Authors: Helen Phifer
‘Did you see that? What was it?’
Annie felt better knowing he’d seen whatever it was, but it wasn’t their missing man – it was on all fours. If someone had fallen into that hole they wouldn’t be hiding from them, they’d be screaming to be helped out.
‘I don’t know, maybe a rat.’
‘Some big rat – it was bloody huge.’
Annie didn’t say anything else. She knew that it wasn’t a rat and she knew that it wasn’t the missing man. What she did know was that whatever it was knew that she had been looking for it, and that really scared her. She stepped back away from the hole. A fear inside her of falling down it and coming face to face with whatever it was made her break out in a cold sweat.
‘Come on, he’s not down here. Help me pull the cover back over. It’s dangerous leaving it open like that. Anyone could fall in.’
Or anything could get out.
But she didn’t say that aloud.
‘I think our man decided to cut his losses and run when he saw how deep the hole was and that it might be full of rats. I bet he’s long gone and it wouldn’t surprise me if her purse or the family silverware are missing.’
The cover was heavy and it was hard lifting it up. Between them they managed to shove it back in place as best as they could. Annie cringed at something sticky on her gloves and led the way back upstairs. She shone the torch onto the back of the door and wondered what the symbols meant that had been carved into the wood. George whispered, ‘Are they devil-worshipping signs?’
She shook her head and lowered her voice. ‘No, I don’t think so but I can’t say for sure. Come on, let’s get out of here.’
She stepped into the hall, closely followed by George, and they slammed the door shut. Annie slid all the padlocks across before making her way back down to the kitchen.
‘There’s nobody down there now, Miss Beckett, although we can tell that he was down there because there are some tools near to the drain and the cover was off, but I think he’s decided to call it a day and left. Do you have anywhere I can wash my hands?’
‘Oh dear, I was afraid that was what you would say. Yes, just down the opposite end of the corridor there is a washroom tucked under the stairs.’
‘Thank you. I’ll just wash my hands and then we’ll do a search of your house to make sure he’s not hiding anywhere.’
She walked along to the washroom, desperate to wash whatever the black gunge was from her gloved fingers. Using her elbow to press the light switch she went inside and turned the tap on, letting it run for a moment to get hot. As she held her gloved fingers under the tap she gasped to see the water had turned blood red. Tugging the gloves from her fingers she lifted her hands to examine them and make sure she hadn’t cut herself on the rusty drain cover, but they were fine, and the water was now running clear. Picking up the soap she scrubbed it against her skin and then let her hands stay under the hot water until it began to scald her. There was a towel next to her and she dried her hands on it. The mirror above the sink had steamed up and she rubbed at it with the corner of the towel so she could see herself, but what she saw looking back at her made her scream so loud that George came running down the corridor and hammered on the door.
‘It’s okay. I’m okay. Sorry about that. There was a massive spider.’
‘Oh, just checking. You gave us a fright.’
Annie didn’t look in the mirror again for fear of seeing the grey, gaunt face with the huge red eyes and row of razor-sharp teeth staring back at her again. Her heart palpitating, she wondered if somehow that sweet old woman had at one time summoned a demon to her house, because she couldn’t think of any other way to describe the monster she had seen staring at her from the mirror. She turned around in the small space, relieved that she was alone, and made her way back to the kitchen. Miss Beckett looked at her but didn’t say anything.
‘Right, we need to check the rest of the house if that’s okay with you, and then we’ll have that cup of tea.’
The old woman nodded, but she knew full well that they wouldn’t find that young man anywhere upstairs, although she wished they would. She didn’t even care if he had been up there and stolen the antiques. It would be better for her to know he was still breathing and alive than to lie in bed at night wondering exactly what it was that had taken him. She went back to the cellar door to continue snapping all the padlocks shut while Annie and George went upstairs.
