Hunting Shadows

by Bugler, Sheila

  13:40

  ‘You haven’t been straight with me, have you, Brian?’

  Simon was angry. Brian could tell from his voice and the way he was looking at him. Like he wanted to kill him for lying. There was something else in his face too, something Brian remembered from before but didn’t want to think about. Not now when he was so close to getting rid of the girl.

  ‘I asked you a question,’ Simon said. ‘See, I know you, Brian. And I know when you’re hiding something from me. I’m your friend, remember? You can trust me. I should never have let you move back out here. At least in the village it was easier to keep an eye on you. It’s the girl, isn’t it? What have you done to her?’

  ‘Nothing!’ Brian roared. ‘I haven’t done anything to her. I’d never hurt a little girl, you know that Simon. I’m not like that.’

  Simon’s face hardened. ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’

  ‘Sorry,’ Brian stuttered. ‘I’m sorry, Simon. I didn’t mean anything by it, I swear. Listen, can’t you just go? I’m trying to sort out my things here and I can’t concentrate with you going on at me like I’ve done something bad when I haven’t.’

  ‘What about the girl?’ Simon asked. ‘Jodie Hudson. Pretty little thing she is. You know the first thing I thought of when I saw her picture on the news? I thought, now there’s a girl who looks like Molly. Do you remember Molly, Brian? Yeah, course you do.’

  Brian shook his head.

  ‘Where is she?’

  Simon took a step closer, pressing Brian up against the back of the van, so close Brian could feel Simon’s hot breath on his face. He had a sudden rush of memories – Simon’s hands holding him down, the sound of his breathing, hard and fast in Brian’s ear. He tried to move, to push Simon away from him, but suddenly it was like being a little boy again and he was too terrified to do anything in case Simon hurt him.

  ‘So then,’ Simon whispered. ‘You going to help me, Brian? Or do I have to go looking for her?’

  ‘There’s no one here, Simon,’ Brian gabbled. ‘On my life. I know I made a mistake before with Molly but I’d never do anything like that again. No way.’

  ‘Glad to hear it,’ Simon said. ‘So, if she’s not here, you won’t mind me having a look around anyway, will you? How about I start with that lovely bedroom upstairs? The one with the pink wallpaper and the posters? The room where you kept poor little Molly.’

  ‘Look all you want,’ Brian said, relaxing as he realised Simon didn’t know about the shed. He’d been so clever, letting the trees and bushes grow over it like that. If he played his cards right, he could make sure Simon didn’t even notice it.

  But Simon must have seen something in Brian’s face.

  ‘Ah,’ he said. ‘Cleverer than I thought. You’ve hidden her somewhere else. I wonder where.’

  ‘Stop it!’

  Brian couldn’t stand it a moment longer. The feel of Simon’s body against his, the smell of his breath and the heat of it against his face, the knowledge of what Simon was capable of …

  Using every bit of strength he had, he shoved Simon away from him.

  As Simon fell to the ground, Brian tried to step back, away from him. But Simon grabbed him by the ankle and Brian lost his balance and went tumbling down.

  He landed on his elbow. Pain shot up his arm. He cried out, but his voice was lost in the other sounds racing through his head. Daddy, shouting and roaring like he always did. And Simon, hitting him and screaming at him. Fists punching into his face and the top half of his body.

  Brian rolled away, trying to get away from the punches, trying to not listen to Simon, who had really lost it now and was screaming all sorts of things that Brian didn’t want to hear.

  ‘Never coming back. I’ve told you that a million times but you won’t believe me.’

  Brian dragged himself up. His only concern was to get away from the fists laying into him and the voice banging on relentlessly. He wouldn’t listen. All he had to do was concentrate. Block out the sound of Simon’s voice.

  ‘I made sure of that.’

  ‘Somewhere OVER the rainbow.’

  If he could only get inside the van. The key was already in the ignition. Just switch it on and drive off.

  Simon grabbed his hair, trying to pull him back down. With his other hand, he punched Brian in his lower back. For a moment, the pain blocked out everything else. Then, as it cleared, Simon’s voice was still there.

  ‘Little bitch had it coming.’

  ‘Way up HIGH.’

  ‘Your father shouldn’t have been so greedy. Didn’t want to share her.’

