Henderson Manor

by Emma L. Clapperton

  Patrick did not reply as he listened to a voice to which the belonging corpse lay in his back garden in a family burial plot. No wonder Jodie left.

  You have to stop her before it’s too late and she hurts someone else.

  Patrick wasn’t too sure where this was heading.

  Sarah’s time was forced upon her and she’s in limbo. She can’t get to you to ask for help since her energy is far too weak because she wasn’t ready to go. That’s why I am here.

  Patrick opened his eyes. Anna Henderson was in his line of sight. Her hair was white with very fine, auburn strands running through it. Her glasses were thick and big frames surrounded her eyes. Her voice certainly didn’t match her appearance.

  “Patrick?” Sam’s voice snapped him back to reality.

  “Sorry, I was miles away. What is it?”

  “It’s not Sarah who’s been causing havoc in my flat, is it?”

  Patrick frowned. “Why would you say that?”

  Sam didn’t know whether to smile or run.

  “Because I heard everything that you just did.”

  Patrick, Sarah was murdered. And by someone that she knows.

  Sam stood up and then climbed back down the loft hatch.

  “Sam, wait!” Patrick called after him.

  Patrick clambered down the loft hatch and was met by Sam’s gaze. “You heard all of that?”

  “Yes, I feel sick. How is it possible that, not only did I just hear the voice of a dead old woman, but I also just heard that Sarah was murdered?”

  Patrick shook his head. “Maybe you’re psychic?”

  “Not funny.”

  Patrick closed the loft hatch and thought about the revelation they had both heard.

  “Who would want to murder Sarah?”

  “Someone she knew apparently. But I can’t think of anyone. I never got to meet her friends and her family were all dead.”

  They found themselves in the kitchen. Patrick opened two beers and they sat at the table.

  “I always found this house spooky,” Sam said.

  Patrick smiled but it barely lifted the corners of his mouth. “Now you know why.”

  Sam looked around the kitchen and took in its vast size. The ceilings were so tall you would need a large ladder to reach it. The place had such an old, vintage feel to it. With its size and lack of human occupancy, it should have felt empty. It didn’t feel empty at all. It felt full.

  “Do you think a house like this can remember things?”

  “Ha, you even sound like a psychic.”

  Sam stood up and walked to the door which led outside to the grounds of the house. As he looked out, he could see the headstones. He remembered Sarah showing him once and it had scared him a little at first. But then, it made him think that the house had a bit of character, something that a lot of Glasgow’s houses didn’t have anymore. New builds were modern copy cats of one another with no feel to them. Sam had kind of grown to like the house before things had begun to go sour between him and Sarah.

  “I mean, there is so much history inside this house. Do you think that because the Henderson family are the only family ever to have lived here, apart from you, that they will always be here?”

  Patrick considered this. “I think that once Sarah has justice, the Henderson family will be just that: history. They will go off to wherever it is you go to when you die. They won’t rest until Sarah’s killer is behind bars.”

  30

  Paul Preston had done nothing else but think about his retirement from the moment he had decided on a date. All he kept thinking of was himself and his wife Janet lying on the beach six weeks of the year while the sun would beat down, washing away any stresses that they had. It was the only thing that would keep him going in the job. He only had six more months left as an officer and he would be done. The only thing that he would miss would be working with Jim every day. They had been partners for as long as he could remember and Paul couldn’t imagine he would have lasted as long as he had without Jim by his side. He savoured his days off, but he savoured his days on more — those were the days which etched him closer to retirement.

  Paul lay back on the reclining chair in his living room, relaxing after dinner. Janet had cleaned up the kitchen and gone out to the bingo with Barbara, who was Paul’s new step mum. Janet teased him about it but in all seriousness, Paul was glad that his dad had found someone after his mum. Sadie had passed away from cancer five years previously.

