Atmosphere

by Robert Innes

  “Then, what, did he leave you a contact number? Anything like that?” Blake asked.

  “Yeah, he left me a number, but I didn’t ring it ‘til about a year later.”

  “A year?” Gardiner exclaimed. “You left your daughter with a complete stranger and you didn’t try and get in contact until a year later?”

  Abi recoiled in her seat, looking a little frightened at Gardiner’s tone of voice. “I told you!” she cried defensively. “I’m not proud of it, I’m ashamed of myself! I’m scum, I know I am! But that Sebastian bloke made me see that Mel was better off with him. He was richer, had more going for him, she’d have a future travelling around with him.”

  Blake put his head into his hand and exhaled deeply. Small details about the case kept flashing into his mind. The stroking of the leg that Benjamin had apparently witnessed, the apparent prostitution, the look in Jemma’s eyes when the subject of Sebastian had come up. All of it pointed to one very sinister conclusion.

  “And now I’m seeing on the news that she’s vanished,” Abi ventured. “I know I’m not much use to her, but is she in danger do you think? I just want to know that she’s okay?”

  Blake shook his head. “Right now, Mel is probably the safest she’s been in a long time,” he murmured. “Can you give us a few minutes, Abi?”

  Abi nodded as Blake motioned for Gardiner to follow him out of the room. Once the interview room door was closed, Blake leant against the wall and ran his hands through his hair, exhaling deeply.

  “Well?” he said at last, looking at Gardiner intently. “Even you can’t be in any doubt at what we could be looking at here.”

  Gardiner nodded. “Grooming?”

  Blake paced up and down the corridor. “Oh, it’s all making sense. Everything Jemma said must be true. The prostitution, Christ, Michael, she’s fifteen! Oh, and I bet I know who the client was who roughed her up on the morning of her disappearance. Just a theory, but it’ll be easy enough to prove it. She’s not a prostitute, she’s a product. I’d be willing to bet that Sebastian Klein has groomed that girl to within an inch of her life and he’s been selling her to his clients. The whole magic show has just been a way for him to hide in plain sight, going around to where the business needs to take him. Benjamin walked in and saw exactly what he thought he saw. Him feeling her up. Amelia hasn’t been kidnapped at all, she’s been rescued. And I think I know by who.”

  “Mr Harte?”

  Gardiner and Blake’s heads spun around at the all too familiar voice.

  Sebastian Klein was standing in the doorway.

  11

  For a few moments, Blake did not speak, unsure of how to go about his next movements. Then, he glanced at Gardiner and stepped forwards.

  “Mr Klein,” he said quietly.

  “I’ve had another message from the kidnapper,” Sebastian said urgently, clutching his mobile. “I thought I better let you know straight away.”

  “Absolutely,” Blake replied. “What’s he said this time?”

  Gardiner stared at Blake, confused. “Are you…?”

  “Not now, Michael,” Blake said casually. “Go on, Mr Klein, play the video.”

  Sebastian glanced, perhaps suspiciously, at Gardiner then pressed his phone screen.

  As before, Amelia was in the same chair, still wearing the same outfit as she had been previously, including, Blake noticed, the same black plimsols .

  “Wow, he’s got her in such terrible conditions,” Blake murmured. He caught Gardiner’s eye and hoped that he had indicated to him to keep quiet.

  As he had in the previous videos, the masked figure stepped forwards towards the crying Amelia and thrust a note into her hand. She looked down at it and seemed to be trying to stop herself from bursting into tears again.

  “’At eight PM tonight, you will leave five thousand pounds, in cash, in the black rubbish bin at the old cottage on the edge of Harmschapel. It’s a secluded location so there will be no way you’ll be able to try any magic to get one over on me. Remember, no police. If I suspect you are trying anything, Amelia will die. And…’” She choked on tears as she stared in horror at her captor behind the camera. “‘And I will film it. And send it to you. You have been warned.’”

  The screen went blank and Sebastian looked up at Blake, worry etched across his face.

