by Amy Cross
***
An hour later, sitting at an otherwise empty table in the corner of the cantina, Ephram stared into his latest glass of whiskey. Over the past three months he had watched as Thaxos, his home, slipped deeper and deeper into disrepair, and he felt that the rats and the speeding motor vehicle were only the beginning. His grandmother had told him enough stories of the old days to convince him that the return of the Le Compte family would devastate the island, and now that an innocent life had been lost, he knew that his worst fears were coming true.
So he sat and waited at the empty table.
And he waited.
And waited.
And still everything seemed hopeless.
Finally, just as he was thinking that perhaps he should head home and check on his grandmother, he spotted a familiar figure coming through the door. With a concerned look on his face, Doctor Burns made his way to the bar and ordered a drink, before heading to the table, setting his hat down, and taking a seat.
“I figured it might be wise,” he said slowly, taking a sip from his beer, “to come and see if you're okay.”
“Okay?” Ephram replied, as if the word itself angered him. “How can anyone be okay on a day such as this?”
“I know you were very fond of Alice,” Doctor Burns continued. “As her godfather, you must have been very closely connected to her all through her life. The important thing is that you don't let her death ruin you.”
“The important thing,” Ephram replied, “is that no-one else dies as a result of Edgar Le Compte's presence on the island!”
“Just promise me that you don't believe some of those things you were saying earlier.”
“Such as?”
“You know what I mean.”
Ephram grunted, clearly unimpressed by his old friend's words.
“I've already been in touch with some public health officials on the mainland,” the doctor told him. “There are certain measures that we can take to minimize the danger and perhaps even to eradicate the rat population altogether. I'll keep talking to them while we come up with a plan.”
“There's no point. Even if you succeed, Le Compte will just come up with some new way to torment us. He's the same as his grandfather.”
“That's a little harsh. As bad as he might be, I highly doubt that he possesses the same cruel streak as the Impaler, and besides, times are different now. That kind of situation would never be tolerated.”
“We need to present a united front,” Ephram replied. “We need to make Le Compte realize that he can't just come here to the island and do what he wants. This place is not his personal playground, and he needs to understand that we have a voice, and that if necessary we'll back up our words with actions!”
“There you go again,” the doctor replied. “You're starting to worry me, Ephram. I know that a girl has died -”
“She died in pain!” Ephram spat back at him. “She suffered! I know you filled her with drugs, but still she -”
Before he could finish, he spotted another figure entering the cantina, and he immediately began to worry as Inspector Isobel Cavaleri made her way to the table. She had a stern look on her face, as if she'd come to deliver some kind of a warning. Public drunkenness wasn't exactly illegal on Thaxos, but it was frowned upon.
“I'm sorry,” Doctor Burns said, “but I asked her to come, Ephram. I'm worried about you. I've seen before how grief can change a man and perhaps spur him on to make bad decisions. When you started muttering about some of the wilder Le Compte rumors, I started to think that maybe you needed a dose of reality.”
“So this is the first meeting of the local vigilante committee, is it?” Isobel asked, raising a skeptical eyebrow. “A shop-keeper and a doctor sitting in the corner of the local bar?”
“I'm just here to look out for my friend,” Doctor Burns pointed out.
“There is no reason for you to be here,” Ephram replied, staring at Cavaleri. “We're doing nothing illegal.”
“But if you're planning something that might be illegal,” she said as she took a seat, “I need to know.”
“Planning something?” Ephram replied. “What the hell would I be planning? I merely came here to drown my sorrows and try to forget the world for a few hours.” He turned to Doctor Burns. “And you have no right to be interfering in my life! If I want to get drunk, I will get drunk!”
“On the contrary,” Isobel continued, “he was absolutely right to tell me. In case you've forgotten, Ephram, we still respect the rule of law and order on Thaxos, and if there's a problem, I'm the one who has to deal with it. No offense, but I can't allow this level of anger to keep building and I can't allow drunk old men to go staggering about like this. You're not the only one who has come to see me recently to talk about Edgar Le Compte.”
