Authors: Helen Phifer
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.
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.