They started on the third floor, which was the attic. The staircase that led up to it was a proper staircase and not a ladder like Annie had been expecting. There were two huge rooms, which were separated by a small landing in the middle. Both of them had bits of junk in them. One was full of old suitcases and the biggest, dustiest Christmas tree she had ever seen, but there was nothing to suggest he was hiding up here. There was a small door that led underneath the eaves, but it was bolted from the outside and Annie sensed that whatever was behind it had nothing to do with them. She turned around and George grabbed her arm.
‘What about in there? He could be hiding in that little room.’
‘He could, but unless he’s Alice in Wonderland or can shut bolts across from inside a room then I somehow doubt it.’
His cheeks flared red and she felt mean. ‘But apart from that, yes, he could have been. Well spotted.’
They went back down the stairs and onto the huge landing. There were seven bedrooms and a separate bathroom and toilet. Annie started on one side and he started on the other. Most of the rooms were empty. There were only two that were still fully furnished – one that was clearly Miss Beckett’s with its pale pink, rose-covered, faded wallpaper. It was at the far end, away from the staircase, and the one next to hers was a little boy’s room, which hadn’t been used for a very long time. But it was spotless. Even though the things in there were old-fashioned and probably worth a bit of money to a toy collector, it was clean and tidy. There wasn’t a speck of dust on anything and the bed was made, ready for whoever’s room it was to climb into. George walked in and whistled.
‘Man, what a room; it’s like something from a museum. The stuff in here must be worth a fortune; all the toys are in mint condition and valuable collectors’ items.’
He began to look around, getting excited at the pristine Corgi cars, while Annie felt a huge sense of loss that was so consuming it made her want to curl up and cry. Something awful had happened to the little boy whose bedroom this was. She was careful not to touch anything because she didn’t want her psychic sixth sense to pick up on it and let her know exactly what. It was too heartbreaking.
‘Come on, he’s not in here and we have no business being in here.’
George put down the tin car he was admiring and nodded his head, then followed her out of the door, which she closed.
‘Well, he’s not here; he must have decided to leave. I just hope he isn’t planning on coming back later to rob her.’
Annie nodded in agreement. She couldn’t tell him what she really thought because he would think she was nuts. They checked the last room together and went down to the kitchen where Martha had made a fresh pot of tea.
‘You didn’t find him?’
It wasn’t a question; it was more a statement of fact.
‘No, we didn’t and it doesn’t look as if anything is missing. You will need to check yourself and let me know if there is. Can I ask you if you have any help – a cook or maybe a cleaner? This is a big house for you to look after by yourself.’
‘Yes, thank you, I have a wonderful housekeeper called Dawn who comes in two days a week to help me. So what are we to do then? I know you might not believe me but I know in my heart that he went down into that cellar and never came out.’
George’s mobile phone began to ring and he apologised and walked out into the hall to answer it.
Martha lowered her voice. ‘Your friend might think I’m ready to be committed to the insane asylum but you know I’m speaking the truth, don’t you, dear? You sensed it. I could tell.’
‘Yes, I did sense something and I also thought that I saw something moving down in the drain, but it was so fast I didn’t actually see what it was. I believe you, I really do, but I have to go by the evidence and there isn’t any at the moment to say that this man has come to some harm, or even to prove that he was here. If his family report him missing then we can come back with a search team and go down into the drains, but at this moment in time I can’t say for sure that he has.’
‘What you mean, young lady, is that you have no proof that he was ever here and that I might be imagining the whole thing.’
‘To be blunt, Miss Beckett: yes. I do believe you, though, and whatever you do you mustn’t go down into that cellar on your own.’
Martha chuckled. ‘Officer, the only reason I’ve lived to this ripe old age is because I never go down into that cellar. I’ve only ever been in there once when I was a child. I was scared beyond belief and I never went back down. But thank you for your concern. I suppose we will have to wait and see if this young man’s family or friends report him missing. What will happen, then, if someone reports that they saw him coming into this house but he never came out?’
‘Then we’ll send a search team in.’
‘And will this search team be told that something dwells in the drains underneath my cellar that has a taste for human flesh? I will not be responsible for anyone going down there.’
