by Benson, Tom
“Now,” Norman said, “I’ll ask you one more time. What is the date on that bracelet?”
“I don’t know, I found it.”
“Where?”
“On the street somewhere, I can’t remember.”
“It looks like one of the links is different to the others,” Norman said.
Patsy looked at the bracelet and squinted. “One of them is … brass.”
“No, it isn’t,” Norman said. “If you knew what it was you’d have sold the bracelet. The unique link is solid gold, and it’s worth a substantial amount of money.”
Patsy looked from the forestry worker to the bracelet and back. “No it isn’t… you’re bluffing.”
“And that statement tells me that you didn’t know what it was made of.”
Anne said, “Why did you kill my colleague?”
“Who was your colleague?”
“A better answer would have been, ‘I haven’t killed anybody.’ However, for your information, my colleague was a man called Ken Wallace.” She produced the black wallet with the badge given to her by Bill. “Detective Sergeant Wallace had the foresight to ditch this in the tunnel before you murdered him.”
Patsy looked from one to the other, and she licked her lips. “You can’t prove anything … none of you, and you’ve got no prison cells or fucking jurisdiction anymore.”
“I think you might find you’re wrong on at least one count if not two.” Anne slipped her dead colleague’s ID card away. “The only reason we’re talking to you was to give you a chance to convince us of your innocence. You could have done that or confessed to DS Wallace’s murder. You see, we know you’re the murderer. One of these gentlemen wanted to lock you up, another wanted you shot, and somebody else suggested that we banish you from our community.”
“You can’t just fucking shoot somebody … there’s no death penalty.”
“We live in strange circumstances,” Anne said, maintaining her composure with difficulty.
“You’d need prints from the ro—”
Anne nodded. “Yes, of course, and if we did find what you used, I’m sure the prints would match yours. Strangely, I’m not interested in your hands. I’m more interested in your feet. Particularly, the toes on your left foot—all three of them. That’s one of those things which is hard to disguise. I told these guys about it before we came along here, so would you like to show us your left foot?” Anne paused and nodded. “Your real name is Claire Fairfax, isn’t it?”
The woman’s eyes opened wide. “Fuck you.” She clenched her fists on top of her knees.
Anne shook her head. “Now, with your attitude as it is, I might agree that somebody should shoot you.”
“Fuck off, you bitch.”
“When you escaped from the arrest team one of them shot you in the foot with a laser during the struggle. Your fellow prisoner killed an officer before she was stunned and caught, but you got away and left behind a piece of shoe and two neatly severed toes.”
Norman said, “Take off your left boot and prove us wrong.”
“Fuck off—all of you.” She drew her legs back under the bench and spat at Anne.
Bill nodded for Anne and Norman to leave the small room. He waited until he heard them tap on the metal door and the bolt slid back. He turned to the woman. “We’re going to leave you here now, Patsy, Claire or whatever your name is and I want you to consider your position. It must be frustrating to know that you should have included toes when you had reconstructive surgery. Tomorrow morning, we’ll come back and tell you what we’ve decided to do with you. You will not go unpunished.”
The killer glared at him.
Bill placed a bottle of water on the table and went out of the room followed by Sandy. They went through the passageway and into the main tunnel.
Flint, who had waited patiently in the tunnel, closed the door and slid home the bolt again.
The interviewers were all standing in the tunnel outside the door.
“What now?” Flint said and glanced at the bolted door.
Sandy said, “Now she stays in there until tomorrow, at least, and nobody talks about her.” The NCO produced a self-locking nylon cable and secured the bolt on the door. “Only Bill, with one of us two as an armed escort unlocks this door.”
Day Seven
Friday 3rd June
“Good morning, everybody.” Bill stood at one end of the cafeteria to address the entire group. “In some ways today is a sad day, but there is also good news, and it should be a day of celebration. We are marking the end of our first successful week together, but before I report our good news, you should be made aware of the fate of two members of our group.”
The usual hubbub was short-lived.
Bill continued, “You will all recall that within our first few hours in the tunnel, a man tragically died somewhere in the darkness between the coach and the blocked tunnel entrance.”
All smiles had disappeared from the faces of the audience.
“The man in question was Detective Sergeant Ken Wallace, a police officer from Glasgow. He was on the trail of a woman wanted for the murder of three men.”
Gasps and whispers sounded around the room.
“I’d prefer not to go into detail at this time, but Ken didn’t have an accident—he was murdered by the woman he was hunting. As recently as half an hour ago, the guilty party is no longer among us. The killer had been a passenger on our coach but in the past couple of days a small group of us worked together to identify and segregate her.” Bill paused. “It was necessary to say that Ken died accidentally so that the killer would think she had committed the perfect crime and evaded justice.”
Fiona said, “Who was she?”
“The murderer was a woman you all knew as Patsy. She said that she was a prison officer, and she had indeed spent a few years in prisons but as an inmate and under a different name. A policeman was killed and another seriously injured when Patsy and another dangerous woman escaped from transport. The person who killed Ken is a resourceful, calculating and dangerous woman. Suffice to say she underwent surgery to change her appearance.”
