Of Books and Bagpipes

by Paige Shelton

  “Look for a house phone,” he said.

  “Got it,” I said.

  The house seemed empty. Only one lamp was on in the living room. I hurried around and flipped switches, looking in the places you would think you could find a phone but didn’t see any.

  I made my way to the back of the house, panic building inside me. As I flipped on the light switch in the vast kitchen I almost cried from relief when I finally spotted a phone, modern but still plugged into the wall. I heard a dial tone immediately when I picked up the handset.

  Just as I was about to press the third 9, my world went dark and I couldn’t breathe. Someone’s hand was over my face, covering my mouth, nose, and eyes. I tried to scream but the noise I made was too muffled for Elias to have heard it from the faraway front room. I flailed my arms and legs, but they only moved through the air. Until they didn’t.

  I sensed I’d been transported through a doorway, the door then being closed behind me.

  “Hush,” a man’s voice said in my ear. “Hush and I won’t hurt ye or yer friend.”

  My heart beat like thunder in my head and I made loud slurp noises as I tried to find a way to pull in some breaths.

  “Hush now,” he said.

  Things I couldn’t control were controlling me. The panic, the inability to breathe; I tried to calm down but I couldn’t.

  “We’re going down some stairs now. If you don’t calm down, we’ll both fall and break our necks. We don’t want that, do we?”

  His neck breaking wouldn’t be so bad.

  I shook my head.

  He kept his hand over my mouth, but freed my eyes. He was to my back and he wouldn’t let me turn my neck enough to see him, but I could see the stairs leading down and smell the musty basement odors.

  “Good. Let’s go. I’ve locked the door behind us. Your friend won’t hear us.”

  But Elias would figure out what was going on, I was sure. He’d check the basement. Inspector Winters would check the basement. I just hoped at least one of them would do it in time.

  We moved down the stairs. He lifted and carried me more than I walked. He was obviously a big man and his voice was familiar. Liam, I was pretty sure.

  Once down the stairs, he moved quickly down a narrow hallway space and then stopped in front of a door, or I thought it was a door. It was around a corner and blended in enough with the old plaster and lath that it could be overlooked, missed by searching cabdrivers and police inspectors.

  I tried to squirm out of his grip and scream behind his hand, but both the sound and I went nowhere.

  He opened the door and shoved me through, sending me to my knees in the small and crowded space. He shut the door behind him and turned a lock that secured a long bolt.

  “Now no one will hear you,” Liam said.

  “Don’t be stupid. They’ll find us. They’ll search everywhere,” I said as tears of panic and fear started to roll down my cheeks and my whole body began to shake uncontrollably.

  Liam laughed. “They didn’t find us when they searched before, did they, Mom?”

  The room had two other occupants: Clarissa and Gordon. They were in terrible shape, but at least Clarissa was conscious. She sat upright in a chair with her arms tied behind her back and her ankles tied to the legs of the chair. Her face was dirty and her hair disheveled, but she didn’t look on the verge of passing out, or dying.

  She looked up at Liam and glared.

  “Not happy, Mother? Well, I’m used to that,” Liam said.

  I scooted over to Gordon, who was on the floor, on his back. I put my finger to his neck and felt a light pulse.

  “You haven’t killed anyone yet,” I said, though by now I was pretty sure he’d killed Billy Armstrong. “Let us out of here. Let’s get some help for Gordon.”

  “Sure. Let’s do that,” he said with a bored blink. “Not going tae happen. These two aren’t going tae survive. Your boss is next. I haven’t decided what I’m going tae do with you, though. If you’re nice tae me I might let you live.”

  My stomach curdled. For a moment I had no words.

  “Why Edwin?” I finally said.

  “They all have to go. Those men, such horrible men.” Liam took two fast and deep breaths, but he didn’t calm. “I’d have gotten away with it all too, if you hadn’t said something tae that idiot with the bagpipes about the tattoos. Her asking if I was the one with the tattoo on my wrist, acting like she knew something.” He slammed his hand into the wall and looked at Clarissa. “It wasn’t enough for you that I tried tae honor you by marking myself! What was I thinking?”

