by J. R. Ellis
‘And don’t forget, it was you who made us think about the case again when we were all content to go with the facts as they appeared on the surface. You convinced me to continue to ask questions. We wouldn’t have got to the truth without you.’
‘I just couldn’t believe that Dom would kill her. Something about the whole thing felt strange. Do you remember me saying that?’
‘Yes, when you were very upset on the day it happened and we put it down to shock.’
‘It’s suddenly occurred to me what it was. Dom and Andrea were acting, weren’t they? And even though their performances were very convincing, there was something not quite real about it. It was as if we were watching a play, or a horror film, but without realising it, we were in it too, dressed in those hideous costumes.’ She put her hands to her face. ‘It makes me cringe. And it’s just kept getting worse. There’s been all sorts of weird stuff going through my mind. This Dracula, vampire thing. Ben was like a vampire, wasn’t he? Feeding off Andrea and Dom’s blood. And Andrea wasn’t dead when we thought she was. It was as if she was undead like a vampire herself, but she was about to die when Ben stabbed her in the heart. Then Dom blundered into the next room to get shot. It was as if Dom and Andrea were the stars of a horror film about their own deaths, wasn’t it? It’s terrible.’
‘Yes, but the film is over now and you’re safe. It’s not surprising that your imagination’s got so feverish but things will fade in time.’
Louise picked up her phone from the sofa beside her. ‘Look, I found this.’ She handed the phone to her father. On the screen was the picture of the group, which had been taken by Pesku before they started the game. ‘I keep finding stuff like this. Look at us pretending to be evil. Most of us thought we were having fun, but one person in that picture and the person taking it were evil and were planning murder.’ She shuddered. ‘It freaks me out. It’s going to take a long time to come to terms with it.’
Oldroyd handed the phone back. ‘It will, but you’ll do it. And it’ll take me some time to get over the shock of what nearly happened at that apartment. I’m glad I didn’t know what was going on until it was all over. I was in Whitby and completely powerless. My sergeant did a wonderful job.’
‘Steph? She’s brilliant; so clever and brave. She worked out what might be going on when I was taken in. I should have told her too.’ She shook her head again at her own folly.
‘I’ve trained her to follow her instincts as well as assess the evidence,’ continued Oldroyd. ‘She knew something wasn’t right and she planned accordingly. I’m proud of her.’
‘You should be.’
‘Mind you, I don’t think her partner Andy will be that pleased. I sent him off to London to investigate all your friends and he did a lot of donkey work down there for very little reward apart from finding the picture; then on top of that he missed all the action up here.’
‘Oh dear,’ said Louise faintly. She’d slowly sunk back into lying on the sofa and her eyes were closed.
Oldroyd paused and looked at her, feeling yet again the intense relief of seeing her alive and okay. ‘I won’t stay long, love. I can see you’re exhausted.’
‘I’m not sleeping at night. I get nightmares where he’s got that cord around my neck.’ She shuddered. ‘Thank God Steph was there.’
‘It’s the shock and trauma of being attacked added to what you’ve already been through. Maybe your mum should take you to the doctor’s. I assume you’re going to stay here for a while?’
‘I’ve no choice at the moment. I’m not capable of doing anything.’
‘Don’t worry about it. Just take it a day at a time. Your mum will look after you. I’ll be over to see you and when you’re a bit better you can come over to see me and Deborah.’
‘That would be nice. Maggie and Mark are going to come up at some point. Mum says they can sleep in the loft bedroom.’
‘Good.’
‘Everyone’s been so kind, but . . .’
‘But what?’
‘I feel everything’s shattered. I’ve lost three friends and one of them was a ruthless murderer. I feel like I can never build my life up again and trust people. How can I trust people after Ben? I don’t feel I know anyone anymore. I’m always going to be on my guard.’
Oldroyd nodded. ‘I understand that, but gradually you will regain some faith in people. Remember most people are good; you were exceptionally unlucky to encounter a person like Morton. You’ve got some good friends.’
She sighed. ‘I suppose so. Will I have to go to court? That would be awful.’
