‘You’re really starting to get on my nerves, Robbie!’ said Hayley.
I set off down the corridor with Penny at my side. The lounge door slammed shut behind us. Followed by the sound of heavy furniture being dragged across the floor to push up against the door. I took a good look round, but there was no sign of anybody, living or dead. The corridor stretched away before me, completely quiet and utterly deserted. The old house seemed very still, as though expecting something to happen. Penny stood close beside me, waiting patiently.
‘There must have been something out here,’ she said finally. ‘We all heard something.’
‘Hearing isn’t necessarily believing,’ I said. ‘But either way, there’s nothing here now.’
‘Martin seemed very sure someone was heading our way,’ said Penny. ‘But I can’t hear anything. Can you hear anything, space boy?’
I strained my ears against the quiet. ‘No, nothing. Just a few ticking clocks, one of which could use oiling.’
‘Show-off!’ said Penny.
‘Well, if our intruder won’t come to us, I think we should go looking for him.’
‘Sounds like a good plan to me,’ said Penny.
I set off down the corridor and Penny marched along beside me, matching me step for step. I loved the way she was always ready to throw herself into anything. Never a moment’s doubt or hesitation. I liked to think it was because she had faith in my ability to deal with whatever happened, to protect her from anything; but as she’d already demonstrated to poor Redd, she didn’t need anyone’s protection.
‘Are we heading anywhere in particular?’ said Penny.
‘Back to the entrance hall,’ I said. ‘We have to cover most of the ground floor to get there, and we’ll end up not far from the security centre. So I can ask Martin a few pointed questions about this elusive intruder.’
‘Are you sure you remember the way back?’ Penny said doubtfully. ‘It’s a big house, and we took quite a few turns.’
‘I remember all of them,’ I said.
Penny looked at me. ‘How?’
‘I paid attention.’
‘You can be very irritating on occasion, Ishmael,’ said Penny.
Sometimes I have no idea what she’s talking about.
But just a few corridors later I caught a familiar scent on the air, from not far ahead. I increased my pace, as the heavy coppery smell of freshly spilled blood became increasingly clear. I rounded another corner and came to an abrupt halt, as I saw Baxter lying on the floor with blood all over his chest.
Penny slammed to a halt beside me, swore briefly under her breath as she saw Baxter, and then started to move forward again. I stopped her.
‘Is he dead?’ she said, her voice quite steady.
‘Yes,’ I said.
‘Are you sure? There might be something we could do …’
‘No,’ I said. ‘He’s dead. I can tell. You stay here, while I check the body and the surrounding area.’
‘I know, crime scene!’ she said. ‘I get it … Wait a minute, can you hear anyone anywhere near here?’
‘No,’ I said. ‘It’s just us. And him.’
I moved forward, slowly and carefully, checking the heavy carpet for drops of blood or foot imprints, but there was nothing. No sign to show anyone had ever been here. Our killer was very good at covering his tracks. The corridor was long and narrow and completely deserted. No nearby doors leading off, nowhere for the killer to be hiding. He’d just done his work and left. I knelt down beside the body and looked it over.
Baxter was lying on his back. His eyes were open and unblinking. He’d taken a single stab wound to the heart. There was blood all over his chest, but no knife left in the killing wound this time. No defensive wounds. Baxter knew who killed him and had let the killer get close. I couldn’t see him doing that with a walking dead man, so that would seem to rule out Parker. Unless Parker had just appeared before him out of nowhere …
A thought occurred to me, and I checked his shoulder holster. It was empty. I checked the floor around the body, but there was no sign of the gun anywhere. So, the killer had a gun now. I stood up and turned to Penny.
‘Dead. One stab wound to the chest, just like Parker.’
‘So whoever it is didn’t just come here to eliminate Parker,’ said Penny. ‘Unless … the killer got trapped in here when the Lodge went into lockdown. But then why would he hang around after his work was done? Surely a professional would know better? Perhaps he wants to kill us all in case Parker told us something!’
‘You’re really getting the hang of this deduction thing,’ I said. ‘At least there’s nothing impossible about this murder. No locked door. Someone just walked up to Baxter and killed him where he stood.’