Archie said, “What have you done with her?”
“Accompanied by four others, I took her to one of the maintenance portals to discuss what we knew of her. She neither admitted nor denied the murder of DS Wallace, so we decided to leave her locked in a portal overnight. The aim was to let her consider things while we presented our findings to all of you.”
Louise said, “Is she still alive?”
“She was alive an hour ago because the tunnel entrance to the portal was sealed by us last night. When I went along accompanied by Sandy and Anne this morning, the metal door from the tunnel was still secured, but the portal was empty. As you all know, those portals have an emergency exit, built in a long time ago when the railway was in use.” We went through the open emergency exit and along a narrow passageway. One hundred metres later we found an external door which had been recently opened, because there were green pine needles lying on the floor.”
Archie said, “Are you saying she’s escaped?”
“No, Archie, she hasn’t escaped, she’s taken the option of being banished from our community. She knows as much as we do what her chances would be living in the wilderness after a nuclear war. Banishment was one of the options we told her we’d use, but rather than wait for the group’s decision she has opted to go.”
Craig said, “Surely she’s capable of getting back in here, yeah?”
Bill said, “You can be confident that she will not. The emergency doors of the portals have an old spring-loaded bar system. After somebody has pushed the bar to go outside, unless it’s jammed open the door closes and locks again. There is no way to open the door from the outside. The only way to dislodge them is with explosives. The distant end of the tunnel where we arrived in our coach is blocked by several tons of debris, and later today I’ll be going along there with a team to make the area secure.”
Noreen
said, “With enough time somebody could dig through any amount of—”
“What we have in mind will prevent anybody from entering the tunnel through the same entrance that we used. When we’ve completed our deterrent, we’ll let you know. Then I would suggest that nobody goes beyond whatever safety barriers we erect.”
Jay-Dee said, “I’m sure you guys have some great ideas, but what possible deterrent gives you so much confidence?”
“Jay-Dee, the best clue I can offer at present is that we are within a facility which provides an abundance of electricity.”
“Oh, bloody hell.” Jay-Dee’s lips parted and his eyes opened wide.
Bill looked around the room. “A team will commence work today. If it makes you feel safer, we’ll also be making some minor adjustments to the emergency exits of all portals.”
Alan said, “What about those big entrance doors at the far end of the tunnel road in this mountain?”
“Those doors are steel and twenty centimetres thick, sealed to prevent the nearby loch flooding this facility. Nothing is coming through there unless we open up from the inside.”
Fiona said, “Is the glass corridor secured?”
“Des and two other people will be wiring-in CCTV monitors at both ends, so we’ll have twenty-four-hour surveillance on screens in the Control Centre.”
“Excuse me, Bill,” a quiet female voice called. It was Jean, the teacher.
“Yes, Jean?” Bill gave her his full attention and the others in the room hushed.
“Are you saying that we’re entombed within this mountain because that’s what it sounds like?”
“I know it sounds that way.” Bill smiled. “I said that there was good news. High in this mountain is an enclosed balcony which overlooks the loch, forests and mountains for some distance.”
Gasps and murmurs started again, but all went quiet when it was evident that Bill wasn’t about to raise his voice.
“The balcony has certain special attributes. It is first and foremost a means of escaping from here in a dire emergency. The structure is not attached to the mountain but fitted into the surface. It’s accessed via a narrow staircase which leads up from this main complex. To answer your question, Jean … we are not entombed.” He looked around. “The glass area of the balcony is recessed into a natural cave. Due to this, the balcony would only be seen by somebody who knew it was there. To one side there is a small doorway which only opens from inside, and a metal guide rail which leads outside onto the mountain.”
A hand went up.
“Yes, Fiona?”
“Will some of us get to see this balcony before it becomes necessary to use it?”
“A fair question, and in the next few days we intend to organise a visit up there so that everybody will have an opportunity to see the place. It will serve as an escape rehearsal and a chance to see the view from there. The balcony is apparently big enough to hold ten people, but it will be more comfortable if we set up visits of no more than four or maybe five at one time.”
There were a few whispered conversations, but the tone was not as negative as previously.
“Bill, I have a question.” Tina the veterinary surgeon waved to indicate where she was sitting.
“Yes, Tina?”
“I agree that it’s right for us to know about that despicable woman, but what has happened to the unfortunate man’s body?”
“Two of us buried him where he fell. It was impractical to do much else, but in due course, we will mark the spot to recognise that it shouldn’t be disturbed.”
A murmur of acknowledgement passed around the group.
Calvin, who was seated to one side, gave Bill an imperceptible nod. Apart from Bill, only the personal trainer knew the truth. Two days after Ken Wallace’s death, there wasn’t enough left to bury, thanks to nature and creatures which survive in environments like railway tunnels and caves.
Bill and Calvin had fought the desire to vomit as they used flat rocks to drag and scrape Ken’s remains closer to where the wall met the collapsed tunnel entrance. They’d then built a mound of large and small rocks on the spot, creating a believable burial place. The two men made a pact that they would never discuss what they’d found and buried.