“And yet, as you keep saying, there is nothing you can do. After all, he has broken no laws! By that token, the man is a model citizen!”
“That's true,” she replied, “but I'm not here in my capacity as the town's police officer. I'm here in my capacity as a concerned citizen, and as someone who loves Thaxos very much.” As if to make this point clear, she un-clipped her police badge and slipped it into her pocket. “I'm here because we have to do something, and because we've reached the limit of the protections that the law can offer.”
“I'm not sure I follow,” Doctor Burns replied.
“Alice Marco is dead because of Edgar Le Compte,” Isobel said, turning to him. “Sure, he didn't wrap his hands around her throat or put a bullet in her head, but everyone knows what happened. What I said earlier still stands. We can't prove that Le Compte is responsible for the arrival of those rats, but we all know the truth.” She paused for a moment, as if to ensure that no-one was about to interrupt her. “You're not the only one who is familiar with stories about the old days. I'm sure that all three of us have heard about life on the island under the Le Compte family. The pain, the misery, the girls disappearing in the middle of the night... The cries drifting down from the hill. Some people even claim that he had some kind of torture chamber up there. You don't have to believe the crazier rumors to know that this kind of thing can't be allowed to happen again.”
“Edgar Le Compte is not his grandfather,” Doctor Burns pointed out.
“But he's from the same family,” Isobel continued, keeping her eyes fixed on Ephram, “and blood doesn't lie. His grandfather didn't care about the people in this town, and clearly the current Le Compte feels the same way. That's enough to worry me. Ephram, I share your concerns about how this is going to pan out, but I don't agree that clandestine meetings in the back of a bar will solve anything, and I certainly don't think there's any point in forming some kind of committee to go up to the mansion and ask him to be a better neighbor.”
“Then what are you suggesting?” Ephram asked.
“I don't believe in half-measures,” Isobel replied. “If talking to this man won't work, we have to consider alternatives. That's why I discretely spread word this evening that a meeting would be taking place here.”
“It would be better if Edgar Le Compte had never come back in the first place,” Ephram pointed out.
“But he did come back,” Isobel continued. “Still, you're right about one thing. Thaxos would be in a much better state if Edgar Le Compte was not here.”
“He won't leave,” Doctor Burns said. “From what I've heard, he seems determined to claim his birthright and settle on the island. All those fences he's erected certainly seem like the work of someone with a long-term plan.”
As he spoke, another figure approached the table, and Ephram immediately recognized the new arrival as Fernando Mediaci, a local boy who had grown up to become a sailor on one of the ferries that linked Thaxos to the mainland.
“Fernando was friends with Alice,” Cavaleri explained. “I felt that he would be particularly receptive to our concerns.”
“She was my first kiss,” Fernando replied as he took a seat, his voice filled with grief.
“It was after a school dance. We went out to the end of the harbor wall and...” His voice trailed off for a moment. “It was never more than that, but still, I counted her as a friend and I know how sweet and innocent she was. Tell me, did she suffer?”
He waited for a reply.
“Well? Did she?”
Doctor Burns nodded.
“And the rat bite... There can be no doubt that this was the cause?”
“No doubt at all,” Ephram said firmly. “I was there when it happened. May the Lord have mercy on my soul, but it was in my own store. If only she hadn't come to see me yesterday...”
His voice trailed off.
“Why would God allow this to happen?” Fernando asked. “We pray every day, and yet this monster walks into our community and takes up the same roost as his grandfather, and innocent people are dying! How could God look down at Alice and not protect her? Any one of the rest of us around this table would be more deserving of such agony!”
“This is not about God,” Cavaleri replied. “Pray all you want, but it won't work. If God existed, men such as Edgar Le Compte would not.” She turned and looked over at the door for a moment, and then back at the others. “It seems that no-one else is going to join us tonight. I must admit, this saddens me. I'd hoped that more men and women of Thaxos might have the courage to stand up and take action against the threat we're all facing.”