‘Maybe. From the way he cooperated with us and confessed to everything, it looks as if he might plead guilty. If he does, I don’t think you would have to appear. There might be some dispute between him and Elaine Pesku about the extent to which she was forced into being his accomplice, but I can’t see you being a relevant witness to that. Anyway, let’s not think about that; we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.
She nodded. ‘Thanks for coming, Dad.’
He leaned over and kissed her on the head. ‘Bye for now. See you again soon.’
‘Bye.’ She closed her eyes as he left the room as quietly as he could.
Julia was sitting with a mug of coffee, her elbows propped up on the kitchen table. Oldroyd sat down opposite her.
‘How is she?’ murmured Julia.
‘Okay. Just exhausted. I said you might take her to the doctor’s; she would benefit from a course of sleeping tablets.’
‘Yes.’ Julia yawned. ‘I’m not sleeping well myself. It’s a good job I’ve got some compassionate leave from the college.’
‘That’s excellent. She knows you’ll look after her and she’ll recover. It looks bad at the moment, but underneath it she’s a strong character. She’ll bounce back.’
‘Yes, but it will take time.’
‘It will.’
Julia gave him a wan smile. ‘Thank that sergeant of yours again, won’t you? She saved our daughter’s life.’ Her face crumpled for a moment as she faced the enormity of what could have happened.
‘I will, don’t worry. I’ve got a brilliant team working with me. I’m very lucky.’
She shook her head and looked at him. ‘I don’t know how you can do this work. I never could understand it and that was always a problem.’
Oldroyd wasn’t sure how to respond to this reference to their old marital difficulties.
Julia continued. ‘But now, what can I say? If you hadn’t got to the bottom of what was going on, not only would two killers have walked free, but our daughter would have started a relationship with a murderer. That’s too awful to contemplate.’ She smiled at him again. ‘So thanks, Jim.’
A tear fell down her face. Oldroyd leaned over, put his hand on hers and kissed her lightly on the head. He wasn’t far from tears himself.
Alice Granger got back home from work in the late afternoon, feeling satisfied that the case was wound up but very tired. The house was unusually quiet. She found Lesley writing an essay at the kitchen table on her laptop. Granger nearly rubbed her eyes and did a double take, but it was true: she was working.
‘Hi,’ she said. ‘Where’s Ian?’
‘At Graham’s; they’re gaming I think.’
‘Okay,’ Granger sighed. ‘What do you fancy for tea?’
Lesley looked up. ‘I’ll make it, Mum. You have a rest. I saw some mince; I’ll make spag bol.’
Granger sat down at the table partly with the shock. ‘Are you okay?’ she asked.
‘Me? Fine. Sorry I can’t talk much. I’ve got to finish this essay; it’s already late. I’ve got to hand it in tomorrow or I’m in deep trouble.’
‘Right. I’ll let you get on with it then.’ Lesley looked up and smiled.
‘I know you’re thinking “what’s got in to her?”’
‘I am a bit.’
Lesley sat back in her chair and sighed. ‘I dunno. I’ve started to feel different somehow after what happened last Sat
urday.’
‘How?’
‘I was shocked. When that figure – you say it was a woman dressed up?’
‘It was.’
‘When she fired those shots. It made me realise we were all playing around at horror – all that dressing up and stuff – but when something bad actually happens, it’s not fun at all, it’s nasty. I saw terror on people’s faces and Mandy was crying. Then I called you to come and get me out of it.’
‘Well, that was the right thing to do.’
‘Maybe, but it all reminded me that I’m not as grown-up as I think I am.’ She looked at her mother with admiration. ‘And you deal with that kind of stuff all the time. I never understood until now. I think you’re amazing. And now I’m going to be a bit more sensible.’
Granger smiled at her. ‘Thanks for the compliment and that’ll be really good, for you I mean. If you work hard you’ll do well and get to uni and I think you’ll have a great time there.’
‘Yeah. There’s just one thing, Mum.’
‘What’s that?’
