James stood up. ‘Right then. We need to start searching the gardens and boathouse. He may have gone outside and fallen. He could have broken an ankle or knocked himself out. We need to sort out search teams and send them to cover a section each.’
‘Very wise decision, Mr Beckett – you have a few volunteers upstairs. It’s a good job you didn’t send your guests home because we are going to need all the help we can get. How big are the grounds?’
‘Two acres, an acre of landscaped gardens and then there’s the wood to the back, which leads up to the main road. Davey, thank you for going down there; I know it wasn’t an easy task. Go and get yourself cleaned up and get a hot drink from Mary, and then will you help to search? You know the grounds better than anyone.’
‘Of course I will, sir; Master Joseph has a den in the woods. I would check there first. He uses it when he wants to play soldiers with his friends.’
‘Why didn’t you say something before? He could be in there now.’
‘Because it’s dark and cold, it’s been raining. He doesn’t use it in the winter. I asked him just yesterday how his den was holding up and he told me it had been leaking with all the rain and he hadn’t been out there for weeks. Asked me if I’d help him make it waterproof when the weather turned better. I didn’t think he would go out there in the dark.’
‘We need to check. Tell me exactly where it is.’
Davey, who was now shivering and feeling shaken at the thought of whatever it was down in that tunnel that had been coming after him, did his best to explain. James and the two policemen ran up the stone steps to go out and search for this den. Davey followed and then realised they hadn’t replaced the cover. Whatever it was could get up out of the hole. Terrified to go back on his own he ran over to it and strained to pull the metal cover, but he had this feeling that whatever was down there was waiting for him to leave and turn out the lights, and then it would be up here and they would all disappear. His arms aching and his knees creaking, he pulled and pulled until the cover was over the hole as best as he could do. It didn’t quite fit properly but it was good enough, and then he ran from the cellar and upstairs into the wonderful, light-filled hallway. He slammed the cellar door behind him, sliding the bolt across, and at that moment he knew in his heart that they could search for the rest of their lives for little Joe Beckett and they would never find him. Whatever it was down in the tunnel had taken him away for ever. He crossed himself, jumping when Mary spoke.
‘For the love of God, Davey, you smell like something the dog dragged in and you don’t look much better. Go and get washed and changed before you dare to set foot in my kitchen. Have they found Master Joe yet?’
He shook his head and tears filled his eyes. He lifted his damp sleeve to brush it against his face and wipe them away.
‘No, Mary, not yet.’
Before she asked him anything else he ran along to the narrow staircase used by the staff and up the stairs to the staff bathroom. After slamming the door shut and locking it, he looked into the mirror. His face had lines underneath his eyes that hadn’t been there this morning. He ran the water and stripped off his now ruined clothes. Stepping into the bath, he wanted nothing more than to stay in there and soak away the memories of that thing but he couldn’t. He didn’t want to tell Mr Beckett or the coppers what he’d heard in the tunnel. They would think he was going mad and then probably send him back down there until he’d crawled the entire length. He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t go back in that hole because he knew now that whatever it was had smelt him and would be waiting for him.
Davey had no idea how he knew this but he did. It was like a predator scenting its prey. If he went back down there it would be curtains for him and he was too selfish to die down there all alone. The best thing he could do was to go and help search the woods for Master Joe and hope they found him safe and well because he was far too scared to go down that drain and face whatever it was. It would be easier to push it away, forget about it and hope that somewhere inside his mind he was having a bit of a breakdown, for he would rather be a stark, raving lunatic than have to face a monster that dwelled in the drains and ate children.
Chapter Seven
Megan passed a plate of chicken curry to Henry and sat down opposite him at the table, which was just big enough for them both to eat their tea on.
‘So I’ve been thinking today, a lot.’
‘What about?’
‘I want to do it again. This time I want to make sure that we shave all their hair off, while they are watching. You know what I mean?’
Henry didn’t have a bloody clue what she meant but he nodded anyway. He didn’t answer her. She could wait. Talking about murder wasn’t his number-one subject when he was eating his tea. Yes, he had a hard stomach and no feelings or empathy for his victims, but he didn’t want to talk about it at mealtimes. There were some boundaries. Megan knew this. He’d told her several times and this was when she most annoyed him, disregarding his wishes when she should know better.
Lately she was getting on his nerves, not a lot but just a touch more each day. He knew what it was. He wanted her but they had only ever slept together a couple of times, and he hadn’t been pleased with himself for breaking his own rule, which had been not to get too personally involved. He had wanted their partnership to be a working one. Things got too messy when emotions and desire got in the way. Now she was becoming needy, relying on him to come up with ideas and plans. It was hard enough trying to plan what he was going to do when he finally had Annie without having to plan abductions and murders for her as well.
He knew that if it hadn’t been for Nurse Megan befriending him in the mental hospital, he wouldn’t be here, and he tried to remind himself of this every time he found himself getting bad-tempered with her, but he wished for once she would just shut the fuck up and stop being so selfish. Megan got the message. His face had said it all so she didn’t speak another word. They both finished eating in complete silence. It was Henry who stood up to take the plates away and wash them. Once he’d rinsed them and put them away he turned to her.
‘So when are we going to do this and how?’
‘Well, I want to do it soon, not in a couple of months, and I think we should check out that barn on Walney. If it isn’t crawling all over with police, and there’s no reason it should be because no one except us has used it in years, I think we should do exactly the same as last time. Take someone over there, tie them up, let me shave their head, and then we can kill them and you can chop their head off. We can leave the body in the barn with the other one and bring the head up here as a romantic gesture for that Annie woman you like so much. A severed head is far more original than a dozen red roses. What do you think?’
‘Sounds like a plan.’
‘This time, though, we are not keeping the head in the freezer. It totally freaked me out. We do the job and dump the head straight away. I mean, how long are you going to take before you go after that copper anyway?’
‘I don’t know yet, Megan. I want to make sure it will be perfect and nothing can go wrong like last time.’
Megan adored Henry. He was her hero, and even though he’d lied to her in the hospital about wanting to apologise to Annie Graham for the harm he’d caused her, she’d known straight away that it was bullshit. She’d read a biography about Henry called Deadly Obsession and it seemed that all Henry had done was stalk and then want to kill the woman. She knew that he still wanted to kill her because she’d got away from him and ruined his life. It didn’t take a psychologist to work that out, but because Megan understood his desire to kill she didn’t mind too much about Annie. She supposed it would be a different matter the day they decided to kill her. She didn’t know how she would feel to see the man she was in love with so excited about another woman, but she’d cope. She would have to because she didn’t have a choice. To be with Henry she had to understand about his strange obsession with that policewoman, and she could put up with it all as long as, after it was over, they could still be together. He might pay her a bit more attention when that Annie was out of the picture and that could only be a good thing.