‘If it comes to that, then yes, I will tell them myself.’
Martha nodded. ‘Thank you. You’ve been much more accommodating than I ever imagined. You have a gift, don’t you? That isn’t always a blessing, but you use it wisely and I can tell that you help those who need it. I hope you can find it in your heart to help me when the time comes.’
Annie’s radio crackled, breaking the silence as the control room shouted at her again to go to a burglary at the rugby club. She stood up.
‘There’s no need to see us out. We can manage. But can I just tell you to make sure you keep everything locked up and secure? I know that he seemed like an okay kind of man, even though he was cold-calling, but you can’t be too sure. He may try to come back later and burgle the house.’
Martha smiled. ‘Oh I always keep everything locked up, but it’s not to keep the burglars out, it’s to keep whatever is in this house in.’
Annie nodded at her and felt her whole body shiver at the thought of having to live here alone, terrified by something you’ve never seen.
They got into the van and Annie reversed. Sticking her arm out of the window she waved and then set off to go back through town to the rugby club.
George sighed. ‘Oh my God, do you deal with nutty people like that all the time? I mean, at one point, when we were down in that cellar, I could almost have bought her story and my heart was beating ten to the dozen, but it just seems a bit too farfetched for my liking.’
‘I don’t think she was nuts. I think she’s a scared, vulnerable old woman. I also wouldn’t be surprised if we get a phone call from her tomorrow to say her house has been broken into. It sounds to me as if he was checking it out and will be back later.’
‘What does that go down as then – you know, when you update control?’
‘Suspicious incident, then I’ll have to submit an intelligence report and a vulnerable adult form. The next job will probably be a bit more standard. You can be the officer in charge if you like.’
‘What does that mean?’
‘It means you get to run the case, take the statements, request CSI. See how you feel when you get there.’
Annie hoped he felt like saying yes because she couldn’t stop thinking about that face she’d seen in the mirror and the blood on her fingers. It was unlike anything she’d ever seen before. Did things that look part human but are clearly not live in drains and sewers? Was that even possible or was her imagination on overdrive after the severed head yesterday? She didn’t know, but either way she suspected that Miss Martha Beckett and Beckett House would be seeing a lot more of her in the near future.
31 December 1930
Joseph loved playing hide-and-seek. It was his favourite game and he was lucky enough to live in a house big enough to play a really good game of it. Sometimes it took his sister ages to come and find him, although he hated it if she took too long because he got bored. Today was one of those days where he was bored. He had no idea what she was doing, but if she didn’t come soon he was giving up and playing something else. Then he heard her footsteps running up the first staircase and stifled a giggle. She hated the attic and would go mad with him for hiding in here although she hated the cellar even more. She said the attic was full of spiders and the cellar was full of rats. A right proper girl she was and he sometimes wished that he had a brother to play with, but then he would remember that she was only five so he shouldn’t complain. He was nine so he was almost grown up compared to her. She began to call his name so she must be fed up of playing. Joe had tucked himself away at the back of the small cupboard in the attic. The door was tiny and only really big enough for a child to go in, and he wondered quite a lot why it was there and what purpose it served. It was one of those questions he always meant to ask his father but he would forget about it until the next time he saw it. His father was hardly around anyway. He was always at work at the amusement park. Joe wished he could go there more often with him, but his mother always said it wasn’t a place a child should be spending time in unless it was for a fun day out.
‘I give in, Joe. I can’t find you and if you’re hiding in the attic I’m not coming up there anyway. I told you I wasn’t.’
His mother began to call them and he scrambled out of his hiding place as he heard Martha clattering back down the stairs. For a small child she had feet like an elephant. He hit his head on the doorframe and rubbed it with his hand to take away the sting. Slamming the door shut he ran out of the room and down the steep attic stairs to the landing below, then down the next set of stairs and straight into the dining room where he’d last seen his mother bossing Lucy, their housemaid, around while she was trying to set the table for tonight. He barged through the door and straight into Lucy.