‘This essay is really late so I wondered if you’d write a note saying I’ve been upset since last Saturday and not able to work properly.’
Granger shook her head. She got up and gave her daughter a hug.
‘Of course,’ she said and left Lesley to get on with her work. Maybe things were looking up as Oldroyd had said they would. And anyway, after what had happened to the young people in the escape room, she felt it was time as a parent to count her blessings and to acknowledge that things could be much worse.
On Monday morning things were back to normal at Harrogate HQ. Oldroyd’s first task was to speak to Tom Walker. He sat in Walker’s spartan office opposite his boss who was pleased to see him back. He regarded Oldroyd as a kindred spirit in the fight against managerialism and the business culture. He’d been reading a report on his monitor and he took off his reading glasses.
‘Welcome back, Jim. I’ve been following everything and you’ve had a right do over there, haven’t you?’
‘Aye, Tom, it’s took me to t’door and back as my granddad used to say.’
‘Right,’ said Walker, laughing, but then he went more serious. ‘I don’t suppose I should be laughing when your lass was in such peril.’
‘Don’t worry, Tom. She’s safe and that’s all that counts.’
‘So the murderer killed his own friends in order to get possession of a valuable painting?’
‘He did. He wanted the money so that he could pursue his own artwork without having to earn a living; thought he was some kind of genius.’
Walker grunted and shook his head. ‘Do you know I’ve been in this job for over forty years and you’d think I’d have seen everything, but the depravity of some people still shocks me. Anyway, Stephanie Johnson was outstanding, I hear.’
‘She was. She saved my daughter’s life. It’s as simple as that.’
‘Well, she’s always been a great asset to the force. I’ve thought so ever since she joined us as a young lass. With her and Carter, you’ve got a great team.’
‘That’s what I’ve been telling everyone.’
Walker frowned ominously as he glanced with contempt at his computer screen. Oldroyd tensed himself for what was about to come.
‘This is what that fool Watkins can never grasp. It’s the quality of the people in policing that matters not his bloody bureaucratic systems and stupid targets. I’ve just been reading his latest missive.’ He jabbed at his screen. ‘“Artificial Intelligence: The Future of Policing?” The man’s off his bloody trolley! Does he think robots will be going around arresting people? Never mind artificial intelligence, I’d like to see some real intelligence for once. He thinks he’s some kind of super brain sitting in his office looking into the future. The truth is, he hasn’t got two brains cells to rub together. I mean . . .’
And off he went. Normally Oldroyd would have looked for an excuse to leave, but the old boy had been so generous and understanding towards to him recently that he indulged him once again.
When he was eventually released from Walker’s rant, Oldroyd went straight back down to his office. The first person he saw was Andy.
‘Welcome back,’ he said. ‘And well done.’
‘Thanks, sir, but I don’t think I did much to be honest.’
‘Yes, you did. Never despise the more menial tasks. Policing can’t be exciting all the time and every scrap of effort contributes to the solving of the case. All those people needed to be followed up; that process of elimination is important.’
‘If you say so, sir,’ replied Andy, smiling.
‘Are we jealous of our partner, I wonder?’ teased Oldroyd.
‘Oh no, sir, don’t worry we’ve talked about it. She was brilliant.’
‘Where is she, by the way?’
‘Round there at her desk.’
‘Okay. I must have a word.’
Oldroyd found Steph at her computer in the work area. ‘Steph, come in a minute, will you?’
She came in and they sat opposite each other. Oldroyd smiled at her and shook his head. She smiled back.
For a few moments he seemed at a loss for words.
‘What can I say except “Thank you”? It doesn’t seem anything like enough.’
‘I’m pleased it all worked out well, sir, and that I played a part in it.’
‘“Played a part”? It was a bit more than that, I think. You saved my daughter’s life.’ His voice broke and he looked away. Steph could see tears forming in his eyes.
‘I was doing my job, sir, in the way you’ve taught me over the years. So if I got it right, you should take some of the credit.’