Penny frowned. ‘But who would Baxter trust to let him get that close?’
‘Good question,’ I said. ‘And I have another. Why didn’t Martin see this happening on his screens and sound the alarm?’ I raised my voice. ‘Martin! Baxter’s been killed. I’m with the body … Martin! Damn, he’s not hearing me again. Someone must have taken control of his systems and is turning them on and off as necessary.’ I stopped, and looked thoughtfully at Baxter. ‘Why kill him? I mean, why him specifically as opposed to the rest of us?’
‘Because he was on his own?’ said Penny. ‘Because he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and saw something he shouldn’t have?’
‘But where’s his partner?’ I said. ‘Those two are never apart.’
We both looked round sharply as we heard approaching feet. But these were perfectly normal sounds, entirely human. I could feel the vibrations through the wood of the floor. And all I had to do was sniff the air to know who it was.
‘It’s Redd,’ I said to Penny.
He came round the corner quite casually, then stopped as he saw us standing beside Baxter’s body. He made a harsh animal sound of grief. I started to say something, and he stopped me with a gesture.
‘Get away from him!’ he said. ‘Don’t you touch him …’
I stepped back, and Penny did too. Redd came forward quite slowly, staring unblinkingly at the dead man, until finally he knelt down beside him. He stared at Baxter for a long moment, and I couldn’t read a single thing in his expression. Redd reached out to touch Baxter’s face, and then pulled back his hand.
‘I told you not to go off on your own, Bax,’ he said quietly, almost confidentially. He stared up at me accusingly. ‘He was looking for you, because you humiliated him. It wasn’t enough for you to beat him, you had to make it look easy. This is all your fault!’
‘We were nowhere near here when this happened,’ said Penny. ‘We just found him. Ishmael and I were in the lounge, with Hayley and Doyle. You can ask them. Or Martin can confirm it.’
‘Yes!’ said Martin, his voice rising clearly out of nowhere. ‘I was just talking to them all, in the lounge.’
‘Oh! You’re back again, are you?’ I said.
‘What do you mean?’ he said. ‘I haven’t been anywhere.’
‘I spoke to you just now and you didn’t answer,’ I said.
‘Shut up!’ said Redd. ‘Just stop talking! Martin, did you see who killed Bax?’
‘No,’ said Martin. ‘I’m sorry but I’ve been busy, trying to track an intruder on my screens. I never saw this.’
Redd took Baxter in his arms and cradled the dead man, rocking him gently back and forth like a mother with a sleeping child.
‘He was a good soldier,’ Redd said finally. ‘Not very complicated, but then he didn’t need to be. He had me for that. And he had the heart of a lion. He wasn’t afraid of anyone. He would never have allowed anyone to get this close unless he knew them.’
‘And trusted them,’ said Penny. ‘I mean he would never have let Ishmael or me get that close, would he?’
‘Bax never trusted anyone,’ said Redd. ‘He had … issues. And he’d never have let Parker get anywhere near him, dead or alive.’
He kissed Baxt
er on the forehead, and laid him gently down on the floor. He got to his feet. He wasn’t crying. His face was cold, set in harsh unforgiving lines.
‘I’ll get him for you, Bax, I promise you. Whoever did this, I’ll find them. They won’t get away with this, whoever they are.’
‘The only one of us not accounted for,’ Penny said slowly, ‘is MacKay. Martin, where is MacKay right now?’
‘Still upstairs,’ said Martin. ‘Checking the last few rooms. But I’m telling you, it wasn’t MacKay I saw moving around. Someone else is locked inside the Lodge with us.’
‘Just because you saw someone,’ I said, ‘it doesn’t mean it was Parker. More likely it was Parker’s killer. And now Baxter’s. That could mean an intruder, or it could be one of us. You said it yourself, Martin, you haven’t seen this figure long enough to identify him.’
‘I know who it wasn’t.’
‘No you don’t,’ I said.
‘The man I saw was moving too quickly to be human,’ said Martin. ‘I know you don’t want it to be ghosts or anything supernatural, but … Wait a minute! MacKay just emerged from the last room. He’s starting down the stairs to the entrance hall.’
I set off at a run, with Penny and Redd right behind me.