  “What do I do?”

  “Do you have the five thousand ready to go?” Blake asked him.

  “DS Harte,” Gardiner said warningly.

  “It’s alright, Michael,” Blake said. The potential consequences of his actions were already playing out in his head.

  “Yes,” Sebastian said, looking surprised. “It wasn’t easy, but I’ve got it at my house, in my safe.”

  Blake nodded. “Good. Then text the number and agree to meet them with the money.”

  “Mr Harte, you’ve heard what he’ll do if he knows that I’m even speaking to you.”

  “Oh, I know,” Blake replied. “Everything is going to be fine, I promise. We’re going to bring this man to justice. Don’t worry. Send the text.”

  With a final glance at the two officers before him, Sebastian nodded and tapped on his phone. When he had sent the text, he showed Blake what he had said.

  ‘Agreed.’

  “Good,” Blake said. “So, they’ll be there at eight PM. And so will we. Don’t worry, we’re trained to deal with exactly this sort of situation. Now, I have just one more question for you, Sebastian.”

  He led Sebastian to the door of the interview room and opened it.

  “Recognise this woman?”

  Inside the room, Abi looked up, looking confused. For a few moments, she and Sebastian stared at each other and then Sebastian’s eyes widened and turned to Blake. A flicker of horror crossed his face as he seemed to realise that Blake knew his secret.

  “No!” Sebastian exclaimed and tried to make a run for it out of the station, but Blake grabbed his shoulder and pulled him to the ground.

  “Michael, cuff him,” he ordered.

  Gardiner grabbed Sebastian’s wrists and pushed the handcuffs that he had clutched in his hand around them.

  “You and me are going to have a little chat,” Blake told him, his eyes flashing with fury. He checked his watch. “Four thirty. That should give us enough time for you to tell us all about your ‘daughter.’”

  That evening, the wind was picking up. The night was drawing in and around the abandoned cottage on the outskirts of Harmschapel, everything was silent other than the strong breeze whistling through the trees.

  Then, out of the darkness, a figure appeared. He was cautious, checking around for any signs of life. After a few moments, he was satisfied that he was alone and crept around the side of the cottage towards the rubbish bin that had been left there by the old owners, nearly ten years ago.

  He took one last look around him and then lifted up the lid, looking inside for his prize. There it was, an old battered suitcase. As he lifted it up, he threw the lid back down on the bin and placed the suitcase on top of it. Then, he lifted the latches and opened the case. It was empty.

  Before he had time to even think of anything else, a blinding beam of light hit him and he jumped nearly a foot in the air, turning around and covering his eyes.

  A familiar figure appeared from behind a large tree.

  “Looking for something?” Blake asked him. “I don’t think you’ll find much in there, Benjamin.”

  Benjamin Lakes shielded his eyes from the strong light and then began running in the opposite direction. Blake put his hands in his pockets and watched, with a slight air of sympathy about him, as Mattison stood in his way and brought him to a stop.

  “Please,” Benjamin pleaded as Mattison brought him back towards Blake. “I just wanted to save her, you’ve got no idea what she went through.”

  “Oh, I do,” Blake replied. “I’m just sorry I didn’t see it sooner.” He signalled for the officers around him to lower their torches down so that Benjamin was not
so blinded and walked towards him. “Where is she?”

  For a few moments, Benjamin looked as if he did not want to reply, but then his eyes glanced over to behind the cottage.

  “DS Harte,” Angel announced as he appeared from the side of the building, “May I present to you our missing girl?”

  Beside him, looking as timid and frightened as she had in the videos, was Amelia Klein.

  Blake smiled at her sympathetically and watched as she and Benjamin were led to the police car that had been concealed by bushes and hedgerow on the other side of the road. Then he turned to Angel as the inspector received a radio message in his ear.

  “We have Arthur Stanbury in custody,” he said, clicking the radio off. “It seems Mr Klein was rather keen to be, what I believe the popular parlance is, ‘a grass.’”

