiny black Mercedes, but he didn’t think her wages would be enough to pay for that. It probably belonged to the inspector. There was a battered old Clio next to the Mercedes and an Astra. He parked up the street and watched the station. There were no police vehicles parked outside so they must all be busy working.
Getting out of his car he pulled his baseball cap down and pulled the hood of his sweatshirt up. He walked up and down a couple of times. There were no cameras. Henry grinned to himself. He was probably going to regret this but he had to see if it was possible. He tried the boot of the Astra, which was locked; he didn’t even touch the Mercedes as it was bound to have a fancy alarm system. Then he tried the Clio and much to his surprise it opened.
After pushing it back down but not quite shutting it, he jogged back to his car and drove down until he was parked directly in front of the boot of the Clio. He walked around to the passenger side of the car. With one hand he pushed the car boot open and with the other he pushed the lid from the cool box off and scanned the area. There was no one around so he pulled out the plastic bag containing the head and unzipped it. He dropped the head into the boot of the car then screwed the bag up and stuffed it into his pocket. If it was her car it would be a massive bonus, but if not it didn’t matter. She would know it was a present meant for her.
Once inside the car he stripped off the latex gloves he had been wearing for the last ten minutes. He hated them. They made his hands sweat too much and they smelt terrible. Checking around to see if anyone had watched his little performance, he was satisfied that they hadn’t. He put his foot down and drove off in the opposite direction, a smile on his face that would be there for at least the next half an hour. He didn’t want to go back to Megan just yet. He needed to find a secluded place so he could park, sit back and enjoy his time alone for a while.
31 December 1930
A sodden James and two policemen came back into the kitchen, with no Joe and solemn faces. The weather had turned nasty outside and if he was out there somewhere he would get hyperthermia. He wasn’t dressed for the torrential rain that was now hammering against the glass windows. Eleanor looked at her husband, who did not want to look her in the eyes.
‘What are we to do now, James? Is that it? You can’t stop looking. None of us can stop looking. I can’t stay here not knowing where he is. Boys don’t just disappear into thin air.’
The policemen looked at each other. Neither of them knew what to say or do because Eleanor Beckett was right.
‘Look, Mrs Beckett, we’ve done an initial search. We are going to send teams of three out to check the rest of the gardens and the lake, but apart from that we are going to be stuck until it’s morning because of the dark and the abysmal weather. These aren’t the best conditions to be out searching for your son.’
‘So what are you saying? That we just leave him out there on his own to die because it’s dark and wet? Well, I’m sorry, but that’s not good enough. If I have to search on my hands and knees then I will. To hell with you all.’
She stood up but her knees wouldn’t support her body weight and she felt her legs collapse. James rushed forward to catch his wife. Scooping her into his arms he held her close.
‘I’m not giving in; I will search all night. I want you to stay here with Martha and watch her, make sure she’s safe. I will find him, I promise.’
He excused both policemen and helped his wife down, then gently led her upstairs to their daughter’s room, where Eleanor got onto the bed and lay next to Martha.
‘I’m scared, James. What if Martha is right? What if Joe went down into the cellar? Where can he be?’
He bent down and kissed her forehead, guilt and horror filling his heart. He needed to tell her about the missing Windigo but he couldn’t do it to her. Her heart was filled with enough horror without adding anything to it.
‘Davey searched in the drain and crawled as far along as he could and there was no sign of Joe being down there. If we don’t find him tonight, then tomorrow I will search it myself.’
Eleanor nodded. ‘You have to find him.’
‘I know I do, sweetheart. Don’t you think I know that?’
He turned and left his wife and daughter and thought that, if it came to that, he would spend the rest of his life searching for his son.
***
Some hours later Eleanor opened her eyes and for a moment had no idea where she was. She reached out for her husband but instead found her daughter, who was burning hot and clutching a teddy bear in one hand. It all came rushing back to her and the crushing pain inside her chest took her breath away. After carefully getting out of the bed she tiptoed out into the hallway to Joe’s room, pushing open the door and praying to God he was tucked up under his covers and she’d just woken from the worst nightmare of her life.
She saw a figure on the bed and began to cry, but as she got nearer she realised that it was much too big to be her nine-year-old son. She bent down to see James fully clothed and lying on top of the covers, and she thought that her heart might actually stop beating. She reached out for him and he turned to face her. Unable to say the words, she let out a sob and he pulled her close. She lay on the bed in her husband’s arms and cried once more. This time she could feel the hot, wet tears from his eyes falling into her soft hair and it made her sob even louder.
They stayed that way until neither of them could cry any more and James, exhausted, began to snore ever so softly. Eleanor couldn’t go back to sleep. Instead she got up and went out into the hall. The clock chimed four as she made her way downstairs and into the kitchen to make herself a warm drink. She was chilled to the bone. As she passed the cellar she heard a faint scratching noise. Pausing to listen at the door, she waited to see if it would happen again. After several minutes she heard it once more. This time it was louder and sounded much closer.
Her heart racing, she slid back the lock and pulled the door open. ‘Joe, is that you? Are you down there, sweetheart?’ She was greeted by silence but every hair on her body stood on end and a peculiar feeling spread over her, making her fingers tingle. She listened and got the impression that whatever it was that was down there was waiting and listening back. Her hand reached out and tugged on the light-pull. As the light flooded the dark below there was a scurry of clacking and scratching that made Eleanor almost slam the door shut and bolt it. Instead she forced herself to step forward.
