Annie stepped forward. ‘Where exactly did you drop him off on Thursday?’

Cathy let out a sigh of relief, glad to have someone to back her up. The other wimps had made a hasty retreat upstairs to the far end of the building to the refs room when they’d seen the travellers storming up the steps.

‘Near that caravan park on the way out of the town, the one between the big houses that lead onto the shore. We dropped him off to have a good look around – well, to knock on a few doors and see if anyone needed any odd jobs doing. You know, a bit of gardening, path cleaning – we does anything. He was supposed to phone up and tell us to pick him up at four. We waited and waited and he never rang. I phoned him and it just rang out so we thought he might be busy. When it got to seven and there wasn’t a peep from him we drove down there to see if we could spot him. We couldn’t find him anywhere. We walked all over that caravan park, checked along the shore. He’s nowhere to be seen. Now you tell me how a man whose idea of exercise is lifting a can of lager to his mouth could have gone anywhere and not bothered to let his family and friends know. Your boss here doesn’t believe us. She thinks we’re all out to rip little old ladies off. Just because there are a few bad eggs who do, you can’t tar us all with the same brush.’

Cathy opened her mouth then closed it again, obviously not sure that what she was about to say would actually help the situation.

‘I understand. I was in that area myself on Thursday afternoon, but I never saw him. Why don’t you let me make some inquiries and I’ll get back in touch with you as soon as I’ve spoken to some of the people around there. I cover that area and I pretty much know everyone. Give me your phone number and I’ll ring you as soon as I can.’

The men looked at each other and nodded.

‘I suppose so. You won’t go messing us around, will you? Seamus has a wife back home waiting for him and we’d like to get back home ourselves.’

He recited his number. Annie scribbled it onto a piece of paper. She thanked him and showed them to the door.

Cathy looked at her. ‘My office now.’

Annie thought that she would tell her where to go if she was going to bollock her for only trying to defuse the situation; she followed her down and shut the door behind her. She hadn’t even booked on duty yet so she had no idea who would be in the office listening to their conversation.

‘Thank God you arrived when you did. Were you really down there or did you just say that to fob the thieving little bastards off?’

‘I went to a job at Beckett House. Do you know it?’

‘I do, although I haven’t been there for years. Is old Martha Beckett still alive?’

‘She is, very much. The thing is she reported that a young man who looked and sounded to be of traveller origin had gone missing in her cellar.’

Cathy spat the coffee she had just slurped all over her shirt.

‘Jesus, please tell me you’re winding me up. Why didn’t I know about this? Did you search the cellar?’

‘You were busy with the severed head and the call came in just after I’d come on shift. Yes, I searched the cellar and had a look around the grounds. When we spoke to Miss Beckett it sounded as if she was slightly delusional.’

‘What did you do?’

‘I came back and put an intel report and a vulnerable adult form in for her. She’s in her nineties and living in that big old house.’

‘Shit, I fobbed them off yesterday when they came. I’d already had three complaints from residents about them being overly persuasive and overpriced when they knocked on doors. So where is this Seamus? Has he shacked up with some bird he’s met at the caravan park? Or maybe he hit the big time and robbed Martha Beckett and didn’t want to split the profits?’

‘Or maybe he is missing? You see, I actually believed her when I spoke to her. She said that the cellar is a bad place and that her younger brother went down there when he was nine years old and was never seen again.’

‘Argh.’

Cathy buried her head in her hands and shook it. Annie waited for her to look up.

‘Right, you, me and two PCSOs are going to pay Martha Beckett a visit. We’ll see if she’s changed her story. Have you ever seen the film Arsenic and Old Lace?’

Annie shook her head.

‘Really? Well, you should. It’s a brilliant old black and white film, but to cut a long story short it’s about two sisters who run a boarding house and let in male guests. They think they are being kind and poison them to end their suffering, then hide their bodies in the cellar. Maybe it’s Martha Beckett’s favourite film and she’s decided to copy it.’

‘Well, that’s all very good, boss, but the problem is, how would a ninety-year-old woman who looks quite frail manage to drag the body of a young, fit man down those steps – which are really steep – into the cellar and then hide his body. Because me and George searched all over and couldn’t find anything.’

‘Well, maybe she didn’t put him in the cellar. I don’t know; it’s just a theory. Come on, we’d better get there and search the house before the shit hits the fan.’

Annie didn’t agree with a word Cathy had just said. She had a hunch, a very real one, that Miss Martha Beckett had been telling the truth all along and that at least two people had disappeared from that cellar, and that one day they would find the skeletons of them both.

‘I have a bad feeling about this, Annie, a really bad feeling.’

Annie nodded. She couldn’t agree more. Then she went to get her kit on. As she walked down the corridor to the locker room she lifted her fingers to check the crucifix that her dear friend Father John had given to her when she was about to go into battle with the Shadow Man to save Sophie’s soul. It was still around her neck, tucked under her shirt. Not only had he helped her to fight the scariest demon she’d ever come across, he’d also been there to help her put the skeleton of scary Betsy Baker to rest. She lifted it to her lips and kissed it, asking God for all the help she could get, and hoped that she wouldn’t have to drag John – who at his age should be taking it easy – into this mess.

***

Henry parked the silver van in the hotel car park and turned off the engine. It was one of the classier establishments in Barrow. In fact it was probably the classiest with its imposing red sandstone blocks glowing in the setting sun. The car park was huge and he had parked the van in a far corner next to a copse of trees so they couldn’t be seen from any of the hotel windows. Megan had checked and found there were CCTV cameras but none of them was in the car park, which suited their needs perfectly. They were probably on camera entering the car park but he didn’t really care. The chances that the cameras were good enough to pick up the registration number were slim, and if they did they would dump the van and find another mode of transport.

There were a lot of cars so it must be busy inside. What they were waiting for was a woman to come out on her own. Preferably one who was a bit drunk, but they would take their chances. At Megan’s insistence whoever it was had to have long hair because she had this thing about women who looked down on others and had long hair that they loved as much as themselves, which Henry thought was stupid. At this very moment in time they weren’t in a position to pick and choose their victims, but he wanted to make her happy. Since last night she’d been very subdued and hadn’t made much conversation at all. A woman came out on her own who matched the profile perfectly, and she had black mascara trails down her cheeks.

‘Had a barney with her boyfriend. He keeps staring at the younger bird on the next table. I’ll bet you a fiver.’

Henry shook his head. ‘I think you’re probably right, which means she’s a no-go because her boyfriend will be out looking for her any minute.’