  Thomas Preston, who was also known to many as ‘Auld Tam’, was in his seventies and full of life, more so than some people in their early twenties in this day and age. He had been through a troublesome time since Sadie had died. At one point Paul had worried that his mum’s death would kill his dad. He had sunken into himself and refused to go out or spend time with anyone other than Paul. It was a wonder he had come to meet Barbara at all; they couldn’t have been more opposite. Barbara was a full of life, easy going lady with a lot to give. When she had met Tam at a charity gig for cancer, she had seen something in him which was hiding and bursting to come out. He had gone along to the gig only to support Paul, who had done a ten kilometer run with other officers, to raise money for Cancer Research. Paul and some of his colleagues were going to stand up and present the charity with a cheque for five thousand pounds, which they had raised during their run. It had turned out that Barbara was a volunteer fundraiser for the charity and got talking to Paul and Tam that evening. Tam would never have admitted to liking Barbara had it not been for Paul teasing him about it. It was from then on that Tam and Barbara had become companions. Paul and Janet had felt a wave of relief wash over them when they began to watch Tam return to his old self. He began socializing again and before they knew it, he had moved in with Barbara at her house. She had even dragged him into the twenty first century and he was now dressing with more style and using technology. He owned a smartphone, which Paul didn’t even understand and he was using social networking. He would keep in touch with old school friends through Facebook and seemed like the happy Tam everybody knew and loved.

  Paul heard the front door open and a voice called through.

  “Paul, are you in?”

  It was Tam and he sounded jovial.

  “In the living room, Dad.”

  Tam waltzed in and sat down on the couch, removing his bonnet and jacket.

  “What you so cheery about?” Paul asked, failing to hide the smile from his face.

  “Uck, Barbara’s only gone and won two grand at the bingo!” He slapped his thigh as he chuckled away.

  Paul’s eyes widened. “Are you kidding?”

  “I widnae joke aboot something like that son; it’s nae good tae dae that tae the heart.”

  Paul stood up and walked over to his dad. He held out his hand and helped Tam up from the couch.

  “This deserves a wee dram, don’t you think?”

  Tam rubbed his hands together. “Aye, noo yer talking son, noo yer talking.”

  They both walked into the kitchen and Paul pulled out a chair from the dining table, where Tam took his place. Paul opened the drinks cupboard and pulled out a bottle of whisky and two glasses. As he approached the table, Tam was tapping away on his phone.

  “Who are you texting now?” Paul asked.

  “Barbara. I’m suggesting a night away at that fancy hotel doon next to the bridge, what dae ye call it again?”

  Paul shook his head as he laughed. “Too expensive, that’s what I call it. Why do you want to go there anyway?”

  “My beautiful lady has just won two grand. What else would we be spending it on?”

  Paul poured the whisky into the glasses and passed one across the table to his dad. It was great to see him so happy.

  “So, other than winning at the bingo, what else have you and Barbara been doing?”

  Tam sipped at the whisky and savoured the flavour. The warmth of the liquid trickled down his throat and he let out a gasp of pleasure as it did so.

  “Uck, no
much son. Ye know, at oor age we’re just glad we’re still breathin, eh.”

  “Nice and morbid, Dad. Thanks for that.”

  Tam chuckled away to himself as Paul poured more whisky into their glasses.

  “Aye, well ye just never know. I mean, look at Wee Rab — he died just the other day there. Just dropped doon deed while he wiz eating a fish supper. Poor auld bugger.”

  Paul almost spat his whisky back into the glass.

  “Wee Rab died?”

  “Aye son, did a no tell ye? Uck sorry aboot that, time gets away fae ye at this age. I must’ve just forgot.”

  Paul was in disbelief. Wee Rab had been his dad’s neighbour since Paul had been a little boy and he was one of the nicest men you could ever meet.

  “I can’t believe it. How did you find out?”

  “Norma phoned to tell me. She’s cut up, the poor soul. She went tae get him a napkin fae the kitchen and when she got back he’d collapsed on the floor. Died fae a heart attack.”