  He shook Simon off and yanked open the door of the van.

  ‘There’s a land that I dream of once in a lullaBY.’

  The key!

  Turn the key and get the door closed.

  Simon’s hands were all over him, trying to drag him from the van. And all the time, he continued talking, his voice drilling through Brian’s head, forcing him to listen to things he didn’t want to hear.

  Brian lifted his foot and shoved it into Simon’s stomach. With a grunt, the other man fell back, leaving Brian free to grab the door and slam it shut.

  ‘He left me no choice!’ Simon roared.

  He tried to turn the key, hand shaking so bad it took several attempts. By the time he’d got the engine started, Simon was up again, battering the side of the van, roaring in at him.

  ‘They’re gone. Don’t you get that? I’m all you’ve got left.’

  Brian swerved the van to one side, knocked into Simon and sent him flying. As the van roared off down the lane, Simon’s voice gradually faded away. So did Daddy’s. Until the only thing that was left was the sound of his own voice, screaming out the words of Marion’s favourite song, over and over again.

  13:45

  ‘Can I help you?’

  Ellen looked around to see a young uniformed officer with a bright face and inquisitive eyes smiling at her.

  ‘We’re looking for Brian Fletcher, the guy who used to live here,’ she said, walking over to the man.

  ‘And you are?’ the PC asked.

  ‘DI Kelly,’ she said holding her hand out. ‘Lewisham CID. This is my colleague, DI Davies.’

  The man looked from one to the other as he shook Ellen’s hand. ‘What do you want with Brian?’

  ‘Just a few questions,’ Ellen said. ‘Routine stuff. Nothing for you to worry about.’

  ‘PC Rhodri Jenkins,’ the man said. He smiled at Dai. ‘A fellow Taff. And I’m not worried, DI Kelly. Curious, though, I must admit. And keen to help if I can. I know Brian. He’s a harmless enough chap, I’ve always thought. I know there was that business a few years ago, but from what I understand he was cleared of any suspicion, right? It was before my time. I only took up this post last year. You’re looking at Higham’s only law enforcement officer.’

  ‘What the hell brought you out here?’ Dai asked.

  ‘A girl,’ Jenkins replied with another smile. He smiled a hell of a lot, Ellen realised. ‘What else drags a man to a place like this? To be honest with you, it’s not so bad. Beautiful countryside in this part of the world, you know. Wonderful wildlife too.’

  ‘Can you help us find Fletcher?’ Ellen asked. The last thing they needed was a pitch from the Hoo tourist board.

  ‘You won’t find him here,’ Jenkins said.

  ‘Be good if you could tell us something we don’t know,’ Ellen said.

  ‘Ah, right. Well, he used to live here a few years ago, see? But I don’t think village life suits him, to be honest. He seems to spend most of his time back in the shack he grew up in. It’s not much of a place but he seems to prefer it.’

  ‘And where’s that?’ Dai asked.

  ‘Better if I show you,’ Jenkins said. ‘You got a car? We could go out there now if you’re not doing anything else.’

  ‘Great,’ Ellen said. ‘Thanks. Let’s go’

  Dai sat in the back while Jenkins settled into the passenger seat beside
Ellen. He directed them down a series of country lanes until they were well outside the village, surrounded by flat marshland leading to the Thames in the distance.

  ‘Brian’s place is down there somewhere.’

  Jenkins pointed to a lane even narrower and windier than the one they were currently on.

  ‘What do you mean down there somewhere?’ Ellen asked sharply. ‘I thought you knew where he lived.’

  Jenkins shook his head. ‘Never been out here in my life. I only know Brian from the odd time he comes into the village. He comes and goes from that house but never lasts long. I don’t know why Wilson keeps offering it to him. He’d be better off renting it out, making some money from it.’

  ‘So how do you know about the place out here?’ Dai asked.

  ‘Brian told me,’ Jenkins said. ‘I chat to him occasionally. Feel sorry for him, I suppose. Doesn’t take a copper to work out the poor man is special needs. I spoke to Wilson about it. Suggested he got some help for Brian. Gave him a few numbers to call. But I don’t know if anything ever came of it.

  ‘He told me – Brian, that is – that he misses this place when he’s not here. Said his sister and his mother were here and he needed to get home to be with them.’

