***
Lauren shook Stuart’s shoulders. He rolled over, pulled the sheets over his chest.
‘Stuart, wake up, will you?’
‘What is it?’ he said, keeping in his comfortable position.
‘There’s a noise coming from Kim’s garden. Someone’s moaning. It might be her. I’m going to have a look outside.’
‘Hang on, will you?’ Stuart said. He blew out his exasperation, went to the window and swished the curtains open. He perceived a vague outline in the darkness.
‘Is it her?’ Lauren asked.
‘I can’t be sure. We’d better take a look.’
The rear wall of their home had a security light. Stuart switched it on, went outside and looked in Kim’s garden. His brow furrowed with bewilderment.
‘Who is it?’ Lauren said.
‘It’s Kim. She’s only wearing bra and knickers.’
‘Let me see.’
‘Hang on a sec … Her hair’s a mess. It’s been crudely cut and she’s bleeding.’
Lauren looked and gasped at the bizarre spectacle. Kim was clawing vigorously at the ground. Pockets of evaporating sweat drifted out of her pink skin.
‘She’s trying to retrieve those diaries,’ Lauren said.
‘It could be the dog she’s looking for.’
Lauren slapped her hand over her mouth. Kim was glaring at her, her expression clouded with fear. She clawed at the soil, then stood up and screamed with her whole body – a piercing scream with a deep, parallel undertone that ripped through their brains like shards of glass.
‘Call the police, Lauren.’
They arrived five minutes later. Stuart accompanied a male and female officer to the rear of Kim’s house. Trepidation surfed the nerves of his stomach.
Kim was kneeling by the hole she had dug with her bare hands. The female officer called out her name. A look of dread spread across her blotchy face. They edged towards her. Kim’s blazing energy fizzed in her veins. Her eyes narrowed into slits of fury. She sprung to her feet, hands raised in the air like the paws of a wild bear. A roar came up from her stomach. She scrambled to the fence, pulled herself up and over.
‘Siobhan, see which direction she went in,’ the male officer urged. ‘Put out an alert.’
Kim sprinted down streets and roads, not knowing or caring where they led to. Her leg muscles burned like molten iron. Her heart bounced around inside a heaving ribcage. Blood mingled with the sweat running down her torso and legs.
The moon jumped from behind a cloud, lighting up the pavement and closed shops. A red car pulled up. She hid in a doorway, pressed herself hard against the shuttered display window. The black driver grinned. ‘Hiya, baby,’ he said, his voice gravelly. ‘Sweets for the sweet. Remember who I am? I told you I’d show you a new face … I’m the candyman. Come to git ya, cut off your tiddies … Looks who’s in the back.’
His passenger was pale as death, her face set in a menacing grimace. Blonde hair. Stiff. Synthetic. Sunglasses hid vengeful eyes. She raised her hand, waved a shiny, cut-throat razor.
The car sped off, leaving behind a huge cloud of expanding acrid smoke. Kim ran blindly, keeping beneath the overhead street lamps. Black distorted hands jabbed at her melting body. Overlapping voices filled the air, taunting and chiding.
Silence fell.
The smoke gathered itself into a giant snake and shrunk into nothing. She crouched by a vehicle, her mind filled with fear, despair, guilt.
Flashing steel-blue lights fractured the shadows of the street. Powerful arms lifted her. Her reflection in a window was a broken, scarlet body. She fought and wriggled, spat and cursed. The man thrust her against a wall, watched her crumble in helpless defeat. He squatted in front of her.
Was it Ethan or Jay whose accusing eyes evoked her surrender?
‘It’s all over, Janet,’ he said, glowering. ‘You didn’t fool us. Why didn’t you have the dragon tattoo removed when you had the chance? You loved it so much, didn’t you? Sachs knew you were trying to erase the past because you were scared. You were desperate to hide your involvement in the murder of little Sarah. You told the vicar what you had done, as if he cares.’
‘Kill me, then. Do it now,’ she pleaded.
‘Death is too good for you.’
He gripped her hand, pulled her up and pushed her towards two officers casually leaning against a police vehicle.
‘Come along, miss,’ the policeman said. ‘Inside you go. Mind your head.’