  Paul practically threw the whisky down his throat and poured another one. “When’s the funeral?”

  “Monday, ye going?”

  Paul nodded. “Should pay my respects. I’ve known the man since I was a wee boy. Poor Rab, poor Norma.”

  Tam nodded and finished his whisky. They heard a key in the door.

  “Dad?” A voice called.

  “Uck, wee Janey’s here.”

  “Grampa?” Jane replied.

  Jane Preston appeared in the kitchen doorway with a big grin on her face. “Hi Grampa, nice to see you. How are you?”

  “Barbara won at bingo.”

  Jane hugged her dad as she spoke to Tam. “Oh really? That’s great. How much?”

  “Two grand apparently,” Paul answered.

  Tam got up from his seat. “Excuse me, nature calls.”

  As Tam left the room, Paul put the whisky back in the cupboard. It was too early in the day to drink the rest. Jane sensed the tension.

  “Dad, what’s wrong?”

  “Your Grampa just told me that Wee Rab died.”

  Jane frowned. “Who’s that?”

  Paul shook his head and led them into the living room. “Never mind, I’ll tell you about it later.”

  ***

  Tam switched the bathroom light off and as he walked passed the room to his left, he saw the computer sitting on the desk which Jane often used for her university course work. He walked into the room and switched it on. Tam had been terrified of technology before meeting Barbara and had no idea how anyone could work anything remotely more challenging than a typewriter. As he waited for the computer to load up, he looked around the room and saw pictures of his family dotted around the walls. There were photos of his wedding day to his late wife Liz, photos of his granddaughters, Jane and Lisa, and various holiday snaps. They made him smile. It was good to see Liz in a photo smiling; it helped him to forget the pain in her expression when she had been suffering from cancer.

  The screen lighting up distracted him from the photos and he clicked on the internet icon. Google Chrome filled the screen and Tam typed into the search bar to find Facebook. As he clicked on it, he searched his mind for his log in details. However he found that Facebook was already logged into someone else’s page.

  “Jane, ye forgot tae log oot ya silly girl. Fraudsters are all over the internet don’t ye know,” Tam said under his breath as he looked at Jane’s profile picture.

  As he moved the mouse up to the log out icon, he noticed something that wasn’t right. His eyes scanned the screen further and he found that the name didn’t match his granddaughter’s photo.

  He clicked on the photo album and found photos of Jane with a man around the same age as her. He didn’t recognise the male in the picture and the ‘about’ section was absolutely nothing to do with Jane.

  “Grampa, what are you doing in here?” Jane asked.

  “Oh, jeezo Jane, you scared me half tae death there!”

  Jane walked over to the computer screen and stared in disbelief.

  “Jane, I think there’s something wrong with Facebook. It’s your picture but the name isn’t yours.”

  Jane nodded. “It’s for university, I have created a character page for one of my projects. Don’t worry Grampa, I haven’t been hacked or anything.”

  Tam stood up from the computer chair and smiled. “Awe, that’s a’right then. For a minute there I was thinking, who the hell is Deborah Bell?” Tam laughed as he walked out the room. “Just a’ways mind an’ log oot. Ye never know who’s trawlin’ the internet, hen.”

  Jane returned his smile. “Will do Grampa.”

  Jane quickly deleted the Facebook account for Deborah Bell and switched the computer off.

  “Shit!”

  31

  It’s only a matter of time now. I mean, what am I going to do when it all comes out? Maybe I can just take off somewhere and not come back. But how can I leave him? How can I leave them? This is all just one big mess.

  “You fancy a cup of tea Jane?” My mum asked as I stared at the television.

  “No, thanks. I’m going to head out now.”

  My mum just smiled. She was the loveliest mum on the planet. This was going to kill her when she found out. It would be a lot easier if I wasn’t in love with him or if I was one of those people who was devoid of emotion. To be perfectly honest I don’t even know how I got to this place. It was meant to be a one night thing, where I could just fulfil my lust for someone and move on. But from the minute he kissed me I was completely hooked on him: his scent, his touch, his voice, everything that he stood for.

