‘We have a body.’
54
Jared and Brian shake hands. Lydia isn’t sure how to act with him in front of her dad, but luckily, Brian excuses himself and goes to the toilets, so that Lydia can hug him without feeling self-conscious. It feels so good to have him there, but the public display of affection makes Jared feel incredibly uncomfortable, and his voice is stern and cold.
‘Lydia, your dad could see us! Please.’
Lydia lets go of him, moves away, and smiles, first at Jared, and then to herself, as she sits down at the bright window seat. She can’t tell him that her dad knows about them already. Not yet anyway. But soon everything will be out in the open, her sister will be home, Melvin and Christine will be in prison, and everything will be back to normal. Jared is looking at the screen on his phone.
‘Have you heard anything?’ Lydia asks.
He shakes his head in response.
‘Nothing for the past hour now.’
‘It’s so hard not knowing. Dad and I are going crazy. Is there anything you can tell us?’
Jared smiles at her, checks that Brian isn’t already on his way back to the table, then reaches over to squeeze her hand gently, just for a second. A waiter comes, takes their drinks order, and offers to turn the gas fire on. Lydia hadn’t even noticed how cold it was until he mentioned the fire, and Jared quietly scolds her for not having a warm coat on. Brian joins them as the tea and coffees arrive, and manages to pour himself a cup of tea, although his hands are shaking. Jared shuffles uncomfortably in his chair, dreading what Brian is going to say next. He’s probably wondering what Jared is doing there, and why Lydia called him from the car. Jared’s face flushes red, but Brian’s tone is warm and genuine.
‘It’s very nice of you to come to meet us. It’s a real comfort to have a professional here I think...to let us know what’s going on, and so forth.’
Lydia can see that her father is making effort to make Jared feel at ease, and loves him for it. But, before they can continue, Jared’s phone rings.
‘Please, excuse me. It’s the office. I told them to call as soon as anything happened. They might know something now.’
Jared’s on his feet. Outside, he paces the gravelled path, and listens intently. All Brian and Lydia can do is watch him through the window, as he nods down the phone.
‘Dad… his face… he doesn’t look happy, does he?’
Jared hangs up, and curses to himself, then turns to see Lydia and Brian’s desperate faces at the window about ten feet away.
55
McCarthy rounds the corner at the end of the hall, and sees where all the blood has come from. He walks slowly towards the person lying face down on the floor, and can see by the clothing that she’s a female. Then, he sees blonde hair. It’s not Kate.
‘Jesus Christ. It’s Christine Todd. Christine, can you hear me?
He kneels next to her, and feels her face. She’s warm. Her entire head is covered in blood, and she’s unconscious.
‘Davies, call the paramedics immediately. She’s alive.’
Two other officers have joined them, and are searching the upstairs. McCarthy decides to follow them, and instructs Davies to stay with Christine until the paramedics arrive. The place is empty. McCarthy scans one of the bedrooms, and can see that this was where Kate was kept. He sees the baby books and prayer books, the chains on the bed. Davies joins him a few minutes later and lets him know that the basement is clear too.
‘Do you think they saw the news before anyone got the chance to report them?’
‘That’s exactly what’s happened, mate.’
McCarthy is devastated. This is almost the worst-case scenario. If they hadn’t run the story and those photographs today, they could have traced Kate from the phone call, and this could all be over. The timing is ridiculously bad. And now, he had to tell the Stones that he had failed them, and the one chance they had of getting their daughter back was ruined. He tries to stay calm, and asks Davies to wait for him downstairs. He needs to gather his thoughts, and sits on the same bed that just hours ago, Kate lay on, terrified about what was going to happen to her. He picks up one of the prenatal care books on the bedside table, and opens it at the bookmark. It’s a chapter entitled ‘The Third Trimester: Weeks 28 – 40’, and McCarthy wonders if this is an accurate indication of how far along in the pregnancy she is. The longer she’s carrying the baby, the better. If they can get to her before she gives birth they can make sure she’s safe, and the baby too. He calls the office in London and fills them in, telling them to get a forensic team here as fast as possible. They need to go through the entire place for clues about where Melvin and Kate might have gone, and he needs results from the phone line here, in case any calls had been made or received that could indicate where they are.
‘Oh, and I’ll speak to the family, okay? I believe they’re nearby, so I’ll go and meet them as soon as I can.’
Downstairs, Davies watches as Christine Todd is carried out on a stretcher and rolled into an ambulance. He struggles to understand what the paramedics are saying, but passes on the message to them that Christine is wanted by police and lets them know what happens when she gets to the hospital. Christine might know where Kate and Melvin are; she is their only hope right now, and she has to remain in custody.