When we finally burst into the entrance hall, MacKay was standing at the foot of the stairs. He nodded coolly to us as we stumbled to a halt.
‘Mr Martin has already informed me as to the situation,’ he said flatly. ‘I am sorry to hear that Mr Baxter is dead. He seemed a very conscientious young man. I understand he was killed in a similar fashion to Mr Parker?’
‘Single stab in the heart, from the front,’ I said. ‘The killer took the knife with him this time.’
‘And you saw nothing of this, Mr Martin?’ said MacKay. ‘What have you been doing?’
‘I’ve been busy!’ said Martin. ‘A lot’s been happening!’
‘That is no excuse,’ said MacKay. ‘We will discuss this lapse in discipline at a later date.’
‘You did it,’ said Redd, stepping forward to fix MacKay with his cold eyes. ‘There wasn’t anyone else, so it had to be you. You killed my Bax!’
MacKay met his gaze steadily. ‘Talk sense, man. I was upstairs until right this moment. Mr Martin can confirm that.’
‘Well, no. Actually, I can’t,’ said Martin. ‘I did see you there, but not all of the time. I’ve been having problems with my cameras.’
MacKay sighed, but didn’t take his eyes off Redd. ‘What reason could I possibly have to kill Mr Baxter? We were on the same side.’
‘Were we?’ said Redd.
‘I did see MacKay upstairs,’ said Martin.
‘But not all the time,’ I said. ‘A lot of things have been going on that you haven’t been allowed to see. Because someone has taken control of your systems.’
‘No!’ he said. ‘I’d know.’
‘You know now,’ I said.
Redd threw himself at MacKay. The older man didn’t fall back a single step. He met Redd squarely, grabbed his outstretched arm and swung him around, then held him helpless in a vicious armlock. Redd struggled, fighting MacKay with all his strength, but couldn’t break the hold. MacKay, his face grim, piled on the pressure; until Redd’s face went white from the pain.
‘Stop fighting me, Mr Redd,’ MacKay said sternly. ‘I will break your arm if that is what it takes to restore discipline.’
Redd threw his whole weight against the hold, even though the pain must have been unbearable, but he still couldn’t break free. MacKay piled on the pressure almost to breaking point before Redd suddenly ran out of strength and gave up. He stood still, his head hanging down. Sweat dripped off his face. MacKay let him go and stepped back, watching Redd carefully. Redd hugged his arm to him, and wouldn’t look at any of us.
‘Show me Mr Baxter’s body,’ said MacKay.
But when we got back to the corridor, the body was gone. As though he’d just got up and walked away … I had to get down on my hands and knees to find the impression in the carpet that showed a body had been there. Redd watched me do it. MacKay raised his voice.
‘Mr Martin? What happened here?’
‘I don’t know,’ said Martin’s voice. He sounded almost on the edge of tears, from sheer frustration. ‘I was watching you on the screens to make sure you were safe, not the body. Wait a minute, just … let me check the recordings. Oh hell, I don’t believe it! All the cameras in your area shut themselves down for a while.’
‘Your systems have been seriously compromised,’ I said. ‘Someone is turning them on and off at will.’
‘Unless Parker took the body,’ said Martin. He laughed for longer than was comfortable, and there was more than a touch of hysteria in it. ‘A dead man … took a dead man for a walk!’
‘OK,’ said Penny. ‘Someone needs a break …’
‘But what if the ghosts killed Baxter, and then took the body?’ said Martin, his voice rising.
‘Mr Martin!’ said MacKay. ‘Get a grip on yourself, right now. You are talking nonsense.’
‘You don’t know what I’ve been seeing,’ said Martin. ‘All kinds of weird things! You’ve seen and heard strange things too, just recently. You know you have!’
‘That is no reason to lose your reason,’ said MacKay. ‘We will deal with whatever is happening in a calm and disciplined manner.’
‘Where’s Bax?’ Redd said suddenly. ‘I want my Bax!’
And he went running off down the corridor, ignoring the rest of us as we called after him, and quickly disappeared from sight.
‘A very disturbed young man,’ said MacKay.
