Lucifer's Abbey

by Smith, Michael James

  I looked at him knowing that my words were going to hurt him. “Juliet's down there Derek. She’s the missing woman from Moretonhamstead.

  “Juliet as in your Juliet?”

  He saw in my face the answer to that one. He had known her exactly as long as I had. He had been there, one of the boys wading in the River Dart and playing in the sunshine at Bellever. Probably, because we were pretty much inseparable as kids, stood right by my side the first time I ever spoke to her.

  He looked at me saying nothing, a long serious faced silence and I knew he was evaluating the whole thing. He is a very solid family man, utterly practical, both feet firmly on the ground, about as far from my chaotic lifestyle as it's possible to get. A walking reality check that I'd used many times to find some solidity in my own haphazard past, an ever present lighthouse in my many storms.

  It was the lifelong friend, not the police officer, in him that spoke. “She's one of us Mike. We'd better go and find her.”

  Our eyes met. This wasn't about the Police anymore; it was about old loyalties and finding a way to protect long lost days and half-forgotten memories. Something that rarely got a mention but that was never far beneath the skin: Ellacombe boys for life.

  Leon had been stood to one side watching. He hadn't missed a single nuance. “This is Chief Inspector Leon Henry of Interpol, Belgium.” I said to Derek and they shook hands. “He's one of us, Derek, an honorary Ellacombe Boy but he wears better suits.” They both grinned. Three way friendship established.

  “The missing child is my niece.” Leon said to Derek. “They took her because the stupid press put my picture in half the world's newspapers and told them what I was doing here, I'm going to find her if we have to dig all the way back to Belgium.”

  “Right then.” Derek said. “I heard you send Ann Taylor to organise things upstairs. I'll get the team organised into smaller groups and we'll have to take the tunnels one by one and seal them off.”

  He walked away after a last penetrating look at me. I knew what he was thinking. I'd had years to sort myself out with Juliet and I hadn't done it. And he'd told me too at least a dozen times.

  After he had gone ten yards he looked back at Leon. “I'll make sure we have plenty of spades.”

  Leon grinned again. “Hey! Tell Ann lots of coffee. Her coffee not police muck OK.”

  Leon and I walked along and went down into the tunnels ourselves. Twenty minutes was enough to establish that Derek's evaluation had been spot on. Searching the place was going to be a strange bit of Police work.

  “Lights, we need some way to light the whole place.” Leon Said.

  I thought about that and had a sudden idea. I called one of the Uniformed Inspectors who were already organising their Constables to put direction signs on the walls. Whoever had got that so quickly under way deserved a big pat on the back.

  It was a morning for local lads. David Cooper was the longest serving uniformed copper in the bay. “Morning Dave.” I said and he smiled. “Morning Milk-top!” Not many people still use that old nickname for me, he was the exception and he'd never bloody stopped using it. “I'm just making sure that none of my Constables get lost. They get lost on the sea front so I'm a bit concerned.”

  Indefatigable, nothing ever got David down. He should have been an Antarctic explorer or something; he could literally plod you to death. Once he was given a task for his uniformed branch he would pursue it with relentless enthusiasm whether large or small.

  We repeated the introduction routine we'd just gone through with Derek Smith.

  “You know the work on the new by-pass.” I said to David. “We need a load of lighting, cabling, generators the whole works. They'd have the lot wouldn't they?

  David smiled. It was more of a malicious grin really. I'd inadvertently touched a raw nerve.

  “They have at least two of everything you can have that makes a bloody mess on the few roads that are still usable. For anything that makes a horrible noise all night long so the Station phones ring with noise complaints every ten bloody minutes they have at least four.”

  Leon was doing his eyebrow thing again. “He's another Ellacombe boy.” I said by way of explanation.

  “Nice suit too!” Leon said pointing at David's Uniform.

  I was not going to be outdone in the humour stakes. “If you were to take your nice suit.” It was my turn to point to David's uniform. “And speak nicely to them they might just be able to help us out here.”

  “The first question they're going to ask is who is doing the paying?” David said.

  “Tell them Interpol.” Leon said. Before I could answer.

  It was my turn to raise my eyebrows. I tried to do a really Gallic job of it but it didn't come off. You have to be born surrounded by vineyards and smoke dreadful cigarettes to do it properly.

  “They owe me one for taking forty hours to tell me my niece was missing.” Leon said. “I'll sign anything your construction company wants me to.”

  “I'll go and see if I can remember what diplomacy means.” David said. “If they don't play ball I'll start checking tax discs. Just make sure you don't lose any of my constables. I don't want their mothers phoning me up complaining they've not come home to tea. Some of them have only been on the Force three months.”

  “I'll look after them.” Leon said. “I like well-dressed people.” He was looking studiously at me. “Let's go and see if the coffee pot boiled.”