She climbed in. Siobhan covered her with a grey blanket, shut the door and stood by her colleague.
The woman sitting next to Kim was wearing a long, floral dress.
On her lap lay a large, glistening kitchen knife.
Chapter Thirty
Jay left his car on a street close to Carville Road and casually walked to the vicarage. The collar of his long, brown coat was turned up, the peak of his Vans cap was lower than usual. He turned his head to the side as he passed Gill’s lodging.
Erica answered his knock. Her face was pale, mournful. She waved him to enter and left him waiting in the hallway. When she came back he said, ‘Somebody going on holiday?’
‘No holiday. Not for me. I’m leaving, so I am. The vicar has given me my marching orders.’
‘Has he found a replacement?’
‘I wouldn’t be knowing, and I don’t give a damn. I hope you have some good news regarding Kim. Apparently, you spoke to the vicar. He wouldn’t discuss the matter with me.’
‘The police took her to the Community Hospital in the early hours of this morning. She was seen running along High Street, shouting and exhibiting manic behaviour. I spoke to a nurse at the hospital. She’s been sedated.’
She slowly shook her head. ‘Mr Yeldon, do you think she will make a good recovery?’
‘She’s in the best place. There’s no reason why she shouldn’t. We’ll have to wait and see.’
‘I sincerely hope she finds happiness and leads a full life … I’ll never see her again. I tried to help but the vicar wouldn’t allow her to stay. He said she needed professional care.’
‘Did she cause any problems?’
‘I wouldn’t say so. Never mind. It’s all over now. You may go to her room. The vicar said you’d come to collect her things. They’re on the bed.’
A cold draught hit Jay on entering the room. The window was open, the bedsheets taken away for washing. He picked up a plastic bag and emptied the contents onto the mattress. Kim’s mobile phone, charger and a bottle of phenelzine tablets dropped out of her neatly folded clothes.
Erica stood in the doorway. ‘I have to go soon, Mr Yeldon. You’ve got what you came for?’
‘Yes. Tell me, what was her mood towards the end of her stay?’
‘She was settling down. I’m sure she benefited from my care.’
‘What else did she bring with her, apart from what’s on this bed?’
‘A couple of cigarettes … Oh, and some health tablets for her complexion.’
‘Did she have any visitors?’
‘No.’
‘Did she go out on her own?’
‘She did not. Why should it matter?’
Jay ignored the question, thanked her and made his exit.
***
‘He’s here,’ Stuart said. Lauren opened the front door, hugged herself against the drizzle and chilly breeze. Once inside the house, Jay activated Kim’s phone.
‘You’re fortunate she left it behind,’ Lauren said.
Jay nodded. ‘Did the police ask what she was digging for?’
‘No. I told them she’d been acting weird during the past month and had buried some diaries. I didn’t mention the dog. They asked if she was a drug user. I said I didn’t know.’
‘Probably the best answer under the circumstances.’
He gave them a rundown of his brief conversation with Erica.
‘It’s more than a coincidence, surely?’ Lauren said. ‘Kim runs away and the housekeeper is
sacked? There must be a connection.’
‘I could ask the vicar,’ Jay suggested. He checked the missed calls and text messages on Kim’s phone. ‘Here we are, loads of missed calls from the mysterious Gillian and text messages from her asking Kim’s whereabouts and pleading with her to text back or ring. At least we have her mobile number.’
‘Ring it now,’ Lauren said impulsively.
‘Do we really want to alert her?’
‘I wasn’t thinking straight. Hang on a sec, I’m sure Gillian visited Kim’s house last week. Maybe she doesn’t know Kim is in hospital.’
‘Gillian is vacating her flat on Friday,’ Stuart said. ‘That fact raises many questions. It doesn’t make matters easier for you, Jay.’
Jay stood by the window, looked out into the gloom. ‘Mind altering drugs,’ he said finally. ‘Gillian has passed the drug in food and drink. Kim has been at the vicarage for a week, didn’t go anywhere on her own and had no visitors.’
‘What are you driving at?’ Stuart asked.
