by J. R. Ellis
‘Maggie? Come in here, will you?’ It was Louise’s voice. Maggie went into the living room where she was surprised to see two strangers. Louise introduced her to her dad and his colleague Steph. ‘I asked him to come over to help us, because I’m worried about it all. I hope you don’t mind.’
Maggie was a little taken aback. She knew Louise’s father was a detective, but she hadn’t expected him to appear like this. She would have liked to have been consulted before more police were brought in, even if they were there to give support.
‘No,’ she said, sounding uncertain and looking at the detectives with suspicion. Oldroyd responded.
‘We realise it’s a bit of an imposition, Maggie, but I’m sure you can understand that I felt I had to come over as Louise is involved in these awful events. We won’t interfere with anything. We’re just here to give you any help or advice you might need.’ He wanted to ask her about what had happened and what she thought about it all but decided this was the wrong time.
‘Okay, well, thanks. I’m making coffee if anyone wants some.’
Oldroyd and Steph declined.
‘We need to go,’ said Oldroyd, and he and Steph got up. ‘I called the detective in charge of the case. We’re going to meet her at police HQ. Now, I think she’ll probably be getting you all in to the station for an interview this afternoon so we’ll come back later on. It would be inappropriate for us be to there when you’re interviewed. Just be absolutely straight with her and tell the truth, okay?’
‘Okay,’ said Louise, looking anxious at their departure.
Maggie simply nodded.
‘Seen anything of Ben?’ asked Louise when Oldroyd and Steph had gone. ‘Oh, talk of the devil.’ At that moment Ben came down the stairs dressed in jeans and t-shirt with his hair dishevelled.
‘Hi. God I’ve got a terrible headache. Any coffee going?’
‘I’ve just made some,’ replied Maggie. ‘You’ve just missed Louise’s dad and his sergeant.’
‘What?’ Ben was very surprised and suspicious like Maggie.
‘I asked him to come over,’ said Louise. ‘I thought it would be good to have him around, if things get difficult.’
‘Fine,’ said Ben. ‘But do you honestly think they will? I mean, come on. We didn’t talk about this last night, and it’s bloody awful, but he stabbed her. I hate it and I can scarcely believe it, but he stabbed her. We all saw him. I’ve been thinking, maybe he has lost his balance as you said. Looking back, I think he’s been behaving oddly for a while.’
‘Has he?’
‘You must have noticed. He’s been moody, quiet and he’s started rows with Andrea. He hasn’t been himself.’
‘I don’t know. Where do you think he’s gone?’ asked Maggie.
‘Oh, I forgot; I got a text from him,’ said Louise.
‘What?’
She showed them the text. Maggie put her hand over her mouth.
‘Oh my God! That’s terrible. I can’t bear it. He must be in a horrific state; where the hell is he?’ She collapsed in tears again.
Ben took the phone and read the text again. ‘He has to be out of his mind. He must be hiding somewhere; the police will find him, won’t they? And then what?’ he said, echoing Louise. He put the phone down and shook his head. ‘I don’t know what to say.’
‘Maybe we should try to find him before the police do,’ said Louise.
‘What?’ replied Ben. ‘But how?’
‘I’m not sure yet, but I’m not convinced that the whole thing is as simple as you say. He might be able to explain things.’
‘What things? You mean why he stabbed her? Okay, maybe he can, but the fact is he still did it,’ continued Ben.
‘Oh, please shut up!’ shouted Maggie. ‘I can’t cope with any more of it.’ She covered her face with her hands and slumped sideways onto the arm of the sofa. The doorbell rang and Maggie sprang up again. ‘Oh God, that’s the police! I’m not even dressed.’
Then they heard a voice calling: ‘It’s me. Jack.’
‘Oh, that’s a relief.’ Maggie relaxed again and Louise let the newcomer in. Jack was dark-haired and tall, wearing jeans and a coat. The others got up and greeted him and Louise brought him coffee. He sat down, holding the cup as if he didn’t know what to do with it.
‘I don’t know what to say. I set off at six this morning. Then I got your text.’ He nodded at Maggie. ‘It’s just awful. I can’t imagine what you’ve all been through. I feel bloody awful about not being here. Tell me exactly what happened. Maybe I could have done something.’