56
Lydia and Brian wait in the garden of the farmhouse for the forensic team to finish. It’s dark and cold. They are silent, and have been for nearly an hour. Jared has brought them some blankets and tea, and asks if they want anything to eat, but they both shake their heads and continue to stare at the house in silence. They want to see inside, and won’t leave until they do. Lydia doesn’t even feel shocked anymore. She feels empty. This is powerlessness and disappointment taken to a new level. They had come so close to Kate, and now this. Why? Why couldn’t they have waited one more day before running the photographs of Melvin and Christine, she thinks. They had been told by McCarthy that Christine was in a critical condition, and had more than likely been left for dead, but there was still a chance she could help them to find Melvin and Kate, assuming she makes it.
A few minutes after ten, McCarthy appears and lets them know that the forensic team are finished gathering evidence, and if they still want to look inside the house, he can take them inside.
‘But please, don’t touch or move anything. Promise me? There could still be valuable evidence inside, and we don’t want to compromise that.’
His voice is gentle, as it always is when he speaks to the Stones, but Lydia can see that the day has taken its toll on him, too. He guides Brian and Lydia through the front door, and tells them that the area at the end, where Christine was found, is cordoned off.
‘Do you want to take a look upstairs? We are pretty sure Kate’s bedroom was up there.’
Brian nods for the both of them, and they make their way up. Every step, Lydia thinks about the strangeness of the fact that her sister was right here just hours ago. She crept down these stairs to make the phone call just this morning, and crept back up again afterwards, hoping they would trace the call, and come to find her. They enter the bedroom in silence. It’s bare, and looks nothing like any space that Kate has lived in before; her room at home is huge, and filled with clothes, shoes, and photographs. This is a cold, silent room, and Lydia walks around it slowly, trying to imagine what her sister did here for all these months. She looks at the bed, and is at least comforted by the fact that there are lots of clean blankets on it; it’s not as awful as it could be. She traces her fingers along the material, as if it will somehow bring her closer to her twin. Then, she sees the chains, and looks at McCarthy, questioningly.
‘Yes, they’re being tested for her DNA, but it looks like she was chained up here.’
Lydia turns away from him, and her eyes land on the small pile of books on the bedside table. They are all pregnancy books, and Lydia thinks again, about the life that’s growing inside of her sister.
‘She’ll
be okay, won’t she? I mean, this is good, isn’t it; the fact that she’s pregnant with his child? I mean... he can’t hurt her now, can he?’
Brian puts his hand on Lydia’s shoulder, and tries to reassure her. He can hear by the tone of her voice that she’s struggling to come to terms with all of this.
‘Sweetheart, they are doing everything they can to make sure they can still find her, okay? Isn’t that right, Detective?’
McCarthy nods confidently.
‘Yes. From what we know, the fact that Kate is more than likely carrying Melvin Todd’s child means that he will want her to be safe and healthy. We’re doing everything we can to find out where they have gone Lydia. Everything.’
Brian moves towards the door and says he wants to leave. Lydia is actually relieved; she can’t stand being here anymore, either.
‘I’ll let you know where we end up, but I think we’ll stay here tonight, in a hotel nearby, in case there’s any news.’
McCarthy nods, then shows them downstairs, and out of the house.
‘You’ve got my number, so please use it – anytime – I’ll let you know as soon as we know anything.’
Brian and Lydia see Jared waiting outside. He offers to travel with them to a hotel, but Brian shakes his head, and mutters a ‘no thanks’. Lydia squeezes his arm, and tells him she’ll call as soon as she can, before following her dad to the car.
‘Should we call Mum when we get to the hotel?’
Silence.
‘Dad?’
Brian shakes his head.
‘Sorry, I, I can’t think straight right now. Just need to get out of here.’
Lydia understands. The house had been so haunting and strange. Its smells, the chains on the bed, the strange wallpaper... it was like something out of a horror movie. Brian drives without really knowing where he’s going. He eventually sees a sign for a hotel called Fawsley Hall, and turns down the long driveway towards the entrance gates. Lydia notices how isolated and quiet the hotel is. The grounds are extensive, and she can see an old church surrounded by sheep in the distance. If it wasn’t for the drawn-out nightmare that they were going through, this would have been exactly the kind of place Lydia would want to come for a relaxing weekend with Jared. Then, another thought enters her head. What if Melvin took Kate somewhere like this? He could easily have got in his car and driven her here, booked a room in the courtyard so that she didn’t have to pass through reception. Maybe he had her locked in the boot of his car. Lydia’s vivid imagination mixed with paranoia, and this feeling of utter confusion is overwhelming; she can feel her legs growing weak and empty, like all the blood has drained from them.
‘Dad, I think I need to get a drink.’
She points at the sign for the hotel bar, and starts to get out of the car before he can even respond.
57
Just before midnight, the police dogs arrive at the farmhouse. They immediately run to the back of the property, and scratch and bark at the shed-like building at the bottom of the garden. The dog handlers break the lock on the shed door, and let the dogs in. They immediately start to dig at the soil.