  “I don’t understand, Liam. Why?” I said, glad he was yelling so someone in the house above might hear, but I also wanted to divert what I thought was an oncoming violent move toward his mother.

  “Ha! Look around, Miss Kansas. I bet ye can figure it out.”

  His accent wasn’t nearly as strong as it had been before. That fact hadn’t soaked in until I started to look around what I realized was an old bedroom.

  It reminded me of any high schooler’s room—messy with an unmade bed, a few books and games, and an old video game console. He was far from high school age, though.

  But the big difference between his room and that of high schoolers I’d grown up with was that instead of band or car posters, the walls were plastered with Oor Wullie comic strips and annual book covers.

  “I still don’t understand,” I said.

  “Why would I have so many Oor Wullie things in my room?”

  I shrugged. “Because you like the comic?”

  “Or someone else does.”

  I looked at Clarissa. “Okay, so your mother likes the comic strip. Why is that such a bad thing?”

  Liam looked at me as if he couldn’t believe I didn’t understand. “She tricked me, don’t you see?”

  I blinked at him, but didn’t want to admit that I couldn’t understand how comic book covers tricked him or how they could possibly lead to what he’d done.

  “This stupid character, these comic strips—of all things—reminded her of her past. When she shared her love of them with me, it was as if she was trying to turn me into the son she gave away! I knew I was never enough for her! When I figured out what she was doing … don’t you see? I had no choice!” he yelled as spit flew from his mouth.

  I looked at Clarissa. Tears rolled down her cheeks and she shook her head slowly.

  “I never meant…” she said.

  “Shut up, Mother!” Liam yelled again.

  I didn’t understand whatever was inside him that had made him jealous enough of his mother’s past that he’d done what he’d done. But I understood that his perception was the only one that mattered at the moment. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t have any training in hostage crises. If there were bookish voices at the ready to guide me, I was too scared to hear them.

  “But…” I said. “She kept you.”

  He looked at me, studied me for so long that I wondered if I’d said something that made sense to him.

  I hadn’t.

  “And that fool,” he nodded at Gordon, “thought I’d help him. He had no idea I was just using him tae get tae understand all of them, once I figured out what really happened.” He shook his head. “Can you believe that both of Clarissa’s sons ended up reenacting William Wallace? It wasn’t planned! It was Gordon who figured it all out. He came tae me and asked me tae try tae bring us all together after he starting putting pieces together, and he had no clue that I could kill my own brother. What a fool! What a complete fool!”

  “That is pretty amazing,” I said, though my voice still wavered.

  “And we were both named after that stupid character.” He glared at the covers on his wall.

  From somewhere I didn’t notice, Liam picked up a baseball bat and held it as he charged the short distance to Gordon. He lifted the bat as high as his height and the low ceiling would allow.

  “She was going to give them everything! Everything!” he yelled
before he swung the bat down toward Gordon’s head.

  I didn’t even think about what I was doing as I threw myself over Gordon, protecting his head as best I could. The bat landed squarely on my arm, equidistant between my shoulder and my elbow. I yelled out in pain even though it took a good long second to really feel it. I was filled with adrenaline so it was most likely dulled—for the time being.

  The arm still worked though, or the rest of me did. I didn’t think about what I was doing as I propelled myself up and grabbed on to the bat with both hands.

  In a weirdly awkward pose, I leveraged my body against Liam’s and then after a bizarre rhythmic side-to-side struggle, was able to yank so hard on the bat that I got it out of his hands. I landed on my backside on the floor. No one was more surprised than me, but I didn’t waste a moment as I swung the bat at his knees. I swung it hard.

  He didn’t go down easy. He dodged the bat twice before it hit a sweet spot and took him to a screaming mess on the floor.

  I didn’t want to leave Clarissa and Gordon, but I didn’t think I had any choice as I unlocked the bolt and hurried down the hall toward the stairs to try and get help.

  I wasn’t quite in my right mind as I lifted the bat to ward off what I perceived as the new approaching dangers coming down the stairs.