‘You couldn’t have,’ replied Ben. ‘It happened so quickly. Needless to say we weren’t expecting it. They had a furious row in the escape room, and Dominic stabbed her. Then he ran out of the building through an emergency exit.’
‘Bloody hell,’ said Jack, shaking his head. He put his undrunk coffee down on the coffee table.
‘I know it sounds unbelievable but that’s what we saw happen.’
‘So you say they were having a row . . . ?’ Jack seemed lost for words.
‘They were arguing, but you know what they were like,’ said Maggie. ‘It was no worse than we’ve seen before.’
‘Right. And has he just disappeared?’
‘No, he’s around somewhere,’ said Louise, and she showed him the text she’d received earlier.
Jack stared at it. ‘It’s a bloody nightmare, isn’t it? It’s the kind of thing you watch on telly but you never imagine happening to you.’
There was silence. No one could disagree.
‘So what are we going to do?’ asked Jack.
‘We’re waiting for the police to arrive,’ replied Maggie. ‘I thought you were them. They’ll want to interview us. What we do after that I’ve no idea.’ She sounded desperate.
Oldroyd, Granger and Steph watched the smudgy black-and-white images of the CCTV record of the murder. As the five people in the pictures were all dressed in goth costumes, the whole thing looked like some amateur horror film shot amongst the tacky gravestones and broken altar. Nevertheless, it was very chilling because of the terrible events at the end of the sequence. Several times they watched Louise and the others come into the second room and start to look for clues. Then the camera was partially obscured as the commotion took over. The figure of Dominic ran out of view and Andrea fell to the floor at the bottom of the picture. Maggie could be seen with her hands over her mouth, while Ben was crouched over Andrea with his back to the camera. Maggie then disappeared, presumably into the next room, pursuing Dominic. Louise and the actor came into the room and Maggie returned. It all seemed to happen as described by the witnesses.
‘Hmm,’ mumbled Oldroyd, frowning. ‘It seems to confirm what they all said.’
‘It does, sir,’ agreed Granger, thrilled to be working with Oldroyd again.
‘It’s weird watching it on the screen,’ observed Steph. ‘It makes it all seem like a black-and- white horror movie.’
‘That’s what I thought, and in those costumes they look like actors.’ Oldroyd sighed and frowned. The annoying thing was that despite what he’d just said, he was starting to feel, like Louise, that something wasn’t right. But was that just a feeling in sympathy with her? Could he trust it? It was hard to be objective when someone so close to you was involved. Maybe it was sensible to go with what the other two thought.
‘Is it our conclusion that the film confirms the witness accounts?’ asked Granger.
Oldroyd and Steph agreed; Oldroyd with great reluctance. ‘Is there any news of the fugitive’s whereabouts?’ he asked, wondering straight away what was stopping him from saying ‘killer’.
‘None yet, sir, but we’ve got several officers on the search and I’m expecting results soon. He sounds desperate judging from the text he sent to your daughter and he can’t have got far. He may be hiding in a boat or someone’s garage. It’s often the public who discover these people in the end. He must be still in a goth costume unless he had clothes hidden s
omewhere, but of course he won’t stand out in the town at the moment dressed like that.’
‘There’s always the danger that he’ll do himself in,’ added Steph.
‘Yes. I didn’t want to say that to Louise, but it’s a distinct possibility. How are you handling the press by the way? Have you . . . ?’ Oldroyd stopped himself and shook his head. ‘Look, I’m sorry. I don’t mean to take over your investigation. You’d be quite in order to tell me to shut up.’
Granger laughed. ‘Don’t worry, sir, it’s great to be working with you again. I’ve checked with DCI Garner and he’s fine about you both being involved. Why wouldn’t he be, getting such wonderful assistance free of charge? As long as you’re not involved too directly because of your daughter, you know. I want to clear the air with you about this at the beginning. We have no reason to suspect her of any involvement in anything criminal in relation to what’s happened. If at any stage that changes, I would of course ask you to stand down from the case.’