  He led the way and David and I walked along behind him. “I've been trying to get in touch with you all night.” David said. “When I heard your Juliet was missing I was really shocked. How are you coping?”

  My Juliet! Both Derek and David. My two oldest friends had used the same choice of words, how come everyone knew she was my Juliet but me? No wait! But me and Juliet herself?

  “How are you coping?” He looked at me as we walked. He was letting me know he wanted an answer from his friend, not from another copper.

  “I've got maggots in my stomach Dave. I should have known she'd go investigating on my behalf. She'd already looked up a load of stuff about black magic and lectured me about it. She went and asked a lot of questions at the Museum. One of the villains was the curator there. He is the body out at Juliet's home. I think it was certainly Juliet herself who shot him.”

  “Christ! She must have been in very dire straits to have done that!”

  “I think she knows that these people are guilty of the Boxing Day Murder. She knew that before I did, and I don't like what I saw out at her house either Dave. Something odd happened out there that isn't easy to read. She was barricaded and locked in tight and the place was full of candles and glasses full of alcohol or methylated spirits. Weird stuff”

  “So they went there, kidnapped her and now they are in the tunnels. Is that right?” I nodded and he went on. “So why do you think they're down there and not taken off and trying to jump a Channel ferry?”

  “We passed Hainsley-Sihl's car on the Moretonhampstead road in the night and it's still here in the garage. A woman nearby saw removal Lorries leave but no cars or people, other than drivers. I think they know from Juliet's questions that we are close to putting the finger on them and they pulled out all their stuff but have some reason why they cannot leave the caves down below.”

  “Well they've been digging down there for years so there could be anything in them. Someone's spent a small fortune on those tunnels; they didn't do that without great purpose. I get the impression they were looking for something. Can't think why else you'd go to all that trouble”

  It was certainly an interesting thought. My own thoughts on the subject were much darker. The girl on Christmas Day had been murdered ritualistically, she'd been the centre piece of some dreadful piece of devil worship and my own idea was that they weren't leaving because they had something even worse in mind.

  Whatever the something they couldn't put off was I couldn't even begin to guess, nor could I fathom why it must happen so urgently that Hainsley-Si
hl would be willing to sacrifice his home and valuable vehicles for it. Whatever it was he was planning we could be sure it would be evil and this time the centre piece was two women we couldn't afford to leave to their fate.

  Ahead of us Leon stopped and turned. I could see that he was excited and hurried up to him.

  “If you can get something the dogs could take a scent from, we could follow Juliet through that maze down there. It would save waiting while we eliminate the tunnels one by one!”

  Leon that is a brilliant thought!” I was elated: A way through the maze!”

  David Cooper wasn't wasting any time either. “We'll need something fresh from Moretonhampstead. I'll get one of our motorcycles underway from this end and another can start from Juliet's. If they meet in Newton Abbot we'll have something for the dogs in half an hour.”

  We all hurried back to the kitchen of Hainsley-Sihl's Mansion. The coffee was organised already and two large mugs were soon in our hands. “Leon you've given us back some of the initiative! I cannot tell you how grateful I am. I was bloody lost down there, it could have taken days to find them.”

  “Neither of us is working normally here, Mike. This isn't business as usual for you or me. You would have got there in half an hour when the pressure of the search got to you.”

  I noticed that as he spoke he was watching Ann Taylor who was very actively organising search teams with Derek Smith. If we could find his niece there would be some very happy days ahead for them both. More than ever I wanted to get my hands on the scruff of Hainsley-Sihl's jacket.

  David returned and took coffee from one the pots that were appearing. I asked Ann to gather everyone who would join the search in the courtyard outside when they were ready, I wanted to have a few words about not missing anything and their own safety should they get away from the organised part of the search; it seemed sensible to set some guidelines. Charging off down some tunnel that might collapse on them wasn't going to help us and might cost us time and energy and time was of the essence.

  Leon said, “It's Good Friday, is that something to do with the occult?”

  That had completely escaped my attention. I had a dinner date this evening and hadn't attached any Importance to the day beyond that. Because the date with Juliet was so important to me, it had over ridden every other consideration in my mind.

  “I don't know about Good Friday but Easter Sunday would have for certain! That would make tomorrow night the night for any skulduggery! “I thought about it for a few moments. “That's why he went into the caves and abandoned a hundred grand’s worth of motor cars. Whatever he was looking for here he has found it! Tomorrow night is the final act of his play!”

  I could see from both their faces that I had their agreement.

  “Right, we need to find some way to set fire to his bloody theatre!” Leon said.

  I couldn't have agreed more.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  THE SACRIFICE OF CHERIE LECLERC

  Juliet became conscious that the young girl snuggled to her had fallen asleep despite the fearful situation they were in. She wondered when she had last slept. The terrible time the teenager had passed through was beyond belief, that she had maintained the will to keep fighting for her freedom was amazing in one so young.