  “Delaney! It’s me,” Inspector Winters said.

  “Lass, put the bat down,” Elias said from behind the police officers.

  I put the bat down, and the only thought that went through my mind was made of my voice only: Of course Elias didn’t let Inspector Winters come down the stairs by himself.

  After Inspector Winters and two other officers I hadn’t even noticed followed my tremoring arm point down the hallway, I collapsed, a crying, shaking heap, into Elias’s arms and let him take care of everything else.

  THIRTY

  “Did the weather slow you down getting to Clarissa’s?” I asked Inspector Winters as Hamlet handed me a mug of coffee and Rosie pulled the blanket up around my shoulders.

  My Cracked Spine family was turning into my own personal group of nurses, but we weren’t in a hospital, we were at the bookshop, surrounded by the overstuffed shelves that were a part of the place that had become so much more than just a place to work. Elias, Rosie, Hector, Hamlet, and I had gathered. Inspector Winters joined us about an hour after Elias brought me back to the shop. My arm wasn’t broken. It was severely bruised and would hurt for some time, but I was going to be fine. I told Elias and Inspector Winters that I would run away and into the sea if they even tried to put me in an ambulance. They saw that all my limbs moved normally so they didn’t push it.

  Edwin wasn’t with us. He still needed to spend some time with the police, apparently. I’d told Rosie not to call Tom yet, and Elias not to bother Aggie, since I was going to be okay.

  “Aye, my car slipped off the road and got stuck in a most peculiar position. I called for others tae get tae you, but they arrived after I did. The snow caused us all some slowdowns, took down some mobiles, caught us off guard,” Inspector Winters replied.

  Elias had already told me that they’d found the basement door quickly, and couldn’t think of any other place I might have gone.

  “Had the police searched that back basement room for Clarissa before?” I asked.

  “I don’t think so. Her cousin, Liza Marie, told them Clarissa had stepped out and hadn’t come home. Liza Marie was convincing and didn’t seem worried. Liam had apparently threatened tae harm her if she gave him up in any way. He told her tae stay upstairs and act normal. Nevertheless, she tried to get away from the house so she could call the police, and she fell. She didn’t hit her head but she just couldn’t get up and lost consciousness. She’s going to be fine, thanks to you and Elias. There was a dog too, and he’s fine as well. He was hiding in the bushes.”

  “Elias saved Liza Marie,” I said.

  “It was pure luck that the car slid tae a stop in front of the garden gate. The police would have found her when they arrived,” Elias added.

  “She’ll be fine, but even a few moments more might have been too late,” Inspector Winters said.

  “And the police thought Clarissa was missing?” I said.

  “That’s what Edwin told me,” Rosie said.

  “I don’t think the officers who brought Edwin in were worried about Clarissa at that point,” Inspector Winters said. “Edwin asked them tae check on her. They must have told him they didn’t talk tae her and he relayed the message to Rosie as she was missing. I’m glad the communication got mixed up the way it did, or that he sensed there might be something else wrong. I don’t know how much longer she and Gordon had down there. Liam was unhinging quickly.”

  We were silent, sharing a moment of relief that Liza Marie and Clarissa were going to be fine. I knew about the latter because she insisted upon thanking and hugging me before they put her in the ambulance.

  “What about Gordon?” Hamlet asked.

  “We just don’t know. Before Delaney got there, he was hit over the head, just like his son was. The doctors weren’t sure yet,” Inspector Winters said with a slow shrug.

  “Will he be arrested?” I asked.

  “Already has been, in a manner of speaking. He’s in hospital though, getting the care he needs. If he comes tae, his circumstances will be made clear tae him.”

  “What happened, Inspector Winters? Why did all of this happen?” I asked.

  Even Rosie, who had been dabbing her eyes, turned her full attention to Inspector Winters as he stood next to the front desk, his coat still on and his demeanor both concerned and contrite. He felt responsible for me getting hurt, and I didn’t know how to ease his mind from that other than to act fine. I was going to be fine.