  ‘I thought his parents abandoned him years ago,’ Ellen said.

  Jenkins shrugged. ‘I’m only telling you what he told me.’

  As she turned into the narrow lane, Ellen’s phone rang. She pressed the hands-free button to answer it.

  ‘DI Kelly.’

  ‘This is Alex.’ A man’s voice. Northern accent. Ellen couldn’t place him.

  ‘We met yesterday in Greenwich Park,’ the man explained.

  Alex. The Romanian gardener who sounded like he’d been born and reared on the Yorkshire Dales.

  ‘Of course,’ Ellen said. ‘What can I do for you?’

  ‘Brian is harmless, Mrs Kelly. Please, you must believe that. And maybe I’m not doing the right thing by calling you. But I don’t know what else to do. Because there is a little girl missing, like you said.’

  The car was still moving forward, bumping its way along the narrow track. Peering out the window, Ellen could see no sign of any house. She hoped Jenkins wasn’t bullshitting them.

  ‘Alex,’ Ellen said. ‘What are you trying to tell me?’

  ‘It was a long time ago now,’ Alex said. ‘I’d only just arrived in London. Was lucky to get a job with my record. Simon, though, he’s not too worried about stuff like that. Says if a bloke does a good job, that’s good enough for him. And I’m a good worker, Mrs Kelly. But I knew as well, you see, that I owed him. He made that very clear. And when he asked me to do it, I didn’t see the harm. See, I knew Brian by then. Knew what sort of man he was. And I knew, as well, what prison would do to him. He wouldn’t cope, Mrs Kelly.’

  Ellen stopped the car. ‘Alex, what are you saying?’

  ‘Simon lied,’ Alex said. ‘Brian was there, in the park, the day Molly disappeared.’

  ‘Why the hell didn’t you tell someone?’ Ellen asked. ‘Jesus Christ, Alex. This means Brian might be guilty.’

  ‘But that’s just it,’ Alex said. ‘He’s not. If I thought for a second he was capable of something like that, you don’t think I’d have come forward? I’d never have let Simon talk me into it. It was his idea. Said all I had to do was tell the police Brian was with us that day. We were in Greenwich Park. Just the two of us. Simon told the cops Brian was with us and I went along with it. It got Brian off the hook and kept Simon sweet. I didn’t see the problem.’

  He didn’t see the problem!

  It took supreme effort not to scream at him when she asked her next question.

  ‘So why are you telling me this now?’

  ‘Because of this other girl,’ Alex said. ‘I’m not feeling too good about things. I can’t stop thinking, what if I was wrong? Will I get into trouble for this?’

  Not bothering to answer, Ellen ended the call and grabbed Jenkin’s arm.

  ‘The house,’ she hissed. ‘Where the hell is it?’

  ‘It’s there.’ Jenkins pointed to something in front of them. ‘Down that hill. Look.’

  Ellen clicked her safety belt open and turned to Jenkins. ‘Call for back-up. Rochester’s closest, right? Get a team out here asap. Turns out one of Brian’s alibis lied about where he was when Molly York was snatched. He could be our man, after all.’

  Ellen jumped out of the car and started running. It looked, at first, like nothing but a pile of rocks. It was only as she got closer that she saw it was some sort of dwelling.

  Behind her, she heard Dai and Jenkins slamming the car doors and running after her.

  The front door was closed and Ellen threw herself against it. She tried again. When it still didn’t move, she turned to Dai.

  ‘You try,’ she said.

  ‘Around the back,’ he said. ‘Let’s see if we can get in that way.’

  The back of the house faced onto flat, open countryside with views right down to the Thames. Apart from an overgrowth of bushes and trees near the house, the landscape was unrelentingly barren. In the distance, Ellen heard a train passing.

  ‘Hoo Junction over there,’ Jenkins said helpfully, pointing to a random spot in the distance. ‘That line behind the house gets surprisingly busy. Freight trains mainly. The only sound you ever hear in a place like this.’

  Like the front, the door at the back of the house was a plain wooden door with a Yale lock and a metal handle. Unlike the front door, this one opened easily when Ellen tried the handle. Immediately, the door swung inwards, away from her. She stepped inside.

