The Lake House (13 page)

‘There’s someone outside…not someone, something.’

‘Like what?’

‘Like a man that looks like a scary dead man but he doesn’t have any hands and he was scratching at the window.’

‘A man that didn’t look like a man with no hands was scratching on the glass? How the fuck did he manage that with no hands? You must have been dreaming.’

‘I wasn’t. It’s outside. First of all it was scratching under the caravan and then it was banging against the side. Did you not hear it?’

‘No, I was asleep. All I heard was you.’

‘I looked out but couldn’t see anything so I got back in bed and it began to scratch at the window with these horrible, sharp, black claws.’

Henry scratched at his head. She was out of her tiny mind. He didn’t think she’d been drinking. He’d never seen her take drugs. Maybe the stress was all getting too much for her and she was losing it.

‘Look, we are in a caravan park in England and as far as I know there are no men with claws for hands that live around here.’ He squeezed her tight and stroked her head.

‘You’ve been under a lot of pressure lately. We’ve done some things that would freak out most normal people and you haven’t had time to adjust. It’s probably a combination of everything and the fact that you’re tired. I swear you must have been dozing off and dreamt it. Sometimes dreams can be so realistic you don’t know that it was a dream.’

‘Will you go and check outside, please? Make sure the door is locked when you come back in, but I don’t want to stay in here on my own.’

He nodded. Barefoot and in only his underwear he went to the caravan door. It was completely dark now. He could hear the water from the lake lapping at the edge of the shore and from somewhere in the distance laughter echoed through the trees. He stood on the top step and looked around. He couldn’t see anything. He didn’t actually believe that he would. The air was a lot cooler tonight than it had been the last few days and he shivered. He stepped back inside and locked the door behind him. Megan was waiting in the kitchen clutching a frying pan in her hands. If she hadn’t looked so scared and vulnerable he would have laughed, but he didn’t.

‘There’s nothing. Honestly, you dreamt it.’

She breathed out and put the pan on the worktop, nodding her head.

‘Come on, why don’t you sleep with me tonight? We can keep each other warm and I’ll protect you.’

She followed him into the bedroom and he wondered if pretty little Megan was not as tough as she’d made out. She insisted on sleeping next to the wall, as far away from his window as possible. and she told him to draw the curtains, so nothing could look in. Henry did as she asked then climbed under the covers next to her. She was so cold she was shaking. He wrapped his arms around her and began to tell her about his plans for tomorrow.

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.