‘I told you not to split up the group,’ I said. ‘This is what happens when you go off on your own. You get picked off. We need to get back to the lounge, join up with Hayley and Doyle, and then barricade ourselves in. Wait for the reinforcements to arrive.’
‘I believe you are right, Mr Jones,’ MacKay said wearily. ‘I fear I no longer understand what is going on in my Lodge.’
SIX
Accusations, Denials and People Losing Their Heads
MacKay led the way, as usual, striding along. But his head was hanging down, staring at the floor rather than where he was going. He didn’t look like an old soldier any more, just an old man who’d been hit too hard and too often. I knew how he felt. It wasn’t enough that everyone in the house had some kind of alibi for Parker’s murder; now I had ghosts and walking dead men to consider, along with bodies that disappeared the moment you took your eyes off them.
MacKay stopped suddenly and raised his head. ‘Mr Martin! This is MacKay. Do you hear me?’
‘I’m right here,’ said Martin. His voice seemed to come out of nowhere, as always. ‘I have all of you on my screen.’
‘I am taking Mr Jones and Miss Belcourt to join the two doctors in the lounge,’ said MacKay.
‘I know,’ said Martin. ‘I was listening. Go ahead, don’t let me stop you.’
‘I think you should come and join us,’ said MacKay. ‘We have a great deal to discuss, and you need to be a part of those discussions.’
‘You need me right where I am,’ said Martin. ‘Sitting in front of these screens, watching everything. Standing guard over you.’
‘Mr Parker is dead,’ said MacKay. ‘So is Mr Baxter. Both of their bodies disappeared and you saw none of it.’
‘That’s not fair!’ said Martin. ‘It’s not my fault. I can only do what my equipment allows me to do.’
‘Exactly,’ said MacKay. ‘So come and join us in the lounge, Mr Martin. That is not a request.’
There was a pause; and I did wonder for a moment whether Martin would defy MacKay, so he could stay in the one place he felt safe. But when Martin finally spoke again he sounded resigned, as if he’d known this was coming.
‘Give me a few minutes to put the system on automatic. So at least whatever I miss will be recorded and I can study it later. I’ll catch up with you in the lounge. No, hold on – wait a minute! I knew
there was something I wanted to ask you. There are guns in the Lodge. Right? Well, wouldn’t this be a really good time to break them out? So we can defend ourselves?’
‘He has a point,’ said Penny.
‘There are guns,’ said MacKay. ‘Securely locked up in the armoury. For emergencies only.’
‘And this doesn’t qualify?’ said Penny. ‘What are you waiting for, an attack on the Lodge by an army of flying monkeys?’
‘I don’t think adding guns to an already dangerous situation is a good idea,’ I said carefully. ‘People are nervous enough as it is, without having them shooting at shadows. Or possibly each other.’
‘If someone wants us dead, don’t we have the right to protect ourselves?’ said Martin. ‘Or are we all supposed to hide behind you if things get bad? You’re the Big Bad Secret Agent, so you probably already have a gun. One of those special ones that can fire round corners, which you assemble out of six ordinary-looking objects.’
‘I’m not that kind of secret agent,’ I said. ‘And I don’t have guns of any kind. I prefer to work without them.’
‘It’s a wonder to me you’re still among the living,’ said Martin.
‘He has a point,’ said Penny. ‘Don’t you look at me like that, Ishmael. He does have a point!’
‘Mr Martin, you may be right,’ MacKay said heavily. ‘But I am not yet ready to dispense deadly weapons to untrained people with unsteady hands. Come to the lounge and we will discuss the matter further.’
None of us had much to say as we made our way through the empty corridors of the house. The silence was oppressive, a nagging weight on nerves already stretched to their limits. It was like walking through a jungle where predators might be lurking around every corner or hiding in any shadow. I kept a careful watch on every door we approached, and my ears trained for anything to suggest we might be being followed. Penny kept trying to look in six different directions at once; not because she was frightened, but because she wanted to be ready if anything happened. The two murders hadn’t upset her; just made her more determined. The horrors she’d endured at Belcourt Manor, where she’d been forced to watch helplessly as her friends and family died, had given her a driving need to see the guilty punished. MacKay didn’t seem to give a damn about his surroundings. He just plodded along, lost in his own thoughts.
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