  “That’s me away, Dad.”

  “Ok love, you be safe. There are a lot of bad people out there.”

  I smirked inside.

  There it goes again, that part of me that I hate. It can hide from me for months at a time, then it rears its ugly head when I least expect it. I hate that part of me. And if I hate it, others certainly will when it presents itself, which it will, eventually.

  “I know how to protect myself, Dad. It pays to have a high up in the force officer as a dad,” I said.

  He kissed me on the forehead and I heard Lisa call down from the bedroom.

  “See you soon, Jane.”

  “Bye!”

  My Grampa Tam tried to stand up but I stopped him.

  “Don’t get up.”

  I bent down and hugged him tight. It killed me that he had found that Facebook profile. It kills me that he thinks of me as someone kind, loving and upstanding. If only he knew, if only all of them knew.

  “Have a good night, hen. Look after yersel.”

  I put my coat on and pulled my phone out of my bag. I had three missed calls from Sam. I wondered what was wrong. It must be something; last time I saw him he said he was going to see that bloody psychic, Patrick something.

  “Bye!” I called just before I closed the front door.

  I was out in the night, on my own and to be honest, to have so many good people in my life I had never felt so alone. I was scared of the person I had become. I mean, what happened to Sarah was … crazy. I hadn’t planned it and I had never in a million years wanted to physically hurt her, or anyone else for that matter.

  But when it came to Sam, no one could understand how much it hurt. To watch him, hear him with someone else. I know, it started off as just a silly crush, after watching him as an actor in small time telly shows and stage shows. I was on placement in the theatre and I just couldn’t take my eyes off him. He never noticed me, not once. Then all of a sudden, mine and my sister’s best friend drops the bombshell that she’s going out with him. I mean, how the hell did that happen?

  I was absolutely distraught; my heart wasn’t only broken, but shattered. It was one thing to know he may have a girlfriend but to know it was my best friend and hear all the sordid details of their sex life and how much he treated her like a princess, that was something else entirely. It was then that something inside me snapped. All I wanted was Sam and
at that precise moment, I didn’t care who got hurt in the process; so long as it wasn’t me. I began doing things that would put a strain on their relationship. I listened intently to how Sarah had been a little jealous of Jenny and how she found it strange that Sam could be so close to another female and not have feelings or find her attractive. I listened as she explained to Lisa and how she had briefly spoken to Sam about her feelings and he had assured her that it was nothing to worry about.

  Then I had an idea. What if I implemented something that would split them up, something that would keep them apart forever? So, I started to do things that would make Sarah look like a crazy jealous girlfriend. I started taking photographs of Sam with Jenny, looking happy and ‘couple’ like. I also took photos of Sam and Sarah together, Sam on his own, doing his own thing. I sent letters, messages and all sorts of stuff that made it look like Sarah had been stalking her own boyfriend. It drove them both crazy. So much so that he ended it with her.

  I had been in her house when it happened. I heard the whole thing. I got excited when I heard him tell her it was over and she screamed and cried like a stupid, needy little bitch. Not only did I get excited but I was also scared to death at the person I had become. But I couldn’t stop myself. It was like an obsession. It was then that the whole situation begun to get out of control and my plan strayed from a break up mission to something far worse.

  ***

  My hands stayed in the position that they had taken to push Sarah down the stairs. Well, I say push, she sort of fell. When she asked me to leave, all I wanted to do was shut her up, tell her that she would never have Sam the way she wanted and that he didn’t want her anymore. But I didn’t say it. I just looked her in the eye and she could tell that I was smug about something.

  She had come into the bedroom once Sam had left and saw me standing at the window, watching him walk away; she looked confused to see me there.

  “What are you doing here?” She asked.