  “Tae the best of our understanding, about a year ago Liam found some old things his mother had been keeping, articles and journals, and a dirk. He took the items tae his mother, and she broke down because of the sad and happy memories she claimed the items brought her. Oor Wullie comics had always been something they shared together, and amongst the things were some annuals. At that point apparently Liam liked that his mother had made something from her past a part of his life. However, when Liam got a SPEC tattoo like some of the men his mother spoke about, they ended up having a heated argument and she told Liam about the baby she gave away. Liam was always a complicated and difficult person, mentally ill I’m certain, but we’ll need a doctor tae confirm. It was during this heated argument that Clarissa not only told him about the baby, but said cruel things tae Liam, and told him that if he continued tae behave ‘so daft and mad,’ her words she claimed, she would not leave him any of her money. She would make sure tae give everything tae her other child.”

  “Not a guid mother, a’tall,” Rosie said.

  “Maybe he pushed her beyond her limits. It sounds like it was an unhappy house for a long time. She didn’t even know Liam was living in Edinburgh, working at the fish market, or volunteering in Stirling. She thought he was in Glasgow,” Inspector Winters said.

  “Osgar at the fish market had Clarissa’s address for Liam.”

  Inspector Winters shrugged. “Another way tae throw people off maybe.”

  “Clarissa shouldnae have said such things to Liam,” Rosie said.

  “Probably not,” Inspector Winters said. “Especially if she knew he wasn’t mentally well.”

  “Was it really just a coincidence that both Billy and Liam were reenactors?” I asked.

  “We think so, though we’re still working on timing.”

  “Did he unravel from there? He killed Billy?” I asked.

  “He admitted he killed Billy,” Inspector Winters said. “He was methodical though. We have his notes. He got tae know Billy at Stirling, tried tae be friends, but Billy was complicated too and didn’t allow many people into his life. Liam rode with Billy on a caravan out tae Castle Doune, convinced him to stay with him and wait for another one. His original plan was tae throw Billy off the castle, but he hit
him in the head with a rock instead, not the bat he had in the basement.” He sighed. “This is what we understand so far—Gordon realized they were at Stirling together, and he told Liam he’d been university friends with his mother. He asked Liam to befriend his son and lay the groundwork for Gordon to contact Billy. Shortly after that contact had been made, Gordon told Liam more about the past connections. Liam found the items and confronted his mother. A confluence of events.

  “It’s difficult tae understand because we don’t know Gordon’s side yet, but I think that Liam wormed his way so deeply into Gordon’s and Billy’s lives that he convinced Gordon to make contact with Edwin, try tae heal past wounds. We don’t even think Gordon knew that Liam had a dirk, but—follow me here—we think Liam told Billy tae give the dirk tae Edwin. I think Liam knew enough then about the past tae know the dirk might stir up some trouble. At least bring back old memories. I think there’s more tae learn about the dirk than anyone, Edwin included, is telling us.”

  None of the rest of us acknowledged his observation.

  I could see how the confusion regarding the meaning behind the dirk had occurred. If only Edwin and Gordon had talked to each other about it. But by that point, I didn’t think either of them trusted anyone from that time long ago.

  “Did you find something different that told you a dirk did kill Moray Persley?” I asked.

  “We’re looking more closely at it.”

  “What about Leith Stanton? Did Liam kill him?”

  “No, but he was planning on killing Edwin, after he took care of Billy and Gordon and Clarissa.”

  “Did Liam try to break into Edwin’s house?” I asked.

  Everyone looked at me. I continued, “Edwin thought someone tried to break in.”

  “I don’t know. I’ll try tae find out,” Inspector Winters said.

  I nodded.

  “Comic books led tae him feeling betrayed?” Hamlet said.

  “In a way,” Inspector Winters said. “They were something he thought he shared exclusively with his mother. When he found out that her very checkered past included them, he wanted tae better understand. But then he was shocked tae learn his mother had had another child, then devastated when tae him it seemed she cared more for that child than for him. Perhaps even a mentally stable person would have felt betrayed, though I doubt murderous.”