“They're scared,” Ephram replied. “Can you blame them? They fear reprisals. Fear of the Le Comptes is almost a folk memory here, baked into children from the moment of their conception.”
“Then some other way has to be found to make him disappear,” Isobel replied. She stared at Ephram for a moment, before turning to the doctor. “I know you invited me here to cool the situation down, but the truth is, I think Alice Marco's death should be a wake-up call for all of us. She won't be the last, not if Edgar Le Compte remains on Thaxos. Other people will get sick from the rats, and there will be more dangers. It's the rule of the Le Compte family, all over again, and we have to help ourselves if we're going to save the island.”
“Then what would you have us do?” Ephram asked, starting to worry about the zealous look in the police officer's eyes.
“We have to be smart about this,” Isobel continued, “and we have to make sure we don't make any mistakes. We don't have an entirely free hand, but I think there's still one course of action open to us.”
Ephram stared at her as he began to realize what she meant.
“Gentlemen,” she continued, “I don't believe that we have a choice. We need to get rid of him, and he's not going to go willingly. When you want to get rid of a monster, you can't simply ask it politely to leave. If Thaxos is going to have any kind of a future, I'm afraid we're going to have to kill Edgar Le Compte.”
VII
“Listen to me!” Didi hissed as she held her cracked mobile phone up to her mouth. “I'm telling you, he's absolutely goddamn insane! I'm not talking slightly crazy or a bit crazy, I'm talking totally out of his mind! I can't do this anymore! I'm getting the hell out of Thaxos on the next boat!”
“Absolutely not,” said the voice on the other end of the line. “Under no circumstances are you to leave Edgar Le Compte's side until you have the information that we require. Do you understand me?”
As she listened to the reply, Didi glanced over her shoulder, just to make absolutely certain that no-one could overheard her. She was in a state of abject panic, and she was determined to get away as fast as possible. An electric light flickered above her, and as she stood in the kitchen she felt as if Edgar's eyes might be staring at her from any direction. After all, he'd managed to sneak up on her in the basement, so she no longer felt confident that she could detect when he was nearby. Sometimes he seemed to move like a ghost.
“Do you understand me?” the voice asked again, sounding angrier this time.
“I don't care!” she hissed into the phone. “When I signed up for this, you told me he was a little weird, but you didn't tell me he was full-on nuts!”
“He's just one man,” the voice replied, “and you are more than capable of looking after yourself. That's why you were given the assignment in the first place, remember? Anyway, it's been more than a year now. It's hard not to wonder what's taking you so long.”
“You have no idea what you're talking about,” she replied, hurrying to the window and looking out at the lawn, before turning and hurrying to the door to make sure that no-one was loitering in the next room. “He showed me his basement earlier,” she continued. “There's, like, all this torture equipment down there left over from when his grandfather was in charge of this place. The worst part is, I'm pretty sure that Edgar actually likes it! I mean, I could tell he was really enjoying himself. He even strapped me into one of the chairs, and there was a moment where I was actually worried that he might...”
She paused, reliving the horror yet again.
“You didn't see the look in his eyes,” she continued eventually. “If I didn't know better, I'd say that he actually wanted to hurt me! I mean, those machines he's got down there are something else.”
“But he doesn't suspect a thing?”
“Of course not. Trust me, there's no way. As far as he's concerned, I'm his devoted fiance and all I care about is bling and sex.” She paused for a moment, shuddering as she thought of the act she'd had to keep up since she first met Edgar. “This wasn't about him being onto me. This was about some deep, primal anger bubbling up from the pit of his soul. He's already crazy enough without needing to be prompted by anything! That's what I've been trying to tell you... There's something wrong with him and I don't think he can keep it under control!”