Bill shook off the memory of Ken’s resting place and raised a hand for attention. “If I may finish off for this briefing.” He nodded his thanks for quiet. “Our method of asking for volunteers for our various teams is working well. Some people today will return to the glass corridor, others will continue with stripping the coach interior. As I mentioned earlier, a start will be made to further secure the distant blocked entrance.”
Calvin said, “Buddies, Bill?”
“Oh, yes, thanks, Calvin. Now that we no longer have the murderer in our midst there is no need to go everywhere accompanied.”
“Unless we want to,” Steph said.
“Yes, unless you want to, Steph.” Bill grinned. “Thank you all.”
Linda Farringdon, the prison governor, went to the Control Centre to commence her training sessions with Des and Stacey, depending on which one was on duty.
Harry returned to his carriages with three people to continue with the removal and replanting of his remaining herbs, flowers and vegetables. The second part of the task was being done by a team led by Victoria in the glass corridor.
Ramona took a group of three people to the orchard for a tour. She’d done the same with each group of volunteers who’d helped in the kitchen. Every person needed to realise not only what was available and its location but how it was harvested without waste.
Paul and a handful of people continued with the stripping of the coach interior. They kept one cargo hover-board nearby to share with Harry’s team.
Chloe and Alan performed as drivers of the other two hover-boards to ferry equipment and a team of eight to the far end of the old tunnel. It took three trips before everything was in position and being organised.
Sufficient lighting was available to assess the blocked entrance. A few of the boulders were so big it would take machinery to move them, and it was estimated that several tons of rock must have fallen inwards.
Bill indicated the mound of small rocks which represented Ken’s resting place which was not to be disturbed. Large boulders were positioned around the location as added protection, and his details were etched into a smooth-faced rock.
Calvin led a small group which lifted the smaller rocks to throw or place higher against the massive blockage at the entrance. “We won’t be able to make it a flat wall, but we aim to make it as close to a regular wall as possible, no loose rubble around the base.”
Cherry was a few metres away, being helped by Anne. They were preparing a junction box and four strands of electrical cable. No connections would be made until the secondary barrier phase was complete, or there would be more fatalities. The secondary task for the two women was to strip the outer casing from several metres of cable to provide them with long threads of bare metal.
Bill, Norman and a handful of others had the unenviable task of separating the rail sections from the thick and heavy wooden sleepers.
Norman leant on a long bar to add leverage to the large wrench he was using. “These things were never intended to be lifted after they’d been laid.”
Noreen, the curvy black nurse, was cutting away at the strange undergrowth which was growing around the sleepers. “It looks like we have one thing in our favour with the rails.”
“Really?” Norman squinted.
“Yes, they didn’t use incredibly long stretches of metal, as they probably did in later railways. It looks like it will be easy enough to manage when we’ve separated sections of the rails from the sleepers.”
“I hope you’re right,” Norman grunted and heaved. “It’s moving … give me a hand, Craig.”
Morale was raised when the first length of metal rail was lifted from its position. It had occupied that space for over a century. A cheer went up, and everybody worked on with a will. To ke
ep the momentum going, it was decided to stagger the breaks at lunch time, so the work continued. In this way, progress was made beyond what they’d hoped for.
When it was time for their evening meal, the entrance blockage crew agreed to stagger their meal times again so they could return and continue.
“Well done, everybody,” Calvin gasped as he stepped back, the perspiration glistening on his muscular, ebony body as he lifted his shirt from nearby. “She’s all yours, Cherry.” Calvin moved over beside Bill, Noreen, Craig and the others.
The lengths of metal rail made a criss-cross formation like a mesh fence. Where the rails crossed each other, they were secured by lengths of heavy-duty copper wire, a superb electrical conductor. If any person were capable of removing the tons of rocks, earth and vegetation in the entrance, they would arrive at a formidable and robust gateway. At no point was there a gap large enough for a human body to crawl through.
“I want everybody back behind those lights before I continue.” Cherry threaded the bared ends of four different cables into the rails using holes which had previously been intended for bolts. She used a small selection of hand tools to thread, twist and tie the metal threads to the rails. “If this goes wrong, rest in the knowledge that I always wanted to be cremated.”
Amidst stifled laughter, the others stood well back and watched as Cherry climbed onto two wooden crates. She set up connections to the junction box she’d created earlier with Anne’s help. The box was fitted high enough to prevent accidental tampering. Cherry threw a switch and then closed and secured the lid of the junction box.
She stepped down from her crates to look back at the criss-crossed barrier and nodded with satisfaction. “We’re ready to build a safety barrier now, guys.” She’d hardly turned to help with lifting the heavy wooden sleepers into position when two large balls of flame appeared on the huge metal grid.
“Anybody for a barbecued rat?” Craig said, causing laughter. “Cherry … the barrier works, yeah?”
One metre was decided a safe distance for a wall built with the railway sleepers. In this case, it was to prevent anybody on the inside of the tunnel accidentally touching the defence system.