‘Absolutely understood,’ replied Oldroyd. He saw that Granger was heaving a quiet sigh of relief. It clearly hadn’t been easy to say that to her old boss, but he respected her for having done so. ‘And you were right to say it,’ he added and then turned to Steph. ‘This,’ he said, indicating Granger, ‘is the type of detective that you and Andy can become. I’m training you two in the same way.’ This was said in Oldroyd’s genially bumptious manner and both women laughed.
‘You’re embarrassing me, sir,’ said Granger.
‘Not at all. I’m proud of all of you and I know DCS Walker is too. By the way, he’s been very generous and understanding, but I don’t know for how long he can spare us.’
‘I remember DCS Walker; he was a good person to work for. You always felt he understood the job.’
‘That’s because he did it for more years than any of us have,’ replied Oldroyd. ‘People like him make the best managers.’
‘To answer your question, sir,’ continued Granger. ‘I’m speaking to the press later. I’ll obviously stress that we’re looking for the suspect, and any information, etc.’
‘Good. I take it you’ll want to interview my daughter and the others.’
‘Yes. I think it will be better here at the station. I understand they live nearby so I’ll send a car to bring them down.’
‘Fine. I’ll text Louise telling her to expect you and then Steph and I will get out of your way. Is it okay if I go to look at the crime scene?’
‘Yes, sir. I’ll tell the officers there that you’re on your way.’
Louise, Ben and Maggie were sitting in the back of a police car with two uniformed officers in the front. It felt a bit cramped but it was a short journey.
‘I’d never been into a police station before this happened,’ confessed Maggie. ‘It makes me nervous.’
‘Don’t worry,’ replied Louise. ‘Dad said that the inspector in charge of the case is nice. She’s a woman: Inspector Granger.’
‘What is she going to ask and what shall we say?’ asked Maggie.
‘Just the truth,’ said Ben, who appeared very relaxed. ‘We’ve already told everything we know to that other detective, so this will just be to confirm it.’
‘Oh, it sounds very formal,’ said Maggie, looking anxious. ‘Things like that freak me out.’
‘Don’t worry about being questioned. It’s not about being intimidating anymore. They don’t shine bright lights in your face and shout at you. They want to put you at your ease,’ said Louise.
‘Then you get too comfortable and let things drop,’ said Ben, before correcting himself when he saw the look of alarm on Maggie’s face. ‘No, I’m only joking, I’m sure it will be fine. What happened was pretty straightforward, wasn’t it?’
‘Yeah, I suppose so.’ Ben made the whole thing seem very simple, but Louise remained unconvinced. Simplicity was the problem: it just seemed too easy.
‘They’ll want to know about their relationship as well, won’t they?’ asked Maggie. ‘They’ll be trying to establish Dom’s motive. We’ll have to tell them that they argued, but even though they did, I’m not going to make it sound worse than it was. I still never thought it would come to this, did you?’
‘Of course not,’ replied Louise as they reached the station. As they got out of the car and walked in she felt that she was being swept along into the official investigation, which was quickly going to conclude that Dominic murdered Andrea: period. She hoped her dad would come to see things from her point of view and that he would be able to do something to change it.
When they left the police station, Oldroyd and Steph headed down to the harbour and across the same bridge, towards the older eastern part of the town, that the group of friends had crossed in such high spirits the day before. Today the sky was clearer although a fresh wind was blowing in from the sea sending seagulls wheeling and calling over the water. Oldroyd paused on the bridge, as Louise and Maggie had done, and took a deep breath as the wind ruffled his hair.
‘It’s lovely to be at the sea again and breathe in that air. I don’t get over here often enough.’
‘Me neither, sir. It brings back a lot of memories. You appreciate it more when you’re older though don’t you? It’s not all about being on the sands, building castles and going in the sea anymore.’ They laughed.
‘You’re right. You’re not interested in views when you’re a kid. Come on, though, we can’t behave like day trippers; we’d better take a look at this escape room.’ They set off into the east side of the town. ‘Do you know anything about those things?’