  She lay in the Stygian darkness and tried not to disturb Cherie. Her strange location was all the proof she needed that they were in deep trouble, even the roof above their heads was a danger to them. The roof had already collapsed once and it was not really the safest place to remain but to leave it meant to be exposed in the tunnels again.

  Hainsley-Sihl would be seeking them now. They had all the resources of the mansion house to break down the door she had locked and it would not delay them long. Perhaps they even had another way into the tunnels. That meant that they would not have long to await a search of the rock-pile that sheltered them.

  Would they be able to find them beneath the stone that sheltered them? Would Hainsley Sihl's special powers as an Adept Satanist be able to assist him to find them? She knew in her heart of hearts that they would. He was not a normal man.

  Whether there was anything to his claim of a two hundred year lifespan or not he certainly possessed some very potent abilities. Now that she was free of his presence and the strange shadow filled room that had been so ambient with the story he had told her, she could half believe he had made it all up to frighten or try to impress her. But there remained that element of doubt: If he was half of what he claimed to be he could find them.

  Juliet switched on her torch and began to search below them on what was the far side of the rock fall. If there was a way out this side they could go on and try to find some exit from the caves. Staying where they were seemed like the wrong choice now that she had thought it through.

  Very gently she lifted Cherie's head and slid out from her embrace. She lowered it onto the flat stone upon which they were lying and sat up. The torch beam ran across the broken rubble below her but there did not seem to be any way to get out this side.

  Further over on her left hand side there was a considerable amount of water running over the fallen stones. She was terribly thirsty and examined it to see if was possible to get a drink anywhere. The beam followed the water course which disappeared over the edge of the largest block in the pile and out of sight. Clambering across Juliet leaned over it. There was a drop of almost ten feet straight down and the water was falling onto a glaze of stalactites that reflected the torch beam in a myriad of colours. If they could get down there they could get into a new cave!

  Quickly she retraced her way across the dangerous rubble and with regret woke Cherie.

  “I've found a way to go Cherie. We can't sleep yet, I'm so sorry”

  She waited patiently until Cherie was sitting up and seemed to be back with her.

  “Every time I fall asleep I have strange dreams.” she told Juliet.

  “First we need to get into the cave that's below us and then you can tell me about them. We might be able to get a drink too. Are you as thirsty as I am?

  Cherie nodded and stood up. “Yes I am, terribly. A drink would be wonderful.”

  “Come on! We must put some more distance between us and those swine behind us!” Juliet tried to cheer the girl up.

  They crossed the rocks and Juliet shone the torch down so that Cherie could see the stalactites below. “If we can get down there, it looks like there is a large cave around those stalactites. Perhaps we can find a way out of this nightmare!”

  Juliet examined the sides of the gap down which they had to climb. She thought they could get so far but would then have to jump. The floor below had a thick covering of calcite that looked slippery and hard. It was on a slope that ran to the left away from their view and there was a risk that if they missed their footing when they jumped then they would go careering away down the slope. They couldn't see if it was safe or not.

  “I can do that,” Cherie said. “Shall I go first?”

  She matched her actions with her words and turned and lowered herself over the side of the huge boulder. The water started to run into her hair at once. She stretched her left leg out, found a foothold and moved her hands down. By repeating her movements she was able to reach the place from where there was no option but to jump. She looked back up into the beam of the torch.

  “It's easy, just slippery that's all. I'm going to jump.”

  Juliet watched worriedly as she let go but she landed beautifully, stood and looked up at Juliet. She was smiling as she reached into her top where she had put her own torch, took it out and shone it around herself.

  “It's a huge big cave. The beam doesn't even reach the end of it.” she said. “It's beautiful! It's full of stalactites and stalagmites, there are hundreds of them!”

  Juliet secured her own torch in her clothes and when Cherie shone her torch upwards to light her way she began to climb down. It wasn't as easy as Cherie's quick descent had made her believe. It was very slippery and she almost d
id slip when the torch in her clothing moved suddenly breaking her concentration.

  All she had to do was jump. She was just going to do so when a beam of light lit the stones above her head. They had been found!

  The fear that gripped her was terrible. She jumped at once.

  “They're up there! She told Cherie. They are searching the rock fall for us! Don't shine the light that way!”

  Quickly they negotiated the slope and Cherie shone the light in the direction she thought they should go. “There's a flat path this way as far as I could see.” She whispered and they set off at the best speed the slippery surface would allow.

  “They might not find the way down.” Cherie said as they went.

  “We have to assume that they will.” Juliet replied. “I think whatever else he is capable of that man back there will be able to find us. We have to keep moving until we find a way to get right away from him.”