‘According to Erica Valentine, the housekeeper, Kim was beginning to settle down. She seemed genuinely upset when I told her Kim was in hospital.’
‘It couldn’t have been the housekeeper who passed the drug,’ Lauren added.
‘Exactly my point. We need to search Kim’s house, see what we can find.’
Stuart and Jay went to the house and entered the kitchen. ‘What, exactly, are we looking for?’ Stuart asked.
‘Anything suspicious.’
‘Anything obvious. The drug could be mixed in with sugar, flour, fizzy drinks and wine.’
Jay opened the wall cabinet, examined items that may have been tampered with. ‘And what have we here?’
Stuart rushed to his side. ‘What is it?’
‘I think these are the tablets Kim was taking. Erica Valentine mentioned them.’ He read part of the label out loud. ‘“Maintains healthy hair, skin and nails.”’ He unscrewed the cap, poured out the contents. ‘They’re capsules, not tablets. Kim took some of these with her to the vicarage.’ He pulled one capsule apart. A whitish powder spilled out.
Stuart emptied another three capsules, felt the texture, looked at the powder with a curious intensity. ‘It’s impossible to tell if another substance has been mixed with this supplement. Who will analyse it and what chemical compounds would they be looking for? You see the difficulty? In any case, these capsules might not be spiked with a drug.’
Jay’s eyes narrowed, his lips puckered. ‘There’s a quick way of finding out.’
He cracked open two capsules, poured the contents into a glass of water and took a seat in the living room.
‘You can’t do this,’ Stuart said severely. ‘It’s too dangerous.’
Jay gulped the water. Stuart threw up his hands in dismay, paced the room in claustrophobic apprehension. Five minutes passed. Ten. Twenty. Then came relief. ‘There, you see,’ he said. ‘There’s nothing dangerous in them.’
‘How do you know?’
‘There would have been some physical change in your body, some alteration in your facial expression.’
Jay broke two more capsules and repeated the process.
‘Jay, you’ve got your answer. Why are you doing this?’
‘Suppose only a third or half of them were spiked?’
‘This is madness. You could harm yourself. Suppose I get hurt?’
‘Sit down. Take it easy, will you?’
Stuart folded his arms, kept a firm gaze on him. ‘This reminds me of a Sherlock Holmes story called, “The Adventure of the Devil’s Foot.”’
‘The great Doyle. Tell me more.’
‘The story is set in Cornwall. A man decides to drive his siblings mad so he can take control of the family’s wealth. He steals a powder obtained from the root of an African plant. When burned, it produces fumes that, if inhaled, cause irreversible madness or death. The powder is called, “devil’s-foot root.” Holmes finds some of the unconsumed powder on a lamp placed next to a man’s dead body. To test his hypothesis, he buys a similar lamp, burns the powder and sits near it to see if anything happens.’
‘And does it?’
‘As Holmes slips into a nightmarish world his friend, Dr Watson, who is also affected, summons enough strength to drag him out into the open air. You could actually be ingesting the stuff.’
‘I should have burned the capsules, then you could be my Watson.’
‘You make light of a potentially dangerous experiment.’
‘What’s done is done.’
A stronger wave of apprehension rolled over Stuart’s nerves. If Jay was playing Russian Roulette the situation couldn’t have been much worse. Stuart waited for a reaction, a movement, sigh, jolt. Anything. He loosened his shirt collar, fidgeted, kept checking his watch. Ten minutes crept by. He pushed out a hopeful sigh of relief. A smile swept across his face.
Jay tensed and was drawn to Stuart’s slender fingers dancing on the front of his shirt. ‘Try to be still please, Stuart. I’m nervous enough as it is. And can you explain what my Louis Codan pen is doing in your shirt pocket?’
‘Why shouldn’t it be there?’
‘The pair of you have been using it against me, writing plans for my destruction. I’ve seen your dossier on me. There’s loads of information in it. You’ve catalogued my feelings, thoughts and dreams.’
Stuart shot up from his chair. Jay covered his face, drew his legs up for protection.