  “Yes, unfortunately for Stanbury, Mattison and I arrived at Klein’s house just as they were wrapping up a ‘business meeting.’ Having found out what that poor girl’s been going through, I hardly see how it could be anything else. How many matters of business could a touring magician and a parish councillor possibly have? Now, I need to go and talk to our kidnapper and his captive.”

  “I trust you will be charging them?”

  Blake sighed heavily. “I guess so. Trying to get a ransom out of somebody is rather illegal, after all. As well as technically wasting police time. Look at them though, Sir. They’re just a couple of kids at the end of the day. Two kids trying to get themselves out of a terrible situation. Nothing they’ve done is anywhere near as bad as what they were trying to escape from.”

  “Yes, well, unfortunately, DS Harte, the law can be a far from lenient mistress at times. I’m sure, however, I can trust you to make the appropriate decisions.”

  Blake glanced at him and nodded. “How was Mini after I left?”

  “PC Patil is, as you might expect, rather upset. I decided to send her home so she could gather herself. I do have a heart, DS Harte,” Angel added at Blake’s completely unintentional raise of the eyebrows. “Much as that may surprise you.”

  “I’m sure you do, Sir,” Blake replied politely.

  He walked across to the police car and spoke to Mattison.

  “I’ll deal with these two, Matti. You can go back with Inspector Angel if you like, see what you can do back at the station. As for anything else,” he added pointedly, “we can talk about that later. Do me a favour though, try and stay away from Constable Fox.”

  Mattison mumbled something in agreement and walked away towards the other officers as Blake climbed into the driver’s seat of the car. Behind the grill, Benjamin and Amelia were sitting in silence.

  “Well,” Blake began. “Safe to say you two have given us quite the wild goose chase. Extortion, ransom demands, we had a whole police investigation and media storm because of you two.”

  Benjamin glanced at Amelia. “We didn’t have a choice. I’m sorry.”

  “I understand what the two of you have gone through, especially you, Mel.”

  Amelia looked up, tears in her eyes.

  “I met your mother today,” Blake continued. “The one that Sebastian Klein would have us all believe was dead. She told me all about how Sebastian first met you at school, auditioned you, and a few others, for the role of his assistant and then you got the part. Were things really that bad at home?”

  Amelia sighed. “Depends on your definition of bad. Some kids that age would probably love for their mum to have no interest in their lives. No interference, no lectures. How much can a mum that spends her time either with a needle in her arm or trying to get her next fix really lecture anybody? But I guess it had an effect on me.”

  “To the point where running away to go and be on the stage seemed like the most attractive option,” Blake said quietly. “I’m sure there’s thousands of kids who would love to do that at that age, whether they’ve got the ideal homelife or not. Unfortunately, your position made you a prime target for a predator, which is exactly what Sebastian Klein is and all his clients are. A young impressionable girl with low self esteem because she wasn’t getting that well needed love and attention at home can be so easy to groom it’s terrifying.”

  Amelia nodded as she delicately brushed her hair out of her eyes.

  “He told me I was beautiful, that the punters would love me, that I was perfect. I thought punters just meant the audience at the shows, but some of them got to come backstage and talk to me.”

  She turned and stared out of the window. A rumble of thunder sounded in the distance as rain started to patter on the windows.

  “I felt so special. Like I really was something amazing, all of these blokes telling me how beautiful I was and how good I looked on stage. They wanted to take photos of me, in all my stage costumes that Sebastian had made for me.”

  Blake closed his eyes and sighed heavily.

  “I felt like a film star. Once he started teaching me about all the magic tricks he knew, I was sold,” Amelia continued. “He told me all about how special I was, how my parents clearly didn’t understand me or deserve me.” For the first time since Blake had met her, real tears began to cascade down her face.

  “He then started telling me about what love is and how the love he had for me was special and that if I wanted to stay working with him then there were other things I had to do with his friends.”

  “His business associates,” Blake concluded.