  13:46

  The trip to the seaside hasn’t worked out. The children all look so sad. In a green train, a little girl in a green hat is crying.

  Even though the trains are right beside her, they seem so far away, like the ones I can hear late at night. I want to help the girl who’s crying but I don’t know what to do.

  When I lift my hand to touch her, it takes ages to reach her, even though it’s hardly any distance at all. She’s so tiny, my finger covers her completely. And when I move my finger away, she’s stopped crying.

  I’m happy at first, but then I see why she’s stopped. Her eyes are wide open and staring at me. Dead eyes. I’m sad but not surprised. You live and then you die and God doesn’t care.

  The bushes started up outside. Brian. I don’t care. Maybe he’ll kill me this time and I’ll be in Heaven then with the girl from the train. That would be okay. I try to find the girl but it’s difficult. So many children. And my eyes. Like someone’s rubbed Vaseline over them. Everything blurry.

  I squeeze my eyes shut and open them. My heart has gone all funny and it’s difficult to breathe.

  No! They’re dying. In some trains it’s already too late. I’m trying to shout at them to wake up, don’t die, stay with me, please, please stay with me. Except my voice is gone and this time I know it’s not coming back. It’s a little whisper and soon there’ll be nothing at all.

  I put my hands out, nails digging into the flaky paper, pulling at the dead faces as if I might be able to bring them back to life. And it’s such a stupid thing but I can’t stop and in that red train there are two boys, smiling at me.

  ‘What happened?’ I whisper.

  They don’t answer. Just carry on smiling. Except now one of them’s not smiling. I press my thumb against his face. Can’t bear to watch it. When I take it away he’s not smiling anymore.

  And then I’m ripping wallpaper, my nails pulling it off in strips and I’ve got all this energy, suddenly. The faces are all disappearing, turning into flakes of paper, floating in the air and landing on the bed and the floor.

  I’m ripping harder and faster, until there’s a snowstorm and I’m in the middle of it.

  Little white flakes of dead faces.

  13:50

  Ellen stood in the kitchen, Dai beside her. Jenkins hovered in the doorway. None of them spoke as they took in the details of the roo
m. It was like a kitchen but, with the exception of a small fridge, without any of the electrical appliances you’d expect to see in a modern kitchen.

  The room was dark and it took a while for Ellen’s eyes to adjust. As they did, she noticed several things. The creeping growth of mould around the door of the fridge. On the table a packet of cup cakes in a garish, pink box. Beside these, a pile of old-fashioned videos tapes, and a key ring with several keys on it. She stepped forward to examine the videos and felt a stab of recognition. The Rainbow Parade – an old TV programme for children. She and Sean were subjected to endless episodes when they were growing up. Her father loved it.

  ‘Pink cup cakes,’ Ellen said. ‘And these videos. What use does a grown man have for pink cup cakes and a collection of children’s videos, Dai?’

  ‘Jodie,’ Dai said. ‘They’re for her. Has to be.’

  Ellen turned to Jenkins.

  ‘Where the hell’s the back-up? Call again. Tell them what we’ve found. Tell them to get their arses here as quickly as they can.’

  Directly over her head, Ellen heard a noise. Floorboards creaking, as if someone was walking on them.

  ‘Someone up there,’ Dai whispered.

  Another sound from above. No mistaking it this time. A footstep. Then another. Ellen tensed. Someone was walking through the house, along the floor upstairs, now coming down the stairs, towards the kitchen.

  Dai nudged her and pointed to the side of the kitchen. She nodded. If they moved that way, they’d be behind the door when it opened, catching Fletcher unaware when he came in.

  Together, they edged their way sideways until they were pressed against the corner. At the same moment, the kitchen door swung inwards and a man appeared, stopping dead when he saw Jenkins, still standing in the doorway.

  Dai stepped forward.

  ‘Brian Fletcher?’

  The man spun around.

  ‘Mr Wilson,’ Ellen said quickly. ‘What are you doing here?’

  ‘I could ask you the same question,’ Simon Wilson said. ‘This is private property. You people are trespassing.’

  He looked at Jenkins. ‘I assume you brought them here? You should keep your nose out of other people’s business, PC Plod. Brian doesn’t need the likes of you interfering.’