‘Escape rooms? Oh yes, sir, they’re great fun; Andy and I have done a few in Leeds with our friends: The Underground Bunker, The Psychopath’s Trap, The Mummy’s Tomb. They’re always on a theme. We prefer the scary ones; they give you an extra thrill. It sounds like Louise and her friends were the same.’
‘I see. Obviously not enough excitement in the job. I’m sorry we’re boring you.’
Steph laughed. ‘It’s not boring when we’re out on a case like this, sir, but unfortunately we have to spend a lot of our time at our desks on the computer writing stuff up and it can get tedious.’
‘Yes, tell me about it. It’s the same for everybody these days. Anyway, how do they work?’
‘You’re locked into the room and you have clues which you have to solve in order to find the key, which will get you out. Stuff is hidden in the room and you have to find it; there’s often more than one room. You normally have about an hour. It’s a great challenge pitting all your wits against the clock and seeing if you can get out before the time is up. Usually, if you’re running out of time, the controller will put extra clues up on a screen.’
‘Right. Well, here we are. See what you make of this one.’
They’d made it to the dingy entrance. They showed their identity to the constable on guard and were let in. There was no Elaine at the reception desk. They walked into the first room and looked around.
‘I must say, it’s all a bit tacky,’ remarked Oldroyd as he surveyed the cobwebs, the chandeliers and the coffin.
‘All part of the atmosphere, sir. The whole of the Goth festival is like that; it’s all deliberately over the top; that’s the point. And I suppose Whitby wants to make the most of its Dracula connection throughout the year.’
‘Yes. Well, let’s see where it all happened.’
They progressed into the second room to find another constable by the cordoned-off section of the floor where Andrea had died.
Oldroyd examined everything. ‘I presume, after the attack, the suspect went through that door?’
‘That’s right, sir,’ said the constable. ‘There’s another door into the street from there.’
Oldroyd and Steph wandered through. ‘Seen anything so far?’ he asked.
‘No, sir.’
‘Me neither.’
The clutter of the spare room was all there. ‘Granger said that the owner is going to convert this into another part of the
game. It looks about as tatty as the rest of the place.’ Like Hampton and Granger before him, he opened the coffin and the wardrobe and inspected the interiors carefully.
Then his attention was caught by the sarcophagus. ‘I didn’t know there were mummies in the Dracula story. They’re getting their horror fiction mixed up.’ He opened it and then stood back and peered at it with his head on one side. ‘Why has it been built into the wall like that? It’s odd.’ Suddenly his face changed and took on an alert expression. ‘Hang on a minute, I know what’s going on here. Let’s see if I can find it.’ He felt around the edge, and there was a click. Oldroyd pushed at one side of the sarcophagus and it spun round to reveal another, identical to the first which came to rest in the same position.
‘Wow, sir, well done. What’s all that about?’
‘The owner, whoever he is, has acquired this from an illusionist. It’s a simple trick, a bit clunky. Someone from the audience checks there’s no escape from this casket; then the illusionist’s assistant gets in and the door is shut. They draw the curtain across and while it’s all covered up, they spin the whole thing round, the empty casket comes to the front and when they open it the person seems to have disappeared. Of course it’s easy to reverse the procedure and bring them back again. He must have created a stud wall here and incorporated this into it; there will be a cavity behind here. This will be the centrepiece of his new room.’
‘I imagine that someone will hide in there dressed as Dracula or something and scare the players or there may be a clue in the fact that there are actually two caskets,’ added Steph.
‘Yes. But it’s making me think; let’s have a look inside the one that was concealed.’ Oldroyd looked closely at the curved surface and then called Steph over.
‘I think that small stain there might be blood.’
Steph had a look at the red mark. ‘It’s not much, sir. What are you suggesting?’
‘I’m not sure, but it makes me uneasy. Let’s have a look at the outside door.’ The door was locked but the constable opened it. Oldroyd strolled into the alleyway as Maggie had done. So this was where Dominic Holgate had supposedly run out. Or had he been hiding in that sarcophagus? He went back inside. ‘Do you know what?’ he said to Steph. ‘I think I’m starting to agree with my daughter: there is something fishy about it all. I think we’re going to be here in Whitby for a while yet.’