  Benjamin put his arm around Amelia as the tears continued to roll down her cheeks. “That was what people did in showbiz, he said. These men, they were apparently all really influential names in the industry, agents, producers, all I had to do was keep them happy and I could see my name in lights by the end of the year. It never happened though He just kept taking pictures of me, in various outfits, that he said he was sending to people and that the waiting game was vital in the business. All I had to do was keep telling people that he was my dad, and he could keep helping me.”

  Blake shook his head in disbelief. “Benjamin? How did you start working with him?”

  Benjamin shrugged. “Not that differently, to be honest. I was a troubled kid, I’d been in foster homes since I was able to walk, being passed from pillar to post. One day, I saw a job going at a theatre company in Clackton and they took me on. Then Sebastian turned up doing this show, but back then, this other girl, Jemma, was his assistant.”

  “Jemma? Who now works at Crystals?”

  “You know her?” Amelia asked, wiping her eyes.

  “Yeah, we’ve met,” Blake replied. “So, what happened?”

  “I didn’t have a clue what was really going on,” Benjamin replied. “Not for ages. Sebastian needed a second man to sort of lug all the heavy stuff around.” He looked at Blake with a serious expression. “I swear, I didn’t know anything about what he was doing to Jemma, which it turned out was exactly the same as he did to Amelia. I dunno how he managed to keep it such a secret from me, I was practically living in his pocket for a while.”

  “And he never tried to get you involved in any of this?”

  Benjamin scowled. “When I first started working for him, he was asking me loads about whether I was into guys or girls. To be honest, I just thought that he fancied me. I thought he was a bit creepy, but he was paying well so I thought that I’d just put up with it for a bit then go and find another job. I never found one though. People aren’t that keen to hire someone with my background and lack of experience anywhere else.”

  “And Jemma managed to escape?” Blake asked Amelia.

  “Yeah,” Amelia said with a sigh. “Got herself a job working at the strip joint. Again, she comes from a broken home. Her parents chucked her out, they weren’t interested, and Sebastian came to her rescue. She only really told me that all this had happened to her when I asked her how many guys Sebastian had made her, you know, spend time with. Then she realised what was going on and started giving me money to try and get me out.”

  “Then, one day, you walked in on Sebastian f
eeling Mel’s leg,” Blake clarified to Benjamin.

  “Yeah, it was a few weeks back,” Benjamin replied. “Why would he do that to his own daughter?” Benjamin said with a shudder. “It didn’t make any sense to me. Then I eventually cornered Mel and I just knew something was wrong. Then she told me.”

  “And Sebastian got wind of the fact that his assistants weren’t as clueless as he needed them to be,” Blake said, nodding. “You were dangerous to him Ben, so he promptly told you that he couldn’t afford to pay you anymore, so you’d have to go.”

  “He told me I couldn’t prove anything and if I did go to the police then he’d sue me for slander, and I honestly thought he meant it. I don’t know about this kind of thing, Mr Harte, I haven’t got a clue. I knew I couldn’t afford lawyers or anything like that, and Mel didn’t want to go to the police so we decided, together, to just get her away from him. Her and me.”

  “And you came up with this disappearing act,” Blake said, with a small smile. “You know, and I’m probably not supposed to say this, so don’t tell anybody, but I’m impressed. Using Sebastian’s own trick against him.”

  “It’s not even his trick,” Amelia said, with a small, teary smile. “He stole off some old magician he used to watch as a kid. That’s what he did with most of his tricks, but he always used to say that no trick is original, so it was all fair.”

  “The cabinet he was originally supposed to use for that trick didn’t make it to Harmschapel, did it?” Blake said to Benjamin. “Because you had made your own. You say you haven’t got any skills or talent, but already I can see you starting off, at the very least, in woodwork and construction. Making that cabinet couldn’t have been easy.”

  “I paid the delivery driver off on the last night of performances. We were in Essex, and I just gave him fifty quid, told him not to bother delivering that cabinet, we’d got another one ready to go.”