“That's good,” the voice said. “It sounds like he's opening up to you. Now you just need to make sure he lets his guard down and then you have to ask him about Mr. Nixon.”
“I tried that again this morning,” she replied, “and he wasn't having any of it. I swear, the guy's sealed shut tighter than a clam on Sunday.” She sighed as she realized that she wasn't making her position sufficiently clear. “I don't think he's ever gonna tell me what really happened to James Nixon. Hell, I think he actually enjoys the fact that people think he might have murdered the guy. He likes the idea that he's seen as this dangerous person.”
“Then use your feminine charms to get to the truth,” the voice replied. “I'm sure you can think of some way to get under his shell. Those fake tits cost a tidy fortune, so use them. You remember what we discussed before you went undercover, don't you? No methods are out of bounds. Nothing is too extreme. You're to do whatever it takes in order to get to the truth. After all, no matter else you might think about him, Edgar Le Compte is still a red-blooded male.”
“I just want out,” she said firmly. “You can have the money back, the part I haven't spent yet, anyway. Have it back and let me just get the hell out of here.”
“No.”
“I'm scared for my goddamn life!”
“Tough.”
“He's gonna end up killing me at this rate!”
“Then I would suggest that you get your job done as quickly as possible. You're there for one reason and one reason only, and that's to get Edgar Le Compte to admit the truth about James Nixon's disappearance and probable death. Get his words on tape and you can be off the island as fast as your pretty little legs will carry you, but let me make one thing clear. If you try to leave before you get the job done, there will be consequences for you, and they will not be confined to mere financial penalties.”
As Didi ran to look out the window again, the lights flickered.
“Damn this place!” she hissed. “It's like living in the goddamn stone age! He hasn't even got the internet set up yet”
“I trust that we won't need to have this conversation again,” the voice continued. “I appreciate that it's the middle of the day where you are, but here's it's the middle of the night. Don't call me again until you've got the job done. The other members of the bo
ard ask about this project regularly, and I'm getting tired of telling them to be patient. Frankly, your continued failure is starting to make me look bad.”
“Yeah, but -”
As the line went dead, Didi felt her frustration starting to boil over. The incident down in the basement had freaked her out and she couldn't handle the thought of spending another moment in the mansion, but at the same time she knew that she still had to get to the truth about James Nixon's death. Taking a deep breath, she tried to remind herself that while Edgar might be a difficult man, even one with a dangerous edge at times, he wasn't his grandfather and there was no way he would ever actually hurt her. After all, she figured that although he'd put her in the torture device earlier, he hadn't actually used the damn thing on her. Besides, he had no reason to be suspicious.
“Stay cool,” she whispered to herself. “Just stay cool and focus on the -”
Before she could finish, she heard the front door open. She took a moment to adjust her shirt so that her cleavage was fully on display, and then she turned to head through to the hallway. As she walked, her hips flicked into the swagger that she always deployed around Edgar. She knew what he liked in a woman, and she was already planning to spend the rest of the afternoon ravaging him in bed. In fact, she was thinking that maybe she could offer to make love to him down in the basement. She could handle some rough stuff if it meant getting the job done and getting the hell of Thaxos,and she was desperate enough to try anything if it meant she could leave soon.
All she cared about was getting the information she needed and then getting the hell off the island.
“Hey, Eddie,” she said as she reached the hallway. “So if you fancy it, we could maybe try to -”
She stopped suddenly as she saw the shocked look on Edgar's face, and the horrific sight in his arms.
“Eddie,” she continued, her voice filled with fear. “What... What are you doing?”
“I went to one of the maintenance huts to check on the power supply,” he explained, “and I... I... That's when I found her.”
Stepping forward, Didi stared at the crumpled form in Edgar's arms. It took her a moment to realize what she was seeing, but finally she realized that it was the broken and bloodied body of Kate Langley.
Part Four
I
The moth made its way along the dark street. Up ahead, a light was burning in a window, and the moth stopped on the glass, wanting to get inside.