‘Very clever, Jay. Take your hands away from your face and look at me … Thank you. I knew all along the Leso capsules had been planted by you. I gave you the key, allowed you to search this house. You swapped the spiked ones for the genuine ones you have just swallowed. You are the one who has been feeding her the drug. Lauren and I didn’t catch on until recently. Suddenly it all made sense, especially after we unearthed information concerning the sex crimes you were charged for and who you really are.’
‘Nonsense,’ Jay spat. ‘In the first place, I happened to be travelling home when I saw her.’
Stuart stuck an accusing finger in his face. ‘You could have killed her when you drove the car at her. And what did you do? You drove away and came back to offer assistance, playing the part of Good Samaritan. You fooled her. Not me.’
A tear ran down his cheek. ‘I wasn’t trying to fool her. Believe me.’
‘You’re a good actor, Jay. Jenny Powell, too. Miss Powell, your lover and confidant. Jenny becomes Gillian. Very convenient. You primed her and took Kayla all the way to Stonewick to bolster your plan. You were the master criminal always one step in front. You hid the truth from everyone. How could they know you are a thief, rapist and murderer?’ Stuart shook him violently. ‘You despicable, filthy, paedo bastard.’
‘Leave me alone,’ Jay screamed. He curled into a ball and sobbed.
‘Scared now, aren’t you? Kim warned us. She had her doubts from the outset. Your disguise was good. Grow a bit of stubble, why not? Change your hairstyle and put some weight on. All the clues were there you idiot, only Kim didn’t want the illusion to be shattered. She was hoping for a new beginning, a new life with the man she loves. And you were the man who spied on her over the garden fence, stalked her in the castle grounds, stole Smarty and arranged for Karen to bring him back.’
Fear shook Jay’s bones. He expected Stuart to pull out a gun and shoot him. Instead, he turned and walked over to the French doors. Jay jumped up and rushed to the front door. Lauren pushed him back inside. ‘Going somewhere?’ she said angrily.
‘Get me out of here,’ he pleaded, and stumbled on the floor. Stuart helped him onto his feet. Lauren peeled his arms back and they forced him outside. Six police officers ran into the garden and lined up regimental style. Jay ran his disbelieving eyes over the high visibility vests and forbidding duty belts. He sank to his knees. The burly officers yelled and charged at him. ‘Don’t let them take me,’ Jay said, his voice brimming with torment. ‘Keep them away. I haven’t done anything … Get off me �
�� Leave me alone … Tell them, Stuart – it wasn’t me!’
Stuart’s fingers sank deeper into his arm. ‘You’re a teacher. You are supposed to set an example.’
A chaotic jumble of arms flapped like the tentacles of an octopus. Jay cowered and rolled over onto the ground. Words of hate and revenge battered his eardrums. The officers’ beefy breaths burned his skin. They stared at him with bulging, cold, expressionless eyes.
‘Keep off me … Get away from me … You’ve got the wrong man… I didn’t do it … Take your hands off me …’
The ground beneath him softened. A pair of hands yanked at his ankles.
Stuart grunted and breathed heavily.
His final effort was enough to drag Jay from under the bed.
Chapter Thirty-One
Stuart downed a glass of brandy to pacify the turbulence of his distressing experience. The fallout from Jay’s alarming behaviour was stamped on his memory forever.
Lauren sat next to him, asked him where Jay was.
‘I took him home. Gerald answered my call, came over to see him and give me a hand.’
‘Oh, Stuart, you fool. It was such reckless thing to do and you sat there and did nothing.’
‘I couldn’t stop him, could I? Look, Gerald gave him a tranquilizer and some tablets to last him a couple of days. Kayla is looking after him so he should be fine.’
‘And how did Gerald take it, him being a doctor?’
‘He’s a good friend of mine. I didn’t have time to relate the full story. I told him Jay had ingested a dangerous drug and needed urgent attention. I managed to persuade him to help me.’
‘Did he suggest taking him to the hospital?’
‘He did. I told him about Kim being in hospital suffering from the effects of the same drug.’
‘And?’
‘Well, we wouldn’t want the police asking questions. Jay’s a teacher.’
‘Gerald is a doctor. His actions were irresponsible. You are an orbital prosthetist. We all have good jobs and can’t risk losing them.’
All Your Fears Page 21