Oldroyd laughed as he wiped his eyes with a tissue. ‘Well, that’s super-modest, I must say. I’m so proud of you. You took a risk in going it alone, but it was the right decision.’
‘You and Inspector Granger were too far away to be able to do anything and if I’d been wrong it would have caused you so much distress for nothing.’
‘Absolutely. What put you on to what was happening?’
‘Louise asked to borrow the keys to the flat, but she was very cagey about why she wanted to get in there. I just didn’t like it, so I contacted Leeds police and arranged for surveillance of the flat. I had a second set of keys cut so we were able to get inside. At that point we were just going to see what happened. It could have been quite innocent. She may have just come to collect her books. But then you rang and told me about Morton coming to Leeds. We moved quickly into place and, sure enough, Louise arrived with Morton. They didn’t know we were there, of course. I had to decide whether to go straight in and arrest him or not. I wasn’t sure what weapons he had, so I decided it was safer to let them come into the flat. I was watching them from the door to the kitchen and when he got the cord round her neck, I knew you were right: he was the murderer and then we had to move and fast.’
There was a pause as they both contemplated that horrible moment again.
‘You worked it out and followed it through extremely well,’ said Oldroyd. ‘You’ll be pleased to know that Inspector Granger has finished everything off.’ He explained how the details of the investigation had been completed.
‘How is Louise, sir?’
‘As well as can be expected as the saying goes. She’s traumatised, obviously, and confused about herself and how she behaved. It will take some time for her to recover.’
‘She will though, sir. I’m sure. She’s a strong character.’
‘Yes.’
‘Right, I’ll get back to work then, sir,’ said Steph and she got up to leave. Oldroyd got up too. He came around the desk, put his arms around her and gave her a big hug.
‘There, I just had to do that,’ he said. ‘I don’t care how unprofessional it is. This is one occasion when it’s called for.’ He was close to tears again.
‘That’s all right, sir,’ said Steph.
‘I’ve never been so emotional in a case before,’ continued O
ldroyd. ‘It all started with DCS Walker telling me how much the force owed me and how grateful he was for all my work. Well, that filled me up, and now I’m saying the same to you: thank you again for what you did. I’ll never forget it.’
‘You’re welcome, sir,’ replied Steph, and she felt tears in her eyes too.
Oldroyd and Deborah sat in the dark early evening in the Harrogate flat, relaxing over a glass of wine. It was cosy in the warm glow of the lamps. As the clocks had gone back, the hours of daylight had reduced and winter was approaching.
‘It’ll be bonfire night soon,’ said Oldroyd. ‘I always enjoy that. Even though it’s recalling an attempted act of terrorism, it’s a happy, colourful celebration. I’ve had enough of vampires, Halloween and gothic spookiness for the time being.’
‘You like bonfire night because there’s always plenty to eat,’ laughed Deborah, who enjoyed teasing her partner. It was one of the things Oldroyd liked about her. ‘Anyway, I had a good time over in Whitby. It was very interesting and relaxing. It’s a pity you had all that work to do. It got in the way a bit for you, didn’t it?’ Her eyes sparkled at him mischievously. And this was another thing: his work had always been an issue for Julia, and she showed little interest in it, whereas Deborah seemed unperturbed about the disruption his duties sometimes caused to their social life. She also seemed to find what he did fascinating.
‘Well, as usual, I got some clues while we were doing things and enjoying ourselves in Whitby.’
‘You do surprise me. Debrief me then. I’m always interested in how you work out the puzzle.’
‘Remember when we were on the boat and I was talking about Dracula?’
‘You were reminding me how, in the book, Dracula arrives in a ship during a storm.’
‘And he leaps on shore in the form of a dog, which nobody realised was the terrible vampire.’
‘Yes?’
‘It just made me think about how things are not always what they seem to be. It was a trick Dracula performed using his supernatural powers and I began to wonder again if there was some kind of trick going on here. It had been at the back of my mind since I discovered that sarcophagus illusion and the more things appeared cut and dried, the more suspicious I became. It turned out the evil lay in the character who seemed the most harmless, who’d apparently done the most to help.