‘Right, this looks interesting. No flooring and the dogs are on to something...’
McCarthy walks away towards the front of the farmhouse, praying that it’s not Kate. What if Melvin had decided to kill her and the baby, after all? It’s not long before the team start digging too, and ten minutes later, the remains of Melanie Latter are uncovered. McCarthy can’t believe it. He makes a call to the chief of police, and signs a form to say that the remains can be taken in to be identified. Then, he calls Fran. She’s been lying awake, waiting to say goodnight, and can hear the stress in her husband’s voice when he speaks to her.
‘You’re doing a good job, babe. A really good job. Don’t be too hard on yourself. You’re getting answers.’
McCarthy nods down the phone, but he can barely string a sentence together.
‘I’ve got to go, Fran. I love you, and I love our family.’
He hangs up, and makes a quick plan with Davies about who should tell the Latters when the body is identified.
‘There were earrings on that body. Matched the ones Melanie was wearing the night she went missing.’
McCarthy nods at Davies. He had noticed that already.
‘Say nothing until the results come back, alright? We have to be certain before we tell the family.’
58
Kate sees her reflection in a thin metallic strip that runs down the side of the wardrobe. This morning, the sun had risen, in spite of everything, and now it lights her pale face, showing her, with all of its relentless power and truth, her own reality. There is no escape. The events from the day before are scrambled in Kate’s mind. She remembers Melvin coming home and behaving differently. He had told her to follow his instructions carefully, or she and the baby would die. And she believed him. Suddenly, it seemed like he had reached the end of his tether. He told her in a matter-of-fact way, that Christine was dead, and they needed to get out of there. He had said there was a darkness in the house, and if they didn’t get away from it, he would end up killing her, the baby, and himself. Miraculously, Kate had managed to stay calm. She tried to reason with him; the whole time thinking that the police were on the way, almost there, if only she could distract Melvin for long enough. She had contemplated pulling the knife from under the pillow behind her and plunging it into his chest, but she had no idea if she had the strength and skill to actually kill him. And what if she just cut him, and enraged him so much that he murdered her? She couldn’t take that risk. Not now, anyway. She had walked outside with him without screaming, and got into the boot of his car. They drove for about twenty minutes, until she felt the vehicle slow down and stop. She heard him get out, and then there were other voices. Kate had no idea who these people were. She wondered if she should cry out or scream for help. Maybe they didn’t know she was in there. But, instinct told her to stay quiet. Ten minutes after that, the voices went, Melvin opened the boot, told her she was a good girl, and helped her out, and to her feet. They were at the back of a little cottage, and there was an old tractor and some rusty farm equipment next to them. The cottage looked run-down and deserted. Melvin had taken her inside, locked the door, and told her to take a seat, then pulled a scissors from a paper bag, and started to cut her hair. Kate trembled every time he came at her, terrified that he would suddenly stick it into her neck, or decide to cut her throat. His breathing was thick and heavy; sometimes it was almost a groan. Kate guessed that one of the people whose voice she had heard must have given the cottage to him. That meant that they knew about her, probably. There were others in on this whole thing. It wasn’t just him and Christine, and some weird prophecy. Then, Melvin took out a box of blonde hair dye, mixed it in a small plastic bowl, and smeared it all over Kate’s head. It stank, and he swore at the smell, and the stinging on his hands. She had asked him not to use the dye; afraid that it would harm the baby, and he hit her across the face in response. She had shut up again after that, and stayed silent as they waited ninety minutes for the bleach to strip all of the colour from her hair. Then Melvin had rinsed it off using freezing water in the kitchen sink and washed it with some coconut shampoo he took from the bag.
Now, the smell of bleach and coconut seems to permeate everything. Kate tries to block it out. She stares at herself in the mirrored strip of metal, deep into her dark eyes. She hadn’t dared to ask, but she assumes that Melvin was trying to disguise her. And it worked. She couldn’t see one bit of the girl she used to be. He had broken her down, and now was rebuilding her. Kate feels sure that even her voice is different, now. She looks around the room at the mouldy walls, bare mattress, cracked ceiling, the dead insects along the windowsill, the litter on the floor, and the thick layer of dust covering everything. This can’t be it. Surely, he didn’t expect her to live here with him, to have a baby in this cold, squalid place?
Outside, a crow makes a loud, screeching sound, an
d for a second, Kate mistakes it for a police siren. She looks at the locked front door, at Melvin pulling some food from a plastic bag, and at the dirty window over the sink. Maybe, if she pretends to be exhausted and goes to sleep, he might not think to tie her up tonight. There are no dogs outside this time, and it would be a lot easier to get out of this place than the farmhouse. She closes her eyes, pictures her parents and Lydia’s faces, and promises them that this isn’t the end. They will all be together again.
This story continues in the final book in the trilogy:
‘This Dark Town III: Us and Them'.
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The House In the Woods Page 16